31 Aug 2020

Rocket Probes – August 2020 playlist




Shit & Shine – Hillbilly Moonshine
(Certified banger)

Deafkids & Petbrick – Swaet-Drenched Wreck
(2nd single of genre destroyed chaos)

Various – Rocket Recordings Remixes
(Bit of a good listen this if we don't say so ourselves) 

Paddy Shine - The Criac in the cosmic egg
(New solo album from GNOD man)
Paddy Shine

Sarine – Raízes Aéreas
(Solo album by Deafkids stickman)
Sarine

Metal Preyers – Metal Preyers
(More magic on Nyege Nyege)

Nico – Into the arena
(80s repetition from Nico's great last album)

Oranssi Pazuzu - Saturaatio
(Psyched Death)

Kevin Ayres – Lady Rachel
(A classic that keeps on giving)

Raikes Parade - Take A Nibble
(New track from he wizard behind GNOD's mighty sound)

PAN SONIC - Fyokki Halko
(The machines are taking over..thanks to Mr Bourne for this)

Shit and Shine – Goat Yelling Like A Man
(Like buses)

Joe McPhee – Live in Zurich (Remixed by Waclaw Zimpel)
(Ever evolving jazz-drone repetitions)

T. Rex – Chariot Choogle
(Great fuzzed solo)

Camberwell Now – Ghost Trade
(This great album continues to have lots of plays, one for you Can fans)

NNMM – Éons
(GOD'like sounds from Belgium)

Rahsaan Roland Kirk - Say A Little Prayer
(Freak out...thanks to Centrum for sharing this!)

Thee Oh Sees – The Daily Heavy
(Great track from a great album)

Vladislav Delay – 500 Push-up
(Psyched dub weirdness...thanks to Little Dirty for bringing it into our world)
Vladislav Delay

Liquid Liquid – Scraper
(The drum sound!)
Liquid Liquid

Craven Faults – Slack Sley & Temple (Live Works)
(Synthscapes with a bit of a nod to Och in the beginning)

Tangerine Dream – Ultima Thule Part 1
(Early psych rock single before the synths lead)

Don Cherry – Moving Pictures for the Ear
(Tribal repetitions)

The Heads - Reverberations Volume 2
(Live in '01)

Cha Cha Guitri – Art Negre
(Kraftwer'esque sounds from 81' France)

Victor Brady - Brown Rain
(Steel drum psych...reminded of this classic by Cherrystones)

Fåntratt – Frisk Kuling
(Soundtracked the mood of this last week)

Tomaga – Memory In Vivo Exposure Parts 1&2
(Still incredibly shocked and saddened by the news of Tom's passing...a beautiful and extremely talented human being who has left us way, way to early!!)


Listen to our 'updated monthly' Rocket Probes Spotify playlist here:




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28 Aug 2020

The Quietus puts Shit & Shine's Hillbilly Moonshie in their 'Tracks of the Month'


They say:

Despite the name, this latest single by Craig Clouse on Rocket isn't a slice of drunken backwoods madness, rather a sleek European machine of cavernous reverb and pinpoint motorik beats. John Doran

Read the full rundown here: The Quietus

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Repress of Anthroprophh's Toilet Circuit EP announced


Today we released our 200th release – the ltd edition Toilet Circuit EP by Anthroprophh. The EP sold out on presale extremely fast so due to the demands of fans we have decided to do a repress ltd to 300 copies with updated artwork and pressed on yellow vinyl – it will be released on 16th October.

Preorder now from the Rocket Bandcamp:

Bandcamp

And you can still watch the band made video for the track Too Old here:

Youtube

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Anthroprophh's 'Toilet Circuit EP' – our 200th release is released today


Anthroprophh's ‘Toilet Circuit EP’ which is released today is the band's first release since their mammoth double album 'Omegaville' which was released to high acclaim in 2018. 

The three tracks that make up this EP follow on perfectly from the dense and psychedelic sounds of Omegaville – a feverish tirade of maximalism. Anthroprophh manage to find equal space for everything-on-11 riffage of The Stooges, krautrock repetitions, Butthole Surfers-esque bedlam, and surreal British humour.

This 7" is also Rocket's 200th release which is apt as Anthroprophh's Paul Allen and Gareth Turner also played on the labels first release, the split single with The Heads and Lillydamwhite. 

Unfortunately the 7" sold out pretty quick, but if you were not one of the lucky ones, you can listen to it in full here: Bandcamp

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27 Aug 2020

Chicago Reader reviews J. Zunz album Hibiscus


They say:

J. Zunz is the solo project of Lorena Quintanilla, best known from Mexican electronic-infused psych duo Lorelle Meets the Obsolete. Her new album, Hibiscus, was born out of a period of personal and political crisis, but while darkness and anxiety permeate its tracks, it also offers hope with a cinematic sense of wonderment that lightens its heaviest moments. Moody opener “Y” pairs crawling keyboard melodies and sinister layers of fuzz, while Quintanilla’s singing builds from a whisper into a resolute declaration about leaving a broken relationship behind. The following track, “Four Women & Darkness,” swirls into a grey, foggy expanse where only shadows are visible on the horizon, capturing the trepidation that can come with moving forward after cutting off the past—even when you know it’s the right move. The album’s pacing adds to its tense feel. “Overtime” shimmers quietly as it bridges into “America is a Continent,” which opens with ominous pulsating beats and gasping vocals that dissolve into a murky sea of percussive chugs and elongated, fun-house-mirror bent notes. Hibiscus has plenty of entrancing experimentation and exploratory atmospheres, but it’s most memorable at its most bold and climactic: “33:33,” written shortly after Quintanilla’s 33rd birthday and Mexico’s 2018 presidential election, opens with a simple electronic melody and dainty processed vocals before it dives into a noisy, intense Krautrock journey; It leaves the impression enough resistance and resolution will help you find your way through the murkiest of unknown waters.

See the post here: Chicago Reader

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26 Aug 2020

Beats Per Minute reviews J. Zunz Hibiscus


They say:

Perhaps better known as one half of brilliant Mexican dreampop and psych-experimentalists Lorelle Meets the Obsolete, Lorena Quintanilla’s solo work as J. Zunz focuses more on minimalist, brooding and menacing synth sounds rather than the waves of ethereal guitar fuzz that are the signature sound of her band. Hibiscus, the second album from Quintanilla’s solo project, is a master class in reserve, restraint and how to create a sustained claustrophobic atmosphere. 


Album opener “Y” is a tale of patriarchal obstinacy and the restriction of space afforded to women. It spirals in on itself, enveloping the listener with its hypnotic wooziness, descending keyboard line and introspective metronomic beat that pulses like an affronted heart. Hibuscus is a very visual album, the textured layers of sound imploring a mental image for your mind. “Y” conjures up ideas of wet streets, deserted and gloomy subways, and the orange glow from car lights in the crepuscularity of a steadily decaying environment. It’s the aural equivalent of a dark alley near the glittering lights of a pulsating city; it’s the wrong turn in a place of entirely constructed wrong turns. It’s pensive, exquisitely tense and immutably resilient...    

Read the rest here: BPM

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Rocket DJ at Baba Yaga Huts Bank Holiday Monday show


Chris is gonna be dusting off his record bag and playing some records at this Baba Yaga's Hut event – first live show in a while!

Times:

Agathe Max - 4:00 - 4:30
Gareth Main DJ 4:30 - 6:00.
Sealionwoman - 6:00 - 6:40
Chris Reeder DJ 6:40 - 8:00
Pocket Signs 8:00 - 8:40
Baba Yaga's DJ 8:40 - 10:00

More info here: Baba Yaga's Hut

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Tom Relleen (Tomaga, Autotelia, The Oscillation, Papivores) RIP


We are still trying to digest yesterday's news, it really has knocked us for six. Tom was such a calm, collected, positive and forward looking human being, and we are in shock with what has happened. 

On initially hearing Tom was ill we deliberated with Demian whether we should carry on and release the Autotelia album - Tom of course gave us his blessing & wanted it to still come out - I know he was really happy to see the tracks getting out there into the world. So we obviously feel incredibly lucky to have worked with him on the album – but first and foremost Tom was a friend, and he is going to be sorely missed. He was one of the good ones! 

Our love and thoughts go to all his family and friends.

Chris & Johnny

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25 Aug 2020

Marvin.com interviews J.Zunz about Hibiscus


They say:

Lorena Quintanilla, is one of the most interesting music that the national subsoil keeps, being half of Lorelle Meets The Obsolete , has managed to combine with Alberto González, her partner in the band and life, a catalog as diverse as it is solid and forceful, becoming a band with a certain cult in specialized niches.

However, since 2015 Quintanilla has undertaken a different one than his band. Under the pseudonym J. Zunz , he has embarked on a lonely search for new sounds outside of the LMTO repertoire , a project far removed from rock and its natural stigmas. That same search led her to experiment with more ethereal and contemplative sound, accompanied by synthesis and rhythmic patterns that lead the listener into a random trance. 


In his first work, entitled Silent , Zunz gave a sample of the above; a display outside of sonic ties, moving away from riffs and guitars, presenting sounds much more enveloping in the sound experience. But now with his new material Hibiscus , under the London label Rocket Recording , said sensory experience that is wrapped in darker sensations than his previous work, it seems that Quintanilla takes influence from his context to submit to dense and cyclical atmospheres that, comprise a overwhelming and hard drive....

Read the rest here: Marvin

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Read J. Zunz Under the Influence piece for Echoes and Dust


They say:

In an era of uncertainty and introspection, frustrations will inevitably arise. Yet there may also be the potential for change. It’s possible that the warping of time and the journey into one’s own headspace that come with altered circumstances allow a moment to render the inner voice in the service of something transformative and pure.

Indeed, Lorena Quintanilla – better known up until this point as one half of Mexican duo Lorelle Meets The Obsolete – has undergone just this kind of trajectory in her solo reinvention as J. Zunz. Hibiscus, her second under this name after 2017’s Silente and released on August 21st through Rocket Recordings, is the result of a metamorphic process whereby the minimal is rendered maximal and the personal fused with the political. 


Interesting to find out more, we asked Lorena about three albums that have influenced her the most…

Read the rest here: E&D

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J. Zunz contributes to Raven Sings The Blues 'Hidden Gems' piece


They say:

I’ve been a longtime fan of Mexican shoegaze duo Lorelle Meets the Obsolte, and when I’d heard that the band’s Lorena Quintanilla had a solo album forthcoming (her second, sadly I’d slept on the first) I was incredibly intrigued what would arise. J. Zunz sophomore LP is a haunted, complex record that pulls as much from industrial spaces as it does experimental and concrete nodes. The LP focuses keenly on Quintanilla’s voice — echoing through spaces that seem cavernous and dangerous in the same light. I asked Lorena to contribute a pick to the Hidden Gems series, quite anxious to hear what treasure she might unearth and I’m not in the least disappointed. She’s given light to a series of Latin American electronic music that’s been sorely lost from the cultural conversation. Her pick centers on the inclusion of Jacqueline Nova, with whom I was unfamiliar, but quickly became quite intrigued by. Read on to see how the record has come into Lorena’s life and the impact it’s had on her songwriting.

“There are four compilations called Música Nueva Latinoamericana which were released by Tacuabé in 1976 (these compilations have been reissued by the great bootleg label “Creel Pone”) and I highly recommend all of them,” offers Quintanilla. “The physical copies are hard to find, but recently I found out that Keith Fullerton Whitman from Creel Pone, uploaded all of them to YouTube. The second volume of this compilations contains three compositions. One of them is “Dynamus” by Eduardo Bértola which is like a science fiction beautiful journey, then comes “Humanofobia I” by Joaquín Orellana which is a political electroacoustic piece, denouncing through experimentation the violence in Guatemala, his country. Then you have the amazing piece “Creación de la Tierra” by Jacqueline Nova. I will focus on this piece as it was the first one that I listened to and the one that connected me to all this incredible music from Latin America,” she muses...

Read the rest here: Raven Sings The Blues

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24 Aug 2020

African Paper reviews J. Zunz – Hibiscus


They say:

For the second time and three years after the debut Silence, Lorena Quintanilla from Guadalajara, Mexico, who has made a name for herself for several years with the duo Lorelle Meets The Obsolete, appears again with her solo project J.Zunz and presents a superficial one cool, but on closer listen extremely emotional music between minimalist wave and retro-futuristic psychedelic.


If there is something that the individual songs with their respective characteristics - the frosty monumentality in “Four Women and Darkness”, the somnambulistic breath of a soft voice over rough monotony in “Jupiter”, the hypnotic loop, the post-punk “33:33 ″ Gives a ritual note that holds the scifi sound and the Asian melody in “White Labels” together, then it is probably the defiantly urgent undertone that adds something rebellious to the melancholy worlds of sound, and verses like “” I don't want you I don't need you i won't please you ”makes it sound more powerful than resigned...

Read the rest here: African Paper

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Backseat Mafia interviews J. Zunz


They say:

Lorelle The Obsolete‘s Lorena Quintanilla just released her second album as J. Zunz: Hibiscus. The record exhibits an even more electronic maelstrom of captivating, ethereal sound than previous projects. Lorena discusses this transition here, as well as the origins of Hibiscus, her influences, and songwriting in general.

Hi Lorena, I really enjoyed the album, thank you for taking the time to do this.

Thanks to you! I enjoyed answering!

You say that the album was written “during sleepless nights filled with overwhelming thoughts and feelings”. This impression comes across immediately, the plethora of ideas and song-writing elements are handled masterfully, not entirely overwhelming but extremely powerful. Was it ever difficult to balance these “thoughts and feelings”, or was it easier being so charged with ideas?

Going into the studio every day to work on these songs wasn’t difficult at all, on the contrary it was a very joyful experience. I didn’t have any control over external situations but I did have control inside the studio. It was very empowering to know exactly what I wanted and what I was doing. Almost like becoming someone else. The difficult part was the physical exhaustion caused by the insomnia but apart from that all the tornado of emotions was happening during the nights or outside the studio.

I don’t recall having this clarity prior to any recording process before. Maybe because this album had been cooking inside of me for a while.

Read the rest here: Backseat Mafia

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Raven Sings The Blues reviews J. Zunz 'Hibiscus'


They say:

I’ve long had a soft spot for the warm blast of shoegaze pulsing off of Lorelle Meets the Obsolete. The Mexican band has been warping pop through the fuzz-fitted filter for the past few years and have only solidified their place in the evolving canon of the genre. Though this album is connected by membership, this is quite a different animal from the confines of The Obsolete. Out on her own for a second solo LP the band’s Lorena Quintanilla has pushed aside the gauzy caverns of her usual sound for something darker and full of danger. On Hibiscus she lets her voice free of its playground of effects and loose from the haze. Underneath her vocals, however, the record is seething with anxious synths and repetitive elements that are doused in a chemical burn. The LP bears a stark minimalism that speaks directly to her renewed interest in John Cage’s ethos of stripping sound to its basics.


Like her previous works, there’s still psychedelia here, but it’s a more internal expression, working psychological angles rather than explicit auditory gymnastics. There’s a feeling on the record of constantly waking up in unfamiliar surroundings, surroundings that feel like they’re tipped with poison intent. Quintanilla’s voice comes racing from all angles, panicked at times, soothing at others, but always like a whisper in the back of your head trying to make sense of the quasi-industrial prison you’ve found yourself trapped within...

Read the rest here: RSTB

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Listen to Lay Llamas mix 'Space Jungle Mantra - Transmission 1'




Here's a mix compiled by Lay Llamas featuring some Rocket tunes

Enjoy

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21 Aug 2020

Read BPM 'track-by-track guide' to J. Zunz album Hibiscus


They say:

Mexican artist Lorena Quintanilla creates music under the name J. Zunz, and today she has released her new album Hibiscus through Rocket Recordings. The eight-track record is a throbbing missive, sonically involving and packed with emotion.

Quintanalla has taken the time to tell us about each track on Hibiscus, explaining the background that went into the creation of these engrossing pieces.

1. “Y”

This track talks about my experience growing up as a woman in México.  I’m telling all the tactics I had to develop in order to be safe out there. Men made very clear to me since I was very young that the streets didn’t belong to me, and that it was out of question to take a walk alone at night if I wanted to. My body was theirs. Those were the first warnings I had.  The others came later; the harassment at work places, at school, at music venues, some male sound engineers, some male musicians, the outdated male critics, the structure, the laws, and so on and so on. It is a never ending list and as I keep going more horrific details reveal. Nonetheless, I’ve been very lucky somehow, but many women in México are not. Sadly the numbers of feminicides are going up every year...

Read the rest here: BPM

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RTE interviews J. Zunz


They ask:

J. Zunz is the solo project from Lorena Quintanilla, one half of the duo Lorelle Meets The Obsolete. She has just released her new album, Hibiscus, and we ask her the BIG questions...

Tell us three things about yourself?
I'm from México, I live in Ensenada and I'm a Philosophy graduate.

How would you describe your music?
Pattern Music.

Who are your musical inspirations?
For my latest album I was listening a lot to Dälek and Alice Coltrane.

How did you occupy yourself during the coronavirus lockdown?
I've been working at home for a while so nothing really changed, except that I've been gardening more. I'm trying to grow some veggies. As I can't go to swim, I've been jumping the rope instead. The rest has been the same; rehearse at my studio, write, read, watch movies, etc...

Read the rest here: RTE

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Alt Press say some words about DEAFBRICK's genre destroying new single 'Sweat-Drenched Wreck'


They say:

Brazilian trio Deafkids floored us with their Neurot Recordings debut, 2017’s Configuração do Lamento. It was a synergy of punk, garage rock, noise and indigenous South American music. Meanwhile, industrial terror duo Petbrick (starring founding Sepultura member Iggor Cavalera) were laying out their high-speed cacophony in clubs packed with noise fiends. Both bands collaborated onstage at the acclaimed Roadburn Festival in 2019 and agreed that they should make a record. That LP, Deafbrick, comes out Sept. 4. “Sweet-Drenched Wreck” was released earlier this week, and the world just got a fuck-ton scarier.

See the piece here: Alt Press

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In Phase say some words about J. Zunz remix of Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs 'Hell's Teeth'


They say:

Still fresh, the new Pigs (x7) record Viscerals is their most complete release to date, with 8 tracks of saturated drums, screeching vocals and everything else that you would expect from the psych / Krautrock infused Heavy Rock-band.  However, we now have a fresh rework of Hell’s Teeth courtesy of another Rocket Recordings artist, the up and coming J. Zunz. 

This re-edit gives the track a Berlin nightclub feel with the thumping kick drum and outright intense stereo panned vocal effects at the start of the track immediately making you feel dirty, in a great way. The synth work throughout the track further adds to this alternate reality, and the track transforms into what could be the background accompaniment to a freaky horror film scene, but yet again this feels somewhat incredible. 

Overall, a great piece of work from an artist we had no idea existed until 5 hours ago, but now can’t get enough of. We’re going to catch-up with J. Zunz in the near future and discuss some fascinating points regarding her music and how she creates, so watch this space!..,

Read the rest here: In Phase

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J. Zunz album 'Hibiscus' released today


"Both the approach and the resulting tapestry here are Lorena’s and hers alone." Circuit Sweet
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"She’s whispering within the pitch black of the secret room" Beats Per Minute
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"Hypnotic and beautiful." Overblown
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"I’m already impatient for the next album."  Prog Aspect
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"Poised to push her further into the flickering floodlights." Raven Sings The Blues
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"Intoxicating."  9/10 Backseat Mafia


J. Zunz is the solo reinvention of Lorena Quintanilla - better known up until this point as one half of Mexican duo ‘Lorelle Meets The Obsolete.’  And today sees the release of her new album Hibiscus

There are two ltd edition vinyl versions available – Tropical Swirl can be bought from the Rocket Bandcamp link below or 'Exotic Blue' versions can be picked-up from your local Records shop:

Rocket Bandcamp

Hibiscus marks a move on sonically from earlier comfort zones in Lorena's work (check, Silente from 2017) into minimal electronics, hypnotic repetition and compelling trance states, arriving at a soundworld in which cyclical synth patterns, eerie ambient textures and cathartic vocal exhortations coalesce into a beguiling atmosphere of otherworldly intensity. Although some might hear echoes amongst these songs of the like of Angelo Badalementi’s ghostly raptures, the bleak epiphanies of Nico’s Marble Index or Fifty Foot Hose’s spare sci-fi psychedelia, both the approach and the resulting tapestry here are Lorena’s and hers alone.

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20 Aug 2020

The Quietus stream IMPATV's video for GNOD & João Pais Filipe track 'Faca De 'Ar'



As revealed before, IMPATV created videos for three of the tracks taken from GNOD & João Pais Filipe's album 'Faca De Fogo' and you can watch the second video, for the track 'Faca De 'Terra' above.

See what The Quietus say about it here: The Quietus

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19 Aug 2020

Ahead of Friday's album release – J. Zunz reveals fuzz filled new track


"Hypnotic and beautiful." Overblown
-

"An absolute delight." Terrascope
-
"Intoxicating." 9/10 Backseat Mafia

J. Zunz the solo project from Lorena Quintanilla, who is one half of Mexican duo ‘Lorelle Meets The Obsolete’ releases her new album 'Hibiscus' this Friday. 

Ahead of its release we are excited to reveal a new track from the album, the glorious fuzz infused '33:33' – listen to it exclusively via Everything is Noise here:

Link

'Hibiscus' is available to preorder on ltd edition 'Exotic Swirl' vinyl via the Rocket shop:

Rocket Shop

Or you can buy on ltd 'Tropical Blue' vinyl via your local record shop. 

This is what Lorena says about '33:33':
"I  wrote this song some months after I turned 33. I wrote it from beginning to end without stopping, vocals included. That same year we had presidential elections in México and for the first time I felt there was some hope. The lyrics talk about that: open doors creating different angles. There’s geometry inside the song. The arpeggio is ticking like a clock and if you are using headphones you can listen to the double drum takes going out of phase at some point, like a rebellion rising against the structure. Time is an important element in the song, a reminder that in México it takes time to build something. This song was the first one I wrote for ‘Hibiscus’ and was the one who led and defined the rest of the album."

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Backseat Mafia gives J. Zunz – Hibiscus 9/10


They say:

J. Zunz, the alias of Lorelle Meets The Obsolete‘s Lorena Quintanilla, released her debut album Silente in 2017, which melded fuzzy-or erstwhile intricate- guitars with textural synths. Since then, Lorelle Meets The Obsolete put out the highly praised De Facto in 2019, with it’s superb collision of swirling electronic manipulation and the duo’s guitar frenzies. As much as Lorelle… has been responsible for some of the most sonically adventurous psych experimentalism of recent times, Quintanilla’s own audiological worlds- new album Hibiscus especially- are just as innovative.

Although J. Zunz’s new album Hibiscus contains characteristics of De Facto’s woozy noise it also leans even further into a trance-y realm, as impressionably Quintanilla’s own sonic imprint as possible. Despite initially aiming to be a ‘stripped down’ scheme for Lorena, and while there is certainly a detectable ‘less is more’ impression, the general sound remains full, emotionally affecting; anything but skeletal. Overtime exemplifies this, with Lorena’s serene vocals and thoughtful words amid a beautifully minimalist arrangement.


The enduring cohesion and enjoyment of Hibiscus can be attributed, at least partly, to it’s hypnotic aural repetition throughout; creating a vibrant delirium for the ears. Over the seamlessly morphing eight tracks, Hibiscus truly encloses the listener in a singular sphere, the album’s central thematic current of intense resilience. There is minimalism mingling with massive walls of maximalism...

Read the rest here: Backseat Mafia

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18 Aug 2020

Watch IMPATV's video for GNOD & João Pais Filipe track 'Faca De 'Terra'



IMPATV created videos for three of the tracks taken from GNOD & João Pais Filipe's album 'Faca De Fogo' and you can watch the one for 'Faca De 'Terra' above.

See what The Quietus say about it here: The Quietus

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13 Aug 2020

ATTN:Magazine interviews J.Zunz


They say:

Fearless four-track improvisations, spiritual jazz recurrence, manipulations of passing time. Lorena Quintanilla discusses three important albums.

Listen here: ATTN:Magazine

Lorena’s picks: 
Los Llamarada – Gone Gone Cold
Phil Cohran & Legacy – African Skies
Éliane Radigue – Trilogie De La Mort

The new J. Zunz record, Hibiscus, is out 21st August via Rocket Recordings.

Lorena also put together a list of choice records from the Mexican underground:

Black Forest – Kentu Brixtu (2001 – 2011)
Penetración Cósmica – Penetración Cósmica Vol. 1
XYX – Sistema de Terminación Sexual
White Ninja – Guácala los modernos y su electro
Mamá Burger – Pastillitas y Licor
Ratas del Vaticano – Tiempos de Austeridad
Selma Oxor – Selma Oxor

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The Prog Aspect reviews J.Zunz album Hibiscus


They say:

Last year’s De Facto was the fifth release by Mexican duo, Lorelle Meets The Obsolete, the third of their albums to be released internationally, and the first that I heard. It grabbed me immediately, from its jarring and bruising opener. The intriguing mix of dream pop gone wrong and electronica providing a psychedelic nightmare soundscape, with every beautiful and serene moment being met with something darker and more threatening, had me hooked. The duo released an EP earlier this year, which is just as enthralling. Also this year, Lorena Quintanilla (Lorelle) has released a second solo album as J. Zunz, and it has quite a different feel to the 2017 debut.

Actually, I’ll admit I was unaware that there had been an earlier J. Zunz album, until I visited the Bandcamp page. I listened to that earlier album (Silente) before moving on to this new release, Hibiscus. In every way, Hibiscus is a more impressive album than its predecessor. Although Quintanilla’s idea for J. Zunz to be stripped right back, Silente felt too stripped back for me. Even though you could argue that Hibiscus is still stripped back, compared with Lorelle Meets The Obsolete, is is far more lush and full than Silente. It’s somewhat odd, perhaps, to describe such almost ambient and quite minimalist music as having fullness of sound, but it’s also undeniably true...


Read the rest here: The Prog Aspect

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LISTEN: Rocket Recordings 'Remixes' playlist


Over the years we have had lots of killer remixes made of Rocket tracks.

So we have had a scour through Spotify and collected together a selection of remixes that we found on the platform into a huge 2 hour playlist.

Alongside a whole host of Rocket favourites wearing their 'remixer hats', you will also find an impressive list of remixers that include Giant Swan, Optimo, IDLES, Broken English Club, Django Django, Cherrystones, Cage and Aviary, Nihiloxia, and The Horrors' Tom Furse – all reworking many Rocket classics!

We will continually update the playlist so watch it grow...

Listen in full here: Rocket Recordings Remixes

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Hunky Rabbit interviews J. Zunz


They say:

J. Zunz is an experimental minimalist electronic project by Lorena Quintanilla who is also a member of the psychedelic band Lorelle Meets The Obsolete originally from Guadalajara .

The project began in 2017 releasing their first album " Silente" that same year, which you definitely have to listen to, its sound is very different from anything else that has been perceived, with that unique mix of psychedelia, flashes of shoegaze and electronics. , in addition to very creative and interesting voices, managing to create a somewhat pleasant album for the most demanding ears.

This year she surprised us with a new album called “Hibiscus” and we had the pleasure of her telling us about this new release, which she describes as an ethereal sound, and she also tells us about the process she had to go through. To reach this beautiful result, here we share a short interview with you and we leave you some of her songs so that you can get to know her better...

Lorena, we really appreciate your time and sharing with us and our audience more about you, tell us, how did you manage to make that transition from Silente to Hibiscus? What did you seek to change in the sound, composition or something else of the environment to create this new music?

“The transition from one album to another goes in parallel with my internal processes as I keep my music very close to me. During the four years between the two recordings, many transformations took place. For me it feels a bit almost like both albums came from two different people. " ...

Read the rest here: Hunky Rabbit

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11 Aug 2020

Listen to Rocket mix of new music via Lovers and Lollypops Club


The great Portuguese label Lovers And Lollypops invited us to do a 1 hour mix of Rocket music for their subscribers club...as it was only and hour we decided to focus on mainly new music by new bands.

You can subscribe to their club and then listen to the mix here: Lovers and Lollypops

This is what L&L say about the mix:

From The Heads to Oneida, from Ufomammut to Gnod, from Teeth of the Sea to Goat, there are several layers of identity from the Rocket Recordings catalog. Founded in 1998, the publisher has been assuming itself as a space of discovery and encountering the most varied trends of psychedelic rock, a kind of creator force on a free wheel in a musical world that, each time, is fixed more in the safe value.

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DEAFBRICK reveal video for genre destroying second single 'Sweat-Drenched Wreck'

DEAFBRICK, the new collaboration of Säo Paulo’s sonic warriors Deafkids and London’s pulverising duo Petbrick have just released their second single – a mighty track called 'Sweat-Drenched Wreck'.

Watch the tension-fueled video created by Estúdio Holotrópicovideo for 'Sweat-Drenched Wreck' here exclusively via Revolver Magazine:


Preorder on Red/Black 'splatter vinyl' from the link below or from from your local record shop. The album is also being released in the Americas on Red/Black 'half-and-half' vinyl by the great Neurot Recordings:


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This is what the bands say about Sweat-Drenched Wreck:

Deafkids
“After a tour night of little to no sleep on an overnight flight, we arrived in London and went straight to Wayne's studio to begin our sessions together, still on that jet-lag-induced, lethargic state, with no pre-thought ideas and a very diminished deadline. As soon as we began recording some ideas, Wayne quickly assembled the skeleton of what would become this track. Watching him creating and editing stuff that fast and with that quality just blew our minds. From that moment we fed on the certainty that something special was being concepted on that unique moment for us. Curious is the fact that Iggor came up with a double stick right there, using a hanger to unite them and record that drum'n'bass hi-hat. This is dancing music, Deafbrick drum'n'bass noise style!”


Petbrick
“This particular tune came from an amalgamation of quite a few strange percussive approaches from Iggor and Marian; Iggor built this excellent pair of drum sticks that was attached together with a coat hanger and a load of gaffer tape, so that he could play a weird 16-beat almost shuffled drum and bass pattern on the hi-hat with one hand. Marian played with his hands on the snare drum as an overdub, so you get a weird percussive element from the snare pattern, Then we dug deep into Douglas’ dub influences also The guitar hook almost has a cool eastern feel to it, so this track really was a mental smashing together of a lot of different, super creative approaches. I love this tune because of this, you can hear each person’s personality coexisting in a beautiful harmony.”


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