Rocket Probes – December 2021 Playlist

Rubber Oh – Little Demon

(Fuzz bass driven banger from Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs' Sam Grant's new band – great Richard Dawson/Pharaoh Overlord remix too!)

Rubber Oh

Various – The Life of an Uncultured Magician
(Great compilation put together by the wonderful Supernormal folks – contains possibly the best ever version of Tony's....those who know, knows!)
Supernormal

David Terry – Live at Cafe Oto

(Relive)

David Terry

Faust – Punkt

(Listen to the fish)

Faust 

John Dwyer & Friends – Gong Splat

(More high caliber explorations)

John Dwyer & Friends 

Mohammad Reza Mortazavi – Ritme Jaavdanegi
(Incredible rhythms – cheers to paddy for the nod)
Mohammad Reza Mortazavi 

My Disco – Alter Schwede

(Dark industrial noise and rhythms)

My Disco 

Ninos Du Brasil – Vida Eterna
(Organic techno textures)
Ninos Du Brasil

Anti Cimex – War Machine

(Another GÅS recommendation of Swedish filth)

Anti Cimex

Jim Coleman – The Unbelievable Truth

('Evol' sounds)
Jim Coleman

Sex Tide – Scorpion

(Nice fuzzed sounds on Feeding Tube)

Sex Tide

Richard Youngs – CXXI

(Bit special this...)

Richard Youngs

Oren Ambarchi – Live Hubris
(Wicked grooves)
Oren Ambarchi

Maistah Aphrica – Meow
(African inspired Italian jazz-psych sounds)
Maistah Aphrica

The Slits – Earthbeat (7" version)

(Trippin' trippin' trippin')
The Slits
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZP5pLajWs8

Mario Batkovic – Introspect
(Great new album on Invada)
Mario Batkovic

Mirage – Telepathic Radio
(Joe from Banshee's excellent psychedelic solo voyage)
Mirage

Irreversible Entanglements – Open The Gates

(Cheers to Paddy from GNOD for also turning us on to this)

Irreversible Entanglements

J.C. Heavy – is this really me

(Fuzz 'n hammond groove)
J.C. Heavy

Plastikman – Consumed

(Minimalist techno sounds...cheers to Mike Bourne for the recommendation)

Plastikman

El Michels Affair – Dhuaane

(Global fuzz)
El Michels Affair

Universally Estranged – Reared Up In Spectral Predation

(Spaced out death metal from Sweden)
Universally Estranged

Release Music Orchestra – Sundance
(Classic kraut(jazz)rock as recommended by Cherrystones)
Release Music Orchestra

Gökçen Kaynatan – Gökçen Kaynatan

(Turkish fuzzed electronics on Finders Keepers)
Gökçen Kaynatan 

Eli Kessler – Icons
(Conjuring-up a Jon Hassle vibe in places...another Mike Bourne tip)
Eli Kessler

Funeral Mist – Deiform

(Blackened sounds from Sweden....cheers to GÅS for the tip)

Funeral Mist

Wings – Nineteen Hundred And Eighty Five

(Bit of a NYE banger for you)
Wings

Listen/Follow our updated monthly Rocket Probes Spotify playlist here:

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Rocket 40% off seasonal sale

As a big thank you for supporting us over the last 12 tricky months, we have decided to do a '40% off' seasonal sale on the Rocket Bandcamp:

Bandcamp

The sale will last from now until midnight on New Years Day.

Just use the code '2021' at the checkout

Thanks
John & Chris

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Sam Grant from Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs/Rubber oh tells Birthday Cake For Breakfast 'What is on his iPod'

It reads:

Here at Birthday Cake For Breakfast, we like to get to the heart of what an artist is all about. We feel the music they listen to is just as important as the music they make.

In the struggling year of our lord 2021, we’ve had all sorts talk to us about inspirations, including the likes of Maybeshewill, Sugar Horse, Albertine Sarges and Sweeping Promises!

With the year coming to a close, we’ve decided to once again turn it on its head a bit and ask some of our favourite artists what releases they’ve been raving about this year. With that in mind, off the back of a big tour across the UK with Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs and announcing new project Rubber Oh, we’re chuffed to have Sam Grant take some time out to talk us through his favourite releases from the past 12 months:

Djinn’s album Transmission
(Rocket Recordings)

“This is a gorgeous album out on the same label as Pigs x7 and Rubber Oh, Rocket Recordings. I had the video pop up for the first single, Love Divine, one morning in February, listened to it and immediately stuck a pre order on the album. It’s a beautifully textured fog of a record, that goes on sonic journeys, effortlessly carrying you along. It’s deep and rich tonally, and finds spaces of rhythm and grooves that are magic.“... 

Read the rest of the list here: Birthday Cake For Breakfast

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Album of the year – Rocket appreciation

Always an honour to have Rocket albums pop-up in end of year round-ups, and here are a few we have seen:

Gnod – La Mort Du Sens 

The Quietus

The Quietus (Best Psych Albums)

The Quietus (Tracks of the Year)

Resident

Piccadilly

Sun13

Birthday Cake For Breakfast

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Gnod – Easy to Build, hard to Destroy

The Quietus

Tower Records

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Djinn – Transmission

Raven Sings The Blues

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Urdog – Long Shadows: 2003-2006

Raven Sings The Blues

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The Vinyl District reviews Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs live at Camden Electric Ballroom

It reads:

It’s the last show of the year for me, and it was a fucking banger. Newcastle’s Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs finally got to play their sold-out gigs at the Electric Ballroom after Covid rescheduled several dates, and it was worth the wait. These guys popped on my radar during the lockdown, and I’ve been hooked ever since hearing their stellar 2020 album Viscerals. They remind me of early Clutch crossed with Tomahawk and Jesus Lizard. It’s dark, moody, psychedelic, and heavy as hell.

The UK music scene is absolutely on fire at the moment. While there are tons of new bands alongside old favorites doing reunion tours and celebrating monumental albums of the past, there’s a notable new crop that keeps chugging along. Building an audience is arguably the hardest thing for a band to do, especially during a pandemic, but the ones who can deliver both on vinyl and on stage are going to win. Pigsx7 is one of those bands. Three albums in, and they can do no wrong...

Read the rest and see a gallery of photos here: The Vinyl District

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Listen to GOAT's October show at Plan B in Malmo in full

 

Legendary 'bootlegger' Mystery Jack recorded the whole of GOAT's first club show in over 3 years at Plan B In Malmo.

Tracklist:

GOAT Live at Plan B- Malmö, Sweden (AUDIO ONLY)

October 23rd

00:00- Queen of the Underground 

06:52-  Disco Fever

13:04- Goatfuzz

17:52- Let It Bleed

22:05-Gathering of Ancient Tribes

27:25- Fill My Mouth

34:28- Golden Dawn

41:02- Let It Burn

46:20- Run to Your Mama

53:45- Talk To God

Encore:

1:03:33- Peruanen

1:07:17- The Sun The Moon

The band only have one confirmed show for 2020, and it is looking like it will be their ONLY UK show next year:

August 25 / London / All Points East Festival  Tickets

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Louder Than War reviews Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs live at Camden Electric Ballroom

It says:

“Therapy through noise” is how Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs once described their music. At Camden’s Electric Ballroom, discovers Nils van der Linden, that seems true for both band and audience.

If you call your band Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs, you’re not really going to be serving up subtlety. And so it is for this Newcastle five-piece, who apply the same more-is-more approach of their name to their music and live performances.

It’s in Matt Batty’s roar as he delivers lyrics about everything from self-esteem to religion. It’s in the brutal tectonic riffs laid down by guitarists Sam Grant and Adam Sykes in Black Sabbath-on-steroids anthems like Halloween Bolson. It’s in the unflinching rhythms of drummer Johnny Hedley and bassist Chris Morley that make the group sound like a marching herd of mastodons, right from the very opening beats of show-starter Reducer.

It’s in former drummer Batty’s unique moves – a cross between martial arts-inspired gestures and traditional Russian dance – that continue even as he steps back from the microphone to pour bottled water down his throat and over his head...

Read the rest and see the gallery of great photos here:  Louder Than War

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Rocket Recordings – Best of 2021 Playlist

We have compiled a compilation of Rocket Recordings tracks from 2021 for you.

It is not really a 'best of', just a selection of tracks taken from all of our 2021 launches - one track per release. Listen via either Soundcloud or Spotify:

Soundcloud

Spotify

And don't forget – you can buy all these releases digitally (and some still on vinyl/CD) from the Bandcamp link below. If we do not have physical copies left then try your local record store:

Bandcamp

Thanks once again for all your incredible support this year, it has been another tricky year for us all, so thank you!!

Chris & John

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Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs to headline Raw Power 2022

Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs are heading back to Raw Power in 2022.

From Baba Yaga's Hut:

Very excited to announce the first round of bands for Raw Power 2022 London's righteous psychic celebration of sound and fury at The Dome & Boston Music Room in North London on August 26/27/28.

Headlining after two huge Electric Ballroom shows are Newcastle's Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs.

Joining them are Belgium's finest punk band Cocaine Piss, Natalie Sharp's wonderful electronic opera Marra! An interrogation into the dialect and ceremonies of West Cumbria. The debut London show for Poland's radical feminist punks Siksa. 

Plus Thank playing their killer new album Thoughtless Cruelty on Box Records, M(h)oal over from Ireland with their new EP Gender Studies.

Then two of the heaviest & bleakest bands around in the UK right now, Nottingham's Bloody Head & Newcastle's Penance Stare. Joining them are Kurokuma, killer sludge from Sheffield. 

Plus industrial electronics from Mighty Lord Deathman, droning accordion from Bong's David Terry, Raw Power favorites Luminous Bodies return.

Early bird weekend tickets tickets are on sale now for £67 (incl. of fees):

Tickets

Spotify Playlist

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Petbrick – Pet Sounds Vol.2 released today

Today see's the release of Pet Sounds Vol.2 by Petbrick!

The EP is available to buy on ltd edition cassette from Bandcamp via this link – there are also tshirts featuring the incredible artwork by Alex Heir available:

Bandcamp

You can listen to Pet Sounds Vol.2  on all streaming channels

Spotify

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Petbrick, the duo of Wayne Adams and Iggor Cavalera return with the second of their Pet Sounds series!

The Pet Sounds series is a chance for the duo to explore some uncharted sonic territory and the sounds on Vol.2 continues to do what Vol.1 started.

The 6 new tracks presented here are an exploration of weirdo noise, face melting gabber, breakcore and even an excursion into immersive krautrock territory.

Once again Wayne and Iggor find themselves engaging in the positive destruction of their crushing sound to expand the sonic Petbrick multiverse into new areas.

These tracks also give a little taster to some of the expansive sounds that can be expected on Petbrick’s sophomore album, which is scheduled for release in 2022. 

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Petbrick release Pet Sounds Vol.2

Petbrick are playing London tomorrow night supporting fellow rocketeers Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs. And the band are going to have copies of their second instalment of the Pet Sounds series on ltd edition cassette and tshirts (in natural and white colours) available to sell on the night.

Then on Friday the EP will be released digitally on Bandcamp and streaming channels!

So to make sure you get one of these tapes/shirts get a ticket for Wednesday's night show here:

Tickets

Artwork for the tape/shirt has been created by he very talented Alex Heir.

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A bit about the release:

Petbrick – Pet Sounds Vol.2

Petbrick, the duo of Wayne Adams and Iggor Cavalera return with the second of their Pet Sounds series!

The Pet Sounds series is a chance for the duo to explore some uncharted sonic territory and the sounds on Vol.2 continues to do what Vol.1 started.

The 6 new tracks presented here are an exploration of weirdo noise, face melting gabber, breakcore and even an excursion into immersive krautrock territory.

Once again Wayne and Iggor find themselves engaging in the positive destruction of their crushing sound to expand the sonic Petbrick multiverse into new areas.

These tracks also give a little taster to some of the expansive sounds that can be expected on Petbrick’s sophomore album, which is scheduled for release in 2022. 

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Press and Journal reviews Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs in Aberdeen

They say:

The psych metal five piece, aka Pigs x 7, also vowed to ramp up the amps  to  ‘trouser flapping’ volume to the Lemon Tree in their first Aberdeen gig.

Ahead of the Granite City show singer Matt Baty claimed the aim is for Pigs x 7  and the audience to become lost in music.

Mission accomplished.

As the feedback buzzed through the venue after the final riff of the night fans would have needed a compass to find their way back to normality after a euphoric show.

This was a celebration of noise, riff and the power of music.

Find What Feels Good… Pigs x 7

Newcastle’s Pigs x 7 produce a sonic maelstrom that sounds like Black Sabbath, Electric Wizard, Sunn O)))  and Sleep mixed together in a blender.

If the blender is connected to a wall of amps all ramped up to maximum.

From the offset Pigs x 7 played with intense volume and relentless, kinetic riffs.

A charismatic and passionate front-man vocalist Baty was decked out in shorts and a T-shirt that proclaimed Find What Feels Good.

Pigs x 7 in full flow feel not just good -they feel great...

See the rest here:  Press and Journal

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Backseat Mafia say some words about Rubber Oh

They say:

Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs guitarist Sam Grant’s new band Rubber Oh, have shared their debut single ‘Little Demon’. The track will  be released as a limited edition coloured vinyl 7″, exclusively available via Bandcamp only. The 7″ goes on sale this Friday, the 3rd December on Rocket Recordings as part of the last Bandcamp Friday.

“It’s a reference to when you’re lying in bed and your thoughts sabotage you” – explains Grant of “Little Demon”. 

“It’s all meant to be this fixed loop – the lyrics, the riff, the drums – a constant repetition that keeps going round, maybe like a fever dream. The little demons that when you’re in bed suddenly start in your psyche, opening a door that just leads to another door.”  Wherever this door leads, “Little Demon” is a psychic journey to be returned to on repeat. 

Pulsating bass and vibrating vocals dominate this track and the huge statement drumming hammers home the hypnotic beat. The track is heavy and grinding with only the vocals to give it little bit of a lift made special with the mix of male and female vocals. The track is an exciting beginning for a new exciting band....

Read the rest here: Backseat Mafia

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Aquarium Drunkard reviews GOAT's Headsoup album

It reads:

Last we heard from the mysterious Swedish collective Goat, it was the spring of 2018 with the “Let It Burn” b/w “Friday, Pt. 1” 7”, combining the band’s doomy and self-proclaimed “best song,” written for a short film fittingly featuring a sacred goat pit against evil pagans, with a studio outtake jam that lives in a decidedly more placid space, transmitting warm, astral, free-jazz tones. Those two tracks have now found a home on Headsoup—a collection of standalone singles, B-sides, digital edits and never before heard songs from across the group’s near-decade practice of psychedelic voodoo, along with two brand-new tracks recorded towards the end of last year.

The collection plays as seamlessly and self-assured as any of the band’s studio albums, with Goat’s witchy brew of krautrock, African rhythms, psychedelic rock, ethio-jazz, and astral blues pungently filling the aural spaces around them. Working in chronological order, Headsoup kicks off with “The Sun and the Moon”—the B-side to the band’s earliest single, “Goatman”—and the table is immediately set for a feast of epic, hypnotically propulsive proportions, where all are welcome to join in and immerse themselves into the shifting boundaries of space, time, and sound...

Read the rest here: Aquarium Drunkard

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Rubber Oh's Little Demon 7" released today

Today sees the release of Rubber Oh's debut single 'Little Demon' which is available on ltd edition yellow vinyl 7" today as part of Bandcamp Friday:

Bandcamp

The B-side of the single is an incredible remix by Richard Dawson with help from Circle/Pharaoh Overlords Jussi Lehtisalo.

For those who missed our announcement, Rubber Oh is the killer new band put together by Sam Grant from Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs.

Watch the great John O'Carroll video for Little Demon here:

Little Demon

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Listen to 'Little Demon' the debut single by 'Rubber Oh' – Sam Grant from Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs's new band

Introducing the debut single by Rubber Oh – the new band put together by Sam Grant from Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs.

The track 'Little Demon' is released on ltd edition yellow vinyl 7" this Friday 3 December at 8am GMT (Bandcamp Friday). The B-side of the single is an incredible remix by Richard Dawson with help from Circle/Pharaoh Overlords Jussi Lehtisalo.

Buy the 7" from here (from 3rd December): Bandcamp

Watch the John O'Carroll video for the fuzz bass driven 'Little Demon above.

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Straight from the fertile imagination of Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs guitarist Sam Grant comes Rubber Oh - a place where an irreverent magpie spirit has its way with the eternal psych-pop continuum. ‘Little Demon’ is the first sample of this fresh foray - a bass-driven, blissed out mantra that sets out its stall where the travails of the everyday fade into the transcendental realm of the astral plane.

A whole new box of sonic delights from a curious and artful talent, this track maps out a refreshing new landscape on which shameless melodic suss and wayward aural eccentricity lock horns. Some may be reminded of the likes of Air’s ‘10000Hz Legend’ and Super Furry Animals ‘Radiator’ by the montage of 60s-tinged mind-melt and sleek futurism here, but the truth is that Rubber Oh is a manifestation of a very personal vision. Alchemically assembled in his own Blank studios in Newcastle,  ‘Little Demon’ - in all its thundering, earcandy glory, and accompanied by a Faustian, abstraction-embracing remix by friends and cohorts Richard Dawson and Circle’s Jussi Lehtisalo - is merely a first step into the unknown.

“It’s a reference to when you’re lying in bed and your thoughts sabotage you” reasons Grant of ‘Little Demon’ - “It’s all meant to be this fixed loop - the lyrics, the riff, the drums - a constant repetition that keeps going round, maybe like a fever dream. The little demons that when you’re in bed suddenly start in your psyche, opening a door that just leads to another door”  Wherever this door leads, ‘Little Demon’ is a psychic journey to be returned to on repeat.

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Smote to play Roadburn Festival 2022

Really excited to announce that Smote will play next years Roadburn Festival, joining fellow Rocketeers The Holy Family.

The band will play recent Rocket album Drommon in it's entirety – and word on the street is a certain Adam Sykes from Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs is going to join them on guitar!

Info and tickets here: Roadburn

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Rocket Probes – November 2021 playlist

Highland Spokesman – Word
(Ethereal repetitions on Gnoomes's Zonned Records)
Highland Breath

Corroded Spiral – Ancient Nocturnal Summoning
(Great new release project feat Petbrick's Iggor Cavalera)
Corroded Spiral

New Age Doom w/Lee 'Scratch' Perry – Perry's Guide to the Universe
(Astral travelling)
New Age Doom w/Lee 'Scratch' Perry

Floating World Pictures – The Village Headman Pleading with the Old Ferryman
(Kosmische Jazz on Friendly Records) 
Floating World Pictures

The Escalation – The Escalation
(Free noise from Dead C folks on the always great Bunkland label)
The Escalation

The Shitlickers – The Shitlickers
(Fierce Swedish d-beat from '82, nice recommendation from GÅS )
The Shitlickers

Richard Dawson / Circle – Silene
(This is a great track...whole album is well worth a listen!)
Richard Dawson / Circle

Kontakt Mikrofoon Orkest – Do The Residue!
(Post punk repetitions)
Kontakt Mikrofoon Orkest

Various - Donne Che Corrono Coi Lupi
(New comp of electric sounds on Elena Colombi's Osàre! Editions label)
Various

Kevin Ayers – The Confession of Doctor Dream
(As heard in Malmö)
Kevin Ayers

Nurse With Wound – Trippin' Musik
(Deep jams)
Nurse With Wound

The People Assembly – French
(As seen supporting GNOD in Leicester recently)
The People Assembly

Joshua Abrams – Lore
(Incredible immersions)
Joshua Abrams

14th Wish – I gotta get rid of you
(Nice fuzz Garage 7" reissue – courtesy of Gary the Tall's NTS show)
14th Wish

Mohammad Mostafa Heydarian – Songs of Horaman
(Kurdish folk mantras – a Fragmented Flaneur recommendation)
Mohammad Mostafa Heydarian

Pinnacle – Cyborg Assassin
(1974 psych rock/proto metal)
Pinnacle

Your Old Droog w/ MF DOOM – Dropout Boogie
(Fuzzy hip-hop)
Your Old Droog w/ MF DOOM

Daevid Allen – Non God Will Not Go on or the Wrong Way to Be Right
(Another great Cherrystones 'NTS' show track)
Daevid Allen

Black Devil Disco Club – The Devil in Us
(Cosmic italo)
Black Devil Disco Club

Heldon – Cotes de cachalot a la psylocybine
(Perfection)
Heldon

Chrisma – Black Silk Stocking
(Fuzzy Italian post-punk)
Chrisma

Jessica 93 - Seul contre tous
(Yet another great Cherrystones recommendation)
Jessica 93 

Joe Gibbs & The Professionals ‎– Chapter 3
(Classic sonic dub)
Joe Gibbs & The Professionals

Listen to / follow our 'updated monthly' Rocket Probes playlist:

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Read The Quietus piece on Shit & Shine

It reads:

The Strange World Of... Shit And Shine

We're really made up that one of our favourite sonic entities, Shit And Shine, has recorded an epic Singularity track for our Sound & Vision subscribers. Here JR Moores talks to Craig Clouse in order to offer a ten track guide to his epic S&S back catalogue

It is sometimes off-putting when a band flaunts a naughty word, from the outset, in their very name. It can suggest they are vying a little too hard for attention and infamy, like desperate punkers Fuckshovel, the appropriate response being that meme of David Brent going, "Ooh, you're hard." And yet, every now and then, there comes an act that can truly back up the use of a good old expletive. They prove themselves the real deal, if you like. Early Butthole Surfers, for instance, whose name was taken by the great John Peel to be a reassuring badge of integrity. As Peel wrote in a 1987 Observer column, the noise-rockers' bawdy moniker suggested they were "not one of those bands hoping for a fun-run on the underground scene before exploding into big pop". Peel did not anticipate the Buttholes' Beck-ish hit single 'Pepper'. We are still awaiting Shit And Shine's equivalent ditty. As Craig Clouse tells us, it's not for want of trying that his project has never scored a lucrative crossover smash. "Shit, are you kidding?! I've been trying my whole life. I just don't have it in me. I would fucking love to write something that sold more than 500 copies on vinyl. Butthole Surfers are smart. I play in a band with one of them [King Coffey] here in Austin, Texas, called USA/MEXICO. He’s as sharp as sharp can be. They simply decided it was time to write a hit, and did just that. I'm too stupid to make that happen."...

Read the full piece here: The Quietus

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Echoes and Dust reviews Teeth of the Sea and The Utopia Strong in Bristol

It says:

This was for me, and I suspect for many there, the first gig back after the great plague. Global pandemics notwithstanding, I and the rest of the Woke Left Tofu Bothering Alternative Set (West Country Division) headed for Strange Brew in Bristol to see The Utopia Strong and Teeth Of The Sea.

Strange Brew is a new venue in a town full of many very legendary venues. Occupying a former shop in the centre of Bristol, it’s a cracking place for a gig. Whilst retro-fitted as a bar and performance space it had the feel of an illegal party in a recently shut down branch of Rymans, a vibe which entirely fitted the two turns we were to witness that night (a hat tip here to Bristol DJ The Grey Area who filled the spaces between acts with his experimental playlist).

“Due to circumstances out of our control. . .” announced Kavus Torabi taking to the stage with Six-Time-World-Snooker-Champion: The Steve Davis, “. . .we will be playing tonight’s set as a duo!” Of Mike York, there was no sign. He gone. AWOL. In the nicest possible way, it made not a difference to the four improvised drone pieces the duo conjured from the ether as both Kavus and Six-Time-World-Snooker-Champion: The Steve Davis proved more than equal to the task. We did miss Mike’s woodwind section but I’m sure we’ll see them as a trio in the future....

Read the rest here: E&D

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Something exciting is landing on December 1st...

Backseat Mafia reviews Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs live in Manchester

It says:

If you’ve ever wondered, and to be fair it’s extremely unlikely, what Harry Enfield’s 80’s creation, Stavros, would look like fronting a doom metal band, then look no further than Pigsx7. Lead singer, Matthew Baty, resplendent in a t-shirt proclaiming, “Find What Feels Good” and a very natty pair of “pig-dragon” shorts, prowls the stage of the Albert Hall barefoot menacingly. Part Idle, part Begbie, this is a man who means business. The bare chested hardcore Rollins look has been replaced with a moustache and longer hair. Lockdown can do strange things to a person.

He points to the enormous banner, with the word Pigs dripping in blood and tells us how happy that gigs are back and the chance to unfurl it in public after so long. It dominates the stage and there can’t be many venues around at their current level, big enough to display it.

This is my first Pigs live experience, and they don’t disappoint. With their 3rd and most recent album, Viscerals, already nearly 18 months old, tonight’s set is pretty much split evenly with it and King Of Cowards, with just Sweet Relief putting in an appearance from their 2017 debut, Feed The Rats. To be fair it’s the only track that fits with the current set, clocking in at a miserly 4 and half minutes, compared to the 15 minute slogs of the rest of the album...

Read the rest here: Backseat Mafia

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The Arts Desk reviews Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs live in Birmingham

It says:

When those cold winter nights start closing in, there is really only two choices for facing up to the unpleasantness that this brings. Stay at home, batten down the hatches, whack up the heating and blow the expense. Or go out and immerse yourself in some hot and sweaty rock’n’roll.

Clearly, the majority of us at theartsdesk.com favour the second option. So, when the raucous Pigsx7 finally made it to Birmingham to support their Viscerals album of 18 months ago, there really was no choice about what to do.

It may have been cold and wet outside, but Pigsx7 weren’t going to be guided by that with their stage wear. Striding on in front of the audience looking somewhat pasty in shorts and t-shirts – except for ever-cool guitarist Adam Sykes, who looked particularly dapper, dressed in black – they soon got into the swing of things by launching into the artillery barrage of the speedy “Reducer” with a retina-burning explosion of lights where previously there had just been a fug of dry ice. From there, they took the thumping “Rubbernecker” and “Halloween Bolson” from their new album and pulverised them, while bouncing around like Geordie goblins.

“It’s always special to play Birmingham” announced singer Matt Baty to much hilarity, “As that’s where our musical fathers come from – UB40”. It was almost as if this was a signal for the audience to liven up, as next tune, the foot-stomping “Sweet Relief” saw the mosh pit erupt in no uncertain terms. Bodies slammed into each other, beer was spilled, and an almost constant flow of bodies began crowd-surfing towards the stage...

Read the rest here:  The Arts Desk

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Petbrick to play Bangface 2022

Petbrick playing the infamous Bangface Festival on 5-9 May at Southport Holiday Park.

Info and tickets can be found here: Bangface

And don't forget Petbrick are playing The Electrowerkz in London on 15 December, tickets can be bought here: Baba Yaga's Hut

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December 1st...

 

Bonnacons of Doom to play Arc Tangent Festival

Following last weekends performance at Brave Exhibitions, we are pleased to announce that Bonnacons of Doom will now be playing next years Arc Tangent Festival.

Tickets and info here: Arc Tangent

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The Sleeping Shamen reviews Nova Express's 'Twenty One'

It reads:

Although Twenty One is a reissue of Nova Express’ 2001 album One, I listened to it for the first time to write this review. I wanted to get that right out there – this is a review from fresh ears. The album has been remastered and re-sequenced, but I have no comparison to comment on that latter element of this reissue.

The press release states that Torbjörn Abelli stated in 2001 that ‘this album will mature and be perfect twenty years from now.’ The startling discovery of my three listens of Twenty One is that I came away with the same impression listening to it only now. Nova Express have now joined the ranks in my knowledge base of other influential bands of their age (Can and Soft Machine came immediately to mind) whose presence still resonates in current bands like Radiohead, Ulver or Unreqvited.

Fredhäll starts off this version with a drone that continues throughout, slowly followed by piano and other keyboards joining in, creating layers of pastoral sound. This slow, deliberate song seems the perfect opener, in my experience, of the album.

Wave To Each Other, again begins with a drone, but soon drums and bass enter in a faster tempo than the previous track. At the two and half minute mark, the first vocals appear but are not prominent, and soon saxophone lines add some jazz flavor. Trees, Grass And Stonehenge, the shortest track, has the same feel as the previous track but the jazz is trippier, like Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew era, or early Weather Report...

Read the full piece here: The Sleeping Shamen

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The Yorkshire Post reviews Teeth of the Sea / The Utopia Strong show at The Crescent

It reads:

Let us address the green baize elephant in the room first. Seated stage left, benevolently presiding over a burbling modular synth that resembles an analogue telephone switchboard crossed with the flight deck of a UFO, that is indeed 1980s snooker legend Steve Davis.

Davis is also a long-standing champion of obscure and experimental music, and his years as a DJ and radio presenter have now led him to make his own psychedelic electronic sounds as The Utopia Strong, in collaboration with his multi-instrumentalist friends Kavus Torabi and Michael York, veterans of a raft of cult bands including Gong, Coil and Current 93.

Here in a double header with Rocket Recordings labelmates Teeth Of The Sea, the band’s very decent debut album becomes just a jumping-off point for tonight’s improvisation-led live set. The opening drones mutate sedately into the rhythmic pulse of a dystopian sci-fi soundtrack, before entering lush, woozy territory led by York’s explorations on woodwinds and Torabi’s vocal loops and reverbed guitar. The rhythms build gradually as these amiable cosmic voyagers crank up the interstellar overdrive pedals and set the controls for the hearts of an appreciative audience.

By contrast, Teeth Of The Sea take no prisoners, bringing the volume and intensity right from the start in a set that could easily command a festival crowd, never mind a quiet Sunday evening in York. Against pulsing back projections and slamming drum machine beats, the three musicians shift seamlessly between banks of technology and live instruments. On latest album Wraith, doomy brass parts set a pensive mood, but live, the echoing trumpet spars with fuzz bass and shredding space-metal guitar as the band laugh in the face of genre. From Scorn-like slow crushing beats to the psychedelic reels of the Chemical Brothers in their prime, Teeth Of The Sea live are a force to be reckoned with.

Read the rest here: Yorkshire Post

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White Rabbit & Rocket Recordings Christmas Party announced

We have teamed up with the great publishers White Rabbit for a joint Christmas party at The Social on 11th December, details are:

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White Rabbit and co-pilots Rocket Recordings present:
A VERY HEAVY CHRISTMAS PARTY

– Harry Sword on the Drone and Sonic Oblivion
– Richard Norris (performance)
– Steve Davis and Kavus Torabi interviewed by Jennifer Lucy Allan
– GNOD (full band, live set)
– Steve Davis, Kavus Torabi DJ set till Late

December 11th
The Social, 5 Little Portland Street, London W1W 7JD

Doors: 7pm
Tickets: £12 from here: The Social

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If you have been to the Social you know how small it is.
There are only 100 tickets gonna be available so be quick if you want to join us!

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Backseat Mafia gives GNOD a 9/10 review for La Mort Du Sens

It reads:

Salfordian psychedelic noise rockers GNOD have been around for 15 years now. They have built up a loyal following across a discography that comprises 14 or so albums and numerous collaborations with artists like João Pais Filipe, BNSU, and Godflesh’s Justin Broadrick, acquiring a reputation for providing a formidable, unpredictable, and inimitable live experience in the process. ‘La Mort Du Sens’ is their first non-collaborative studio album since ‘Chapel Perilous’ (2018), and one of the best albums they have released to date.

I promised myself I wouldn’t fill this review up with superlatives, but it will be difficult since this is some of the best music I’ve heard by anyone in quite some time. Over the course of five songs and just over half an hour, GNOD demonstrate on ‘La Mort Du Sens’ that they have lost none of their talent for knowing when to keep things tight and when to loosen things up. Indeed, in terms of their body of work, this album may well ultimately stand up as the one on which they perfected the art of deploying these two opposing disciplines...

Read the rest here: Backseat Mafia

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Birthday Cake for Breakfast interview with Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs about new single Hot Stuff

It reads:

Tell you what – we love hearing from artists when things go right. We equally love hearing from artists when things go dreadfully wrong. A song that was a piece of piss, written in 20 minutes? Or years in the making and a bastard to write?

Whether it’s a song that came together through great duress or one that was smashed out in a short amount of time, we’re getting the lowdown from some of our favourites on the one song that they can’t stop thinking about – in their own words.

Something different this time around, as Adam Sykes talks us through the latest Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs single – a collaborative cover with The Lovely Eggs! ‘Hot Stuff’ – the natural single choice – sees all proceeds going towards Sunderland record store Pop Recs in memory of the late Dave Harper. Tour dates below (tickets here). Take it away, Adam…

“It feels important to start this by saying we didn’t write this song. Not only did we not write the song but we barely changed the arrangement. There was little need to, it has everything in all of the right places.

During the height of the pandemic I was shielding, it meant we weren’t able to get together as we’d have liked or, once restrictions allowed, use the free time as we’d have liked. With that in mind, a cover seemed like a sensible prospect. Something to keep us distracted from the news. The track was already written, all we had to do was play it a little slower and with a lot more distortion. Once the bones of the track were down, restrictions were lifted and shielding was a memory; it became apparent we needed some other vocals and The Lovely Eggs sat at the top of our list. For some reason, they said yes.

Shortly before that, Dave Harper of Frankie and the Heartstrings tragically passed away. He was a very popular figure in the North East, especially amongst musicians. Having set up Pop Recs, a record shop and venue in Sunderland, that was an awful lot more than that. We were meant to play the reopening of Pop Recs. It would have been our first show back after… you know. A grander version of the venue, we kept hearing how excited Dave was to have it finally be finished. Those gigs weren’t able to happen but with Hot Stuff nearly there it was a no-brainer to use it to raise money for Pop Recs. As a mutual friend kindly said, “He’d probably have pretended to hate it but secretly really liked it”.

Like I say, we didn’t write this song so there’s only so much I can say about it. I’m sure Pete Bellotte and Donna Summer have done an interview about it somewhere but y’know, it’s for a good cause so just buy it.“

See the piece here: Birthday Cake for Breakfast

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Petbrick remixes Harm's Way

Listen to Petbrick remix the track ‘Pretender’ by Harm's Way – the track is available on the double album ‘Isolation’ released by Closed Casket Activities

Listen/Buy here: Harm's Way

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Kuro announce Bristol show

Following the announcement of Kuro's London show with Sons of Viljems, the duo have now announced a second show at Bristol's Cube Cinema on 21 January put on by Echoic Memory.

Jan 20 / London / Camden Assembly  Info/tickets
Jan 21 / Bristol / The Cube  Info/tickets

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Festival Novas Frequências announces 'ROAM' – featuring a special Deafbrick, Duma and Simon Grab collaboration

What they say:

Festival Novas Frequências
December 2021

Uniting artists Deafbrick (DEAF KIDS + Petbrick), Duma KE, Simon Grab and the organization Genesys –  Roam is a sort of meta-maze: a 3 D game-shaped maze in first person composed of approximately 50 references of mazes removed from cinema, visual arts, history, mythology. and literature. The work reflects on the decompression of situations experienced and not understood that confuse humans.

Roam was originally commissioned for the @inout_festival, a project with support of the Coincidence, a program of exchanges between Switzerland and South America created by the Swiss foundation Pro Helvetia, and is now presented in the virtual gallery of #NF2021.

The gallery will be available from 01/12 here:

Festival Novas Frequências

And more information about the project can be read here

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More reviews of GNOD's La Mort Du Sens

Here's more review's of GNOD's latest album (post will be updated as they come in):

"Phenomenally heavy work from start to finish."
Music OMH

"Incessant and brutal sensory attack."
Sentireascoltare

"Filthy, caustic, razor-sharp – GNOD are back"
Loud and Quiet

"Discordant thing of beauty. This is pretty much what I want from Gnod." 
God Is In The TV

"This is a proper banger." The Sleeping Shamen

"Like an absolute force of nature." Brainwashed

"We all need a band like this in our lives." Sun-13

Buy the album now from your local record shop or from here: Bandcamp

The band will also be selling an exclusive red vinyl version from their merch table on their forthcoming tour

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GNOD and Smote to play Astral Festival

The great Astral Festival returns next year with a special two day event at Strange Brew – we are happy to reveal that both GNOD and Smote will be playing on the Saturday.

Tickets can be bought from here: Headfirst

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Echoes and Dust reviews GNOD's La Mort Du Sens

It reads:

One should never expect the obvious when approaching the work of Manchester art/noise collective GNOD so perhaps it makes perfect sense that they have done the one thing I didn’t foresee on La Mort Du Sens, which is to make an entire album of no-nonsense fuzz punk bangers. Paddy Shine of the band has said they wanted to create a set of songs which more closely matched the experience of seeing them live, where they tend to go out with noiseniks like Part Chimp and Hey Colossus and match them all the way. You can see how the desire to get back to gigging and wanting some new crushingly great riff-bastards to assault people with would appeal. As ever with GNOD there is much to admire and consider in the lyrical content and I guess as such the album in their catalogue this most resembles is Just Say No To The Psycho Right-Wing Capitalist Fascist Industrial Death Machine.

The album title translates as “The Death of Meaning” reflecting the uncertainty of the times we’ve all been living through. The songs carry a sense of abandon and abandonment, with much of the bands trademark righteous anger turning to nihilism. The most obvious example of this bleak “for tomorrow we die” attitude is lead single ‘Pink Champagne Blues’ which races along like a rhino on speed and includes such exhortations as “Let’s get fucked, head rush”. It comes with a video of skateboarders which is a clear homage to ‘100%’ by Sonic Youth and there’s plenty of nods to late 80’s and early 90’s alt-rock throughout the album...

Read the rest here: E&D

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