"You must see this group. They are minimalist noise art but come on like entertainment. Absolutely captivating, classy, beautiful and sublime. No-one could fail to think this was amazing and brilliant." Stewart Lee
On 17th May, Ex Easter Island Head are releasing a new album, their first for Rocket called 'Norther'. Which can be preordered on ltd edition LP here:
Watch the John O'Carroll made video for the second track to be revealed from the album, the hypnotic repetitions of 'Magnetic Language' above.
This is what the band say about this track:
"Voices played back through phone speakers and amplified by guitar pickups create an emotive cut-up mosaic of breath and cascading harmonics. Melodic lines captured by the contemporary technology of the voice note and broadcast through the near-antique technology of the dual-coil guitar pickup. An ecstatic chorale of electromagnetic signals and gleaming tones."
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Watch Ex-Easter Island Head's mesmerising live show here:
17 May / Bristol / Cube Microplex
18 May / London / Stoke Newington Old Church (Matinee and Evening)
It's Bandcamp Friday and we have some exclusives being released today:
$hit & $hine – You Were Very High 12" Reissue of the classic 12 – expanded with an extra track and new artwork. Ltd to 300 copies. Available via Bandcamp only.
Goat – 2024 Tshirts We have this 'made-to-order' shirt design available to preorder in 7 different colour options. The preorder will close on 6 May and whatever is ordered, will be manufactured and will not be reprinted.
The Holy Family – Live Burning, Burning Live DL The bands legendary performance at Roadburn in 2022 is now available to listen too...remixed and mastered.
Goat – World Music LP Now available on ltd edition Acid Yellow vinyl in it's iconic diecut sleeve
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It is always the perfect time to pick up our latest presales/releases.
The Janitors – An Error Has Occurred LP Sweden's purveyors of drone-rock return with new album, on eye popping splatter vinyl and housed in gatefold sleeve
Obey Cobra – Mwg Drwg LP New album on ltd blue vinyl by the mightily original band from Cardiff.
Ex Easter Island Head – Norther LP This unique band's first album since 2016, and their first on Rocket.
Gnoomes – Uletai DL Hypnotic two track EP by your favourite star gazers.
The Utopia Strong – The BBC Sessions LP/CD You need this for the cover alone! Chuffed to be able to release this great session onto a physical format.
Alison Cotton – Engelchen LP Alison returns with a new album of incredibly powerful songs, essential listening.
Thee Alcoholics – Feedback LP Get intoxicated on this mighty album by The Alcoholics.
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Not only that, we still have ltd copies of the albums we released at the end of 2023 by Teeth Of The Sea, Bonnacons Of Doom, Yoke and Goat etc.
Also our Bandcamp is stocked-up of lots of European distributor warehouse finds that we had shipped back. So as always, there's lots of great releases and t-shirts from many of your Rocket faves awaiting you:
In April 2022 The Holy Family played the legendary Roadburn Festival in the Netherlands and enthralled a packed room. Now, two years on we are extremely happy to be able to share with you the live recording of this memorable event.
The digital release album 'Live Burning, Burning Live' will be available on all platforms from Friday 5th April, and as it is Bandcamp Friday there is no better time to buy it:
For those who are unfamiliar with The Holy Family – they are a collective of five musicians who conjure a sound that exhibits an affinity with great experimental totems down the ages, in a manner that is avowedly forward-facing and stamped with their own unique identity. All involved boast a pre Holy Family CV to turn clued-in heads: frontman and brainchild behind the project David J. Smith (vocals, percussion), Kavus Torabi (guitar, harmonium), Sam Warren (bass, backing vocals), Joe Lazarus (drums), and on this recording Craig Fortnam, of North Sea Radio Orchestra fame (piano & wem copicats), who was recruited to grace Emmett Elvin’s piano throne in his absence.
The band performed tracks from their debut self-titled double album (released on Rocket Recordings in July 2021) at this show. Re-arranging and expanding on the studio recordings, weaving the pagan, kosmische folk vibes with heavier, darker, acid-fried motorik grooves, all set to the otherworldly psychedelia of Mike Bourne’s (Teeth Of The Sea) commissioned live visuals film.
David J. Smith said “We were over the moon to be performing at Roadburn in 2022 and couldn’t wait to bring The Holy Family’s psych dream logic to Tilburg. We have so much respect for this wondrous, creative, tour de force of a festival.”
As you can hear in these live recordings, The Holy Family’s musical inspirations are multitudinous, and rarely if ever obvious, but if you dig anything from Can to Boredoms to Oneida to Guapo then, step this way.
“‘You Were Very High’ – an hallucinogenic sonic miracle.” Loud And Quiet
In 2018 Diagonal Records released an intriguing, three track, hand stamped, white label 12” of dancfloor sampledelia by Shit & Shine onto an unsuspecting world.
The lead track on this 12” ‘You Were Very High’ turned a lot of heads and became a club oddity, being played out by DJ’s around the world – and some movers and shakers have hailed the 12” as “Shit & Shine’s best ever release.” Strong words indeed, but one that some will find hard to argue with?
When speaking to Loud and Quiet in 2022 about this now legendary release, Craig Clouse, the man behind Shit & Shine said, “Humour is totally crucial, sometimes I want to throw in instantly recognisable reference points because it’s relatable, and just to bring a smile to people’s faces.”
So now in 2024, as the original 12” has become a bit of a collector’s item, trading hands for £60+ on Discogs – Shit and Shine and Rocket Recordings have decided ‘You Were Really High’ deserves a one off repress.
This expanded version of the EP, which is housed in new art and ltd to only 300 copies, also features a mighty extra track called ‘Dave, Have You Ever Been To London.’ A certified banger that is destined to be blasted out in Berlin’s, darkest and dankest techno basements.
So if you missed out before on acquiring this incredible release, or like many you simply collect everything the genius that Craig Clouse creates, then it is time to get high on Shit & Shine once again!
‘You Were Very High’ is released on 26 April but you can preorder from the 5th April, the next Bandcamp Friday from here:
And you can purchase a ltd edition cassette of the EP from the band on their current tour that starts this Saturday:
30 Mar / Northampton / The Black Prince 31 Mar / Newcastle / Cumberland Arms 04 Apr / Norwich / Voodoo Daddy’s 06 Apr / Sheffield / Delicious Clam 11 Apr / Leeds / Wharf Chambers 17 Apr / London / Strongroom Bar 18-19 Apr / Oslo / Kafe Haerverk 20 Apr / Copenhagen / Loppen 17 May / Berlin / Loge 22 May / Paris / Supersonic 23 May / Angers / Le Garage 24 May / Saint-Poix / Festival Les Mouillotins
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Gnoomes have announced some new music, exactly one year on from the March 2023 release of their critically acclaimed album ‘Ax Ox’.
‘Ax Ox’ reflected something of an odyssey for a complex and inhospitable modern era, an uplifting kosmische travelogue that ran through a gamut of vibrant emotion across its eleven tracks – from kraut-pop, to crystalline techno and skewed ambience.
And we are very pleased to say that this new two track EP called ‘Uletai, which is led by the 8 minute+ track ‘Ule’, a track that continues the band’s wide-eyed aesthetic of dreampop radiance, bold electronic experimentation and propulsive motorik drive.
“This track is dedicated to our late friend who tragically died in an accident.” says Sasha Painkov from the band, “Although I had recorded the music before his passing, I added vocals a few days after he passed away. Subconsciously, these words appeared before my eyes: ‘Uletai, ‘Tai’,’ which means, “Fly away, vanish.” Fortunately, I had a microphone at home and recorded it right away. Despite the sad background of this track, it remains in a major scale musically. Even as we continue to grieve our loss, we strangely feel our friend’s bright presence shining through the madness that is called reality.”
Following ‘Ule’, is the hypnotic sounds of ‘Tai’. “This track was also conceived around the same time as ‘Ule’.” says Sasha. “Masha and I were jamming at my parents’ house in Russia when we stumbled upon a simple idea that we evolved after relocating to Slovenia. Sonically, I believe this track truly complements the first one. It’s repetitive and trippy but carries more mysterious vibes.”
Sasha continues “If ‘Ule’ is a track about a journey from this life to another dimension, then ‘Tai’ is about realizing oneself as pure energy. I think, in a way (please, don’t hate me), this is our artistic interpretation of Can’s ‘Future Days’.”
Gnoomes who as a duo are now based in Slovenia (after having to leave their native Russia) are playing shows in UK and Europe in March and April 2024. Another chance to immerse into the sonic wonderfulness of this extremely unique band.
Swedish drone-rockers The Janitors have been on our radar for a while now, after releasing albums on Fuzz Club and Cardinal Fuzz. So we are pleased to announce their new album 'An Error Has Occurred' is being released on Rocket on 24th May.
Watch this great video for the single 'Anger The World' above. The video was made by and stars Jeff Daniel Phillips, who you may know from Rob Zombie's 'Munsters' movie, where he played 'Herman'.
'An Error Has Occurred' can be preordered now via the Bandcamp link below on a lush Orange/Green Splatter vinyl, and housed in an third-eye opening gatefold sleeve:
“Everything’s been fucked since David Bowie died or they started up the Hadron Collider,” say The Janitors. This feeling is epitomised in the title of their riveting new album: An Error Has Occurred.
Marking over two decades of activity for the Swedish psych-rockers, the recording is informed by heartbreak and loss as well as the dismal state of the entire planet. For The Janitors, these two polarities intertwine constantly: “What’s personal is political and vice versa.”
To channel their frustration and anger, the band revived certain songs they’d shelved during the pandemic when working on the acclaimed Noisolation Sessions. They added others, written since, that suited the mood of sticking a middle finger up to the oppressive world around us.
Whereas previous recordings were often layered up gradually, this time the full band (Henric Herlenius, Jonas Eriksson, Anders Thorell and Wilhelm Tengdahl) rehearsed intensely together before laying down everything live, over two days and nights, in a converted missionary church.
The songs on Side A have the menace of Melvins, the swagger of The Stooges and the cosmic heft of The Heads. These are the more simply constructed and poppier pieces... or so the band believe. (One friend of theirs did consider this “delusional”.)
‘In A Bliss’ acts as the album’s radiant centrepiece. A palette-cleansing love song which recalls The Jesus And Mary Chain at their most starry eyed, it finds The Janitors searching for solace and strength in straightforward companionship.
After this come the dronier numbers, drawn out with soundscapes and textures influenced by The Velvet Underground’s sonic experiments and the equally immersive atmospheres of electronic acts like Massive Attack. Hence, ‘Operator’ swings threateningly like a space-rock Swans, while the approach on ‘Farewell Spacegirl’ is jazzier and more meditative.
“It can be hard to muster up some, or even any, positive energy at this point in time,” says Henric. “We are eternally grateful to have the creative output that this constellation gives us. Neither me or Jonas would probably be here, or be the same people we are, if it wasn’t for The Janitors. We’ll leave you with a quote from an old anarchist: ‘Every society gets the criminals it deserves.’”
See The Janitors live:
24 May / Stockholm / Geronimos FGT 29 May / Bristol / The Crofters Rights 30 May / Northampton / The Black Prince 01 Jun / London / Peckham Audio
The Utopia Strong's 'The BBC Sessions' album is released today.
'The BBC Sessions' were originally recorded live at Maida Vale for a Marc Riley session on BBC 6 Music in September 2022, the five tracks capture The Utopia Strong stretching themselves and continuing to develop their aural explorations.
You can preorder The Utopia Strong's 'The BBC Sessions' on Ltd Edition Black vinyl and CD via the link below, or from your local record shop:
The band approached this session differently, as usually pieces are improvised and developed live over a longer period of time. “When we hit a point where all three of us really had something going, we would continue while the proverbial tape was rolling,” says Kavus Torabi, “So, the shorter pieces are the result of about ten or fifteen minutes playing that you wouldn’t have heard.”
The history of BBC Maida Vale Sessions is familiar to The Utopia Strong. As musicians, and lifelong music fans, the legacy - the importance - of such recordings is not lost on them. Space and place influence creativity, as is the case here, and the sleeve is a loving homage to those classic BBC releases, affectionately nodding to Strange Fruit Peel Sessions from days of yore.
See the band live:
04 Sep / Leeds / Headrow House 05 Sep / Whitby / Flowergate Hall 06 Sep / Manchester / The Yard 07 Sep / Homington / St Mary's Church
We are thrilled to reveal that we are going to be releasing a new album by the unique, genre pushing four-piece from Cardiff, 'Obey Cobra'.
'Mwg Drwg' is the follow-up to the bands debut 'Oblong' which was released on Mat Batty's (Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs) label Box Records.
Watch the video for first single 'Ten of Wands' via the link above.
This is what the band have said about it:
"The Mari Lwyd - a horse skeleton dressed in white sheets and adorned with ribbons - is a Welsh folkloric custom. In both history and the present day, for Wassail, the Mari Lwyd leads a procession, knocking on the doors of local houses trying to gain entry through song. The people who live in the houses deny the Mari Lwyd from entering, again through song, and the two sides continue this call and response until either the householders eventually relent, and the Mari Lwyd is allowed in and given food and drink... Or must continue without on their journey.
In the music video for Ten of Wands we follow the Mari Lwyd. An outsider and outcast from the edges of the earth, wandering through historical spaces void of humans, eventually ending at the open sea. Ten of Wands tells of a reading and premonition, given to lead singer K Wood, taken with a pinch of salt."
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Preorder 'Mwg Drwg' on Ltd Edition 'Blue Vinyl' via the Bandcamp link below or from your favourite record shop:
Reflective of a band operating by nobody’s rules but their own, Obey Cobra here are just as adept with bracing noise as sinister disquiet. Taking influences as diverse as Diane Arbus, David Lynch and Sonic Youth, they balance out heaviosity and grace on the likes of the majestically discordant ‘Ten Of Wands’ and the glacial yet pulverising ‘Blue Hour’. Meanwhile; on the title track, the band excel themselves by sculpting a Jesus Lizard-esque rhythmic pulse, eerie vocal abstraction and the crepuscular downtempo atmosphere of Massive Attack’s ‘Mezzanine’ into a uniquely haunting dreamscape.
Produced by Petbrick’s Wayne Adams, 'Mwg Drwg' is where the weird and eerie are amplified to intimidating proportions. It’s where grotesquely and beauty happily cohabit. It’s the eldritch chill of ‘Ghostwatch’ in which strange dimensions lurk in the suburbs. It’s an aural exorcism of William Friedkin proportions that demands your immediate attention.
See Obey Cobra live: 19 April / London / The Lexington
"Heartrending storytelling by deeply poetic folk spirit." Uncut
"Spellbinding." 4/5 Shindig
"Some of the most moving and powerful music you're likely to hear this year." The Sleeping Shaman
Alison Cotton's new album 'Engelchen' is out now. An album inspired by the story of Ida and Louise Cook, two remarkable women who helped arrange the paths of refugees out of danger in 1930s Nazi-occupied Europe.
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'Englechen' is available on 'Swirl vinyl' via the Bandcamp link below, or on clear vinyl from your local record shop:
The great 'Feeding Tube Records' are releasing the album in North America.
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See Alison live at these following dates:
23 March / Gregynog Hall / Newtown 28 March / Glad Cafe / Glasgow 29 March / The Lubber Fiend / Newcastle 30 March / Bishop's House / Sheffield 31 March / Rise / York 05 April / St Pancras Old Church / London 18 April / South Street / Reading 20 April / Carnival Records (RSD24) / Great Malvern 27 July / DK / Sønderho / Fanø Free Folk Festival 29 July / Arts Centre / Colchester
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