Rocket Probes – December 2020 Playlist

GNOD – They Live
(First track to be revealed from the gnew Gnod compilation, culled from rare and unreleased music from 2008-2011)
GNOD

Various – Psych Against Cancer II (Vol 1 & 2)
(Massive collection of songs including tracks by Anthroprophh, Autotelia, Sex Swing and Flowers Must Die...all for a good cause)
Vol1
Vol2

The Utopia Strong – Ninth Art
(Third in the series of these Utopia Strong self released albums)
The Utopia Strong

Head Drop - Stay Another Day (The Final Kiss)
(Reading's finest cover East 17 for Double Dot Dash charity comp)
Head Drop

Azna de L'Ader – Zabaya
(Bit of a mess at times, but great fun and killer fuzz)
Azna de L'Ader

Dropdead – Dropdead 2020
(Thanks to Jimmy martin for intro'ing us to this bucket full of noise)
Dropdead

Phile – Marauder
(Psyched analogue techno)
Phile

Melanie De Biaso – And my heart goes on
(The stoned hip-hop ending is perfection)
Melanie De Biaso

Crazy Doberman – Illusory Expansion
(Killer jazz noises)
Crazy Doberman

Shjrunken Heads – Neolithic Dog
(London jams)
Shjrunken Heads

Byron Westbrook – Electric Blued 
(Great tuareg sounding noisescapes on Hands In The Dark)
Byron Westbrook

Highway Robbery – For Love or Money
(70s ROCK!!)
Highway Robbery

Alison Cotton – Only Darkness Now
(Luscious album of immersive folked drones)
Alison Cotton

Omega – Tűzvihar
(Hungarian fuzz from '69)
Omega

Craven Faults – Enclosures / Erratics & Unconformities
(Getting lost in a synth world)
Enclosures
Erratics & Unconformities

Mohammad Reza Mortazavi – Ritme Jaavdanegi
(Persian via Berlin grooves – thanks to Paddy for the Gnod)
Mohammad Reza Mortazavi

Haikara – Jälleen on Meidän
(Finish prog recommended by Pharaoh Overlord)
Haikara

Jeff Parker – Fusion Swirl
(Really great groove n' drone track)
Jeff Parker

Oh Sees – Panther Rotate
(Some good stuff on this new album of experimental jams)
Oh Sees

El Grupo Folclórico - Tamba
(Crazy rhythms)
El Grupo Folclórico

American Cream Band – I am an Arrow
(Stoned sax-wah jam)
American Cream Band

Lord Tusk – Paradise Awaits
(Dark dance floor sounds)
Lord Tusk

Gruppo di Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza - Niente
(Follow-up to The Feed-Back album...you liked that, you will love this)
Gruppo di Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza

Supersister – No tree will grow
(Droned rock)
Supersister

Black Curse – Endless Wound
(Incredible album of psyched death)
Black Curse

Daniel Avery / Alessandro Cortini – Enter Exit
(Fuzzed kosmische sounds)
Daniel Avery / Alessandro Cortini

Andrew McGibbon – Northern Gothic 
(Foggy Moby Grape sounds from now)
Andrew McGibbon

TOMAGA – Schleissen 5
(Perfection as always)
TOMAGA

Shiver – San Francisco's Shiver
(Power trio wah-rock from '72)
Shiver

Upupayāma – Upupayāma
(Really nice Kikagaku Moyo by this Italian outfit)
Upupayāma

Harold Budd – Darkstar
(RIP)
Harold Budd

Listen to our updated Monthly Rocket Probes Spotify Playlist here:

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Read J. Zunz fave albums of 2020 via Son Of Marketing

It says:

We asked to different musicians, producers, bloggers, journalists, label owners to make a short list of their best albums of this year. This is the list curated by J. Zunz, the solo project of Mexican artist Lorena Quintanilla, better known for her work with the duo Lorelle Meets The Obsolete. Three years after the debut album Silente, she has released her second full-length Hibiscus, out via Rocket Recordings and Commando Vanessa...

Read the list (that includes Pharaoh Overlords mighty album '6') here: Son Of Marketing

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Seasonal 40% off Rocket sale – for one week only!

At the start of the year, who would've thought the only way to experience a live event from your favourite bands would be sitting in a room (possibly on your own) listening to one of their albums as loud as your neighbours could cope with it. Rocket HQ has been doing their fair share of imaginary gigs this year but frankly I think we can safely say we can't wait to get out & 'feel' the live experience again, after all who doesn't want the sensation of frenzied vibrating air molecules & pulsating lights rushing over you again?

So as a 2nd best experience which nonetheless we value greatly too, we hope to bring some recorded Christmas delight to your worn out ears. And as a huge thank you we are offering 40% off our available Rocket Stock on our Bandcamp store for the whole of Christmas week starting Christmas Day and ending New Years Day.

So fuck 2020, end it on a high in 'a reality you can rely on' & disappear in smoke.

Discount code: 'fuck2020' from 9am tomorrow (25th December).

Rocket Bandcamp

On a personal note, both John & Chris would like to thank you all for your continued support this year.  At times it's been more challenging than ever, some things have happened this year we never foresaw & it all feels stronger as a community.  As a Label  we strive hard to try and bring you the work of a magnificent wide ranging roster of bands that we are very proud of with hope they can all get to perform again next year.

So even if everything  we do isn't to your taste, we value your open mindedness in what feels like quite a closed minded outside world at times & therefore hope we help in some way to lift your experience beyond.

We have also compiled a special playlist of tracks taken from each Rocket release that came out in 2020. You can listen to via the Soundcloud or Spotify link below:

Soundcloud   Spotify

Thanks

John & Chris 

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Watch stunning PETBRICK live session for FACT Magazine

Back on the 19 October, PETBRICK headed over to '180 The Strand' in London to film a very special 'distanced' live session for FACT Magazine. 

Watch all 30min+ of the live show plus read a short interview with the band here: 

FACT Magazine

The band were so eager to be able to get out and actually play live again – this incredible footage clearly shows the duo's explosion of pent-up energy that was brewing after months of lockdown.

All the 'eye-popping' visuals were expertly put together by Laima Leyton who was also involved in the filming on the day.

Thanks so much to FACT for making this happen, plus for the fantastic editing to create this stunning piece of film. It truly documents PETBRICK at the top of their game, reaffirming the duo's unequalled energy and absolute uniqueness of their sound.

PETBRICK's debut album 'I' –plus their remix album and recent EP 'Pet Sounds' can be bough/listened to here: 

Bandcamp

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V13 interviews Pharaoh Overlord

They say:

Finland’s Pharaoh Overlord Discuss Isolation, Inspiration and Working with Aaron Turner on New Album ‘6’

Over here at V13, we love music that is a bit more adventurous, so when we were pitched the opportunity to speak to Finnish band Pharaoh Overlord about their new album, 6, we jumped at the chance. (Oh, and read our full album review here too.)

Taking influence from a raft of sources ranging from Italian electro-pop to Kraftwerk, 6 is out now via Rocket Recordings. We recently spoke with the duo of Tomi Leppänen and Jussi Lehtisalo to find out more about the recording, their experiences through lockdown, and working with longtime collaborator Aaron Turner (Sumac, Old Man Gloom).

Thanks for your time, how is life treating you at the moment?

“Life is good, we have a lot of projects together and are already making a new Pharaoh Overlord album as well at the moment.”

Your new album 6 is out now. It’s been an album inspired lyrically by separation. Was this the original inspiration or were they themes triggered by the global pandemic?

“When we started making the album the pandemic was not going on yet, so we didn’t have any pre-conception at all. But, as the situation changed, Aaron seemed to pick it up and bring in some themes regarding the pandemic.”..

Read the rest here: V13

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Pharaoh Overlord 'Amazing Radio' takeover

Pharaoh Overlord are taking over Amazing Radio on Tuesday 22nd December from 2pm...

What they say:

"Finish legends Pharaoh Overlord will be taking over Amazing Radio on Tuesday 22nd of December at 2pm! Fresh off the back of their amazing new record '6', expect an eclectic mix from these monsters of experimental rock."

More info here: Amazing Radio

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Freq reviews Pharaoh Overlord

They say:

I liked Pharaoh Overlord’s last release, but this newbie is on a whole different level. They’ve turned down that motorik dial a touch, to let in a banquet of euphoric synth work wrapped in a barrage of skewed disco flavours.

A groovesome cocktail easily demonstrated by “Path Eternal’”s Giorgio Moroder romp, Jussi Lehtisalo and Tomi Lepännen’s vapourising keylines and smeared transits slips and slides, their wares suitably effects-shadowed and dynamically diced. They are joined by Sumac’s Aaron Turner, whose growling Laibach-like gravel of a vocal completes the picture in an unusual pairing that avoids the tiresome clichés of both dance and doom to create something genuinely original. Yeah, it might not be to everybody’s taste, but I’m loving it.

The bronzed EBM wah-fed gothika of “Arms Of The Butcher”, with its incredible washy guitar, circles and chiselled glistens that cavort a plenty. The layering is fab too, a crafted emphasis that runs the album’s entire length, sends your eyes into a psychedelic spin whilst giving your nerve centres a cool kosmischhhhe kiss...

Read the rest here: FREQ

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More 'End of Year' love for Rocket releases

Here's a few more Rocket release inclusions in 'Album of the Year' lists:

The Quietus (Tracks of the year)

$hit & $hine - Hillbilly Moonshine

Sex Swing – Valentine's Day At The Gym

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Louder

Sex Swing – Type II

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What Hi FI

Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs – Viscerals

-

Backseat Mafia

J. Zunz – Hibiscus

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Echoes and Dust

Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs – Viscerals

-

Fuzzy Sun

Kooba Tercu – Proto Tekno
Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs – Viscerals
Sex Swing – Type II

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Brooklyn Vegan (Steve Von Til)

Deafbrick – Deafbrick

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God is In the TV

Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs – Viscerals
J. Zunz – Hibiscus

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Sister Ray

Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs – Viscerals

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Cast The Dice

Sex Swing – Type II

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The Sleeping Shamen

Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs – Viscerals

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Avopolis

Kooba Tercu – Proto Tekno

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Destroy Exist

Pharaoh Overlord – 6

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Fragmented Flanuer

Deafbrick – Deafbrick
Och – II
Autotelia – I
Sex Swing – Type II
Pharaoh Overlord – 6
Urdog – Long Shadows: 2003-2006

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Raw Vibes

Och – II
Autotelia – I
Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs – Viscerals
Pharaoh Overlord – 6
Shit and Shine – Malibu Liquor Store
J. Zunz – Hibiscus

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The Quietus announce subscribers only GNOD/JK Flesh collab EP

What they say about the release: 

The Winter Solstice Session is here with bastions of the underground Justin Broadrick and GNOD working together for the first time and this is pretty much a definition of a dream come true for John Doran

Now that I’ve had to pretty much permanently banish myself from tQHQ - I’m living in Wiltshire with my immediate family and an elderly, sheltering mother while remaining unable to drive - I’m struggling to imagine a time where I’ll ever return to our office to work. But absence makes the heart grow fonder and the brain grow softer.

Every time I think of all the London offices we’ve shared - and the word office is being pushed way past breaking point in some of these instances - my primary memory is now of laughter. Some of it joyful; some chemical and maniacal; some of it to the point of tears of hilarity; some in order to avert another kind of lachrymal incident; some perhaps quite unhealthy, like sets of wind up joke shop chattering teeth, clacking about along the edge of an abyssal cliff top before pinging off senselessly into the fathomless gulch below.

But there has been much laughter nonetheless and this is key to the Quietus aesthetic for better or worse and not just the feckless stupidity some no doubt see it as.

Luke and I have long since been engaged in a battle to make each other laugh with outlandish ideas if only to distract ourselves from terrifying technical misfires that happen to the creaking zeppelin of the Quietus behind the scene on a weekly basis, the threat of legal action, looming VAT bills, the shrinking of our ad revenue by 95% in an 18 month period and so on. But to be deadly serious, it’s long since been a creative strategy for us...

Read the rest here: The Quietus

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Crypt Guard reviews Koob Tercu's Proto Tekno

They say:

After last year's stellar 'Kharrüb', Kooba Tercu returns with another batch of capricious sonic delinquents. Rambunctious in nature and with an affinity to alarm-like noise, gripping rhythmics and enticing layering, 'Proto Tekno' makes for a gripping listening session. Gnarly synthesizers and sawing basslines prance upon urban percussive vandalism on 'Cemento Mori' whereas 'Filter Feeder' feels like a representation of a 21st-century jam. The collective led by Johnny Tercu constructs experimental transmissions on a platter of African rhythms and humming electronics, sonically reflecting on the shortsighted laissez-faire attitude of homo sapiens. 'Proto Tekno' is the descent into a groove-driven cornucopia of feedback-drenched unctions with an oddly danceable afterglow.

Read the piece here: Crypt Guard

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