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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