Madder’ is the second single from Daniel Blumberg’s first album release for Mute Records, released May 4th. Stream/Pre-order the album here
The album was recorded live with legendary producer Peter Walsh (Scott Walker’s collaborator since Climate Of Hunter) in just five days during a remote residential stay in Wales, amidst a debilitating breakup with his partner of seven years along with Blumberg’s ongoing struggle with mental illness which resulted in his hospitalization just a week before recording.
Daniel Blumberg plays live at Rough Trade East on the release day of ‘Minus’! FREE ENTRY. Info here
MINUS TRACKLIST Minus The Fuse Madder Stacked Permanent The Bomb Used To Be Older
DANIEL BLUMBERG LIVE 04 May Rough Trade East, London, England – Tickets 17 May St George’s Church @ Brighton Festival, Brighton, England – Tickets 01 June Café Oto, London, England – Tickets 09 July Café Oto, London, England – Tickets 25 August Sea Change Festival, Totnes, England – Tickets
Chris Liebing and Mute are delighted to announce his signing to the label and the release of a brand new track, ‘Novembergrey’.
Listen to ‘Novembergrey’, Liebing’s debut release on Mute and a taste of what to expect from future releases.
Liebing explains his relationship with the label: “Without realising, a lot of the music I was into came from just one label, Mute. I vividly remember dancing around to songs by Depeche Mode and Yazoo and banging my head in dark basements to the likes of DAF, Laibach and Nitzer Ebb. Things came full circle when I found myself in the Mute office and I’m delighted to be working with Daniel Miller, someone I’ve known for years and Mute, a label I have known for longer still.”
Daniel Miller, talking about the new signing, said: “After meeting up with Chris at numerous techno events, exchanging music and discussing ideas for many years, it was great to hear new music by him again and we’re delighted that he’s part of the Mute family.”
In addition, Chris Liebing has announced a series of very special club nights throughout May.
9 May - Paris, Concrete (FR) 10 May - Rome, Goa (IT) 11 May - London, Village Underground (UK) 12 May - Munich, Blitz (DE) 13 May - Berlin, Berghain (DE)
Renowned worldwide for his unique DJ sets, Chris Liebing is a leading light in German techno and devoted to the performance, production, distribution and broadcasting of music on a global level. His DJ sets are sonic journeys between darkness and light, always far from the beaten tracks of the musical mainstream. ‘Novembergrey’, co-produced by Ralf Hildenbeutel, marks a new facet of Liebing’s dynamic sound, one that will certainly continue his own journey as an inspiration to DJs, artists, producers and music lovers worldwide.
A Certain Ratio announces details of the next phase of reissues on Mute, acr:mcr and I’d Like To See You Again will be released on 23 March with Good Together and Up In Downsville following on 27 April 2018.
The reissues are part of the ongoing collaboration with Mute that started with The Graveyard And The Ballroom, To Each and Force. The forthcoming releases, including the long out of print albums acr:mcr and Good Together will be followed by Sextet, Mind Made Up, Change The Station and a new compilation with recently recorded tracks plus various box sets that will include rare and previously unreleased material, in a campaign that is set to run over the next three years.
A Certain Ratio (Jez Kerr, Donald Johnson, Martin Moscrop, Denise Johnson, Tony Quigley and Liam Mullan) will embark on a UK tour in the spring, following last year’s incredible sold-out hometown performance in Manchester. The tour kicks off on 16 March in Newcastle and includes a date in London on 21 April and at Atmosphere Festival at Seel Park in Mossley.
Full details below: A CERTAIN RATIO UK TOUR (click venue for ticket link) 16 March – Newcastle, Hoochie Coochie 17 March – Glasgow, Stereo 24 March – Bristol, Fiddlers Club w/ Sink Ya Teeth 25 March – Brighton, The Haunt w/ Sink Ya Teeth 21 April – London, Garage w/ Sink Ya Teeth 18 May – Hebden Bridge, Trades Club w/ Andrew Weatherall – SOLD OUT 25 May – Leeds, Belgrave Music Hall – NEW DATE 26 May – Tameside, Atmosphere Festival
A Certain Ratio are supporters of Artists Against Hunger and will donate £1 for each ticket sold in 2018. For further details, please go to: http://againsthunger.uk/acr
A Certain Ratio embraced the ethic and culture of the late seventies post-punk explosion, but sounded like nothing else around them and refused to fit in. Formed in 1978, the band had various members throughout their career, and a core line-up of Jez Kerr, Martin Moscrop and Donald Johnson. Hailed universally as pioneers of what became known as “punk funk” thanks to the success of ‘Shack Up’ on both sides of the Atlantic, their sound is not easily pigeonholed and their influence can never be understated. The band introduced the avant-garde elements of funk, jazz, electronics, tape loops and technology to the pop song, wrapping it in a post-punk aesthetic, adding great clothes and the coolest haircuts.
They have gone on to influence generations of musicians – from LCD Soundsystem, Happy Mondays, Franz Ferdinand, ESG, Factory Floor and Andrew Weatherall, who will appear at the band’s sold out Hebden Bridge performance in May. The Guardian’s Dave Simpson paid tribute to the band, once described as “James Brown on acid” in a recent Cult Heroes piece: “Once you start listening to A Certain Ratio, it’s difficult to stop”.
A Certain Ratio recently collaborated with the designer Ian Jackman Read to create a limited edition print and postcard set illustrating all of their album releases in the form of butterflies. The limited edition print and postcard book are available here: https://acertainratio.tmstor.es/ Listen to ‘Do The Du’: https://youtu.be/TsJ_54WyZ48 Watch the inspiring short film Tribeca, directed by Michael Shamberg here: ACR Tribeca Follow A Certain Ratio on Spotify: ACR on Spotify “It was dance music, but a very different kind of dance music, one that located funk’s heart of darkness” – CLASSIC POP “Cult punk funkateers” – UNCUT “…mould-breakers” – MOJO “… all the energy of Joy Division, but with better clothes” – 24 Hour Party People “In tandem with the city that surrounded them, they had evolved, expanded, grasped a new diversity and, not least, surged to new levels of musicality.” – The Quietus on Force “Soulful, smooth and packed with proper anthems…” – The Vinyl Factory on Good Together
AARON HEMPHILL ANNOUNCES DEBUT ALBUM ‘SCENTED PICTURES’ - OUT 6 APRIL 2018 LISTEN TO A TRACK HERE
Aaron Hemphill has announced details of his debut solo album, Scented Pictures. Released under the name Nonpareils, these are his first recordings since an amicable departure from Liars in 2016. Nonpareils’ Scented Pictures is out on Mute on 6 April 2018.
Hemphill explains, “Basically I wanted a name that didn’t evoke a single person or a producer name, but hopefully something that sounded more like a group or a band… something plural. The Timeless Now feels like the most distilled track to communicate this intended illusion” The songs on Scented Pictures, recorded by Hemphill in Berlin, are directly inspired by concepts relating to memories, or more accurately the sensory experience of memory.
The tracks brim with poppy ideas and lush colour, yet their structures aim at defying logic, filtering the songs into strange new psychedelic corners. Hemphill believes that encouraging the brain to fill in the gaps in something—be it a piece of music or a specific memory—leads to an amplified, more vivid experience for the listener. The snippets of sound and image inside Scented Pictures’ songs were mostly culled from the musician’s own memory, and tinted by his entry into a new solo phase in his career. The songwriting displayed on Scented Pictures is metaphysically restructured pop, the wealth of sounds and sonic processes at Hemphill’s disposal having diversified and warped since Mess, his final studio album with Liars.
Based in Berlin since 2015, Hemphill started working on Scented Pictures by recording stacks of acoustic instruments while, in his words, “doing the silliest things”. He played the drums without click tracks, encouraged his engineer to distract him, and played the piano while allowing poorly set-up microphones to fall away from the body of the instrument. Ultimately the sound palette grew out further, taking in a vast array of virtual instrumentation too, all glitched and processed into off-kilter music.
Having sought out new sources of inspiration following a long period of focusing solely on instrumental music, Scented Pictures sees Hemphill’s songwriting take on yet another new form, mutating into something woozier and increasingly abstract—without sacrificing the hooks in the process.
When the album was completed it sounded more to Hemphill like an album made by an obscure group rather than a lone producer. Hoping to further emphasise this idea the name Nonpareils was preferred over simply Aaron Hemphill, the first and most obvious in cheap and hopefully effective tricks employed to fool the listener. The confusingly written and pronounced Nonpareils, in fact, refers to (pronounced “non-perils” in American-English, known as Hundreds and Thousands in the UK) candy dots often sprinkled onto cheap candy—”to make it more exciting” as Hemphill says. Notably, the French translation of nonpareil is ‘unparalleled’, “which I found quite nice for such a cheap candy,” jokes Hemphill.
Nonpareils Scented Pictures is out on 6 April 2018.
NONPAREILS SCENTED PICTURES I Can’t Feel The Freeze Or Fade (Intro) The Timeless Now Cherry Cola Ditchglass, They Think Invisible Jets Makes Me Miss The Misery Girls Scented Pictures Press Play The Fever That Goes Up And Down Fast Hat, Main Hat Most Boys
ERASURE (Andy Bell and Vince Clarke) have announced a collaboration with Echo Collective, the Brussels based collective of post-classical musicians best known for their ongoing collaborative work with A Winged Victory for the Sullen, Johann Johannsson, Dustin O’Halloran and Stars of the Lid.
The collaboration sees the entirety of Erasure’s latest album, World Be Gone, given a post-classical rework. World Beyond was recorded over ten days by Andy Bell and seven performers from the Echo Collective: Margaret Hermant (violin, harp), Neil Leiter (viola), Thomas Engelen (cello), Jaroslaw Mroz (double bass), Gary De Cart (piano) and Antoine Dandoy (vibraphone, glockenspiel). The album was produced by Echo Collective, mixed by Gareth Jones and arranged by the Echo Collective’s Gary De Cart, Margaret Hermant and Neil Leiter. Neil Leiter from the Echo Collective explains, “The process of this project was really deconstruction and re-purposing.
We started by listening to each track layer by layer, and then, using the layers that inspired us or we found essential, we reconstructed the tracks instrumentally. Each of the instruments in the band setup was chosen for their inherent capacities and roles. Often choosing which layer to put with each instrument was a question of matching roles and colours. By stripping so much away, we were able to find a new space for Andy to fill. The text of the songs became much more important in the overall construction of the songs, and Andy was free to explore more dynamics and vocal range.” The tracks featured on World Beyond show award-winning songwriters Vince Clarke and Andy Bell in a more reflective mood, giving the world and recent political upheavals a thoughtful examination. This new collaboration gives a new dimension to the tracks - including fan-favourites ‘Still It’s Not Over’, which tackles the LGBT rights movement post- Stonewall, and ‘Lousy Some Of Nothing’, a ballad for our post-truth age - but the band’s optimism about the future remains clear and bright. Andy Bell explains: “…the reinterpretations have brought such enormous context to the songs, it has created a new place for them.”
The original idea for the album developed by Vince Clarke, who initially suggested that a single from World Be Gone could be given an orchestral reinterpretation but as the idea expanded and took shape, he spoke at length to the Echo Collective ahead of the recording. “It was great to talk through ideas with Echo Collective and then see how their arrangements took shape. The collaboration has given elements of the album a whole new feel and Andy’s vocals remain as powerful and uplifting as ever” says Clarke. The collaboration is a natural progression from 1987’s The Two Ring Circus, a companion EP for the band’s second album, The Circus, which included several orchestral interpretations.
Watch a short film, introducing the players, filmed during the recording sessions at Jet Studio in Brussels: http://po.st/ErasureBeyond
Erasure embark on a headline tour through Europe in January 2018 with support from Bright Light, Bright Light, starting in Dublin and including two London dates at the Hammersmith Apollo before dates in North and South America later this year – full details below.
ERASURE HEADLINE TOUR – EUROPE 29 Jan - Dublin Olympia SOLD OUT 30 Jan - Dublin Olympia SOLD OUT 31 Jan - Dublin Olympia SOLD OUT 2 Feb - Dundee Caird Hall SOLD OUT 3 Feb - Edinburgh Usher Hall SOLD OUT 4 Feb - Newcastle City Hall SOLD OUT 6 Feb - Liverpool Philharmonic SOLD OUT 7 Feb - Hull City Hall SOLD OUT 8 Feb - Manchester O2 Apollo SOLD OUT 10 Feb - Cambridge Corn Exchange SOLD OUT 11 Feb - Birmingham O2 Academy SOLD OUT 12 Feb - Nottingham Royal Concert Hall SOLD OUT 14 Feb - Ipswich Regent SOLD OUT 15 Feb - Southampton O2 Guildhall SOLD OUT 16 Feb - Cardiff St David’s Hall SOLD OUT 18 Feb - Aylesbury Friars Waterside Theatre SOLD OUT 19 Feb - Brighton Dome SOLD OUT 20 Feb - Guildford G Live SOLD OUT 22 Feb - Norwich UEA SOLD OUT 23 Feb - London Eventim Apollo – SOLD OUT 24 Feb - London Eventim Apollo – SOLD OUT 27 Feb - Cologne E-Werk SOLD OUT 28 Feb - Hamburg Mehr Theater SOLD OUT 1 March - Berlin Columbiahalle SOLD OUT 3 March - Leipzig Haus Auensee SOLD OUT 4 March - Munich Tonhalle SOLD OUT 5 March - Frankfurt Batschkapp SOLD OUT 7 March - Hanover Capitol SOLD OUT 9 March - Copenhagen Royal Arena ERASURE HEADLINE TOUR – NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA 21 April - MX, Guadalajara, Roxy Fest 22 April - MX, Tijuana, El Foro 24 April - MX, Nuevo León, Palestino Libanes 25 April - MX, Mexico City, Pepsi Center WTC 27 April - EC, Quito, Agora De La Casa De La Cultura 28 April - CO, Bogota, Chamorro Music Hall 30 April - CO, Medellín, Chamorro City Hall - El Rodeo 2 May - PE, Lima, Anfieteatro Del Parque De La Exposicion 3 May - CL, Santiago, Movistar Arena 5 May - AR, Buenos Aires,Luna Park 6 May - AR, Rosario, Metropolitano 8 May - PY, Asunción, Paseo La Galeria 10 May - BR, Curitiba, Teatro Positivo 11 May - BR, São Paulo, Espaco Das Americas 12 May - BR, Rio de Janeiro, Vivo Rio 6 July - US, Miami Beach, FL, Fillmore 7 July - US, St. Petersburg, FL, Mahaffey Theater 8 July - US, Orlando, FL, Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts 10 July - US, Atlanta, GA, Tabernacle 15 July - US, New York, NY, Beacon Theater
17 July - US, Boston, MA, House of Blues 18 July - US, Philadelphia, PA, Merriam Theater 20 July - US, Washington, DC, Warner Theater 22 July - US, Pittsburgh, PA, Byham Theater 24 July - US, Toronto, ON, Queen Elizabeth Theater 25 July - US, Grand Rapids, MI, 20 Monroe Live 27 July - US, Chicago, IL, Chicago Theatre 29 July - US, Minneapolis, MN, State Theatre 31 July - US, Indianapolis, IN, Murat 1 Aug - US, Kansas City, MO, Uptown Theater 3 Aug - US, Dallas, TX,Toyota Music Factory 4 Aug - US, Houston, TX, Smart Financial Centre 5 Aug - US, San Antonio, TX, Tobin Center for the Performing Arts 7 Aug - US, Austin, TX, Austin City Limits Live 10 Aug - US, Denver, CO, Opera House 12 Aug - US, Salt Lake City, UT, Kingsbury Hall 14 Aug - US, Seattle, WA, Moore Theatre 15 Aug - US, Vancouver, BC, Orpheum Theatre 19 Aug - US, San Francisco, CA, Masonic Auditorium 21 Aug - US, Santa Barbara, CA, Arlington Theatre 22 Aug - US, San Diego, CA, Symphony Hall 26 Aug - US, Los Angeles, CA, Wiltern Theater Ticket details at http://po.st/ErasureLive
Recent praise for Erasure: “Arguably one of their best pieces of work” Louder Than War “A triumph of achingly beautiful pop protest music.” - MOJO
Erasure, who recently accepted the Icon Award at Attitude’s 2017 award ceremony, have released a staggering number of albums, including 5 UK Number 1s, and 35 UK Top 40 singles. World Be Gone went to Number 6 in the UK Official Albums Chart, giving the enduring BRIT and Ivor Novello winning pop duo their highest album chart position since 1994’s I Say I Say I Say.
Echo Collective will release their reinterpretation of Radiohead’s Amnesiac on 7K! (!K7) in March and will perform the album at select festivals in 2018. For further information, go to - https://www.echocollective.be/
JOSH T. PEARSON will release a new album, The Straight Hits!, on 13 April 2018 and announces a UK tour starting in Leeds on 15 May, continuing on to London’s Shepherd’s Bush Empire on 22 May before travelling through Europe. Listen to the first track, ‘Straight To The Top!’ - http://smarturl.it/JTPSTTT
Chris Carter’s Chemistry Lessons Volume One is populated with insistent melodic patterns and a distinct sense of wonderment at the limitless possibilities of science. “If there’s an influence on the album, it’s definitely ‘60s radiophonic,” Carter says. “Over the last few years I’ve also been listening to old English folk music, almost like a guilty pleasure, and so some of the tracks on the album hark back to an almost ingrained DNA we have for those kinds of melodies. They’re not dissimilar to nursery rhymes in some ways.”
Goldfrapp just released their brand new ‘Anymore’ Remix EP which includes mixes from Joe Goddard + Danny Dove. With a dance-floor banger from Danny Dove and a darker minimalist treatment from Joe Goddard, you’ll be sure to hear the track reimagined! Listen here: http://po.st/GFAnymoreRemixes.
Approaching this set is a daunting
proposition. The eight albums here, with material ranging from 1974 through
1989, span a wide range of electronic work by Kirk, a co-founder of Sheffield
industrial trailblazers Cabaret Voltaire. The earliest pieces here almost
predate the band’s formation, but most of Kirk’s solo material appeared during
its running.
M83′s track “Go!” is reimagined as an 8-bit remix via a collaboration with @microsoft, inspiring an interactive 8-bit video game created by a team of up & coming game developers. Play “Meet Me at Go!” here: http://m83.it/mmatgoplay
Listen to “Go!” Remixes Digital EP + pre-order the “Go!” Blue Vinyl 12"(out April 14) here → http://m83.it/goremixes
We bring you this week’s #mutemixtape inspired by today’s U.S. Presidential Inauguration. As the world witnesses this historic moment, the spectrum of emotions is great, and for better or worse, we have the music to inspire your day. Whether you’re feeling restless, lawless or alive! Take it from Maps: You Will Find A Way. We’re sending out positivity and solidarity! #inauguration2017
