Adam Ant Facebook Live Q&A

Adam will be doing his first Facebook Live Q&A today at 12 Noon PST / 3pm EST on this page. He’ll answer a few of your questions.
Submit questions for Adam in the comments section by Wednesday morning to be considered.

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SPC ECO – Calm (ELaB Records 24 August 2017)

Dean Garcia Releases ‘Calm’ EP for SPC ECO 10th Anniversary, Curve’s 25th Anniversary
Curve Co-founder Dean Garcia and Rose Berlin Drop New SPC ECO Album ‘Calm’

SPC ECO has released their new album ‘Calm’, which follows their ‘Under My Skin’ EP, released earlier this year.

If the demise of ground-breaking duo Curve was a storm-cloud in the musical skies of the 90’s, the silver lining was that Dean Garcia went on to form SPC ECO with Rose Berlin. This a coming together of an electronic musical maverick and a vulnerable yet tender vocal style and even more endearing is the fact that this is informed by the bond of a father and daughter exploring their relationship and the world around them through music.

This bond lies at the heart of the music, and is something that goes beyond two musicians creating heartfelt sounds and becomes the language of their very souls, a conversation that is often too difficult to be encapsulated by mere words. Like many worthy conversations, Dean and Rose choose their words and make their plans carefully.

“When we started this record in early January 2017, we knew we wanted to take our time with it, no need to rush it out and go with the first ten songs we recorded, I think we made almost 3 albums worth of songs with this one so there are some cool outtakes to add or use as the album gets underway,“ says Dean Garcia.

“We also knew that we wanted to explore the layered guitar side of things that we’ve been side-lining since the ‘Sirens’ album. This record has shades of our first release ‘3D’, which was recorded about 10 years ago, as well as the current more Bristol-flavoured feels that we love so much. It has a bit of everything we like to hear and record, plus it’s a calm way to celebrate our ten years of doing this. Rose has come into her own, she’s actually quite good at this shit now, and she even drops a mean bass on this record.”

On the one hand, ‘Calm’ is potent and positively charged. On the other, it feels like a collection of moods, wistful reflections made into sound, barely tangible but emotively powerful expressions. Often with minimal symphonic landscaping and gossamer vocals, SPC ECO have created something that is vast and beautifully pervasive. Psychedelic washes and slightly trippy beats swirl around as gorgeous, gauzy dream pop prevails. But often it is the gaps between the notes and the breath between the words that has the biggest impact.

“Calm is nostalgic in the way it feels like there are vibes from all our previous albums,” says vocalist Rose Berlin. “We didn’t limit the songs to one genre instead we had fun and did what ever we wanted. It’s loud and trip hop, psychedelic lullabies and It’s us. It’s calm.”

This year marks 25 years from Curve’s initial release (celebrated with the re-release of deluxe editions of both ‘Cuckoo’ and ‘Doppelganger’) and 10 years since SPC ECO’s formation. While Dean still pursues exploratory and unusual musical routes through various other projects, such as S T F U with Preston Maddox, M A D with Monty from Jesus & Mary Chain, and two new remixes for dreampop duo Ummagma, it is through SPC ECO that Garcia is most musically prolific.

Music is made for many reasons and using many tools and inspirations but it takes a bond this close, this raw, this loving, this primal, to truly make music that resonates this deeply. SPC ECO ‘Calm’ is out now and available directly via the band’s own Bandcamp.

TRACKLIST

1. Out Of Sight 04:11

2. All The Voices 05:03

3. Waking Up Again 06:10

4. Rising Up 04:25

5. All I Had 05:02

6. Pearls 05:52

7. Who Are You Now ? 04:34

8. Ghosts 04:17

9. When It Moves 03:41

10. Get Lost 05:04

11. Over 03:58

12. Hours 03:39

CREDITS

Produced Recorded and Mixed by Dean Garcia

Recorded Jan – August 2017 at The ELaB

All songs written by Rose Berlin and Dean Garcia except 3/6

Written by Rose Berlin Dean Garcia and Jarek Leskiewicz

Sleeve Image and Design by Rose Berlin

SPC ECO on this record are

Rose Berlin Voice Words and Bass Drop on Ghosts

Dean Garcia Bass Drums Guitars Keys and Programming

Jarek Leskiewicz Guitars Drones Bass (3) Ambience 1/2/3/5/6/10

Perry Pelonero Additional Guitars (1)

Justin Welch Additional Drums (1)

Keep up with SPC ECO 
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The Blue Hour – Always ( 27 October 2017)

Seattle’s The Blue Hour Announce ‘Always’ Album, Tease First Single ‘One More Mystery’
The Blue Hour Present Early 4AD-Style Ethereal Folk-Noir Par Excellence

The Blue Hour presents their new single ‘One More Mystery’ ahead of the release of their new album ‘Always’. This 11-track offering is replete with swoons whirling the listener into the ether, wisped along with sonic elements cherished by fans of Kate Bush, This Mortal Coil, Marissa Nadler, Dead Can Dance, and Chelsea Wolfe. This new release comes on the trail of their ‘Kyoto Songs’ single, featuring a beautiful rendition of The Cure classic ‘Kyoto Song’.

Living near Seattle, Brian and Marselle Hodges have been inspired by their life amongst the moss and mud and the ferns and forests of the Pacific Northwest, their raw mix channeling the purely natural and the esoteric via The Blue Hour.

Blending traditional folk melodies with dream pop, ethereal wave and synthpop, the result is ethereal folk-noir that is unique to them, charged with haunting ambience and some classical structures. This potent cocktail creates an otherworldly and hypnotic effect, focusing on texture and rhythm and beautiful discord … and most of all magic.

The Blue Hour was born of glamor and squalor. Brian and Marselle met as teenage street kids, sleeping in abandoned buildings and dancing the nights away in Seattle’s new wave clubs.  After many lost years, they again reunited and began creating music together. The band has seen several incarnations since founded in 1993 by multi-instrumentalist Brian Hodges.  Originally intended to be a side project to psychedelic goth band Black Atmosphere, The Blue Hour released several albums of “romantic ethereal neofolk” between 1998 and 2001 for European independent labels Perun and Big Blue.

Brian Hodges put his music on hiatus until 2016, when he again began writing in order to teach the craft to their daughter.  That project became the band’s new single “One More Mystery”, which saw the addition of Marselle’s voice and melodies – creating the gold seam that ran right into their new album ‘Always’.

Over the years, Brian and The Blue Hour have played with numerous seminal goth, new wave and neofolk acts, including The Church, Sex Gang Children, Gitane Demone, Unto Ashes, Sol Invictus, and In Gowan Ring.

Co-written and performed by Brian and Marseille, the two also share vocal duties on the ‘Always’ album. Maria Grig also contributes strings on three tracks: ‘One More Mystery’, ‘Block the Sound’ and ‘Lost Landmarks’. Written and recorded between December 2016 and June 2017 at the Piksie Nest and Rabbit Hole, this album was mastered by Wade Alin at Standard Mastering.

While not making music Brian Hodges works as a lawyer, researcher, and non-fiction writer. His fiction has been published by New Lit Salon Press, the Bearded Scribe Press, and Liquid Imagination, with his work having received acclaim in niche literary circles.

The Blue Hour will be released on October 27, but is already available for pre-order via the band’s own Bandcamp.

TRACK LIST

1. One More Mystery   04:32

2. Fire on Rooftops   04:14

3. And When I Wake Up   03:26

4. Come Find Me   03:40

5. Block the Sound   03:12

6. A Ghost Walked in Antwerp   01:34

7. On the Wall   03:46

8. False Moon Glow   04:48

9. A Tree Stands Alone   03:16

10. Tower Over Me   03:45

11. Lost Landmarks   03:05

Keep up with The Blue Hour
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Ummagma – LCD (Label Obscura/Somewherecold Records – 22 September 2017)

Curve Mastermind Dean Garcia Remixes Ummagma for coming ‘LCD’ EP
Track revealed ahead of 2 classic Curve releases

CURVE’S Dean Garcia summons dark wonder in Ummagma ‘Back to You’ Mix

On the trail of the Ummagma ‘Lama’ remix created by Cocteau Twinsmulti-instrumentalist Robin Guthrie, Ummagma unveil a new deep dark delicious reworking of their track ‘Back to You’ by maverick electronic producer Dean Garcia, famed as half of seminal British indie/alt-rock band Curve with iconic vocalist Toni Halliday and half of SPC ECO with Rose Berlin.

This is one of two Ummagma tracks that Dean Garcia has re-envisioned for the band’s forthcoming ‘LCD’ EP, which follows up the ‘Winter Tale’ maxi-single with 4AD dreampop pioneer A.R.Kane, released earlier this year.

Ummagma is Shauna McLarnon, hailing from Canada, and Alexander Kretov, originally from Ukraine. Now based in Canada, Ummagma won the Alternative Eurovision on Amazing Radio, representing Ukraine among 23 countries.

Dean Garcia is renowned for sculpting sound to create alternate-universe pop hits that simultaneously straddle several genres. Apart from 15 years with Curve and a decade with SPC ECO, Garcia has also toured the world several times and recorded multiple albums with such established artists as Eurythmics, Mick Jagger, Jeff Beck, Bryan Ferry, Sinead O’Connor and Ian Dury.

This collaboration between Ummagma and Dean Garcia is timely as, onAugust 25, Curve will marking their 25th anniversary by reissuing their first two albums – ‘Doppelgänger’ and ‘Cuckoo’ – as two-CD deluxe expanded editions.

“When listening to the original versions of these two songs, I wanted to make something that was an extension of the psyche n space mood that to me is the heart n soul of Ummagma,” explains Dean Garcia.

“With the ‘LCD’ mix it was a matter of going into the original stems and extracting the most trippy n spacey elements and expanding them into a different zone. ‘Back To You’ was more about enhancing the mood of the song as it stood, but with view to bring out its dark and foreboding nature. I enjoyed working on both mixes for different reasons, the sense of space and oddness within both mixes is the thing that glues it all together. File under Dark Psyche”

Ummagma ‘LCD’ will be released on September 22 via Label Obscura(cassette) and Somewherecold Records (CD), and is already available for pre-order on the duo’s own Bandcamp.

Keep up with Ummagma 

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Dave Wesley – Laranja Swadhisthana 67_5 – EPv1 (Arctic Dub (Sursumcorda) 18 August 2017)

Arctic Dub (Sursumcorda) New Dave Wesley Single is a Sacred Geometry-Inspired Dreamscape

Arctic Dub (Sursumcorda) has announced it will release a new single from Dave Wesley, a veteran experimental dub techno and ambient producer and DJ from Minneapolis, who is now based in Porto, Portugal.

Called “Laranja Swadhisthana 67_5 – EPv1”, this new single is comprised of two tracks, transmitted to us from a beautiful but “lonely ceremony place”. The spectacular single is, in his words, “constructed with the principles of sacred geometry and tuning… using parts of the north and the south… and with the fury.”

Dave Wesley’s music style integrates chill, dub techno, experimental, and ambient genres. His music revolves in the same realm as Michael Brook, Brian Eno, Passion-era Peter Gabriel, Deepchord (a.k.a. Rod Modell), output from Echospace Recordings and Basic Channel. It is also shares similar vibes as the work of Philip Glass, for whom Wesley even remixed ‘Why Are We Here?’ for the Philip Glass album ‘Glass: Glasscuts’, released on his own label Orange Mountain Music, in addition to DJing at the NYC release party for this album.

Known for his adventurous DJ sets, Dave performs regularly in Portugal and Europe. He produces under several different names: Dave Wesley(ambient dub techno), Existente (ambient), Xerography (dark cinematic techno), and The Mayhem Lecture Series (experimental and field recordings). He’s also teamed up with Casey Borchert under the moniker The Push. As an active DJ and performer, he mixes eclectic deep sets and also performs live space ambient guitar with TV Crush, an experimental and an improvisational chill music ensemble.

Using production techniques based on the principles of sacred geometry, Dave’s music is captivating, seamlessly exploring evolving soundscapes, iteration and meditation, and seducing the imagination forward into transcendental realms.

“This EP was born out of the sweltering summer heat of inland Portugal and a recent trip to Lisbon, where African tribal rhythmic influence is strong in the air and in the airwaves.  I strive to create music that has multiple utility (i.e. for grooving, dancefloor, background ambiance, active listening, etc),” explains Dave Wesley. “I’m greatly influenced by minimalism and iterative process oriented art – and strive to create pieces that, on the surface, are repetitive, while deeper listening reveals a subtly evolving cinematic scene.  I’m also obsessed with the contradistinction of contemporary clean digital sonics within beds and layers of lo-fi aural contexts and field recordings, which I think is apparent in this release.”

Arctic Dub (Sursumcorda) is the sister label to Sursumcorda Recordings. The latter is also a magazine. Sursumcorda is focused on finding and curating cool and interesting music and culture across genres through frequent posts in their online magazine, periodic vinyl compilations and other releases. Arctic Dub (Sursumcorda) releases deep, dark, lo-fi, ambient, cinematic, meditative and experimental music that germinates from dub techno origins. It also puts out monthly releases, and is becoming known for live streaming events. It has just launched a series of live stream events, called ‘Arctic Dub Continuum Live’.

PLAYLIST
1. Laranja Swadhisthana 67_5 Session v1

2. Laranja Swadhisthana 67_5 Ceremony v1

Keep up with Dave Wesley / Arctic Dub (Sursumcorda)
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68creep – Goodnight, Sweet Betty (Kiss/Kill/Repeat Records Release: 22 September 2017)

68Creep Announce Debut Album, Preview First Single ‘Black Cat’

NYC outfit 68creep have announced their debut LP ‘Goodnight, Sweet Betty’ and are teasing the album’s first single ‘Black Cat’. 

It says a lot about an artist when those trying to catch their essence in a witty sound bite move from being concise and descriptive into the realm of high literary art. Any band that can be metaphorically described as sounding like “murder at midnight” and “beautiful melodies telling me terrible things” makes for a tantalising proposition. NYC’s 68creep are indeed that. Inspired by numerous artists, including PJ Harvey, Dead Weather, Beach House, The Misfits, Black Sabbath, Alice Cooper andThe Cramps, they offer a fusion of dark emotions, doom-laden pop, acid-laced musical retro-mania, and the dark underbelly of the hippy dream turned bad.

‘Black Cat’ is inspired by lack of love and the persistence of hope and humor, ringing through in lyrics like “I wanna make you mine. You lovely waste of time”.

The spirit of filmmaker and musician David Lynch seems to hover above everything the band does like a mercurial patron and spiritual advisor. “What would David do?” has even become the band mantra for swerving creative blocks, ensuring that the music brims with the same essence as one of his films.

68creep’s backstory even starts with a very Lynchian starting point, with John McRandle and Patrick Casey meeting at a New York City advertising agency, where they were marketing drugs designed to combat schizophrenia. The Kiss/Kill/Repeat label gave the band the backing and impetus they needed and very soon they were pushing their heavy, surreal, carny, creepcore to like-minded music fans.

Adding to 68creep’s intense sound is Colyn Hunt on bass and Kimberly Seewald on vocals. “Kim’s pretty soft-spoken; well, except when she laughs,” says Patrick Casey. “But once she opens her mouth to sing, she can pin you up against a wall.” She’s more than pure power though. “Kim’s got versatile skills. Our softer, more melodic, melancholy songs really show that off.”

Following up their debut EP ‘The Rumors Are True’ is the perfect storm coming in the forthcoming long-play album ‘Goodnight, Sweet Betty’, the title of which derives from a quote from the David Lynch film ‘Mulholland Drive’. This LP promises more of the same dark and heavy, ethereal weird beauty and slightly tongue in cheek qualities that have become the band’s hallmark.

At the heart of this release is John McRandle’s big, earthmoving baritone guitar. It can churn out a song’s sludgy riff, or sparsely sprinkle it with a chilly melody. Drummer Patrick Casey leans into his work, riding his toms taiko style, while giving even the heaviest grooves a good hard swing. Colyn Hunt anchors the foundation with deep-in-the-pocket grooves and a taste for airy, melodic runs. Riding on top of this swell is Kimberly Seewald’s vocals. Together, 68creep wails and soars, hitting the listener hard, but every so often, also comfort and console.

“This album wouldn’t have sounded like this if it weren’t written in New York. We are always talking about how a relationship with New York is love/hate. And it’s a real relationship. This environment is gonna seep into your songs, like an ex lover might slip into a dream. Whether you want them there or not,” says Casey. “To me, New York seems to be constantly saying, ‘I’m gonna hook you up with the most talented, mind-blowing people on the planet. But don’t look for a happy ending here’…”

Who knows? Perhaps somewhere out there, David Lynch is even listening. ‘Goodnight, Sweet Betty’ will be released on September 22 and is already available for pre-order via 68creep’s Bandcamp.

TRACK LIST

1. Stone Cold Kiss

2. Black Cat

3. Welcome to my Nightmare/Halloween (Alice Cooper/Dead Kennedys)

4. Birthday

5. I Put a Spell on You (Screamin’ Jay Hawkins)

6. Sarina Said [Bushwick Manor Mix]

7. Watch You Fall [Bushwick Manor Mix c]

CREDITS
Kimberly Seewald, John McRandle, Colyn Hunt, Patrick Casey
With melodic contributions from Sara Aridi, Anya Kaz, Fiona Silver, Carrie Slimski, and Anna Maliere
Managed by Tracey Keevan
Album painting by Calina Hiriza

Keep up with 68Creep
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Darto – Human Giving (Aagoo Records 8 September 2017)

Aagoo Records to release Darto ‘Human Giving’ LP and joint Darto / WAND 7”
U.S. release on September 8.  U.K. release on September 22.

Aagoo Records has announced two releases to be issued simultaneously on September 8. The first is ‘Human Giving’, a full length album from Seattle-based four-piece Darto. The second is the ‘Follow Up / Hush’ 7” featuring Darto and WAND, who wrote and performed these tracks together.

The first LP is preceded by the single ‘I Am’, which The Big Takeover Magazine calls “a catchy sultry melancholic downtempo synth-infused psych-trip combining the best of Cate Le Bon, The Velvet Underground, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, and The Black Ryder”.

The album’s mood is immediately clear from the first note of ‘GDLS’, enveloping the space around the listener. By the time ‘I Am’ enters, the sound and feeling transitions from lush and inviting, to focused and intentional with the keyboards and strings propelling the movement. The lyrics and accompanying melodies float along seamlessly like being lulled into a dream.

“Despite all of its catchy qualities, ‘Human Giving’ is a difficult album to pin down. The lyrical phrasing, and melodies have been stuck in my head for months,” says Alec Dartley of Aagoo Records. “It takes me to a place filled with light, despite the psych realms the band takes us”.

As the record progresses, splashes of Americana seem to emerge, painting subtle pictures of the American West, or a vast expanse that we would associate it with. It’s a momentary visit to those places as Darto keeps moving, exploring new worlds. The album closes in a cinematic soft way, where the constant is an emotional hook that dives into the human condition. This is an open story, suggestive but with room for the listener to fill in the blanks.

“We didn’t play shows or hardly go to shows for a year and a half so we could write and record the album,” says Darto’s Gordon De Los Santos. “The album comes from the places within us where hope and love exist. Where the focus is not on the self, and where everything is possible. Humans giving themselves to other humans. The power of listening on all fronts. The desired effect is and was to bring hope in some capacity.”

“We are extremely proud of this record. Writing, recording, mixing and mastering was the most intentional musical experience we have had to date. We took a lot of chances on it, and grew exponentially in the process,” says Gregory Flores. It felt, and feels like we walked through many doors while working on it, and the place we ended up is very similar to the place where we were as young people first deciding to create. A vulnerable first step towards something larger.”

‘Human Giving’ was recorded by Darto between September 2015 and January 2016 in a cabin in Cle Elum, WA and their home in Seattle. The ‘Follow Up / Hush’ 7″ was written, performed and recorded by Darto and Wand at Comp-ny in Burbank, CA in April 2017. It was engineered and recorded by Be Hussey. Both releases were mixed by Cory Hanson at Comp-ny and mastered by JJ Golden at Golden Mastering in Ventura, CA.

“We smashed together in Los Angeles and wrote these two songs; repurposed lyrics we wrote in the studio together.  A lot of people got to sing who had never sung on record before,” says Cory Hanson of WAND. “All in all, this was a successful collaboration I think. The spirit of both bands made it onto the tape together, intact.  We ate breakfast burritos the next morning, then Darto flew away.  I went to go to the beach but our car died in Topanga Canyon”.

Aagoo Records is home to vinyl releases by Xiu Xiu, Lucky Dragons, The Use with Rachelm Mason, Philippe Petit and more.

Darto Members
Gordon De Los Santos
Gregory Flores
Candace Harter
Nicholas Merz

WAND Members
Cory Hanson
Robert Cody
Sofia Arreguin
Lee Landey
Evan Burrows

DARTO ‘HUMAN GIVING’ TRACK LIST
1. GLDS
2. I Am
3. Omniscient
4. Fell III
5. Truss
6. No Self
7: Human Becoming
8. Character Study
9. Guiding Light
10. Aging
11. Within Without
12. American Storyteller

WAND/ DARTO 7″ TRACK LIST
1. Follow Up
2. Hush

Keep up with Darto 

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Keep up with Aagoo Records

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