Categories
Features Music

Chronicles with Gengahr

gengahr

“I’m pretty sure the label were ready to drop us when we told them the fourth time that it still wasn’t right and we’d have to give it another going over,” reveals Felix Bushe, guitarist and main man of London’s Gengahr, as he racks his brains over the trials and tribulations of their decision to co-produce their fast approaching debut, A Dream Outside.

Heralded as the finest purveyors of hazy, psychedelic pop right now, Gengahr have risen fast and high above their contemporaries, with tracks like ‘Fill My Gums With Blood’, ‘Powder’ and ‘She’s A Witch’ raining from the stereo in here on loop.

When asked about the band’s most personal lyric on the album, before we dive into his own musical psyche below, Felix cites ‘Lonely As A Shark’s verse of, “All I ask is just one more chance. If I grew horns and fins, at least I’d get to start again. And speak in tongues just like it all began. Somewhere underneath the sea are teeth the size of you and me.

Going on to explain, “I normally try to disguise myself in the songs with fictional narrative but ‘Lonely As A Shark’ in particular is a song full of my own emotions. I wrote this at a time when I had moved to the suburbs of London and rarely saw any of my friends. I was working full time and I had tried to go back to university because I felt my life lacked direction. The song is basically about my isolation and solitude at that time.

Check out Felix’s nine most personal albums below, but first hear their eerie new cover rendition of Fugazi’s ‘I’m So Tired’. Not many have managed to pull off covering one of the finest band’s in history.

the_argument

My gateway album is…

The Argument – Fugazi

Whenever you put on a Fugazi record it just makes you feel cool, and that’s a big part of being at college and school.

mechanical_animals

The album my fans might not expect me to like is…

Mechanical Animals – Marylin Manson

I love this album, I swapped it for a Slipknot album with a friend at school and even now if I put it on it still sounds great. Some dope tunes on this one.

around_the_fur

When I’m angry at the world, this album fires me up!

Around The Fur – Deftones

If it wasn’t Fugazi then I was probably listening to Deftones as the backing music to my school days.

ed_sheeran

A record I absolutely despise is…

Any album by Ed Sheeran.

He has no soul!

deerhunter-halcyon-digest

An album for Sunday chilling is…

Halcyon Digest – Deerhunter

These guys are maybe my favorite band and I could have named any of their albums really but this is one I’ve been listening to most recently.

hello_nasty

An album to dance your ass off to is…

Hello Nasty – Beastie Boys

These guys bridge the gap between rock, hip hop and dance so effortlessly. I was blown away by the Beastie Boys during the whole MTV2 years.

3_feet_high_and_rising

The album I’d like to see live, in its entirety, back to back is…

3 Feet High and Rising – De La Soul

I feel like I don’t get to see enough Hip Hop music when we are playing festivals or whatever but this album would be amazing to see in it’s entirety.

devotion

The album that evokes a specific memory is…

Devotion – Beach House

This record reminds me of my first flat after moving out from mum and dad. My flat mate used to play it all the time and its a really beautiful record.

transformer

If the world was ending, the last album I’d want to hear is…

Transformer – Lou Reed

One of my all time favourite albums. Featuring two of my all time favourite guys, Lou Reed and David Bowie. This is maybe the closet thing to a perfect record in my eyes so it’s fitting that it would be the last thing I ever hear.

Gengahr’s ‘A Dream Outside’ is due June 15th via Transgressive.

Categories
Music News

Sex Pistols artwork to feature on Credit Cards

Sex_Pistols_credit_cards (via)

Richard Branson’s Virgin Money has today revealed a series of Sex Pistols themed credit cards. Two of which are said to feature Jamie Reid’s Nevermind The Bollocks, Here’s The Sex Pistols and Anarchy In The UK artwork in full uncensored splendour.

Michele Greene, one of Virgin Money’s directors, explains the new cards are part of their “quest to shake up UK banking” and to encourage consumers to “put a little bit of rebellion in their pocket“.

Naturally, anarchy at the checkout is sure to ensue, but nevermind the apr, John’s out to earn a few bob these days, just as he was when smearing Country Life Butter across his punk rock crumpets in 2008. However there’s a faint cloud of legitimacy looming above the overdraft, as the Pistols did originally sign with Virgin Records in 1977 after being dropped by EMI and A&M Records, and that John’s association with Country Life ultimately helped to fund the reformation of PiL.

But there’s no denying the overriding stench of ‘punk really is dead’ hanging in the air. When Lydon penned the words, “your future dream is a shopping scheme” on that furious 1976 debut, fizzing with anti-capitalistic rage, no one could have fathomed this rich irony. Conflict and Crass credit cards next, please.

Categories
Music News

J Mascis teams with Kim Gordon for ‘Slow Boy’

kim_gordon_j_mascis

There’s nothing better than discovering a one off collaboration between your heroes, and today see’s Dinosaur Jr’s J Mascis and ex-Sonic Youth member Kim Gordon joining forces on a fuzzed out new track called ‘Slow Boy’.

The track’s taken from the upcoming third volume of Converse’s CONS EP Series, which has previously seen collaborations from Trash Talk, The Dillinger Escape Plan, BadBadNotGood and many more. Stream ‘Slow Boy’ below and check out the full EP series here.

Categories
Music News

Buzz Osborne calls out Montage Of Heck

kurt_cobain_nirvana_montage_of_heck

The recently released Kurt Cobain documentary Montage Of Heck had Nirvana fans the world over riddled with excitement. Finally, a film to set the record straight, comprised of nothing but video clips, home movies, journals and demo-recordings plucked from a never-before-seen archive of the man’s own personal belongings. Surely no truer tale of events could be, especially with Kurt’s daughter Frances Bean at the controls as executive producer.

Not so fast, said Melvins-main-man Buzz Osborne this weekend in an essay published with The Talkhouse. “First off, people need to understand that 90% of Montage of Heck is bullshit. Total bullshit. That’s the one thing no one gets about Cobain — he was a master of jerking your chain.

Osborne and his band have been rocking since pre and post Nirvana, and it’s hard to deny that both bands weren’t running arm in arm together throughout their respective careers too. “My band played with Nirvana at their last show. I was there for the beginning and I was there for the end, for the very good and the very bad,” he adds.

This said, Osborne’s recent claims do rip the entire film to smithereens, “the whole “I tried to fuck a fat retard” story is complete bullshit. Not even an inkling of truth.

…the trying-to-kill-himself-on-the-train-tracks story is bullshit as well. It never happened either.” Buzz continues to highlight points of the film that he claims are untrue throughout the essay before opening fire on Courtney Love too, “a lot of what she says in this documentary doesn’t exactly jibe with things Kurt told me himself, but I suppose that’s not surprising when you consider history becomes elastic every time Courtney Love opens her mouth.

Get the full story at The Talkhouse and leave a comment below. Is Buzz on track here or completely off his trolley?

Categories
Buzz Chart

ODB – Muppets version

odb_muppets_version_shimmy_wu_tang

If you don’t smile a little when Dr Teeth from the Muppets fronts ODB’s ‘Shimmy Shimmy Ya’ in a Muppets re up, then you need to get yourself a scooter and ask your mates for an ice bucket challenge. How would you like your steak? This is hilarious.

Categories
Buzz Chart

Hills

Hills
‘Milarepa’
Rocket Recordings
hills

Sweeping in from the same smouldering Scandinavian scene that birthed one of the most mind expanding albums of 2014, Hills’ latest offering is an intoxicating smokescreen of otherworldly noise to knock you right off you chair.

Breathing new life into the often-over-populated pool of psych, ‘Milarepa’ sees the seven-piece laugh in the face of tradition, fully embracing heavy hallucinatory territories on a free-flowing flute trip led by drones.

Their forthcoming album, Frid, marks the bands ninth year together and their third LP. Suitably homed to the prolific Rocket Recordings, this is said to be Hills’ most out-of-mind and out-of-sight effort to date, crystallising everything that makes these Scandinavian satyrs stand out from the global herd.

Recommended as a feast for seasoned crate-diggers and fresh-faced converts alike, stream Hill’s latest with haste.

Categories
Music News

Yo La Tengo detail new album

yo la tengo

Having just celebrated their 30th anniversary as a group, experimental rock legends Yo La Tengo have announced a new album titled Stuff Like That There for release via Matador on August 28th.

Described as a 25th anniversary sequel to the idea of 1990’s Fakebook, the new album will see Yo La Tengo return as a quartet, reuniting with former member Dave Schramm on electric guitar as they revisit a mix of “cover” songs, and brand new originals.

To add, the band will take on an unprecedented live set-up of Ira on acoustic guitar, Georgia up-front on a small kit and James on upright bass, marking the first occasion of this particular incarnation touring together as they set out on the road for a world tour. Check out the UK dates below and hear the first cut from the album.

October UK Tour

16 Glasgow – The Garage
18 Bristol – Colston Hall
19 Coventry – Warwick Arts Centre
20 London – O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire

Categories
Music News

Gengahr cover Fugazi

gengahr

London quartet Gengahr have shared an eerie, reverb-soaked rendition of Fugazi’s ‘I’m So Tired’. Taken from their 1999 Instrument documentary, the track’s original piano arrangement is turned on its head as Gengahr spin a web of guitar effects and softly sung harmonies, building to shreddy heights. Check it out below.

Categories
Music News

Dave Grohl sent fan mail to Ian Mackaye

dave_grohl_ian_mackaye

Renowned equally for cataloguing and preserving every single piece of memorabilia to do with Dischord, as well as his legendary punk rock status, Ian Mackaye has today unearthed a letter he received from a 14 year-old Dave Grohl.

Pictured above, the note sees a young David reaching out to Mackaye on the whim of ‘Good Thrash’ to ask for a couple of phone numbers and a leg up. Dave tweeted it out to his 2m+ followers last night too.

Categories
Buzz Chart

Årabrot

Arabrot
Arabrot
‘Mea Culpa’
Fysisk Format / Eolian Empire

Standing alone and steadfast as the great outsider of the Norwegian music scene since his inception in 2001, Kjetil Nernes’ one-man arts-and-music project, Arabrot, have consistently left their cult following in awe with juggernaut-sized riffs and boundary-breaking soundscapes of distortion and doom. Just fresh from a stint on the road collaborating with the Quietus founder John Doran, in celebration of the publication of his recent memoir, it is with huge excitement that we report Arabrot will be releasing a brand new EP titled You Bunch Of Idiots on June 23rd.

To mark the occasion Arabrot are streaming ‘Mea Culpa’, a grinding and onslaught of foreboding dirge inspired by Nernes’ recent battle with throat cancer, which Nernes explains was written one afternoon whilst drinking alone in a deserted London pub, shortly before being informed of his alarming health condition. “I didn’t know how seriously ill I was at the time but something within didn’t feel quite right,” he recently told Noisey. “The gargoyles on the Victorian houses opposite [the pub] were gazing down at me.

Stream ‘Mea Culpa’ below and hear Kjetil conjure his trademark vocal snarl, wrought with disgust as he spits out a striking yet doubly catchy mantra of, “foul mouth!” through gritted teeth.

You Bunch Of Idiots will be released June 23rd via Fysisk Format / Eolian Empire.