The Graphite Set – Grayson Perry

From the irrepressible persuasion of excellent debut EP These Streets, The Graphite Set ups the lure to full on seduction with new single Grayson Perry. Inspired from reading the autobiography Portrait of the Artist As A Young Girl by the English artist of the same name, the band stretch the already compelling boundaries of its predecessor to create an encounter which is rich in adventure and energy whilst showing that the songwriting and sound conjured has numerous avenues and discoveries waiting to be explored.

The Graphite Set is the artistic project of London based, East Lothian girl Lily Buchanan, who from the first kiss of her debut release has instilled herself as one of the most potent merging British artists in recent years. The four track EP woke up an appetite for her immersive sounds, a hunger which ensured strong anticipation for the new single. The instilled greed for its predecessor is satisfied and more with the Thumbscrew Music released Grayson Perry, a song which strokes the passions with its healthy eighties swagger and twenty first century enterprise.

With Ed Seed and Duncan Brown on the song by the side of Buchanan, the track stomps in with big crisp beats and guitar coaxing which is soon joined by a deep throated bass beckoning and the darkly seductive tones of the lady. That eighties hint is clear from the start with the uncluttered and compelling introduction and hangs around across the whole of the increasingly infectious song. Fully into its stride with the first run of the chorus reinforcing the contagion, the track slips in a wonderful ska temptation from the guitars whilst the breath and presence of the encounter presents a stronger post punk calling which at times reminds of The Passions. It is a riveting song which just pulls on the passions with greater majesty the further into its heart it goes.

The second track on the release is the full version of the title track, the song expanding into a potent evocative finale where it loiters to offer a sultry dance on the senses and imagination to take the already intensive lure into full on seduction. It is followed by Time which alongside the three musicians also features Katherine Blamire of the Smoke Fairies on guitar. Opening with a gentle guitar caress and matching ambience, the air is soon smouldering with the absorbing tones of Buchanan, her distinctive voice a dark angel on the warm mesmeric flight of the song which is a ride which reveals greater fire to its adventure and imagination though bass and piano whilst the scorching narrative of guitar from Blamire just immerses thoughts and emotions into an invigorating evocative soak.

The song makes a scintillating companion to a magnetic lead, and combined the songs and The Graphite Set provide the year with one of its most enthralling and masterful singles, not forgetting one of the most deliciously irresistible.

http://thegraphiteset.com

9/10

RingMaster 13/10/2013

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

Listen to the best independent music and artists on The RingMaster Review Radio Show and The Bone Orchard from

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Gary Numan – Splinter (Songs from a Broken Mind)

Little introduction is needed for Gary Numan, a man who has easily been one of the most influential artists to musicians, bands, and a wide range of genres over the thirty five years or so since emerging in 1978. Admittedly the media has not always been in the same place towards him as fans but his inspirational influence is undeniable as the likes of The Prodigy and Nine Inch Nails to Queens Of The Stone Age, Fear Factory and Marilyn Manson to Kanye West, as well as a vast array of other industrial, electronic, and gothic rock bands constantly show and admit. With early and impacting pinnacles coming from Replicas (as Tubeway Army), The Pleasure Principle, and Telekon, Numan’s twenty albums have ebbed and flowed in success and quality, but for the most they have stretched to varying effect his and music’s walls and inventive nature. New and twenty first album Splinter (Songs from a Broken Mind) is no exception certainly, a thrilling and inventive provocateur definitely, and an album which we would suggest recaptures the strongest influential heights of the man’s unique style of potent imagination.

Produced by long standing collaborator Ade Fenton and featuring guitarist Robin Finck, Splinter (Songs from a Broken Mind) is the follow up to 2006 album Jagged, though there has been the  2011‘straight-to-the-fanbase’ release Dead Son Rising in between. The album is soaked in shadows and suggested demons, the release coming from what the Los Angeles based Numan has admitted has been a dark period for him; equally though it crafts and sculpts a web of infectious and irresistibly magnetic pop bred persuasion which leaves extremes of thought and textures a compelling emotive landscape. Mentioned earlier was the fact that Nine Inch Nails has taken inspirations of Numan into its creative expanses and upon the new album it shows it has been a two-way street as essences of Trent Reznor’s sounds can be heard as an instigator upon Splinter (Songs from a Broken Mind). The album is not breaking in new ground or pastures for industrial and electronic rock it is fair to say, but undeniably presents itself as one of the best electronically bred, atmospherically spawned albums for a few years and Gary Numan striding back to his best.

The Mortal Records album opens with the outstanding I Am Dust. Big imposing electro beats and strokes flex their sinews from the opening seconds, their intimidation wrapped in intrigue and even greater enticement once those uniquely recognisable tones of Numan begin the song’s narrative. Commanding and riveting, the industrial smouldering soon has imagination and passion recruited to its drama whilst the evolving synth dance toys with and ignites a contagion which in turn sparks a predacious hunger for what is to come. The melodic breath of the track has an eighties swagger which recalls the likes of Blancmange whilst that starker shadowed presence taunts senses and thoughts to even greater temptation.

From the outstanding start Here In The Black draws on darker intensive shadows to create another mouthwatering pinnacle to continue the immense beginning. Darkly whispered vocals prey upon the climactic build of the track, its heart inspired by its creators struggle with depression and its sounds a constantly consuming and intensive weave of unsettling provocation and delicious melodic toxicity. The crescendos of energy and fully flighted enterprise comes with a virulent seduction coated in a pop catchiness which lies within the intense presence of the song but makes a sirenesque call which is open and irrepressible addictive.

The following Everything Comes Down also has its seeds in a darker rapacious premise and sound, its slowly breeding atmosphere and intent a continually shifting and engaging provocateur which is matched and developed by the pulsating and emotively driven music. The melodic soaring across the infectious chorus takes thought back to those previously mentioned early albums whilst the chilled almost suffocating creative wash feels NIN cultured. The song equals its predecessor to accelerate the appetite further and deepen already the thrilled pleasure.

Both The Calling and Splinter drift into deeper challenging depths, the first entwining its electro tendrils around a cavernous ambience whilst its cinematic epically honed atmosphere floats across the imagination, both danger and beauty willing instigators to dramatic scenery. It is a track easy to submerge within, to reflect upon and script one’s own testament, a tale which constantly colours the artist’s canvas or its recipient’s own thoughts and captures the imagination fully if failing to ignite all the flames inside which the previous tracks stoked up. Its successor is equally impacting and inventive within its absorbing presence and in its ability to coax out individual visions and saga within the listener. Sultry Eastern textured female vocals and stringed chants lay down initial bait within the exotic climate before Numan works his persuasive alchemy vocally and sonically. The song smoulders and seduces from start to finish and with each listen leaving a stronger and longer lingering influence and enslavement. The sweltering climes of the song are tempered by the melodic grandeur and synth cast beauty but ultimately the song is a wash of heat which again shows that Numan is still a master to be inspired and spurned on by.

Lost is another simmering burn of an encounter which transfixes ears and thoughts, though the ballad is pale against the song before and next Up Love Hurt Bleed. The first single from the album, the track is industrial electro pop which throbs and stays within the ear with unbridled virulence though as always shadows are not far from the surface. There is a familiarity to it which makes it wholly accessible if lacking surprises but as a temptress into the album it is an epidemic of allurement before which voice and body cannot resist adding their support.

Numan pushes his vocals pleasingly in the heavy reflection that is A Shadow Falls On Me and the threatening yet enchanting Where I Can Never Be. It is not a dramatic move but a gentle emotive exploration and expelling of nuances which enriches attention and matches the fiery adventure within the songs. Both tracks take their time in making their declarations, the second of the pair a blend of suffocating intensity and mesmerising melodic mystique, and though neither forge the grip of other tracks both leave a irrefutable passion for album and more.

The album is completed by We’re The Unforgiven, a track crafting an industrial emotional wasteland, the brilliant Who Are You, and the closing ballad My Last Day. The penultimate song is one to exhaust the dance-floor even with its mid paced gait. With more twists and swerves than a bat at night and as dark, it is a magnificent reminder of the different styles Numan can employ into his electronic invention whilst the closing emotional caress basks in potently hued atmospheres and a prowling ambience which reveals more of its writer and inner thoughts.

Splinter (Songs From A Broken Mind) is an outstanding album, not one loaded with instant slices of addiction causing contagion but a release superbly and instinctively textured to take the listener on a rich imagination fuelling journey through the craft and emotional ingenuity of Gary Numan as well as levels of intensive enjoyment presumed lost since those early days of his impressive career. An unexpected  triumph in many ways, this is an album destined to be devoured very greedily over coming weeks and beyond.

http://www.numan.co.uk/

9/10

RingMaster 13/10/2013

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

Listen to the best independent music and artists on The RingMaster Review Radio Show and The Bone Orchard from

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onlyjoe – Play With Fire

Three EPs in and it is fair to say that UK reggae band onlyjoe just get better and more compelling with each release, the undeniable proof coming with new and fourth EP Play With Fire. It is a magnetic blaze of seductive invention and incendiary intent which leaves senses and thoughts fully awake whilst emotions eagerly accept and join the sultry ride. Consisting of the title track and three remixes, the release from the London based ten piece continues the impressive emergence of the band through their self–titled debut and even more so the Revolution and Wicked Lands EPs. It brings the heart and creative fire of the band openly into view yet again whilst moving those self-same elements on to greater potency. The buzz around the band and anticipation for this new release has been an eager hunger and Play With Fire soon tells you why.

Since emerging onlyjoe has earned a strong vibrant reputation for their inventive sound and open passion, as well as their appearances and adventures alongside the likes of Tippa Irie, Mad Professer, Aba Shanti-I, Solo Banton, Zion Train, Demolition Man, Congo Natty and many more, which has seen them grow into a formidable proposition. Play With Fire as it recruits the passions seems like the key to the next level of plateaus and awareness, a release reaping the seeds set by its predecessors to prospectively bloom into a new realm of acclaim. Of course time will tell but it is hard to suggest anything to the contrary will emerge.

The title track saunters in with a smouldering ambience to its air and vocals whilst brass and keys drizzle their individual temptations across the riveting expanse to help accelerate the pull of the track. The triple vocal juggle is masterful bait alone; Jago, Zico, and Galak all different and distinct lure for ears and emotions within the guitar caresses and rhythmic enticement. Add the flames of sax and trumpet whilst the bass pulsates with just the right shade of shadow and contemplation, and you have a sizzling provocation alongside a thought provoking narrative, quite simply you have a lingering persuasion. The track slowly disperses rather than ends ensuring its touch and voice remains to the very last second as an impacting suggestion, the track overall a unique and powerful merger of modern and traditionally seeded reggae.

The remaining tracks on the EP come in the shape of remixes by Dubkasm, DJ Madd, and the Sleepy Time Ghost & Hylu remix. All in their individual premises and approaches bring new reflections and looks from the original version, though all miss its stature and potent success as an instigator and seducer. They do bring fresh ventures to embrace though even if you always turn back to their inspirer for the real deal.

Released through Unit 137, Play With Fire is a single all reggae lovers need to investigate with full satisfaction and pleasure guaranteed, whilst onlyjoe show it is a band destined to the mightiest of horizons.

http://www.onlyjoe.co.uk

9/10

RingMaster 13/10/2013

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

Listen to the best independent music and artists on The RingMaster Review Radio Show and The Bone Orchard from

http://www.audioburger.com

EMPEROR CHUNG video single The Bloodline, out now!‏

EMPEROR CHUNG’s NEW VIDEO SINGLE TAKEN FROM UPCOMING DEBUT ALBUM AVAILABLE NOW!

 

Taking from the givings of past rock masters such as Queen and Thin Lizzy fused with modern classics such as Coheed & Cambria, Alter Bridge, Derbyshire five-some Emperor Chung are here to run rampant through the UK scene.

With a sound that boasts captivating vocals lines with infectious grooves and thunderous riffery separated by delectable dual-lead melodies, Emperor Chung are quickly making friends and have already garnered support from Scuzz TV and Team Rock Radio, as well as recently wooing crowds at this year’s Download Festival.

Hailing from Ilkeston in Derbyshire, and born at the tail end of 2011, all members of Emperor Chung previously served their time doing the rounds throughout the local scene. It wasn’t until they collectively formed Emperor Chung, that everything really started to click for the talented quintet. Intense gigging and rehearsals soon followed, and by the end of the year, the band had enough quality material to record their debut album.

The ascending crew recently played the YNOT festival with The Darkness, Macmillanfest with Tesseract and have more dates lined up throughout the UK this Autumn; along with having recently released their self-titled album and with the release of their spanking new video ‘The Bloodline’, the unstoppable are poised to break, and with support building for the band with Rocksound, Classic Rock, Powerplay and Scuzz TV, this year is sure to be a colossal one for this rising rocksters!

CLICK HERE TO VIEW  THE VIDEO – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SZmMfFRUfo&feature=youtu.be  |

www.facebook.com/TheEmperorChung

 

ELECTRIC WOODLAND to unleash new album ‘Potrero’, out 9th December‏

 

 

RISING EURO ROCKSTERS  ELECTRIC WOODLAND RELEASE DEBUT ALBUM AND PLAN TO TAKE THE UK BY STORM….…

 

High Flying Norwegian Rock outfit ‘Electric Woodland’ fuse an encyclopaedic knowledge of The Doors’ and Deep Purple’s back catalogues with the modern rock suss of The Black Keys and QOTSA; the result is highly engaging. Electric Woodland unleash their explosive debut album ‘Potrero’ through Snaxville Recordings and all digital stores on Monday 9th December 2013.

Formed in 2009, it didn’t take long for Electric Woodland to get itchy feet in their countryside home of Skogbygda. So the quartet decided to rebuild a henhouse into a rehearsal room, and then construct a wooden stage at a local farm, thus spawning a festival. Needless to say, Electric Woodland have a strong work ethos and an industrious attitude to their craft. Despatching a sound that supremely pitches raw, psychedelic texturings with cleverly woven guitar lines and vocal hooks, Electric Woodland are unquestionably innovative, dextrous and poignant. Continually moving forward and breaking boundaries with a willingness to evolve and progress, Electric Woodland produce music that offers an inventive twist on bands such as Wolfmother, Them Crooked Vultures and The Doors.

Following on from the successful release of their debut EP in 2011, the band went into the barn studio of Norwegian Grammy winners Amund and Henrik Maarud to record their debut album ‘Potrero’, where the foursome laid their organic sound down to analogue tape. Now loaded with ten tracks that truly shine and showcase the band’s vast array of talents, from the twisted alluring groove of their opener ‘Heavy Eyes’, to the up-tempo blues swagger of ‘Have You Seen My Baby’ and to the timeless anthemic sway of their new single ‘Old Airplane’, Electric Woodland have crafted a record that has all the ingredients to be a bona fide modern classic.

**ELECTRIC WOODLAND RELEASE ‘POTRERO’ THROUGH SNAXVILLE RECORDINGS AND ALL DIGITAL STORES**

www.facebook.com/pages/Electric-Woodland/128747150525584               electricwoodland.com

 

PATRIOT REBEL to release ‘Two Worlds’, on 9th December‏

 

UK ROCK OUTFIT PATRIOT REBEL RELEASE DEBUT EP!

 

Bursting out of Nottingham, Patriot Rebel are here to stamp their mark over the whole of the UK. The Brit riff-lords are poised to rise with the national release of their stunning debut EP ‘Two Worlds’, out Monday 9th December.

Taking from the likes of Stone Temple Pilots, Alter Bridge and Shinedown, but with a particular affinity for Black Stone Cherry and Velvet Revolver, Patriot Rebel pitch colossal riffs against soaring melodies, and the end result is immensely enthralling.

Although the roots of the band can be traced to 2007, it was not until 2011 that the current line up of Paul Smith (Lead Vocals), Danny Marsh (Lead Guitar), Dave Gadd (Rhythm Guitar / Backing Vocals), Aaron Grainger (Drums) and Will Kirk (Bass) began to solidify. After perfecting their live set, the quintet started to play throughout their local area and soon earned a hearty reputation for delivering explosive live performances. Touring and festivals soon followed as the band shared stages with the likes of Tesseract, Jettblack, Skarlett Riot, Cornerstone, Earthtone9, Spirytus and Violet. And it wasn’t too long before the ascending rockers sold out the legendary ‘Rock City’ in Nottingham.

With the band’s live reputation flourishing, the five-some decided to turn their attention to releasing their debut record. Patriot Rebel headed to Axis Studios to work with esteemed producer Matt Elliss (Black Spiders, Terrorvision, Skarlett Riot) and they proceeded to put down tracks for their debut EP ‘Two Worlds’. Now fully complete, the record delivers on all fronts. Bursting with pounding drums, throbbing guitar lines and engaging hooks, the band have a beast of a debut for your absorption. The EP packs six killer cuts spanning from the thunderous riffage of ‘Propaganda’ to the fist-in-the-air anthem of ‘What Goes Around’ and to the rousing ‘The Storm’, which highlights the band’s growing diversity and songwriting prowess. With shows in the pipeline to support the record, everything is now falling into place as the rocksters will battle it out for their place as one of the new breed of Brit Rock bands set to break in the UK!

| PATRIOT REBEL RELEASE ‘TWO WORLDS’ ON MONDAY 9th DECEMBER FROM ALL DIGITAL STORES |

www.facebook.com/patriotrebel