Shameless captivation within the RingMaster Parade…

Continuing to tease and light up our ears Shameless PR have sent over another collection of tracks to take a reviewing lick at and we present to you the most compelling of the bunch.

My Nature is a compelling blend of sinister seduction and menacing atmospheric intimation; it is also the latest single from Atlanta-based indie pop duo I Am a Rocketship and the lead track off of their fascinating new album Ghost Stories. It is a song which creeps into the psyche whilst manipulating the body with its infectious grooves and one which suggests indeed demands that the band’s bigger offering should be explored.

I Am a Rocketship unites the craft and imaginations of multi-instrumentalist Eric Weissinger and vocalist/cellist L E Kippner of Swedish synth-pop duo Neobox. From a chance meeting the pair formed Hitchcock Blondes before relocating to Atlanta and creating I Am a Rocketship. Their sound is a kaleidoscope of flavours woven into indie pop bred adventures but songs unafraid to venture through shadows and experimentation embracing electronica and rock instincts among other flavours.

My Nature is a perfect yet individual example of their imagination and the new album, the song immediately haunting ears through Kippner’s captivating tones which are quickly stalked by dark nasally guitar grooves. The riveting just as tenebrific bassline and the teasing touch of keys only add to the evolving temptation with lays across magnetic rhythms; it all proving pure captivation in swift time with its creative flirtation reeking danger and fascination as the song lights the way to easily imagining further rich adventures within Ghost Stories.

Similarly and equally potent in experimentation is the new single from legendary producer Martin Bisi. A fascinating slice of Avant rock, Let It Fall is a dense and compelling encounter bred on unpredictability and relishing the myriad of flavours and styles which inspire that wonderfully erratic but skilfully crafted landscape of ideation.

The track is taken from Solstice, the first solo record in five years from Bisi and his sixth such album within a career working with the eclectic likes of Brian Eno, Bill Laswell, Sonic Youth, Swans, John Zorn, Herbie Hancock, Helmet, Africa Bambaataa, Dresden Dolls, Unsane, Cop Shoot Cop, Human Impact and countless others.

Let It Fall barely shares a single breath before the richness and thickness of its mercurial instincts and sound is apparent and enthralling ears. It is not easy to fully suggest the character and voice of the song but it is one bound in the keen essences of rock, jazz, noise, classical, and art rock and more besides. It too is a fusion of menace, disturbance and contagion; haunting the senses and inspiring the imagination whilst savouring the soprano vocals of Amanda White and Genevieve Fernworthy’s electric viola alongside the baritone guitar of Diego Ferri, the dictating rhythms of Oliver Rivera-Drew and Bisi’s alluring touch in vocals and guitar. Let It Fall was soon a track impossible to ignore; one also urging an appetite to explore its main source.

Contrasting the darker hues of the previous two is the new single from San Francisco electronic outfit Nikavo. Yummy Miami is a warm and inviting piece of electronic infection with its techno nurtured pop and catchy disco bred instincts to the fore though it too offers a sound lined with an adventure and dare we say eccentricity akin to that found within the songs already covered.

Nikavo is a musical union of producers Philip Winiger and Alexey Laduda; a pair whose respective informative musical years, the former embracing a love of the German electronic music scene and being part of industrial/ EBM outfit INHALT and the latter growing up “in the rigid, yet highly creative, post-Soviet space, playing the guitar and singing”, has found a uniting passion for dance music and analogue audio synthesis. It has resulted in a project and sound which has a broad smile to its presence and an almost mischievous instinct to experiment and explore.

Yummy Miami simply hugs the senses with its fun and lively spirit, sparking a dance in the step as it strolls through a melodic breeze. Equally vocals and synths are pure infectiousness matched in persuasion by the rousing skip of rhythms and the heated wiring of guitars. That mentioned irregularity in sound is maybe not as apparent here but certainly at enthralling strength within the single’s B-side, No TV; a track bred through a more darkwave/industrial leaning and no less absorbing.

As the band celebrate the 30-year anniversary of their highly acclaimed debut album, Sweden’s celebrated 90s indie rock darlings Easy unveil new album Radical Innocence soon and comes preceded by a couple of melodic flames posing as singles to draw ears like moths.

Since the release of that first full-length, Magic Seed, Easy has frequently toured Britain and Europe and released a host of acclaim luring records; the previous two as their new offering via A Turntable Friend Records. It is a career interrupted by the band suddenly disbanding in 1994 as members explored other projects but since returning in 2010, with the original line-up of Johan Holmlund (vocals), Rikard Jormin (bass), Tommy Dannefjord (drums), Tommy Ericson and Anders Peterson (guitars), the band has found an ever greater potency in their sound and writing.

The singles, Crystal Wave and the just come out Day For Night, present the melodic jangles and lively textures which make up the band’s sound and new album, the first an animated stroll bound in warm keys, infectious hooks, and a catchy almost eighties pop nurtured breath which swiftly got under the skin. Its successor equally had attention quickly hooked, its rhythmic lure irresistible and a persistent lure into the emotive embrace and infectious enterprise waiting to further tempt. Both tracks remind a little of The Mighty Lemon Drops which does neither any harm, both firmly stamp their individuality on eager ears.

With their new album, Coniphers, scheduled for release May 22^nd, US rockers Lazaris Pit uncage their new single You Don’t Tag Me In Memes Anymore to also provide a ripe teaser to whet the appetite. The track is a boisterous slice of funk dipped indie rock with an almost rebellious lining of punk rock, the kind of song which inspires a want to know and hear more.

The Raleigh-based outfit formed in 2017 and consists of Ely “Salted Sweet Cream” Yarbrough (guitar and lead vocals), Cameron “Sugarfoot” Preston (bass) and Jon “Dok Tok” Castro (drums and backing vocals). As we suggested their sound is a mix of varied flavours which at certain times also employs essences of funk, soul, psychedelia, reggae, jazz, noise, and ambience in songs as individual to another as you can imagine, a trait epitomised by the feral exploits of Cloudsculpting, the B-side to You Don’t Tag Me In Memes Anymore, and a song with a Everclear breath to its volatile and mercurial reggae and pop punk saunter.

The A-side entices a bit of blues guitar flaming to its rock ‘n’ roll, a poppier rock and that punk instinct uniting in a tenacious and rousing stroll. It also has a great garage rock like rawness to its breath which only increases the magnetism; You Don’t Tag Me In Memes Anymore leaving a lasting mark on ears and intrigue for the upcoming Coniphers.

Another artist entrapping attention with a couple of singles before a larger temptation is Rome-based electro indie pop project Ender Bender. May 1^st sees the EQ EP released and providing bold lures for its release are the singles Star Killer and Honey Lavender Girl.

Ender Bender is the solo project of Eddie Olguin, a multi-instrumentalist producer now based in Rome having relocated from LA in a “life-changing move”; a move saving him from self destruction and inspiration to the themes within the EQ EP.

Star Killer swiftly shows itself as a spirited and positive slice of electro rock, every move it makes an eagerly catchy incitement and each melody an invasive contagion drawing out the inner swing in us all. With the spellbinding backing vocals of Roberta Ovatta just as winning as the sounds surrounding them, the song infested ears and body with ease; success replicated by Honey Lavender Girl as it embraced a more indie pop identity. Again Ovatta and Olguin vocally unite with charm and enterprise as guitars and keys weave a fresh side to the Ender Bender sound.

Both songs only lead to one thought, to dance with the EQ EP, job done.

Finally we have new temptations from Beauty in Chaos, the creative project of guitarist Michael Ciravolo (Human Drama, Michael Aston’s Gene Loves Jezebel) which sees him link up with a rich host of musicians song by song. With new album, The Storm Before The Calm, due May 22^nd via LA-based label 33.3 Music Collective, a trio of singles have raised the keenest of anticipation of its release.

Following The Delicate Balance of All Things which featured The Mission frontman Wayne Hussey, Beauty in Chaos set free the Curse Mackey (Pigface, My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult, Evil Mothers) guesting A Kind Cruelty recently and is now followed by Almost Pure which finds Steven Seibold (Hate Dept., Pigface) alongside Ciravolo.

A Kind Cruelty rises up on a sonic breeze, bass and guitar conjuring rich intimation as the song grows and expands its intrigue. Hitting its full stride, melodies entice and hooks tease, a resonating bassline enslaving at the core. The track quickly proved a thick slab of magnetic melodic rock, every moment capturing the imagination just as its darker shadows and the vocal prowess of Mackey and indeed just as ably as its successor as a single, Almost Pure. Gothic light immediately soaks ears as the song unveils its presence, an eighties dark rock scent escalating the tempting quickly at play; indeed there is a touch of The Mission to the track at times which only thickened that potency.

Both songs epitomise the diversity and imagination which fuelled previous album Finding Beauty in Chaos and we now expect to breed rich adventures within the forthcoming The Storm Before The Calm.

Ghost Stories is now available everywhere digitally, including Spotify, as well as on CD, via the band’s own My Long Wknd imprint. It can be ordered directly from the artist via https://iamarocketship.bandcamp.com/.

Martin Bisi’s Let It Fall is out via Bronson Recordings as too the album Solstice; available digitally across key online stores and online streaming platforms, including Spotify and Apple Music.

Yummy Miami from Nikavo is out now.

The Easy singles are available now with Radical Innocence released through A Turntable Friend Records on 1^st May.

Lazaris Pit has You Don’t Tag Me in Memes Anymore available everywhere digitally, including Spotify and Apple Music now with the Coniphers album out on May 22nd.

As of May 1st, the EQ EP will be available across online stores and streaming platforms, including Spotify and Bandcamp.

The Storm Before The Calm will be released on CD and digitally on May 22nd with a later release date to be announced for the vinyl editions. These include a 180g vinyl (including a black numbered limited edition and a black & blue duo-tone). Pre-orders come with an immediate download of A Kind Cruelty and the full digital release on May 22nd includes a 25+ minute title opus that does not appear on the vinyl version. The Storm Before The Calm can be ordered here. https://www.beautyinchaosmusic.com/music-store

https://iamarocketship.com https://twitter.com/Iamarocketship1 https://www.facebook.com/iamarocketship/

http://martinbisi.com/ https://www.facebook.com/Martin-Bisi-10025408974 https://twitter.com/martinbisi

https://www.facebook.com/Nikavo-279477962909519 https://nikavo.bandcamp.com/

http://www.easy-magicseeds.se/ https://www.facebook.com/SwedishindiebandEasy/ https://easy-sweden.bandcamp.com/

https://www.lazarispit.com/ https://www.facebook.com/LazarisPit/ https://twitter.com/themLPboys

https://lazarispit.bandcamp.com/

http://www.enderbender.com/ https://www.facebook.com/enderbendersonicdrug/ https://twitter.com/iamEnderBender

https://www.beautyinchaosmusic.com/ https://www.facebook.com/beautyinchaosmusic/ https://twitter.com/MichaelCiravolo https://beautyinchaos.bandcamp.com/

Pete RingMaster 02/05/2020

Jarboe and Helen Money – Self Titled

Mar5

ABX063_jhm_cover

It is almost frightening how spellbinding the collaboration between Jarboe and Helen Money is on their self-titled album, how immersed into its dark inviting depths and ravenously siren-esque shadows ears, imagination, and simply reality becomes. The release is quite extraordinary, embroiling the listener in a soundscape of harmonic drones and sonic distortion but equally a sinister beauty and psyche engulfing adventure. It should probably be no surprise the impact of the album. When you place the evocative invention, craft, and voice of Swans co-founder and former vocalist Jarboe alongside the creative dark majesty of visionary cellist Helen Money (aka Alison Chesley), something startling was bound to happen, though an understatement in the case of their album.

Neither lady is a stranger to the skills and adventure of collaborating, Jarboe having worked on over 63 projects with the likes of Philip Anselmo, Neurosis, Jim Thirlwell, Merzbow, Bill Laswell, A Perfect Circle, Colin Marston, Cobalt, Cattle Decapitation, Justin K. Broadrick, Jesu…and the list goes on, alongside her 36 solo albums, whilst Helen Money has linked up with artists such as Mono, Anthrax, Russian Circles, Joe Lally and Shellac over time. They are experiences and bold adventures which have added to their own subsequent imaginative creativity, something their album reeks of.

The delicious tones of Money’s cello is the first caress as album opener For My Father embraces ears, its melancholic voice provocatively coaxing senses and thoughts under a just as darkly lit ambience. The heavy emotional air parts just a slither for the instantly magnetic presence of Jarboe, her radiant tones instantly poetic like against the shadows and the crinkling texture of her keys. The track continues its increasingly broadening embrace as both ladies unveil further shafts of melodic light and doom lined expression through their respective skills. The song is simply mesmeric, a golden sunrise of enterprise and melodic temptation but equally a breeding of dark clouds and imposing drama. As expansive a minimalistic proposition you are ever likely to be lost within, certainly outside of the album, there is an immediate immersion into the heart of the release, external light not to be seen and felt again until the album decides.

The following My Enemy My Friend is similarly a swift fascination of noir wrapped radiance; the alluring string plucking of Money tensing the spring for the flight of intensive sonic and emotional exploration. Within seconds the instrumental is resonating through body and thoughts, the lyrical and social nudging of the first track seemingly spreading into the intimidating but seductive breath of its successor. Keys and cello create a labyrinth of haunting and ominous suggestiveness, an incitement the imagination tenaciously casts scenes with whilst emotions bow before the weight of the track’s rousing portentousness. It is meditative and unsettling, and quite riveting, a success matched by the outstanding Hello Mr. Blue.

The almost carnivorous opening of what feels like bestial bass is glorious, something to sell your soul for. Whether it is bass or a brilliant merging of keys and cello which is also possible as repeat listens twist and turn with indecision, it is an enslaving start which only escalates into a kaleidoscope of, well creative alchemy to be honest. The floating harmonies of Jarboe seduce with celestial beauty whilst Money’s cello flirts with darkly centred eyes, every note having a knowing smile to their heavy persuasion. As Jarboe unveils the warmly delivered narrative, the track in contrast becomes a brewing maelstrom of agitation and aggravation, egged on by the contagious rhythmic dance of the piece. Every track already has breached new plateaus and taken the listener into inventively denser and increasingly threatening exploits, and this continues that exhilarating success as its marches towards its controlled but vocally bedlamic closure.

Wired is pretty much what it says on the tin, its presence a fibrous mesh of sounds and sonic intrigue presenting an intensive and feverish climate for ears and a sea of opportunities for the imagination to interpret and develop further, whether through its voracious incitement or the more of a harmonic smoulder it also harbours. There is little time for those thought bred adventures to take long term root though before the intimacy of Truth inspires with its own reflective beauty. Keys and sublimely drifting harmonies soaked in an air of loneliness kiss ears first before Jarboe opens up her vocal heart in a theatre of those continuing initial croons and just as emotive guitar stabs.

It is hard with words to present the drama and emotive intensity which comes with every bewitching track and the pair’s creative ingenuity which unrelentingly and deeply works away once breaching ears, but easy to enthuse over the ever evolving experiences which re-invent themselves in sound and visceral adventure with every listen. The closing Every Confidence is a perfect example. We can only hint at the tempestuous nature and climate which seeds from and descends on the senses and psyche after an initial gentle mesmeric croon of sound, but rigorously recommend its rapacious hunger to stretch not only the listener and their emotions, but the creative emprise bred by the artists pushing their instrumental and vocal limits.

It is a challenge and success which applies to the whole of the album. It is an astonishing encounter, a scourge of everything bland and predictable in modern music which goes beyond being something merely to listen to. You feel and almost taste the dynamic and intensive atmospheres of the tracks, you breath the drama and emotional intensity of the sounds and their inspiration, and ultimately it is a journey provided by Jarboe and Helen Money which you take and will never be the same again after.

Jarboe and Helen Money’s album is available now via Aurora Borealis as a black vinyl LP, on CD and digitally.

http://www.thelivingjarboe.com/ http://helenmoney.com/

RingMaster 04/03/2015

Listen to the best independent music and artists on The RingMaster Review Radio Show and The Bone Orchard on Reputation Radio @ http://reputationradio.yooco.org/

Marla Mase – Half-Life

Feb27

Marla Mase by Blair Bauer

Hailing from New York City, Marla Mase is a writer and performer, producer and singer songwriter who has earned a feisty and impressive reputation for her compelling songs and expressive lyrics amongst many things. Following two acclaimed and eagerly received albums, the artist unveils her new eight track adventure Half-life. Diverse and an emotive look inwardly and outwardly at life’s struggles, emotions, and obstacles, the album is a fascinating insight into the world of its creator, a release which takes a serious investigation to its themes whilst having and providing its most magnetic quality, fun.

Mase as mentioned drew strong praise and attention with her previous releases, A Brief Night Out which was a rock opera/theatrical play performed in theatres and Speak, an encounter eclectic and adventurous in sound and imagination. The album also spawned Anna-Rexia (and a dub mix version by Bill Laswell), the song now spearheading the STAY ImPerfect Forever Project. Following the successful Speak Tour, ‘a multi-media theatrical event exploring the themes of body image exploitation, involuntary confinement, the silenced and the silent combining spoken word, video imagery, music, and theatrical spectacle to celebrate the raw reality of the human condition’, Half-Life reinforces and expands the emerging world presence of Mase with more of the incisive and unique invention already persuading her homeland.

The release opens with the brilliant Drown in Blue, a bluesy punk stomp with fire breathing guitars and self-challenging Mm_HalfLIfeJacket provocative vocals. Ripe with hooks and a swagger from the first second, the track glares at the senses with a raw and confrontational incitement of sound and attitude, the voice of Mase slightly Debbie Harry like and the song something which would not have been out of place on the first Blondie album. Self-critical and revelatory with an edge to its honesty which equally coaxes thoughts of bands like L7 and Au Pairs, the track is a full and irresistible captivation.

The impressive start is followed by the mesmeric title track, a hypnotic rhythmically framed lure with a celestial ambience and seductive pop rock elegance. The song gently strolls across the senses through to thoughts, the drums of Mike Faulkner providing the guide rail to prevent being lost with the skyward spiralling melodies amidst blazes of jazz bred sax from Mark Henry. After the provocative lively dance of the opener, the song is a warm breeze to drift along upon, a glide embracing the shadows and noir kissed caresses which line its journey and the excellent enthralling tones of Mase.

Things That Scare Me (the 2014 Club Version) comes next bringing another twist in the release’s presence, the song a funk blessed tango which bounces and seduces with almost toxic charm and persuasion. Soon springing thoughts of The Tom Tom Club as it roams around the ears, Mase lists obstacles and ills which challenge her stride through life whilst the sounds darken and lighten with a pulsating and riveting mischief around her. The song provides another fully loaded contagion within the release, its presence offering a rampant exploit for any dancefloor or intimate dance of self-reflection within four staring walls with equal success.

Next up The Heart Beats walks through a sultry ambience with a full yet simmering heat of passion and spoken incitement of thoughts, an almost meditative rhythmic holding of attention working with the prowess and strength of Mase’s words. Featuring Bill Laswell on bass, it is a provocative stroke again bringing a distinct and original twist in the course of the album, as does the melodic rock canter of Gaping Hole with its merger of blues and R&B, and not for the first or last time excellent backing vocals to support the unfussy delivery of Mase. Though neither song matches earlier and latter heights both seduce and provide a lingering suasion to find a greedy hunger for.

After a blues soaked acoustically shaped reprise of the opening song, Bitch in Heat steps up to unveil another funk prone romp of blues and rock attitude. Including Charlie Funk on backing vocals and a great flame of harmonica from David Barnes, the track infects the imagination and passions with a confidence and exciting escapade of musical skill and eye to eye honesty, all wrapped in a slightly caustic and highly pleasing surface glaze.

The True Groove production released album is completed by Hold Fast Your Dreams, a piano and vocal led enchantment written by Louise Driscoll, Roberta Mase, and Mase herself, the song taking inspiration from a poem by Driscoll of the same name. Also featuring Tomás Doncker, James Dellatacoma, Manu Koch, Josh David, Kevin Jenkins and more to help bring the release to life, Half-Life is an exciting companion providing constant unpredictability and creative adventure to ears and thoughts. Marla Mase is still a bit of a secret outside of the US to a great many but not for much longer you feel with treats like Half-Life.

http://marlamase.com/

8/18

RingMaster 27/02/2014