Venus Theory – Nightwalker (Pt. 1)

Having more than impressed around two years ago under the moniker London Has Fallen with the album Breathe, the duo of Alecia Gates and Cameron Gorham take things to another level with Nightwalker (Pt. 1). Now named Venus Theory, their creative union takes all the alternative/melodic rock and electronic qualities already established in their sound into new pastures of maturity and adventure within a release which consumes almost devours ears and imagination with emotive and atmospheric intensity.

Hailing from Peoria, Illinois, first came together in 2013 and over time earned increasing praise and attention especially through a pair of albums in Fracture and even more so Breathe. When the move to Venus Theory we cannot tell you but it comes with a definite evolution in their music which quickly reveals a darker more experimental edge and equally potent new attributes in Nightwalker (Pt. 1).

First track Fire opens like mist, its electronic dust coming together around the ever enticing vocals of Gates. With her harmonic tones a beacon in its shadowed immersion of ears, the song continues to slowly but evocatively swirl around the senses with gothic and emotive suggestion with Gorham’s keys casting a tapestry of electronic drama as haunting and powerful as Gates’ soaring voice.

The following Afraid to Let Go similarly simmers around the listener as Gates’ harmonic beauty unravels the song’s heart and emotion, its grace as haunting and seductively solemn as its predecessor’s yet with an elegant radiance which invites unbridled attention. It is like a glimpse into a bigger reflection of sound and emotive exploration yet a full and rich look which fascinates and absorbs the imagination like a moth to the flame before Echo resonates with electronic ripples and mystique soaked melodic suggestiveness. There is a keener edge and weight to the track, in both its industrial nurtured temptation and Gate’s vocal fervency. The track is outstanding, the peak of the already impressing release though its successor makes a powerful challenge.

Lay Down shares a bolder electronic serenade with its rhythmic undercurrent a skittish tempting inviting feet and bodies to share its tenacity. Above its shuffle, melodies and vocals unite in harmonic intimation of the song’s heart and soul; a mix which sees the release once more beguiles ears and thoughts but with a greater potency in luring the body to physically and greedily involved.

The release ends with Heart Still Beating; an atmospheric kiss with deep realms of melodic splendour and emotion drenched atmospherics, Gates and Gorham absorbing the listener into their creative depths and imagination once again through another individual haunting current of emotion and sound. It is a transfixing end to an EP which infests and explores the listener as much as its own dark corners and emotional intensity and a release which confirms Venus Theory as one of the most mesmeric treats around.

Nightwalker (Pt. 1) is released Oct 6^th.

https://venustheory.com    https://www.facebook.com/venustheory

Pete RingMaster 26/09/2017

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

Folie – Sorrow

Some songs make a swift persuasion, others creep up on you for similar success, and there are those which seize attention with a virulence which almost takes the breath away. Sorrow, the new single from Folie, inescapably belongs to the latter. It is a slice of imposingly danceable pop embracing an array of styles and flavours yet belonging to none tagging wise which has the body bouncing and spirit bounding within the  touch of its first bubbly beat and melodic shimmer.

Florida hailing, Folie is a collective of dedicated producers, performers, songwriters, and musicians uniting their own “unique approach to their artistry”. Earlier this year, the band released a well-received debut EP in the shape of Gorgeous, a release just as Sorrow which is taken from it, weaving a tapestry of pop, indie, electronic, hip hop, dance and a host of other ear grabbing flavours.

The single instantly whets the appetite with its fleet footed bass pulsing and crispy percussion, keys and guitar soon adding their colourful strokes to the blossoming encounter. Vocals bring a Libertines meets punk spicing to the growing mix whilst the funky animation of the song offers a dance/alternative rock enterprise with a touch of the Tom Tom Club to its swing.

It is a captivating web of sound and styles which only seems to increase its hold as frantic energies increase and infest the imagination. The fade out is annoying but that is the only thing, just down to personal tastes, to offer up as a ‘temper’ to a lustful recommendation of a track ensuring a lively summer is far from over.

The Gorgeous EP is available now @ https://folie1.bandcamp.com/album/gorgeous

https://www.facebook.com/Officialfoliee

Pete RingMaster 12/09/2017

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

Jack of None -Who Shot Bukowski

Having released one of the most fascinating albums of 2016, US trio experimental brother sister trio Jack of None offer up one of this year’s most compelling in its successor Who Shot Bukowski. Weaving a tapestry of art, alternative, post punk and electronic rock, to simplify their sound, the band infests ears and fingers the psyche across ten tracks of creative drama. It is a journey into the shadowy side of the human condition, an adventure into devious infectiousness, and increasing addiction to embrace with every manipulative listen.

Splitting themselves between Philippines capital Manila and Chicago, Jack of None consists of brothers A.G. (principal composer on guitar, bass and synths) and Julian Syjuco (guitar) alongside sister Maxine (poet-songwriter and vocalist). Last year their first album, Who’s Listening to Van Gogh’s Ear?, was greeted with widespread acclaim, going on to receive 3 nominations at the 15th Independent Music Awards including Best Album in its genre, though what that genre maybe is anyone’s guess such the eclectic nature of their imagination and sound. Who Shot Bukowski is destined to not only replicate its predecessor’s success but thrust the threesome towards thicker and richer attention with its irresistible theatre of contagious intrigue and bold enterprise.

Swiftly Who Shot Bukowski reveals that doughty adventure and imagination in opener Strangest Bedfellows, allowing the hints and seeds sown in the more industrial lined Who’s Listening to Van Gogh’s Ear? to blossom and flourish. The track glides in on a slow swing, guitar and rhythms teasing with tantalising bait around the seductive temptation of Maxine’s voice. Steelier grooves erupt as things get provocatively hazier and magnetically sinister but still the emotive affair between ear and song continues to have the thickest grip whilst sharing increasingly catchy and flirtatious lures along the way.

It is an outstanding start swiftly matched by the following pair of Sticks and Stones and X-Y-Sex. The first of the two merges industrial and psych rock with folk pop hues, its touch simultaneously grainy and warm as Maxine erotically touches the imagination with her tones. A Marilyn Manson like causticity breaks as the track bursts into a more volatile state but soon returning to that initial now increasingly jazz funk laced calm; a carousel which continues to turn across the song before its successor steals the show with its noir lit beauty and haunting contagion. The previous track reminded of US industrial electro rock outfit Scream Machine, this even more so but equally has something of eighties UK band The Passage to it too. Like a dream almost nightmarish in its Orwellian design as visual eroticism teases, the track is pure bewitchment leading the imagination on a flirtatious dance from start to finish.

Dear Georges (Vous Petit Monstre) is next, an even darker bête noire of emotion and thoughts with its entrancing charms and seductive shadows, all led by Maxine’s almost predatory melodic grace and the similarly disarming exploits of her brothers. It too carries flames of metallic toxicity through the raw torrents of guitar but is at its most fantastic with its deviously mellow caresses.

Lyrically every song is a story, a gothic poem of sorts which is as much an engineer of the imagination as their delivery and the sound cradling their revelations, The Brainwashers another fine example within its raw dance and invasive electronic machination. A uniquely beguiling hook offsets a slight repetition of earlier tracks in certain moments, a lining of dark sounds and insidious suggestion adding greater individuality to the encounter before Polyamorous Serial Monogamist writhes seductively in ears. Every melody and smouldering syllable is a physically swerving enticement only accentuated by the surge of guitar and keenly slapping beats, it all woven into a mesmeric incantation.

From the six seconds of Again, the excitable rock ‘n’ roll exploits of The Princess and the Pistol (Can You Feel That?) tenaciously romp with the senses, the track a restrained yet tempestuous incitement while next up Little Devil Girl provides its own suggestive haunting with almost visceral charm and beauty. It is an edge which grows with the subsequent surge of guitars and bass groan which emerges within the garage punk scented treat, the superb encounter never losing its composure but instilling lingering seeds of fear.

The album closes with Tenderly, She Said, a song which from a melodic kiss of acoustic guitar grumbles and smooches with the ever arresting presence of Maxine. Progressive in its tone, hungry in its diversity of texture and flavouring, the song grabs ears and imagination with sublime craft and ease, epitomising the album with its own inescapable alchemy.

Who Shot Bukowski simply captivated and thrilled from its first moment in speakers and ears, and indeed has only tightened its lure and grip ever since. This time around Jack of None would not be too misguided in hoping those previous nominations become awards.

Who Shot Bukowski is out now across most stores and @ https://jackofnone.bandcamp.com/album/who-shot-bukowski

http://www.jackofnone.net/    https://www.facebook.com/jackofnoneband/

Pete RingMaster 02/08/2017

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

Snuttock: An introduction of Rituals

Photograph by Laurie A Smith

Allow us to introduce you to Snuttock, a band from Baltimore in Maryland consisting of Bryan Lee, a classically trained musician, and Christopher Lee Simmonds, the latter also a founding member of Michigan progressive metallers Thought Industry. There the background to the pair and Snuttock ends though the fun and real discovery of the electro outfit is through their music. Some might pin it down as synth pop and certainly that is its breeding but with sonic and emotion cast shadows, a kaleidoscope of flavours and textures, and more twists and curves than a descending slinky, it makes for a proposition which never leaves ears and imagination lost for adventure.

Formed in 2003, Snuttock released debut album Straight Jacket Life two years later. It was the first insight to the pair’s blossoming fusion of industrial rapacity with the instinctive allure of synth pop; a blend shaping Carved and Sutured in 2008 and its collection of new tracks and dance-floor friendly remixes. Where we come in and cast a glimpse into, thanks to Lee and Simmonds themselves, is with the band’s last two releases, Endless Rituals and Rituals Redux. The first is in a way the duo’s proper second album, though it seems to be classed as the third, and was released in 2013. Its successor came out last year and sees a host of artists presenting remixes of its predecessor’s tracks, the album acting like a companion piece to the originals bringing new sides and personas to their already captivating characters.

What Endless Rituals quickly establishes is the diversity across the sound and creative enterprise of Lee and Simmonds; songs ranging from simply synth pop to industrial, dark electro, ambient and much more.  As expectations and assumptions of what comes next arise they are quickly shot down and left floundering as song by song the release persistently presents a new facet to its swiftly captivating presence. For all its twists and new sides though, there is a coherency to it all which links it all as something truly individual to Snuttock.

From opener Attention, intrigue is an eager response, the opening shadows of the track rich in suggestion and invitation before the track breaks into a vibrant stroll. That vibrancy is soon a flood across hungrily catchy endeavour, grabbing body and ears with zeal and infectious energy. There is a feel of early Mute Records bands to the song, The Normal coming to mind most and the laying down of the first compelling moment in the album’s landscape.

The dark wave scented, robotically natured Single Cell Antenna is the first twist in the emprise of sound within the album, its dance dexterity and pop glow managing to also cast a dystopian shadow over the affair. New turns flow through ears from thereon in, the emotional reflection and melancholic sharing of the Depeche Mode like People Too, the reserved but open funk of We Learn with its BEF air, and the dark ambience of Nameless straight away expanding the broad terrains honed by Snuttock. The last of the three is like a flight across cosmopolitan lands, its instrumental blossoming in adventure and suggestion with something akin to a merger of Kraftwerk, Thomas Dolby, and pre-split Human League.

It is fair to say that every track within Endless Rituals stirs the senses; the outstanding and dark, almost predacious presence of Crawl invading the psyche with a prowess reminding of UK band Defeat giving one particular favourite moment though with its thought romancing, dark atmospherics One Day and Spitting Into The Wind with its Blancmange meets Artery like emotive theatre leave their magnetic mark. Even throwing a handful plus of references to give a hint of the songs on offer, the uniqueness of Snuttock is the driving force and continues to captivate across remaining tracks like the haunting post rock/electro ambience of Ghost and the irresistible electro punk popper Advice.

Endless Rituals is a treat, even more so if you can get the deluxe edition with an additional four tracks, which newcomers to Snuttock should make their entry point though Rituals Redux certainly makes for a potent invitation too. Even after years of taking them on board, we have yet to get our personal heads around the appeal and maybe even purpose of remixes especially when the originals are so impressive and dominate. We can equally understand their popularity and in turn demand for others though, even more so after listening to Rituals Redux. Whether it was because we heard it first and numerous times before Endless Rituals, the album like a film or TV show hinting at the majesty of a source book, or simply the quality of the tracks on offer, the mix of all maybe, it certainly awoke an appetite for the Snuttock enterprise and a fun in imagining their originals.

First the only ‘negative’ with the album and that is its radio show skits and bumpers. Whether they are taken from a real show or are simply cast to suggest that surrounding they do niggle personal tastes, especially when coming back to back. It is a minor thing of course and certainly once the music descends and remixes from the likes of Psy’Aviah, Marsheaux, [:SITD:], TweakerRay, and Sebastian Komor, is forgotten as feet quickly leap and the spirit jumps opening track and a sparkling take on Advice by Leæther Strip. Each track takes the core essence and heart of the original songs and casts them in a fresh landscape of imagination or shadow of dark suggestiveness. Major highlights for personal tastes include Sebastian Komor’s fizzy take on We Learn and indeed Marsheaux’s warmly seductive version, The Metroland Protocol’s hypnotic twist on Single Cell Antennae, the noir lit take of the same song by The Rorschach Garden, and Psy’Aviah’s haunting at times senses stalking remix of Spitting Into The Wind.

As we said though, and maybe surprisingly, considering its 2 CD, eighteen track length, Rituals Redux hits the perfect  spot with artists such as [:SITD:], Amarta Project, Statik SeKt, Retrogramme, Red This Ever, TweakerRay, Guilt Trip, L’Avenir, Diskodiktator, and Deutsche Bank Machine equally lighting ears and enjoyment with provocative interpretation and craft.

So that is Snuttock, a band which if synth pop and broad electronic adventure is your appetite should make for a highly pleasing new exploration.

Check them out more @ http://www.snuttock.com/ and https://www.facebook.com/Snuttock/  and their music @ http://www.snuttock.com/store.html

Pete RingMaster 31/05/2017

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

The Pink Diamond Revue – Miss Lonely Hearts

Carrying a sense of cinematic and provocative drama with every compelling note and rhythmic pulse, the new single from British electro psych rockers The Pink Diamond Revue, is pure aural theatre. Miss Lonely Hearts offers a dark seduction as mischievously flirtatious as it is ominously intriguing. It is a slice of noir lit, fifties and sixties scented suggestiveness, and quite irresistible.

Equally there is a garage rock ‘n’ roll/punkiness to the song, an underlying confrontational edge which adds to the imagery and dramatic sonic painting spun by guitarist Tim Lane and drummer Robert Courtman-Stock. Uniting behind Acid Dol, “a model from another dimension”, the duo entangles modern beats and imaginative devilry with riffs, samples, and vocal harmonies lured from those previously mentioned decades. As Miss Lonely Hearts reveals, it is a combination which simply infects body and imagination

Since uniting, The Pink Diamond Revue has become a magnet on the live scene, infecting venues and festivals to increasing acclaim with their addictively invasive and compelling sound. Alone Miss Lonely Hearts suggests why, the track immediately swamping ears with magnetic yet challenging rhythms as electronics and especially the wiry grooves of Lane wind around ears and imagination. Dark and alluring, inviting and evocatively temperamental, the track is organic rock ‘n’ roll at its most enthralling and in turn rousing.

As melodies seduce, beats lure, and samples conjure, the track additionally courts essences of bands such as Sigue Sigue Sputnik, Calling All Astronauts, and The Avalanches but swiftly weaves its own identity in bold and tempting sound amid aural mystery.

The Pink Diamond Revue takes the listener on an adventure of clandestine intrigue and shadow clad revelry with Miss Lonely Hearts, and boy is it fun.

Miss Lonely Hearts is available now.

Upcoming Live Dates:

August 6th Glastonbelly Salisbury

August 7th Roadkill Camden

August 20th Some Weird Sin Brixton Windmill

September 4th Purple Turtle Reading

https://www.facebook.com/thepinkdiamondrevue

Pete RingMaster 03/08/2016

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

Alfred Hall – Safe & Sound EP

Fuelled with the qualities to be a warm and captivating soundtrack fit for basking in the mesmeric summer sun to, Norwegian duo Alfred Hall release their new EP Safe & Sound, the band’s first offering to the UK market. The band and their absorbing sounds will be no strangers to other European regions but now it is time for British awareness to be stoked up, with easy to expect success in tow.

The band consists of Hans Thomas and Bjørn Tveit, childhood friends since the age of 10 who decided to form a band in the summer of 2009 while working as farmhands on Thomas’ family’s farm. Within three years, the pair had stirred up national attention and appetites for their fascinating sound, debut single So Bright finding strong success on national and international radio. 2013 saw the Norwegian release of first album Wilderness, a proposition finding itself nominated for Best Pop Album at the Norwegian Grammys. With its title track gracing the worldwide Netflix trailer for Ricky Gervais’ comedy-drama series Derek, the Safe & Sound EP is Alfred Hall’s nudge on UK’s ears and fair to say it needs little time to potently seduce.

The single Safe & Sound opens up the EP, instantly infecting ears with its exotic percussion and jabbing beat as the gossamer caresses of the pair’s vocals wrap and float over the senses. Melodies are just as bright and magnetic whilst being skilfully contrasted by thicker and darker rhythmic hues as the song strolls and flirts with vivacious energy and contagion.  You can imagine yourself bouncing within the kiss and warm reassurance of the summer to the song, its addictive catchiness simply inescapable

Following a Simon Field Remix of the first song, So Bright entices with its own cast of temptations; boisterous rhythms and charming guitar jangles crowding round the bewitching falsetto laced vocals. The song is like an aural portrayal of sun rays glistening on a rippling stretch of watery beauty, transfixing and calming yet with plenty of inviting agitation to stir the spirit into bolder life.

As the first, the track is like a hex on the imagination and eager feet, leaving a lingering presence even as closing song Wild At Heart provides a Paul Simon like spicing of melodic calm and reflection for ears and thought to immerse in. The radiance of guitars is matched in voice and keys, all aligning with the shadows of rhythms and emotional contemplation to alluring effect.

The song is a fine end to what is an introduction to budding UK fans of Alfred Hall; a proposal which it is easy to expect, whether by individual tracks or the EP as a whole, finding as much enthusiastic attention as the band’s music has found at home and further afield. The summer starts here.

The Safe & Sound EP is out now.

https://www.facebook.com/alfredhallpage   https://twitter.com/alfredhallmusic

Pete RingMaster 06/04/2016

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

For more exploration of the independent and promotional services check out http://www.zykotika.com/

Karel Fialka – Peace v War (featuring Racecar)

Photo by Mike Ross

A name from the past returning to stir up ears again with a new album is Karel Fialka, a man who became a potent part of electro pop in the eighties. In reality, Fialka has never truly been away, continuing to write and record with other bands and artists as well as being a well-respected and sought after artist on the production side of things. Mention his name though and certainly our thoughts, as a great many it seems, refer to eighties tracks such as The Eyes Have It and Hey Matthew as our last major memories. That is set to change though with the release of Peace v War, a set of songs created in collaboration with Racecar which simply and increasingly captivate.

Emerging around 1978, Fialka first drew attention with 7” single Armband, a song destined to become a cult classic. The Eyes Have It saw strong radio attention and further acclaim a year later, with the album it came from, Still Life an equally well-received offering spawning further eagerly received singles. Continuing to be an active songwriter with many of his tracks covered by numerous artists, it was not until 1987 with the release of the single Hey Matthew on Miles Copeland’s I.R.S. Records that Fialka hit the charts for his biggest success. Second album Human Animal grabbed attention the following year though fans had to wait almost a decade for its 2009 successor, Film Noir. It has been though, a host of years in regard to Fialka which has slipped us, again as others, personally by, which is why the pleasant surprise when being sent over the promo for Peace v War.

Written and recorded with the Racecar, which is Kevin McGowan and Richard Rogers, Peace v War is set to be a release casting Fialka back into the ears and radar of that great many. It is a lyrically sharp and emotionally irritable collection of songs looking at themes which are impacting on the modern world such as war, hunger, inequality, political chicanery and media manipulation. Musically though, it is a flavoursome maze of tracks which are as catchy and bright as their narratives are biting and dark.

Released only digitally and on 12″ vinyl which comes wrapped in a cover designed by Grammy Design Award nominee Mike Ross, you will excuse us if we look at Peace v War in the track order of the promo sent to us rather than what seems to be the different placing of songs on certainly the vinyl version, though both start with the excellent Political Animal. It is a song which saunters in with a mellow air and a smiling melodic coaxing though more inflamed grooves soon add to the still restrained but simultaneously catchy and sombre encounter. Led by the dark accusing tones of Fialka, there is a Fad Gadget air and texturing to the guitar shaped song which only adds to its urgent appeal, that and the easy to join chorus with its crowd of female led vocal infectiousness.

Variety is a soon show as another open hue to the album, Scratch The Surface for example nudging up to ears and appetite with its reggae seeded riffs and swagger which brings a scent not too removed from The Clash, even as keys lay their evocative ambience around the magnetic lure of rhythms and guitar which shows a great line in discord at times. That diversity continues as the likes of White Gold In The Aral Sea, with its even darker tone laced with Ruts spiced predation and emotive piano expression, and the exotically woven Synthetic Sin share their unique characters and fascinating landscapes. The first of the two is soaked in a brooding that infests the imagination but is swiftly eclipsed by the second and best track on the album. With a potent blend of vocals from the band and mystique hued melodies which hauntingly wind around the addictive sway and virulence of the song, it simply has ears and appetite eating out of its creative hands.

A bluesy air colludes with electronic resourcefulness in Calvary, a song which from a strong start just seems to blossom in weight and colour with each of its alluring four plus minutes whilst Listen To The World explores a vocal and melodic intimacy which nicely contrasts the broader themes and bodies of the songs around it, though its seeds lead to its own expansive look at the world. Vibrant rhythms make a smart temper to the slower tonal exploration of the track, but uniting to be part of another deceptively catchy encounter. That infectious energy is keen a part and parcel of most of Peace v War as shown again by the pop funk saunter of What Are You Gonna Do?, where a whisper of Heaven 17 emerges in its livelier chorus to again contrast and blend with a more solemn breath.

Our version of the album closes with two evocative instrumentals in the piano bred I Rode That Tide With The Starry-Eyed and the melodic dissonance of Obsession which in the vinyl’s line-up of songs provides a potent interlude mid-way.

Whichever order of the songs, there is no lack of thorough enjoyment found within Peace v War, all three musicians and songwriters creating songs which stimulate and pleasure the senses in equal measure. It is not quite right to say that Karel Fialka is back, he has never really been away, but certainly he with Racecar is set to be the focus of good attention again.

Peace v War is released digitally and on 12” vinyl via PVW Records on February 26^th through most stores or directly through Cadiz Music Ltd @ http://www.cadizmusic.com/2007/index.php?location=/web/Search/karel%20fialka

https://www.facebook.com/fialkakarel   http://karelfialka.com/

Pete RingMaster 25/02/2016

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

For more exploration of the independent and promotional services check out http://www.zykotika.com/