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LAUNCH 079CD
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Third-eye visionaries Hills present their third opus, a dizzying journey that traverses through the band's origins and beyond to new dimensions. The Gothenburg, Sweden-based band have released two full-length albums since forming in 2006, the second of which, 2011's Master Sleeps, saw a vinyl outing on Rocket in 2013 (LAUNCH 061LP). Part of a rich local scene that also includes friends and Rocket Recordings label-mates Goat, they form the next chapter in a tradition of Swedish psychedelia that found its origins in late-'60s and early-'70s freakouts and mind-melts by the likes of Baby Grandmothers and Älgarnas Trädgård -- not to mention the unholy trinity of Pärson Sound, International Harvester, and Träd, Gräs och Stenar -- before being developed by the likes of The Spacious Mind and Dungen around the turn of the millennium. These inspirations make their mark on Frid by journeying inward, via mantric repetition and hip-shaking pulsations -- as on the ten-minute monolith "Och Solen Sänkte Sig Röd" -- yet they can also lurch into the unknown via the fuzz/wah odysseys of the aptly-monikered "National Drone" and the ceremonial exhortations of the closing "Death Will Find a Way." As they also showed at a rare and spellbinding appearance at the 2014 Liverpool International Festival of Psychedelia, Hills have landed on a rich and intoxicating sound that sidesteps the clichés and humdrum stylistic foibles that often plague modern-day psych, and, in the process, breathed new life into an approach that can sometimes seem in danger of appearing redundant through lack of imagination. Frid crystallizes everything that makes these Scandinavian satyrs stand out from the global herd: adventurous experimentation and fearless hallucinatory intensity, rendered with brass-knuckle fortitude. The end result is 38 minutes that translate into a feast for seasoned crate-diggers and fresh-faced converts alike.
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CH 079CD
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Chapter Music presents the first ever collection of recordings by wild and outlandish 1970s LA pre-punk icons Smokey. Featuring cameos from James Williamson of The Stooges, Randy Rhoads of Quiet Riot/Ozzy Osbourne, members of The Motels, King Crimson, David Bowie's Tin Machine, Suburban Lawns, and many others, the Smokey story has to be heard to be believed. In 1973, two wide-eyed young music fans made their way to Los Angeles and were introduced by a notoriously touchy-feely road manager for The Doors. John "Smokey" Condon was a bewitchingly beautiful Baltimore transplant, himself no angel after spending his teenage years partying with the John Waters crowd. EJ Emmons was a budding record producer from New Jersey, already starting to work in small studios around Hollywood. Condon had marched in New York the night after the Stonewall Riots in 1969, and so by the time he and EJ created Smokey, they weren't about to hold back. Released in 1974, debut single Leather/Miss Ray wasn't just openly gay, it was exultantly, unapologetically gay, examining front-on the newly-liberated leather and drag scenes thriving in America's urban centers. The single was shopped around to labels using Emmons's industry contacts, but doors were regularly slammed on the duo. "We can't put this out, it's a fucking gay record, what's the matter with you," said one record exec, while adding, "it's really good though." Undeterred, they self-released five singles that span pre-punk, stoner jams, disco, synth-punk, and more, all stamped with Smokey's fearless candor. 1976 single and compilation title-track "How Far Will You Go...?" features guitar from EJ's studio buddy James Williamson, fresh from his adventures recording Raw Power with Iggy and The Stooges in London with David Bowie. Smokey even remembers a few mid '70s jams with Williamson, with a vague view towards replacing the rehab-bound Iggy as The Stooges' frontman! The live band played almost weekly at Rodney Bingenheimer's English Disco, with a band featuring 14-year-old future Quiet Riot-ers Randy Rhoads and Kelly Garni. Restored by Emmons from original master tapes; mastered for vinyl by Emmons with his own cutting lathe. With extensive liner notes and photos, How Far Will You Go? tells the story of America's greatest '70s should-have-beens, a band so amazing that the only reason you haven't heard of them is because they were faggots, and they didn't give a shit. LP includes download code.
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SCH 079CD
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"Schematic label owners return after 10 years on the sidelines, with an ageless electronic album which traverses the gaps between techno, electronica, ambient, industrial & noise with fluidity, that plays like a contiguous, mood-driven soundtrack."
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