English experimental rock band The Fierce & The Dead will release their fifth studio album, Regional Theatre, on September 11. It is now available for pre-order in a wealth of formats and configurations (various vinyl colours, CD, bonus CD with "Purist Mixes & Other Stories", play script, T-shirt, etc.). The artwork was made by the legendary Mark Buckingham.
Film director, pianist and composer, and singer Diana Ringo paints with broad strokes on her new album Clowns in America, a dark wave album, brimming with sarcasm and satire, that would have been a smash in the Weimar Republic, if they had access to electronic wizardry back then. It is a bunch of theatrical, over the top songs, wrapped up tightly in frozen beats and percussion. Fans of Soft Cell will take to this like a duck to water.
Ringo's experience as a movie maker shines through all the tracks, making it easy for listeners to conjure up haunting scenes that will haunt them in their dreams, waking up in a sweat because of the scary Teeth and the title track Clowns in America. Her vocals are a bit of an acquired taste - having a working knowledge of the works of Genesis P-Orridge, Nico and Anat Spiegel will come in handy. As she sings in the opening track Reptile: "Everything's beautiful when it's strange."
Mancunian indie quartet Westside Cowboy have been playing in Up Boys at pretty much every show for year-and-a-half, but never got around to recording it properly in the studio. They tried and tried, but it never really gelled. A semi live take should have salvaged it, but even that take on the classic loud-quiet-loud approach stumbled and fell flat on its back. That is a pity, but rest assured: they will get it right on stage.
Welsh synth duo Martyrs have proof that you can feel sad and overcome by grief on a glorious day, even when they are in their favourite city Barcelona. With Drowning Days they are trying to come up for air after being swept on their feet by a tidal wave of emotions. They describe the song themselves as "saddest banger of the summer", which is an accurate description for this mix of old school early techno and electronic pop.
HCTF review of the Church Street EP
London based psych collective Mandrake Handshake's fascination with being able to fly continues on their new single En Vol, a dreamy trip to the great beyond, with elements of 60s pop and 90s trip-hop working in unison for a successful lift-off. Is it escapistic? Yes? Naive maybe? Sure, but it can't hurt to dream of exploring the universe as Earth itself is not a particularly fun place to be right now.
