Two classic 70s Alice Cooper are about to get released in deluxe editions in June, 2023.

"Killer" (1971) and "School's Out" (1972) will get re-issued on June 9, with newly remastered sound, rare recordings, and previously unreleased live performances. The legendary albums will be out as 2-CD sets and 3-LP versions on 180-gram vinyl. "Killer (Deluxe Edition)" retails for $69.98 (LP) and $29.98 (CD). "School's Out (Deluxe Edition)" will be available for $89.98 (LP) and $29.98 (CD). Pre-orders are available now at Rhino.com.

A previously unreleased live version of "Be My Lover" from the upcoming "School's Out (Deluxe Edition)" is available digitally and you can listen to it right below.

 

 

London-based label Happy Robots Records has announced the forthcoming 'Supermarkets, Underwater' album by Brooklyn-based electronic artist Roman Angelos and producer Scott Solter, which will be released on May 19. Ahead of this, you can enjoy the first single 'Swimming Through The Aisles (Teeming Mix)', along with a special live performance version of the remix.  

This 9-track collection follows his 2022 sophomore album 'Music For Underwater Supermarkets', a sleeper hit that combines electronica and exotica, painting a sonic dreamscape transposing the mundane act of grocery shopping to an aquatic utopian landscaping.

Exploring Roman's obsession with the library and soundtrack music, with unfashionable sonic influences from Burt Bacharach to Vangelis, this record was brilliantly received with Electronic Sound Magazine describing it as “an album of splendid vibes”.

Roman Angelos is the nom de plume of Brooklyn-based producer, composer and multi-instrumentalist Rich Bennett, developed as a vehicle to explore his obsession with library recordings of the 60's and 70s, muzak and exotica. Exotic, dreamy, and wistful, this is the sound of a jazz sextet as channeled through synths and drum machines, creating a spacey feel.

'Supermarkets, Underwater' is a fully reimagined remix of the original album from producer/engineer Scott Solter (St. Vincent, Maps & Atlases, Spoon, Superchunk, The Mountain Goats). Flipping the script, Solter takes the bouncy and upbeat material of the original album, creating a darker and more ambient landscape.  Weaving in noise and shifting electronic percussion, it’s an entirely new record. Listeners dive deeper into unknown waters, no longer shopping alongside the friendly fish.

Lead track 'Swimming Through The Aisles (Teeming Mix)' uses the same irregular time signature and feel of the original, but adds in tremolo vibraphones, reverse guitars, and electronic drums, giving the music a new feel of exploration.

The original recordings were produced by Rich Bennett at Acme Hall Studios in Brooklyn and were recorded live to tape, all together in one room, by Colin Marston (Jarboe, Sailors With Wax Wings).

Beyond the world of library electronica, Rich Bennett has been involved in a diverse group of musical projects, including the newly reunited outsider / 60s proto-punk group The Shaggs, dream pop outfit Mahogany, and Brazilian funk group Limoncello, in addition to production work with Stereolab's Morgane Lhote (aka Hologram Teen).

Roman’s previous releases for Happy Robots have gained praise from Electronic Sound Magazine, Hi-Fi World, Shindig! Magazine, The Electricity Club, Freq and The Haunted Generation, as well as BBC6 Music radio play from Gideon Coe, Cerys Matthews and Stuart Maconie’s Freak Zone, plus Bob Fisher (BBC Tees).

On April 26, 'Swimming Through The Aisles (Teeming Mix)' will be available everywhere digitally, including SpotifyApple Music and Bandcamp. The 'Supermarkets, Underwater' album is out on May 19 with distribution by Cargo Records. The CD version will be available exclusively at  https://happyrobotsrecords.bandcamp.com

In June 2023, Roman Angelos will be touring select UK cities with Happy Robots labelmate Rodney Cromwell, performing in London, Coventry, Reading and Todmorden. Tickets may be obtained at www.happyrobots.co.uk/tickets.

 

 

 

Trans-Atlantic alternative neo-folk collective Lusitanian Ghosts present 'The Long Train', a potent first preview of what you might expect on the band's forthcoming 'Lusitanian Ghosts III' album, due out later this year via European Phonographic.

Engineered and mixed by Sebastian Muxfeldt (Elbow, Peter Doherty, Teenage Fanclub) at Clouds Hill Studios in Hamburg, the Ghosts once again offer a brilliant taste of the sonic prism through which they present ancient sounds in the 21st Century.

Lusitanian Ghosts is a Portuguese-Canadian-Swedish project that resurrects lost Portuguese chordophones and other European string instruments, promoting ancient sounds in the 21st century. Re-casting these heritage folk violas into rock n roll songs, the European artist collective writes from a socio-political perspective on building a better world, creating songs for the heart and mind, recording on analogue tape and releasing moving music on vinyl.

Founded by Neil Leyton and Micke Ghost, the collective is currently made up of João Sousa, Abel Beja (from Primitive Reason), ToZé Bexiga (from Raia) and Jan-Eric Olsson, performing on traditional Portuguese chordophone instruments, ancient regional guitars like the Amarantina, Beiroa, Campaniça, Braguesa, Toeira and Terceirense. These instruments, once on the verge of extinction, are the real "Lusitanian Ghosts" - Lusitania being an ancient Celtic tribe in what would become the central territory of Portugal.

“The Long Train is a song celebrating freedom, celebrating life, celebrating the act of setting yourself free so that you may reach that transcendental level of commitment that only comes with true love.” Confusing? “Oh, and it’s also about storks!” says Neil Leyton.

Micke Ghost adds, "'The Long Train' is a commentary on the state of the world today but with a bit of hope... like the New York Dolls took their electric guitars to the pawn shop. With a bit of plastic soul. .Written in Setubal, Portugal, this was recorded and mixed on analogue tape at Clouds Hill in Germany."

Recorded and mixed on analogue tape, this song features the violas Amarantina, Campaniça and Terceira in glorious mono and stereo versions, bringing a new vintage chordophone rock n roll sound from the Ghosts. It was tracked on a Studer A820 2″ analogue tape machine, mixed down to 1/4 inch tape on the AEG Magnetophon 15 A, including both stereo and mono mixes.

From a deep love of rock n roll rooted in strong vocal traditions from Elvis Presley to David Bowie, Neil Leyton and Micke Ghost craft folk-rock songs that will appeal to fans of The Waterboys, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, and newer alt-folk-rock experimental crossings of rock n roll with other genres and traditions, like XIXA.

Lusitanian Ghosts' sophomore album 'Exotic Quixotic' was released with a Deluxe Edition featuring bonus tracks, adaptations of the title track into Portuguese and Polish, feat. Joana Negrão (A Cantadeira) and Misia Furtak.

Out now, 'The Long Train' LP is available everywhere digitally, including SpotifyApple Music, and Bandcamp.

 

Melbourne-based synthwave artist Suburban Spell presents his new single 'Bright Gold Cross', the first taste of his forthcoming 'Falling Down' EP, named such in direct reference to the long-term consequences of bad choices and giving into guilty pleasures.

The accompanying video, with its slick shadow-play, was created by Dingo Cross Films in Melbourne and produced and directed by Paul Puccio and Cassie Dart.  

Suburban Spell is the solo project of Peter Endall, whose music combines the austere beauty of Kraftwerk, 80's melodic sensibilities, driving rhythms and some noisy grind thrown in for good measure. Influenced by the heyday of new wave and 70's-80's electronica, this music carries the beautiful imprints of such artists as Ultravox, OMD, Visage, Jean-Michel Jarre, The Cars, Gary Numan and New Order.

Peter's previous band Schizo Scherzo was active in the heady days of Melbourne's 80's music scene, playing alongside such acts such as The Eurythmics, Pseudo Echo, Real Life and Fergal Sharky. Having re-emerged on the music scene as Suburban Spell, he has found his niche in modern Australian electronica.  

"The song 'Bright Gold Cross' is symbolic of the act of absolution in a Christian religious setting and how it can be used to dissolve years of appaling behaviour. Absolution is an act that forgives mortal sins and enables one to die in the "state of grace", able to eventually enter heaven, This is essentially a "get of jail free card" for those inclined to use it," says Peter Endall.

Suburban Spell's music is an observation and commentary on the fragility of suburban lifestyle and the never-ending efforts to keep up appearances, as well as an exploration of society's dark and fragile underbelly. But his music is also a commentary about his own vulnerabilities in the urban landscape and the wider societal norms that interlace with politics, religion and pop culture.

"Bright Gold Cross is about seeking redemption and how the church is a vehicle that allows you to hide your sins and hand out forgiveness at will," says Endall.

"The odd circumstances of my childhood upbringing and the religious cult that I was raised in during those years have had a somewhat quixotic impact on me and Suburban Spell. Exposed to a belief system that was ultimately flawed with a very inconsistent set of values throughout my formative childhood years, these challenges are constant references when creating music for the Suburban Spell project."

In February 2023, Suburban Spell released the 'Split Levels - Remixes' EP, a series of reworkings of his acclaimed 2022 'Split Levels' album, involving goth-rock / post-punk legend William Faith (Christian Death, Mephisto Walz, Shadow Project, Faith & The Muse, The Bellwether Syndicate), along with New Zealand's Robots In Love, Australia's Ontic, Pittsburgh's Tragic Impulse and Italian artist Kurs.

As of April 26, 'Bright Gold Cross' will be available across fine digital platforms, including SpotifyApple Music and Bandcamp, where the 'Falling Down' EP can already be pre-ordered ahead of its June 23 release.

 

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