Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Back alley struts, dizzying waltzes, and surf-raga-samba-freakouts populate J Hacha De Zola’s “urban junkyard.”

Recorded in shadow of a maximum security prison, Escape From Fat Kat City arrives Jan. 8th. Check out “Strange” now.

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J Hacha De Zola as photographed by Miguel Peralta

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Check out the premiere of “Strange” by J Hacha De Zola via Stereo Embers or at the links below!


[STREAM]: https://soundcloud.com/fanaticpro/j-hacha-de-zola-strange

[MP3]: https://www.fanaticpromotion.com/projects/jhachadezola/mp3/jhachadezola-strange.mp3

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[VIDEO]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9OSRmE8GEo

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“Delightful theatrics.” – MAGNET

“A wobbly and battered desolation that brings to mind Mark Lanegan fronting The Doors. It’s stunning stuff.” – Stereo Embers

J Hacha De Zola’s Escape From Fat Kat City was recorded in Rahway, New Jersey in the shadow of a maximum security correctional facility and an oil refinery, a setting that perfectly contributes to the slinky back alley strut, dizzying waltzes, and surf-raga-samba-freakouts that populate the record.

“I don’t write happy songs,” says the Jersey City native. “Maybe one day I will, but not today.” Indeed, themes of alienation, paranoia and isolation can be found on “Strange,” taken from Hacha De Zola’s upcoming new album, out Jan. 8th, 2016.  Listen to “Strange” now via Stereo Embers and check out the video courtesy of Groundsounds.  “Our protagonist has a hard time discerning reality from dream, truth from delusion. This is what it is be ‘strange,” Hacha De Zola explains of the tune. “He doesn’t know where he’s headed. He’s all in and he’s willing to go down with the ship.”


Hacha De Zola goes on to say, “I realize these subjects are quite recurrent in my songs, but I can’t help it. Growing up in ‘Fat Kat City,’ you see a lot of things that leave you numb.” He takes away something positive from these experiences, however. “I am grateful for my experiences here. They have roused the fighter in me. When you don’t have much to lose, you learn to be fearless.”

With its abandoned industrial parks, rail road tracks, and refinery flares, Rahway was the perfect setting in which to create the album, which composites various musical styles ranging from Blues, Folk, Jazz, Latin, Funk, and Psychedelia and influences such as Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, Syd Barrett, Cesar Romero, and Tom Waits. A salvaged toy piano, noise makers, 25-cent whistles, rattles, plastic flutes, and cheap candy ocarinas also help to color what has become Hacha De Zola’s unique “urban junkyard” sound.

Escape From Fat Kat City by J Hacha De Zola is scheduled for release on January 8th, 2016.  Hacha De Zola is available for interviews.  Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic for more information.

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J Hacha De Zola
Escape From Fat Kat City
(S/R)
Jan. 8th, 2016
  

Track Listing:

01. Welcome to Fat Kat City (Instrumental) (VIDEO)
02. Strange (STREAM | MP3 | VIDEO)
03. Better Run (STREAM | MP3)
04. Black Sparrow (STREAM | MP3)
05. Death Rant #1 (Rant)
06. Let It Go
07. Poison Wine
08. Hold Tight
09. Down
10. Ice Cream and Cigarettes
11. City Girls
12. Moonpies and Penny Whistles
13. 7 League Boots
14. Blue Sky
15. Next Exit (Instrumental)

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J Hacha De Zola Links


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Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic Promotion

Led by The Riverboat Gamblers guitarist Ian MacDougall, Broken Gold returns with “Turning Blue” EP on Nov. 20th.

Title track from Austin-based foursome’s latest streaming now via KUTX, Austin; Band launches week of tour dates today.

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Broken Gold (L-R): Ben Lance, Rich Cali, Ian MacDougall, Rob Marchant. Photo Credit: Justin Wilson.

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Check out the title track from the “Turning Blue” EP by Broken Gold via KUTX, Austin or at the links below!





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 Pick up the “Turning Blue” EP on 7-inch vinyl and download the “Meet Broken Gold” sampler via Noisetrade!

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Broken Gold – On Tour

10/28 New Orleans, LA @ Siberia
10/29 Tampa, FL @ New World Brewery
10/30 Gainesville, FL @ Loosey’s
10/31 Atlantic Beach, FL @ Harbor Tavern
11/02 Pensacola, FL @ Vinyl Music Hall
11/28 Austin, TX @ End of an Ear In-Store
12/11 Corpus Christi, TX @ House of Rock
12/12 Houston, TX @ Fitzgerald’s
12/19 Denton, TX @ Rubber Gloves

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“Recalls the Replacements or Hüsker Dü, equal parts rousing and reflective” – KUTX, Austin on Broken Gold

The upcoming “Turning Blue” EP by Broken Gold – hear the title track now via KUTX, Austinis the latest from the Austin-based foursome led by The Riverboat Gamblers guitarist Ian MacDougall. The efficient batch of four songs, arriving November 20th via Chicken Ranch Records, asks some big, hard questions; concerns that have arisen organically within the band.

In 2009, MacDougall was in a serious car accident. He lost a year to recuperation, a year in which it was unclear if he would be physically be able to return to playing music. For MacDougall, who joined The Riverboat Gamblers fresh out of high school, there was no “Plan B,” and knowing the fastest way through darkness is just to drive right through it, he’s continued his pursuit of Broken Gold, galvanized by what he’s endured.

Supported by Ben Lance on guitar, fellow Riverboat Gambler Rob Marchant on bass, and Rich Cali on drums, MacDougall has written and recorded his best songs to date, mature and thoughtful without losing the jittery anxiousness of his youth. Broken Gold invites comparisons to some of the indie rock legends –  Superchunk in ‘89, Dinosaur Jr in ‘87, The Replacements in ’84 –while still sounding totally their own.

While MacDougall has already logged a solid decade with The Riverboat Gamblers, don’t misunderstand Broken Gold as a lesser version of the Austin party punk legends.  If the Gamblers represent beer-drenched, Saturday night anarchy-euphoria-oblivion, Broken Gold is the urgent desperation after the party’s over.

Like the “Turning Blue” EP itself, Broken Gold’s very existence asks the questions: How do we make sense of the chaos we’ve enjoyed? Are we responsible for the mess we’ve made, the destruction we’ve caused, and the people we’ve hurt? How are we even going to make it home?

The “Turning Blue” EP by Broken Gold arrives November 20th via Chicken Ranch Records digitally and on 7-inch vinyl. The title track is streaming now. Ian MacDougall is available for interviews.  Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic for more information.

Broken Gold will play a series of live dates to support the release of the “Turning Blue” EP.  See below for complete itinerary.

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Broken Gold
“Turning Blue” EP
(Chicken Ranch Records)
Nov. 20th, 2015
  

Track Listing:

01. Turning Blue (STREAM | DOWNLOAD | MP3)
02. Groundwork
03. Harm/Joy
04. Nov/Dec

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Broken Gold Links


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Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic Promotion


Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Toronto’s Poppy Seed to tour states on album that took thousands of studio hours spread over 15 years to complete.

First cultivated in era of grunge, psychedelic band’s sound now aligns perfectly with current era’s musical zeitgeist.

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Poppy Seed and The Love Explosion (L-R): Steven Bromstein, Mitch Perkins, James Ansara, James Strachan. Photo Credit: Mike Dent.

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“Look At You” is taken from the current album Beyond The Seventh Sun by Toronto-based band Poppy Seed and The Love Explosion.





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Poppy Seed and The Love Explosion – On Tour

11/06 Brooklyn, NY The Basement (249 Varet St., Brooklyn) w/ Water Works, Weather Balloons
11/07 Frederick, MD Cafe Nola w/ Fractal Cat
11/09 Chapel Hill, NC The Cave w/ Zephyranthes    
11/12 Monroe, LA Live Oaks w/ Jig The Alien
11/13 Picayune, MS Voodoo Brew & Grill w/ Jig The Alien
11/14 New Orleans, LA Checkpoint Charlie’s w/ Jig The Alien
11/17 Louisville, KY The New Vintage
11/18 Memphis, TN The Buccaneer w/ Ori Naftali
11/19 Nashville, TN Springwater Supper Club w/ Bashful Hips
11/20 Chicago, IL Reggie’s w/ Nik Turner of Hawkwind, Killer Moon, The Hanging Gardens
11/21 Cleveland, OH Pat’s In The Flats w/ Still In Darkness, Milk and The Holy Waters

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See & hear the full video album of Poppy Seed and The Love Explosion's Beyond The Seventh Sun here.

“Five different drummers appear in pursuit of the right vibe for each tune,” explains Steven Bromstein, leader of Toronto-based psychedelic rock act Poppy Seed and The Love Explosion. Bromstein goes on to amend the word “tune” to “monstrosity,” referring to the nearly non-ending sessions that turned the recording of the band’s epic Beyond The Seventh Sun album into a decade-and-a-half-long affair. Formed nearly 25 years ago, Poppy Seed and The Love Explosion started work on Beyond The Seventh Sun, the follow-up to its 1998 album Days Dream of You, in 2001.

“Tracks were originally laid down starting in 2001 and although they were quite unwieldy, they captured magical performances,” Bromstein continues. “The earliest years of the century then became occupied with parenting, but soon these rough bed tracks were gradually honed into Beyond The Seventh Sun over literally thousands of hours in the studio.”


While the album took longer to release than most bands stay together, Beyond The Seventh Sun arrived just in time. “Our aesthetic was a million miles from the zeitgeist of the era,” says Bromstein of the time in which the band initially formed. “I despised grunge and everything about it, but when I’d finally finished my leviathanic album, it seemed rather, serendipitous, that the time had caught up.”

With so many artists now mining the psychedelic and dream pop quarries for inspiration, it seems a better time for Poppy Seed to be doing what it’s doing than ever. Now with Bromstein’s son now old enough to not need him around all of the time, Poppy Seed and The Love Explosion will embark on a series of tour dates in the US, the band’s first shows here since 2000.

“We’re aspiring to play the rest of the US and Europe in the near future,” Bromstein says. The band has no plans to bring five drummers out on the road however! See below for a complete Poppy Seed and The Love Explosion tour itinerary.

Beyond The Seventh Sun by Poppy Seed and The Love Explosion is out now.  Band leader Steven Bromstein is available for interviews.  Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic for more information.

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Poppy Seed and The Love Explosion
Beyond The Seventh Sun
(S/R, Out Now)
  

Track Listing:

01. Bales of Pot (VIDEO)
02. Mirror Mirror (VIDEO)
03. Shooting Stars (VIDEO)
04. Look At You (STREAM | DOWNLOAD | MP3 | VIDEO)
05. In The Real (VIDEO)
06. The Comet (VIDEO)
07. Saw You Outside (VIDEO)
08. The Spell
09. Melt Away (VIDEO)

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Poppy Seed and The Love Explosion Links


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Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic Promotion

Saturday, October 10, 2015

A salvaged toy piano, noise makers, 25-cent whistles, rattles, plastic flutes, cheap candy ocarinas color J Hacha De Zola’s “urban junkyard” sound.

Jersey City-based artist’s Escape from Fat Kat City, recorded in shadow of a Rahway prison, arrives Jan. 8th, 2016. Hear “Better Run” single now.

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J Hacha De Zola as photographed by Miguel Peralta

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“Better Run” is taken from the upcoming album Escape from Fat Kat City by Jersey City-based musician J Hacha De Zola.





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‘Better Run’ was lots of fun to record as it contains many unconventional instruments and noise makers,” says Jersey City’s J Hacha De Zola of the track taken from his upcoming Escape from Fat Kat City album. “Before the session, I visited the local corner bodegas that I used to go as a kid and bought silly noise makers, 25-cent whistles, rattles, plastic flutes, and cheap candy ocarinas.”

Hacha De Zola also brought in a toy piano that he salvaged from a random Sunday afternoon trash day, explaining “One of its little legs was busted up but the intonation was almost spot on! I tucked it under my arm and away I went!”

Other “instruments” that appear on the track include a steel hatchet, a heavy steel plate, old street signs, aluminum garbage cans, dinner plates, and a large sheet of thick plastic which Hacha De Zola would “whip around in the air to get a ‘wobbling’ sound.

“Walking into the session with all of these items really threw my producer for a loop,” he remembers. “The poor guy never knew what to expect. Sometimes I’d roll in with a tuba player, other times I’d show up with a steel pipe.”

Of the thematic content of the song, Hacha De Zola seeks to make the listener question the true nature of love. “It seems that some of the most horrific atrocities in history have been committed in the name of ‘love,’” he explains. “Love of ‘god,’ love of ‘country,” love of a ‘people.’ I guess I’m exploring some of the darker aspects of love with this one.”

Hacha De Zola’s Escape from Fat Kat City” was recorded in Rahway, New Jersey in the shadow of a maximum security correctional facility and an oil refinery, a setting that perfectly contributes to the slinky back alley strut, dizzying waltzes, and surf-raga-samba-freakouts that populate the record.

With its abandoned industrial parks, rail road tracks, and refinery flares, Rahway was the perfect setting in which to create the album, which composites various musical styles ranging from Blues, Folk, Jazz, Latin, Funk, and Psychedelia and influences such as Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, Syd Barrett, Cesar Romero, and Tom Waits.

Escape from Fat Kat City by J Hacha De Zola is scheduled for release on January 8th, 2016.  Hacha De Zola is available for interviews.  Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic for more information.

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J Hacha De Zola
Escape From Fat Kat City
(S/R)
Jan. 8th, 2016
  

Track Listing:

01. Welcome to Fat Kat City (Instrumental)
02. Strange
03. Better Run (STREAM | DOWNLOAD | MP3)
04. Black Sparrow (STREAM | DOWNLOAD | MP3)
05. Death Rant #1 (Rant)
06. Let It Go
07. Poison Wine
08. Hold Tight
09. Down
10. Ice Cream and Cigarettes
11. City Girls
12. Moonpies and Penny Whistles
13. 7 League Boots
14. Blue Sky
15. Next Exit (Instrumental)

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J Hacha De Zola Links


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Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic Promotion


Thursday, October 8, 2015

Negativland’s latest release celebrates legacy of Don Joyce with 34 years of group’s “Over The Edge” radio program for download.

Called a “Mount Rushmore for sound collagists,” by Dangerous Minds, over 3200 hours of Joyce-helmed episodes are available now.

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Members of Negativland perform “Over The Edge” live on stage at the Highline Ballroom, NYC.

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Dangerous Minds calls the “Over The Edge” Radio Archive the “Mount Rushmore for sound collagists” here.

Negativland’s newest release is 34 years in the making, over 3200 hours long, and no human may ever be able to listen to it all! It is of course the audio archive of the legendary culture jamming group’s weekly radio showOver The Edge” (Seeland 031).

Negativland’s live mix radio show “Over The Edge” is the longest-running block of free-form audio collage in radio history. With Negativland’s Don Joyce at the helm, the weekly show was broadcast from KPFA-FM in Berkeley, California from 1981 to 2015. The news of Joyce’s passing on July 22, 2015 received nearly 130,000 views on Negativland’s Facebook page, and with his death being memorialized by mainstream publications such as Rolling Stone and Billboard, the band members felt it was only fitting for this important and substantial portion of the group’s work to be made available immediately.


“Over The Edge”’s weekly themed mixes are made live and spontaneously on the air from a variety of formats and equipment used to do live sound cut-ups and collage while mixing, including the frequent use of the now long-dead analog technology of radio broadcast cart machines. On each themed episode there is a plan and there is no plan. The mix consists of found sounds of many kinds, from many sources, put together as a continuous audio collage, along with live electronics, live sound processing, and recurring themes and characters. “Over The Edge” also often employs “Receptacle Programming,” where phone callers are punched into the mix with no warning.

The archive currently has 941 three-to-five-hour-long episodes of “Over The Edge,” over 3200 hours of the show, with some gaps in the archive to be filled over time (especially the early years).  If you are that person who listens to every single show in the archive, no matter how many years it takes you, Negativland wants to know about it!

Though “Over The Edge” continues to exist and evolve, and is still broadcast each week on KPFA-FM, the “Over The Edge” Radio Archive consists of the episodes helmed by Don Joyce. It ends on the episode broadcast immediately after his passing, “There Is No Don.”

A more extensive background on Negativland, “Over The Edge,” and Don Joyce’s legacy, written at the time of his passing, can be found courtesy of SF Gate here. Joyce’s detailed 1995 essay about “Over The Edge” can be seen here and an informative bio on Negativland’s past, present, and future, is at this link. Besides Negativland’s many studio recordings, a selection of “Over The Edge” shows have been edited into CD releases over the years, and can be found here.

Members of Negativland are available for interviews.  Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic for more information.

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Negativland Links


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Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic Promotion