Hi all. An exciting month here at Records on Ribs towers. Scroll down to be filled with  joyous news some good news and some now less good news (starting with the latter).

No Lovve

That news that was here before, it might not happen. You can probably guess why if you read what it was.

Radio, Live Transmission

We were very humbled to be designated ‘Website of the Week’ on BBC 6Music’s Tom Robinson show on Saturday. Some lovely things were said about this here label and Talk Less, Say More’s Song About a Dream About a Phonecall from ‘Go Lucky’ was flung out across the airwaves (and down fibre-optics) to listeners across the globe. To listen to the show, click here. We’re mentioned about 1hr20 in, but listen to the whole thing: it’s worth it.

We’ve also been picked up by the good people (and believe us, they really are good people) over at indiestreetradio. Many of our releases are featured- along with much other fine music- on this podcast and this podcast.

Last & Least

Some little titbits of tantalisation for your perusal and consideration. Firstly, we point you in the direction of re:press– a fine group of people who’re releasing some top notch philosophy/critical theory/fiction/poetry for free under Creative Commons via the internet (with the request that you ask your local library to stock them, or buy one yourself if you have the cash) – including works by philosopher de rigeur – Alain Badiou. And lastly, we leave you with the news that new releases from Talk Less, Say More and El Heath are in the pipeline of hope and we should have something from The Exploits of Elaine- those psychedelic dwellers of the folky subconscious- around the new year.

Records On Ribs Present Elapse-O and guests…

First and foremost, our gig beavers have been busy sorting out the following evening of spectacular entertainment in Nottingham to celebrate the impending release of Elapse-O’s self-titled EP- which is already getting some positive press.

recordsonribs.com presents..
@ The Arts Organisation, Station Street, Nottingham,
Friday 27th june @ 8.30pm

Elapse-O

Repetition and texture combine to bludgeon the listener into a state of sublime ecstasy. Guitars spew out waves of feedback- like a less studied Fennesz, and strident vocals power ever onwards.

Bloodcurdlingly intense, there’s a real temptation to call Elapse-O a noise band- but that would miss a lot of what they’re about. Noise is a factor, for sure, but there’s just as much in common with more restrained artists. Like Swans at their prime, they use pummelling noise as a means to an end rather than as an end in itself, and there’s a little hint of 60s psych-rock, Suicide and Big Black in their sound.

You know that painting – The Wanderer – by Caspar David Friedrich? Listening to Elapse-O taps into those same emotions: feeling alive in the face of the eternal.

“There’s feedback and noise, sure, but it’s controlled so tightly that there’s substance, warmth and in places real beauty to be had. The whole affair is underpinned by simple, subtle beats, lending them the urgency of Sunroof!’s explosive improv alongside the clinical majesty of ‘Zuckerzeit’-era Cluster.” – Nightshift Magazine

‘Elapse-O are part of a noise niche, but importantly stay clear of nihilistic musical dead-ends. The subtle percussion timbre put out by the drum-machine on ‘Island’ stood in beautiful contrast to the crunching guitars. It was gloriously confused, the humans were trying to be machines and the machines were trying to be human.’- Gigwise

‘Elapse-O live is like a time-warp back to your childhood, back when you were attempting to make sense of all the sonic clutter around you, except that there is nothing immature about this band. It’s exhilarating – big bright lights exciting.‘- www.drownedinsound.com

www.myspace.com/elapseo

All the Empires of the World
Nottingham ambient doom-metallers with a fine ear for riff, melody and texture. What makes them so great is that they’re not afraid to break out of the slooow shackles for a spot of shredding. Fans of Nadja, Pelican and Jesu will find much to enjoy here.

www.myspace.com/alltheempiresoftheworldwillbelaidtowaste

Human Hair
Jack – Human Hair’s singer – was on my girlfriend’s course at uni. He was pretty quiet apparently- sipping tea and speaking of his love of Byron’s poetry. When she saw Human Hair play she couldn’t quite believe her eyes. He was a man transformed- a rampaging, whirling beast of a man laying his humanity (and inhumanity) bare for the audience.

Featuring Mr Henry Withers of Lovvers fame on guitar, Human Hair stretch the foundations of rock music to their very limit and plumb the depths of the human psyche to make exhilirating, personal rock music. Jesus Lizard, Wipers and Pavement perhaps serve as launchpads, but these guys have long left ’em behind…

…And Stars Collide
Post-rock is 99% tedium. A thousand boys with too many pedals and too few ideas; a million fuckwitted threads on drownedinsound. But …And Stars Collide recognise that guitars played loud are still brutally effective and- when done well- there are still thrills aplenty to be had by doing just that.

Over the course of a few shows they’ve admirably prove their point. Their music is direct, urgent and triumphantly cathartic, connecting with the audience on the most primal level. There’s still plenty to be done with that 1%..

The gig’s free to get into, but we will be taking collections to cover our costs. Rather than just donate money though, we suggest you buy a lil something from our merch desk- we’ll have CD-R copies of the new Elapse-O EP plus the first releases on Tapes on Ribs, which will include some EL Heath, The Last King of Punt and hopefully a split tape from Human Hair/All The Empires of the World.
www.myspace.com/theskyweeps

Two New Release In The Tubes

Monday 21st July will see three new releases available for download/purchase on CD-R from Records on Ribs. As well as Elapse-O’s EP, we’ll be releasing The Butterfly’s Time Spent in Reconnaisance Is Never Time Wasted EP. A full length electro-pop album from Talk Less, Say More entitled Go Lucky will follow sooner than you think. More on these soon.

How People Find Records On Ribs

Some search terms which have led people to Records on Ribs…

“sexy web sides”
“sexy web”
“how many ribs do humans have?”
“how many ribs do horses have?”
“do fish have ribs”
“how can I record my ribs?”
“virginia ambient”
“www.weshow.com”
“do we show up on radar?”

Marvellous.

I’ve just upgraded the site to WordPress 2.5. Everything should function as expected, but if you have any problems don’t hesitate to e-mail me.

In other news, we have three definite and important releases in the coming months, with a number more in the pipes waiting completion. The first is an EL Heath Remix record. The second Elapse-O’s debut EP for us, released both as download and as a physical CD. Thirdly, there is The Butterfly’s final release, the epic Time Spent In Reconnaissance Is Never Time Wasted, which is a frankly stunning record that has been very much part of my listening habits in the past weeks.

Expect more details in the coming weeks.

We won’t detain you long, but today sees the release of EL Heath’s Winter Soundtrack- a truly truly remarkable album. Here’s what its maker has to say of it:

 “The album was made in my freezing cold studio on a shit old computer and a lot of red wine. It’s about how whenever I went outside the cut-off point of the day seemed to be 4pm, like I’d be in town then suddenly it was dark and I lost all my energy. I would have plans in the evening and not do anything because of this lack of energy. It’s also about how all the colours in the scenery are simply hidden by the quality of light we get in the winter. It’s not that it is not beautiful, but the colours are hidden by this quality of light and, well, generally the lack of such light.”

Listen or download for free from here.

Hello!
The tumult of our launch may be subsiding, but we continue to paddle madly below the surface like the proverbial swan. And this effort is not without its rewards- for we find ourselves in the position of being able to announce to you both new records and new signings, as well as some exciting news about old releases.

We will deal with the latter first.

New Signings

It brings us enormous pleasure to inform you that Oxford’s quite remarkable Elapse-O will release their debut EP with us very shortly. They’re currently putting the finishing touches to it. We will have more details and a release date very shortly, but the impatient amongst you (and good on you- patience is no virtue) can head over to their myspace page, where they will be battered into submission by the offerings available there. Fans of Swans, Spacemen 3 and being punched so often it starts to feel good will find plenty to enjoy there. More eulogising as to their splendour can be found in this excellent drownedinsound article on southeast noise.

New Releases

For those whose thrills are of a more genteel nature we are proud to announce a new album length release from EL Heath, which will be released for free download on Thursday 21st Feb. Entitled ‘Winter Soundtrack’, it is exactly that – tunes recorded at Heath’s Shropshire home this winter with the aim of capturing the beauty arising from the marriage of countryside and winter. It’s as gorgeous as you’d expect from Heath – elements of folk weaving their way in and out of the lush ambience. A wintry companion to Virginia Astley’s ‘From Gardens Where We Feel Secure’, perhaps.

Exciting News About a Past Release

EL Heath has also garnered richly deserved praise for his ‘Dusk Dappled Fall’, which is compared to both a major televisual drama and ambient-drone legends Stars of the Lid in angryape’s review. Reviews will soon be incorporated into each album’s page on the ROR site.

In Other News

EL Heath’s mighty fine Reflecting EP is available as a joint release from the lovely folks at My Formica Table and Either/Or Records. Like ourselves, their music is free – and we can vouch for the quality of Reflecting. Its closing track- ‘epick’- must be heard to be believed, and even then skepticism will linger: how can a mortal being produce such wonder from a synthesizer or two and a loop pedal?

Rescuing us from an EL Heath news monopoly come Strap the Button, and the news that they’re on a 3CD compilation entitled Brave New Wales. It’s compiled by the superb Fourier Transform label, and they say this about it: “some of the best new music being made off the grid and under the radar by artists from and/or living in Wales. 4 hours of challenging music spread over 3 discs, with 32 page booklet, housed in a custom foil-embossed box. Limited edition of 1000.” Wow! You can pre-order copies from their website now. It looks absolutely stunning, we have to say.