Wind, Thee Wind by EL Heath is now out. Apologies for the delay. It’s a wonderful release, so please download it. Note that downloading of our releases by torrent is integrated into the site now, just download in the usual way and select the torrents at the bottom of the page should you wish to use them.
The new record Last Rites from All The Empires Of The World has been released (also as a torrent – mp3, flac and ogg files). Apologies for the slight delay on this one. It’s a really wonderful record, so please download it.
Just to note, you can follow us over at Twitter, or at the open source alternative Identi.ca. All the various happenings on this site are recorded there, so you’ll never miss an update.
We are pleased to announce the forthcoming release of the second album form Les Étoiles entitled To Leave A Mark.
Like it’s predecesor, To Leave A Mark is an album of hesitation and sadness, memory and realisation, fear and acceptance, comfort and sorrow, all expressed with great beauty, simplicity and grace – an organ, a simple drum machine, a guitar, a hushed vocal, a moment of silence, a distant radio playing. To Leave A Mark was recorded by Les Étoiles during a period of stay in his home town and is a tribute to the places found there, many of which provided direct inspiration for the music.
The album will be available for free download and as an exclusive and gorgeously detailed limited edition boxed set. The boxed set will include the album itself as well a lyric sheets, photographs, maps, postcards and mysterious objects. Each boxed set will be individual and handmade by Les Étoiles himself. Pre-orders are now open.
This record will be the first release from Les Étoiles this year. The second as yet untitled record will feature unheard compositions by Les Étoiles finished in collaboration with Records On Ribs artists EL Heath and Talk Less, Say More as well as others. A project that is very exciting indeed.
Stand by for further updates and details of three forthcoming releases from Records On Ribs.
Goodness me.
We knew Sweet Potato’s Mash was a good album, but we’ve been overwhelmed by the response its had since we released it last week. We’ve had 400 downloads on all formats already, making it our fastest downloaded release thus far. An appearance on a popular Hungarian mp3 blog has done no harm, but we’re genuinely delighted at the response its had so far.
In other news, we will shortly be uploading an ‘online video exhibition’ of EL Heath’s. Entitled ‘Obsolete’, the exhibition- currently showing at The Hive in Shrewsbury- comprises 8 short films shot on 8mm tape and edited using archaic editing software. They’re soundtracked by EL Heath’s music- including some currently unreleased tracks. Though simple, they’re profoundly affecting and open up a whole new dimension to Heath’s work. As an added bonus we’ll upload the haunting video Heath’s made for epic45’s track ‘In All The Empty Houses’.
A good day for Badger, and a good day for fans of avant jazz-rock brilliance. For Sweet Potato’s Mash is finally upon us! And goodness knows it’s been worth the wait. A rollocking ride- like Faith No More hopping into a time machine and emerging in Canterbury circa 1971 (stopping off in Twin Peaks along the way)- it’s available now for download or to buy (as a carbon neutral jewel cased CD with 8 page colour artwork) for a mere £5. It’s a co-release with the good people at Foetal Orange and an album we’re extremely proud to be putting out.
It is also the first release we have put out on Bittorrent as MP3, FLAC and Ogg Vorbis. If you are into such things, give the links a click and download this way – the more that do, the faster it becomes for everyone to do so, provided you keep seeding. Fire up those torrent clients immediately!
And we’re pleased to confirm three more forthcoming releases too…
The Exploits of Elaine: 2003-2005
In their current incarnation, The Exploits of Elaine are an improvising collective making music that sounds a little like This Heat playing folk music from the planet Saturn. But prior to that, they made bloody awesome post-rock music. Their songs were direct, emotionally powerful and contained more ideas than most bands in that genre have across a whole career. This is a compilation containing tracks from their untitled 2003 EP and some unreleased material from 2005, including the mighty Laputa, which replace that bloody Sigur Ros song on every single nature/sports programme trailer.
Talk Less, Say More – ‘It’s About Time’
A companion album to the mighty “It’s About Time” EP released on RoR. Tolstoy, Greek tragedy and theories of the life, the universe and everything delivered in devastating rhymes with slickly impressive production and a knowing nod in the direction of pop.
Les Etoiles – To Leave A Mark
Another fine album of haunting confessionals. The sparse beauty and devastating lyrical ability of ‘Never to Alight’ remains, but Mr Fitzpatrick has added lusher, richer instrumentation this time around. Another one for lonely nights.
It’s the new year, which means best of lists, so here’s mine. 5 of my favourite albums released in twenty hundred and eight.
Lil Wayne – Tha Carter III
Lil Weezy doesn’t so much play with words as shoot at their feet to make them dance for him. The opening four tracks on ‘Tha Carter III’ are as good as any three consecutive tracks you’ll ever hear on a hip-hop album, and the Kanye West remix of ‘Lollipop’, is my track of the year, not least because it contains the best lines on safe sex ever written (see below). The rest of the album varies, (too much r&b), but Lil Wayne has made his own style, like a more musically-aware Old Dirty Bastard, and his inventiveness makes the whole record big fun. This was the biggest selling album of the US in 2008; gangsta rap with something to brag about.
“I’m in your, neighborhood, area, CD thing, tape deck, iPod, your girlfriend, and she say I got great sex, safe sex is great sex, better wear a latex’ cause you don’t want that late text That “I think I’m late,” text.”
TV on the Radio – Dear Science
TVOTR strike that precarious balance between arty experimentalism and emotional accessibility. Dear Science sees them move on from the buzzing ruggedness of the amazing ‘Return to Cookie Mountain’ and embrace a more polished, but equally visionary and fully realised sound. This band have found their own creative space, where well-chosen words cascade evenly over a sound relentlessly modern but also fully poetic.
“What’s this dying for”? Asks the Stork that soars with the Owl, high above canyon’s mighty walls. Owl said “Death’s a door, that love walks through. In and out. In and out. Back and forth. Back and forth”.
Why? – Alopecia
The latest record from Why? sees Yoni Wolf delivering his lines on death and relationships in his characteristic rap/whine over arrangements of piano, xylophone, bass, guitar and drums. I can see why this mightn’t sound appealing. But the arrangements are perfect. The chord progressions, melodies, beats and rhymes all come together like they’ve been lovingly crafted by skilled artisans. Yoni’s words are the centrepiece, his clever rhymes are more than just wordplay. The imagery is vivid and stays with you. It shows Yoni’s soul in all its anxious loves and toil.
“Even though I haven’t seen you in years, yours’ is a funeral I’d fly to from anywhere.”
Subtle – ExitingArm
Set against Yoni Wolf’s sometimes uncomfortably raw personal monologues are (his old bandmate) Doseone’s abstract collage of characters and narrative. The sparkling production of pulsing synths, humming guitar and cracking beats give this epic tale a directness that nicely anchors the sprawling metaphysics of ‘HourHeroYes’. Doseone remains, for my money, the best rapper in the game. His game might be a little different to everyone else’s, but isn’t that the point? Subtle also win the prize for one of my favourite gigs of the year.
“When last we left HourHeroYes, he was one part endless, two parts death.”
The Field – The Sound of Light
When I heard The Field’s 2007 debut ‘From Here We Go Sublime’, I was, like everyone else, mesmerized, but also slightly annoyed that I hadn’t come up with the idea first. It is, after all, a simple premise. Tiny, single-note size samples of records chopped and repeated over the pulse of kick drum and hi-hat. ‘The Sound of Light’ takes this imprint and stretches it out into 4 15 minute cycles. This is minimal techno as if made by Steve Reich, and totally engrossing.
Hello there,
Our good friends Souvaris have had rather a lot of expensive gear nicked from their practice space in Nottingham.
Please keep an eye out, and maybe buy an album or two of theirs to help in some tiny, tiny, tiny way. They’re a mighty fine band- sprightly post-rock that’s full of joie de vivre and feeling. Fans of Tarentel, Neu! and Mogwai should most certainly investigate. We’ve listened to a lot of post-rock here at RoR HQ and most of it’s shit, but this most certainly is not and we unreservedly recommend it.
Here’s their missive…
————————————
Hello there,
Souvaris’ practice space was broken in to last night or the night before, and we lost some of our most precious (and expensive) gear.
Missing are the following:
* 1 x 1978 Fender Musicmaster
Natural wood finish with a black scratchplate. In a soft case bag. Serial number to follow. Looks a lot like picture 1.
* 1 x Korg Triton LE Keyboard
Looks like Photo 2, although very “well-travelled”. Couple of the knobs missing, a big fat scratch above the pitch bend, a cigarette burn over on the right hand side.
* 1 x Clavia Nord Lead
As per photo 3. Doesn’t even work properly unless you know how to coax it, and thus of almost no value to anyone but me.
Also stolen was a crappy Behringer 4 track mixer, 2 x guitar pedals (a boss overdrive and some ancient delay pedal made by god knows who) and a Gator keyboard case worth about £80 in its own right.
If you hear anything about any of this stuff, please let me know. Anything at all… we desperately need to get this stuff back. I’ve had my entire set up stolen, and have no idea how I would even begin to afford to replace it.
You can get me at ichbinsimmo at gmail dot com, or on 07807 221082. Please pass info about the stolen stuff on to anyone you can think of (especially musicians in and around the Nottingham area), and feel free to repost this on message boards, etc.
Thanks – we’re really upset about this, and would do anything to get this gear back.
S.
xxx
Exactly what it says above, really. Alex might do one too if you ask him nicely.
Considering I run a Creative Commons label, it’s perhaps a little odd that none of these were released on something similar (of course, RoR releases would feature heavily in this list)- and the lack of links to similar projects is one of the key weaknesses of RoR, and something we hope to rectify soon (yup, that links section might even be done).
Anyway, without further ado here’s what I’ve enjoyed this year…
ESSENTIAL!
Evangelista- Hello, Voyagers
Oh yes! A dark, buzzing, deliciously hysterical (hysteria= madness of the womb) album from Carla Bozulich and co that sounds like nothing else I’ve ever heard. Fucked-up jazz, clattering improv, heavy metal skronk and the most incredible vocal performance of the year. A startlingly personal- and startlingly political album that, when you listen carefully, calls for something radically different, radically better. Hysteria as the motor for political change. An album that’s truly changed me.
Four Tet- Ringer
Alex always does the writing about electronic releases on RoR because I haven’t got a clue where to start. This is techno, right (cos of the bpm, yeah?), but it’s also trance (at least, it’s trance-inducing). Whatever- it’s got the art of euprohic, 4/4 minimalism down to a treat.
Valerio Cosi- Heavy Electronic Pacific Rock
Saxophone ragas, motorik opuses, free jazz wig outs and electronic manipulation par excellence. A sense of beatific delirium underpins the whole album. Cosi’s only 24 as well. Remarkable!
Religious Knives- The Door
Strident psych/art-rock with Nico-esque vocals and much underlying darkness. I’ve only listened to it twice- neither time carefully- so I can’t write too much, but it’s really grabbed me.
Thee Silver Mt.Zion Memorial Orchestra- 13 Blues for 13 Moons
Abandons the sacred harp singing, Jewish folk and chamber music influences and goes for a full on rock hoedown. Achieves the old ASMZ trick of being beautiful, desperate, sad and hopeful all at the same time: a tiny beacon of hope permeating through to the darkest times.
Philip Jeck- Sand
Haunt-o-logical. The finest album of vinyl manipulation I’ve heard (and nowhere near as cold as that descriptor implies).
ALMOST ESSENTIAL
Lovvers- Think EP
Snotty, abrasive punk but with a great ear for a melody and a nicely terrible 60s psych/surf production. You’ll be humming bits all day. Lovvers related release to come on RoR in 2009!
July Skies- The Weather Clock
Inspired by postwar utopianism (New Towns, The Festival of Britain), personal memories (holidays to Wales by Train) and Slowdive’s Pygmalion. Beautifully haunting, and my favourite artwork of the year.
Eric Chenaux- Sloppy Ground
Gentle, woozy psych-folk with some excellent guitar wig outs and lovely lyrics.
Teenage Panzerkorps- Games for Slaves
Lofi, teutonic post-punk from San Francisco. Everything I like about The Fall without everything I don’t like about The Fall. Dark and at once repulsive and seductive like an East German block of flats.
The Bug- London Zoo
Dystopian anger, massive bass and a supreme example of how to use space to make a track sound massive.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Portishead- Third
Cloudland Canyon- Lie In Light
High Places- The Storm
Lords- Everything Is People
So’eza- 7 Obstacles
Hercules & Love Affair- ST
Antony & the Johnsons- Another World EP
Final- Dead Air
Why?- Alopecia
Deerhunter- Microcastle
M83- Saturdays=Youth
DISAPPOINMENTS, BUT WITH THEIR MOMENTS…
Mercury Rev- Snowflake Midnight
Wilderness (k)no(w)here
Fuck Buttons- Street Horrsing
British Sea Power- Do You Like Rock Music?
I STILL HAVEN’T HEARD BUT WILL POSSIBLY LIKE…
Fennesz- The Black Sea
The Dead Science- Villainaire
David Byrne & Brian Eno- Everything That Happens Will Happen Today
The Lindstrom album
Nomo- Ghost Rock
Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy- Lie Down In The Light (well, I’ve only listened to it once so I can’t pass judgement yet)
Gang Gang Dance- Saint Dymphna
Atlas Sound- Let The Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel
Metronomy- Nights Out
School of the Seven Bells- Alpinisms
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds- Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!
Advisory Circle – Other Channel
One of the things we say in our manifesto is that anyone could do what we are doing. This post (below the fold) describes the technical nuts and bolts of how this site works so you can maybe do the same. In particular it describes the genesis of the software that runs this site – Ribcage. We get a fair bit of e-mail about it, which I am always very pleased to answer.
Myself and The Fabulous Mr Eric Lee are going to host the first annual ROR hackathon in January – the intention being twofold. First to expand Ribcage beyond its current parameters – to interface with Last.fm and Musicbrainz properly, to add details of gigs for our various artists, to allow users to be informed of updates more easily. Secondly and more vitally, it is also to make Ribcage a WordPress plugin that anyone can install and use. The implication is, we hope, obvious: anyone who can run a blog will be able to run a download label. With the new WordPress 2.7 allowing plugins to be installed direct from the repository without messing around with FTP and the like, this means that you could go from a standard blog to a label blog in less than five minutes – imagine the possibilities!
Photo by flickring.
We’ve got new albums from artists old and new – including our first international release – in the pipeline for early 2009. We hope to have the first of these out in mid-January, and further details will be posted shortly. This includes a new album from Les Étoiles, which we are all very excited about.
Fear not! Cardeston’s favourite martenot pioneer remains a Records on Ribs Recording Artist, but he’s one of five young Shropshire artists whose work is being showcased as part of an exhibition at The Hive gallery in Shrewsbury. The exhibition is called Vintage and celebrates five years of youth arts service at this location. All artists have naturally participated in the centre’s work during its lifetime. Eric has contributed a series of photographs of gorgeous idylls and supplied wind-up radios re-wired to play extracts from his Dusk Dappled Fall EP. It’s open until the 23rd of December, so get down there quick!
Talk Less, Say More has been kind enough to put together a lyric sheet for his critically acclaimed album Go Lucky.
Our friends at The Mic and High Society were kind enough to ask us to produce sampler CDs for their new membership. Each CD contains a track from each of our released records, plus a couple of preview tracks of forthcoming releases.
In classic Records On Ribs style, with a total disregard for sensible logistics and thinking we would save money, we decided to print the 300 odd CDs we required by hand. Actually this is a lie – we originally intended to do 600-800, but we didn’t have time. It took all night, and involved much weeping and gnashing of teeth from one half of the team who lay on the floor hoping that the damned guillotine would work.
For your amusement here are some photos below the fold.
For the curious, here is the track listing.
* previously unreleased.
