This week we welcome the addition of New Zealand’s MINIATURES to the Bleeding Gold Records roster. We are offering a free download of their first EP, titled aptly enough, Miniatures EP. Later this year we will have some new music from MINIATURES on vinyl, but for now get to know the band that has been compared to Cocteau Twins, Slowdive and Ride.
BandCamp | iTunes | Amazon | Last.fm
This is our first release from TIM CHAPLIN – Daisy Chain Fridays – a cassette/digital EP of a few favorites from the two upcoming full-lengths on Bleeding Gold Records in 2012. Tim’s been recording under his own name as well as the monikers LUMINOUS and Factory Kids, his partnership with singer Christina Marie. This EP collection shows Tim exploring Shoegaze, Bedroom Pop and Electronica, starting with the blown-out sounds of title track Daisy Chain Fridays and ending with the pulsing blood-whispers of This One, an exclusive tracks to this EP. This summer will see the release of the first full-length, Broken So Bad, a newly remastered collection of some of Tim’s best songs from the last decade.
Buy cassette here.
Tim Chaplin – Daisy Chain Fridays
Spring I’m In launches opportunely enough at the cusp of the season, but the recording process originally had Alligator Indian beginning work in their mountain retreat, the Rainbow Reservation, shortly after the summer release of their Football EP with Bleeding Gold. The resultant sound files came across like a worn out copy of Simon Reynold’s post-punk opus Rip It Up and Start Again dropped in a vat of lysergic acid diethylamide, if they may be so bold. And if’n they mayn’t, let’s just say it’s pretty not so bad. The aural constructs begin with a blistering sci-fi tale of a world where tyrannical governments mandate who a citizen can become betrothed to. From there, themes and sounds shift between fuzzy post-pop, a cappella bursts of vocals, and industrial cries for contentment.
Available on ‘CosmicPurple’ or Classic Black vinyl and CASSETTE here.
More pics post-jump…
In a vanguard effort to introduce their debut LP, Alligator Indian chose the tune “Dark Fruit” to single-handedly represent the album. Balancing lyrics that deal with hope, loss, death, Florida wildfires, and of course vampires, “Dark Fruit” twists through haunting ivory interplay between Mister Church’s and Miss Bubble’s keys before erupting in tribal triumph and percussive payoff. To further articulate the audio, analogue auteur The Cyclist and pop patron Heart Island reimaginatively mixed, or “remixed,” the song. The sparse drone of The Cyclist’s version cuddles alongside Heart Island’s saccharine dance, creating a trio of immersive and entertaining tracks built around one unit of song.
TURN IT UP!
Boy Party was formed in the cold of the 2011 North Carolina winter by Zach Romeo and Nathan Romano. The duo began playing shows in Greensboro, Winston-Salem and Asheville, and encountered a strange group of people in the woods of Georgia. They released their first EP “On Yr Lips” through their bandcamp page that spring. Boy Party toured the midwest in the summer of 2011 before parting ways, Nathan staying in North Carolina, going to film school, and Zach going to film school in New York. The project now serves as an outlet for songs written by Nathan Romano and sometimes produced by Justin Morris.
Finding inspiration in the good-time sounds of the 60s and 70s – S’s are a Manchester-based duo in their early twenties, who loosely define themselves as ‘experimental pop-stars’. Like Elton John’s bastard sons – they send trans-atlantic signals to their brothers and sisters in the states, along with trans-channel signals directly to their freres and soeurs in Europe, and beyond.
Fans of The Strokes, David Bowie, Best Coast and The Beatles should prepare themselves for a 2012 release that will soothe and arouse them into an indie-induced coma.
‘A Life of Tragic Parties’ showcases the lo-fi talent of two lo-fi young men.
7″ released early APRIL 2012 on Bleeding Gold Records (USA)
[Limited Edition hand-made CDs from Red Deer Club (UK)]
When it comes to family, many of us keep things close to our chests. But rather than keeping his kin hidden in an old dusty photo album, Songs For Walter’s Laurie Hulme is more likely to befound making a song about them. In particular his late grandfather Walter. Onelisten to the Songs For Walter EP and what you’ll hear is a stunning memoir of one extraordinary fellow and his strangely wonderful world.
You could call this EP the perfect tribute. Walter was a living, breathing story himself. From his much-loved caravan holidays in Scotland and Wales brilliantly depicted by Ukulele song ‘Tin Can’, to the bittersweet romance of lead-track ‘Meet Me At The Empire’ – a tale of Laurie’s grandparents’ first date to the Empire theatre – each song is like a yellowing polaroid taking you further into another chapter of Walter’s life.
But make no mistake; this is not simply a nostalgia trip. Equally inspired by Lou Reed and John Cale’s “SongsFor Drella”, the EP is a personal musical anecdote exuding the kind of rawness to only come from a self-produced release. “I really love lo-fi stuff, there’s something so much more honest about it,” explains Laurie, “What you lose in quality you gain in character.”
And that’s what really sets Songs For Walter apart. This EP has bags of character. Each song stands up on its own but together creates a legacy reflecting a Bill Callahan/Smog-like balance of sincerity and absurdity, The Spinto Band in reflective mode, or perhaps new kid on the blogs, fellow one-man bedroom outfit Youth Lagoon.
Four guys from Liverpool who met in school to form a band….sounds familiar right? Yes Tear Talk is primarily a Liverpool based band. Yes they all know each other from school. But that may be where the similarities end. With the majority of the guys scattered throughout the UK for university it makes it a bit more challenging to come together to make the music happen. But when they do, magic happens. Tear Talk’s passion for music stemmed at an early age when exchanging records, and discovering new music was the bond that brought them together. Their earliest influences being Black Tambourine, The Everly Brothers, The Field Mice and Sweetest Ache. However, it wasn’t until they heard Beat Happening, one of their most significant influences, that they thought to themselves “they can do it, why can’t we.”
After that it was easy. Well, not necessarily. The guys had moved on to universities and although they kept in contact by exchanging albums online it was when they came home for Summer break that they decided to form a band. Geography notwithstanding, to say you’re in a band is a lot easier than actually being in one, especially when it requires the ability to play instruments. Most of the guys had only just picked up their instruments for the first time that summer and had little to no experience being in a band. To quote Tear Talk; “We feel like there’s this real sense of endearment in the naivety of what we’re trying to do, this kind of fragility that is lost in most modern pop music, which we feel like we give off due to our lack of ability. In short, ability has become the death of modern pop, and gladly it’s something we’re lacking in.” So that being said, Tear Talk, despite their inability to play shows every week-end or not having completely mastered their instruments, is one of the most “awkward, introverted and melancholic” bands (their words) out there today. Here at Bleeding Gold Records….well we just think they’re perfection. Enjoy!
ALEXROSSI ft Inès Olympe Mercadal – JE TE PRENDS
Our first release of the year is the amazing digital single JE TE PRENDS from our friend ALEXROSSI.
Former Babies, Moll Ball (AKA Mollie “boom tap” Reep) and Shawna England aren’t musicians. They aren’t trained on their instruments, they’ve listened to way too much punk rock, drank too many beers and have meltdowns on the weekly. These character flaws are what inspires their music. If it weren’t for pesky brothers and shithead boyfriends the world would have a lot less music in it. They write cliché songs that describe what life is like whether you’re a 14 year old girl or a 65 year old man.
Shawna whams the guitar and belts out screeching melodies, while Mollie hits the drums with sticks at a level just below barely audible. Regardless of all the adversity and strife that they have had to overcome, Moll Ball and Shawna continue to rock on. They will probably do so until the day that they die. Oh yeah, they’re supposed to say something in this “bio” about how they are from the Bay Area.
Visit Bleeding Gold Records.com
Bleeding Gold 