Graham Thrower, Dave Erichsen, Ben Jones, Richard Dawson, the spirit presence of Claire Tavenor ( we miss you! )
Sounds Like
Everything from grindcore to Tibetan rituals, and all that lies betwixt: electronica, experimental, alt.country, reggae, indie, metal, reggae, dub, dubstep, techno, hip-hop, punk, rock & pop, blues, jazz...
alt.vinyl opened it's doors on the 17th of September 2004 and in the three years since we've met many lovely people and given our frightened ears a lashing of strange and wonderful noises. We've strived to provide you with discs of joyous plastic old and new, rare and absurd, perplexing and most fruitful, all with a smile on our bearded chops. Hey, it would be lovely to meet you! Come down to our headquarters in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne and join in the journey of discovery - excitement awaits! Or visit our website ( shortly to be given a lick of paint and a new carpet ) and browse our jam-packed racks virtually. We look forward to making your aquaintance and helping you find the music that will light up your soul! ALT.VINYL - tel: 0191 222 1213 web: www.altvinyl.com e-mail: info@altvinyl.com
This is the first set from the slightly tweaked Beach Fuzz line-up with Fliss Horrocks now playing guitar alongside Tom Settle and Nick Mitchell. Seven tracks of clattering drums, chugging and wailing guitars, screaming keyboards, mellow, lilting pastoral improv and moaned vocals.
Pay by Paypal to goldenlabrecordings@hotmail.co.uk
Recorded at The Bowling Green pub in Manchester on 17th November 2008, when Bridget was on tour with Marcia Bassett, this is a maximal 25-minute set of epic guitar brutalising and deep, moaned vocal incantations. Employing a bow and 'metal' effects pedals, the resulting cacophony is orchestral in scope, rendering almost unreliable the memory of one woman and her instrument. Somewhat akin to Bassett's duo with Matthew Bower, Hototogisu, the deeply layered tones created by Hayden offer, upon first exposure, a somewhat icy auditory experience, but as the recording settles in, the richness and sheer breadth of sound wraps around you like a feather quilt and shifts your perception almost 180 degrees. A truly magnificent set from this former Vibracathedral Orchestra member.
Limited to 80 copies with sleeves printed on recycled paper using soya based ink
Pay by Paypal to goldenlabrecordings@hotmail.co.uk
Activities begin at 1pm at The Place, in Athenaeum St, Sunniside, with Maximo Park’s Duncan Lloyd's 'Songwriting Masterclass'.
Jim Mawdsley, CEO of Generator and Director of The Evolution Festival leads a 'Live Music Promoter Workshop' from 3pm.
Then, from 6pm, an A&R panel session will take place featuring reps from 1965 Records, EMI, Universal and XL Records.
The SMF AGM will directly precede the A&R session.
If your music requires attention, bring along a CD to receive individual feedback on a first come-first served basis!!!!
Following the day’s events at The Place, The White Room in Holmeside will host the evening’s live show, featuring Frankie & The Heartstrings, U-U, The Wooden Spoons and Widows. Doors open at 8pm.
Admission for all events is free but limited and subject to advance booking. For more information contact joe@generator.org.uk or call 0191 2450099 ext 4 or The Sunderland Music Forum on 01915671777.
xNoBBQx Skewer 10" LP (Ltd to 300 copies) - Out May 12th
We first came across xNoBBQx (just call them No Barbeque, I guess) in Piccadilly Records last year when the Siltbreeze vinyl reissue of their first CD-r appeared on its shelves. The Siltbreeze label being a bastion of all that is great in terms of dirgy, lo-fi, transcendental unmusicality, we were thus intrigued to hear this slab. And, we have to say, it was one of the greatest shop-listening experiences of all time. Here was a duo, probably of fully grown men, bashing away at their instruments in a manner that suggested they had never really learned any 'proper' technique. We later read a review, in fact, that put it thus:
"So what exactly is the difference between an xNoBBQx recording and a couple of 14 year olds bashing instruments in the garage with record pressed down on one of their mum’s old tape recorders? Probably not a whole lot, actually, but I get the feeling that’s precisely the point. " (Cyclic Defrost)
Well, yes, that does largely seem to be the point. But it's a helluva point. The Australian duo, in spite of their unabashed simplicity, manage to create sounds that are warm as an old-fashioned blanket, each piece having the ability to induce a state of complete, dribbling mental stasis. It's disjointed, scratchy and 'difficult', yes. But it also manages to be completely absorbing. If you like your rock deconstructed to the nth degree, we highly recommend you dig this.
xNoBBQx will be touring the UK from 10th May 2009. We'll be putting them on in Manchester on 12th May (venue TBC), so keep yr eyes on this page.
This beautiful super-heavyweight LP, which comes packaged in a sweet full-colour sleeve reunites the UK's premier free drummer Alex Neilson, who's played, amongst others, with Motor Ghost, Directing Hand, Trembling Bells, Tight Meat Duo, Josephine Foster, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, Jandek, MV&EE, Richard Youngs, Baby Dee and Alastair Galbraith, with Nmperign member Greg Kelley, whose reinvention of the trumpet is as crucial now as Anthony Braxton's was 30 years ago. A screeching, soaring, scattergun array of noises come maniacally out of Greg's horn, unlike anything we've ever heard and he successfully straddles no wave, concrete and free jazz in a way that makes those genres seem like trite pigeonholes.
