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Bridget Hayden CDR (ROWF16) out now

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

£5.99 (UK)

£6.99 (Europe)

£7.99 (USA/Canada/R.o.W.)

Tues 12th May 2009, The Klondyke Club, Burnage Range (off Albert Road), Levenshulme, Manchester, 8pm, £4

xNoBBQx (Australia) + Hathor Duo (UK) + Trinity (UK)

BACK ON!!!

We're absolutely delighted to say that, after much hassle at the airport and having to fly back to Berlin, xNoBBQx are now able to play the scheduled show at the Klondyke Club. The dude of can-do Chris Tipton has managed to sort out work permits for the band so it's all groovy. Yes! It's gonna be a really amazing show, so please come show some love to these weary travellers who, we promise, will give you a gig to remember.

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 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.

Vampire Blues is the duo of guitar player Jon Collin (Serfs, The Whole Voyald) and harmonium player Jon Marshall (The Hunter Gracchus, Peril Hill). They have a pretty special tape out on Blackest Rainbow. We can't recommend them highly enough.

The Fifth Band is the gobsmacking trio of Stephen Lawrie (The Telescopes), Bridget Hayden (Vibracathedral Orchestra) and Chris Hladowski (The Family Elan). Oof.

A Wake is the duo of Nick Mitchell and Fliss Horrocks who also play in Beach Fuzz.
This will actually probably end-up being a Beach Fuzz performance - this incarnation's first inside the UK.