Bronnt Industries Kapital : Hard For Justice

Guy Bartell aka Bronnt Industries Kapital's third album, and first for Get Physical, mangles krautrock and electronics with studies of timeless 80s soundtracks from John Carpenter movies. A range of cinematic moods are conveyed from exploring a balance of electro and acoustic sounds, rhythms and subtle sonic textures. Helped out on three tracks by Gravenhurst's Nick Talbot, this is an instantly listenable album that provides uncommon depth and longevity.

Buy at Boomkat from 6th April.

Implosion Quintet : Skeleton Crew

'Skeleton Crew' is an early peek into the debut album by Norway's Implosion Quintet titled 'The Future Sound Of Yesterday'. Released this summer on Cookshop Records (who also present the brilliant Morning Glory show on Juice FM), it will be preceded by a free download EP on IQ's own Commodity imprint.

Download more Implosion Quintet here.

Seeland : Call the Incredible

Seeland is a collaboration between Warp recording artists Tim Felton from Broadcast and Billy Bainbridge from Plone. Their new album 'Tomorrow Today' is out now on L-O-A-F. Having previously recorded for Stereolab's Duophonic label the reference points are similar - BBC Radiophonic Workshop, Joe Meek and eccentric 60's library music - so fans of retro-futurism should walk away happy with a copy of this.

'Call the Incredible' is available to download here.

Line : Q&A

Q. Tell everyone a bit about yourself and what you're up to.
I'm quite tall. Got a beard. I'm more upbeat than you might think from
the album... I'm eating spaghetti hoops. Musically I'm doing some gigs
around and about to support the album, getting a live band together,
and I'm starting to think about the next record. It's gonna be a bit
more tropical I think. Oh, and I've just finished a remix for
Fischerspooner that should be out before too long I think.

Q. What are the influences behind the album? Are you happy with it?
I suppose what I'm tried to do is combine the things I love about
electronic music, especially proper techno and electro, with... proper
songs. I don't think I'm breaking new ground with what I do but I
think there's a little patch of ground between those two things that
not many people were standing on. From the electro side Radioactive
Man's first album remains a constant source of inspiration and the
song side of things I guess someone like Bill Callaghan.... both of
those guys' music is both tender and tough in equal measures, and I
love that. Obviously if you assess my music as being halfway between
those guys' it's a big failure but that's where I'd like it to be
maybe.

Q. How does being a solo act differ to being in a band? Which do you prefer?
I don't think I could ever do just one or the other now. Being solo at
the moment is definitely easier, simply from the point of view of
logistics, and it's nice to have the final say on everything. But I've
always loved playing with other people, especially if they're better
than me. I'm getting a band together to try and do some of the songs
in a different way. Should be interesting.

Q. What sparked the Line musical direction? Did you have an electro epiphany?
I think if I was going to name one person who was responsible for Line
then it would be my late friend Joe Snow, aka Ikkyo Mahl aka Buyuk
Mabet aka all sorts of other names. A lot of the sounds and the
philosophy I use come from him really.... he showed me that simple
electronic music can have emotion and depth to it. He was an amazing
guy, I miss him loads.

Q. Give us a top 5 of something.
Top 5 cheeses
1. Wigmore
2. Dovedale
3. Stilton
4. Lanark Blue
5. Proper Brie

Download '1228'.
Proper Songs review of 'Hearts'.
Buy 'Hearts' from Uncharted Audio.
Buy 'Love Lockdown' (yes, a cover of the Kanye West song) 7" from Hot Pockets.

AU : Q&A

PS: Tell everyone a bit about yourself and where you are.
I myself am Luke Wyland. I started AU back in 2005 as I was finishing up my BFA at the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston, though my first release was under the moniker "luc" (peaofhesea, 2005 - Aagoo Records). Since then the project has been through a bunch of incarnations with the only real constant of myself. I've been lucky enough to have some great friends and players help out along the way including Jonathan Sielaff, Mark Kaylor, Sarah Winchester, Becky Dawson and Dana Valatka (to name just a few). Currently its a touring duo with Dana Valatka on drums (also of Jackie-O-Motherfucker, Mustaphamond). We are based out of Portland, Oregon.

PS: What should we expect from the live show? Has it been a challenge to reproduce some of the album tracks?
Well the first thing I like to tell people is that the live show is just two of us. Most expect at least 5 or 6 people on stage due to the sound on Verbs. While we have put on shows with 20 plus people on stage in Portland its just not reasonable for the touring and traveling needs (recorded sound vs. live sound in my own mind should be two different things). That being said the live show is a lot more energetic and rockin and tends towards distinct dynamic changes. As for the challenge of translating the songs live, its something I rather enjoy. Some songs we don't ever play live - or if we do it's only for the special occasions that we have the right amount of people to do em justice. Others are constantly evolving in terms of how we play them over time leaving significant room for improvisation and spontaneity. An important thing for us to keep the enjoyment level up night after night.

PS: Were you pleased by the response to Verbs? What's next?
I was primarily pleased with the process of making the record and being fortunate enough to collaborate with so many amazing players. As far as the response goes, it's allowing us to tour more which makes me very happy. I mean we're heading overseas, which has been a dream of mine for years now, so not much to complain about here. Besides these things its very hard to gauge what the response is to albums in such a saturated "market".

We just finished up an EP of live versions of songs from both Verbs and our first album, as well as a new song or two, that better represents the live duo of Dana and myself. That'll come out this summer some time while we'll be starting the next LP after we get back from Europe in June.



Download 'RR vs D'

PS: RR vs D is my girlfriend's favourite track. She asks:" it sounds like you're at a magical carnival - what would your float have on it?"
My own float huh? I'd say it would be stacked high with numerous people strapped to grand pianos, one on top of the other sticking out at adjacent angles. Surrounding them would be a cascading waterfall of champagne ending in a pool of cognac with a submerged and drowning and extremely intoxicated marching band blowing bubbles instead of music. At the precipice would be a franticly running cartoon animal of shapeshifting abilities on a treadmill. All parties survive no worries.

PS: Give us a top 5 of something.
I'm left blank on this one. Top 5 lists are my least and most feared task.

AU undertake a massive European tour from 11th April to 6th June. Full dates on Myspace.

Panic Attract : Panic Attract EP

Occupying a dark space between folk, hip hop and electronics, Panic Attract consist of multi-instrumentalist Greg Heresztyn and enigmatic front man and songwriter Tim Garratt.

Download 'Lucan' and Weather Systems (MLR Mega Lounge Refix).

Gigs:
22nd Mar @ Oakford Social Club, Reading
3rd Apr @ Cross Kings, London
18th Apr @ Dublin Castle, London
14th Aug @ Bloom Festival

Their self titled debut EP is out now and can be bought direct from them.

GHOSTS : Q&A

PS: Tell us a bit about yourself and where you are.
I'm Ben, GHOSTS is pretty much just me. I'm sitting in a library in Sheffield. I have a habit of moving from one place to another without telling anybody. If you write to me then I will send you a cassette tape and some photocopied paper, I like this immediate/archaic way of doing things.

PS: When did you start making music as GHOSTS and what prompted you?
I have always been making tapes and CDRs in different bedrooms under weird names, but last January I decided to make songs with words which could be recited before a crowd of people. GHOSTS was born around then, somewhere in France. I needed a way to tell stories and to overcome silence.

PS: Talk us through the process of creating a song. What inspires you?
Songs exist in my head for a long, long time before they're recorded. I'm always trying to record things whenever I have the space, but this can be a slow process. I use a combination of cassette recorders, a four-track machine, and a laptop to make things happen. I'm inspired by adventures, spooky forests, my BMX, and whatever or whoever may be around me. I also tend to steal sound ideas from the 'Welcome Nowhere' record by Thanksgiving.

PS: Which other artists would you recommend checking out?
Lucky Dragons are coming over here really soon, which I'm excited about. You should also check out Urgent Talk, they're making Sheffield sound interesting again.

PS: Give us a top 5 of something.
Top five Nirvanas.
5. About a Girl
4. Dumb
3. Blew
2. Sliver
1. Drain You

Upcoming gigs:
11th Mar @ The Stockroom, Sheffield
29th Jun @ The Winchester, Bournemouth

First Aid Kit : Drunken Trees

Swedish folk duo First Aid Kit's 'Drunken Trees' EP was originally released last April but has been kindly re-issued by Wichita Recordings, now including their much YouTubed version of Fleet Foxes 'Tiger Mountain Peasant Song'. Sisters Johanna and Klara Söderberg are disgustingly young - born in 1990 and '93 - but their youth belies the maturity of their songs and confidence in their voices. Currently writing their debut album, as well as finishing school, the future is full of promise for First Aid Kit.

Buy at Wichita.

Mayer Hawthorne : Just Ain't Gonna Work Out

'Just Ain't Gonna Work Out' has been around for a while but I'm off to Stones Throw at Cargo tonight with Mayer Hawthorne playing live, so this classic new-sounding-old soul song deserves a post (that and because I finally managed to convice myself to shell out a tenner for the red, heart shaped 10" - ouch!).



On sale at Stones Throw.

Various Artists : Dark Was The Night

'Dark Was The Night' is a double compilation in support of the Red Hot Organization - an international charity dedicated to raising funds and awareness for HIV and AIDS. If you take away the obvious reason for buying this album and concentrate on the actual music, you come away with a decent round up of the current of cream of the US indie/alt scence. A 31 track album is always going to vary in quality but contributions from Dirty Projectors with David Byrne, Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, Kronos Quartet, Blonde Redhead + Devastations and Bon Iver easily outweigh any lesser moments.

Buy from 4AD.