BULBUL – Hirn fein hacken up for preorder!
Preorder your copy now and get it shipped on March 15th – two weeks before official release date.
available in CD and DoLP format. LP is limited to 600 copies worldwide
Austria’s BULBUL, perpetrators of the most exceedingly unique, solidly nonconformist, and bluntly odd acts one could conceive encountering, will close a six-year gap since their last LP with the release of their hedonistic Hirn Fein Hacken via Exile On Mainstream this Spring.
Hirn Fein Hacken was recorded in an old farmhouse in the Austrian wilderness breathing in the sonorous vibes of the hayloft. Responsible for its tracking was the longtime acolyte of the band, Ollmann Brunbauer. Aside from the usual set up of guitars, drums and bass, BULBUL utilized sounds made from “found instruments” such as umbrellas, tennis rackets, bicycle wheels, cooking lids and mattocks, after which the tracks were digitally revised and bludgeoned, constructed and deconstructed, rewired and fired up. Hirn Fein Hacken is a wild ride, an expected outcome from a record which translates from German to “get your brain chopped into pieces.”
In a universe consisting of contrasts such as accessibility and denial, degeneration and full bloom, similarity and dichotomy, BULBUL chooses to embrace these differences and apply it to their music, turning things upside down and changing perspective from every angle. The unimportant becomes important, the blurry focused, straight becomes curvy and squared becomes round, quoting the concept of Auto Destructive Art by Gustav Metzger. With this, BULBUL is taking contemporary music to another level, creating something original and new, whilst simultaneously wearing their musical influences — The Kinks, Captain Beefheart, Rhys Chatham, Django Reinhart, Abner Jay, Fats Domino, Bob Dylan — on their sleeves.
FRIEDEMANN – 1st video! (feat. Conny Ochs)
Ladies & Gentlemen,
here it is – the first video for the forthcoming album by FRIEDEMANN – Uhr vs. Zeit.
This song is taken from the forthcoming album
FRIEDEMANN – Uhr vs. Zeit
Release Date: 16 May 2014
What shall be written about a record that bears reasons for its release as well as the biographical truth that lead to its creation within every song? What can be said about an album that comes in with an urgency and life-saving appearance to its creator like this album? Well, almost nothing I’d say other than that I feel honoured and happy to be able to release the first solo album of one of my best friends – Friedemann, well known as shouter of the German hardcore outfit COR. Friedemann has been part of my own, my family’s, my friends’ and the label’s life for over 10 years now and I was eagerly awaiting the moment when he would be ready and done to come up with a solo album, revealing his unique soul and approach to music and content. Now the time has come.
“Uhr vs. Zeit” is an album full of honesty, wisdom and poetry, fuelled by experience and a life lived by and beyond the limits. The songs colour an approach to storytelling in its truest sense, sung and harmonized in his native language, German, but so deep and soulful that everyone will be able to relate and feel.
While he is rolling a wreath of songs off his tongue, Friedemann extols an attitude in songwriting that leaves your traditional narrative approach and meta-level storytelling behind. We don’t have a singer/songwriter here who remains on the safe side while taking a 3rd-person perspective but almost radically unsheathes his own soul and CV into the lyrics. There isn’t many songwriters in music history who we could name with a comparably distinct attitude – Townes Van Zandt, Nick Drake or Sixto Rodriguez would be the ones coming to mind only.
The album itself has been recorded and produced by Friedemann himself with help from friends like Janko Moede, Conny Ochs, who lends guitar and vocals to the track “Vogel”, partners in COR such as guitarist Pilse, bassist Matze and drummer Johannes.
Stay tuned for further announcements here!
–Andreas–
15 YEARS OF BLISS – 15 YEARS OF EXILE ON MAINSTREAM
@ ROADBURN FESTIVAL – 11 April 2014 Tilburg, Cul de Sac
Who would have expected this? It only seems as if it was yesterday that we started folding 7inch inserts and assembling wooden boxes of our first release which was Payola’s !Hecho Totalmente A Mano! single. Having started out on a shoestring, in the beginning this label was nothing but a crazy idea in the backyard of a drunken night buried in the haze of an April joke (yeah, right, the official business started on 1st April 1999, no shit) And what it became! A story. A statement. A life! 15 years of trying to torpedo not every but a few clichees of that shallow trench this business is but raising fists and artistic inspiration to the sky. I have been waiting 15 years for the moment to scream it out: look – we are still here! Let’s be honest: it’s probably only the face in the mirror that needed this evidence the most.
Anyway, with 70 releases under our belt, a serious amount of tours and uncounted nights worked through as much as celebrations of true, honest and classy art it’s about time to celebrate. And what would be a better fit than the mighty ROADBURN Festival being our host and home for this extravaganza. Not only has Exile On Mainstream been involved with the festival to end all festivals for more than a decade now, its ethics incorporating art, underground and attitude we appreciate and endorse to unlimited extent. This all topped by an ongoing deep personal friendship between Walter and myself does not only make ROADBURN the best festival for a celebration – it makes it the only one we would wanna have.
So please feel yourself invited to a special celebration held at the CUL DE SAC venue on Friday, April 11th, presenting four acts that have been picked to illustrate the wide array of styles and attitude this label stands for and for their special connection that binds them to us.
The first 100 attendees will receive a free compilation CD containing current sounds on Exile On Mainstream, unheard versions and unreleased, exclusive songs by Obelyskkh, The Antikaroshi, A Whisper In The Noise and many more.
Live on stage will appear these fine acts:
KRISTIAN HARTING
Like most artists on EOM, Kristian all of a sudden turned up, on a private party and won us over within a blink of an eye with his deep and soulful tunes, inspired by sufi-music, mali-blues, western low-fi pop and avant-garde Kristian Harting aims to write beautiful songs and music using what is at hand of gritty, noisy, pretty, dirty, smooth, wonderful sounds.
“To me Roadburn has always stood as the essence of musical integrity, curiosity and sense of quality. Never victimized to fashion and cheap populism. Exactly how I feel about Exile on Mainstream too. To be part of both makes me extremely proud, excited and humble.” (Kristian Harting)
CONNY OCHS
Conny Ochs draws himself near the most primordial creation of music – with a pristine commitment to his own emotionality. What is channelled into his music, tone and lyrics is nothing but the truth. Sometimes happy, sometimes sad, sometimes nasty, sometimes nice, sometimes begging, sometimes proud, sometimes cheerful, sometimes bitter, sometimes lost, sometimes found.
“Exile on Mainstream is my home and base. Here is where I found freedom and understanding as well as passion and a soulful of fury, and i am proud to be a part of this gowing family since more than three years now. To be celebrating the 15th anniversary of this ever young and burning label at Roadburn is matching soul entities. Where else could we set a light better than in this creative, inspiring, tolerant and evolving atmosphere? Burn bright!” (Conny Ochs)
TREEDEON
This band might be introduced to you at the show but the members should be no unknowns: Arne Heesch of German Noise-classics ULME, Yvonne Ducksworth of JINGO DE LUNCH and Boomer of German Proto-NoiseStoners KAENG have been earning merits in the underground for several years. Now they teamed up for delivering the best AmRep-styled noise currently existing – fueled with an urgency that will leave you breathless. That’s a threat and promise.
“In the as of yet, ‘short history of our band’, what an honor for us: To play at the Roadburn Festival! Roadburn has hosted such a long list of musicians that have influenced the way we perceive and play music… Exile on Mainstream has allowed this to happen, a label which has been a diamond in the rough by consistently showing deep commitment and integrity, plus extreme attention to detail, in supporting bands and music we love….Happy 15th!” (Arne, Yvonne, Boomer of Treedeon)
BULBUL
Here we are – entering a universe consisting of antagonisms such as accessibility and denial, degeneration and full bloom, similarity and dichotomy. And vegetables. Bulbul live bei their own standards. Unlike other bands the Austrians do not shop pop history they chase through it, sometimes gently ripping parts out and incorporating in their own sound, sometimes they pillage through the leftovers of inspiration that might have driven pop music in years past and don’t even wait for until they are back at the parking lot. They smash it right there, in the museum and create something new, unbelievably vital, haunting and unbearable. We keep saying that in some ways this band has been the blueprint for this label and it still bears truth. As chaotic as history evolves I can pretty much confirm that this label wouldn’t be existing as it is if I wouldn’t have seen this band for the 1st time live almost 20 years ago. Here’s logic them being signed to Exile On Mainstream.
“Working with Exile On Mainstream doesn’t mean getting in the stable being milked. It’s more like flying to your nest where mama (replace mama by friend, fan, host, enthusiast, …. Andreas) awaits you with protecting wings to give you shelter from all the wild things out there and whispers “it’s gonna be good”. (Raumschiff Englmayr of Bulbul)
Get down with us and party! At the Cul de Sac!
CONNY IN ITALY!
No Tanks. No Football. No Stillgestanden!
OBELYSKKH to play Roadburn Festival!
In search of the soundtrack to the Pagan apocalypse? Well look no further as German doom stalwarts Obelyskkh will be bringing devotional riffs and massive slabs of slow burning, acidic, oozing doom to Roadburn Festival 2014 on Saturday, April 12th at the 013 venue in Tilburg, The Netherlands.
On their latest, much acclaimed, album Hymn To Pan, released on Exile on Mainstream Records, Obelyskkh set a dark, psychedelic tone to their grinding, Pagan hymns by pairing unexpected keyboard passages and spaced-out interludes with their molten, repetitive, blackened chords. Dark, portentous and swollen with glorious purpose, these are devotionals to put a lascivious grin firmly on the face of the goat-footed god.
Bask in Obelyskkh‘s doom glory and stamp your hooves en masse when they honour the great god Pan at Roadburn Festival 2014.
KRISTIAN HARTING – Float available for preorder!
Preorder your copy now and get it shipped on January 11th – two weeks before official release date.
available in CD and LP format. LP is limited to 500 copies worldwide
Inspired by sufi-music, mali-blues, Western low-fi pop and avant-garde, Danish-born KRISTIAN HARTING composes songs using his guitar, voice, circuit-bending and effects, pushing to create sounds that are gritty and noisy yet beautiful, culminating in diverse electronic and acoustic trips. He positions his attitude and practice as “a spiritual journey as well as a physical one.” HARTING continues to embellish, “It is my way of communicating freely and truthfully and articulate the ever-changing waves of confusion, emotions, ideas, people, power and surroundings, that is my life.”
On January 31st 2014, Exile On Mainstream will proudly release KRISTIAN HARTING’s profoundly personal debut solo album, Float, which channels this into a genre-bending form, exorcising the demons he had to battle in his most recent past. In a very personal approach, the title refers to what he describes as survival-strategy in a period of his life characterized by an extreme personal, emotional and financial turmoil, so chaotic and exhausting that it almost devastated him: “I had to be like water. Just float. Not think, not try to organize nor control the chaos, the perpetual beats to my chest and slaps in my face. I had to be like water or I would break. Just float around and away. Not crack like a rock or blow out like a fire. It was a spiritual journey. A test.”
The work on Float was a free harbor, where HARTING could unload the harvest from a furious sea by creating, playing and arranging each part on his own – writing, producing, recording, mixing – finding his own true place. By listening to the intimate recording you can feel the tensions inside its creator, grabbing, shaping and channeling true emotions into music – an archaic approach but representing what KRISTIAN believes music is made for. Whilst these songs come from a chaotic, dark and desperate place, for Kristian, they remain full of hope and love…“My wish is that anyone listening to them will feel this too.”…he sums up the attitude behind the release.
Exile On Mainstream urges you to give this music a listen and find yourself drawn into one of the most emotional and challenging albums the label has ever put out, opening a new world, even for us. The ever-changing wish to explore new territories, geographically and musically brought us here and we are truly celebrating one of the finest moments in the label’s history with bringing you this album. Enjoy.
New Obelyskkh shirts added to the webshop
We have some leftover shirts from Obelyskkh’s recent live akktions. Available in limited quantities. Be fast, they are only available while stocks last:
BEEHOOVER TO TOUR THE UK!!!
At the evening before their German tour (starting this Friday), the crowned kings of chaos reveal the mother of all news:
BEEHOOVER ARE COMING TO THE UK!
The wait is over! You guys on the island that brought us Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Robbie Williams AND Stock Aitken Waterman – your prayers have been heard! Your wishes are our order. Please welcome Beehoover:
BEEHOOVER – LIVE in UNITED KINGDOM 2014
——————————————————-
Fri 21 March London – Black Heart
Sat 22 March Cardiff – Moon Club
Sun 23 March Bristol – Mothers Ruin
Mon 24 March Plymouth – Tiki Bar
Tue 25 March Oxford – The Wheatsheaf
Wed 26 March Salford – The Eagle Inn
Thu 27 March Edinburgh – Banshee Labyrinth
Fri 28 March Glasgow – 13th Note
Sat 29 March Birmingham – Scruffy’s
OBELYSKKH shirts added to the webshop
We received a limited quantity of Shirts from OBELYSKKH.
Just 13 EUR each incl. shipping.
Two designs in several sizes available – be fast. They might go quickly – click on the shirts to be directed to the webshop:
BEEHOOVER – The Devil And His Footmen up for preorder
GET IT GET IT GET IT!
Beehoover’s new challenge for your synapses is available for preorder NOWWW! Shipping from September 2013 – be the first!
available in CD and LP format. LP is limited to 500 copies worldwide
Beehoover are back, breaking a three year studio silence with an outrageous deluge of din in the form of new album The Devil And His Footmen.
The multi-faceted clawing at the stoner doom mantle which defined their 2010 full length, Concrete Catalyst, has been taken to pastures fresh; self-recorded behind the locked doors of their own studio, Beehoover’s latest is a swirl of raw, sultry tones and rumbling octaves that strike chords with braggadocio 70’s hard rock as much as it does the thunderous rumble of Black Cobra and the jutting angles of Unsane. Beehoover are at their most rocking here, tangling the long hair of the headbangers with all the genres of beard in one matted toupee of oddball rhythms and histrionic vocals.
Formed in 2003, the German have released three albums to date, capitalising on their distinctive drum and bass concoction. The Devil And His Footmen will be the fourth album by Beehoover released on Exile On Mainstream, and is available as CD, LP and digital.
The Devil And His Footmen buzzes with eccentric electric – grit your teeth and enjoy the sting.
Track Listing
01 Monolith
02 Egoknights And Firearks
03 Rooftop
05 Boy Vs. Tree
07 Morning Sun
09 Dear Mammoth
10 My Mixtapes Suck Big Time
11 Honeyhole
Release Dates:
27 September 2013 (Germany)
30 September 2013 (Europe + UK)
22 October 2013 (USA)
CATCH THE BAND ON TOUR:
(all shows w/ HORN OF THE RHINO and CONNY OCHS)
- 08.11.2013 GER Ilmnau, Baracke
- 09.11.2013 GER Weimar, Kasseturm
- 10.11.2013 GER Dresden, Chemiefabrik
- 11.11.2013 GER Nürnberg, MUZ Club
- 12.11.2013 GER Köln, Sonic Ballroom
- 13.11.2013 GER Hamburg, Hafenklang
- 14.11.2013 GER Berlin, Schokoladen
- 15.11.2013 GER Rostock, MAU Club
- 16.11.2013 GER Halle, Hühnermanhattan (w/ HORN OF THE RHINO only)
FRIEDEMANN – album set for release in early 2014
I feel honoured and happy to be able to release the first solo album of one of my best friends – Friedemann, well known as shouter of the German hardcore outfit COR. Friedemann has been part of my own, my family’s, my friends’ and the label’s life for over 10 years now and I was eagerly awaiting the moment when he would be ready and done to come up with a solo album, revealing his unique soul and approach to music and content. Now the time has come. Almost done is an album full of honesty, wisdom and poetry, fueled by experience and a life lived by and beyond the limits. Storytelling in its truest sense, sung and harmonized in his native language, German, but so deep and soulful that everyone will be able to relate and feel. The album is set for a release by the end of February 2014 and will be released as a collaboration between EXILE ON MAINSTREAM and COR’s own label RÜGENCORE RECORDS. We are currently putting final touches to the sound and be assured, such a special release will be blessed with a special outfit. Over the next months a number of videos shot for some tracks (some might not be on the album but given to you as free appetizers) will appear on this channel. So stay tuned for more info and details.
Friedemann in his own words about this collaboration:
Musik, Musik
Ich habe endlich einen Plan !
Die Platte wird als Kooperation zwischen Exile On Mainstream Records (http://
Aber Achtung: in diesem Herbst/Winter werden wir nach und nach ein paar Videos online stellen,
damit ihr die Wartezeit überbrücken könnt.
Im Moment arbeite ich an der Livepräsentation und im nächsten Jahr wird es dann natürlich auch eine Tour geben.
Alles in Planung und auf einem guten Weg.
Ich jedenfalls freue mich auf die Zusammenarbeit mit allen Beteiligten und wer die Veröffentlichungen von Exile On Mainstream Records kennt weiß, dass es eine besondere und schöne Sache wird.
Das Warten lohnt.
Friedemann
