Amusement Parks On Fire came to prominence in 2004 with the release of the eponymous debut album, conceived and consummated by the then-adolescent founder Michael Feerick and phonically actualized on a shoestring with Nottingham cohabitant Daniel Knowles. Issued on Geoff Barrow (of Portishead)’s Invada label, it was described by the New Musical Express as ‘hedonistic teenage genius’.
A live line-up was essentially performed and extensively performed with the likes of Dinosaur Jr, M83, and dEUS among innumerable other acts of the era. The unit then retreated to Sigur Rós’ private swimming-pool sanctuary Sundlaugin in Álafoss, Iceland to complete the venturesome sophomore release ‘Out Of The Angeles’, during which time they experimented with sleep, food and sunlight deprivation at the insistence of V2 Records. After several years of international incidence, the band crash-landed in Los Angeles in 2009 to make ‘Road Eyes’ with producers Michael Patterson (Beck, NIN) and Nicolas Jodoin (Arcade Fire, BRMC). Again inspired by the locale, the collection was intended as ‘a skewed Californian contemporary-classical’, with Alternative Press defining it as ‘sun-drenched, challenging and gratifying… a near-perfect album’.
Last year, Amusement Parks On Fire returned with their first release in ‘8.8 years’. The single ‘Our Goal To Realise’ saw the British art-rockers reappear with signature songwriting sophistication and sonic scope. All The New Ends seeks to further cement their insignia whilst eschewing genre-tropes and preconceptions of form. Like the expansive concept singles surrounding their second album ‘Out Of The Angeles’, the medium-length format once-again provides the perfect platform to push perceptions and extend expectations.
LINKS:
http://apof.co.uk
https://www.facebook.com/amusementparksonfire
https://twitter.com/APOF
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Atmosphere – Graffiti
The last time we checked in with Slug and Ant was on 2016’s Fishing Blues, the latest chapter in a string of albums showcasing the pair’s evolution from tortured hedonists into settled-down dads making kicked-back rap records. It would have been nice to carry on thinking they were finally at well-earned peace after two decades of extensively documented trials and tribulations. But just because your corner of the globe is peaceful, that doesn’t mean that the rest of the world stops turning.
It’s a different place than it was two years ago, and the seventh Atmosphere album, Mi Vida Local, reflects the ways in which the world and Atmosphere’s place in it–have changed. The idyllic domesticity of the past few records has morphed into anxiety over keeping loved ones safe during turbulent times. Instead of bragging about backstage misadventures it’s about grappling with mortality. The easygoing collaboration between Ant and Slug has started to feel more like the life-or-death intimacy of two men trapped together on a lifeboat.
At times it’s a heavy album (“I might be the last generation of grandparents,” goes a key line from “Virgo”), but it’s far from grim. There are jokes being cracked, joints getting smoked, a little trash talking and beefing here and there–after all, it’s still a rap record.
And Atmosphere’s never sounded better.
As the name implies, Mi Vida Local is intensely focused on the place it was created–the southside of Minne apo lis–where Slug and Ant work tirelessly in their “beautiful basements”, refining their sound without interruption. (Although a handful of friends from the Minneapolis hip-hop community showed up to contribute.) A year of one-on-one collaboration resulting in an album that matches complex subject matter with equally deep beats–ones that show a clear lineage back to the psychedelic funk landmarks from an earlier era where America was going through a post-utopian hangover, and prove that there won’t ever be a time where boom-bap beats don’t sound perfectly of the moment.
Mi Vida Local might be the best album Atmosphere’s ever made. It’s definitely the one they needed to make right now, and one listener’s needs to hear just as urgently. If it’s sometimes an album about how the fight to find happiness never really ends–even after you get the house and the kids and the artistic freedom to make dad-rap records–it’s also about discovering that there’s happiness to be found just in fighting.
Photo by Dan Monick.
LINKS:
https://rse.lnk.to/MiVidaLocal
https://rhymesayers.com/artists/atmosphere
https://www.facebook.com/Atmosphere
https://twitter.com/atmosphere
https://www.instagram.com/atmosphere -
Beauty in Chaos Ft. Wayne Hussey – The Delicate Balance of All Things
The Mission frontman Wayne Hussey and LA-based Beauty in Chaos present ‘The Delicate Balance of All Things’. This is the first taste of Beauty in Chaos’ forthcoming full-length album ‘The Storm Before The Calm’. The accompanying video was filmed and directed by Vicente Cordero, edited by Leslie Gladney, and produced by Industrialism Films.
Slated for release in early 2020 via Los Angeles label 33.3 Music Collective, this album was recorded at Ciravolo’s own SAINTinLA Studio and produced by Grammy nominee Michael Rozon, best known for his work with Ministry.
Beauty in Chaos is the brainchild of guitarist Michael Ciravolo. Originally from New Orleans and now based in Los Angeles, he is perhaps best known as President of Schecter Guitar Research. Before launching Beauty in Chaos, Ciravolo had played guitar in Human Drama for the past 30 years, as well as playing live and recording with Michael Aston’s Gene Loves Jezebel since 1998.
Wayne Hussey and Beauty in Chaos (Michael Ciravolo) have been enjoying a fruitful collaboration since the inception of BIC’s acclaimed debut album ‘Finding Beauty in Chaos’. This followed by the subsequent ‘Beauty Re-Envisioned’ album, which, in addition to various remixes of tracks involving Hussey, also featured the original track ‘The Long Goodbye (Au Revoir)’, as well as ’20th Century Boy’ ft. Rolan Bolan and Wayne Hussey.
“I was adamant about releasing something new… I wanted the new record to be a bit darker and brooding. I sat down with a drum machine and blasted out several ideas that seemed to convey the overall ‘tone’ I wanted for the record. I knew Wayne was busy preparing for his solo European tour, but he said to send the tracks over and he would see if anything struck him,” says Michael Ciravolo.
“In typical Hussey fashion … he said he was ’empty on words’, understandable since he did just finish his ‘Salad Daze’ book. To my surprise, he sent back all of the vocal tracks a few days later, saying he had the title of ‘the delicate balance of all things’ that he thought about using for a future Mission record… and the lyrics basically poured out. Sonically and lyrically, I think this song perfectly sets the ‘feel’ I want ‘The Storm Before The Calm’ to have.”
Beauty in Chaos’ also involves many music luminaries, including Simon Gallup (The Cure), Al Jourgensen (Ministry), Robin Zander (Cheap Trick), Pete Parada (The Offspring), dUg Pinnick (Kings X), ICE-T (Body Count), producer Tim Palmer, guitar icon Zakk Wylde, Ashton Nyte (The Awakening), Rolan Bolan, Kevin Haskins (Bauhaus, Love & Rockets), Michael Anthony (Van Halen), Michael Aston (Gene Loves Jezebel), Paul Wiley (Marilyn Manson), Michael Aston and Dirk Doucette (Gene Loves Jezebel), Pando (A Flock of Seagulls), Evi Vine, Johnny Indovina (Human Drama), Danny Lohner (Nine Inch Nails, Marilyn Manson), Betsy Martin (Caterwaul / Purr Machine), Kevin Kipnis (Purr Machine / Kommunity FK), Ummagma and Kitty Lectro, among others.
CREDITS
Wayne Hussey – vocals
Michael Ciravolo – guitars, bass, textures
Michael Rozon – bass, synth
Dirk Doucette – drums
Written by Wayne Hussey and Michael Ciravolo
Recorded, mixed and produced by Michael Rozon
Additional recording by Wayne Hussey
Video produced by Industrialism Films
Video filmed by Vicente Cordero
Video edited by Leslie GladneyVIDEO BAND
Wayne Hussey – vocals
Michael Ciravolo – guitar
Tish Ciravolo – bass, justice lady
Dirk Doucette – drums
horsehead guy – ???LINKS:
https://www.beautyinchaosmusic.com
https://www.facebook.com/beautyinchaosmusic
https://www.instagram.com/beauty.inchaos
https://twitter.com/MichaelCiravolo
https://www.beautyinchaosmusic.com/music-store
https://www.beautyinchaosmusic.com/bic-blog
https://soundcloud.com/33-3-music-collective
https://beautyinchaos.bandcamp.com
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/finding-beauty-in-chaos/1436694940
https://open.spotify.com/album/7cmbwIpDm9aAXS4vVjcq4U?si=LZ_9_Bi1SzaZyN7wOIRCvw -
The Impersonators – Cloud Nine
The Impersonators came into being after the demise of Finnish pop/rock band Carmen Gray in 2013 when Tommi Tikka, the other half of Carmen Gray’s songwriting team, joined forces with lyricist Antti Autio to write some new songs.
While Carmen Gray had recorded for major labels, such as Sony and Warner, The Impersonators’ story was going to be different from the get-go. With this particular group, Tikka wanted to have complete artistic control over the songs he recorded to avoid generic and sterile production typical for modern pop/rock.
For quite a while, Tikka auditioned musicians for the new group. However, after three failed attempts to put together a lineup that did justice to the new songs, he decided to make The Impersonators a group of two songwriters rather than a group of four or five musicians. Hence began the search for a great producer rather than the right musicians.
Finally, in early 2017, Tikka teamed up with Janne Saksa, a seasoned professional in making records, who became Tikka’s collaborator in the studio and took over the head producer’s reins from him. Together, they’ve arranged and produced the group’s two singles “You Are The One” and “Burning Blue.”
The best way to describe the sound of The Impersonators is to call it sixties-flavored “alternative pop/rock”. Their goal is to nurture and cultivate the creativity, spirit, and warmth that graced the pop records of yesteryears.
LINKS:
https://impersonatorsmusic.com
https://www.facebook.com/ImpersonatorsBand
https://twitter.com/1mpersonators