German post-punk shoegaze outfit Holygram has released their long-awaited debut LP ‘Modern Cults’. Comprised of eleven tracks, this album is now available on CD and double vinyl, as well as digitally via Cleopatra Records. The band also just kicked off their North American tour with one of the biggest electronic bands on the planet, VNV Nation and Charlottesville, VA artist The Rain Within.
Holygram cleverly blends new wave and Krautrock with post-punk and shoegaze to achieve headstrong multi-layered bliss. This is a thoroughly contemporary homage to the sound of the ’80s with a resolute look to the future – the result is driving, dark and catchy.
Earlier, the band teased the singles ‘Signals’ and ‘A Faction’. Two years have passed since the Cologne-based outfit released their self-titled EP.
Produced by Maurizio Baggio, perhaps best known as the producer of The Soft Moon’s ‘Deeper’ and ‘Criminal’ albums, they recorded this LP at Cologne’s Amen Studios.
Holygram is Patrick Blümel (vocals), Sebastian Heer (drums), Marius Lansing (guitars), Pilo Lenger (synthesizers) and Bennett Reimann (bass). Formed in 2015, the band’s approach to making music references the past, while remaining future-oriented. Hard-to-combine elements cleverly come together to become the soundtrack of a city that appears threatening in the twilight.
The new album surrounds themes such as big cities, alienation, and anonymity, hope and memories, love and identity. These reflections interact closely with the band’s unmistakable signature sound. Atmosphere oscillates between the brutal sounds of the big city and the fragility of the people that lose themselves in it – intelligently observed scenarios of a world falling apart in which individuals have long ceased to play a leading role.
Last year, Holygram accompanied British synthpop legends OMD on their European tour and also played numerous festivals, including Mailfeld Derby, Wave-Gotik-Treffen and New Waves Day. Wrapping themselves in dense wafts of mist and cool lighting on stage, they’ve made quite a name for themselves on the live circuit.
‘Modern Cults’ is now available everywhere, including via Cleopatra Records on CD and vinyl, as well as digitally via Bandcamp. The album is out in Europe via Oblivion / SPV.
Holygram will be touring Europe and US/Canada this fall with one of the biggest electronic bands on the planet, VNV Nation.
LINKS:
http://holygram.band
https://www.facebook.com/holygram.official
https://holygram.bandcamp.com
https://www.instagram.com/holygram_band
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Eztain – Asymmetrical
Electronic music continues its inexorable rise to the front page of music media, with barriers continuing to be demolished, from set styles to language. Eztain hails from Joodalup in the Perth area of Australia, the country very quietly launching a sustained campaign on the global dance stage. Avoiding the trappings of convenient pigeonholes, Eztain follows the trailblazing lead of fellow Australian, Flume, by exploring Future Bass and Electronica, as opposed to a more generic ‘House’ sound. The result is a multi-layered, technicolor vision of the world Eztain sees around him, as much biological as it is robotic.
Eztain (aka Jake Colson) was inspired to create his own music from a very young age, the inspiration coming via the unlikely form of free software given away with his breakfast cereal! Learning the guitar whilst at school to ground him in the mechanics of melody and structure, he was influenced by the likes of Deadmau5, K.Flay and Amon Tobin, music that, while relying on modern technology, could be created as easily in a bedroom as in a state of the art studio.
The road to his first release has been far from easy. Suffering from mental illness, Jake has used music production as a release – a way for him to communicate with an outside world that has sometimes appeared very alien. By creating his alternative sonic landscapes, he has found a way both to inspire and be inspired, his music is an exploration of his mindset and as a way of conveying emotion. From the guttural, Justice-like permeating bass of Asymmetrical, to the otherworldly seas of Enhanced Vanilla and the throbbing labyrinths of Iconoclast, this could well be one of the stand-out electronica releases of the year.
LINKS:
https://open.spotify.com/artist/2gXV3e7qRIhBYpTR6OGRv6
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi5XehLQ0GCtYsy_bM3dMBA
https://www.facebook.com/eztain
https://twitter.com/Eztain
https://www.instagram.com/_eztain
http://www.eztain.net
https://www.twitch.tv/eztain -
Otis Mensah – Solar Eclipse
All songs from this project were indeed mind-crafted by myself in my mum’s house, where my journey began and continues. The songs were brought to life by the production of my brother, the intern, who mixed and mastered this project at his apartment in Berlin.
“Mum’s House, philosopher” is an ode to the “colors of it all”— the oxymoronic nature of every breathing second on this piece of rock. This school of thought gives voice to the sunken place of sacrifice when we numb our code of ethics to make way for comfort and survival. These sounds are from a place that sees our philosophy depleted of sense, from a time when life feels like a string of contradictory truths, seemingly right in their own lane but, when thrust together in the tumble dryer of life, seems nonsensical and paradoxical.
Imagine consuming the soul-stirring art painted by an unforgivable moral-monster, experiencing its beauty and how wrong it feels. In the same vein, imagine giving over power to the nurturing caress of Faith that nullifies the voice of nihilism when realism calls for hopelessness because sometimes there’s an alchemy in believing against the odds.
I hope this project brings laughter and contemplation. I hope this project levitates you from the cave of your manifested traumas, even if just for a moment. I hope this project inspires you to seek out the philosophy in the mundane because apathy should never dull technicolor canvases of thought.
I hope this project paints vividly the absurdity in our reality and shows our own capacity to leave colorful trails of contradiction on our path of reason. I hope we can all strive to credit humility — the mighty shadow that darkens the fools gold glimmer of ego.
Mum’s House Philosopher is out now.
LINKS:
https://otismensah.com
https://facebook.com/itsotismensah
https://instagram.com/otismensah
https://otismensah.bandcamp.com -
Blacklite District – Goodbye (Regular & Minecraft Version)
Spearfish, SD based electronic alternative rock act Blacklite District (BLD) has released two videos for their single, “Goodbye,” off of their third LP, Instant Gratification, one an official video and the second a Minecraft video.
Blacklite District follows no rules. With sounds of everything from electronic, EDM and hip-hop, to hard rock and alternative, the band truly stands out from the pack of what has become today’s generic sounding “Active Rock”. Formed in 2012 by Kyle Pfeiffer and Roman James, ages 12 and 11 respectively, the band grew organically in their local music scene through the years to come. In 2011, BLD was discovered by Grammy Award-winning producer, Stephen Short (Paul McCartney, Queen), which resulted in a 10 day recording session at the world’s largest residential recording studio, Sonic Ranch, just outside of Mexico in Tonillo, TX. The group re-located to Los Angeles and played some of the most famous venues in the world for the remainder of 2011.
In 2013, the group released “With Me Now” as the lead from it’s debut album Worldwide Controversy. “With Me Now” immediately went to #1 on SiriusXM channels Octane and Faction, hit the Top 40 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Chart (#32), and sold 100,000 copies. BLD went on a very successful US tour with Saving Abel in Jan-Apr 2014, with 26 of those shows SOLD OUT. After a legal battle with their management and record label, Blacklite District went on hiatus in late 2014.
On August 23, “The Struggle” was release to radio and To Whom It May Concern went for pre-order at digital retailers. Revolver Magazine premiered the music video for “The Struggle” on August 25. The band also announced a 41 date tour called “The Struggle Is Real Tour”. Blacklite District released a Nightcore remix of “The Struggle” to YouTube on September 6, which got over 2,000,000 plays and resulted in the single breaking the Top 40 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Indicator chart at #36.
One month later, on October 6, the group released a Nightcore remix of “We Are The Danger” which got over 400,000 plays on YouTube. A couple of weeks later, the band released “Broken Souls” to radio, as well as a Nightcore remix which resulted in 500,000 plays and hitting #30 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Indicator. This was the second song in the month of October to break the Top 40 (along with “The Struggle.”)
“The Ghost of You and Me” was released as a music video and a Nightcore remix on December 28, 2016. The song was yet again a success for Blacklite District resulting in 400,000.
On January 20, 2017, BLD released “Living In A Nightmare” as the first single from upcoming album Instant Gratification. With a coinciding Nightcore release, “Living In A Nightmare” broke the Top 25 on the BDS Indicator chart, marking the bands highest spot in chart history. The song has been streamed over 250,000 times.
On February 24, famed radio DJ Lou Brutus posted the bands video for “Cold As Ice”, which was released the same day. The song scored a whopping 350,000 streams in its first week alone, and as of May 2017, has over 3.5 million combined views on YouTube. “Cold As Ice” serves as the second single from Instant Gratification. In the summer of 2017, “Cold As Ice” was added to Spotify’s “Rock Hard” playlist, and was put into rotation on SiriusXM’s alternative channel Faction. In October, “Cold As Ice” was added to rotation on SiriusXM Octane, and it’s Minecraft music video has over 10 million views on YouTube. There are about 4 videos about a Herobrine invasion with zombies and “nether watchers” and how the main character, a player in a blue suit, survives. There are 4 songs in total in the order of The Struggle, Cold as Ice, We are the Danger (possibly not from Blacklite District), and Just so you Know.
Blacklite District released their third album Instant Gratification on September 22, going Top 10 on Amazon’s Top Electronic Albums chart.
LINKS:
http://www.blacklitedistrict.net
https://www.facebook.com/pg/BlackliteDistrict
http://www.twitter.com/officialbld
https://www.instagram.com/blacklitedistrict