Ventrelles are a Manchester-based quartet headed by Phil Knox, fusing the styles of 80’s guitar groups such as Pale Fountains and Echo and the Bunnymen and sometimes darker tinged edges of The Chameleons and The Jesus and Mary Chain with a punchy delivery, sun-soaked guitars, energetic rhythms, life-affirming vocals, and soulful bass lines.
Beginning as the pet project of songwriter Phil on his return home from living in Chicago, the initial experimental kick about project line up included
Joe Kondras ( The Heartbreaks), Christopher Deakin ( The Heartbreaks, By The Sea), Ben Parsons (Cherry Ghost/Miles Kane) Jason Goodwin (The Delaplains), and George Moran (Miles Kane/Mabel Love/ Last Shadow Puppets)
“I wanted to see what I could do with all the bits I’d accrued over the last few years whilst living abroad and just to have a laugh with mates after a particularly hard time, in an environment I knew and loved to be in. I felt I’d hit on something stylistically and soulfully that wasn’t necessarily happening on the radio at the moment, after the initial year of recording with friends just having a kick around, I decided to take things a step further and brought in Connor, G-lo and Winny as a full-time band”
Since the solid line up came together Ventrelles has been going from strength to strength, early releases ‘Stop’ and ‘Shutters’ caught the attention of Manchester imprint Black Bleach Records and the band went on to prove themselves as a standout live outfit on both the small and big stage. Unfortunately, this year’s pandemic made the band re-think the way things were going and decided to hunker down in a studio and create more of the wonderfully scenic and magnetically attractive shimmer guitar Pop they were getting a name for on the live circuit.
Now with the aid of producer Dean Glover ( Twisted Wheel/Shotty Horrah) the band is set to make big waves in 2021.
Jump in, strap yourself in.
-
Doberman & Bacchus vs The Electric Swing Circus – Minnie (ft. DJ Jabbathakut)
Doberman & Bacchus team up with The Electric Swing Circus & DJ Jabbathakut for the new video titled ‘Minnie’ from the upcoming ‘Swing Hop’ EP. Starting off like a rapid-fire machine gun of swing backed lyrics, ‘Minnie never lets up and never lets you down with that special something that lets you get it even at this lyrical speed.
The video is retro in scope and cinematic in retrospect with a ‘filmtastic’ feel with that hype that pumps the adrenaline and heightens the senses. I’ve had to watch this three times, to be honest. Once to sit there in awe and twice to appreciate it for what it is. Brilliant.
ABOUT ‘MINNIE’
Minnie is the lead single from The Swing Hop EP by Doberman & Bacchus. Featuring the turntablism of UK hip-hop vet JabbaThaKut, the track sees the northern duo rapping at a breakneck pace over a rampant instrumental by The Electric Swing Circus, which originally appeared on the band’s debut album as a revamp of Cab Calloway’s classic Minnie the Moocher.
Shot and edited by Dfacer, the visuals see our unlikely hip-hop heroes roaming through an eerily quiet, pandemic-ridden Leicester Square in search of a decent pint.
DOBERMAN & BACCHUS – ‘SWING HOP’ EP
Northern emcees Doberman and Bacchus was independently released The Swing Hop EP on Friday 31st July. The experimental project sees the duo’s characteristically rugged bars and breakneck flows colliding with live instrumentation supplied by Birmingham-based fusion pioneers The Electric Swing Circus.
With additional guest vocals by London-based jazz vocalist Iris Athanasiadi and scratches by JabbaThaKut, the sounds on the EP range from the band’s usual cocktail of swing, electro, and hot club jazz elements to hip-hop and dub territory.
The rappers first met the band at a chance meeting in Birmingham’s Pirate Studios, having booked overlapping rehearsal slots in the same room. After discussing their mutual love of old school boom bap, band frontman Tom Hyland suggested sending across some instrumentals, and the project was born.
Recorded by ExP (Flame Griller/Tough Crowd) and mastered at Phantom Power Studios, The Swing Hop EP will be available on all major streaming platforms, and available for free download on Bandcamp.
VIDEO CREDITS
- All instrumentals are original compositions written and performed by The Electric Swing Circus
- Mixed by ExP at DubWhy Studios
- Mastered at Phantom Power Studios
- Artwork by Callum Carr
- Guest vocals on Empires by Iris Ath
- Scratches on Minnie by DJ Jabbathakut
LINKS:
Doberman
https://instagram.com/dobermanWY
https://facebook.com/DobermanWY
https://twitter.com/dobermanwy
https://soundcloud.com/dobermanwyBacchus
https://facebook.com/bacchusUTC
https://twitter.com/bacchusutc
https://instagram.com/bacchus_utc -
Beauty in Chaos Ft. Dug Pinnick, Zakk Wylde & Ice-T – Un-Natural Disaster
‘Un-Natural Disaster’ (Collide Mix) is the first song to be previewed from the soon-to-be-released album ‘Beauty Re-Envisioned’, which will contain an extremely wide variety of remixes and alternate versions of many of the tracks that appear on their debut album ‘Finding Beauty in Chaos’. Both albums are produced by Ministry’s Grammy-nominated producer Michael Rozon at Ciravolo’s own SAINTinLA Studio.
This track breaks the constraints placed on the debut album, not only due to the addition of synthesizers but also in the wicked unleashing of a blistering guitar solo by guitar guru Zakk Wylde.
“Zakk plays more notes on this solo than I did on the entire album, but with taste, technique and a ton of flair,” Michael Ciravolo laughs.
For this project, Ciravolo – a New Orleans native – teamed up with King’s X’s dUg Pinnick, who previously lived in Houston. Their shared experiences and memories of the chaos caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Harvey, along with the ‘beauty’ of those who came to help the victims, profoundly shaped the song’s music and lyrics.
“When Michael sent me the music and asked me if I would sing and play on it, I immediately said yes. I think it rocks!! And some deep lyrics were my thoughts. Since I come from Katy Texas, where it flooded a few years ago very badly and, not very far away, it was the same for New Orleans, I thought it was appropriate to sing about the un-natural disasters that are happening due to man’s ignorance,” says dUg Pinnick.
“It was fun putting my bass part on the track and a big surprise being on the same song with Ice-T and Zakk Wylde. What a great opportunity, I’m glad to be a part of this project. And the video shoot was wet!! Lol! And so much fun… and even captures the serious topic of this song.”
Ice-T, famed rapper, actor and frontman of Body Count, also spits out a poignant exclamation point to the extent of these tragedies.
“This song really hits close to home as I was born and raised in New Orleans. I lived in Los Angeles when Katrina hit, but watched as friends and family lost everything. My elderly Aunt was evacuated as the city’s services shut down, and sadly she did not survive the move to Alabama. She along with at least 1200 others lost their lives as a result of this devastating hurricane,” says Michael Ciravolo.
Vicente Cordero, who directed the accompanying video, also directed the three previous Beauty In Chaos videos, delivers a visually stunning interpretation of this song. Production credit for all four goes to Industrialism Films.
Originally from New Orleans and now based in LA, Michael Ciravolo has played guitar in Human Drama for the past 30 years, most recently on ‘Broken Songs for Broken People’ (2017). Perhaps best known as President of Schecter Guitar Research, he has also played live and recorded with Michael Aston’s Gene Loves Jezebel since 1998.
The debut album ‘Finding Beauty in Chaos’ features numerous music luminaries, including Wayne Hussey (The Mission), Simon Gallup (The Cure), Robin Zander (Cheap Trick), Pete Parada (The Offspring), dUg Pinnick (Kings X), ICE-T (Body Count), Michael Aston (Gene Loves Jezebel), Michael Anthony (Van Halen), Dirk Doucette (Gene Loves Jezebel), Ashton Nyte (The Awakening), Pando (A Flock of Seagulls), Evi Vine, Betsy Martin (Caterwaul / Purr Machine), Marc Danzeisen (The Riverdogs), Kevin Kipnis (Purr Machine / Kommunity FK), Rudy Matchinga (Red Scare), Johnny Indovina (Human Drama), and Tish Ciravolo (StunGun/ Daisy Rock Guitars).
On June 21, ‘Beauty Re-Envisioned’ will be released via LA-based label 33.3 Music Collective on deluxe CD and limited-edition heavy-weight colored vinyl. It will also be available digitally across online stores, including iTunes, and streaming platforms like Spotify. CDs and vinyl can be ordered from the Beauty in Chaos website at https://www.beautyinchaosmusic.com/music-store.
“Families left homeless screams and cries. Harvey comes people lose their lives’ – ‘what can I say?… this track came out dope!”
– Ice T“When Father Mike asked me to put a solo on The New CRUSHINGLY STUPENDOUS BEAUTY IN CHAOS song & be in the Video with dUg & Ice-T, I was kind of hesitant about doing it, But when Father Mike said he’d thrown in a Thin Crust pizza from Joe & Pats in Staten Island, NY along with a BEAUTY IN CHAOS T-Shirt I knew THIS WAS MY DESTINY!!!”
– Zakk Wylde“What started for a fleeting moment as my ‘solo album’ quickly blossomed into so much more. My role as President of Schecter Guitars certainly put me in the enviable position of meeting a lot of great artists whose albums are a big part of my record collection. The beauty from all of this is the friendships that I have developed. . It was mindblowing to be able to put together artists that have never been on an album together, much less perform on a song before BIC. Two of the most recognizable voices in rock n’ roll … Robin Zander and Michael Anthony together on ‘Drifting Away’. Two goth-rock icons, Wayne Hussey (The Sisters Of Mercy and The Mission UK) and Simon Gallup (The Cure) on ‘Man Of Faith’ is another example of the magic on ‘Finding Beauty In Chaos’. Many of these artists are looking forward to being part of the ongoing evolution of BIC. I sincerely hope that whatever notoriety this record garners opens the door for other artists to want to join in. I do have a ‘wish list’ 😊. On a purely personal note, with the help of Michael Rozon, my dear friend and producer, I was able to create the record I have always wanted to make”
– Michael Ciravolo“Intense hurricane-themed song… The King’s X frontman’s poignant vocals and booming bass add gravity… An ominous Ice-T rap rounds out the powerhouse song. sleek electronic drums… full of dramatic string bends and speedy, head-spinning shred”
– Rolling StoneLINKS:
https://www.beautyinchaosmusic.com
https://www.beautyinchaosmusic.com/bic-blog
https://www.facebook.com/beautyinchaosmusic
https://www.instagram.com/beauty.inchaos
https://twitter.com/MichaelCiravolo
https://soundcloud.com/33-3-music-collective
https://beautyinchaos.bandcamp.com -
Atmosphere – Drown feat. Cashinova, The Lioness & deM atlaS
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 Minneapolis–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 listeners need 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.
Video Credits:
Director / DP / Editor – Tomas Aksamit
Producer / AD – Kelan McQuinn
AC – Bryce Wandling
Art Director – Jen Sonibare
Gaffer – Jacob Velander
PA – Lucas LangleyLINKS:
https://rse.lnk.to/MiVidaLocal
https://rhymesayers.com/artists/atmosphere
https://www.facebook.com/Atmosphere
https://twitter.com/atmosphere
https://www.instagram.com/atmosphere