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Previews Releases

Ummagma to release new studio album “Compass” on June 26th 2019 on Leonard Skully Records

We are pleased to announce indie pop electronic rock duo Ummagma will be releasing their vinyl LP ‘Compass’ this June on Leonard Skully Records.
Their third long-play, this is the duo’s first album in seven years and also the first time the band is releasing a record on vinyl.

Ahead of this album, they present the “Caravan” single, along with a special B-side “Ty i Ya”. The title track is an invigorating pop rock anthem inspired by the musicians’ own journeys and infused with Carpathian gammas and percussion. Listen to the new single below.

Categories
EVENTS

Leonard Skully Associated Arts & Music Venue/Record Shop, The Peer Hat, Listed as ‘Something to celebrate: 50 favourite places in the UK’ in The Guardian.

The Peer Hat, Manchester

Find the article at
https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2019/mar/30/celebrating-the-uk-50-writers-choose-their-favourite-places

“In a city where Factory Records’ legacy is exploited by the same property developers who are rapidly pricing any creativity out of the city centre, the Peer Hat – a pub, grassroots music/arts venue and DIY record shop – has, in 18 months, come to feel like a much-loved last stand … a persistent weed amid all that new concrete and glass. Hidden on a Northern Quarter side street where stag dos fear to tread (and so shambolic they wouldn’t stay long anyway), the Hat has a gloriously random, lo-fi events programme, clearly done for love not money, giving it a friendly, all-comers community feel that is far closer to the dissenting spirit of late-1980s Manchester than any Hacienda revival night. It is an oasis of odd in an increasingly bland city. “
Tony Naylor, Manchester-based Guardian journalist

Categories
Releases

Album and Art Booklet The Prayer & Profanity of HOWARD COWARD by Chelsea Hare

Now available to buy at The Peer Hat in Manchester for £10 or mail order with postage. We joined forces with North East based Plastic Palace Records to make this release happen.
The Prayer & Profanity of HOWARD COWARD was written and recorded by Chelsea Hare. During the process, drawings emerged like sprouting branches from the same tree, further colouring the themes of the album through symbols and signposts. This 28-page booklet includes all of the original artwork, in album-order, to provide the listener with a cryptic map to turn through as the album plays. This accompaniment also includes lyrics. Each copy comes with a download code.

Categories
Festivals

The Veldt Anounce European Tour

THE VELDT EUROPEAN TOUR DATES
09/10 Valada, Portugal – Reverence Festival
09/13 Seville, Spain – Sala Hollander (via RenoFest)
09/14 Roma, Italy – Le Mura (with Weird)
09/15 Latina, Italy – Circolo H (with Weird)
09/16 Viareggio, Italy – GOB – Ganz of Bicchio – Circolo ARCI (with Weird)
09/18 Bologna, Italy – Freakout Club (with Weird, Davide Bartolomei)
09/19 Genova, Italy – TBC
09/21 Paris, France – Supersonic (with Electric Eye)
09/22 London, UK – Shacklewell Arms (with Electric Eye, Camera)
09/23 Liverpool, UK – Liverpool International Festival of Psychedelia
09/24 Malmo, Sweden – Gatufest // Norra Grängesbergsgatan
09/25 Copenhagen, Denmark

Categories
Releases

Politburo’s 2nd Album ‘Barrington Way’ and Tour Dates

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Politburo’s second album is entitled ‘Barrington Way’ and will be released on 19th August 2016 through Leonard Skully Records.

The band have also announced a UK tour in August:

4th August, Bristol, Stag and Hounds
7th August, Blackpool, Stanley Park
12th August, Nottingham, Jam Cafe
17th August, Manchester, Night n Day
19th August, York, The Basement, with George Boomsma
20th August, London, The Betsey Trotwood
25th August, Glasgow, Nice ‘N’ Sleazy

 

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Categories
Releases

The Shocking Fuzz of Your Electric Fur Vinyl EP Now Available to Buy

With Danny’s enveloping hooks, Daniel’s swooning falsetto… the new songs invite paradoxical praise: serenely assaultive, vertiginously soothing – The Guardian

They’re in the moment, with a perfect blend of past, present, and future – Wax Poetics

The Veldt are a unique and singular, musical proposition – authentic American soul music, without post-modern irony, without cliché. If theVelvet Underground had left the Factory and toured with STAX … They are Kane’s kissing kousins – Rudy Tambala (A.R. Kane)

Their awesome wobbly psychy guitar music and from-the-heart soulful vocals are as wonderful as ever…myself and Robin Guthrie are just 2 screaming fans – Creation Records’ Founder Joe Foster

For black artists, doing anything outside of the bubble, beyond what’s derivative of what white kids are doing, being able to express yourself honestly, is not celebrated at all. So when I heard these guys, it gave me confidence – Doc McKinney (The Weeknd, Drake, Estherio)

A reply to anyone who thinks that soul is missing from the indie-rock scene – Village Voice

Equal parts Jesus and Mary Chain and James Brown – NY Press

Identical twins Daniel and Danny Chavis may originally hail from Raleigh/ Chapel Hill, North Carolina, but they have been East Village residents for the past 28 years. They are also co-founders of thegroundbreaking band The Veldt, who lifted their band’s name from a Ray Bradbury science fiction story. Musically reared in the church and juke-joints of their native southern state, the twins have been performing since they were children, listening to music that included gospel, Motown and Pink Floyd. They now make music, together with bassist/programmer Hayato Nakao, returning to their roots with the release of The Shocking Fuzz of Your Electric Fur: The Drake Equation Mixtape EP. The album releases on April 8 and to celebrate, the band is doing a whirlwindl tour of Central Canada (see tour dates below)

The first single is the emotionally wrought Sanctified, a ballad that perfectly captures the lush sound of Danny’s screeching guitars and decibel-breaking distortion, along with Daniel’s soulful wail and Hayato Nakao’s deep bass grooves and guitar feedback, the track serves as theperfect re-introduction to this dynamic band. The title The Shocking Fuzz of Your Electric Fur was borrowed from an E.E. Cummings poem. Its raging sound was influenced equally by the emotional soul of Marvin Gaye, free jazz warriors Sun Ra and Pharaoh Sanders, various Drake hip-hop tracks, and their own fertile electric imagination.

In their early days, the Chavis brothers making a name for themselves playing throughout the south at a time when fellow southerners REM and Superchunk were securing major label deals. As more black rock bands (Living Colour, 24/7 Spyz) began selling records and gigging throughout the world, The Veldt was courted by various labels, including IRS Records and Capitol.

Initially signed to Capitol Records in 1989, The Veldt embarked on a musical journey that changed their lives. Soon, they were in the studio with dream-gaze guru Robin Guthrie working on their initial recordings, playing American concert halls with Cocteau Twins and The Jesus and Mary Chain, and recording Marigolds with Lincoln Fong (Moose).

The Veldt were a sensation from the start as they became a part of a movement of innovators who came of musical age at a time when rhythmic rebels were reflective, gritty and wild. Their sound inspired future generations of alternative artists, including TV On the Radio.

They switched labels and Mercury Records released Afrodisiac in 1994, produced by Ray Shulman (The Sundays, Bjork, Sugarcubes). Their single Soul in a Jar was an underground hit.

As the brothers moved to expand their musical language, fusing more electronics into their soundscape, they retired the “Veldt” name and, for various reasons, began recording and touring under under the name Apollo Heights. In 1999, the Chavis brothers met bassist Hayato Nakao, who would become their permanent partner. Their music was loud, exploring color, space, sensuality and beat driven melodies with rhythmic and dynamic tension. Daniel’s falsetto vocals cast a contrast upon the wall of sound created by Danny’s heavy rock dreamscape guitar and Hayato’s pounding and licentious beats.

Although The Veldt had signed to two major labels after leaving Mercury Records in 1995, the brothers decided to remain indie and self-released their 2008 album White Music for Black People. “The major labels were always trying to get us to change our sound, our look or both,” Daniel laughs. “But, we had no interest in being the next Lenny Kravitz or Tony! Toni! Toné! Unfortunately, not everyone shared our vision. We weren’t trying to be rock stars, we just want to play our music and pay our rent.”

Apart from Robin Guthrie and A.R. Kane, who produced ‘And It’s You’ from this EP, they have collaborated with TV On The Radio, Mos Def and Lady Miss Kier (Deee-Lite), and have shared the stage with My Bloody Valentine, The Pixies, Echo & TheBunnymen, Cocteau Twins, Manic Street Preachers, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Oasis, Living Colour and TV on the Radio, among others.

They eventually changed their name back to The Veldt. The Shocking Fuzz of Your Electric Fur serves to mark the band’s re-emergence and will be followed by another full album of material on their Resurrection Hymns LP later this year (via SonaBLAST! Records). Indeed, for these veteran musicians and passionate noise technicians, this newest EP marks a new beginning. The Shocking Fuzz of Your Electric Fur will be released via UK label Leonard Skully Records on April 8, 2016.

The Veldt will be touring central Canada and North Carolina in early to mid-April and also will be opening for The Brian Jonestown Massacre for various east coast dates during their forthcoming U.S. tour in May.

TRACK LIST:
1. Sanctified
2. In a Quiet Room
3. Token
4. One Day Out of Life
5. And It’s You

LIVE DATES:
03/25 New York City – Private session for Huffington Post
04/01 London, ON – CHRW 94.9 FM In-Session
04/01 London, ON – 765 Old East Bar & Grill (with The Mongrels)
04/02 London, ON – CHRW Saturday Morning with Howie Zowie
04/03 Toronto, ON – Silver Dollar Room (with MIMICO)
04/06 Peterborough, ON – Red Dog Tavern (with Stacey Green Jumps)
04/07 Montreal, QC – Barfly (with The City Gates)
04/08 Ottawa, ON – Zaphod’s Ottawa (with Everett)
04/11 Raleigh/Chapel Hill, NC – Cat’s Cradle
04/18 New York City – Mercury Lounge (with Fist of Facts)
04/28 Austin, TX – Levitation Festival / Committee To Keep Music Evil Pre-party at Barracuda
05/06 Philadelphia – Union Transfer (with Brian Jonestown Massacre)
05/07 Boston – Paradise Rock Club (with Brian Jonestown Massacre)
05/09 New York City – Webster Hall (with Brian Jonestown Massacre)

Categories
Releases

The Shocking Fuzz of Your Electric Fur Vinyl EP Now Available For Pre Order

The Veldt’s upcoming 12″ vinyl release is now available as a pre-order here at Leonard Skully Records.

TheVeldtFC

 

Categories
EVENTS

20th Aug, 2015: The Polar Dream, Fauno, Helea Gimeno at Kraak, Manchester

Leonard Skully presents an all Mexican line-up at Kraak, Manchester.

Tickets hereThe Polar Dream Gira

7pm, 20th Aug 2015

 

The Polar Dream

“The quality instrumentals and sound effects on today’s featured track ‘The Wooden Ship’ conjure up imagery of a wooden ship of old sailing towards the Northern Lights at night.”  Insomnia Radio
Source: http://insomniaradio.net/2011/06/12/the-polar-dream-the-wooden-ship/

“The music of this Mexican 5 piece follows every rule of the holy book written by Mogwai and Godspeed, with openings of light, sweet melodic piano and glockenspiel, humming guitar; repition leads to evolution which in a similar style to Mono and This Will Destroy You threatens to erupt at any moment”  Almost Blue
Source: http://almostblue2010.blogspot.mx/2010/06/album-review-polar-dream-follow-me-to.html

Fauno

“Musica Psicodelica Mexicana”

Helea Gimeno
Helea Gimeno’s music seems to reach across vast distances. It is simultaneously longing, earthy and cosmic. Her stylings recall Joan Baez, Los Jaivas, Broadcast, a hint of PJ Harvey and a heap of her own special medicine.

 

Leonard Skully PhD

Categories
Festivals

Kraakhaus Festival, Kraak, Manchester

25th July 2015. 6pm

The Feminists, Wedge, Salford Media City, Mike O’Neil, Danny Saul, Sam Weaver, Warm Widow, Water, The Jungfraus, Politburo, The Running Chelsea, Florian Fusco

Berlin and Manchester bands and artists converge for a final send-off of its kind for Kraak venue (which closes its doors in September). The Manchester and Berlin connection was established in the early days of Kraak Gallery, before Kraak venue had opened. The underground art shows and wild raves which happened back then, just before the transformation of Stevenson Square and much of the Northern Quarter, are now the stuff of legend. This line-up has been specially chosen to reflect the musicians and artists of those times; expect some of the finest experimental noise art, poetry, punk, rock, psychedelia, folk and afro beat.

Doors 6pm

Tickets £7 from:

www.facebook.com/events/1623090621262959/

www.wegottickets.com/event/325097

twitter.com/Kraak_Haus


 

This event is in collaboration with Noise Above Noise: –

Florian Fusco (Berlin/Vienna/Manchester)- residency special presenting new sound and video live project- Generic Wrongness. noiseabove

NOISE ABOVE NOISE IS A SOUND, ART AND PERFORMANCE SERIES BORNE OF INDEPENDENT DIY ARTIST LED SPACE THE PENTHOUSE.

“PERFORMANCE SERIES NOISE ABOVE NOISE ELEVATES MANCHESTER’S UNDERGROUND SCENE TO THE FIFTH FLOOR OF A TOWER BLOCK.”

– THE WIRE

Florian is using his Noise Above Noise residency for some intense experimentation with his Random Appropriation Synth projecthttps://vimeo.com/75954593 as well some new sound to video automation experiments- resulting in the final live work being a responsive video projection.

http://florianfusco.com/

Supported by:
The In-Between State (sound art and performance project by Debbie Sharp). Action / Re Action.

www.debbie-sharp.com

&

Legitimate Sculptures (Rosanne Robertson, Gary Fisher, Kate Armitage). Sound + Objects + Improv Trio.

7pm doors
£5 entry (inc booking)- Online tickets released Mon 13th.
Licensed bar
Limited capacity (recommended to buy tickets in advance)

www.facebook.com/events/537577619731358/


Noise Above Noise 2014/15 series is kindly supported by Arts Council England Grants for the Arts.

 

 

kraakhaus flyer_hi res

Categories
In The Studio

The Plague Doctors

The Plague Doctors are in the process of filming their next music video at various secret locations around Manchester. Thanks to www.studiobeemcr.com for use of their photography lights and studio/office.

pd