Conny Ochs: Sophomore LP From Singer/Songwriter To See Release

Following his debut solo album, as well as a collaborative LP with doom legend Scott “Wino” Weinrich, German singer/songwriter CONNY OCHS is now gearing up to release his second solo studio full-length, Black Happy, once again via Exile On Mainstream. Having produced music for over a decade, local fans have endorsed and worshiped the man’s efforts for years. Yet, it was OCHS’ album co-written with Wino and the heavy touring across Europe and North America in support of the record that put him on the international map.

This leads into this new album Black Happy, the title an absolute indication to the atmospheres CONNY OCHS is able to create. Deeply rooted in the blackened parts of the human soul he carves a mixture of melancholy and catharsis into the rough edges of songs that come out so natural, so organic and sonically sparkling. While keeping his approach pure to the heart and the creation limited to just him and his guitar OCHS reaches a stark authenticity that can only be worshipped. It draws you in, makes you a part of the music and leads to a deep admiration of the tunes, the pain and beauty relatable to everybody who hears them.

Bound to a tradition and history of great acoustic craftsmanship drawn from but not limited to the American continent, CONNY explores the realms of what of your inner self can sonically portray once you are on your own and armed with a guitar and voice. The path has been walked by many before, but that doesn’t make it a worn-out road.

Just like his previous solo album Raw Love Songs and the Heavy Kingdom album with Wino, Black Happy was engineered, mixed and mastered by Thommy Krawallo in Berlin in pure analog fashion. The album is set for official release in Germany on March 1st, throughout the rest of Europe on March 4th, and in North America on April 2nd, on LP, via digital download, and limited wooden box CD. Preorders are available here.

CONNY OCHS is currently embarked on a European tour in advance of the album’s release, with many more live excursions to be confirmed in the coming weeks. View the current list of dates here.

Black Happy Track Listing:

1. Exile

2. No Sleep Tonight

3. Die In Your Arms

4. Faces In The Crowd

5. Stable Chaos

6. Trust In Love

7. Borderline

8. Phantom Pain

9. Lead-Out

10. Blues For My Baby

11. Mouth

http://connyochs.com

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Conny-Ochs/112536815501097

http://www.mainstreamrecords.de

Darsombra's Wintour 2013 To Commence Next Week

Transcendental drone/rock outfit DARSOMBRA will take their sprawling audio/visual live act on the road next week on their twelve-city Southern US Wintour 2013. Touring in support of their Climax Community LP, released in October via Germany’s eclectic Exile On Mainstream, the Wintour 2013 is set to embark on February 15th, with shows confirmed throughout Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas and Tennessee.

Following releases on At A Loss, Public Guilt and Underradar, in addition to self-released recordings, Maryland’s ultra-eclectic transcendental/drone rock unit DARSOMBRA signed with Exile On Mainstream for the release of Climax Community. The three tracks on the LP traversing forty-five minutes of the outfit’s unique, slow-building, organic transcendental rock. Brian Daniloski, a veteran of heavier, sludgier, grittier rock bands such as Meatjack and Trephine, controls the sound of DARSOMBRA, alternating between mammoth vocal swells and soundscapes and searing guitar riffs, leads, loops, and samples, combining elements of metal, psychedelic rock, experimental/drone, prog and krautrock. But there is more than just Daniloski’s sonic world at play here as video artist Ann Everton takes his work to the next level by bringing her DARSOMBRA-induced visions to the stage through her kinetic psychotropic video projections, creating a constantly shifting backdrop to Daniloski’s live performances.

Decibel Magazine is streaming Climax Community in its entirety AT THIS LOCATION.

 

DARSOMBRA Wintour 2013:

2/15/2013 Strange Matter - Richmond, VA w/ Junius, Degollado, Head Molt

2/16/2013 Blackout Effectors - Asheville, NC w/ Nate Hall, Degollado

2/17/2013 Wonderroot - Atlanta, GA w/ Tree Creature, Magicicada, The Electric Nature

2/18/2013 Caledonia Lounge - Athens, GA w/ Grim Pickens and the Bastard Congregation, Utah

2/19/2013 Siberia - New Orleans, LA w/ Microshards

2/20/2013 Feed and Seed - Lafayette/Baton Rouge, LA w/ Guiltless, Raedon Kong

2/21/2013 The Dalzell House - Shreveport, LA w/ Cosmic Naught, Midnight Tiger

2/22/2013 Club 1808 - Austin, TX w/ Crawl, Korperschwache, Red Ox, Pernum Ovam

2/23/2013 Downtown Music - Little Rock, AR w/ Chronic Ritual

2/24/2013 TBA - Memphis, TN

2/25/2013 Pilot Light - Knoxville, TN

2/26/2013 Blue Nile - Harrisonburg/Charlottesville, VA w/ Degollado

"The larger movements of the songs rub against each other with tectonic weight, while subtler elements attack, defeat and consume. Strange and lovely, Climax Community speaks in the language of animal instinct." - Exclaim!

"DARSOMBRA will remain, at this point, a cult oddity for psych freaks, drone junkies and art moguls, but Brian Daniloski has written his most intriguing and entertaining album under this moniker..." 8/10" - Blabbermouth

"Much like a work of fine art, little to no commentary is given leaving the observer to interpret the work as they wish. By the same token, the listener may also choose to switch off the cerebral and absorb the music at the most basic level." - Ghost Cult

"It’s a clever, dense and hypnotic release that demonstrates that there’s still plenty of exploration to be done in experimental and psychedelic music." - OneMetal

http://www.facebook.com/darsombra

http://darsombra.com

http://www.mainstreamrecords.de

Rising: Irish Tour And European Festival Run Kicks Off Next Week

Danish sludge metallers RISING are preparing for a tour across Ireland and Northern Ireland, on their way to tackle festivals in Denmark and Sweden later this month.

Set to embark on June 6th, RISING will storm four Irish cities before their performances at Copenhell Festival in Copenhagen, Denmark with the likes of Slayer, Mastodon, Anthrax, Immortal, Meshuggah and tons more, followed immediately by Hultsfred Festival in Hultsfred, Sweden with an eclectic lineup including The Cure, The Stone Roses, The XX, Slash featuring Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators and countless others.

The crushing trio will present material from their acclaimed To Solemn Ash LP, released via Exile on Mainstream in Europe in late 2011 and on North American soil in January of this year. Recorded with producer Jakob Reichert Nielsen (Lack, Trust, Obstacles, etc.), the ten-track beast To Solemn Ash is fueled by a rigorous energy, replete with monstrous, hook-laden riffs, savage vocals and organic analog tones. RISING present their infectious sounds with an urgency and originality that warrants repeated listens and most definitely needs to be witnessed live!

Stream To Solemn Ash in its entirety now via the Exile On Mainstream website.

 RISING Tour Dates:

6/06/2012 TBA - Belfast, Northern Ireland

6/07/2012 Kelly's Bar - Galway, Ireland

6/08/2012 Fred Zeppelins - Cork, Ireland

6/09/2012 The Pint - Dublin, Ireland

6/15/2012 Copenhell Festival - Copenhagen, Denmark [info]

6/16/2012 Hultsfred Festival - Hultsfred, Sweden [info]

http://www.risingmetal.com 

http://www.facebook.com/risingdk

http://www.twitter.com/risingdk

http://www.rising.bandcamp.com

http://www.mainstreamrecords.de

http://www.myspace.com/exileonmainstream

Black Shape Of Nexus Let Loose New Noise Via Brooklyn Vegan

As Negative Black,  the monolithic third LP from Germany's BLACK SHAPE OF NEXUS oozes towards North American release, the band today proudly drops the third track from the album on the public today. Witness the sheer aural pulverization of this band through one of the "shorter songs on the album," by streaming the near-eight-minute-long "60WV" AT BROOKLYN VEGAN.

Recently the band released the album's second track "400H" which can still be streamed VIA TERRORIZER.

Having just returned from a successful tour of Germany, BLACK SHAPE OF NEXUS will continue to book new events throughout Europe and beyond in the months ahead in support of Negative Black. Footage of the band performing the track "14D" from the new album live in Athens and more can be viewed HERE.

Set for North American release on June 5th, the band's first release for the eclectic Exile On Mainstream label, Negative Black surges with nearly eighty minutes of mammoth, slow-motion BLACK SHAPE OF NEXUS sludge/doom savagery. Recorded at the mighty Tonmeisterei Studio, Negative Black -- an album four years in the making -- marks a new step for the band, carving a path into their foreseeable future. While the outfit already bears the reputation for unfurling some of the most destructive but still coherently-flowing sludge metal available, incorporating outside elements of crust, black metal and soundscape persuasion at times, Negative Black surges to even deeper caverns of auditory obliteration, pummeling you with painfully slow doom and finishing you off with acrid, harsh drones, and giving down-tempo a whole new meaning.

https://www.facebook.com/blackshapeofnexus
http://www.myspace.com/sadhusonofabitch

http://www.mainstreamrecords.de

http://www.myspace.com/exileonmainstream

A Whisper In The Noise: Spring Tour Begins This Week

Having released their newest album To Forget in North America earlier this month via Exile On Mainstream, Minneapolis' shoegaze/folk outfit A WHISPER IN THE NOISE are about to set out on a sprawling Spring tour throughout Europe over the next five weeks. Check out the full routing below.

A WHISPER IN THE NOISE approached the songwriting on this To Forget by drawing upon influences not only from other music (referencing Philip Glass, Roger Waters and Arvo Part) but from nature and in particular its power and atmospheric sounds. The result is a coherent and focused album of true, honest music, shining by its purity and cinematic waves of sound. To Forget is music to sink into and become part of the listener’s emotional landscape. Witness this for yourself via the band's video for the track "Your Hand" and more AT THIS LOCATION.

AWITN's first album Through The Ides Of March was recorded in two days and produced by the legendary Steve Albini, who later took the band to Europe to open a string of shows for his band Shellac. The album resulted in comparisons to art rock bands such as Sigur Ros and Mogwai, and also a performance slot at All Tomorrows Parties festival in 2004. The band’s second album As The Bluebird Sings, released in the spring of 2006, saw them further expanding their experimental sound and drew the attention of M. Night Shyamalan, who featured music by the band in his film Lady In The Water. Other film soundtrack contributions include the award winning documentary The Art Of The Steal by Don Argott.

In 2007 the band had expanded, developed and progressed their sound on the album Dry Land, also produced by longtime friend Steve Albini, the album brought the band to Exile On Mainstream Records. Two massive European tours and appearance on the label’s own roadshow, the mighty Blisstrain, saw A WHISPER IN THE NOISE gaining serious attention from European crowds. The album remains the highest selling release on the label to date.

A WHISPER IN THE NOISE Spring Tour:

4/20/2012 Fabrik - Potsdam, Germany

4/21/2012 AJZ - Chemnitz, Germany

4/22/2012 Küchenshow - Weimar, Germany

4/23/2012 Glashaus - Bayreuth, Germany

4/24/2012 Ponyhof - Frankfurt, Germany

4/25/2012 007 - Prague, Czech Republic

4/26/2012 Beatpol - Dresden, Germany

4/27/2012 MUZ - Nürnberg, Germany

4/28/2012 UT Connewitz - Leipzig, Germany

4/29/2012 Schokoladen (Matinee Show) - Berlin, Germany

5/01/2012 D.I.V.O. Institute - Kolin, Czech Republic

5/02/2012 Fleda - Brno, Czech Republic

5/03/2012 Puda - Olomouc, Czech Republic

5/04/2012 Budějovický Majáles Festival - České Budějovice, Czech Republic

5/05/2015 Asymmetry Festival - Wroclaw, Poland

5/06/2012 Cavern - Kadan, Czech Republic

5/08/2012 Museumskeller - Erfurt, Germany

5/09/2012 Waldmeister - Solingen, Germany

5/10/2012 Six D.O.G.S. - Athens, Greece

5/12/2012 Aetherblissement - Köln, Germany

5/13/2012 Fachwerk - Münster, Germany

5/15/2012 Magasin 4 - Brussels, Belgium

5/16/2012 Cafe Oto - London, UK

5/17/2012 Mac Daids - Le Havre, France

5/18/2012 Stakhanov - Nantes, France

5/20/2012 Schollerhalle - Zug, Switzerland

5/21/2012 Le Bourg Cinema - Lausanne, Switzerland

5/22/2012 Komma - Esslingen, Germany

5/23/2012 Jubez - Karlsruhe, Germany

5/24/2012 Steinbruch - Duisburg, Germany

5/25/2012 Schokoladen - Berlin, Germany

5/26/2012 Artplay - Moscow, Russia

5/27/2012 *TBA - St. Petersburg, Russia

https://www.facebook.com/awitn

http://www.myspace.com/awitn

http://www.mainstreamrecords.de

http://www.myspace.com/exileonmainstream