In April 2013 we were approached by the organisers of the Explore the North festival in Leeuwarden, Netherlands. They asked if we would use some footage of the Elfstedentocht (Eleven Cities Tour), the world's biggest ice skating race, and write some songs around it. So we did. A transcript in English is below

www.explore-the-north.nl/

Watch the videos here:
Part 1: www.youtube.com/watch?v=o63qrV4iKTc
Part 2: www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrPBTwwnpdc

Contains footage (C) Fries Film Archief. Used with kind permission. Written and produced by Public Service Broadcasting. Drums recorded by Gregor Reid at Fonica Studios, Glasgow.

Newspaper: Eleven Cities Tour on Friday
Newspaper: Eleven Cities Tour to be a superhuman effort
January 18th, 1963
An ice-skating marathon that is unparalleled
5.30 in the morning
300km through a Friesland only the strongest can cope with

Newspaper: Elfstedentocht: Tough, Tough, Tough

The starting signal is given for the Eleven Cities Tour
But what everyone is preparing themselves for..
That is the Elfstedentocht

The twelfth Eleven Cities Tour
Temperature: 16 degrees Celsius below zero
A brutal tour of more than 200km
But what everyone is preparing themselves for...

550 professional skaters
Around 9,500 leisure skaters
Skaters from Sweden, Canada, Switzerland and Belgium

But what everyone is preparing themselves for...
Sneek
IJlst
Sloten
Stavoren
Hindeloopen
Workum
Bolsward
Harlingen
Franeker
Dokkum
Leeuwarden

But what everyone is preparing themselves for...
That is the Elfstedentocht.


Elfstedentocht Part 1

Fire Records - Record Store Day 2014

Featuring Cardinal, The Moles, Half Japanese, Spacemen 3, Wreckless Eric, Danielson, ESG and the Lemonheads.

http://www.firerecords.com/site/index.php

The Lemonheads - If Only You Were Dead [Early Mallo Cup]

From the 2nd Owls album, Two, out 3/25/14. Two is available on CD/LP/cassette/mp3 here - http://polyvinylrecords.com/owls

Follow Owls:
http://owlschicago.com
http://facebook.com/owlsbandchicago

Buy on iTunes

Owls - Why Oh Why...

Taken from the album 'Passover' due 19/01/2018 via AGWNN/Forged Artifacts.

A Grave With No Name

Wreath

Jane Weaver releases new 7” ‘The Lightning Back’
Out 6th April 2018

“She’s by some distance the best songwriter of the latter-day psych revivalists” Guardian

“A supernova talent” KEXP

Following an incredible year, Jane Weaver returns with indie store exclusive 7” ‘The Lightning Back’ on April 6th 2018. 

Widely considered the standout protonic pop song from Jane Weaver's unanimously revered Modern Kosmology, The Lightning Back sees the meteoric collision of micro-chip modulations and homespun harmonies courtesy of a self-sufficient artist who has in recent years become regarded as one of the countries finest in the field.  

This 3.5 minute pocket-pop implosion fuses subtle patch-bay arpeggios evoking the stylings of Wendy Carlos and (previous collaborator) Suzanne Ciani providing a deftly constructed framework for Weavers songwriting talents. Celebrating the intimacy and inhibition-free methodology found in her solo-power approach, The Lightning Back hears Jane's yearning lyricism rise through unique agile melodics seldom found in synthesised pop music.

This limited vinyl single also comprises a B-side in the form of a remix from London based art-noise-jazz-rock supergruppen Sex Swing.
Jane Weaver will be heading out on the road with her band across Europe from February 16th opening for Belle and Sebastian on a select number of tour dates. In the UK, she’ll also be touring with Public Service Broadcasting throughout April along with festival appearances at Greenman, Camp Bestival, Focus Wales and Halfway (Poland).

Live Dates
16 Feb: Muffathalle, Munich, Germany*
17 Feb: Admiralspalast, Berlin, Germany*
18 Feb: Batschkapp, Frankfurt, Germany* 
19 Feb: Carre, Amsterdam, Netherlands* 
21 Feb: DK Studio 1, Copenhagen, Denmark* 
22 Feb: Munchen Brewery, Stockholm, Sweden* 
23 Feb: Sentrum Scene, Oslo, Norway* 
24 Feb: Studios, Gothenburg, Sweden*
05 Apr: New Theatre, Oxford, UK **
06 Apr: O2 Academy, Bournemouth, UK **
07 Apr: The Dome, Brighton, UK **
08 Apr: Margate Winter Gardens, Margate, UK **
10 Apr: Corn Exchange, Cambridge, UK **
11 Apr: Brangwyn Hall, Swansea, Wales **
12 Apr: Olympia, Liverpool, UK **
13 Apr: De Montfort Hall, Leicester, UK **
14 Apr: Usher Hall, Edinburgh, Scotland **
16 Apr: The Empire, Middlesbrough, UK **
17 Apr: O2 Academy, Sheffield, UK **

10 May: Focus Wales Festival, St Giles Church, Wrexham, Wales  
29 Jun – 01 Jul: Halfway Festival, Białystok, Poland 
8 Jul:  TRNSMT Festival, Glasgow Green, Glasgow, Scotland
21 Jul: Deershed Festival, Baldersby Park, North Yorkshire, UK  
26-29 July: Camp Bestival, Dorset, UK  
16-19 Aug: Green Man Festival, Brecon Beacons, Wales 

w/ Belle & Sebastian *
w / Public Service Broadcasting **

Jane Weaver - The Lightning Back

LAX, from Kristin Hersh's upcoming album, Possible Dust Clouds.

Chameleon Paint / Mansion Family

Chameleon Paint

Paul Haslinger new track 'Intrinsic'
From new album 'Exit Ghost' out 7th Feb 2020

Pre-order: https://ArtificialInstinct.lnk.to/PHexitghost 

It’s a strange betweenworld, bookended by sleep and the jolt of being wide awake in a place where you wonder how you got there. You know the feeling… It seems familiar but the colours are, well, unreal. In a high-ceilinged room, a grand piano plays lush melodies as, meanwhile, somewhere, an Alice In Wonderland clock ticks, cellos are bowed, a swarm of something vibrates and the hallucinatory crowd around Rosemary’s Baby babble. An echoey electronic hum builds and falls like a 50s refrigerator passed through and effects board, things run backwards, staccato strings are plucked… and that’s not the half of it.

“I’ve never been happy staying in one particular school of musical thought. The fun has been turning things on their heads, to try something you were not supposed to do.”

We’re on an immersive and adventurous travelogue with the former member of the legendary Tangerine Dream, Paul Haslinger - this is a man who knows how to build tension, hold moods, illustrate contempt, lies, passion and pleasure; He can create fear, loathing and love -  he’s been unlocking the nuances of such emotions in a hugely successful career as a TV and film soundtrack composer (Halt And Catch Fire, Underworld and the Golden Globe-nominated Sleeper Cell).

‘Exit Ghost’ is his long thought out opus, a moment caught in time, flicking through reference points, taking an ethereal excursion that permeates musical genres as it becomes awash with intricate sounds and cross-pollinating rhythms. 

Built originally from the warmth of his grand piano ‘Exit Ghost’ resonates with purity and power, from an eerie and evocative betweenworld, that’s at once expansive and rolling, then intoxicating and suffocating in equal measures; modern composition at its most uplifting; cerebral, celebratory, intense and beautiful.

“The soul searching in connection with this record was extensive. Finding places of resonance, giving a colour to your memories. It was more challenging because it’s not somebody else’s narrative. Finding the core of your own story can be the most difficult task of all.”

Created over the span of eight years and filled with literal and personal references, the album itself is a testament to the search - a quest filled with hints, particles and suggestions. Paul Haslinger’s ‘Exit Ghost’ is the first release from new label Artificial Instinct, set for release on 7th February 2019 on die cut vinyl and CD.

Exit Ghost

Paul Haslinger - Intrinsic

Most likely you all know who John Grant is, right? If not, I can tell you he's an american singer-songwriter that just released his second solo album called "Pale Green Ghosts", which is the follow up to "Queen of Denmark", from 2010, that took him to world praise, and a spot as #1 album of the year for Mojo magazine. 
The new album was produced by Biggi Veir of Iceland's electronic pioneers Gus Gus, and shows a new side of John Grant's music. 
I was brought on board to remix the title track "Pale Green Ghosts" and here's the result. For me this is undoubtedly one of the best things I made. Because John Grant and his label Bella Union loved the remix as much as I did we're are giving it away as free download to support the beginning of John Grant's world tour.

Booking: alberto@elasticartists.net

Connect @ 
http://www.facebook.com/xinobimusic 
http://www.beatport.com/artist/xinobi/82950 
http://www.xinobimusic.com

John Grant - Pale Green Ghosts (Xinobi Remix) FREE DOWNLOAD

"Daringly different and dazzlingly diverse" Rough Trade

VANISHING TWIN / JANE WEAVER / DECISIVE PINK / MARINA ALLEN / RVG / MONDE UFO / THALA / BAS JAN / MARTA DEL GRANDI / ISLET / ELLA RAPHAEL / FATEN KANAAN / LUCY GOOCH / HATER / RATS ON RAFTS / JOSEPHINE FOSTER / DEATH AND VANILLA / ROYAL TRUX / KRISTIN HERSH / THROWING MUSES / THE LEMONHEADS / PICTISH TRAIL / THE CHILLS / HALF JAPANESE / SEBADOH / BLACK LIPS / THE DREAM SYNDICATE / GRAHAM REYNOLDS / AMBER ARCADES and more

Born in Florence, Alabama, rising country-pop artist Ava Lynn blends raw Southern soul with modern edge. With her honey-blonde waves, raspy twang, and signature cowboy boots, she moves effortlessly between intimate back-porch ballads and fiery, festival-ready anthems. Proud of her small-town roots, Ava is fast becoming a new Southern voice to watch — bold, magnetic, and unapologetically herself.

The Lemonheads - If Only You Were Dead [Early Mallo Cup]

FIRE RECORDS

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