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Add Pool 10.04.16

Fofoulah – Fofoulah
Release date: September 19th, 2014

www.glitterbeat.com
www.fofoulah.com

“Fofoulah's music is a new voice in the endless Atlantic musical dialogue - what marks them out is the blurring of distinction between West African, jazz and popular music. Their interplay between polyrhythmic Sabar drumming, riffs and free-flowing improvisation can transcend categories…”
++Justin Adams (JuJu, Robert Plant, producer Tinariwen)

The London-based quintet Fofoulah (meaning “it's there” in Wolof) was formed in 2011 and features Tom Challenger (Red Snapper) on saxophone and keyboards, Phil Stevenson (Iness Mezel) on guitar, Johnny Brierley (Outhouse Ruhabi) on bass, Dave Smith (Robert Plant’s Sensational Space Shifters) on drums, and Kaw Secka (Irok) on Sabar drums.

With the rhythms of the Sabar drums - a traditional form of Wolof drumming from Gambia and Senegal – at its heart, Fofoulah’s music has evolved into an inspired cosmopolitan mélange that also incorporates elements of electronic music, dub, improvisation and afro-rock. Like the complex city they live in, their music is shaped and lifted by diverse sound-worlds and cultures.

“Some of us grew up within this culture, some of us studied the rhythms but most importantly we all realized and embraced the undeniable power and energy of these (sabar) drums”
Johnny Brierley (bass)

“This deeply traditional music connects people with sound, rhythm and movement in a very unique and special way and is a constant inspiration in everything we do.” 
Dave Smith (drums)

Having performed mainly in the creative hubs of east London and Bristol, in 2013 Fofoulah released the ‘Bene Bop EP’, a collaboration with Senegalese singer Biram Seck. Later that year the band entered the famed Real World Studios near Bath to begin work on their radiant debut album ‘FOFOULAH.’

Produced by drummer Dave Smith (Robert Plant, JuJu) ‘FOFOULAH’ is a previously unvisited crossroads where Sabar rhythms meet dub basslines and sci-fi synths; liquid melodies and Wolof rap entangle with trance-like dance grooves; and raw guitars, horns and samples blend with west and north African song forms.

In the album’s liner notes, bass player Johnny Brierley describes the creative journey that led to the making the album:
“The rhythms and traditions of the drums were essential starting points for our compositions and acted as the building blocks for all the other instruments…our music has developed and evolved with each members musical background and influences being heard within the band…'Fofoulah', our first album, is a snapshot of the band at this moment in time and the result of a constantly developing sound”
In keeping with the band’s expansive approach, the album also features an incredible roster of guest voices: Senegalese singer and Bristol resident Batch Gueye, UK singer / producer sensation Ghostpoet (courtesy of 'Play it Again Sam'), Algerian/Parisian singer Iness Mezel and the acclaimed Gambian born, Fulani musician Juldeh Camara (JuJu, Robert Plant).

Fofoulah is not merely a cross-cultural project. They are a dynamic band born naturally out of personal friendships and varied backgrounds, the nerve net of contemporary London and the post-global interconnectedness we all experience daily. The band is propulsive, innovative, celebratory and always leaning forward. They are a thrilling extension of the deeply rooted Sabar rhythms upon which their music revolves.

“Lets join together, leave conflict and work together. There is peace in community”
--No Troubles (Kelinte)

“If you don’t appreciate the truth of who you are and what the world brings to you, you will struggle. As we work we offer ourselves to the world.”
--The Clean Up (Rahas)

Fofoulah are: Tom Challenger - saxophone/keyboards, Phil Stevenson – guitar, Johnny Brierley – bass, Dave Smith - drums/sabar, Kaw Secka - sabar/tama


Fofoulah - Make Good (Soumala)

Taken from the upcoming Glitterbeat Records album:
VARIOUS ARTISTS: DUBS & VERSIONS I
Release date: October 17th 2014

Dennis Bovell: Aye Go Mila Dubwize. One of the most revered dub and reggae producers, Dennis has been making his mark on contemporary music for over 40 years. Born in Barbados, Bovell moved to south London at the age of 12 and became deeply immersed in the emerging roots, lovers rock and soundsystem cultures. He spearheaded seminal British reggae acts like Linton Kwesi Johnson and Matumbi and was also notably involved in the late 70’s post-punk scene as producer for The Slits, The Pop Group and Orange Juice. In 2012, Dennis released the dub collection Mek It Run.

Samba Toure: Aye Go Mila (Album: “Albala” / May 2013). Samba is a legend of northern Malian music. As a member of the touring ensembles for both Ali Farka Toure and Toumani Diabate, Samba gained musical experience and perspective that he brought together famously on his acclaimed third album Albala. A meditation on Mali’s humanitarian and political crisis, Folk Roots wrote that Albala “is a record full of passion, eloquence and incredible music.”


It can’t be much of a surprise that Glitterbeat would eventually assemble a collection of dubs and versions of songs by our artists. Our very first release in the spring of 2013 was a 500-piece limited edition 12” where two tracks from the Malian Afro-rock newcomer Ben Zabo were given an inspired dub treatment by legendary Berlin producer Mark Ernestus (Rhythm & Sound, Jeri Jeri). Those two tracks are included here as well as eight other reinterpretations from our growing catalog.

Having had the privilege of working with each of the Malian artists remixed for this album (Tamikrest, Ben Zabo, Samba Toure, Aminata Wassidje Traore & Lobi Traore) we can safely say that this project will not seem as strange to them as one might assume. In contemporary Malian music, reggae plays a fundamental role and nearly every electric based band we have encountered in Bamako and beyond incorporates at least some reggae elements into their sound. Also the rapid, ubiquitous rise of Hip Hop in Mali has brought samples, remixes and programming into the direct orbit of the country’s urban musicians. And in the dusty, open lots of Bamako’s sprawling neighborhoods, the music that one most frequently encounters being performed is Balani, a sort of Malian variant of dancehall, where laptop electronic beats and declamatory “toasting” are combined with samples of balafons and other traditional instruments. Balani is by definition a remix-generated music.

Bringing together the different mixers with the songs of the original artists was an exciting process. Our choices of who to invite rose intuitively out our record collections and our personal networks and almost every mixer that we approached thankfully accepted the invitation. 

Mark Ernestus was asked to fashion our original 12” not only because of our deep love for his work with the abstract dub duo Rhythm & Sound but also because of his albums in collaboration with Jeri Jeri, the Senegalese sabar group. Dubmaster Dennis Bovell’s work with Linton Kwesi Johnson, The Pop Group and Orange Juice has been a big part of our personal soundtracks for more than thirty years. His recent dub album, Mek It Run, is a killer. We were introduced to the South African Nozinja via his infectious Shangaan Electro productions. Honest Jons released an excellent remix album (Shangaan Shake) of his tracks and we thought it fitting that he join our remix dialogue. We stumbled upon the British-Ghanaian performance, visual and musical artist Larry Achiampong’s self-released LP More Mogya and were excited by its mashup of palm wine and high life samples with Hip Hop beats. We have been fans of Mark Stewart all the way back to his days in the seminal post-punk band The Pop Group, but it was his recent dub album Exorcism of Envy that really caught our collective ear. The intricate afro-techno of Harmonius Thelonious is by definition a sort of West African music remix project, and he seemed a perfect choice to invite. Rounding off the list of mixers is our old friend Dirk Dresselhaus AKA Schneider TM whose wide-open musical obsessions have embraced indie rock, analog electronics, improvisation and field recordings. He recently journeyed to Mali and Burkina Faso to study balafon music. 

With the finished master of this album right now echoing from our speakers we are already thinking about Glitterbeat: Dubs & Versions volume II. Can’t wait.

++Chris Eckman & Peter Weber: Glitterbeat Records

www.glitterbeat.com

Dennis Bovell - Aye Go Mila Dubwize

OUT NOW!

Order here: https://glitterbeat.bandcamp.com/album/fofoulah

www.glitterbeat.com
www.fofoulah.com

“Fofoulah's music is a new voice in the endless Atlantic musical dialogue - what marks them out is the blurring of distinction between West African, jazz and popular music. Their interplay between polyrhythmic Sabar drumming, riffs and free-flowing improvisation can transcend categories…”
++Justin Adams (JuJu, Robert Plant, producer Tinariwen)

The London-based quintet Fofoulah (meaning “it's there” in Wolof) was formed in 2011 and features Tom Challenger (Red Snapper) on saxophone and keyboards, Phil Stevenson (Iness Mezel) on guitar, Johnny Brierley (Outhouse Ruhabi) on bass, Dave Smith (Robert Plant’s Sensational Space Shifters) on drums, and Kaw Secka (Irok) on Sabar drums.

With the rhythms of the Sabar drums - a traditional form of Wolof drumming from Gambia and Senegal – at its heart, Fofoulah’s music has evolved into an inspired cosmopolitan mélange that also incorporates elements of electronic music, dub, improvisation and afro-rock. Like the complex city they live in, their music is shaped and lifted by diverse sound-worlds and cultures.

“Some of us grew up within this culture, some of us studied the rhythms but most importantly we all realized and embraced the undeniable power and energy of these (sabar) drums”
Johnny Brierley (bass)

“This deeply traditional music connects people with sound, rhythm and movement in a very unique and special way and is a constant inspiration in everything we do.”
Dave Smith (drums)

Having performed mainly in the creative hubs of east London and Bristol, in 2013 Fofoulah released the ‘Bene Bop EP’, a collaboration with Senegalese singer Biram Seck. Later that year the band entered the famed Real World Studios near Bath to begin work on their radiant debut album ‘FOFOULAH.’

Produced by drummer Dave Smith (Robert Plant, JuJu) ‘FOFOULAH’ is a previously unvisited crossroads where Sabar rhythms meet dub basslines and sci-fi synths; liquid melodies and Wolof rap entangle with trance-like dance grooves; and raw guitars, horns and samples blend with west and north African song forms.

In the album’s liner notes, bass player Johnny Brierley describes the creative journey that led to the making the album:
“The rhythms and traditions of the drums were essential starting points for our compositions and acted as the building blocks for all the other instruments…our music has developed and evolved with each members musical background and influences being heard within the band…'Fofoulah', our first album, is a snapshot of the band at this moment in time and the result of a constantly developing sound”
In keeping with the band’s expansive approach, the album also features an incredible roster of guest voices: Senegalese singer and Bristol resident Batch Gueye, UK singer / producer sensation Ghostpoet (courtesy of 'Play it Again Sam'), Algerian/Parisian singer Iness Mezel and the acclaimed Gambian born, Fulani musician Juldeh Camara (JuJu, Robert Plant).

Fofoulah is not merely a cross-cultural project. They are a dynamic band born naturally out of personal friendships and varied backgrounds, the nerve net of contemporary London and the post-global interconnectedness we all experience daily. The band is propulsive, innovative, celebratory and always leaning forward. They are a thrilling extension of the deeply rooted Sabar rhythms upon which their music revolves.

“Lets join together, leave conflict and work together. There is peace in community”
--No Troubles (Kelinte)

“If you don’t appreciate the truth of who you are and what the world brings to you, you will struggle. As we work we offer ourselves to the world.”
--The Clean Up (Rahas)

Fofoulah are: Tom Challenger - saxophone/keyboards, Phil Stevenson – guitar, Johnny Brierley – bass, Dave Smith - drums/sabar, Kaw Secka - sabar/tama


Fofoulah feat. Ghostpoet - Don't Let Your Mind Unravel, Safe Travels

Samba Touré: Gandadiko
Release date: January 30th, 2015
Glitterbeat Records
www.glitterbeat.com

His voice is resonant, the rhythms have a relentless groove and his guitar burns with the intensity of the desert sun. But above all, there’s a confidence and gravitas that reinforces the feeling that Samba is a man whose time has come.
**** Review of “Albala”/ Songlines (UK)

Samba Toure’s previous album Albala was recorded during the fear-laden atmosphere of 2012, when northern Mali (including his ancestral village of Diré) had succumbed to sharia law and radical Islamist control and Bamako, his adopted home, still reeled in the chaos of the recent military coup.

Albala received widespread acclaim and was rightfully recognized not only as the best album of Samba’s career but also as an undeniable musical statement about the human toll of war and political crisis. Samba had spent years honing his artistry (including stints playing with Malian blues master Ali Farka Touré and Kora genius Toumani Diabate) and Albala signposted a mature artist, full of sonic imagination and narrative fire.

Gandadiko, the title of Samba’s potent, diverse and ambitious new album, translates from his native language Songhai as: “Land of Drought” or “Burning Land.” The title seems to indicate a return to the dark textures that marked Albala but in fact Gandadiko is a more complex story than that. 

Philippe Sanmiguel, a record producer living in Bamako (Anansy Cissé, Mariam Koné) and Samba’s producer for both albums, provides the details:

“One thing I’m sure of is that we didn’t want to do a second ‘Albala’. For Samba that album was maybe a little too sad and he wanted something closer to who he really is: hopeful. So the challenge was to have something as strong as ‘Albala’, but with more variety in the rhythms and moods and colors. I think the album sounds musically less dark, it’s more danceable and up-tempo, but, sorry Samba, it’s not entirely a joyful album. Tension, troubles and danger are still there in many of the songs. 

The musical moods and textures found on Gandadiko often play against the moralistic, reflective and at times anguished tenor of the lyrics. For example, Touri Idjé Bibi (Black Fruits) breezes along with a straight-ahead, infectious dance groove, punctuated by soaring backing vocals. The hopeful sound that Samba had originally sought seems to have been found. But the final lines of the song are pointed and cautionary:

Oh earth, forgiveness, oh river forgiveness,
Everyday we offend you.

The songs on Gandadiko are framed by a restless eclecticism. 

Samba’s guitar playing has never been so anxious, exploratory and rock and roll and his voice has never been as smooth and relaxed. Samba wants to be many places at once and the accomplishment of Gandadiko is that by successfully navigating these sorts of “contradictions,” Samba’s artistry has reached an even higher level. 

Glitterbeat Records:
Homepage: www.glitterbeat.com/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Glitterbeat
YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/glitterbeattv
Twitter: twitter.com/Glitterbeat_Rec

Samba Touré
Homepage: http://www.samba-toure.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SambaToureMusic
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/samba.toure.official


Samba Touré - Touri Idjé Bibi

DIRTMUSIC TOUR 2014
with Baba Sissoko and Moussa Coulibaly

10.12.2014 – D – Geislingen – Raetsche
11.12.2014 – CH – Neuchatel – Case a Chocs
12.12.2014 – F – Grenoble – La Bobine
13.12.2014 – I – Savona – Rain Dogs
14.12.2014 – CH – Zurich  - El Lokal
15.12.2014 – CZ – Prague – Akropolis
16.12.2014 – D – Dresden – Beatpol
17.12.2014 – D – Berlin – Badehaus
19.12.2014 - CH - Zug - TBA
20.12.2014 – D – Karlsruhe – Jubez
21.12.2014 – D – Köln – Stadtgarten

Bamako based MC Jazz is one of Mali's most prodigious Hip Hop artists. This previously unreleased track came together when he visited the studio during Dirtmusic's 2012 sessions for "Troubles" and "Lion City". Those were dark days in Bamako, the military coup was still in effect and a giant swath of the north of the country was occupied by radical Islamists touting a severe form of Sharia law that banned the listening to and playing of music. Mc Jazz's lyrics are shifting between French, Bambara, Wolof and English. The wordplay is not doctrinaire. It is a simple plea for unity and cross-ethnic understanding: "Together, Forever."’ 

Dirtmusic Feat. MC Jazz - La Paix

SONIDO GALLO NEGRO - EUROPEAN TOUR 2015

15.03.2015 – ES – Lleida – Mud. Festival Músiques Disperses
20.03.2015 – FR – Lyon – ElectroChoc Festival
21.03.2015 – BE – Dixmuda – AB-Clubcircuit – AB @ 4AD

Sonido Gallo Negro (Black Rooster Sound) is a stunning 9-piece, instrumental combo from east Mexico City (Aragon) that channels both the mystique and mysticism of 1960’s Peruvian cumbia. The band integrates styles like Amazonian cumbia, huayno, sonidero cumbia, boogaloo and chicha with electric guitars, Farfisa organ, Theremin, flute and of course fluid Latin percussion. Spaghetti western soundtracks, psychedelia and surf music also echo in their compositions.

The name of the song 'Chamula (métete)' comes from San Juan Chamula, a little town in Chiapas (a Mexican state in the South of the country). Most of the people there are Chamulas and Tzetzales (Mexican first nation) and their lives are full of traditional sounds and a unique way of seeing the Universe. The song documents a cruel battle between the Chamulas and Tzetzales and the state Goverment in 1869. 



Sonido Gallo Negro - Chamula (métete)

"i am a singer"

Natural

Burning In The Desert Burning

Naslednji Izštekani – Širom – 20. septembra 2016

Izštekano jesen bo odprla izvrstna domača zasedba Širom. Sestavljajo jo multiinstrumentalisti in sila vsestranski glasbeniki Ana Kravanja in Samo Kutin, ki ju poznamo po duu kalimb Najoua (a poznavanja nikakor ne kaže omejiti le nanj), ter Iztok Koren, tudi član skupin Štefan Kovač Marko banda in Hexenbrutal. Njihova povsem akustična instrumentalna glasba, ki so jo letos strnili na prvencu “I.”, navdušuje mnoge, ki se strinjajo, da so Širom nekaj najboljšega, kar se je zgodilo domačemu glasbenemu prizorišču v zadnjem času. Ukulele, kalimbe, brač, doma izdelane harfe, steel drum, violina, viola, ribab, obročni boben (bendir), banjo, bas boben, cevni zvonci, balafon, lonci… to je njihov instrumentarij. Glasba pa… huh, težko opisljiva… kompleksna in minimalistična obenem… po akustičnih širjavah se pne od etna prek psihedelične repetitivnosti in transa do neverjetno zvenečega post rocka. Poleg plošče, ki je julija izšla tudi na Japonskem, bodo Širom v Izštekanih predstavili nove skladbe in se razširili za dvakrat! Z njimi bodo vokalistka in gledališčnica Tea Vidmar, elektronski eksperimentator in nojzer Neven M. Agalma ter japonski zvočni in vizualni umetnik Yoshio Machida. Širom so novi kult na slovenski sceni, nesporna poslastica za vse, za poznavalce in za naključne mimoidoče!

Izštekani Širom, 20. 9. ob 22:25

Taken from 'I Can Be a Clay Snapper'
Order: https://goo.gl/3hCLGz
tak:til / glitterbeat

Hailing from Slovenia, Širom play vividly textured and (mostly) imagined, instrumental folk musics. Handmade and global instrumentation meets fearless sound exploration. 

Slovenia’s miniature, but incredibly diverse landscapes, echo through its distinctive cultural, historic and linguistic traits. When thinking about Širom’s geographical trajectories, as well as their musical ebb and flow, one has to consider the abundance of water that can be found in the individual regions where they come from. Cascading mountain stream lilt, lazy lowland river meandering and the mysteriously vanishing waters of Karst are most certainly inscribed into Samo Kutin’s, Iztok Koren’s and Ana Kravanja’s childhood memories and subsequently, their remarkable musical art. 

The band’s emergent sound oscillates between a wide array of acoustic folk sounds and contemporary post rock meditations, often drifting from improvisation to structured composition and then back. It is described by the members themselves as imaginary folk or folk from a parallel universe. “Our music creates emotional landscapes. When I was still painting every day (Ana holds a degree in painting) I was trying to paint my dreams but that didn’t work out,” Ana remembers. “I discovered that by using an abstract image I can draw nearer to what I felt in my dreams. Our music is based on a similar principle.”

According to Samo, the guiding concepts of their music-making are: “To play on acoustic instruments, to work with repetition and a common sound. Each of us can play a simple thing, but the overall result is that a complex thing comes to life. The quality of sound depends on the combination of the instruments and that’s why we modify and prepare instruments or create our own.”

As an avid sound-seeker, Samo began to develop an interest in building instruments out of everyday objects like drawers, computer boxes and other “junk” (as he lovingly calls his creations) as well as re-tooling the ones he brought back from his globetrotting adventures that have included personal encounters with local musicians in India, Morocco, Mali, Greece and elsewhere. 

Ana, who also nurtures a very personal relationship with music paraphernalia, adds: “There is a different attitude at play if you make an instrument yourself. It already tells you a story. If you buy it, it takes longer to get to know it, to tame it.”

In the little village of Lesno Brdo, tucked in the rolling hills ten kilometers south of Ljubljana, Ana and Samo organize music performances and festivals on a farm they rent, and divide their time between music making and vegetable farming. A close connection with nature is also important to Iztok who now resides in the capital city. “It’s a sort of a contact with the past but it also has its own life in the present.” 

Fearlessly textured sonic landscapes – both linked to and unbound by – the past and present, geography and tradition, the real and imagined. Hypnotic, otherworldly and epic. 

Širom’s music moves like the restless waters of their homeland. No matter how hushed or slow it may seem, it is never ever standing still. 
  
Širom are: Iztok Koren – banjo, three string banjo, bass drum, percussion, chimes, balafon, various objects // Ana Kravanja – violin, viola, ribab, cünbüs, balafon, ngoma drum, mizmar, various objects, voice // Samo Kutin – lyre, balafon, one string bass, frame drums, brač, gongoma, mizmar, various objects, voice

I Can Be a Clay Snapper

Širom - Maestro Kneading Screams of Joy (Maestro mane vriskanje)

Dirtmusic
Taken from the album 'Bu Bir Ruya'
Release Date: January 26th 2018
Order now: https://goo.gl/X8zG9U

Dirtmusic return for their fifth album, a full-scale collaboration with Turkish-psych visionary Murat Ertel from Baba Zula. Recorded in Istanbul, the album navigates hypnotic rhythms, cinematic atmospheres and dark political realities.

‘We need music like this to stay sane’ – Murat Ertel

The striking figure of Murat Ertel is standing at the door of his home studio, a converted mechanic’s garage in a suburb of Istanbul. The Turkish capital is a tense and conflicted place these days, but Baba Zula’s leader and saz man is on fine form. Before him stand those current and former musical nomads, Chris Eckman and Hugo Race, guitars in hand. Dirtmusic are about to take on their latest, and perhaps most thrilling, form.

But let’s rewind a little, for Dirtmusic’s story is worth your time (although it perhaps makes more sense to talk about Dirtmusics plural).

Originally a straight-talking, mainly acoustic trio mining blues and country for 21st century gold, the band’s first happy accident was to stumble upon Tamikrest at the fabled Festival au Désert in Timbuktu in 2008. A musical love story began, running through that joyous first collaboration with Tamikrest in BKO (2010), followed by Troubles (2013) and Lion City (2014), which expanded the roster to include Ben Zabo, Samba Touré and a host of other superb Malian musicians. In the meantime, however, the Islamist takeover of Northern Mali in 2012 had darkened the sound and the songwriting, giving them a tone that continues to resonate through the new record.

Back to that garage. True to form, Eckman and Race look to improvise, for that line to the Bamako years is still strong. They’ve come with a couple of beats and loops – and they’re not even sure whether they will attach any words to this year’s Dirtmusic. But Ertel knows they need to tell a story. The time and the place demand it. This is being recorded in Istanbul after all, and Eckman has flown there from Slovenia, a country that has secured its southern border with razor wire – and Race from Australia, where sea-borne refugees are detained indefinitely on remote islands. And so it goes, a tale of borders and walls, of cold fronts and cold hearts.

‘We need a story,’ said Murat. This year’s Dirtmusic summit has given us another one to think about and, as importantly, to dance to. The desert tent has been swapped for the garage in Northern Istanbul, for now, but the concerns remain the same: to tear down borders, real and imagined, as quickly as they can be thrown up. Ten years in, this singular band with a plural soul have made their finest record yet.

‘Recording like this is truly in the moment, there are no preconceptions to satisfy and the music and words are improvised. We drew inspiration from the atmosphere of Istanbul, the general disaffection with the state media and the uncertainty of the immediate future’ – Hugo Race

‘[Murat’s] studio is really a warm and relaxed place to work. I think if we had tried the same thing at a slick studio, with the clock running, it wouldn't have come together so easily. By the end of the first day the friendships were already forming and we were having a hell of a good time’ – Chris Eckman

Bu Bir Ruya

Dirtmusic - Bi De Sen Söyle

Deserted

Harar 1883

Into the Sun

How Many Stars

CD/LP/DL: https://goo.gl/2ric8A
digital: https://idol.lnk.to/Mekons_Deserted

This legendary group from Leeds, have written contemporary music history for the last 40 years as radical innovators of both first generation punk and insurgent roots music. Their new album was recorded in the desert environs of Joshua Tree, California and is drenched with widescreen, barbed-wire atmosphere and hard-earned (but ever amused) defiance.

The return of one of the planet’s most essential rock & roll bands.

When punk exploded in London, fast and brash and full of fury, up in Leeds the Mekons came blinking into the light at a much slower pace. Singles like “Where Were You” and “Never Been in a Riot” (both from1978) fractured punk’s outlaw myth with the ordinariness of real life. During the next decade, as country singers donned cowboy hats and slid into the stadiums, the Mekons celebrated the music’s rough, raw beginnings and tender hearts with the Fear and Whiskey album (1985) and went on to demolish rock narratives with Mekons Rock’n’Roll (1989). For more than four decades they’ve been a constant contradiction, an ongoing art project of observation, anger and compassion, all neatly summed up in the movie Revenge of the Mekons, which has ironically brought an upsurge in their popularity around the US as new audiences discovers their shambling splendour. And now the caravan continues with Deserted, their first full studio album in eight years.

And desert is an apt word. This time there’s an emphasis on texture and sounds, a sense of space that brings a new, widescreen feel to their music, opening up songs that surge like clarion calls, like the album’s opening track, “Lawrence of California.”

“We were recording at the studio of our bass player, Dave Trumfio,” Langford recalls. “It’s just outside Joshua Tree National Park. Seeing Tom [Greenhalgh, the group’s other original member] wandering in that landscape looked like a scene from Lawrence of California.’ And then, ‘Wait a minute, there’s a song in that.’”

The band arrived with no songs written, only a few ideas exchanged by email between Langford and Tom Greenhalgh, the group’s other original member.

“Things emerged. At one point we had a sheet with a few words written here and there. Everyone added bits and by the time it was finished, it only needed a few changes to be able to sing. Somewhere else there are two lyrics sung over each other.”

“Even during the mixing, Dave pushed us into some new sonic territory all the way through,” Langford recalls.

The tweaking and effects take them about as far as they can go from 2016’s Existentialism, which saw all eight members crowded around a single microphone in a tiny theatre in Red Hook, New York, recording live in front of an audience. Deserted offers a different kind of freedom. Of space and stars and wide-open land. Of possibilities and past. But mainly of the future.

It’s fresh territory. But that’s always been what attracts the Mekons. They show that four decades doesn’t translate to becoming a heritage act. Instead, they keep experimenting, from the jagged, spaced throb that powers “Into The Sun,” revolving around the drums of Steve Goulding and Trumfio’s bass to the barely controlled anarchy that’s “Mirage,” or a countrified homage to “Andromeda.” Everything is possible, everything is permitted. 41 years after that first single they’re still moving. Still defiant, still laughing, still joyful. Never underestimate some happy anarchy, and never write off the Mekons.

Deserted, perhaps, but they’re back to tip the world on its axis. Again.

Lawrence Of California

Mekons - Lawrence Of California

Glitterbeat is committed to global sounds and artists that don’t necessarily rubber-stamp our pre-conceptions of what regional music sounds like.  We live in a world of ever increasing intersections and the global musical conversation does not operate according to straight, predictable, and easily delineated rules. It is a conversation that is being reinvented and revolutionized each day.

Mekons - Lawrence Of California

Glitterbeat Records

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