Preorder CD/limited LP now: http://nopaininpop.greedbag.com/buy/love-to-give-2/

2014

Lawman

HALLS - LOVE TO GIVE
OUT FEB 10th 2014

Pre-order on iTunes and get 'Forelsket' MP3 instantly - https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/love-to-give/id768882884

Pre-order limited 12"/CD here: http://nopaininpop.greedbag.com/buy/love-to-give-2/

Halls - the solo project of 23 year old South London musician Sam Howard - released a debut album, ‘Ark’, in November 2012. 

A long twelve months later - after rapt reviews and a stint modelling for Hedi Slimane in Paris - Howard’s second album is here, and the changes are marked.

“This is an album about opening up. Ark is the cold album, closed-off, obscure and confusing.  I obscured lyrics and hid behind reverb and mumbling. For this album I wanted to reach out more. In some ways it is darker than Ark. I feel that I struggle to connect with a lot of people and I want to connect somehow. Love to Give is about opening up and becoming more of a human being.”

In his new work, Howard has replaced apprehension and doubt with a muted hope, and just as the sentiment has shifted, as too the compositions and arrangements have moved into the real world. Ark’s electronic templates have ceded to - as Howard says - “embrace the sound of human beings”, and the instrumental palate has widened: brass, tuned percussion, woodwinds, and organs now flesh out the tracks, with digital percussion only used for texture rather than structure. Much was recorded in a theatre in London’s Woolwich, with Howard’s vocals recorded naturally in the large main hall, and passing traffic and street noise can be heard faintly throughout the album.

Opening track ‘Love To Give’ builds from hymnal acoustic reverie to a wall-of-noise breakdown, before ending on a military brass finale; the seven minute centrepiece ‘Aria’ leads with a solo xylophone into interweaving Kraut percussion and strings lines; ‘Forelsket’ contains a freeform pitch-shifted saxophone, evoking Sun Ra alongside a Justin Vernon vocal line and symphonic swells; and closer ‘Body Eraser / Avalanche’ ends the album on a few minutes of haunting ambience.

The album is not a clean listen; lyrics and vocal melodies are still lost occasionally to the music, creating an hazy, sometimes impenetrable aura, and even the direct, sparser guitar-and-voice-tracks ‘Aside’ or ‘You Must Learn To Live Again’ rely on a heavy atmosphere rather than narrative. Instead of relying on clearer melodic control, what is more apparent is the growth in Howard’s compositions - his ability to breathe life in to sentiments of cold confusion and loss across dense, shifting arrangements.

‘Love To Give’ is a weighty, masterly executed album - a step away from anxiety towards light.

Order limited 12"/CD

Halls - Forelsket (from 'Love To Give', out Feb 2014 through No Pain In Pop)

Spectres - The Sky Of All Places

Produced and Mixed at Wax LTD. Studios in Los Angeles, CA. by Wally Gagel and Xandy Barry. Mastered by Pete Lyman.

Order Limited Edition 7" Vinyl: http://b3scirecords.bigcartel.com/product/b3sr-004-rare-monk-splice-sleep-attack

Hailing from Portland, Oregon, the young turks of Rare Monk have a sonic resilience that’s like everything and nothing you've ever heard. While the obvious signposts are there to guide you (Modest Mouse, Sonic Youth, Phoenix), Rare Monk combine their love of both 90s and contemporary Indie Rock with a fevered Pop intensity, before shooting the whole thing into outer space to see what comes back. As frontman Dorian Aites puts it, “Although we draw upon many genres for inspiration, we’ve been creating our own thing based on nothing other than the idea that, ‘these are the songs we wrote cause they sound cool’”. 

The psychedelic insanity can be traced back to their college roots, when the guys were the go-to band for drunkin‘ dorm rooms and sonic exploration. In 2012 Rare Monk teamed up with noted producer Skyler Norwood (Blind Pilot, Horsefeathers, Talkdemonic) for their self-released EP, ‘Death By Proxy’. The giddy pop thrill of the title track and the funky, slow burn of “Underground” act as the band's mission statement, and according to Dorian, “Is pretty genuine. I think the important thing here is not to try and fit a compartmentalized soundscape, or to try and be different from everyone else; the importance lies in doing what you are passionate about. Passion is genuine.” 

In 2014 Rare Monk release a limited edition 7” AA-side single with new songs “Splice” and “Sleep/Attack” via B3SCI Records. The release was recorded and produced late Summer 2013 in Los Angeles at Wax LTD Studios by Wally Gagel (Best Coast, Muse, Family Of The Year, Folk Implosion). The songs showcase the next frontier for a band who venture toward a lauded career, capturing the sheer energy of an incredible live show, bridging a sound for the masses and that of music appreciation.

Purchase

Rare Monk - Splice

Artist: Inventions
Title: Entity
Album: Inventions
Order CD/LP Here: http://shop.temporaryresidence.com/trr231
Order iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/inventions/id829805085

Order iTunes

Inventions - Entity

Listen to the @no-pain-pop takeover of @radarradio_ldn in its entirety. 

Read more on Dummy.

Dummy Presents: No Pain In Pop with @simhutchins, @throwingshade, Jire and @oleka on February 11th at Miranda, Ace Hotel London (free with RSVP) - http://www.acehotel.com/calendar/london/dummy-npip

No Pain In Pop Takeover On Radar Radio - 24th January 2016

From 'Zang' EP, out 5 Feb 2016 through No Pain In Pop

Mastered by Jacques Beloeil

Order limited 12" here: https://nopaininpop.greedbag.com/buy/zang/

Video by Jire + Miranda Mungai: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18RzxEBd28c

Zang

Taken from the album 'Wooden Mask' released 12th August 2016 via Forged Artifacts.

Wedding Dress

Janet

"carnival is dead. ramping shop is dead. movado is dead" - Yeezy

Remember us RIP we ded

@simhutchins

Sim Hutchins - Summertime Riddim Mix

New album 'Bolted', released 20 October 2023 on Ninja Tune: forestswords.lnk.to/boltedSo

Taken from 'Compassion' album, out now via Ninja Tune. 

Order 12"/deluxe gatefold/CD/DL – http://forestswords.lnk.to/compassion

US + EU tour dates on sale now - https://forestswords.lnk.to/sk

Listen to Forest Swords' Discography playlist on Spotify - https://forestswords.lnk.to/discog

http://www.forestswords.co.uk/

Facebook – http://found.ee/forest-fb
Twitter – http://found.ee/forest-tw
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Spotify – http://found.ee/forest-sp
Apple Music – http://found.ee/forest-am

EU & US HEADLINE TOUR 2017

28/09/17: Meet Factory - Prague, Czech (Tickets: http://bit.ly/2o9VVx7)
29/09/17: Waves - Vienna, Austria (Tickets: http://bit.ly/2oInag3)
30/09/17: Dürer Kert - Budapest, Hungary (Tickets: http://bit.ly/2nL4eeX)
02/10/17: Drugstore - Belgrade, Serbia (Tickets: http://bit.ly/2nK07R8)
03/10/17: Mocvara - Zagreb, Croatia (Tickets: http://bit.ly/2o7cQA1)
04/10/17: Kino Siska - Ljubljana, Slovenia (Tickets: http://bit.ly/2nK72cX)
06/10/17: Locomotiv - Bologna, Italy (Tickets: http://bit.ly/2fTGuUA)
07/10/17: Largo - Rome, Italy (Tickets: http://bit.ly/2yIN9Zw)
08/10/17: Hart - Naples, Italy (Tickets: http://bit.ly/2yvqXS3)
10/10/17: Dachstock - Bern, Switzerland (Tickets: http://bit.ly/2nK7w2L)
11/10/17: Rote Fabrik - Zurich, Switzerland (Tickets:http://bit.ly/2hyGPQj)
12/10/17: Uebel & Gefährlich - Hamburg, Germany (Tickets: http://bit.ly/2qGTgM8)
13/10/17: Bitterzoet - Amsterdam, Netherlands (Tickets: http://bit.ly/2fv0n3Y)
14/10/17: Badaboum - Paris, France (Tickets: http://bit.ly/2olrCkG)
16/10/17: The Lantern - Bristol, UK (Tickets: http://bit.ly/2r8RaWX)
18/10/17: Village Underground - London, UK (Tickets:http://bit.ly/2qbOiDt)
19/10/17: The Haunt - Brighton, UK (Tickets: http://bit.ly/2k6usfe)
20/10/17: Headrow House - Leeds, UK (Tickets: http://bit.ly/2q92mhK)
21/10/17: Gorilla - Manchester, UK (Tickets: http://bit.ly/2fu1zoc)
25/10/17: Teatr Warsawy - Warsaw, Poland (Tickets: http://bit.ly/2qNX5gT)
27/10/17: Six Dogs - Athens, Greece (Tickets: http://bit.ly/2qDWsWM)
28/10/17: Salon ISKV - Istanbul, Turkey (Tickets: http://bit.ly/2rsQjjf)
14/11/17: Good Room - NYC, US (Tickets: http://ticketf.ly/2qdzPYl) 
15/11/17: Lincoln Hall - Chicago, US (Tickets: http://bit.ly/2oMnetG) 
17/11/17: Chapel - San Francisco, US (Tickets: http://ticketf.ly/2ppevlx)
18/11/17: Echo - Los Angeles, US (Tickets: http://bit.ly/2qelmuU) 
29/11/17: GNRation - Braga, Portugal (Tickets: http://bit.ly/2qbM47c)
30/11/17: ZDB - Lisbon, Portugal (http://bit.ly/2yajFH9)
01/12/17: Caracol - Madrid, Spain (http://bit.ly/2qGtN5A)
02/12/17: Apolo - Barcelona, Spain (http://bit.ly/2s1hK0B)
07/12/17: Reflektor - Liege, Belgium (http://bit.ly/2xcSyHI) 
08/12/17: Vooruit - Ghent, Belgium (http://bit.ly/2vYwemD)
15-17/12/17: Day For Night Festival - Houston, Texas, US (https://dayfornight.io/)

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Halls - Forelsket (from 'Love To Give', out Feb 2014 through No Pain In Pop)

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