Selon Recliner is a collective of New Zealand musicians, artists & dreamers who create languid dark-pop.

After plundering the high seas of sonic treasure Selon Recliner have bought to  shore their new EP STORIES OF LATER. A collection of salty tales about Lost Love, Mother Nature & Greed.

The new single + cinema out now "Sun and Moon". 

For press inquiries contact Jason or Lexi at parachutepublicity@gmail.com


Album Notes
This 2014 Grammy submitted album for 3 categories including "Best Contemporary Instrumental Album", came to be as a result of a bi-coastal collaboration between composer/guitarist Jack Warner in Los Angeles, and composer/arranger Glenn Finnan, in Wilmington, Delaware.
Each of the eight guitar tracks have been performed first as a guitar solo (or a layered mix of guitar-only music), with no instrumental accompaniment. Then Glenn “re-imagined” the music and conceived of a whole new album for a whole new audience. Glenn decided to focus on arranging music to add to the original guitar tracks that would appeal to an audience who appreciates guitar music mostly in a concert hall or acoustic setting. In each case, Glenn took inspiration from Jack's original melodies, rhythms, and harmonies to decide what kind of feel the “new” piece should have. The result is an album that takes the original guitar tracks, makes no changes in them themselves, but wraps them in a new, varied mix of instrumental accompaniments. Ranging from large spectacular orchestras to intimate small ensembles, the new album has something for everybody. Some pieces are bold and brilliant, some are private and personal. All contain Jack’s original flair for appealing melodic fragments and brilliant playing technique, combined with Glenn’s vision of colorful and dynamic instrumental textures, and all are thoroughly enjoyable. The guitar is the common element throughout, and thus serves as our travel guide. We go along for the adventure.

Track 1. Santa Ana Fiesta: The guitar starts our journey with a flourish, showcasing its technical and melodic flair. From there, we enter a full-orchestra world where sunny skies and tropical breezes are easily imagined. Catchy guitar hooks and bright Latin accents suggest a celebration. Syncopated and insistent at the same time, the music carries us through peaks and valleys, marching to the deliberate beat to a brilliant finish.

Track 2. Pueblo Desperados: The orchestra charges in with driving strings, surrounding the guitar with an emotional urgency that easily imagines the drama of ruthless and desperate outlaws in the old west. Guitar soliloquies give occasional pause to the relentless pace, and the piece ends with neither the guitar nor the orchestra seeming to know how the story ends.

Track 3. Key West Breezes: Life is beautiful in Key West. The guitar takes us there, imagining a night spent on a secluded section of beach in the dark night, feeling the warm tropical breezes and hearing the cool rush of the rolling waves, represented by a small ensemble of pitched percussion and accent instruments. Occasionally, the noise of the city intrudes, but the night slips away quietly, as the sounds of the beach fade out.

Track 4. Santa Fe Moon: Beginning with the strict rhythms of city life, the guitar leaves town to wander throughout the dark-yet-moonlit deserts and plains of the southwest. Under endless skies, one can come across any number of villages and native wonders, all pictured by the orchestra as being bathed in that one-of-a-kind moonlight, casting long shadows even in the dead of night.

Track 5. Miami Beach Street Party: On a hot weekend afternoon, the guitar and a group of percussionists gather on a street corner to play for the passers-by. Catchy and insistent guitar music is punctuated by Latin percussion, cymbals and drums. With the intoxicating guitar melodies and free-styling drums, no one can resist joining the party.

Track 6. Hollywood Hustle: In the city of stars, nothing ever stands still. Everyone is on the move and looking for, or looking to be, the next big thing. With only an occasional moment to reflect here and there, the guitar and orchestra imagine a city where something is happening around every corner, traffic is constant, the temperature is hot, and style is premium.

Track 7. Monterey Rendezvous: The guitar reflects softly. Set among a small ensemble of winds, harp, and accent percussion, the music imagines a private, languid afternoon of shared intimacy. Here, there are only two lovers, and in their tropical villa, they are free and unhurried, to explore their most sensual desires.

Track 8. Venice Beach Heat: Concluding our musical journey, the guitar takes us outside to the hot sun, and we are propelled forward by both the hot rhythms and cool jazz of a local band. The guitar is surrounded by brass, saxes, vibes, bass and percussion, holding its own until even it can’t help but be swept into the overall mix, as our journey flies headlong to a free-for-all finish.


With a ‘revolutionary voice’ (Il Messagero), ‘an extensive vocal range’ (Le Figaro) ’marked by intelligence and taste’ (New York Times), ‘an interpreters knowledge that amazes’ (Corriere della Sera),  ‘exquisite timbre, polished musicality and sweetness of emission’ (Le Monde de la Musique),  this is a voice, 'superbly produced in every facet' with its sound coming "directly from the heart" (The Australian). Combined with her ‘obvious humanity’ (The Age), Markella Hatziano, 'authoritative of voice and of dramatic presence’ (La Repubblica) is unequivocally a ‘star of dazzlingly bright magnitude’ (Daily Telegraph)

Markella Hatziano made her professional operatic debut at the National Opera of Greece at the age of 23 singing Eboli in Don Carlos. She debuted on the international stage at the Opera Company of Boston singing Suzuki in Madama Butterfly, Neris in Medée, Amneris in Aida and Azucena in Il Trovatore.

She achieved international recognition in December of 1993 when she stepped in at the last minute to sing the gargantuan role of Didon in Les Troyens in concert performances with the London Symphony Orchestra and Sir Colin Davis. “On this evening a star was surely born” Opera Magazine.

She has been singing her core dramatic mezzo repertoire of Dalila, Amneris, Eboli, Azucena, Didon, Marguerite, Charlotte, Santuzza and Judith with opera houses including the Liceu in Barcelona, Teatro Real in Madrid, Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, Covent Garden, Teatro alla Scala, Salzburg Festival, San Francisco Opera, Baltimore Opera, Opera Company of Boston, Bayerische Staatsoper, Trieste, Deutsche Staatsoper, New Israeli Opera, Teatro Sao Carlos in Lisbon, Norwegian Opera, the Festival de Radio France in Montpelier and Maggio Musicale Fiorentino.

With her core concert repertoire of Verdi, Chausson, Ravel, Berlioz, Beethoven and Mahler, she is appearing with virtually every major symphony orchestra, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Vienna Philharmonic, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the London Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra of Wales, Mozarteum Salzburg Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra, and Oslo Philharmonic.

Markella Hatziano’s discography includes the Verdi Requiem with the London Symphony Orchestra: Gramophone Magazine “The best of the quartet is undoubtedly Hatziano who, in her first major recording, fulfills all the hopes one has for her, singing with firm tone, warm, well-schooled style, no mannerisms – her ‘Liber Scriptus’ cannot be faulted”.

Her recording of the Macbeth of Ernst Bloch with the Orchestre de Montpelier was awarded the Grand Prix de l’Académia Charles Cros.

She collaborates with great conductors including, Zubin Mehta, Mariss Jansons, Bernard Haitink, Christoph von Dóhnanyi, Seiji Ozawa, Kent Nagano, Sir Colin Davis, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Claudio Scimone, Jacques Delacote, Michel Gielen, Michel Plasson, Andrew Davis, and Semyon Bychkov.

"The most beautiful aria of the evening came from Markella Hatziano, singing Neris's 'Ah, nos peines seront communes.' The purity of her voice, profound grief, and introspective thought it communicated were most affecting" Christian Science Monitor
 
“The evening’s finest singing came from the the Dalila of Markella Hatziano...Hatziano created a long, elegant line with a velvety tone...she unveiled an instrument of considerable size - one that reached big climaxes without a hint of strain, that was filled with feeling and that was compellingly seductive.” Baltimore Sun
 
“ a bright-colored but substantial mezzo of attractive quality, the registers well blended...singing with seduces Samson (and us!) with sunny charm, good command of legato and ready use of caressing mezza voce of a sort nowadays seldom heard in this, or any other ‘international’ house. A real treat!” Opera
 
“Markella Hatziano, a statuesque Dido, was magnificent, with a voice of sumptuous richness and steely strength, focused extremely accurately...She looked like the Queen of Carthage as Jacques Louis David might have painted her.” The Independent
 
“ In lustrous, forwardly emitted, amply voiced, beautiful tones and with a powerful feeling for phrases and words, she sang with grandeur in the civic scenes, with delicacy in the love scenes, finally with noble anger, passion, and despair.” The Observer
 
“Markella Hatziano combined openhearted expression with a startlingly radiant voice.” Montreal Gazette
 
“...This voice is superbly produced in every facet and its sound comes directly from the heart...She caresses her music with such warmth that even though the language might be foreign to the audience, the meaning comes through loud and clear...Through 13 splendid songs by Franz Liszt, she overcame the composer’s penchant for keyboard dominace - a showman-like performance by Steven Larson - to deliver a beautifully rounded collection, highlighting in works such as Der du von dem Himmel bist, the gypsy rhythms of Die drei Zigeuner, and a powerful conclusion in Die Macht der Musik... Her carefully measured mezzo easily filled the concert hall, even when the intimacy of her performance demanded a mezza vode, while her grandest moments on high were never out of focus or character.” The Australian
 
“Deep and dignified of voice, she makes a Dalila who is regally self-composed, confident of getting Samson’s locks wound round her little finger... the sound is grand, unhurried, rich in color...” Financial Times
 
“Markella Hatziano is a formidable Dalila, her lustrous mezzo meshing vengeance and desire with a firm line of gleaming tone. Mon coeur s’ouvre a ta voix had an irresistible sumptuous appeal. She acts with a smouldering economy.” The Stage
 
“The best of the quartet is undoubtedly Hatziano who, in her first major recording, fulfills all the hopes one has for her, singing with firm tone, warm well-schooled style, no mannerisms - her “Liber scriptus” cannot be faulted.” Gramophone
 
“...she cultivated long, languid phrases that were marked by intelligence and taste.” New York Times
 
“...splendid singing, a gleam hidden within the velvet... Her innate musicianship loomed over anyone the Met has offered in years.” Boston Phoenix
 
“Amneris was sung flawlessly by the alluring Markella Hatziano...not enough can be said about Hatziano;s performance, voluptuous voice, movements, acting” Boston South Look
 
“Among the soloists, Markella Hatziano stands out for her rich, refulgent singing.” The Daily Telegraph
 
“Authoritative of voice and of dramatic presence”  La Repubblica
 
“Grand interpreter, Markella Hatziano, her realizations perfection, also with the gestures, realized wholly the vision of the figuration of Wilson.” La Repubblica
 
“Markella Hatziano brought tears to everyone’s eyes.” Evening Standard
 
“The Greek soprano Markella Hatziano as Dido had a heartfelt and truly imperious eloquence.” The Times
 
“...we gasped at the gleaming voice of Markella Hatziano.” The Times
 
“The storming ovation which overwhelmed her at the end left no doubt that this audience was acclaiming a star of dazzlingly bright magnitude. As imperiou and benevolent queen, infatuated lover and tragic heroine, she encompassed every aspect of the role with singing that was thrilling, moving and profoundly musical.” The Sunday Telegraph
 
“Hatziano’s glorious line and flowing projection contrasted still concentration and admirable dynamic control with demanding extremes of vocal resources.” The Herald Sun
 
“It will be some time before I forget Hatziano’s subtle and affectingly gentle singing in music that needs an artist with her exemplary tact, insight and obvious humanity to bring out its innate beauty.” The Age 
 
“Pure beauty when she really sings...the high notes came forth round and brilliant, free of too much pressure on the voice...Applause started timidly then turned into a storm.” O Globo (Rio de Janeiro)
 
“No one has heard a voice of such richness, fullness and beauty of timbre in this role in at least 30 years...the qualities of voice and spirit no one can learn the Creator has lavished on her in abundant plenty.” Boston Globe
 
“The opera belonged to the Judith of the young Greek mezzo Markella Hatziano who brought meaning to every word and caught the restlessness of the character’s searching for her husband’s past. Her tone is lustrous and even throughout its range; she phrases musically.” The Times
 
“The title roles were most engagingly sung..The Greek mezzo’s healthy, firm, youthful tone is exciting in itself...two absolutely spiffing B flats...ideally even in spread...Her stage manner is also healthy...singing so assured and smooth...her forthcoming Amnerises are awaited with impatience.” The Times
 
“She has a formidable chest register and is not afraid to exploit it to the full, arms akimbo like an energetic copper on point-duty. It recalls the extrovert singing of Cossotto and Gorr; nothing wrong with that...an Eboli from Hatziano in Don Carlos could be exciting.” The Times
 
“purity of line and flawless technique” La Provincia
 
“Markella Hatziano shines above the rest - the ‘Lux Aeterna’ is the high point in this whole recording” Hi-Fi News
 
“magnificent and generous voice whose timbre is robust, but whose texture is velvety” Ambito Financiero
 
Markella Hatziano, a voice that unites in the richness of her registers and her exquisite timbre a maturity and an interpreters knowledge that amazed us.” Corriere della Sera
 
“...Markella Hatziano sang breathtakingly” Rheinische Post
 
“exquisite timbre, polished musicality and sweetness of emission” Le Monde de la Musique
 
“the velvety and revolutionary voice of the great Greek mezzo Markella Hatziano” Messaggero del Lunedi
 
“of the highest class, the Marguerite of Markella Hatziano, who fascinated us with the roundness of emission, the apparent ease of domination over the texture, and most of all with the truth of song that seems to flow incessantly, without pause, and like magic” “...Markella Hatziano sang breathtakingly” Il Piccolo
 
“an artist of undeniable notoriety” La Nacion
 
“Markella Hatziano commanded respect for her vocal color, her extension of register, and suppleness in her dynamic shades” Corriere Della Serra
 
“Markella Hatziano is a magnificent mezzo, with an extensive vocal range, that displays a beautiful homogeneity throughout the tessitura with the low sonorities and the piercing trebles. Moreover, her phrasing is impeccable.” Le Figaro
 
“The Greek mezzo-soprano Markella Hatziano accomplished a remarkable task in her performances, convincing as much for her vocal gifts as for her precise interpretative work. An artist of undeniable notoriety. She obtained a resonant success with La Mort de Cleopatre which offered her an opportunity to display her great vocal abilities and her astounding temperament.” La Nacion
 
“Markella Hatziano realized her part irreproachably with an immaculate luxuriant voice.” Kleine Zeitung
 
“Markella Hatziano sant the Judith with considerable power of voice.” Süddeutsche Zeitung
 
“... outstanding performance” Wiener Zeitung
 
“fiery temperament” Los Angeles Times
 
“...there was fine singing from the Greek Amneris Markella Hatziano, whose rich, resonant voice did much to fill out her generous performance: certainly, a singer to watch.” Opera Now
 
“Markella Hatziano sings Lady Macbeth with rich mezzo tone and an understatement which is chilling." Classics Today
 
“Markella Hatziano and Rene Pape, the evening's mezzo-soprano and bass, were strong presences." New York Times
 
“Markella Hatziano was again a dream of a Suzuki." Boston Globe
 
"From Greece, a new Callas?" London Daily Mail
“on this evening a star was surely born.” ~Opera Magazine

Just a few short years ago Liat Lis and Kyle McGonegle connected over a mutual love of old-time music, and shortly thereafter started working up their own songs. With a cross country, UK and Ireland tour under their belts, and one previous CD, The Gossamer Strings sophomore album, Due To The Darkness (Release date: Sept. 27th, 2019), finds the harmony-driven Americana duo clearly hitting their stride. Comprised of eight originals and three traditionals, that draw inspiration from old-time, country, bluegrass, and folk music, it’s easy to see why the Eugene Weekly enthusiastically declared “A sound that drags us back to clear water with languid ease, providing hope that harmony does exist in this world.”
 

The concept of Due To The Darkness initially came from a phrase on a sign the duo stumbled upon while hiking in the hills overlooking the Mississippi. The sign read, “Go no further after 5 pm DUE TO DARKNESS,” presumably warning about the perils that lay ahead after the sun went down. As they continued their Midwest tour, they traveled through a myriad of disparate landscapes, reflecting on darkness and what is owed to darkness, thereby setting the course for the passel of new songs contained on the album. Recorded by Billy Barnett (Cherry Poppin Daddies, Thomas Mapfumo, Tori Amos, Mipso) in their home base of Eugene, Oregon, Liat Lis (guitar, banjo, vocals), Kyle McGonegle (guitar, mandolin, octave mandolin, upright bass, vocals), are joined by Billy Barnett (piano).
 

Throughout most of the album, the gentle ease and timbre of Lis’s vocal are in the forefront, with McGonegale falling in lockstep behind in soft embrace. With subtle touches of guitar and mandolin and the emotive build of Barnett’s piano, She Can’t Hear Her Heart, centers on a woman trying to find her own voice while navigating the pressures and expectations of others. Claw hammer banjo underpins Due To The Darkness, written about the Badlands of South Dakota, a place so beautiful yet inhospitable, putting into perspective how fragile we are, while at the same time empowering us by our tenacity to survive. The melodic and waltz-like tune Following Through was inspired by friends in a romantic relationship after having been close friends since childhood, and the difficulties of redefining a relationship anew with so much history. A messy breakup is the subject of the bouncy country tune, Wonder Why, with one half of the relationship seemingly ignorant of the reasons behind the demise of the romance. Lack of warmth and passion amid a damp wet winter in a new place is the subject of No Fire, while Try Your Hand beckons to a broken heart to take a chance on loving again. Everything Breaks, a song about self-care in a one-sided friendship, starts in acapella, illustrating just how vocally at home the duo is with each other. Rounding out the album, the instrumental Big Sky Montana, possesses a bit of a Spaghetti Western flair, while the three traditionals Going To The West, Sandy Boys and Train On The Island, stay close to their roots.
 

This next year, The Gossamer Strings will tour throughout the US and abroad in support of the new album.

Roto's MagicAct Takes You "Into the Unknown"

“Pithy lyrics, compelling vocals, majestic guitar tones, and superb accompanists all inform this hip, seductive, and brilliantly produced CD.”  —Guitar Player Magazine

There are only two letters separating "music" and "magic," and on the aptly titled "Into the Unknown" by Roto's MagicAct, the distance seems even more immaterial, an ace of hearts slipped between the worlds of sound, song and audio sleight of hand. Conceived and written by the former Mr. Bungle and Air (French Band) multi-instrumentalist and singer known as Roto (aka James Rotondi, the guitar ace behind the Grassy Knoll, Jettatura and the Cringe), "Into the Unknown" is a neo-classic rock album writ large, a 14-song "continuous sound" journey, blending ambitious songs and evocative sound design, in the grand tradition of ‘70s rock epics like Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon. 

But while the six-minute closer "Heart Stops" certainly pays homage to Floyd's languid space-rock, "Into the Unknown" rides equally on a spirited wave of literate power-pop, tuneful alt-country and even reimagined southern rock, to emerge with a unique distillation of urbane artists like Elvis Costello, Jon Brion, Alex Chilton, Gram Parsons, Sufjan Stevens, Jellyfish, The Doors, and Harry Nillsson. 

Shot through with Roto's incendiary electric and acoustic guitar playing, the album is equally noteworthy for the stellar contributions of the Magic Act, a collective of 15 top-tier players from New York, L.A., San Francisco and Austin, including drummers Shawn Pelton (Sheryl Crow, SNL) and Matt Chamberlain (Tori Amos, David Bowie), guitarists Joe Gore (Tom Waits, PJ Harvey) and Paul Lacques (Bonedaddies, 00 Spy Car), cellist Julia Kent (Antony & the Johnsons) pianist John Deley (Dido) and many more.

Produced by acclaimed engineer/producer Bryce Goggin, who's helmed notable albums for Spacehog, Apples in Stereo, Joseph Arthur and Phish, "Into the Unknown" was constructed at Trout Recording in Brooklyn between December 2012 and April 2013, mixed in Los Angeles by Eddie Jackson (Delta Rae), and mastered back in Manhattan by Andy Van Dette at Masterdisk. The album will be released in a deluxe CD package with an eight-page lyric booklet, featuring cover art by acclaimed painter Zelda Devon—of Vertigo Comics’ “The Unwritten” fame—photographs by the legendary Tim White and former Morrison Hotel curator Rick Edwards, and images drawn from Christine Payne-Towler’s “Tarot of the Holy Light.”   

Even with all this expertise on hand, of course, it's the singer and the songs that need to deliver the ultimate "reveal," and Roto's warm, soaring voice and smart, soulful lyrics tackle territory from intimate, artful love songs ("Into the Unknown") to brazenly smart-ass glam-rockers ("Faraway Lands") to ironic but carefully considered takes on middle-class despair ("Happier Than Ever"), media corruption ("Hot News"), guests who won't leave ("Strays") and even the perils of corporate skullduggery ("The Old Trapdoor"). Cultural references abound, from Lord Byron, sweet tea, Aleister Crowley, the Mojave desert, Machiavelli, ‘70s sitcom “Bewitched,” and “elephants dancing on their toes.” No wonder critic Ashley Khan applauded Roto for “a wit worthy of Warren Zevon and Ray Davies.” A member for the last three years of Bob Schneider's weekly "Song Machine," a songwriter's cabal (recently profiled in The New York Times) that has counted Jason Mraz, Ari Hest, and Matt Nathanson among its alums, Roto turned out a 100 songs in as many weeks, from which the fifteen tracks on "Into the Unknown" were culled, pruned, expanded and fleshed out. 

With recent shows at New York’s Bowery Electric and Pete’s Candy Store, LA’s Genghis Coen and Maggie May’s, and an upcoming showcase at Big Red Sun during this year’s SxSW festival, Roto’s Magic Act is also showing that music and magic are natural partners, as he conjures fire, makes objects disappear, and draws his audience into incantations and dreamscapes, all while making them laugh like some kind of sardonic shaman. Now you see it . . .!


indie duo h. kink (the alter-superego of lisa rieffel and timm sharp) are two los angeleans renouncing 20th century linear songwriting in favor of something a little less definable, a bit sassier and harder to pin down.

faintly art-rock, with a theatrical, funhouse lean -- h. kink dive similar experimental depths as of montreal or cocteau twins... but with decidedly arousing self-production techniques (acoustic guitar recorded on a rite-aid lapel mic) that instantly become fully produced when looped frantically through the montserrat neve modules and urei 1176ln compressors at wendy & lisa's fabled bungalow studios wherein the duo recorded and mixed their debut album 'wish i were here', in early 2019.

while sticking mainly to the assortments of dirty bar-bathroom femmepop, the duo occasionally swim into more languid waters, such as love balladry or pseudo-country... before departing instantly back into its comfort zone which is postpost post-adolescent pop-heat loops, tunnel-visioned ass shakers propelled by psychedelic shrapnel, harmonizing and tripping along until the pills wear off, the sun comes up, or probably both.

bipolar mood swings, an obsession with 818-hollywood, lust, and self-loathing/discovery, all jammed into thumping pop-voids take us to the far left of what can be accomplished when locked inside a hot, windowless room outfitted with nothing but a midi controller, an acoustic guitar, and a laptop...

~ jay carlos, tight.af

It’s been a two-and-half year odyssey spread over two states for Brisbane-bred, Sydney-based electronic production team Bitrok, but the journey is only just beginning with the long-awaited release of their self-titled debut album.
Somewhat fittingly, the ten track Bitrok release is seeing the light of day on the rejuvenated Creative Vibes imprint, legendary for helping launch the careers of seminal Australian acts PNAU and Gotye and now taking the new breed of Australian electronica to the masses. The label is a perfect fit for a long-player which sees Ryan Dickinson and Ollie Bowler shake off the confines of their more club-oriented past, a liberating approach which has allowed them to fuse a lifetime of subconscious songwriting lessons with an uncanny knack of delivering sounds which punch in just the right places for a festival dancefloor – and they’ve played to their share of those as well.
The world’s first taste of Bitrok was Constellation Down, which drags singer Johnny Mackay out of his indie comfort zone and positions him smack bang in the middle of a languid bass groove, guitar counterpoint and enveloping synth pulses over live drums before the payoff – a glorious closing refrain with just enough emotional resonance to have you reaching for the skies as the sun sets whether you’re on a dancefloor or otherwise. A remix package featuring Jono Fernandez, Jamie Stevens, Dopamine and Dave Winnel has already made its mark on clubland, with Stevens’ effort subsequently featuring on UK house music veteran Dave Seaman’s latest DJ mix for the legendary Renaissance label. 
Mackay is one of the more leftfield names attached to Bitrok, with the guest cast also including Australian dance music royalty N’fa, Rupert Keiller (Sonic Animation) and Manta Ray (My Ninja Lover) alongside Rick Mansfield (Tortoiseshell), Rootwords and Brisbane neo-soul chanteuse Georgia Potter. And the results are as diverse as that roll call indicate with Bitrok covering the full electronic spectrum – from guitar-heavy stormers to filtered disco-funk workouts, dirty half-step grooves to gorgeous atmospherics, never overplaying their hand as their production smarts are used to enhance the songscapes they’ve spent so long perfecting. 
The skills of Scott Horscroft (The Presets, Silverchair) are also readily apparent, as the man with the Midas touch and even more golden ears handled the final mix at his own Big Jesus Burger Studios in Sydney – and with Mike Marsh (The Chemical Brothers, Massive Attack) on mastering duties at The Exchange in London, it’s no wonder the record positively sparkles.  
To discount Dickinson and Bowler’s decorated past would only tell half the story. Formed initially as a club-focused project after meeting on a Queensland festival dancefloor in 2005, they’ve racked up 12-inch releases on a string of UK dance labels, been licensed for compilation release on Ministry Of Sound’s Clubbers Guide To 2008 and the Y4K series on Distinctive Records, and strutted their stuff before Australian festival crowds at Future Music Festival, Good Vibrations, Parklife, Stereosonic and Blah Blah Blah – not to mention spinning at the after-party of Britain’s esteemed Breakspoll awards. Triple J also unearthed them to play Brisbane’s Hear & Now Festival in 2009, while Australian superstar Gotye tapped them on the shoulder to put their own spin on Thanks For Your Time for his 2007 remix set Mixed Blood. 
As for the future? Dickinson and Bowler have already debuted their unique new interactive live show on a run of dates in traditional venues down the east coast of Oz, will be keeping their club smarts honed as the Bitrok DJs, have just completed remix duties on a track by EMI signing The Slips (featuring Melbourne MC Phrase), and have a remix comp of their own set to launch in conjunction with the release of Bitrok to the world.
But for now, it’s all about a genre-crossing debut which has their course set for the stars.
Bitrok is out through Creative Vibes Friday February 10.

The Bobbleheads are an indie pop-rock band, formed in 2003 in San Francisco, CA. Currently consisting of John Ashfield (guitar/vocals), Pat Ennis (bass), Rob Harford (guitar/vocals) and Rob Jacobs (drums), their sound is best described as upbeat, but sly, hard-hitting pop with melodies that stay with you for days. But don’t confuse catchy with kitchy, they turn a tad serious on their new album, Myths and Fables.  
Myths and Fables (Poppop records) was recorded between the spring of 2017 and summer of 2018 in San Francisco, CA with production and mixing by San Francisco music scene thriver Doug Hilsinger, who had the same duties on their last album, Make Yourself Happy. 
On March 29th, 2019, the album will be released digitally on all major streaming platforms, and on CD / limited edition white vinyl at http://shop.thebobbleheads.com.
Characteristically upbeat and driven by their signature sound of a custom-made-for-John 12-string Rickenbacker guitar, the album highlights I Really See You as the first song and video. Don’t be fooled by its sunshiny veneer. The lyrics are sung from the position as having been through some stuff, it’s not as innocent as it sounds. Ashfield's voice remains in strong and compelling, with Rob Harford supplying a complimentary voice throughout.
Lyrically, Holding On explores the effects of clinging to a bad relationship, something also The Bobbleheads haven’t admitted to having before, but clearly have. 
 Afternoon is a Cure-inspired track that feels languid, with that tinge of ennui not typically found in their music. Overall, the album is less sunny than previous efforts, but too much sun can cause cancer.
While John has been the primary songwriter, usually forming a tight, direct sound, many of the tracks on Myths and Fables are either co-written or are band compositions. This new sense of collaboration fits well with John’s experiences, "I cut my teeth at the Stone Pony back in Jersey performing my Beatle-influenced originals. These metal heads in the audience would turn their backs to the stage and flip us off. That just made me more committed to my music." John’s not afraid to share the pain.
The band continues to perform and record on a regular basis, searching for the perfect pop song and believing the world isn’t such a bad place after all.

GENRES: Avantgarde gothic/soundtracks

MEMBERS: Unique member (all instruments & vocals): Luigi Maria Mennella

BIOGRAPHY:
DANS LES FLEURS DE VELOURS NOIR – introduction by the Author himself  This long time unpublished piano work – never spread in the past whether due to commercial reasons { those compositions – I must confess - are probably the most severe and refined I created till today and matched with lyrics devout to the darkest symbolism ever }; or due to the bad quality of the first analogic support – is now ready to be presented to the listeners in a renewed form. Totally re-recorded; once again partially {I’m referring to the grand piano} done live, to maintain intact the spontaneity of the Spleen which often pervades me when I freely play this instrument, probably the only childhood friend I continue seeing often, not paying attention to the usual technical aspects of the sound. And it’s just the inmost essence of Spleen the main theme of this work, the lives spent under its Aegis, the frail “fleurs de velours noir” never gathered because of the distrust people harbour towards all what is dark and avoid the sun of EsSoterism. Close to some poems of mine, I also availed myself with the lyrical contribution of C.Baudelaire, P.Verlaine, G. Leopardi and A. Crowley. Moreover, musically enriched with new Chamber / Classical and Free Jazz arrangements, Dark Ambient contaminations and poetry reading ...the final result which will probably make dumbfounded the usual listeners of my music, but which will surely moves this project to the attention of the most sophisticated ones: pure Avant-garde Decadent Musick from the blackest meanders of my synapses.

EN VELOURS NOIR – previous biography by Sean Wrightson  During 1997 Luigi M.Mennella felt the need to consign to the mass another foreshorten of his polyhedral artistic personality, spreading within the European gothic scene some songs which got into trouble the capacities of definition of many people, but on the other hand collected tons of encouraging consents even from persons accustomed to standard metal o rock structured songs, and surely being loved by all fans of Dead Can Dance or even Devil Doll sonorities. After the unsuccessful attempt to work as band, EVN became a solo-project just some days before the recording of its first official work: an homonymous and heterogeneous work published in 1998 by Hiems Creations initially in a strictly limited digipack cassette edition {format conceived by the artist!} and then in a standard edition with elegant opaline coversleeve.  Eclecticism, theatricality, avant-gard experimentalism are peculiarities of EVN since the first songs here sourly presented: "Lacerto di un Sole" {a symphonic reinterpretation without any trace of usual guitars of gothic-rock canons}, "Prodromes of Misoginy" {dismal ballad followed by a recitative moment on a dark-ambient carpet}, "Don't believe…" {atmospheric ethnic short song singed in Arabic}, "Rêve Parísíen" {musical transposition singed/performed in French and Italian of homonymous piece of poetry from Baudelaire's repertoire}, "Cogitations" {practically a techno-dark song with a very low vocal performance} and "Ethereal" {where ethereal wave marries jazz-fusion contaminations}.  Some months after Luigi entered studio again for an experimental song {to insert in an underground limited cd-compilation entitled "Florilegium Insaniae"}: "Under a Still Sun Kiss": song where cosmic sonorities and a languid singing {far away from his usual important, lyric way of doing it} find ideal completation in a soft and fairy-like Classic Music finale.  The months following are dedicated - between a commitment with a musical project and another - to the composition of new songs which have been part of a limited digipack mcd entitled "Else", lyrics of which face the anguishes behind the behaviour and concrete dialogue difficulties found in intimate relation for a man who badly relate himself with his ego and the social outward. Then Luigi continued the composition {started at the very beginning of this project} of Romantic music for grand piano, poetry reading and his official concept-full-length entitled "Thanaterotis Symposion": a monumental nostalgic gothic musical which - according to him {but we're sure he isn't wrong} - will mark definitively his career of avant-garde musician. Unluckily with Summer '03 Luigi suffered the loss of all his music written during the last years, due to a crash of his home-studio. Personally I tried to get data back, but it was all in vain since a short-circuit burnt all what was connected to the mainboard, so both the hard-disks included {Luigi kept backup on a separate one}. At the moment I'm happy to know he intends to start working on the musical again, although he's also working on a different new album, that's "Dans Les Fleurs de Velours Noir", to be precise a totally re-arranged and re-recorded version of an old {analogic} work from his still unpublished piano-oriented repertoire, halfway between enchanting Romantic and virtuous Jazz piano, with the addiction of several new tracks and - I can assure - some amidst his more inspired visionary and decadent poems.

LUIGI M.MENNELLA – short biography by F. Sconchi Altamura  Simply complex: that’s the nature of this artist from Tuscany. After having completely repudiated the painting, his total interest in avantgarde music brought him to create some of the most interesting {and often the least understood} research music both in structured song form and in contemporary expression. Very skilled in piano playing {even if we must remember he’s a polyinstrumentalist}, a tenor voice {discovered by the Romanian soprano, Lucia Stǎnescu / P. Mascagni Conservatory of Livorno}, a deep interpretation of lyrics {Luigi’s also author of disconcerting hermetic writing, going over his father * footsteps} and above all a profound aptitude to experimentation joined to a boundless inventiveness make each new work of his always different and stimulating.
* Antonio Mennella, author of several theatre and grammar books

DISCOGRAPHY:
"En Velours Noir" (Mvsa Ermaticka, 2013) ltd CDR

"Dans Les Fleurs de Velours Noir" Collectors' Edition (Mvsa Ermeticka, 2006) 3 editions / Vinyl-look CD

"La Danse Interdite" (Mvsa Ermeticka, 2005) ltd CDR

"Thanaterotis Symposion" (self-produced, 2003) <unpublished CD>

"En Velours Noir" (Anaemic Waves Factory, 2000) ltd CDR

"Else" (Beyond...Prod., 2000) MCD

"Under a Still Sun Kiss" [song included in "Florilegium Insaniae"] (Hiems Creations, 1999) CDR

"En Velours Noir" (Hiems Creations, 1998) MC

Next releases:
(infos coming soon)

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