Video: Obsidian Kingdom - The Polyarnik (live)

Crowdfunding: The Boats

The Boats are crowd funding their next album ‘2 Bears’. This time the band will be pressing a beautiful double vinyl album. There are some wonderful rewards for supporters, including t-shirts, signed albums and much more.

Please get behind this special album project and become part of the making of 2 Bears.

You can listen a track from "2Bears" here: https://soundcloud.com/the-boats-music/sets/warmgun

And support their crowdfunding project here: https://pozible.com/project/the-boats-2-bears

The Story

 "We are a dying breed ..  one of several Melbourne post-rock bands who can proudly say ‘we’ve been around forever’, ... well not quite forever. The Boats have been together for 14 years, and although we have not been playing a lot of shows of late, we have continued to create great music. The gap between our debut album ‘Los Musicos Periods’ and our followup record ‘Segundo’ (released in 2014) was way too long, 8 years to be precise. We like Segundo, as many others do, but the hiatus in between made us feel like we were trapped in a time bubble. So we vowed to keep 2 promises to ourselves: the next album would be produced and mixed by someone else (not in the band), and we would not wait another 8 years - it would be recorded this year. We are sticking to our promise!

We have been really hard at work, locked in rehearsal studios all year, gradually picking the tracks that stand out, slowly moulding and forming the material. One thing we can say about the new music: it’s back to the basics, back to what we are - a trio, and that means a wonderful mix between bass, guitar and drums and clever live overdubs (a touch of electronica), not to mention some wonderful guest players coming in to record and join us on new live shows in 2017.

So about that recording. Well, we will be recording with reputable engineer and producer, Neil Thomason. Neil gets it, he comes from that old school world of power rock, he loves analog tape and spent his 90’s playing guitar in rock outfits. He is the perfect choice to record our next album … "If a band asks me to be involved in making a record with them, the first thing I ask is 'What kind of record do you want to make?'  I see my job as one that involves ascertaining in as much detail as I can what it is the band wants to achieve with their recording, and then advising the best way I know about how the band can do that."

We like his approach and it’s a relief for us to have someone like Neil step in and take the helm, and allow us to be a band again ... to just kick back and play."

How The Funds Will Be Used

"First off, there is the actual recording process. We will spend 2 days with Neil @ Headgap recording to wonderful 2" analog tape. With a warmth and natural saturation that can only be afforded by analog recording, we will be caught in our element - a raw Melbourne three-piece post-rock band, enthused and emphatic with a story to tell the world. Naturally we need to pay for Neil's time and studio space, and the mixing that will follow.

We will then need to master our new record with a professional mastering engineer - and mastering for vinyl is a true art in itself.

Finally the album needs to be wedded to its natural physical format, irreplaceable, beautiful, tangible double vinyl.

All the while, we will be busy organising glorious artwork, creating and printing t-shirts, and preparing other goodies for you all to help celebrate the release of our third full-length offering.

If you feel like giving more than our target, we will deeply appreciate it, and not forget it."

The Challenges

"The biggest challenge we face is pulling off an album in two days of which we can be proud. Full stop.

With all the work that we've put into the songs over the past year, we are confident that our new material, combined with Neil's production skils and creative input from some special guests, will create a special and timeless musical gem.

We can't wait to share our new songs with you all!"

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Recommendation: Cranial - Dark Towers / Bright Lights

Band: Cranial
Album: Dark Towers / Bright Lights
Label: Moment Of Collapse
Year: 2017








Tracklist
01. Dark
02. Towers
03. Bright
04. Lights
Streaming / Buy

Cranial is a post, black metal band from Germany formed in 2014 from the ashes of Omega Massif.

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Video: Cult Of Luna - Years In A Day: The Sweep & Light Chaser

Recommendation: Gloson - Grimen

Band: Gloson
Album: Grimen
Label: Art Of Propaganda
Year: 2017








Tracklist
01. Prowler
02. Fabulist
03. Antlers
04. Cringe
05. Specter
06. Embodiment
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In the summer of 2012 in Sweden, a group of individuals came together with a solitary goal in mind - to create dark music offset with the smallest glimmer of hope. Instead of being inspired by political or religious themes, the band turned to their own personal and internal wastelands; to see what would manifest from their subconscious, writhing within this very cruel world.

It's nice to discover new bands and if that band's album is a punch in the face from start to finish, with a pause ("Specter") to let you take a breath and realize what's happening, before closure with the longest track of the album, then you can talk about the discovery of the year so far and definitely an early AOTY contender. 

Mastered by Magnus Lindberg Productions.

For fans of Cult Of Luna.

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Streaming: Autism - Film Noir

Band: Autism
Album: Film Noir
Label: Self Released
Year: 2017








Tracklist
01. Alive And Torn
02. In Anger
03. Humanity - Crescendo
04. Brittle Bones
05. Your Loudest Sound Is Change
06. 918
07. Film Noir
Streaming / Buy

Autism is an instrumental post-rock / post-metal band from Vilnius, Lithuania.

"This album, sharing the same name as a cinematic genre, is driven by a mood of pessimism and menace. While working on this album, we decided to explore even more disturbing and uncomfortable topics. Alcoholism, drugs, physical and psychological abuse, manipulation…it is all a part of our everyday life. We have used real samples of some actual tragic life events to create a greater emotional impact to the listener and make him aware. This is not a casual album to listen to, but we believe that “Film Noir” will succeed to deliver the message we wanted to communicate." - Autism

Artwork by our friend Sagby, Engender Art For Hope​.

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Recommendation: Ravenna - Laocoön

Band: Ravenna
Album: Laocoön
Label: Self Released
Year: 2016







Tracklist
01. Teraphim
02. Valta
03. Unnok
04. Carrion
05. Laocoön
Streaming / Buy

Ravena is an American post-rock band from California, formed in 2012. With lengthy compositions from ethereal movements to ominous epilogue. As a three piece, Ravena have worked to build, destroy and rebuild an album that spans over the past 4 years. The first full length album, Laocoön, features 4 movements that encompass a spectrum of beauty and destruction.

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Video Premiere: Cataya - Vis À Vis

We are honored to premiere the new video by Cataya. Track taken from the forthcoming split with Milanku later this year.

Recommendation: Third Meridian - Polarity

Band: Third Meridian
Album: Polarity
Label: Self Released
Year: 2017







Tracklist
01. 3°W
02. Heroes
03. Darkside
04. [K]night Is Over
05. Tyr Island
06. The Last Escape
07. Moonlight Drive
Streaming / Buy

Third Meridian, it's an immersive dive into a cinematic universe where the association of sound and video will lead you straight to the euphoria.

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Video: stonefromthesky - Weightless

Video: Overhead, The Albatross - Time (Hans Zimmer Cover)

Streaming: Buensuceso - Analogy: The Sun | Divided Line

Band: Buensuceso
Album: Analogy: The Sun | Divided Line
Label: Third-I-Rex / The Braves Records
Year: 2017

Tracklist

01. With A Puff Of Wind, The Fire Of The Cave Went Out And Its Shadow Disappeared With Unfulfilled Desires

02. On The One Hand, The Poor Put Down, Surrendered Bought All The Things Were Taken, Much Cohesion, A Lot Of Sweetness

03. The Tulip Curse Came With The Arrival Of Fall

04. Wunderkammer

05. She Needed Two Words To Apologize... Whilst, He Needed An Eternity To Be Forgiven

06. Fate Forgive Us

Streaming / Buy

Buensuceso is a post-rock/metal band from Mancha Real, Spain.

The album takes inspiration from Platonic philosophy and “The Allegory of the Cave“. It observes the existence of an unreal world, focused on the blindness of an oblivious society, which is forced to accept the insipid, conformist and inhuman reality that lies behind human beings.

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Buy Third-I-Rex | The Braves Records

Throwback Thursday: Sleep Maps - We Die For Truth

Band: Sleep Maps
Album: We Die For Truth
Label: Self Released
Year: 2014








Tracklist
01. The Life Beyond
02. The Future West
03. Telegenesis
04. Army Of Empty
05. Biologic Trust
06. Death Has Two Faces
07. The World You Wanted
08. See You In A Thousand Years
Download

Sleep Maps is an one man psychedelic / post-rock with spoken words samples project from USA.

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Video: Set And Setting - Saudade

Album: ghost island - Assimilation

Band: ghost island
Album: Assimilation
Label: Self Released
Year: 2017








Tracklist
01. Your Hope
02. Your Joy
03. Your Doubt
04. Crushed
05. Your Fear
06. Your Equanimity
07. Assimilation
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ghost island is an ambient, post-rock band from Phoenix.

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Video: Klone - Immersion (Unplugged)

Video: Exquirla - Un Hombre

Streaming: Into Orbit - Unearthing

Band: Into Orbit
Album: Unearthing
Label: Self Released
Year: 2017








Tracklist
01. Dark Matter 03:52
02. Stone Circles 05:41
03. Scattering Light 03:06
04. Equilibrium 08:02
05. Caldera 05:40
06. The Archer 04:43
07. Unearthing 03:36
08. Gilgamesh
Streaming / Buy

Into Orbit is a dynamic duo of guitar and drums whose immersive, genre-defying sound contains aspects of experimental rock, metal, prog, doom, ambience & drone.

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The Inquisition: 083.Glasgow Coma Scale (answered by Helmes Bode)

1. How did you come up with the name of the band? 

One of our friends came across this medical measuring unit for impaired consciousness “Glasgow Coma Scale”. We found this to be the perfect name for performing psychedelic post rock! Nice, too: It evokes associations to the Scottish band Mogwai for which some of us would give their left nut.

2. Do you have a standard procedure of creating a song? Do you just jam around or is there a main riff and the track is build up on it? 

There is a lot of jamming, but Piotr and Marek are pretty much the riff-generators – with Piotr in particular being inspired right before falling asleep (not in band practice!). That is what “Enter Oblivion” refers to. Then we check which ideas we already recorded that might fit to the current theme. Then we start crafting. Finally, Piotr and Mr. S give the acoustic sound an “electronic bypass”.

3. What are your influences and what kind of music do you hear when you are at home? 

I come from a trip hop past with Portishead, Lamb, Tricky or Massive Attack and really like the beats and the vibe. But there is so much great stuff out there in a lot of segments. I recently discovered polyrhythmical minimal jazz from Switzerland (Nik Bärtschs Ronin or Sonar) and kind of rediscovered the krautrock origins of our ancestors (CAN or Neu!). Ahead-of-his-time-krautrock-drummer Jaki Liebezeit just died recently! I had my Drum´n´Bass and Hip-hop phase as well with a New York revelation named Dälek. At home there is some headbanging stuff especially on Sunday mornings. I could go on for hours, but would you print it?

4. Which is the one album you can't live without? 

AUDIAC – Thank you for not discussing the outside world

5. What's the first record you've ever bought? 

I fear it was the Miami Vice Soundtrack. Doesn´t sound too much like rock and roll, huh? Well I was young and have no better excuses. Don Johnson with his alligator on his boat just seem to have impressed a 13 year old kid.

6. Name a band that you would like to share the stage or tour with? 

Them Crooked Vultures would be pretty cool – three legends in one place! Growl – Nirvana / Jones – Led Zeppelin / Homme – Queens of the Stone Age. Maybe this is a little out of reach. But a lot of whishes already came true: Tides from Nebula, Monkey3, Manescape, Mother Engine, Suns of Thyme… My Sleeping Karma is next on the realistic list. I just saw them last week with Green Orbit. Our gig with Long Distance Calling unfortunately was canceled by the club owner two weeks before the concert due to too few sold tickets in advance. The Euros seemed still to have a deep impact on the mostly male rock community when there is a concert on the same day. 

7. Did the internet and specially the blogs helped to spread your music around the world? Name a place (country) that you were surprised to know your music has reached to? 

Honestly I am not sure about this, since we are not very well known. Is there any post-rock band how really is? I have seen people from New Zealand discussing our music in world wide web, which I think is “sweet as” and “fair enoughski, mate” (to say it in NZ-English)! I love the country so much and even though I´d rather rehearse than perform this would be the part of the world to tour! Just yesterday I also saw a review in a blog from Glasgow which I think is pretty suitable, too. Your post-engineering blog is special for me anyhow, since I have a lot of contact to engineers. I just love their way of thinking and would say that it is an interesting approach to deconstructing post-music. Are you guys engineers in a parallel universe or full time bloggers? Where are you located?

- post-engineering: For a long time now I'm just one person running the whole blog. This is just my hobby and in real life I'm in IT support. post-engineering's name is an inspiration mixing "School Of Emotional Engineering" band's name, which I find great & unique, and the word "post", which has 2 meanings: posting something on the blog and the most genres I'm dealing with (post-rock, post-metal, post-hardcore etc.).

8. Do you support the idea of bandcamp where fans can decide on the price or services like spotify?

Yeah, bandcamp is a good thing! We are on there as well. It´s pretty awkward these days anyhow. Our album, that our label fluttery sells, was online for free download on some website only two days after the release and now is also completely on YouTube. But there is an upside since it helps to spread our music. Hopefully the downloaders come to concerts or buy t-shirts which you can´t download yet. If people actually buy the album, we can make another one! But to be honest: A lot of bands I bought vinyl from or went to concerts I discovered through the internet as well. So it´s a janus faced type of thing. If you need people to notice you it is good being spread, even illegally. If you are renown as a band and try to make a living of it, it is probably disadvantageous. Let´s see how things develop…

9. Where do you see yourselves in 5 years? 

In the studio in Berlin again with the Kowalski-Brothers working with Thies of the Tonbrauerei on our second album. Yes, it will take that long! But that would be twice as fast as Tool, wouldn´t it?

10. Is the artwork of an album important nowadays in the digital era? 

Well, with the possibilities of digital media, artwork could be taken to another level. Maybe digital albums should make more use of video or interactive design?

11. What is your favorite album cover? 

Are you asking Narcissus about his favorite reflection? Our artwork of course, thanks to Hummel Grafic Design!

 Despite this I´ll go for Joy Division, Unknown Pleasures and Flying Lotus – Cosmogramma.

12. It seems that a lot of people are turning on vinyl again. Why do you think that is and which is your preferable media format? 

Have you ever spinned a one and a zero around and had a holistic experience? With digitalization there is a paradigm shift towards dematerialization which is practical physical minimalism. And that could simultaneously be the cause of a countermovement towards haptic audio carriers with a more somatic feel. My first memory as a child is my father sitting in front of his record player totally absorbed by probably Arzachel, Cream or Emerson, Lake & Palmer. I own three different turntables (from an ancient Dual to modern 1210er replica), but I still find that these great devices all don´t work very well while riding the subway through Frankfurt.

13. What's the most vivid story or moment as an artist? 

Great but hard question. There have been many with different bands. Also with GCS it´s hard to pick one. Let me pick two. When we rehearsed the very first time together it was in a microscopic space near the airport on questionable equipment. The two guys threw a killer lick in three-four at me. We didn´t speak, just grinned from one ear to the other. Second moment was our very first gig which happened to be with the great Tides from Nebula from Poland. We only got the slot because we could convince the owner of the club that we had played countless gigs as a band before. First gig with the guys, there was no soundcheck-time, I never had played to a click live before and it still worked out great even though I was stirred up like whipped cream. I also love to recall the unique gigs and times with our band-friends from Manescape and Mother Engine. You guys rock like Carrara! (high-quality marble from Italy – note by the editor). By the way: Thanks for the interview dear post-engineers!

More info:
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bandcamp GCS | Fluttery Records
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