Depois de uma pausa de mais de três anos nas edições longa-duração de estúdio, os norte-americanos Pop. 1280 regressam agora com Way Station, disco que chega tarde no ano, mas sempre a tempo de integrar as listas dos lançamentos de qualidade. A banda que integra agora um novo alinhamento e uma pele nova - na alçada da belga Weyrd Son Records - apresenta um disco tecido num novo modelo musical com a exploração de sons expansivos, ritmos melódicos e as ambiências do industrial, tão característicos do seu trabalho. Deste Way Station, que vem dar sucessão a Paradise (2016, Sacred Bones Records), já tinham anteriormente sido divulgados o EBM industrial-inspired e super poderoso "Boom Operator" e a malha experimental"Under Duress". Além dos referidos destaque ainda para "Doves", malha clássica no currículo dos Pop. 1280; "Monument", tema colossal a reviver em grande as origens do industrial com rasgos da eletrónica contemporânea; e ainda o purgatório de "Empathetics", que não deixa qualquer um indiferente. Way Station pode reproduzir-se na íntegra abaixo.
Way Station foi editado esta sexta-feira (6 de dezembro) em formato vinil e CD pelo selo Weyrd Son Records. Podem comprar a vossa cópia aqui.
Depois de três discos na conceituada casa Sacred Bones Records, os Pop. 1280 vão lançar o sucessor de Paradise (2016) na belga Weyrd Son Records. O quarto disco de originais da banda sediada em Nova Iorque chega às prateleiras no último mês do ano e vê agora revelado o primeiro tema extraído do disco, dos onze que compõem o alinhamento, "Under Duress". Sem se descurarem das raízes do industrial e reminiscências punk que têm caracterizado a sua discografia os Pop. 1280 apresentam um tema que é minimal, mas ainda assim bastante denso, poderoso e perspicaz.
Segundo a nota de imprensa, a génese deste novo disco surgiu quando a banda já estava nos toques finais do seu terceiro trabalho de estúdio, quando descobriram que o baterista Andrew Chugg ia deixar a banda. Pouco tempo depois o teclista Allegra Sauvage também deixou a banda e os Pop. 1280 apresentam-se agora em formato renovado, num disco que promete ser bem mais experimental que o anterior.
Way Station tem data de lançamento prevista para 6 de dezembro em formato vinil e CD pelo selo Weyrd Son Records. Podem fazer a pre-order da vossa cópia aqui.
On February 5th, we flew to Brussels in order to learn more about the prolific Belgian label Weyrd Son Records, who has been taking Belgium's underground music scene by surprise since 2012. We had the opportunity to cross paths with its owner, Michael Thiel, and we spent the end of that afternoon getting to know how did he start the label, what happened after he decided that he would continue to work as a label manager, how did he sign the interesting names that are part of Weyrd Son' catalog and how the whole process of growth occurred, among other things. Learn more about Weyrd Son Records by reading our interview below.
Hi Michael, hope you’re good. It’s a pleasure to be with you this afternoon. I wanted to know how did all the process involving Weyrd Son Records start (I know that it was primarily because of your father). Why did you decide to start it and what was the process that came after the release of the label?
Michael – Indeed, it’s all coming from my father as he was a musician, and some kind of synth music pioneer, back in the early '80s with a project called Snowy Red and he passed away in 2009, so this year marks the 10th anniversary of his passing. After he passed I got contacted by lots of record labels in order to reissue his work as Snowy Red, I had to shop between all. I finally chose for Onderstroom Records - which is a Belgian label - but what I really wanted to do with that, was to be totally involved with this project. I wanted that thing to be also something I would take as a personal journey, maybe try to know my father through his own work. So what I suggested to that record label - Onderstroom Records - was to take care of all the visual aspect, write down all the texts - because there is a booklet inside retracing the history of Snowy Red - so I've been doing this, well I would say all by myself, though of course it was first the idea of the label, and it was natural to work on that, as a gift from a son to his father. So it was indeed a journey because I had to contact everyone who was close to my dad back in the days. I've been interviewing them all, so I've learned lots of stories and I've been trying to write them down in that booklet and after 9 months the project was born, which is quite a mark to do that. It was giving me a great feeling working on this also because it was my dad. And what I did after that was to pay another tribute and be in charge of everything and maybe even more than what I did in that boxset. So, the next idea, I remember waking up in the morning, I think it was sometime in March 2012, with that idea of contacting lots of musicians I liked back in the days to ask them if they would be into covering his songs and make a tribute album. So the next step was to get in touch with all of them and see if they would be into it, and from that point, I had to choose from a record label again but very quickly what shook me was that I didn’t want to ask anyone else to be in charge with that because I think it was way too intimate, maybe even more than the previous one. I wanted to have 100% control on that and so it was obvious that I should be doing that through a record label that I would create myself. And that’s how Weyrd Son Records was born. Weyrd Son is the anagram of Snowy Red.
So you started everything in 2012?
Michael – Yeah, in 2012 I totally started working on that. The first musicians I approached were musicians I was already kind of in touch with. Well I'm gonna go back to that story, as I said, I've been working on the first boxset, and to be honest, I wasn't really into '80s electronic music I was more into metal - which I still am today - but working and writing on my dad's music, I also had to write on what was happening back in the days, so if you want to talk about Snowy Red you don't have to talk only about Snowy Red, because he wasn't alone, there were so many musicians that had a great impact on him and his music. So I started to document myself, listening to all the big names back in those days. That's how I got into cold/dark/minimal electronic and my growing interest for it lead me to meet musicians online that were keeping going in that direction, people who today were maybe the age of my dad 35 years ago. I'm thinking of bands and artists such as Animal Bodies, Bestial Mouths, Mushy, Ben Chisholm – who plays in Chelsea Wolfe, etc. So it was obvious that they would be the first ones I would ask if they'd be interested in taking part in this very specific and intimate Project. They all responded very positively. So that brings us back in May 2012 and it all got very fast, telling them "Ok, I need to get all songs by the end of the year, last call" in order to release it in May, a year after that.
May 2013?
Michael – Yes, because there is a lot of symbols in my work and I wanted it to be released on Father's day, which in Europe is the second Sunday of May.
So you decided to create your label as a tribute to your dad's work. Did you just want to release this tribute or was already implicit the idea "Ok I'll go forward with the label"?
Michael – It wasn't my plan to go forward. To me, it was more of a one-shot, to release that double LP, but when you are excited about something and the response it gets - which I have to say was very good - I thought "OK, maybe I should go forward and try to find people in music I love, and maybe try to help them the same way maybe my dad would have loved to be helped, back in the days".
Did you contact the bands for the forward releases or you got contacted first?
Michael – With such a list of bands featured on that tribute album, I had a good base of names to potentially work with, so I asked a couple of them if they were into moving on to another release, of their own music this time. So a few months later I reissued a split EP with Mushy and Meddicine originally available a year before only on tape. I thought that split deserved a vinyl edition, which we did.
How did you sign Linea Aspera?
Michael – I wouldn’t say "sign” because I was no one and nowhere in the record label world. Everything was only about my love for music, that was the main thing and still is to this day. So, about Linea Aspera, I saw them live for their very last show ever before they called it quits, it was in the Netherlands for the Grauzone Festival, and on that day I discovered something that shook me really hard. I started listening to everything they did and found out about that three-track EP II was only released on tape. Same as for the Mushy/Meddicine split EP, to me, it was a pity that it would just have a cassette treatment so I asked them if they were up to make a vinyl release of that one and, surprisingly, they said yes. I was very surprised because, as I was saying, they weren't a band anymore. It was very simple, I asked them, they said yes. It was maybe the perfect timing for them, to release an ultimate record and move on to another thing.
What was the hardest part in starting with the label?
Michael – It's hard to say because, to be honest, I was very surprised that everything was flowing so easily, I mean, I had already cool bands and all. But year after year that passes, it seems like you have to prepare your next release always more and more in advance. Plants and PR agents have so much work they can't keep the deadlines. Finding a great PR agent is a nightmare because they all have so many clients they can't take more. Which is really frustrating when you have a great record in the making but no one out there can work on a decent promotion...
... And then you kept on going, releasing names like Marie Davidson and Koban, for instance. You started being contacted by bands or it was always you that initiated the contact with the names?
Michael – Until the fifth release it was always me seeking for bands. Koban was actually the first band that got in touch with me with a demo that I really liked to a point I wanted to release their album. That was maybe a year after I started my work as a label owner.
How do you chose the releases you are going to release? Do you have standards?
Michael – I don't have standards. Back in the days, I would say it had to be definitely about electronic, dark, minimal, but Koban was the first one that had this sound that took me out of my "standards" since they were more post-punk. The most important is to have a crush on, like everything in life, you know.
After Koban and a lot of other releases, I would like to know how did you release Drab Majesty 7’’?
Michael – Andrew/Deb of Drab Majesty asked a friend we have in common to send me the rough mix of his first album. He was telling me "so this guy is searching for a record label, I think this is up to your alley". So I listened to it but I wasn't completely sold... To be honest I was REALLY not into it. Then his album came out on Dais Records and despite the fact I never really showed my interest back in the days, the guy was still keeping in touch with me and that kinda intrigued me. So, one day, I don't remember exactly how it worked out but I got to talk to Andrew online, and from the human point of view the exchange between us was very good and this changed totally my perspective on his music. From there it all clicked as I first got a great connection with the human being and the musician before liking his music, and that's how we got working together.
So, usually, do you only release music you like?
Michael – Of course. I could not release anything I'm not into. Even if they are famous or whatever, I don’t care they're selling thousands of records. I have to be honest with me at first.
Do you regret having said no to some bands?
Michael – Well, it's hard to say. Sometimes yes. There is some music you love but it is just not the right moment, or it's not exactly where you want to lead your record label to. There is indeed a band that came to me last year and still to this day I'm sad that I had to say no but that's life, you can't get everything. I'm just a man I can't be everywhere at the same time.
How would you describe the Belgian music scene?
Michael – It took me a while to get into it. At first, I wasn't into it because maybe I'm to close to it. Maybe I'm judging it but in general, I would say Belgian bands (with of course a few exceptions) are a bit too "soft", not enough radical. I need something harsh that grips me and never releases me, and nothing like that was happening. But then I heard about Charnier, I saw them live with Whispering Sons, they were playing that show together sharing the same stage. First I was going there to see Charnier because I knew them personally, and that's how I heard for the first time about Whispering Sons. It was way before they won the Humo's Rock Rally contest, and again when I saw them going on stage, they were really young and the music kicked in and I felt something that was hard to describe. The power coming out of it, not only on a sonic point of view but their presence on stage was huge. And Fenne, their vocalist, has something you don't witness too often. She has that deep and dark voice that dives directly into your soul and invades it all.
So after Charnier and Whispering Sons, you also released records from Animal Youth - another Belgian band - and most recently THOT. How did that happen, with THOT?
Michael – I've always seen Grégoire – the leader in the band – around here and there for quite some time although I didn't know him not personally. He was the guy you'd see the face in the crowd but never got to talk to. Then in April 2017, he was there at that Gojira and Code Orange show and that was the first time in YEARS I saw his face. When I got back home, I opened my mailbox – which I didn't open for a few days - and I saw this familiar name but couldn't tell who that really was. I opened the email that had a link leading to a mix for an album that was almost ready to be released. The mix was insanely good! I just played it and couldn't stop it so I listened to the whole thing from first to last second. But also, it was totally different from what I did with Weyrd Son Records. I was very interested but kind of afraid to say yes, because I didn't know what to expect from the response my audience would give. So I checked a few of their live performances on Youtube and I recognized the guy that I saw a few hours before at Gojira's show. To me, it was another sign of life, you know, and I believe a lot into this kind of things, and that's how I encountered the music and said: "Ok let's do it". It wasn’t an easy decision, but that's how it happens.
After Glaare, Ben Chisholm & Felix Skinner there come the time to release VOWWS' latest work. How was that?
Michael – I got in touch with VOWWS thanx to Glaare. Glaare was releasing their album ToDeaf And Day on Dune Altar - a US record label - but wanted me to do a European press of the record. This was another big crush... I became immediately a good friend with the drummer of Glaare and he said "Hey, you should listen to VOWWS", and that's how it all happened. Their album Under The World is the kind of album that you keep listening to over and over again and still discover so many things that move you. That one is definitely one of those!
What about Second Still?
Michael – Second Still is a band that was close to the guys of Whispering Sons after they created their own record label, Sentimental. They were working on a release on tape for their latest EP, Equals. I got the opportunity to book them in Brussels, and that's how we met. We had good times together in Brussels and they sent me the demo and voilà, that's how it all happened.
Besides the bands/artists, Weyrd Son Records is also known for its gorgeous vinyl designs and aesthetics. Where are you going to get inspiration?
Michael – I've always had a soul of a collector, and I've loved beautiful records, and beautiful artworks, design, layouts and everything. I've been a lot inspired by other record labels that were putting a lot of energy into their visuals and I knew I wanted to take that same direction as well. I studied fine arts at school so I'd say I've always had some kind of fan eye for design and all. Visuals always had a big part in my life, so obviously I wanted every release to be unique.
Six years have passed since the first Weyrd Son Records record was released. You started everything by yourself and then Grégoire joined you. How did that happen?
Michael – It appears that Grégoire is very good with communication, he is in charge of everything that happened to THOT, and the guy has a view that I sometimes don't have myself. He sees things and has that ability to think it out of the box. After six years I sometimes had the feeling I was on autopilot and this is something I don't want, I need something fresh – like a new look - and I think that guy was the perfect person to bring all those.
After these six years, what are you more proud of? What makes you happier?
Michael – It may sound very cliché to say that, but I'm proud of everything because a record is not another, a project is not another, there have been records I loved so much for the music itself, there are others I've loved for the human aspect. Every record has a story. I'm thinking about Animal Youth, which for me has a special place in my heart. They were nowhere when I met them, they just had one song I could find on Youtube. This release is a stone marker for me because I had to work even harder on this thing as no one knew them out there. It felt really special to read all those sick reviews, in Europe and US mags/blogs/webzines. Then a great friendship came out of it. Now, of course, if I had to tell you which one I'm the proudest of it would be the first one because it is related to my dad and his legacy. But again, every single release touches something very deep and dear to me.
What are your plans for this year?
Michael – It is a bit early to say. First of all, I've been taking some time for myself and for THOT, which I joined as an official and full-time member. After Spring I'll go back to business with the label and release great artists. I'm not gonna share those names right now because things are maybe a little uncertain, but you guys will know more in the right moment.
AWeyrd Son Records, a prolífica editora belga que tem tomado de assalto o panorama musical underground desde 2013, com vários lançamentos de qualidade e novos nomes interessantes na atual cena dark, é o nosso novo convidado para a nova edição da rubrica "7 ao mês", cujo objetivo é apresentar bandas/artistas, promotores ou editoras, revelando os seus gostos musicais e nomes que inspiraram o seu trabalho. Para a edição de fevereiro, convidamos Michael Thiel - o dono da Weyrd Son Records - para selecionar sete nomes/músicas/discos que de alguma forma o influenciaram não apenas como editor, mas também como pessoa. As suas sete opções revelam um pouco mais sobre a identidade da Weyrd Son, apresentando-se também como uma intensa viagem a vários géneros musicais. Aproveitem para as ler e ouvir, abaixo.
SNOWY RED - "Never Alive" (1982)
Eu cresci num ambiente envolto em música, uma vez que o meu pai foi um músico. Tanto quanto me lembro, os sons e canções que ele criou e compôs foram os primeiros a entrar no meu cérebro e coração. Eu tinha cinco anos quando ele lançou o seu segundo álbum The Right To Die, sob o nome de Snowy Red. Cinco anos é provavelmente uma idade jovem para dançar e cantar um álbum que tem músicas com títulos como "Nowhere", "Never Alive", "I'm Hurt", "Opium", "Lies In Your Eyes", etc. Esta música aqui, "Never Alive" é provavelmente a que teve o maior impacto em mim. Fiquei fascinado com os sons desbotados e sequenciados. Isto definitivamente levou a que, alguns anos depois eu estivesse a ouvir bandas como Depeche Mode, Duran Duran ou Frankie Goes To Hollywood. Esta é também a razão pela qual o primeiro lançamento da Weyrd Son Records (uma homenagem ao álbum duplo de Snowy Red) tem o título _ever Alive, que é uma referência àquela música "Never Alive" que era tão querida para mim.
FAITH NO MORE - Angel Dust (1992)
Quando a idade de escolher um caminho musical e um género surgiu, o metal foi aquele que de alguma forma me ajudou a lavar e a livrar de todas as frustrações enquanto adolescente. Em 1989 deparei-me com a música "Epic" e houve uma espécie de clique. Depois eu fiquei à espera do próximo álbum, com as expectativas bastante altas. Quando a banda voltou com "Midlife Crisis", o primeiro single do novo disco Angel Dust, eu fiquei em choque. Para mim todos os temas pareciam tão avançados no tempo além de sofisticados. Era definitivamente metal convencional e era isso o que eu estava secretamente à procura, sem ter sequer noção. Os teclados distorcidos e desequilibrados, o baixo funky, as guitarras pesadas, mas líricas, os vocais grosseiros/suaves/maníacos com um toque e todas aquelas influências de tantos mundos musicais distintos... Eu comprei o álbum e de alguma forma odiei-o no momento. Eu não conseguia identificar-me com nada do que eu estava a ouvir ou conhecia na altura, mas todos os dias eu voltava e ouvia um pouco mais e arranhava a superfície para tentar descobrir o que estava acontecendo. Duas semanas depois, eu estava comprado. Eu não poderia passar três horas sem tocar esse álbum. E eu fiz por muito tempo. Provavelmente meses, para não dizer anos. É até hoje meu disco clássico e o mais ouvido de todos os tempos.
JOHN ZORN - "Bith Aneth" (1994)
Por volta da mesma altura descobri o álbum Naked City, do saxofonista e compositor John Zorn. O álbum era uma mistura de jazz com grindcore, surf, punk, tudo misturado com música de filme fácil de escutar e tantos outros estilos misturados num registo muito desafiador com uma duração de 55 minutos. Na capa, o cadáver de um gangster deitado na rua, fotografado por Weegee. Eu estava em torno dos meus 16 anos e tudo isto me impressionou bastante. John Zorn e o seu gosto pelo extremo tornaram-se uma obsessão para mim e tudo o que eu queria fazer era testemunhar ele e a sua banda louca ao vivo. Um ano mais tarde, em 1994, ouvi dizer que ele vinha a Bruxelas apresentar o seu novo projeto chamado MASADA. Eu cheguei lá sem saber o que esperar. A única certeza que eu tinha é que seria selvagem. Quando cheguei lá, descobri uma audiência muito antiga (pelo menos mais antiga que eu). Em vez de grindcore punk com instrumentos de metal, eles tocaram o que me pareceu um "quarteto de jazz para avós". E senti-me um pouco perdido, mas novamente, eu pude sentir ique eles tocavam algo novo, um novo mundo musical com o qual eu não tinha tido nenhuma conexão antes. Eu finalmente comprei o primeiro álbum da série MASADA (e depois toda a coleção dos 10 discos). Na verdade, é um pouco de jazz pouco convencional com uma sensação punk! Hoje quando eu toco esta música, sinto que ela me leva de volta àquele dia de 1994 (abril eu acho) e é como eu posso sentir o cheiro dos assentos, ouvir as pessoas na plateia a tossir entre as músicas ou até mesmo sentir a suave e grossa carpete debaixo dos meus sapatos enquanto eu batia com os pés.
JESSIKA KENNEY & EYVIND KANG - "Tavaf" (2012)
No verão de 2014 eu participei num festival de jazz ao ar livre em Bruxelas e um dos meus ídolos e gurus de todos os tempos, o tocador de viola Eyvind Kang, foi convidado para tocar como convidado especial de um trio de jazz belga. Depois do concerto, eu fiz de tudo para o conhecer apenas com o intuito de agir como um fanboy e expressar todo o meu amor pela sua música e arte. Trocámos os endereços de e-mail e, no decorrer da semana seguinte, enviei-lhe o link de uma entrevista que eu fiz alguns meses antes. Uma das perguntas dessa entrevista era algo como "Nos teus sonhos mais loucos, cita três artistas com quem adorarias trabalhar". Um dos nomes que eu dei foi Eyvind Kang... No dia seguinte eu recebi este e-mail dele a dizer "Eu li a tua entrevista, e vejo que tu mencionaste querer lançar alguma coisa?" e a perguntar como eu me sentia sobre trabalhar em algo com ele de verdade. Eyvind enviou uma música junto com o e-mail e esse foi o ponto de partida de nossa colaboração no álbum At Temple Gate com a vocalista Jessika Kenney e o percussionista Hyeonhee Park. Este lançamento trouxe novas perspectivas e abriu muitas portas para a editora. Além disso, com este álbum, decidi criar uma subdivisão da gravadora, chamada The Light Diggers Series, explorando outros caminhos musicais que a Weyrd Son Records tem trabalhado nos últimos dois anos.
CHELSEA WOLFE - "Neon Green" (2010)
Por volta dos meus trinta anos, exatamente há cerca de dez anos atrás, passei por uma fase em que meu amor pela música estava a esgotar-se. Eu estava a ouvir o mesmo estilo de música repetidamente por um período aproximado a dez anos. Eu estava a sentir-me aquilo que eu poderia chamar de "entediado musicalmente". Uma noite eu estava conversando online com uma boa amiga minha que sempre tinha a música mais obscura e desconhecida para compartilhar. E então ela copiou/colou este link com uma sessão acústica daquela rapariga a cantar e tocar guitarra no que parecia ser algum tipo de música folclórica obscura numa pequena sala com esse reverb exagerado. Isso era tudo tão novo para mim! A cantora era Chelsea Wolfe e eu imediatamente fiquei obcecado com o seu som e as suas composições. Essa música abriu novas perspectivas para mim e eu lembro-me de passar o resto daquela noite a procurar e a ouvir tudo o que pude encontrar dela no Youtube, no Bandcamp e assim por diante. Eu queria tudo. Através dela, descobri uma nova constelação de artistas. Cinco meses depois, ela lançou seu segundo LP, Ἀποκάλυψις, que é até hoje um dos meus discos mais amados.
PURE GROUND - "Atlantic Wall" (2014)
Com a Chelsea Wolfe eu descobri o "toque de Los Angeles". Eu estava a ouvir tudo o que este novo mundo me estava a oferecer. Foi assim que me cruzei com a cena eletrónica minimal de LA e o nome Greh Holger, o compositor e fundador da gravadora experimental Chondritic Sound. Ele também foi membro da dupla Pure Ground, juntamente com Jesse Short. "Atlantic Wall" é a faixa de abertura do segundo EP da banda, Protection, e a primeira coisa que ouvi deles. Eles estavam a fazer alguns concertos muito malvados e a fazer de mim algum tipo de dançarino maníaco - e acreditem em mim, eu não sou o que poderíamos chamar de "dançarino"... - Pure Ground provavelmente tem a mais perfeita discografia dentro do género e eu não podia imaginar a vida sem nenhum dos seus registos na minha coleção. Além disso, tive a sorte de trabalhar com eles num lançamento da Weyrd Son Records, o 7" The Arsonist / And So Remain.
THOT - "DUNA" (2017)
Como um amante de música e dono de uma editora, não tocar música sempre foi algo que me deixou um pouco frustrado. Eu tocava bateria e violoncelo quando era adolescente, mas sempre achei que era terrível e desisti... O álbum de THOT, FLEUVE, é um daqueles discos que me impressionaram muito. Eu às vezes até o chamo do meu "Angel Dust" (ver a segunda referência nesta lista) da década de 2010. Recebi a demo deste álbum na caixa de correio há cerca de dois anos e essa foi uma das poucas vezes que ouvi toda a compilação na totalidade, sem pular nenhuma música. Eu decidi lançá-lo apesar do fato de se tratar de um disco que era absolutamente o oposto de qualquer coisa que eu tinha lançado até à data na Weyrd Son Records. Pela primeira vez, senti como se estivesse andando no escuro e, para ser honesto, um pouco assustado por não fazer a escolha certa. Mas eu simplesmente não conseguia fechar os olhos e queria fazer parte da aventura. Foi uma experiência desafiadora mas igualmente incrível. Agora o líder da banda faz também parte da Weyrd Son Rec como meu braço direito e eu me tornei um membro em tempo integral nos THOT como percussionista depois de um membro da banda não poder fazer uma tour na Coreia do Sul, no último outono.
Se quiserem saber mais sobre a Weyrd Son Records aproveitem para a seguir através do Facebook, pela plataforma Bandcamp, ou através do website, onde podem comprar o seu trabalho.
---------------- ENGLISH VERSION ----------------
Weyrd Son Records, the prolific Belgian label that has been assaulting the underground music panorama since 2013 with lots of quality releases and interesting new names in the current dark scene is our new guest in the new edition of "7 ao mês", whose objective is to present bands/artists, promoters or record labels by revealing their musical tastes and names that have been inspiring their work. For February's edition, we invited Michael Thiel - the owner of Weyrd Son Records - to select seven names/songs that somehow have influenced him not only as a record owner but also as a person. His seven choices reveal a little bit more about Weyrd Son's identity and also present an intense trip to various musical genres. Enjoy reading and listening to them, below.
SNOWY RED - "Never Alive" (1982)
I grew up with music as my dad was a musician himself. As far as I remember, the sounds and songs he created and composed were the first ones to enter both my brain and heart. I was five when he released his second album "The Right To Die" under the moniker of Snowy Red. Five is probably a young age to dance and sing along on a record that has songs with titles such as "Nowhere", "Never Alive", "I'm Hurt", "Opium", "Lies In Your Eyes", etc. This song here is probably the one that had the biggest impact on me. I was fascinated by the sequenced "washy" sounds. This definitely led me to listen to bands such as Depeche Mode, Duran Duran or Frankie Goes To Hollywood a few years later. This is also the reason why Weyrd Son Records' first release (a double album tribute to Snowy Red" has the title _ever Alive, which is a reference to that "Never Alive" song that was so dear to me.
FAITH NO MORE - Angel Dust (1992)
When came the age to chose for a music path and a genre to stick to, metal was the one that kinda helped washing and getting rid of all my teenager's frustrations. In 1989 I came across the song "Epic" and something clicked. I've then been waiting for the following album, expecting a lot from it. When the band returned in 1992 with "Midlife Crisis" as the first excerpt from their new album Angel Dust, I was in shock. Everything to me sounded so advanced on its time and sophisticated. It was definitely conventional metal to me and that was all I was secretly searching for without even knowing it. The distorted and unbalanced keyboards, the funky bass, the heavy but lyrical guitars, the stark/croony/maniac vocals with a twist and all those influences from so many distinct music worlds... I bought the album and kinda hated it on the moment. I couldn't relate to anything I knew then but every day I would go back to it and listening to a little more and scratching the surface to try discovering what was under. Two weeks later I was sold. I couldn't spend three hours without playing that album. And I did for a very long time. Probably months, not to say years. It is to this day my all-time classic and most listened record.
JOHN ZORN - "Bith Aneth" (1994)
Around that same era, I discovered the album Naked City by saxophone player and composer John Zorn. The album was a mixture of jazz with grindcore, surf, punk, all blend with some easy listening film music and so many others styles mixed into a very challenging 55 minutes long record. On the cover, the dead body of a gangster lying on the street, photographed by Weegee. I was around my 16 and all this got a great impression on me. John Zorn and his taste for the extreme became an obsession and all I wanted to do was to witness him and his crazy band live. A year later, in 1994, I heard he was coming to Brussels to present his new project called MASADA. I got there, not knowing what to expect. All I was sure of is that it was going to be wild. When I got there, I discovered a very old (at least older than me) audience. Instead of punky grindcore with brass instruments, they played what seemed to me some "grandpa" jazz quartet. I felt a bit lost but again, I could feel it touched something new, a brand new musical world I had no connection with before. I finally ordered the first album of the MASADA series (and later the whole 10 records collection). It is actually some pretty unconventional jazz with a punk feel! Today when I play this tune, I feel like it takes me back to that day of 1994 (April I think) and it's like I can smell the seats, hear the people in the audience coughing in between songs or even feel the soft and thick carpet under my shoes as I was tapping with my feet.
JESSIKA KENNEY & EYVIND KANG - "Tavaf" (2012)
In the Summer of 2014, I attended an open-air jazz festival in Brussels and one of my all-time idol and guru, viola player Eyvind Kang, was invited to play as a special guest with a Belgian jazz trio. After the show, I managed to meet him only to act like a fanboy and express all my love for his music and art. We exchanged email addresses and in the course of the following week, I sent him the link of an interview I did a few months before. One of the questions of that interview was something like "In your wildest dreams, name three artists you'd love to work with". One of the names I gave was Eyvind Kang... The next day I got this email from him saying "I read your interview, and I see that you mention wanting to release something?" and asking how I'd feel about working on something together for real. Eyvind sent a piece along with the email and that was the starting point of our collaboration on the album At Temple Gate with vocalist Jessika Kenney and percussionist Hyeonhee Park. This release brought new perspectives and opened lots of doors to the label. Also, with this album, I decided to create a subdivision of the label, called The Light Diggers Series, exploring other musical paths than Weyrd Son Records have been about for the two previous years.
CHELSEA WOLFE - "Neon Green" (2010)
Around my thirties, exactly ten years ago, I went through some phase where my love for music was quite running dry. I was listening to the always same stuff over and over for almost ten years. I was what I could say "musically bored". One night I was chatting online with a good friend of mine who always had the most obscure and unknown music to share. And so she had copy/pasted this link with an acoustic session of that girl singing and playing guitar on what appeared to be some kind of dark folk music in a small room with this exaggerated reverb. That was all so new to me! The singer was Chelsea Wolfe and I instantly became obsessed with her sound and compositions. This song opened new perspectives to me and I remember spending the rest of that night seeking and listening to everything I could find from her on Youtube, Bandcamp et so on. I wanted everything. Through her, I discovered a new constellation of artists. Five months later she released her second LP Ἀποκάλυψις which is to this day one of my most loved records.
PURE GROUND - "Atlantic Wall" (2014)
With Chelsea Wolfe, I discovered the "Los Angeles touch". I was listening to everything this whole new world was offering. This is how I crossed paths with the minimal electronic LA scene and the name of Greh Holger, some composer and founder of noise experimental record label Chondritic Sound. He was also a member of the duo Pure Ground, along with Jesse Short. "Atlantic Wall" is the opening track of the band's second EP Protection, and the first thing I've heard of them. These guys were throwing some real badass shows and were making me some kind of dancer maniac - and believe me, I'm not what we could call a "dancer"... - Pure Ground probably has the most perfect discography in the genre and I couldn't imagine life without any of their records in my collection. Also, I was extremely fortunate to work with them on a release on Weyrd Son Records, the 7" The Arsonist/And So Remain.
THOT - "DUNA" (2017)
As a music lover and record label owner, not playing music myself has always been something I was a little frustrated with. I did play drums and cello when I was a teenager but always thought I was terrible at it and quit... THOT's album FLEUVE is one of those records that highly impressed me. I even sometimes call it my "Angel Dust" (see the second reference in this list) of the years 2010. I received the demo of this album in the mailbox about two years ago and this was one of the very few times I did listen to the whole comp in its entirety, without skipping any song. I decided to release it despite the fact that it was absolutely to the opposite of anything I've released so far on Weyrd Son Records. For the first time, I felt like I was walking in the dark and to be honest a little scared not making the right choice. But I just couldn't close my eyes on this one and wanted to be part of the adventure. It was both a challenge and an amazing experience. Now the leader of the band is part of Weyrd Son Rec as my wingman and I became a full-time member of THOT as their percussionist after a member of the band couldn't make it tour in South Korea last Fall.
If you want to know more about Weyrd Son Records make sure you follow them on Facebook, Bandcamp, or their website where you can buy their work.
After having promote some of the hottest nights in Brussels with names such as HIDE, SURE, THOT or KOBAN among the guests, the Belgian label Weyrd Son Records is back this year with two concerts scheduled for the next February 1, 2019, where Wrekmeister Harmonies and Prairie will be making the ceremonies of the night, in Madame Mustache. Wrekmeister Harmonies, whose work is often based upon literature and is someway associated with Godspeed You! Black Emperor, will present in Brussels their latest studio album, The Alone Rush (2018, Thrill Jockey Records) which is also the first as the core duo of JR Robinson and Esther Shaw. The Alone Rush was composed when Robinson and Shaw moved to Oregon, after a period of tragedy in the life of both, with two main objectives: healing their psychic wounds and composing. Throughout six singles, which include deep meditation on death and isolation, Wrekmeister Harmonies show us their emotional heft without the orchestrated bombast of their previous four albums.
The opening of the stage will be in charge of Prairie, the solo project of Marc Jacobs, which will act with Grégoire Fray (THOT) as a guest musician. In Madame Mustache, Prairie will create a soundtrack that reflects his interest exploring the cinematic landscape through field recordings and an exploratory and cutting-edge electronic that features his most recent release, After the Flash Flood (2018). A gig that promises to be engaging as well as psychologically dense.
The concerts are scheduled for 8 PM and the entrances, available only at the door, cost €10. All the additional information can be found here.
Burgeoning Verse | Weyrd Son Records | abril de 2018
8.5 / 10
Há discos que só captam a atenção dos ouvintes um bom tempo após terem sido lançados. Burgeoning Verse, o álbum colaborativo de Ben Chisholm (Chelsea Wolfe) e Felix Skinner (Wreck & Reference), é um desses casos e, talvez, a história por trás de todo o processo que o levou até se tornar uma obra materializada explique porque este disco navegou no mar de lançamentos de 2018 mas nunca alcançou a costa, até agora. Burgeoning Verse começou a ser idealizado há cerca de seis anos atrás, no início de 2013, quando a decadência acelerada do mundo e dos seus próprios corpos levou a que Ben Chisholm e Felix Skinner criassem um estúdio simulado que não apresentasse as limitações físicas e financeiras experienciadas pelos artistas na vida real. Num prazo de 36 horas os músicos produziram 10 músicas com as quais se identificavam, mas cuja qualidade digital das gravações consideravam insatisfatória. Para contornar este facto ambos os músicos voltaram a regravar o disco com recurso a uma instrumentação 100% analógica, processo que lhes tomou mais uns quatro anos. Já com o trabalho na fase final, foi quando enviaram os press tests para a Bélgica que a história de Burgeoning Verse se tornou realmente intensa. O trabalho nunca chegou ao destino e ficou perdido entre as correntes do Oceano Atlântico (pelo menos é esta a história que os músicos querem que nos seja contada).
Trabalhar durante quatro anos para materializar uma obra extremamente ambiciosa, detalhada e avant-garde como parece ter sido o caso de Burgeoning Verse e ainda ter de lidar com a sua perda para eternidade, sem visualizar o efetivo sucesso, é naturalmente uma história trágica, ainda mais nefasta nos dias que correm. Depois do seu desvanecimento no Oceano Atlântico, Burgeoning Verse chega agora aos nossos ouvidos, colocando-nos perante um universo sonoro intemporal e clássico com paisagens de uma poesia instrumental muito rica. A abrir com uma atmosfera de tons sinistros e estética soturna, na faixa "I", as camadas sintetizadas e o piano irrequieto afagam o ouvinte projetando-o para um ambiente tipicamente desconfortável, mas incrivelmente belo. No tema "II" os órgãos tornam-se ainda mais obscuros, interiorizam-se sonoridades de correntes e Ben Chisholm e Felix Skinner criam um caos contido na efemeridade musical. O disco, que contou ainda com a participação de Andrew Clinco (Drab Majesty e Marriages) na percussão da faixa "IV" – uma das mais magistrais peças deste registo – explora ainda os efeitos da inevitável celeridade do ser, bem como certos pontos de emotividade humana, pela sua abrangência sonora. O primeiro lado do disco termina com "V", um tema de música ambiente construído por sobre camadas dreamy.
No lado B voltamos a poder ouvir mais uma das céleres faixas de Burgeoning Verse, "VI", single que recorre a tons orquestrais e intensos, facilmente estimulantes a uma imersão quase instantânea por parte do ouvinte. Música psicologicamente densa e altamente bonita. Os mares do disco levam-nos ainda a "VII", tema onde conseguimos ouvir a simulação de vocais etéreos sobrepostos a uma sonoridade imperativa, "VIII" - que volta a trazer os ambientes contemplativos e de reflexão já presentes em "II" -, "IX" já a deixar aquela nostalgia eminente e, por fim, "X" a marcha fúnebre de despedida. Em suma, Burgeoning Verse pode definir-se como um conjunto de dez registos sonoros que ilustram ambientes cinematográficos e atmosferas de suspense. Além da trágica história que esteve na base do seu processo de composição e produção, este novo trabalho – um disco extremamente desafiante - projeta o ouvinte para um ambiente sonicamente opulento, mas que pode ser lido, numa primeira instância, como um lugar de desconforto pelo desenvolvimento moroso que lhe está associado, bem como pelas atmosferas pesarosas que aporta. Claramente que Burgeoning Verse não é um disco que caia nas boas graças dos ouvintes mais impacientes, mas certamente fará os requintes dos mais apaixonados melómanos do panorama da música instrumental.
