Thursday, September 10, 2009

Sinaloa - Chapel & Basement



Sinaloa is a state. Sinaloa is also one of the best post-hardcore / emo / insert inane genre tag here bands that are currently going. Many of you already know all about them and have probably heard a number of their albums and splits since the early 00's.

Earlier this spring Sinaloa made it down to NYC and for the mini tour released a screenprinted version of their Fathers & Sons LP and this cassette which is comprised of all the songs from Oceans of Islands played acosutically. The title of the release is due to the fact that these songs were recorded in a chapel which the drummers father arranged for them to use.

These version of the songs portray, in startling detail, the intimacy that has always laid at the foundation of any Sinaloa song. Their concern for the world around them has always had its roots in hardcore but such a humanistic approach goes much further back to the dawn of mans first questions. The resonant sounds and the acoustic quality of these songs hearkens back to a time when we didnt need to scream our questions, doubts, and fears about the world around us, but instead could have open discourse with the ability to shape things as they arise. Times have clearly changed and while the severity of what goes on around us continues to elevate in every way possible, this set of songs, presented as they are, juxtaposed with these quick moving and harsh dealing times, is a quiet scream for change. When the din of the world drowns out everything, sometimes it takes just a whisper to shatter the noise.

Sinaloa can be found here and here.
Explanations of all lyrics are included not inly in every release that the band puts out, but also on their website.

Friday, September 04, 2009

Junius - The Martrydom of A Catastrophist (2009)



This just dropped on Gimmesound, courtesy of the band and Mylene Sheath, and I just have to exclaim:

Holy Fucking Shit.. This is SOOOOOOOO GOOOOD!!!

Seriously, this band is amazing recorded. They are amazing live. Mylene Sheath is amazing and is easily one of the best record labels in existence right now.

If you know what the deal is with Junius then let me just tell you that this is going to floor you. The songwriting is so top notch and the vocals and lyrics (from what I can make out) are awesome and this works as a wonderful progression from the Fires of Antediluvia 7" that came out a year or two ago.

If you dont know Junius, well now is the time to get on board. Junius strikes some crazy balance between The Cure, The Chameleons, Depeche Mode (without the electronics), Mogwai, Caspian, and even, though some may see it as a stretch, Quicksand and other progressive hardcore bands of that ilk.

Simply put, they have a number of disparate influences that as a whole work to become something much greater. Visceral and real, haunting and illuminating, The Martyrdom of the Catastrophist is going to be a record to be remembered for years.

Mylene Sheath is pre-ordering the vinyl as of now, and I'll let their blurb speak for itself, as this package looks to be mighty intense. As soon as the funds free up I am grabbing one of these suckers and rest assured it will not be leaving my turntable without a fight.

----------

We're insanely proud to announce that we can begin taking preorders for the incredible new full length by Boston, MA's JUNIUS entitled "The Martyrdom of a Catastrophist". After two critically acclaimed EP's (later combined on a self titled reissue), the band can finally be experienced in true full length form and the results are nothing short of stunning! We've wanted to work with these guys since the humble beginnings of the label, so to finally be able to to work with them is a dream come true for us. Throughout the past few weeks we've laughed, we've cried, we've faught, we've healed, we've slept little and hugged lots - and the end result is something that not even we could have imagined =) The packaging is, quite simply, going to drop jaws. You'd definitely be hard pressed to find a harder working, more dedicated band. Constantly pushing themselves to the next level, both artistically and functionally as a band, Junius believes in what they're doing with all their hearts... and so do we. And it is with that mutual belief in one another that we announce the preorder for "The Martyrdom of a Catastrophist"!!

PREORDER HERE: Junius - The Martyrdom of the Catastrophist Preorder

We went all out for this monster - the vinyl will have 5mm spine, super thick 350gsm jackets with spot gloss and include a massive 11" x 11" 16 page paperback book in which the cover is on heavy, upgraded 250gsm stock w/spot gloss and the inner pages are on 200gsm uncoated paper featuring art by Drew Speziale (Circle Takes The Square) and illustrator Matt Gauck. The CD comes housed in a 300gsm cardboard gatefold CD jacket and includes massive 24 page booklet on thick uncoated paper featuring art by Drew Speziale and Matt Gauck as well. The album was recorded by Kevin Mills and Tom Syrowski (Weezer, AFI) and mastered by Dave Collins (Danny Elfman, Black Sabbath). There's also a tote bag edition of the vinyl, the record will come snuggled up inside a limited edition, preorder only, Junius tote bag! These will be hand screened by the band themselves in a very limited run of 25, exclusive to this preorder =)

Pressing info for the vinyl will break down like this:
-100 on clear vinyl with bronze haze
-100 black and bronze vinyl swirled
-700 bronze vinyl

All preorders will ship out in late October and as always, don't hesitate to let us know if you have any questions.

------------------

So thats that!! Get on this shit!! If you like vinyl, it sounds like you cant lose out with this presentation and if you arent in the market for LPz than please support the artist by getting it for free at Gimmesound.com