Feast of Beast

Ancien Régime - Brief Encounter

I’ve been increasing listening to more cold wave/post punk/minimal wave type of stuff, and if you’re into all of that, then Ancien Régime is top notch. I need to remember to keep a closer eye on Mannequin, seeing as they special in just exactly all of that, and their releases are small and quick to run out. This was Ltd to 300 copies and is long gone. Snatch a digital copy or start hunting discogs if you want the vinyl.

Mannequin Records:

It’s quite unusual for an Italian band to get attention before its first full-length even comes to life. Ancien Régime from Rome might just be the exception to this rule. In fact, the band sole release before 2012 had been the quickly sold out limited edition Split Ep (Mannequin), released together with Brooklyn-based cold wave heroes Led Er Est.
Since then, Ancien Régime have been playing all over Italy along with outstanding bands such as Two Door Cinema Club, Is Tropical, The Soft Moon, Clan of Xymox, A Place to Bury Strangers and many others.

Their first album “The Position” evokes new wave and synth-pop memories, delivering epic vintage sounds and wrapping them all with catchy riffs and melodies. Still, despite this fascination with the past, the band’s work stands out as a distinctive, highly personal take on the genre.

The album is opened by the single “Negative”, with its dark gloomy vocals and war-like drumming. “Negative” is, in fact, the quintessential Ancien Régime composition: wave, biting snare, interweaving synths and guitars, reverbs, delays.

“The Position” was recorded and mixed by Alessandro Gavazzi of “Hell Smell” – Rome, and co-produced by Alessandro Adriani from Mannequin Records and Ancien Régime.

#Ancien Régime #mannequin records #cold wave #no wave #post punk #minimal wave

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The Snails - Coconut Boat

I had never heard of The Snails until recently, but this popped up on my radar because it includes members from Future Islands, and those guys freakin rule. Plus you gotta respect any band sporting matching felt snail hats n glasses.

The Snails - Worth the Wait EP is excellently titled and being released on double gatefold 7” (one of the most unneccessarily extravagant vinyl formats, besides maybe an 8”). Ltd to 250 hand-numbered copies with one 7” pink and the other green. Another 750 copies will be pressed on non-colored vinyl. Order yours from Thrill Jockey or Friends Records.

Friends Records:

Baltimore’s answer to the California Raisins, The Snails, are ready to come out of their shells for long enough to swoon a turntable and dance hall near you. With their own brand of AM radio reggae-pop fronted by Samuel T. Herring of Future Islands, these mollusks are no longer native to only Baltimore.

Roughly five years ago Spank Rock asked Future Islands to play his birthday party in Baltimore. Gerrit Welmers was down in North Carolina at the time, so Samuel T. herring and William Cashion put together a rag-tag group of friends to play some old songs by Art Lord & the Self-Portraits. Snail heads were created for the affair, and a few shows later the group’s own slimy songs were born.

True to their name, The Snails have only played about ten shows since, and all of them have been under their own rock. Those who have at times worn a snail hat include William Cashion, Abram Sanders, Samuel T. Herring, Andy Abelow, Drew Swinburne, Jana Hunter, Bob O’Brien, April Camlin, Ryan Syrell, Joel Herring, Brian Corum, Andrew Burt and Justin Lucas.

Friends Records is proud to present the long-awaited debut EP from The Snails, Worth The Wait. The five song album will be released via a limited double seven inch pressed to fluorescent pink and emerald green vinyl and enclosed in gatefold packaging. The release features the current cast of snails: Snail Braham, Snailburne, Sammy Snail, Snailliam, and Sandy Snailbelow.

The debut features hand-drawn art by fans that submitted their own versions of the aforementioned creatures, and was mastered by Sarah Register of Talk Normal at the Lodge.

#The Snails #future islands #thrill jockey #Friends Records

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