Wednesday, December 23, 2015

2015, 2016

Happy holidays, all! 

2015 was a big one. I worked 31 new releases as a publicist. I finished recording my second solo EP, Body Stuff 2. I moved twice, ultimately landing in what is my eleventh and favorite apartment in two decades of NYC life. I began muay thai training. I saw my writing published in Mass Appeal. I buried my grandmother, visited my dad for the first time in years, and witnessed two dear friends get married. I tried sobriety – Dec 31st will mark one year of it.

For a complete recap of my 2015 releases, see here.

Now, to 2016! It all continues. I have some very cool new projects in the works, to be announced. For now, here's the recap of my Jan-Feb releases. As always, I am grateful to be able to put my time toward representing art I believe in. As always, thank you for the work you do.

Jan 29 - Hollow Earth - Parting Remains - Good Fight Music
• Three songs of the Detroit-area band's apocalyptic, metal-clad hardcore, Parting Remains was recorded by Tad Doyle, leader of O.G. Seattle grungers Tad, and mixed and mastered by Greg Thomas of Misery Signals
• A sound that's both facebreaking and heartbreaking, something like the metallic hardcore of Turmoil set in Bolt Thrower's ominous war-torn landscape
• Hollow Earth includes frontman Steve Muczynski and guitarist Mike Moynihan, both ex-members of Shai Hulud
• "One of metallic hardcore's best offerings" –Invisible Oranges
• "Doom-y metallic hardcore nastiness" –Decibel 

Feb 5 - Graf Orlock - Crime Traveler - Vitriol Records
• Having spent more than a decade using Hollywood blockbusters as inspiration, LA's Graf Orlock has now taken the next step: third full-length (and tenth overall release) Crime Traveler is an album based entirely on an as-yet-unreleased film the band wrote, directed, and starred in itself
Crime Traveler tells the story of a French-Canadian assassin who discovers a wormhole and travels back in time to rewrite history in Canada's favor
• Upholding Graf Orlock's rep for the coolest packaging on the planet, Crime Traveler is packaged in an actual, full-size, color newspaper, written and designed by the band
• Slayer-level metallurgy and Black Flag-level rawness meet as Graf Orlock, more than a decade into its career, continues to perfect its sound...
• "The future of music" –VICE
• "Fury, stripped down to its barest form" –MetalSucks

Feb 5 - Ghostlimb - Difficult Loves - Vitriol Records
• Ghostlimb is the LA trio fronted by Justin Smith, owner of Vitriol Records and rumored mastermind behind Graf Orlock
• Equal parts violence and melancholy, Difficult Loves churns forward like an alliance between Napalm Death and Hot Water Music! Grindcore meets post-hardcore, as blastbeats and chugs cohabitate with bluesy leads and gruff melody
• By day, Smith is a professor of history, earning him the tag of "The Heavy Metal Professor" in the LA Weekly's 2013 list of "the most interesting people in Los Angeles" – Difficult Loves is filled with references to historical events, from Ancient Greece to modern-day LA...
• Difficult Loves was recorded, mixed, and mastered by Jack Shirley (Deafheaven, Whirr, Beau Navire)
• "Gravel-caked D-beat, hardcore, and grind-lite with an emotional core." -SPIN
• "Melodic and violent." -Exclaim!

Feb 5 - Moon Tooth - Chromaparagon - self-released
• Long Island, NY's Moon Tooth mashes together rock, metal, and blues, into a fusion that bursts with color... A fireworks display of melody and rhythm, its progressive, aggressive sound is brimming with soul, riddled with hairpin turns, and delivered with the grace and swing of real virtuosos
• The soul of Jeff Buckley and the prog-metal chops of BTBAM... the rock of Mastodon and the jams of The Mars Volta...
• On tour all winter, including WSOU's 30th anniversary metal celebration, Feb 20 w/ Candiria and Old Wounds
• Guitarist Nick Lee is also the newest member of classic heavy metal act Riot
• "An undeniably strange, totally kick-ass beast" –MetalSucks
• "Moon Tooth leads the wolfpack... with shred" –GearGods

Feb 12 - Eight Bells - Landless - Battleground Records
• The majesty of '70s Pink Floyd – ethereal vocals, soaring guitars – combines with Victorian ghostliness and modern-day black/doom intensity in a sound that transcends time entirely
• Recorded and mixed by Billy Anderson (Neurosis, Leviathan) and mastered by Justin Weis (Pallbearer, Agalloch)
• From Portland, OR, consisting of current/former members of SubArachnoid Space, Curezum, Immortal Bird, Thrawsunblat
• US tour in February w/ Voivod and Vektor
• "A tour-de-force... out-there progression, ethereal atmosphere, and unexpected harmonies." –Noisey

Coming soon - Black Black Black - Altered States of Death and Grace - Aqualamb Records
• Hard-rockin' Brooklyn "doom pop" on Aqualamb Records, the Brooklyn label that releases albums in the form of beautifully designed, 100-pg, softbound books!

THANKS
THANKS
THANKS