It now seems obligatory that whenever a band releases a new record they trail the release by releasing a free mp3 to fans who sign up to their mailing list.
 
These free tracks can give anxious fans a welcome glimpse of what to expect or introduce curious browsers to their sound. Sometimes though, given the work and effort that has gone into creating the album, it seems unfortunate that many people’s first experience of the album is a highly compressed audio file often listened to through tinny computer speakers.
 
Giancarlo Erra of Nosound is one artist who has raised these concerns.  Renowned for their epic soundscapes, which fuse elements of progressive, ambient and post rock, Nosound have just completed the recording of their third album, A Sense Of Loss.
 
Erra states that

‘I have always loved spending a lot of time crafting layers, sounds, details, all nuances of acoustic instruments, and when you have to mix such complex palette of sounds, you’re always concerned how many people will be able to listen that 45hz kick or that 18khz air over drum sounds… there’s a problem of dynamics, frequencies and ‘detail’ in sound and stereo projection. The new album was thought and made for a careful listening experience, in the best possible technical situation, and the 5.1 is probably the ideal mix for it.’

To address this issue Giancarlo has decided to distribute one of the tracks from the album as a free high quality DTS 5.1 surround quality download that can be burned onto a normal CD and played on almost any home theatre system or DVD player.
 
The track can be downloaded from www.thebenchmusic.com/nosound. We believe this is the first time anyone has offered a track as a legitimate free download in this form.
 

A Sense Of Loss is the follow up to the 2008 album Lightdark and is in stores from November 2nd 2009 but is already shipping from Kscope. It was preceded by the single Constant Contrast which was released on October 26th and is available from all major download stores.
 
Giancarlo describes the album as a ‘move from the classic ‘rock’ or (or rock ambient) approach used in Lightdark to a more unique sound, with influences from more contemporary alt and post rock.’
 
To create this sound the band used less synths (any that were used were almost all a strict selection of vintage synth sounds) and more real instruments including a string quartet, leading to ‘an even more emotional recording than Lightdark’.
 
Erra goes on to state, ‘The overall production and sound have moved to a more ‘natural’ overall sound, combined with some different sounds and approaches, a little far from Lightdark, but still distinctively Nosound (probably more now than before).’
 
The video for Constant Contrast, also filmed and directed by Giancarlo, is now online at www.kscopemusic.com/nosound and can be seen here:

A new video for the track International Dirge has just been completed, and can be seen below:

TOUR CANCELLATION

It is with much disappointment that we have to announce the cancellation of all of our forthcoming gigs.

Due to some unavoidable personal circumstances we cannot perform the gigs with our full line up and we feel that this would not do justice to our recorded work.

Many apologies to those who have bought tickets and arranged transport and accommodation, and also to everyone involved in the organization of them.

We really appreciate your support and hope that you can obtain adequate refunds.

There are no plans to reschedule the gigs at the present time.

Sorry for any inconvenience,

Engineers.

Kscope are pleased to announce Kscope’s latest signing, North Atlantic Oscillation. The band have been described as prog-pop and electro-rock, but really they just make music. The music has soaring harmonies and loud guitars and dreamy synths and heavy drums and strange effects and unexpected changes-of-mind.

‘An astonishing amalgam of Flaming Lips and Grandaddy indie-pop sensibilities with a bewildering vista of sound sweeping ahead of the listener… Acid-addled, silver-caped prog genius.’
Is This Music?

NAO are the Scottish based trio of Sam Healy (vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards, synths, sax, percussion), Ben Martin (drums, percussion, programming) and Bill Walsh (bass, synth bass, vocals). They describe themselves as playing their instruments within a computerised wall of sound.
 
The band’s debut release is now available to order from the Kscope store. A 4 track EP, titled Call Signs, it provides the perfect introduction to the band prior to the release of their debut album, Grappling Hooks, in early 2010.

 
Call Signs features a radio edit of the lead track Cell Count along with ‘Ceiling Poem’ (both taken from ‘Grappling Hooks’) a cover of I Only Have Eyes For You and 77 Hours remixed by Kscope label mates Engineers.
 
More details on the band and the release can be found at www.kscopemusic.com/northatlanticoscillation and the bands full biog can be read here.

The new studio album from Nosound

Formed in Italy in 2001, Giancarlo Erra’s Nosound create a seductive and original fusion of elements of progressive, ambient and post rock.

Regarded by critics and fans alike as one of the most interesting up and coming alt/art rock bands in Europe, A Sense Of Loss is their third album, the follow up to the 2008’s Lightdark.

Lightdark was described by Classic Rock (UK) as ‘more great stuff from new label Kscope’ and A Sense Of Loss builds on this album by introducing alternative post rock songs to Nosound’s ever evolving sound.

Giancarlo describes the album as a ‘move from the classic ‘rock’ or (or rock ambient) approach used in Lightdark to a more unique sound, with influences from more contemporary alt and post rock.’

To create this sound the band used less synths (any that were used were almost all a strict selection of vintage synth sounds) and more real instruments including a string quartet, leading to ‘an even more emotional recording than Lightdark.

Erra goes on to state, ‘The overall production and sound have moved to a more ‘natural’ overall sound, combined with some different sounds and approaches, a little far from Lightdark, but still distinctively Nosound (probably more now than before).’

The album was written, recorded, produced, mixed and mastered at Nosound Studio (Rome) by Giancarlo Erra. Additional production was by Paolo Martellacci, Gigi Zito, Alessandro Luci, Paolo Vigliarolo. Additional recordings made at PanPot Studio (Rome) by Gigi Zito and Diapason Studio (Rome) by Simone Satta.

This 2 disc edition of the album includes a DVD containing 5.1 surround and 24bit mixes of the album, video footage, picture gallery and more.

A video teaser for the album is now online at www.asenseofloss.com and the album is available to pre-order from the Kscope store and will ship from October 26^th. All orders placed through the Kscope store will receive a exclusive signed postcard.

www.kscopemusic.com/nosound

Acting as a bridge between No-Man’s elegiac 2008 return Schoolyard Ghosts and the forthcoming live concert DVD Mixtaped, Wherever There Is Light is a strictly limited edition release.

From Schoolyard Ghosts, the poignant title track features guest performances from US pedal steel legend Bruce Kaphan (American Music Club/Red House Painters) and Theo Travis.

The alt-country tinged Death Was California and the atmospheric Counting are two new songs especially written for the EP, while Carolina Skeletons and All The Blue Changes are the first recordings released from No-Man’s Autumn 2008 mini-tour.

Also containing Grant Wakefied’s poetic video for the title track, a powerful preview from the Mixtaped DVD, and striking Carl Glover designed artwork, the enhanced Wherever There Is Light EP is a rare and beautiful thing from the band Uncut memorably described as ‘Britain’s most underrated sorrowful sonic architects’.

Wherever There Is Light is already available from the Kscope store but will available in stores from August 24th.

Click here for the web page for the Wherever There Is Light, which features audio samples from the ep, as well as live footage of title track Wherever There Is Light, taken from the Mixtaped DVD.

Mixtaped is a double DVD set and will be available from 5th October. The set comprises the band’s sell-out performance at London’s Bush Hall in 2008, a comprehensive career-spanning documentary, and numerous extras (including newly commissioned and archive video footage), and provides a fascinating insight into one of British music’s most unusual cult heroes.

Mixtaped Disc One:

No-Man’s complete Bush Hall live performance with 5.1 and stereo options (90 mins).

Live photo gallery – Including photos from all three of No-Man’s first live concerts in 15 years, with an exclusive soundtrack of the song Housekeeping (recorded live in Dusseldorf).

Mixtaped Disc Two:

Returning – A 90 minute career-spanning documentary including previously unseen footage, photos and images, and in-depth interviews with every member of No-Man past and present (including Tim Bowness, Steven Wilson, Ben Coleman and Chris Maitland).

Extras – Complete videos for several No-Man songs spanning 1990-2008.
Rare live footage.
No-Man ‘live timeline’.
Easter eggs.

Last year The Pineapple Thief launched Kscope with the critically acclaimed album, Tightly Unwound.

While the album was many people’s introduction to the band they have actually spent the past nine years quietly building up a dedicated fan base across the globe, selling over 25,000 records and nurturing their ‘bittersweet’ progressive sound over six previous albums.

3000 Days collects highlights from these albums and provide a 2CD overview of the band’s career before signing withKscope. Bruce has re-mixed and re-mastered all of the tracks on the set and had this say about the release:

‘Have 3000 days really passed so quickly? All those years ago, back to the day when I recorded the first TPT album, armed only with my emu sampler, guitars, mic and cobbled together studio. It’s been a strange experience, ressurrecting all these old songs and sonically bringing them up to speed but Steve and I had a lot of fun doing it. Looking back, it was a miracle I managed to release all those albums at all, such is the gulf between the ‘old and new’ studios. But it’s been great to have the opportunity to release these songs again, with the sound they deserve and the great packaging you would expect from a Kscope release. Now I can move on and focus on the next 3000 days…’

3000 Days is available from the Kscope store.

The tracklisting for 3000 Days is:

CD1

1. God Bless The Child

2. Shoot First

3. Part Zero

4. 137

5. We Love You

6. Clapham

7. Dead In The Water

8. Kid Chameleon

9. Tightly Wound (Acoustic)

10. Remember Us

CD2

1. The World I Always Dreamed Of

2. Wretched Soul

3. All You Need To Know

4. Vapour Trails

5. How Did We Find Our Way

6. I Will Light Up Your Eyes

7. Subside

8. Private Paradise

9. Snowdrops

10. Too Much To Lose

The Pineapple Thief will be on tour in Europe throughout 2009 as well as writing and recording their new studio album, currently scheduled for early 2010.

www.kscopemusic.com/thepineapplethief

]]> http://www.kscopemusic.com/2009/07/24/the-pineapple-thief-3000-days-2-disc-set-of-early-recordings/feed/ 0 http://www.kscopemusic.com/2009/07/24/blackfield-live-in-nyc-cddvd-2-disc-set/ http://www.kscopemusic.com/2009/07/24/blackfield-live-in-nyc-cddvd-2-disc-set/#comments Fri, 24 Jul 2009 14:45:04 +0000 admin http://www.kscopemusic.com/?p=531

A new Blackfield DVD + CD set is now available to pre-order from the Kscope store.

Blackfield is the acclaimed collaboration between Steven Wilson and Aviv Geffen. Live In NYC captures a gig recorded at the Bowery Ballroom in New York in 2007 performing tracks from the critically acclaimed Blackfield & Blackfield II records.Over the past few years Steven Wilson’s Porcupine Tree have made the transition from a solo project to genuine international stars with their latest album Fear Of A Blank Planet selling over 125,000 worldwide. Aviv Geffen is Israel’s leading counter culture rock musician. A huge star in his native country, while his outspoken political views have caused huge controversy his records have been greeted with equal amounts of adulation, earning him a string of gold albums.

In recent years Aviv has worked with various other artists including Elbow and Belle And Sebastian but it has been his partnership with Steven that has proved the most fertile.

This is the first time that the gig has been available on CD. The DVD also includes the bonus features of three video clips & a photo gallery. The set shall be in stores from August 24th.

‘Conclusive proof that Blackfield are a force to be reckoned with’ Classic Rock
Click here to pre-order the set.

The Blackfield I & II albums will also be reissued onKscope. The first album will be available from August 10th with the second following on September 14th.

For more info, downloads, a trailer of the DVD and more go to: www.kscopemusic.com/blackfield

The Three Fact Fader mini-site is now online at www.kscopemusic.com/engineers, which features info on the album, audio samples, a free mp3 from the album, downloads plus the video for the single Clean Coloured Wire and the chance to order from the Kscope store.

All orders placed through the Kscope store come with an exclusive 2 track CD featuring the radio edit of the single Clean Coloured Wire and the Steven Wilson remix of Sometimes I Realise. This will be the only physical release of these tracks and will only be available through the Kscope store.

To mark the release, the band  played their first live gig in over 2 years on July 10th 2009 at the Bush Hall in London. They were also joined onstage by special guest Ulrich Schnauss

In addition, Richard Barbieri (Porcupine Tree / ex-Japan) performed a rare live set on what promises to be a special evening.

Kscope is pleased to announce that the Danse Macabre mix is the winner of the recent Steven Wilson remix competition.

The remix of Abandoner created by Łukasz Langa (www.DailyImprov.net) topped the poll on the Insurgentes mini-site which offered fans the chance to vote for their favourite mix from the eight finalists selected by Steven. This mix will now feature on the CD and download versions of the NSRGNTS RMXS mini-album, alongside mixes from David A. Sitek (TV On The Radio), Dälek, Engineers, Pat Mastelotto and Fear Falls Burning.

We received over 200 entries to the competition, each of which were listened to personally by Steven. He was so impressed by the response and the quality and diversity of the entries that we have decided to launch a new competition to coincide with the release of NSRGNTS RMXS. For this competition rather than asking for people to remix a track, we are instead inviting people to create a video for one of the tracks.

Full details will follow shortly so make sure to check back to the site regularly or sign up to the mailing list, Twitter or RSS feeds.

New release featuring remixes of tracks from Steven Wilson’s Insurgentes album

REMIXES BY DAVID A. SITEK (TV ON THE RADIO) , Dälek, ENGINEERS, PAT MASTELOTTO (KING CRIMSON) AND FEAR FALLS BURNING

Insurgentes, the debut album from Steven Wilson, was released earlier this year on Kscope. The album immediately received a rapturous reception from not just fans and critics but also from fellow artists. Several of these artists have remixed tracks from the album and NSRGNTS RMXS is a collection of some of these remixes.

The CD edition features a mix of the albums opening track Harmony Korine by David A. Sitek, currently enjoying massive critical acclaim for the new TV On The Radio album. Underground hip-hop pioneers Dälek have created a dark, brooding mix of Get All You Deserve (think Massive Attack meets UNKLE). Engineers, who return on July 6th with their new album Three Fact Fader, have brought their widescreen sound to Abandoner while Pat Mastelotto (King Crimson, XTC) has created a sprawling mix of Salvaging and drone act Fear Falls Burning have also reworked Get All You Deserve.

The 12”vinyl edition of NSRGNTS RMXS will only available from the Kscope store. It also features the David A. Sitek mix along with two mixes of Only Child by Pat Mastelotto.

The full tracklist for the vinyl is:
A1. Harmony Korine (David A Sitek mix) 5.14
B1. Only Child (Pat Mastelotto mix 3) 4.32
B3. Only Child (Pat Mastelotto mix 1) 5.56

The mini-album is completed by the winner of the remix competition. The competition offered fans the chance to remix the Insurgentes track Abandoner. With the competition now closed Steven has listened to all the entries and whittled them down to a final eight mixes. The eight mixes are now up on the insurgentes mini-site giving fans the chance to vote for their favourite. Voting ends on Friday May 29th.

The full tracklist for the CD is:
1. Harmony Korine (Magnetized Nebula remix by David A Sitek)
2. Get All You Deserve (Dälek mix)
3. Abandoner (Engineers mix)
4. Salvaging (Pat Mastelotto mix)
5. Get All You Deserve (Fear Falls Burning mix)
6. Abandoner (Remix Competition winner)

A digital edition will also be available which will collects all six tracks available on the CD and 12”.

NSRGNTS RMXS is available now from the Kscope store.

Engineers are back. Four years after the release of their landmark debut, the band return with their epic second album, Three Fact Fader.

The 13-track album was produced by the band along with Ken Thomas (Sigur Rós, M83, Maps) over a period of two years, with the final tracks being completed earlier this year. It comes packaged in stunning artwork by legendary music photographer Tom Sheehan.

Engineers are not like any other band. Onstage Simon Phipps is the singer, Dan Macbean is the guitarist, Mark Peters is the bassist and Sweeney is the drummer, but the real clue is in their name: they approach their music like engineers, carefully constructing wonderful walls of sound.

Following the rapturous reception that greeted their mini-album Folly in 2004 and debut Engineers the following year, it’s taken them a long time to build their epic second album, Three Fact Fader. After initial recording sessions, Engineers became unwitting victims of record company restructuring and the album was left in limbo, unfinished until the band reconvened earlier this year, largely motivated by public support.

The band have now found a home on Kscope and Three Fact Fader will be released on July 6th.

More information on Engineers and Three Fact Fader can be found at the new website at www.kscopemusic.com/engineers. The site also features a free mp3, remixes, videos, downloads, gallery and more.

You can also pre-order the album from the site. All orders placed through the Kscope store will come with an exclusive 2 track CD featuring the radio edit of the single Clean Coloured Wire and the Steven Wilson remix of Sometimes I Realise. This will be the only physical release of these tracks and will only be available from this site.

The band will be playing their first gig for over two years on July 10th at Bush Hall, London. For the gig they will be joined by Ulrich Schnauss and keyboard legend Richard Barbieri (Japan /Porcupine Tree) will also be performing a rare live set. Tickets are available from ticket web and we got tickets.

Engineers’ long awaited second album, Three Fact Fader, is due to released on Kscope on July 6th.

To mark the release, the band will be playing their first live gig in over 2 years on July 10th at the Bush Hall in London. They will also be joined onstage by special guest Ulrich Schnauss

In addition, Richard Barbieri (Porcupine Tree / ex-Japan) will also be performing a rare live set on what promises to be a special evening.

Tickets are available now for £13.50 (plus booking fee) from and

The Three Fact Fader mini-site will go live on May 19th at www.kscopemusic.com/engineers, which currently has a short video of Dan and Mark mixing the album in the studio to the album title track. You can also join the mailing list to download a free track from the album, Brighter As We Fall.

Chapters, a 2CD introduction to Anekdoten, is going to be released on Kscope on April 27th.

Anekdoten are considered one of the leading bands in contemporary progressive rock. The band formed in Sweden in 1991 and have released five albums on their own Virta label. Chapters is a 2CD set which mixes tracks from these albums along with rarities and unreleased tracks.

A mini-site featuring details on the album, band biography, video, downloads and a free MP3 is now online at www.kscopemusic.com/anekdoten. You can also pre-order the album from this site.

The Pineapple Thief return with two four track EPs, entitled The Dawn Raids. The EPs will be available as a download and also as limited edition CDs. The CDs will be strictly limited to 2,000 copies of each and will be available only via the Kscope store. The first EP is available to pre-order from the store now and shall ship in March with the second following a month later. Click here to order your copy.

In addition to two versions of Tightly Wound the EPs feature several unreleased tracks. Bitter Day is a specially written track, Freefall is a previously unreleased track, but a live favourite, and The West Coast and February 13th are unreleased Tightly Unwound session tracks. Due to popular demand, two tracks from the previous digital only EP Too Far Gone and Second Chance are also included.

The full tracklists are:

The Dawn Raids (part one)
Tightly Wound (dawn edit) 
The West Coast 
February 13th  
Too Far Gone   

The Dawn Raids (part two)
Tightly Wound (acoustic version)
Freefall
Bitter Day 
Second Chance

The band have recently completed a short tour of Holland. Details and pics of the tour are now online at the band’s blog. They are also traveling to Canada in May to play in Québec City.

Lots of bands claim to be different, but few actually are. Engineers, though, are definitely one of the few.

They’re a group who ardently believe in the restless, symphonic power of music. They’re driven forward by the same impulse that compelled Dennis Wilson to write Pacific Ocean Blue or Talk Talk to forge Spirit Of Eden. When so much around them is prosaic and mundane, Engineers want to create music of immense depth and scope that combines the experimental with the emotional. Inspired by everything from Brian Eno and The Cocteau Twins through to Todd Rundgren and Spiritualized, they’re interested in the music they make and little else.

Three Fact Fader, the follow up to their critically acclaimed self-titled debut, will be released on Kscope on 6th July 2009.

The debut was described as ‘The most out-and-out gorgeous collection of songs you’ve heard in a long time’ by The Times (★★★★) and a

’stunning debut from leading lights of nu-gaze… Engineers are never anything less than beautiful’ by the NME (9/10)

and Three Fact Fader follows this by creating an another album of panoramic beauty.

For more details sign up to the mailing list at www.kscopemusic.com/engineers
and check out their MySpace too!

Insurgentes, the debut solo album from Steven Wilson, is released in the UK on March 9th and during the week of release Steven will be visiting key independent record shops in London, Cheltenham, Cardiff and Bristol to sign copies of the album. Details of exactly where and when are below.

A vinyl edition of the album is now available to pre-order from the Kscope store. The vinyl edition will be limited to 2000 copies and will come on double heavyweight (180g) vinyl in a gatefold sleeve. This edition shall only be available from this site. It also features 4 bonus tracks not available on the CD/DVD edition.
 
Harmony Korine, the first single to be taken from the album, is now available to pre-order from the Kscope store. The single is available on limited edition coloured vinyl (black, white or blood red – 1000 copies of each). 

Lasse Hoile, the acclaimed director and long-time collaborator with Steven, has made a promo video for the single. You can check it out on the Insurgentes mini-site.
 
The mini-site also features clips taken from the forthcoming Insurgentes documentary. In the film Steven tests various ways to destroy an iPod and every week leading up to the release of the album snippets of the film shall be posted on the site, showing a different method of destruction ranging from hammers to shotguns to woodchippers. Click here to view the iPod destruction.

We have received a large number of entries for the remix competition that is running on the website but some people have contacting us to ask if we can extend the deadline for entries so we have decided to move it back to March 27^th.
 
UK instore signing sessions;
 
Monday 9th March 5.30pm
Sister Ray
34-35 Berwick Street, London, WIV 8RP
 
Tuesday 10th March 5.30pm
Rise
Unit 19, Beechwood Centre, Cheltenham, GL50 1DQ
 
Wednesday 11th March 5.30pm
Spillers Records
36 The Hayes, Cardiff, CF10 1AJ
  
Thursday 12th March 6.00pm
Fopp Bristol
27-29 College Green, Bristol, BS1 5TD

A new mini-site for Insurgentes is now online at www.insurgentes.org. In addition to audio clips, a free mp3 and downloads, the site also features a remix competition. The remix that Steven judges to be best will be included on a future official Steven Wilson release. If you are looking for some inspiration, there are two new mixes from Engineers (Kscope’s newest act) and Pat Mastelotto (King Crimson) already available to stream on the site.

The first single to be taken from the album, Harmony Korine, is available to pre-order from the site. Harmony Korine will be issued as a limited edition 7 inch vinyl single in a choice of three different colours – black, white, and blood red, each limited to 1,000 copies. The single will only be available through the mini-site.

A video for Harmony Korine is currently being made by long time collaborator Lasse Hoile and will be streamed from the site as soon as it’s ready! Lasse is also putting the finishing touches to the Insurgentes documentary. Trailers for the film are also streaming on the mini-site.

The mini-site also includes;
• Free mp3 track download
• Remix competition – winner to be included on an official Steven Wilson release
• New mixes from Engineers  and Pat Mastelotto
• Pre-order links for ltd edition 7″ single Harmony Korine (only available from the mini-site)
• Audio streams
• Video for Harmony Korine coming soon
• Trailers from the forthcoming Insurgentes documentary, filmed by Lasse Hoile
• Web and mobile phone downloads
• Artwork Gallery
• IPod destruction videos coming soon

Acclaimed for his work with Porcupine Tree, Opeth and Anja Garbarek amongst others, Steven Wilson’s debut album Insurgentes will be released on Kscope on the 9th of March 2009 (24th February in the US and digitally from 16th February)

Comprising 10 new tracks that range from ballads and anthems to all-out industrial noise assaults, the dark, cinematic and richly textured album represents two years’ worth of creative output and numerous recording sessions worldwide in studios from Mexico City to Japan and Israel. 

While Wilson is a member of several bands including Blackfield, No-Man and Bass Communion, he explains that: “when I began writing these songs, I quickly realized that they would be best suited to an album under my own name.  It was an intuitive, almost unconscious writing process that resulted in a kind of ‘poetry of melancholy.”  The final product inhabits a similar experimental realm as recent albums by Thom Yorke, Portishead, and Nine Inch Nails.


Wilson recruited a stellar cast of guests to work on the album including bassist Tony Levin, drummer Gavin Harrison, and keyboardist Jordan Rudess, alongside Japanese Koto player Michiyo Yagi, British guitarist Sand Snowman, and jazz flautist and saxophonist Theo Travis.

New EPs planned for the new year
The two four track EPs, entitled The Dawn Raids will be available as a download and also as limited edition CDs. The CDs will be strictly limited to 2000 copies of each and will be available only via the Kscope store. The download will be available as an eight track bundle from all major download platforms from the end of January.

In addition to two versions of Tightly Wound the EPs feature several unreleased tracks. End Days is a specially written track to close Bruce’s writing for 2008.  Due to popular demand, there are two tracks from the previous digital only EP Too Far Gone and Second Chance.  Freefall is a previously unreleased track, but a live favourite, and The West Coast and February 17th are unreleased TU session tracks.  

The full tracklists are:

The Dawn Raids Volume 1 
(Due for release in January 2009)
Tightly Wound (extended version)
Free Fall (unreleased track, live favourite)
February 17th (session track)
Too Far Gone (previously digital only)

The Dawn Raids Volume 2 
(Due for release in March 2009)
Tightly Wound (tight version)
The West Coast (session track)
End Days (brand new track)
Second Chance (previously digital only)

Back on the Road
The Pineapple Thief are back on the road playing live in December, and have already penned in a few dates for the new year, both home and abroad, the schedule so far reads:

12th December 2008 Jericho Tavern, Oxford
10th January 2009  The Musician, Leicester
23rd January 2009  John Dee (Ved Rockefeller), Oslo – Norway
7th February 2009  The Peel, Kingston-on-Thames
5th March 2009  Romein, Leeuwarden, Holland
6th March 2009  Mezz, Breda, Holland
7th March 2009  Kade, Zaandam, Holland
2nd May 2009  Québec City, Canada

More dates in both Europe and North America are due to be confirmed soon. The band will be spending the time between these dates writing and recording the new album which is due for release in spring 2010.

My Debt To You Remix Competition
One final piece of TPT news and Congratulations to Michel Simons, who was Bruce’s choice as the winner of the remix competition. You can hear the remix below.

The Kscope edition of Insurgentes, the solo album from Steven Wilson is now available to pre-order from the Kscope store.

Insurgentes will be ship from 24th February, but you if you pre-order it now you will receive a link to download the album in 256kb mp3 format to listen to while you wait for your physical copy to arrive. Orders placed through this website will also include a free exclusive postcard.

Acclaimed for his work with Porcupine Tree, Opeth and Anja Garbarek amongst others, Insurgentes is Steven Wilson’s debut solo album. Comprising 10 new tracks that range from ballads and anthems to all-out industrial noise assaults, the dark, cinematic and richly textured album represents two years worth of creative output and numerous recording sessions worldwide in studios from Mexico City to Japan and Israel. 

To watch a trailer set to the first song from the album, Harmony Korine and to hear more music from the album visit www.insurgentes.org 

While Wilson is a member of several bands including Blackfield, No-Man and Bass Communion, he explains that “when I began writing these songs, I quickly realized that they would be best suited to an album under my own name.  It was an intuitive, almost unconscious writing process that resulted in a kind of ‘poetry of melancholy.”  The final product inhabits a similar experimental realm as recent albums by Thom Yorke, Portishead, and Nine Inch Nails.

For the album, the first of a three album deal with Kscope, Wilson recruited a stellar cast of guests to work on the album including bassist Tony Levin, drummer Gavin Harrison, and keyboardist Jordan Rudess, alongside Japanese Koto player Michiyo Yagi, British guitarist Sand Snowman, and jazz flautist and saxophonist Theo Travis. 

This edition consists of a 2 disc set in a rigid hardback digibook with 36 page booklet. Disc one is the already acclaimed 10 track album on stereo CD, and disc two is a DVD-A containing the album in higher resolution 24 bit stereo and 5.1 surround sound (in high res DVD-A and DTS version compatible with any DVD player), an 18 minute extract from Insurgentes film, and 2 album trailers.

Tracklist:
Harmony Korine
Abandoner
Salvaging
Veneno Para Las Hadas
No Twilight
Significant Other
Only Child
Twilight Coda
Get All You Deserve
Insurgentes

Lightdark, the new album from Nosound, recently released on Kscope, has been nominated for three awards at the Italian Prog Awards.

The album is up for the best Italian album and best recording awards while the album’s stunning artwork (photography and design by Giancarlo himself) has been recognized in the best artwork category.

Full details on the awards can be found at www.progawards.it or visit the mini-site for more info on the album, the new video for the track Kites, downloads and more.

Lunatic Soul the self titled debut solo record from Mariusz Duda is released today on Kscope. Mariusz Duda is the lead singer and creative force behind the Polish band, Riverside.

Since the release of their debut album in 2003, Riverside have built a solid fan base in a genre that boasts the likes of Porcupine Tree, Opeth and Dream Theater. Lunatic Soul adds another name to this new post-progressive stable.

Duda described the album by saying:

I touched upon a vital subject on this record, namely… death. What came out of this was a conceptual journey to the world beyond full of reflections on transience and all we may want to leave after we pass (if we want to leave anything). In the sphere of music, it will be intriguing.

Classic Rock reviewed Lunatic Soul this month (September 2008, Issue 123), and had this to say:

Poland’s Riverside released one of the prog albums of 2007 with Rapid Eye Movement, and Lunactic Soul is the debut solo project from the band’s frontman Mariusz Duda. It’s more reflective and less intense than Riverside, full of languorous, near-whispered vocals and understated tribal rhythms, notably on The Final Truth.

7/10

 

A mini-site featuring audio samples, downloads, info and more is now online at www.kscopemusic.com/lunaticsoul. The site also offers a free mp3 of the title track to anyone who signs up to the mailing list.

Lunatic Soul is in stores now, available from the Kscope shop or can be downloaded from:

Anathema’s Hindsight European tour kicks off next week. The tour starts in Utrecht, Holland on Wednesday 8th October and sees the band playing gigs across 12 countries over October and November.

The tour follows the release of Hindsight, the new semi-acoustic album of classic tracks. Hindsight has received widespread critical acclaim across the world with Metal Hammer naming it as one of its albums of the month, Rocksound describing it  as ‘quality renditions of quality songs’ and Terrorizer stating that it’s ‘a treat for old and new fans… Anathema remain an extraordinary band’.

Following the Dutch gigs the tour visits Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Poland, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Hungary, France, the UK and Greece.

Full dates are below or can be found on the mini site which also contains info on the album, audio samples, downloads and more.  Support on the tour comes from Demains.

The Hindsight tour dates:
8/10 HOLLAND, Tivoli, Utrecht
9/10 HOLLAND, W2, Den Bosch
10/10 BELGIUM, Biebob, Vosselaar 
11/10 HOLLAND, Boerderij, Zoetermeer
12/10 GERMANY, Colos Saal, Aschaffenburg 
13/10 GERMANY, Matrix, Bochum 
14/10 GERMANY,  Longhorn, Stuttgart
15/10 tbc
16/10 GERMANY, Centrum, Erfurt 
17/10 GERMANY, Columbia Club, Berlin 
18/10 GERMANY, Markthalle, Hamburg 
19/10 DENMARK, Pumpehuset, Copenhagen 
20/10 POLAND, Proxima Club, Warsaw 
21/10 POLAND, Studio Club, Krakow 
22/10 GERMANY, Backstagewerk, Munich 
23/10 SWITZERLAND, Z7, Pratteln 
24/10 ITALY, New Age, Treviso 
25/10 ITALY, Rolling Stone, Milan 
26/10 ITALY, Alpheus, Rome 
28/10 AUSTRIA, Szene, Vienna
29/10 HUNGARY, Avalon Club, Budapest
31/10 SWITZERLAND, Les Docks, Lausanne
1/11  FRANCE, Lyon, Villeurbanne 
2/11  FRANCE, Lille Splendid
4/11 ENGLAND, Academy Club, Manchester
5/11 SCOTLAND, Cathouse, Glasgow
6/11 ENGLAND, Carling Academy, Sheffield
7/11 ENGLAND, Islington Academy, London
8/11 ENGLAND, Barfly, Birmingham
9/11 ENGLAND, Zodiac, Oxford
10/11 ENGLAND, Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth
29/11 GREECE, Athens Fuzz Club 
30/11 GREECE, Thessaloniki Principal Club

The band’s video diary of the trip is now on The Pineapple Thief TV which is online at www.pineapplethief.com/tv. The video diary captures some of the highs and lows of an eventful trip including the band’s triumphant performance at the festival, cancelled flights and loads of polish vodka.

The festival also gave the band the chance to meet up with Mariusz Duda from Riverside whose new solo album Lunatic Soul is released on Kscope on October 13^th. More details on Lunatic Soul can be found at www.kscopemusic.com/lunaticsoul.

The Pineapple Thief TV also features footage of the band live at a recent London gig and the first instalment of the ‘Thief Workshops’ where TPT main man Bruce Soord talks us through how to play one of the band’s tracks. First up is Boxing Day taken from the album Little Man.

Stranger Inside, the new solo album from Richard Barbieri is out now.

Spanning four decades, Richard Barbieri’s eclectic musical career has encompassed innovative contributions to Japan in the 1980s and contemporary worldwide success with Porcupine Tree. 

Following the artistic and critical success of his 2005 debut album Things Buried, Stranger Inside further develops Barbieri’s unique approach to texture, harmony and rhythm.

Writing and producing the album himself, the album includes contributions from long-term creative partners Steve Jansen (mixing/ co-arranging), Steven Wilson (mastering), Gavin Harrison (drums) and  the legendary double bass player, Danny Thompson (currently enjoying renewed acclaim as part of the reformed Pentangle). In addition the album features the sampled voices of Tim Bowness (No-Man) and Suzanne Barbieri. 

The CD comes in digipack artwork by Carl Glover and Luigi Colasanti.

To download a FREE track from Stranger Inside, download desktops and more, go to the mini-site at www.kscopemusic.com/richardbarbieri/strangerinside

Tracklist
Cave
All Fall Down
Hypnotek
Byzantium
Decay
Abyssyn
Morphia
Retina Blur
Stranger Inside

Stranger Inside is also available to download from the following stores:

Also released this week is the 2CD edition of the new Nosound album Lightdark.

Formed in Italy in 2001, Giancarlo Erra’s Nosound creates a seductive and original fusion of elements of Progressive, Ambient and Post Rock.

Regarded by critics and fans alike as one of the most interesting up and coming alt/art rock bands in Europe, Lightdark sees the Nosound identity evolve into something even more focused and powerful.

Lightdark inventively combines influences from ’70s psychedelia, ’80s/’90s ambient and contemporary alt/progressive rock.

Recorded in Italy, England and the US throughout 2006 and 2007, the album develops further the promise of debut album Sol29 and exhibits a stronger group identity which reveals a greater contrast between atmospheric detail and the walls of sound created by the band on stage.

Highlights include the 15 minute epic From Silence to Noise, the ethereal The Misplay (with cellist Marianne DeChastelaine), and the epic piano/mellotron driven ballad Someone Starts To Fade Away (which features No-Man’s Tim Bowness on vocals).

This 2 disc edition of the album includes an exclusive five track bonus disc including the video for Lightdark.

Tracklist
Disc One:
About Butterflies And Children
Places Remained
The Misplay
From Silence To Noise
Someone Starts To Fade Away
Kites
Lightdark

Disc Two:
Cold Afterall
Like The Elephant?
You Said ‘I Am.’
Clouds 
Lightdark (Enhanced Video Track) 

The Lightdark mini-site is now online at www.kscopemusic.com/nosound. The site features the video for Kites, a downloadable 15 minute sample of the album, including The Misplay (Instrumental Coda) & From Silence To Noise recorded live, as well as desktop and mobile phone downloads and other audio samples.

Lightdark is also available to download from the following stores:

A brand new video for Kites, filmed and edited by Giancarlo Erra, is now streaming at the Nosound mini-site. The mini-site has also been updated to include a new downloadable desktop created by Giancarlo Erra too.

The self-titled debut from Lunatic Soul, the new project from Riverside frontman Mariusz Duda is  released on Kscope on October 13^th 2008.  A new mini-site featuring info on the album, audio samples, downloads and more is now online here.

For a limited period the site is also offering a free mp3 of the title track from the album to anyone who signs up to the Kscope mailing list.

The Lunatic Soul album has allowed Duda, in collaboration  with a host of other respected musicians, to create a collection of atmospheric  tracks which he has described as ‘an oriental-trans-psychadelic-verbal-musical journey through the pitch darkness available only to those who have… a lunatic soul.’

 Go to www.kscopemusic.com/lunaticsoul for more details.

Following the release of Hindsight, the new semi-acoustic album of classic tracks, Anathema have announced a major European tour in support of the album. Hindsight has received widespread critical acclaim across the world with Metal Hammer naming it as one of its albums of the month, proclaiming it contains Moments of sublime beauty and Rocksound have described the album as Quality renditions of quality songs.

Formed in Italy in 2001, Giancarlo Erra’s Nosound creates a seductive and original fusion of elements of Progressive, Ambient and Post Rock.

Regarded by critics and fans alike as one of the most interesting up and coming alt/art rock bands in Europe, Lightdark sees the Nosound identity evolve into something even more focused and powerful.

Lightdark inventively combines influences from ’70s psychedelia, ’80s/’90s ambient and contemporary alt/progressive rock.

Recorded in Italy, England and the US throughout 2006 and 2007, the album develops further the promise of debut album Sol29 and exhibits a stronger group identity which reveals a greater contrast between atmospheric detail and the walls of sound created by the band on stage.

Highlights include the 15 minute epic From Silence to Noise, the ethereal The Misplay (with cellist Marianne DeChastelaine), and the epic piano/mellotron driven ballad Someone Starts To Fade Away (which features No-Man’s Tim Bowness on vocals).

This 2 disc edition of the album includes an exclusive five track bonus disc including the video for Lightdark.

Lightdark will be released on September 15th.

Tracklist
Disc One:
About Butterflies And Children
Places Remained
The Misplay
From Silence To Noise
Someone Starts To Fade Away
Kites
LightdarkDisc Two:
Cold Afterall
Like The Elephant?
You Said ‘I Am.’
Clouds 
Lightdark (Enhanced Video Track) 

To download the usual desktops and other audio samples, go to the mini-site at www.kscopemusic.com/nosound

New solo album from Japan and Porcupine Tree legend Richard Barbieri

Spanning four decades, Richard Barbieri’s eclectic musical career has encompassed innovative contributions to Japan in the 1980s and contemporary worldwide success with Porcupine Tree.

Following the artistic and critical success of his 2005 debut album Things Buried, Stranger Inside further develops Barbieri’s unique approach to texture, harmony and rhythm.

Writing and producing the album himself, the album includes contributions from long-term creative partners Steve Jansen (mixing/ 
co-arranging), Steven Wilson (mastering), Gavin Harrison (drums) and  
the legendary double bass player, Danny Thompson (currently enjoying  
renewed acclaim as part of the reformed Pentangle).

Although instrumental in nature, most tracks feature radical and atmospheric manipulations of the sampled voices of Tim Bowness and Suzanne Barbieri.

The CD comes in digipack artwork by Carl Glover and Luigi Colasanti.

Stranger Inside is in stores from September 15th and will be available digitally from September 8th.

To listen to a six minute sampler of the album, download desktops and more, go to www.kscopemusic.com/richardbarbieri/strangerinside

Tracklist:
Cave
All Fall Down
Hypnotek
Decay
Abyssn
Byzantium
Morphia
Retina Blur
Stranger Inside

The first new release from Anathema for five years is now available on Kscope. Taken from the new semi-acoustic album, Hindsight, the two track download features the brand new track Unchained (Tales Of The Unexpected) alongside a new arrangement of Flying.

Hindsight will be released on CD by Kscope on August 25th 2008 and will be available to download from August 11th. For more information on the album release go to www.kscopemusic.com/anathema

Both downloads are available from major download sites but high quality FLAC downloads are available from the Burning Shed download store (mp3 downloads also available from Burning Shed)

Anathema - Unchained (Tales Of The Unexpected) & Flying 

The Pineapple Thief have also released a download EP this week following the success of their recent album, Tightly Unwound. In addition to featuring a single edit of the lead track, Shoot First and an alternate version of My Debt To You, the EP also features two completely new tracks.

Second Chance was written and recorded during the Tightly Unwound sessions while Too Far Gone is a completely new piece that Bruce has recently written when starting work on the new album.

The Pineapple Thief – Shoot First download EP

A video for Shoot First has been shot by the acclaimed director Lasse Hoile (Porcupine Tree, Opeth, Dream Theater, Blackfield). The video is now premiering on the Tightly Unwound mini-site