Soft Abuse newsletter: Brute Heart's album / tour, Horrid Red's new EP / tour, etc

[Soft Abuse]

Welcome, June:

 

Summer has broken Minneapolis apart, it’s wonderful.  Hope all is right where you’re at...

 

Lots happening around here, despite not a lot of hubbub from Soft Abuse HQ.  Been working hard behind the scenes on lots of projects, most notably the new album (and tour!) from Brute Heart, who are one the best reasons to live in Minneapolis (thought we have lots of good bands here…), as well as the new EP from Horrid Red, which arrives in time for their debut (!) live performances out in California.  More to share about each, of course, as well as some other exciting projects, but first… sad news…

 

I’d been planning – since January – a pretty massive Soft Abuse party / showcase / thing for this summer out in California, specifically in the Santa Cruz zone (since Big Sur can be so crowded).  Many hours were logged, lots of bands solicitations were made & after months of work, the festival was scrapped due to poor communication with the promoter, problems with the venue & a miscommunication with one of the bands involved.  It’s humbling to spend so much time & dream so hard for something like this to come together, only to not have it come together.  Really sad.  But…  all hope isn’t lost on doing something like this again (maybe next summer?), perhaps in a different locale, even…  we’ll see….

 

The minor bump caused by the festival dissolution is moot once talk of two killer two releases is nigh.  First & foremost, we’re pleased to unveil Brute Heart to ears outside of Minneapolis / the Midwest.  Aside from being my favorite band in town, the trio created wholly unique sounds from the lineage of The Raincoats, Dog Faced Hermans & the like…  They’re fairly popular locally, and recorded sessions at KCMP (The Current), and KUOM (Radio K) in advance of their brilliant, breathtaking new album, Lonely Hunter (seek out their Daytrotter session, too, it’s awesome).  Jackie, Crystal and Crystal have been involved with other bands (and threadbare orchestras) in town for years, but something’s really gelled for them with Brute Heart…  More information is below, including west coast tour dates.  Please help spread the word!  Lonely Hunter is the first tri-format release for Soft Abuse (CD / CS / LP)! 

 

Our other new release is a missive from Horrid Red, arriving only a few months after their scorching Pink Flowers EP.  And like Pink Flowers, the new Silent Party EP is released in a dual format (7” and CS), both of which feature a download code with extra songs.  Silent Party isn’t officially released (distros, stores, etc) until July, but we’ve got these now & they’re ready to ship in honor of Horrid Red’s debut live performances in California this month.  The tape version is a little delayed, but the 7” are here…  More info below, too.

 

Also happening soon, at last, is the re-mastered limited LP edition of Pumice’s brilliant Pebbles album.  This one’s been in the works for a while, thanks to so many requests over the years since Pebbles was initially issued (2007).  The art’s been tweaked, the mix & master’s been tweaked (by the subtle hand of Patrick Klem), and we couldn’t be happier.  We’re aiming for an August release for this, but pre-orders are happening now (here).

 

More coming soon, too, including a 7” from Julian Lynch (this one’s hung-up with art issues, but not far off), limited cassettes from Ulaan Khol and Primitive Motion, and a new album from Pumice.  Others as well, which we’ll share with you in due time…

 

Lots to share this time around, here goes…

 

 

NOW AVAILABLE (shipping now!)

 

(click on the artist/title to purchase, obtain more info, hear a sample, etc)

 

BRUTE HEART Lonely Hunter CD / CS + DL / LP + DL (SAB048)

Brute Heart (Crystal Myslajek, Jackie Beckey & Crystal Brinkman) craft tense, dense, trance-inducing sounds with primarily bass, drums, viola & voice (all three sing). Informed by the fringes of post-punk, art rock, dark folk & other idiosyncratic strains, Brute Heart’s warm, mysterious music evoke recollections of Dog Faced Hermans, Family Fodder, and ESG, as well as contemporaries Quix*O*Tic and Grass Widow. 
Lonely Hunter is Brute Heart's second album, and it showcases an eerie ability to shift through several rites, all towing the line between familiar and alien: swaths of extended Eastern-influenced melodies inform primal dervishes, hypnotic & danceable punk movements are cloaked by occult mysticism. Coaxed by the haunting echo of viola and the trio’s spoken / moaned / sung vocals, the nine songs on Lonely Hunter unravel in a multitude of ways, with mystery, warmth and wonder.
Check out their video for ‘Eclipse’ here.

 

CD

$11.00 ppd USA

$15.00 ppd elsewhere

CS

$8.00 ppd USA

$11.00 ppd elsewhere

LP:

$15.00 ppd USA

$25.00 ppd elsewhere

 

 

HORRID RED Silent Party EP 7” + DL / CS + DL (SAB047)

The Silent Party EP continues Horrid Red's exploration of arcane aspects in new wave & post-punk. This freshly hatched EP recorded last month (March 2011) in Berlin & San Francisco, in anticipation of their summer tour, kicks off with the somewhat funky title track. It might be a fun party jam if it wasn't so creepy. From there it descends into the Red Western nightmare that is The Horror & The Cruelty, built on a galloping Wall of Voodoo beat & twangy guitars. Meanwhile the b-side mini-opus Marble Staircase Parts I & II comes on like a Colin Newman solo track, with atonal crooning over watery guitars, and dissolves into a morbid piano ballad (featuring Clay Ruby tickling the ivories). Tying it all together as always is Bunker Wolf's inimitable German-language rants & producer Edmund Xavier's high lonesome guitar melodies.
Silent Party EP is available as a 7" single in a edition of 300 copies, and as a cassette in an edition of 50. Both include a digital download code with extra tracks.

Check out their video for ‘The Horror & The Cruelty’ here.

BUNKER WOLF: vocals
EDMUND XAVIER: instruments

CLAY RUBY: piano, synth
CATHOLIC PAT: drums

 

7”

$7.50 ppd USA

$11.00 ppd elsewhere

CS

$8.00 ppd USA

$11.00 ppd elsewhere

 

 

STILL NEW

 

HORRID RED Pink Flowers EP 7” + DL (SAB044) [last copies!]
$7.50 ppd USA

$11.00 ppd elsewhere

 

PRIMITIVE MOTION Certain Materials EP 7” + DL (SAB046)
$7.50 ppd USA

$11.00 ppd elsewhere

 

PIGEONS Liasons CD / LP + DL (SAB045)

CD:

$11.00 ppd USA

$15.00 ppd elsewhere

LP:

$15.00 ppd USA

$25.00 ppd elsewhere

 

PIGEONS Visions of the Valley 7” (SAB043) [last copies!]
$7.50 ppd USA

$11.00 ppd elsewhere

 

 

HAPPENING SOON

 

PUMICE Pebbles LP + DL (SAB022) [re-mastered!] [pre-order here]

JULIAN LYNCH Music for ‘How Mata Hari Lost Her Head and Found Her Body’ 7” + DL (SAB049) [pre-order here]

PRIMITIVE MOTION By Arc or Chord CS + DL (SAB051)

ULAAN KHOL La Catacomb CS + DL (SAB0??)

PUMICE tba CD / CS / LP (SAB050) [new album!]

 

 

ARTIST NEWS

 

CAR COMMERCIALS

Dave & Dan have been dormant since last summer’s misunderstood / awesome Prisoner of Type single.  David’s been working on new solo material & actually sent me a batch of new discs (American Wildlife) to send out FREE with orders.  If interested, please let me know…

 

THE DEADNOTES

The band have been recording heaps of new material, in addition to their pending new release for Soft Abuse, a 7” single in collaboration with Everett True (!!).  Stay tuned…

 

LANGTRY

At last, a new album from Patrick McKinney should see the light of day before too long.  More info on this next time around (for real)…

 

OLYMPUS

Stefan & Kraus issued a lathe cut single (extremely limited) on the Epic Sweep label…  Fusetron is supposed to get copies…  I still need one, myself.

 

PIGEONS

Following a great string of shows with D. Charles Speer in March/April, Pigeons are working on a European tour this fall & another set of US dates later in 2011.  A new album is in the can, too, in addition to the upcoming CS release on the Big Love label (Japan).

 

PRIMITIVE MOTION

The duo has been manically recording, and now have dozens of songs in the can.  Their debut full length (a CS) will be issued shortly, with more to follow…

 

PUMICE

Stefan’s getting the finishing touches together for his new album, tentatively titled Puny, which due in the fall / winter on Soft Abuse.  He just wrapped a set of shows alongside Eat Skull, and will play the Winter Chills Fest in Newcastle Australia next weekend.

 

ULAAN KHOL

The long-delayed La Catacomb will finally see the light of day on Soft Abuse this summer.  UK has otherwise entered a stage of dormancy, from which Ulaan Markhor will rise… more info soon…

 

 

LIVE EVENTS

 

BRUTE HEART

06/08 - Missoula, MT - BSMT (with Shahs)

06/10 - Seattle, WA - Comet Tavern

06/12 - Portland, OR - Valentine's

06/13 - Portland, OR - In Other Words

06/14 - Olympia, WA - Le Voyeur

06/15 - Weed, CA - Black Butte Center for Railroad Culture

06/16 - Oakland, CA - The Church (with Cacaw, Rrind)

06/17 - San Francisco, CA - Hemlock Tavern (with Horrid Red, Burial Hex, DJ Soft Abuse)

06/19 - Los Angeles, CA - Origami Records in-store

06/19 - Los Angeles, CA - Public Figure (with Metal Rouge)

06/21 - Denver, CO - The Hi-Dive

 

HORRID RED

06/16 - Sacramento, CA - The Hub (with Burial Hex, Ganglians)

06/17 - San Francisco, CA - Hemlock Tavern (with Burial Hex, Brute Heart)

06/18 - San Francisco, CA - TBA (with Hank IV)

06/19 - Los Angeles, CA - The Echo (Part Time Punks)

 

PUMICE

06/11 – Newcastle, AUS – Croation Club (Winter Chills Festival)

 

 

THIS MAILING LIST

 

This sporadic list is used to notify folks of new releases, tours and the like.  If you'd rather not receive these updates, please write li...@softabuse.com & asked to be removed. 

To join the googlegroup version of this mailer, visit the contact page on our site & enter yr email address…

 

 

SEMI-CURRENT LISTENING

 

STAN HUBBS Crystal LP (Companion)

ANGUS MACLISE / TONY CONRAD Dreamweapon III (Boo Hooray)

PINK REASON Shit in the Garden LP (Siltbreeze)

CUFFS Privilege 7” (Ride the Snake)

UV RACE Homo LP (In the Red)

VERNON WRAY Wasted LP (Sebastian Speaks)

MATT VALENTINE What I Became LP (Woodsist)

JERUSALEM & THE STARBASKETS Dost LP (DeStijl)

ROBERT WYATT 1982-1984 LP (Rough Trade)

BOOMGATES Layman’s Terms 7” (Smartguy)

 

 

Thanks & thanks,

Chris / Soft Abuse

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SOFT ABUSE
www.softabuse.com