Author: HalfEdgeMedia

Regular writing and podcasting about music

New Singles from Ian & Neil Moss and 2 Lost Souls plus new Mesmer Disciples

Hi Folks

Hope you are all well and coping with this strange state of affairs

We continue unabated to share new music with you – being mostly digital does have its advantages.

On April 17th we have two new releases featuring Ian Moss.

First up he is back with brother Neil with a new single called “Blowing Smoke Up My Hole” – While Neil goes ultra minimal his big brother dissects the shallowness of celebrity and the mutual need of worshippers and the worshipped. Probably their most avant- garde single to date!

Blowing Smoke

The other release involving Ian is through his partnership with Paul Rosenfeld in 2 Lost Souls. Their new single is called “Liquorice Flavour” and comes with a “B” side called “Scrape It Off”. German Shepherd subscribers will also receive a bonus track called “Soho”. As a polar opposite to the Ian and Neil release this is a pure rock song with Ian demanding he hear some proper Rock and Roll from Jerry Lee Lewis rather than being fed the watered down pop of Fabian. Paul provides all the music with the sterling assistance of Paul O’Sullivan on bass.

Liquorice Flavour

We’ve just launched a competition with a fiendishly hard quiz to win a limited edition 2 Lost Souls T Shirt or a digital copy of their album “Cords and Digits”. Everyone who enters will get a free copy of the new single – check out the ultra hard quiz here

In addition to the above  Ian, Neil and Paul have curated a podcast to support the release of the singles which will be available from Bob’s Mixcloud page on the week of release.

And in other news…..

Leeds based Mesmer Disciples are back with a brand new single – we are currently sorting out a release date  – here’s a preview….

Competition Time! The fiendishly hard German Shepherd Treasure Hunt Quiz!!!

For a chance to win a limited edition 2 Lost Souls T Shirt or a free copy of the bands album “Cords and Digits”  why not enter the fiendishly hard German Shepherd quiz set by our fiendish quizmaster Mr Osborne.

Some of the answers to the questions will require a bit of studying on the German Shepherd website, on others you will need to do a bit of Google-ing.

If you can’t answer all the questions it doesn’t matter just send in what you can and you will get a free copy of the new 2 Lost Souls single “Liquorice Flavour”!

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When you have completed the quiz (or answered as many of the questions as you can)  e-mail it them to :

Two_Lost_Souls@outlook.com

T Shirt Prizes are in the following sizes

  • 1 medium
  • 2 large
  • 2 XL
  • 2 2xl

Sorry but we do not have any other sizes….

PLEASE LET US KNOW WHICH SIZE YOU WOULD LIKE IF YOU WIN

CLOSING DATE AND TIME FOR ENTRIES IS SATURDAY 11th APRIL AT 12 NOON

THE QUESTIONS

 

1 Which 70s band was Neil Moss a member of? Which group did the singer of that band go on to form?
2 Eddie Fenn was a member of The Stepbrothers with Ian Moss. Which ex  member of The Fall’s band was Eddie a member of and name that band?
3 Name the two support bands playing at the gig at The Kings Arms when DJ  Dave Hammond met Bob & Ian at The Distractions gig.
4 What is the name of the imaginary location that appears in much of Moff Skellington’s work
5 How many ex-members of The Fall have released music with German Shepherd Records?
6 What is the name of the metal covers band that Jon Rowlinson and Mark Taylor of Four Candles play in.
7 Which band on German Shepherd includes an ex-member of Dr Freaks Padded Cell?
8 German Shepherd release music by a band from Leeds – what are they called?
9 Who are Michael T. Scott and Paul Ridley better known as?
10 Name Aidan Cross’s band before Weimar (his band – not one he was in lead by another person)
11 Who sang backing vocals on the first German Shepherd release?
12 Who hosts a famous supper club on the Prick Jaggers album?
13 Which two musicians link the bands Weimar and Poppycock and what is the name of the band they are in.
14 Who sings guest vocals on EP2 by the Unseasonal Beasts – what is the name of their current bands
15 Which song links The Junta and Adventures of Salvador?
16 Bob Osborne wrote the lyrics to the song “Panic in The Elevator” by Northampton Band Essential Personnel – which more (sort of) famous band did the guitarist from Essential Personnel go on to form? Bonus Points if you can name him.
17 Which 1968 Vincent Price film has a link to a German Shepherd artist?
18 Who are Bert Vile and Rat better known as?
19 Which German Shepherd  band writes and records their music in a shed?
20 Which German Shepherd artists first music project was called Shirokuma?

 

New releases from Loop-aznavour, Umbrella Assassins and Lizard Brain plus reissues

Here are the details of our releases on April 10th plus news of some reissues and an additional single release on April 3rd

Loop-aznavour

Adventures of Salvador front man and theremin wizard Loop-aznavour resumes his solo career with a brand new album  Les Idiots de L’Electronique.

Loop takes us through ten great new songs involving a wide selection of bizarre and wonderful characters. Applying his unique and dead-pan humour to the everyday idiosyncrasies of life this collection will certainly lighten the mood in these trying times.

Cover

Back

Umbrella Assassins

Haverhill’s finest proponents of Shed Punk are back with a full length which includes revisited versions of tracks from the previous EPs and Singles released by German Shepherd.

Album Art

Entitled Humanity it’s a concept album dealing with the adventures of  Dodo Freak (Freakum Dodois) the last of his kind. Losing faith in humanity he escapes to a new planet. As years go by he wonders what has become of his old home, so he decides to look. Hurtling through the countryside in his spaceship he meets a girl, falls in love and starts a family. Through new found friends he assembles a band of humans, those lucky few. The pioneers of the twelve by ten. The creators of Shed Punk.

Mixing raw shed punk with some lighter pop tunes and experimental pieces this is Steve, Garry and Bunge with their best offering yet.

The band have put together an entertaining podcast to support the release of the album which will be available around the time of release from Bob’s Mixcloud Page.

UA-Lockdown-special

Re-releases

Following a change in our distributors we are pleased to announce that the following are available once more from all the digital streaming and download sites…..

plus a host of reissues of Moff Skellington albums:

Plough Monday, On Flanders Moon, Golfer In Disgrace, Bargains Are A Hollow Syrup, Fetch, Uncle Roy’s Utopian Vision Parts 1 and 2, The Corduroy Bridge, Thorny Conduits

Eighth Day Magazine

We are continuing to write a monthly column for the excellent Eighth Day Magazine. March’s edition included a piece on Moff Skellington and an introduction to The English Disease. April’s edition which is due out at the weekend includes the first of a two part article on our work with Cambridge Bands – check out the magazine here

and finally …..there’s an extra release scheduled for April 3rd from

Lizard Brain

The Lizard Brain team have produced an excellent remix of the track Put Some Love In Your Heart from their That Has A Nice Ring To It album.

Again we felt that this tune offered some hope and love during the current lockdown. This track is a taster for their new single 32 Years which will follow on April 24th.

Put Some Love In Your Heart

Stay safe!

Kaiju Hijinks

The third full length album from Cambridge based alternative rock band  Bouquet of Dead Crows welcomes new bassist Karen Gadd, which balances out the yin and yang within the quartet, and which also  brings a fresh and revitalised feel to the bands sound.

BODC New Line-up

The complete collection is called Hemispheres – the title of which describes an album of two parts – Celestial and Cerebral.

We released a first track from the album “Left to Rot” in October last year.

The second release from the album is a single “Kaiju Hijinks” which will be available via Bandcamp and all the main digital outlets  from April 4th.

The recording of the second half of the album has been delayed so on May 22nd we will be releasing the first half of the album – Celestial.  More details to follow!

This latest chapter in the Bouquet of Dead Crows story  finds the quartet adopting a more progressive sound with their trademark riffs with big melodies approach being enhanced to incorporate more layered and nuanced elements, different time signatures, and more reflective and sometimes ambient sections. The duality of the album title is carried through to the music. Intense hard rocking sections contrast with quieter moments.

Artwork for the single has as usual been created by the highly talented Stewart Harris.

Kaiju_sleevefullres

The Junta’s Network gets new distribution…plus subscriber special live album!

We have recently been re-organising our distribution arrangements and this has given us the opportunity to relaunch several albums in the back catalogue. One of the first of these is the re-issue of The Junta’s Network album from 2018.

Now distributed by A1 Music this excellent album shows the self-proclaimed Techno-Head at his best with guest appearances from Loop-aznavour (Adventures of Salvador), Aidan Cross (Weimar) and legendary Salford City Radio DJ Stephen Doyle. Combining an encyclopaedic knowledge of modern electronica with some post-punk and pop smarts this album finds The Junta at his most inventive.

In addition to the above album we are releasing a subscriber only live album of The Junta playing at Manchester’s AATMA venue.

JuntaAatma cover

Here are some highlights from Network