A limited number of 50 digipac CDs of Boz Hayward’s new album “Tennessee Ten” are now available from our Bandcamp Page. Each CD has been numbered and signed by Boz.
Grab a copy now before they all get snapped up!
Storm Warning
Keltrix’s critically acclaimed second album “Between and Beyond Storms” is now available on our Bandcamp page where you can grab the digital album or get one of the remaining limited number of CDs.
This double album marks the transition between the bands original folk-rock sound and their current more electronic/dance approach. Contrasts can be made between a selection of the bands repertoire with both old and new versions of some key songs presented as part the release.
Pre-order Tennessee Ten Now
Boz Hayward’s brand new album Tennessee Ten is now available for pre-order in advance of the official release date of July 7th.
In addition videos are available for the two preview tracks “Night of the Fireflies” and “The People Are Good”
Boz launches the album at South West Manchester Cricket Club on July 6th. It’s five minutes from the Chorlton Metrolink Stop. Musicians performing with Boz on the night will be Phil Robinson (guitarron bass), Virginia Harvey (backing vocals/keyboards), Mark Greer (slide guitar/keyboards), Rick Burrows (trumpet/melodica/keyboards), Clive Mellor (harmonica), Pat Clarke (harmonica) and Eddie Wastnidge (percussion) and the show starts at 9pm sharp. Facebook Event.
July 7th releases from Boz Hayward and Issac Navaro
We are pleased to announce two releases for July 7th, 2017
Firstly we have a new EP from Issac Navaro called “Terminals”. This five track release follows from the highly successful “Paths to the Shore” album from earlier in the year.
Melding state of the art electronica with a post-rock vibe Issac has created an ambient and reflective soundscape which reflects the geography of his native Scotland.
Comparable with the ground breaking mid 70s Tangerine Dream releases on Virgin Records but also incorporating the epic elements of Mogwai or Sigur Ros this delightful collection is a worthy successor to the debut album.
Secondly we have the brand new album from Manchester musician Boz Hayward. We have previously worked with Boz on distribution of his material but this time he has taken the plunge and given us the honour of releasing his music.
Boz returns with a deeply personal album which combines his particular take on modern folk, and adds a a vibrant slice of country music, together with his trademark whimsical pop elements. Entitled “Tennessee Ten” it consists of, naturally, ten new songs which were written during and around two visits with his mother in 2014 and 2015 to care for his aunt in Tennessee. whose health was failing, and, who passed away during the second visit. There is a narrative that runs through the album creating a delightful and sometimes poignant atmosphere
Exceptional musicianship is a key component of the success of the album. Boz’s self deprecating comment that he writes “simple songs” with a “limited style” doesn’t quite fit with the quality of the album. It is beautifully arranged with well known musical elements being evident but not obvious.
Haywards work generally splits into three broad areas – his more strident punky work, the cinematic soundtrack vignettes, and this more song based approach. One can find excellence in all three strands of his output but this perhaps the place where hopefully he will get the attention and recognition he deserves.
Both releases will be available on Bandcamp and the usual digital outlets. We aim to have a CD version of the Boz Hayward album available on our Merch page in due course.
Limited number of Paths to the Shore CD now available for purchase
In anticipation of the release of the new EP “Terminals” we have made available the remaining 20 copies of the limited edition CD of Issac Navaro‘s debut album “Paths to the Shore” on our Bandcamp page. Issac’s unique mix of ambient post-rock, dance and electronica has proved highly popular and is one of our best selling releases to date.
The album has received widespread critical acclaim and significant airplay from a range of radio stations and podcasters. Competitively priced at £6 with free p&p for UK purchasers you can secure a copy from our Bandcamp Page linked below.
Any and all money accrued through sales of this album go towards the First Base food bank in Dumfries.
Dystopia vs Utopia
Dumfries, Scotland based band The Screaming Love Collective release their second album of 2017 with “Thought It Would Have Been Better By Now” this June. Whilst the former album “Spirit Radio” channeled the optimism of post World War 2 youth, the new one takes a far more dystopian view of things with the realization that the jet-packs and space travels we were promised back in the golden age of Science Fiction haven’t arrived yet. Utopia has been postponed!
With sixteen tracks coming in at just over an hour the band, under the guidance of project leader Bryn Thorburn, deliver their “Psychedelic Post Punk Dark Disco Groove Sensation” sound mixing a range of genres and styles to create and exciting new listening experience which bridges genres.
Copies of the first album Spirit Radio are still available
The new album includes previous single releases “People Make People” and “This Tragic Universe” and clearly demonstrates the diversity and inventiveness of this great band.
Release date is June 23rd via Bandcamp and all the usual digital outlets….
Kit B – 6
On the 28th of July we will be releasing the first of a series of 6 new songs by those wonderful Mancunians Kit B. The 5 other songs will be released monthly until December.
The first track is entitled ‘Shapes’ and will be available to download from Bandcamp and the usual digital stores. CD, limited edition lime green vinyl, and, green cassette versions will also be available direct from the band and at gigs.
Ergonomics!
We are extremely pleased to present the newest offering from Salford based “techno tuneage” wizard The Junta.
This new six track EP follows on from the highly regarded “Art of Glass” album and the “Hydra” EPs.which are both still available at www.germanshepherdrecords.bandcamp.com
The Junta aka John “Monty” Montague distills his love of all things electronica into a fresh set of tunes with inspiration from, among others, John Michel Jarre, Kraftwerk and OMD shining through the beat orientated infectious music. With catchy earworm melodies and rhythms that inspire your best dance floor shapes you’ll find it hard not to exercise your mojo on hearing this release!
With a video currently in production and plans for live outings due soon Monty balances his duties as bass player with Kit B and his weekly show on Salford City Radio and plans for the re-emergence of local faves Positronik…he’s a busy chap.
The EP is released on June 9th via Bandcamp, Spotify, Amazon, Google Play, I Tunes and other well known digital outlets. A limited edition CD version of the release will be available at gigs and via The Junta’s webpage. The CD contains a bonus track.
Find out more about The Junta at:
Facebook – www.facebook.com/thejuntauk/
Website – www.thejunta.co.uk
Reconstructing in a fluid universe
June 2nd sees the release of a new EP “Universal Fluid” by German Shepherd Records artist Space Museum.
The six song collection comprises collaborations with other artists from the label including:
Toska Wilde with Bruce from The Get
Moff Skellington
m.t. scott
Positronik
Bouquet of Dead Crows
Of the new release Space Museum reports the following:
“I hit a bit of a creative black spot with my own work so I decided to go back to my original methods and re-imagine the work of other fine musicians on the record label. This has resulted in an interesting collection of material across a variety of styles”
The set starts with a Toska WIlde composition and features the unique vocal stylings of Bruce from The Get.
There are two collaborations with Moff Skellington. Space Museum says “Moff had created some excellent rhythm tracks for use at the Smoked Ears Will Not Grow Back event earlier in the year. they were too good to ignore so I decided to explore options for making something new with them.”
The dark and sonorous voice of m.t. scott appears on the track “Andrew Revisited” which is a remix of the Scott composition “The Ballad of Andrew Trouble”.
Both Positronik and Bouquet of Dead Crows get serious makeovers the former being a massive dub reworking of the classic song “Save If For Me” and the latter by turning rock ballad “Like A Flower”into a lengthy ambient prog rock deconstruction.
The EP is released on June 2nd via Bandcamp, Amazon, I Tunes and Spotify and other well known digital outlets.
In forthcoming news releases from The Junta (Salford) and PrunX (Berlin) are planned for the following two weeks these will be followed by the second album this year from The Screaming Love Collective (Dumfries).
Cackles
We love iconoclasts at German Shepherd Records.
Cannonball Statman is a perfect example.
Well above average height (he is very tall), with a pre-Raphaelite mass of hair which appears to have a life of its own, and a battered acoustic guitar, he is visually and aurally completely unique.
Some observers might describe his music as freak-folk, but he is much more than that.
Firstly we need to talk about his guitar technique. Unique doesn’t do it justice, blistering fast scribbles of notes and chords, traversing the fret board with manic intensity creating slabs of sound which move between epic and lyrical effortlessly. But he also plays slow with beautiful open chords creating more introspective sounds.
Secondly we need to talk about the words. Statman in a live setting needs your very close attention as words spill from his mouth with a rapidity and complexity that are unparalleled. If you were to draw a literary comparison authors like Kurt Vonnegut,Thomas Pynchon, Samuel Beckett and Paul Auster would leap to mind. His use of language is rich and his ultra fast delivery is stunning.
Sometimes his delivery is so rapid your brain is still processing the words long after the song has finished. Songs become short stories packed with characters and often feature New York as their backdrop. His live tour de force “Carlos Is On Fire” is a tale of an encounter in late night New York City which takes on a different form every night as Cannonball re-invents the song for each performance.
Sometimes he is melodic and restrained, sometimes he howls like a dog, sometimes he approaches the speed of light.
At a recent gig in Salford, that we hosted, open mouthed audience members left the concert room after Cannonball Statman’s set with one word on their lips – genius.
We are pleased to release our second EP with Cannonball – Cackles.
Two years ago we released a live EP from a gig in Salford
Cannonball, or Jesse, as his mum and dad call him, has a very prolific career outside of our work with him with 20 releases to date
The new four track EP was recorded and engineered by Franz Rodeck at Culture Container in Berlin, Germany. on March 19th, 2017. It was also captured on video….
You can contact Cannonball via Facebook
Cackles is released on May 26th via Bandcamp, Spotify, I-Tunes, Amazon and many more digital outlets.
