Tag: Night Operations

Get Techno with The Junta!

Salford’s very own master of Techno returns on August 28th with a new EP and on September 4th with a full album.

The Junta is the alter-ego of Salford musician John “Monty” Montague.

Monty, aside from delivering electronica via The Junta also plays bass in Kit B and Positronik and is a DJ on Salford City Radio and can be seen DJing around Eccles on a regular basis.

We released a radio edit of the single from the new album, “Tech Noir”  on May 9th. A remix EP featuring new versions of the song precedes the new album. Of this Monty says:


“Recorded during the wilderness year. Inspired by my favourite 80’s/90’s artists, I decided again to release another remix e.p.TECH NOIR this time, remixed by some very good friends of mine. SPACE MUSEUM, NIGHT OPERATIONS, and POSITRONIK. “FILM NOIR” is a fabulous mash of TECH NOIR and Positronik’s “SUPERHEAVY”, featuring the wonderful production of JEFF BLACK and the vocals of NATHALIE HALEY. And a little reunion for Positronik! Oh and I couldn’t resist a Junta Remix of my own in the form of the T-800 Mix as a homage to The Terminator.”

A week later a brand new album “J3” follows – we think it’s his best yet. Plans for vocal versions of a couple of the tracks featuring some special guests had to be abandoned due to the lockdown but we hope will emerge when things get back to normal. Of the new album Monty says:

“Recorded mostly between Feb and June 2020…idle hands and all that! Wanted to avoid doing a bunch of lockdown songs, because I thought there’d be a wealth of them. Though couldn’t resist throwing in MAN AS AN ISLAND. Can’t wait to actually take these tunes on the road…when Boris green-lights the venues again.”

All instruments and recording on these releases are the work of The Junta with mastering  being done by Space Museum at his Half Edge Studios. 100% produced in sunny Salford!!

August is looking busy!!

Hello again…..

We hope you are all well and safe in these strange times

Fortunately, due to the magic of technology and forward planning we are able to continue to share new music with you.

We are extremely grateful for recent support via airplay and features of our releases and for the new subscribers who have joined us, and, everyone who has purchased music from the label. We were very pleased to see The Peer Hat reaching its fundraising target and we encourage everyone to check out the first compilation album from the venue. We have some exciting news about a further compilation from Nick, Dom and co which we are keeping close to our chests at the moment. With the closure of The Deaf Institute and Gorilla, Greater Manchester has lost two key music venues so it is vitally important we continue to support grass roots music.

We have two new releases and a reissue to share …..all  digital only and available from August 7th. They can be found on Bandcamp and all of the major download and streaming platforms.

So, here we go again…….

sycloner – Running Interference EP

EP cover

From Brisbane on the gold Gold Coast, of Australia – sycloner band members have performed with everyone from Debbie Harry to The Sugarcubes and with good reason. Their spin on alt-pop gives way to energetic blasts throughout not only their career but also their latest EP.

Running Interference contains four tracks that set the record straight on alt-pop soundscapes. Fans will also appreciate that they have something to say on songs like “Awful” and “Worry Well”. Running Interference is reminiscent of existential anxieties found in earlier releases and buzzes with themes of loss, love, and self awareness. For fans of Kaiser Chiefs, Franz Ferdinand, and Stereophonics, sycloner brings wry humour and melancholy to the material, producing thoughtful soundscapes which reflect on the hard work of living well.

This fourth release is the follow up to 2019’s In And Of Itself  but it’s far from their last. Currently, they are working on new material to be released in due time.

Filed Fangs – (I Am A) Utopian

thumbnail_(I am a) Utopian artwork on black2

With debut release “Calcify” getting the thumbs up from John Robb in Louder Than War  and tin tin tin the emboldened Filed Fangs,  Boz Hayward and Paul Morley,  are back with a brand new track.

Searing synths kick things into a mesmeric melange of layered sounds and powerful beats – like Saturday night in the post punk grunge disco with pulsing strobing sounds revolving around your head-space as guitar riffs worm their way into your subconscious mimicking and adding to the penetrating lead sounds as chanting half-heard vocals float at the edge of things.

This second track confirms our expectations of this talented pair and we are excited about receiving future material from them.

Moss Skellington – The Lump (Expanded)

Moss Skellington The Lump

Just under four years ago we released singles and an album by Ian Moss and Moff Skellington under the collective name of Moss Skellington. Wider digital distribution of these releases was lost when we changed our distributor so we have taken the opportunity to reissue them as one package with a new distributor – an expanded version of The Lump album.

The combination of Eddodi and Manchester’s post-punk legend makes for a unique and compelling sound – the singles Boomerangs/Body Bad and The Wickedest Man In The World/Boys from the Bible Stories together with the original album gives you a complete set of the collaborations.

Moss (Hamsters, Four Candles. Cosmic Panthers, The Parasite, 2 Lost Souls) and Moff’s fecundity is legendary with both separately releasing many items in 2020 alone – this new  package of sounds adds to an already immense body of work.

What’s next……

August is looking busy with the following new releases planned

  • Staggs return with their last release (or is it?) –  The Death of Staggs
  • Matthew Hopkins release a new single – Love Don’t Do Logic – with another new one to follow in September
  • Our subscribers will receive a unique collection of Adventures of Salvador’s  Early Singles and EPs
  • Yes….. another new album from Moff Skellington – A Slapstick Life
  • In anticipation of a new album in September The Junta releases the Tech Noir Remixes featuring contributions from Night Operations, Positronik and Space Museum

New singles from Night Operations and The Teenage Propshafts

This week sees annoucements of two new singles

May 8th sees the release of a brand new single from Night Operations.

Entitled “Pull The Trigger” it’s a taster from the forthcoming third album.

Night Operations is the project of Mike Powell who has already released the albums Mantra and Advantage with German Shepherd Records as well as a number of singles and EPs.

The new single continues the success of Night Operations with a driving piece of electronic rock.

pullthetrigger

Released TODAY is the debut single from The Teenage Propshafts.

This mysterious band, which is couched in legend, has only previously released a one off track – the title track of our Salford Streets compilation. They are back with an often recounted tale of a chance encounter in an amusement arcade in Manchester in the early 1980s called “Me, My Dad & The Fire Engines”. The tune/tale has been a staple of The Teenage Propshafts repertoire for many years and is now shared with the world in all its protean glory.

This is offered free/name your price but if listeners wish to donate something we will be giving any monies received to the charity Mary’s Meals.The single is available now on Bandcamp and comes with a dub version as a b-side


Plans for a follow up single are germinating ….watch this space!
MMDATE ARTWORK

News -Debut album from Jed, Reissues and Gig News

Hello

Here is the usual weekly news update from the kennel.

JED DEBUT ALBUM

Jed

27th March sees the release of the debut album from Jed called “Black Gold Texas Tea”.

This is a digital only release which will be available from the services indicated on the image below.

Jed is Jed Stephens a multi instrumentalist with a passion for electronic music of all kinds, his music is a mix of electro, techno, D&B, house and ambient.

He has been a song writer, producer and performer for many years, previous bands include Bass Bandits and Exchange, he is currently in the North West UK based Synthpop covers band Elektrio.

Jed’s musical influences range from Sibelius and Bartok through to the Chemical Brothers and Orbital, via The Beatles, Kraftwerk, New Order, 808 State, Frankie Knuckles, Arthur Baker and Vince Clarke.

Those old enough to remember The Beverley Hillbillies will recognise the derivation of the album title!

The music on the debut  is modern electronic combining the best of elements of techno with the soundtrack feel of John Carpenter, Vangelis or Jarre. Using the best in modern electronic gear he creates stunning tracks which combine epic sounds with dance rhythms. His live show, complete with laser lighting rig, is stunning, a guaranteed dance fest for anyone who attends.

Find Jed on Facebook

Jed Promo One

REISSUES

This week sees a raft of reissues of some of our best releases, where Smart Links are available we have linked them below….

From Moff Skellington 

  • Golfer In Disgrace
  • On Flanders Moon
  • Plough Monday
  • Bargains are a hollow syrup
  • Fetch
  • Uncle Roy’s Utopian Vision Volumes 1 and 2
  • The Corduroy Bridge
  • Thorny Conduits

also released this week is another in our Moff Skellington back catalogue releases – available for the first time via download/streaming is Gliding Through Stone.

Three new albums from Moff are coming in June with a further release planned for later in the year.

Gliding Through Stone Cover

From Night Operations

A new Night Operations single is coming on May 8th

From Keltrix

 

GIGS

Due to the current situation you will be aware that a number of gigs are being cancelled – we are keeping our gig list up to date when cancellations occur – please check the list on the right hand side of this page regularly to see if a gig is going ahead or not.

 

 

Launching German Shepherd Radio

We are pleased to announce the launch of German Shepherd Radio via Mixcloud Select

Hosted on label co-owner Bob Osborne’s Mixcloud channel this new venture will feature radio content from members of the German Shepherd Roster with exclusive shows only available to subscribers.  Subscription is £2.99 for access to brand new content featuring not only German Shepherd acts but also the bands and artists that our roster is listening to. We will also be featuring exclusive live content from our bands recorded at some of the gigs we have promoted.

To kick things off we have an exclusive new show from Mike Powell of Night Operations which features a broad range of rock indie and electronica acts and couple of fellow German Shepherd artists – with John Grant, New Order, The Junta, Tin Machine, Dubstar , The Scissors, The Fevers, Weyes Blood, Ikara Colt, Ian Brown, and Temples.   

Night Ops Image

Keep watching for more content to be announced soon….

To subscribe visit Bob’s MIXCLOUD SELECT PAGE