TRØN THE ARCHER "Demonic. Oasis. (RTP)"
A full-length solo-banger from one-half of the former TRØN & DVD rap duo.
Speed Stick "Volume One (Don Giovanni)"
The Carrboro, NC supergroup Speed Stick is an ever-evolving project among a group of friends—Ash Bowie (Polvo), Charles Chace (The Paul Swest), Laura King (Bat Fangs), and Thomas Simpson (The Love Language)—whose musical achievements reach back as far as the 1990s. But as its live shows attest, the band does not want to rehearse old accomplishments. On stage, Speed Stick wants to shatter epochs. Step into a world of thunder where lighting strikes rewire nervous systems. Ride waves with peaks that precede disquieting calms. Float in spaces where dark and light collide to set blood afire. To participate in a Speed Stick show is to enter a space of bodily and psychological endurance. Off-kilter guitar riffs shadow the raging intensity of drums; blistering drum beats dance to the feedback of guitars.
The songs for Volume One were created in unusual fashion over the course of a year. Initially, Speed Stick only consisted of two drummers. They distributed nine studio tracks and a single live track to select musicians. The musicians’ task was simple: draw inspiration from the beats in order to create music that spreads laterally and horizontally like a rhizome. Indeed, Volume One has utterly discarded the yoke of genre by instead tethering intricate, interlocking drums to myriad creative personalities: Mac McCaughan (Superchunk), Kelley Deal (The Breeders, R. Ring), Mike Montgomery (R. Ring), Stuart McLamb (The Love Language). But no one can stop with just the album. Your ears will yearn to see the shapes of sound and your eyes will beg to taste color. For what Volume One heralds is that the supergroup Speed Stick is the super show of shows.
Matthew Sweet "Catspaw (Omnivore)"
Matthew Sweet played in bands in Athens, Georgia as that scene exploded, collaborating with R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe, playing in Linda Stipe’s Oh-OK, and The Buzz Of Delight. That work scooped him up into the major label world making countless acclaimed solo records, forming the supergroup The Thorns with Shawn Mullins and Pete Droge, and beginning a series of covers albums with The Bangles’ Susannah Hoffs. Now, it’s time for Matthew to just plain rock out by himself again.
Omnivore Recordings is proud to announce the release of Catspaw—written, produced, recorded, mixed, and entirely preformed (save ferocious drumming from Ric Menck of Velvet Crush) by Matthew at his home studio. Mastered by Bob Ludwig, the Hofner bass and Novo guitars sing and howl, harkening back to classics like Girlfriend and Altered Beast—all while retaining the hooks that dig into the listener. Well, like a cat’s paw.
Darci Phenix "Wishbone (Team Love)"
Portland, Oregon-based songwriter Darci Phenix bought her first bass guitar in her home town of Sacramento with the counsel of her mother, a lawyer turned musician, and Michael Roe, the leader of 80s rock group “The 77s.” A community of musicians and artists has always been the norm for Darci, from childhood where she would sit on shoulders during California’s Strawberry Music Festival, through her teenage years when she began to fine-tune her own compositions. Witnessing first hand the development of artists including Molly Tuttle and Alison Krauss, and being inspired by the likes of Jackie Green, Tim O’Brien, Emmylou Harris and John Prine, Darci’s exposure to the world of song from a young age made a lasting impact. Ten years after purchasing that first bass, Darci enlisted Michael Roe to handle the string arrangements on her debut album, “The Blue Period,” an album that Gold Flake Paint described as a “delicate paper doll’s house, revealing its rooms one by one.”