Gruff Rhys announces new, volcano-inspired album Seeking New Gods

by Juno Daily on 25.03.2021 at 17:27pm.
Last edited: 25.03.2021 at 17:29pm.

gruff press
Gruff Rhys has announced his new album Seeking New Gods through Rough Trade this May, marking his seventh solo album to date.

It comes with the release of the music video for lead single ‘Loan Your Loneliness’:

Following his quadrophonic soundsystem tours as part of the group Super Furry Animals, Gruff has become known for his idiosyncratic approach to music creation. The album was recorded following a US tour with Rhys’ band, and was mixed in LA with Beastie Boys’ producer Mario C. Gruff also partnered with the BBC’s R&D department to make use of their Audio Orchestrator technology to create an at-home, multi-device immersive listening experience for fans. It will be the first time the BBC has offered this technology for use with an album.

Seeking New Gods was originally conceived as the musical biography of a volcano – Mount Paektu in East Asia – exploring its inhuman lifespan, mythological and natural processes, and Rhys’ own personal reflections channelled through the mountain.

Gruff said: “The album is about people and the civilizations, and the spaces people inhabit over periods of time. How people come and go but the geology sticks around and changes more slowly. I think it’s about memory and time,” he suggests of Seeking New Gods’ meaning. “It’s still a biography of a mountain, but now it’s a Mount Paektu of the mind. You won’t learn much about the real mountain from listening to this record but you will feel something, hopefully.”

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On the ‘Loan Your Loneliness’ video, he commented: “The monochrome has made it look much sharper and stylish (for want of a better word – I don’t think I know what style is), like a Japanese 60’s pop show or something! We added a layer of cloud to add some spot colour and to integrate the album sleeve aesthetic to the video. The colour was always stronger at the very end – I don’t particularly like the brown slippery dinosaurs but love the mammoths and northern lights… so we bought it back to colour by the end, the narrative being that a soloing guitarist accidentally invented colour TV with sheer exuberance!”

The vinyl release of the album comes with a Mountain Die Cut envelope-style sleeve, numbered belly band, two colour splatter vinyl, flexi disc and a 10” signed print.

Full details on new Dean Blunt album emerge

by Juno Plus on 09.09.2014 at 16:01pm.
Last edited: 29.10.2014 at 17:05pm.

Rough Trade will release Black Metal by the former Hype Williams artist in November.

Pantha Du Prince – Lay In A Shimmer review

by Juno Daily on 15.10.2010 at 14:41pm.
Last edited: 18.10.2010 at 09:50am.

Taken form Hendrik Weber’s acclaimed second album, Black Noise, “Lay in a Shimmer” continues the German producer’s transformation from deep techno player to indie/IDM champion. Eschewing the dance floor, “Shimmer” is based on a abstract, glitchy framework, with splintered percussive elements complimented by warbling electronic hooks – the kind that Boards of Canada used to excel at – and cloaked in dreamy textures. There are hints of the introspective qualities that his earlier releases for Dial had in spades, but also Seefeel’s love of layering. “Summerstrum” is more detached from Weber’s techno roots: granted, there are glitchy percussive licks again, but at the track’s heart is a jangling, breathless melody that floats in the air like fireflies at sunset.

The ‘Fata Morgana’ version of “Shimmer” accentuates the fragile hooks, and the cacophony of skewed, twisted percussion that accompany the succession of melodic surges suggests this version is also destined to remain a home listening treat. However, midway through, it surprises by veering into clipped 4/4 beats. “Ursonate 3” doesn’t offer such surprises: from the outset Weber sets his sights on creating a straightforward dance floor techno track. This he does adeptly with the help of loose, wayward drums and a resonating, throbbing bassline, but without losing the otherworldly sensibility that is a common theme on his productions.

Richard Brophy

Pantha Du Prince – Black Noise review

by Juno Daily on 08.02.2010 at 10:45am.
Last edited: 08.02.2010 at 10:45am.

Artist: Pantha Du Prince
Title: Black Noise
Label: Rough Trade
Genre: Minimal House/Tech House, Techno
Format: 12″ (2xLP), CD, Digital
Buy From: Juno Records (CD, vinyl), Juno Download

Hendrik Weber aka Pantha du Prince returns with his follow-up to the much acclaimed This Bliss avec Black Noise and it does not disappoint. With chimes and marimba acting as aural touchstones throughout, Black Noise shows the further evolutions of Weber’s melodic-robotic dichotomy and his penchant for deep and infectious bass. And speaking of infectious, “Stick To My Side”, Weber’s collaboration with Animal Collective’s Noah Lennox will leech itself into your memory banks and have you humming and singing it for days. It’s a truly great crossover hit that is just as groovy as it is catchy, and will no doubt help Pantha gain some new listeners.

Beyond that, tracks like “The Splendour”, “A Nomad’s Retreat”, and “Satellite Sniper” are amazing 4/4 burners that build carefully and envelop you in lush tones and Detroit-tinged techno beats. There’s much more warmth to Black Noise than This Bliss, and it’s somewhat reminiscent of The Field’s second album in its execution and musical aesthetic.

Weber seems a bit of a Byronic Romantic. The concept of the album stems from a trip to the Swiss Alps with some musician friends to record sounds and philosophize about music, technology, and silence. Next door to where they were staying was an enormous pile of debris, the remains of a landslide that had buried an entire village, and this is where the album’s concept was born – with the notion that ‘black noise’ is heard like a sonic omen before a natural disaster.

The second half of the album is more sedate, yet still no less compelling. The last two songs “Im Bann” and “Es Schneit” are warm and melodic come down tracks, the closer working those chimes into a subtle frenzy before dissipating like smoke in the air. Black Noise is another excellent release from Pantha du Prince, and a great start for electronic music in 2010. Dig it.

Review: Matt Leslie

Rough Trade dips into techno

by Juno Daily on 10.12.2009 at 13:00pm.
Last edited: 10.12.2009 at 14:47pm.

German producer Pantha Du Prince, the first ever techno act to be signed to the inimitable Rough Trade label, will release an album on the imprint in February 2010.