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HMRL018
IN-SANE
Trust These Hands... Are Worthless.
cd / download | release date: 02.12.2009
The album Trust These Hands… Are Worthless. was recorded by IN-SANE in their own DIY Life Trip Studio, while mixing and mastering were done with the help of Aco Razbornik in Studio Tivoli. The record is a result of cooperation between various European independent record labels: Moonlee Records (Slovenia), Fond Of Life Records (Germany), No Reason Records (Italy), Shield Recordings (Holland) and Bad Mood Records (Switzerland). This way, IN-SANE and their new album will be presented to potential listeners in the most efficient way all around Europe, giving them a good chance for a bright future.
On their new record, IN-SANE remained loyal to their own formula of energetic punk rock, enriched with plenty of hardcore/emo/rock elements and rhythmical twists that give their music special dynamics and charm. The mix of catchy melodies, sharp guitars, thundering bass, fast raging rhythms and breakdowns, along with dual screaming and singing vocals doesn't leave any room for indifference. On the contrary, it will grab you, suck you in and make you ask for more. IN-SANE take the best features from bands like Against Me, Hot Water Music and Propagandhi and combine them into a new and catchy whole.
IN-SANE represent all that punk rock should be about – energy, dedication, passion and, of course, D.I.Y. ethics. Listen to their new album "Trust These Hands… Are Worthless.", let yourself go, raise your fist and sing along!
12 EUR postpaid
CD also available at:
BandCamp.Com
Discogs.Com
Amazon.Co.Uk
Plastic Head, UK
Interpunk, US
Ha-Ko Bastards, SRB
BCore Disc, E
download available at:
BandCamp.Com
iTunes
eMusic
Amazon
Napster
Shockhound
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HMRL017
ANALENA
Inconstantinopolis
cd / lp /download | release date: 09.11.2009
Fear not – the flame of independence burns on! Playing through your speakers, ANALENA’s new record, intriguingly titled Inconstantinopolis, adds to its mighty blaze. A glowing celebration of DIY ethics. A messenger of action, independence and self-control in an age of corporations and all-encroaching social networks. A fixture on the map of the underground scene for over a decade, ANALENA is now even stronger and more determinedly persistent in its do-it-yourself activism. Remaining resistant to the pressures of consumerism, the band is still propelled by a creative DIY drive manifesting through the care for one’s own self, through managing concerts, through recording, releasing, promoting and distributing their music through their own Moonlee Records.
After their debut Arhythmetics, a split-adventure It's Never To Late To Split Up with Austrians Sensual Love, the second LP Carbon Based, and line-up changes, the four-piece telepathically suspended between Zagreb (Croatia) and Ljubljana (Slovenia) has emerged fortified in mind and body and has recorded and released an explosion of energy and emotion. Self-recorded at their own Kozmo studio to the baton of their guitar player Mijo, Inconstantinopolis is a burning torch at the head of the band’s discographic history. Mr Moonlee himself was lost for words, managing only a surprised: “Like fire!”.
Take the time and let go of your prejudices! Mind your health and watch your back! Don’t be fooled by the latest neologisms, extending from post-punk and indie power pop through a galaxy of noise towards rock and hardcore. At The Drive-In, Red Monkey, Life But How To Life It, Yaphet Kotto, Submission Hold, Hole, dEUS, Envy, Pretty Girls Make Graves – these are just some of the names associated with ANALENA. But why fill your head with references? Do you think that ANALENA play only so that they could be compared to others? Wrong! They are driven by the desire to be different, to discover new worlds, and to express their opinions and messages. This is what makes it so difficult to fit ANALENA’s poetics into a single mould – yet that does not mean that they disintegrate into a hundred pieces. On the contrary, on their new Inconstantinopolis ANALENA is compact and balanced.
ANALENA is not one of many: ANALENA is an absolutely unique wave of sonic fantasy, rousing your imagination as it rolls uncompromisingly from the beginning to the end of the record. So take the journey through Inconstantinopolis – through the full frontal scream of lead vocal Ana, disciplined by sharp cuts of guitar and thickened by a thundering bass, which never escapes the focus of precise and sovereign drumming. Don’t miss the well-concealed melodies, nor the lucid guitar interplays. Abandon yourself to a music at once forceful and atmospheric, uncompromising and dreamy, precise and chaotic, playful and tense – to this complex and harmonious interweaving.
ANALENA has not fallen asleep on the laurels of its past. It has remained ANALENA and as such it march on with vigour and spirit, fearlessly, uncompromisingly and sticking to their clearly defined vision, which is absolutely priceless in these inconstant times...
cd available at:
• Interpunk, US
• Code 7, UK
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HMRL016
BERNAYS PROPAGANDA
Happiness Machines
cd / lp / download | release date: 06.04.2009
Luckily, the father of PR, Edward L. Bernays, is dead – otherwise, the United Nations Security Council,NATO, Mossad, Interpol, the Macedonian police, CNN and some other self-proclaimed leader, world's cop or sleazy politician would condemn Bernays Propaganda as enemies of humanity, dangerous anarchists, atheists, feminists and terrorists. However, the only crime of guitarist Vasko Atanasoski, drummer Dzano Kuc, bassist Sasa Pavlovic and singer Kristina Gorovska, is that they're protesting the consequences left behind by Sigmund Freud's nephew and one of the most influental Americans of the 20th century. Bernays invented the most powerful of all weapons which kills painlessly, purposely incites hate and secretly leads humanity towards destruction. Manipulation, control, and seduction of the masses disgust Bernays Propaganda, so they're inviting us to a politically engaged dance!
Vasko and Dzano played in the cult HC thrashers FxPxOx until last year, and all four of them were or still are active in many other bands (Suns, SmartXBomb, This Home Is Prepared, Demoncrats, Choice of My Own, Backstab Warning, Boombyx, New Police State, Treta smena, tk.sk). If the transition into a more optimistic, dancey and groovy ride is too much of a culture shock to someone, don't forget that the always positive long time punk core underground dance activist Vasko, among other activities, rollicks in the electro-dance PMG Collective, which captivated the Balkanian indie underground with their hit song 'Manekenki'. All of the above mentioned bands are here by chance as Bernays Propaganda are a symbolic combination of them all.
Their edgy lyrics subtly avoid Bernays' school instead of being hypocritical and agitprop-direct. A reverberant female voice enters deep inside the ear and spreads ideas together with the music. The social engagement iz well-founded and positive. Dance and politics. Music and attitude. Fun and struggle. Collectivism and individualism. Bernays Propaganda praise the postulates and attributes which many post punk and new wave revivalists have forgotten. With their best intentions they mantain the ideas and attitudes of a long line of bands such as Gang Of Four, Slits, Fugazi, Submission Hold, !!!, Gossip, LCD Soundsystem... Their danceable fpunk doesn't try to escape reality, but also refuses to accept status quo. Bernays Propaganda don't want escapist entertainment – they're utopistically but honestly fighting for a better world.
After a self-released EP and contributions to compilations from Skopje to Moscow, the persuasiveness, self-confidence and positivity of Bernays Propaganda shook the ground beneath Mr. Moonlee's feet. He just couldn't resist temptation, so he made room among his crew and accepted another debutant – no less than the debutant of the year 2009., which hails from the the banana republic of Macedonia. Bernays Propaganda entered Enterprise studio soon after that and, with the help of Valentino Skenderovski, recorded their long-anticipated debut album (mastered by Carl Saff) named ''Happiness Machines'', which will be out on Moonlee Records in April 2009. The album will also feature a 32-page essay on violence and the human society, written by singer Kristina..
Dance, clap, sing and celebrate civil disobedience, human rights and freedom! Spread the word that the socio-politically motivated crew called Bernays Propaganda have prepared an album you won't be able not to dance to! And while you're at it, don't forget to use your head!
cd available at:
• Moonlee Recods E-store
• Interpunk, US
• Plastic Head, UK
• Code 7, UK
• Ammonite Records, SRB
• cd1d, FR
download available at:
• iTunes
• eMusic
• Amazon
• ShockHound
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HMRL015
HESUS ATTOR
Sonic Gastronomy Volume 1
cd / download | release date: 15.09.2008
In the harbour town of Rijeka, Croatia a small group of lovers of fast food and the local cuisine has given birth to a surrealistic monster which they have named Hesus Attor. They have equipped it with what they have read in comic books and seen in horror movies, but above all with a classic set of instruments every metal, rock, punk, hardcore or crossover band must have. The outcome is spectacular: a mixture of parody, schizophrenia and the absurd. Between 2003 and 2005 Hesus Attor experimented with many musical genres, in the beginning as an instrumental trio. They self-released the results of their experiments calling their label Izdali Smo Metal (We Betrayed Metal). After Monade i dipeti (2003) and Vamonos Todos (2005) the group of gourmands consisting of Juan Pablo Pe De Rigad, Senor Josι and Digitus were joined by singer El Cathedralico who gave the monster a voice. In the summer of 2006 they released Green Feathers and Canaries, a mini-album which made the listener realize that the guys were being serious. This was even more audible on stage. Squeezing genre after subgenre, jumping from the developed to the undeveloped, from smoky ethno to sweaty heavy metal they rose from anonymity and made the earth shake in Kvarner, their home region, and elsewhere. The shockwaves were perceived by Mr Moonlee who could not help himself but widen his colourful clan by those who "have betrayed metal". Hesus Attor do not hide their influences, their metal and hard core origins, but they often look back on them through a magnifying glass of irony and satire. Nothing is sacred to them. They devour and digest everything, only to spit it out again. By disregarding tradition, using deconstruction and a dadaistic concept, Hesus Attor and their mathematically precise anti-mixture of musical genres have placed themselves outside of every framework. Listening to their music causes avant-gard claustrophobia. They are as untameable as Mr Bungle once was and Mike Patton still is. They do not fear the comparison with the Japanese demons Boredoms and Ruins; in fact they seem to be cross-bred with them. Just like John Zorn was in Naked City's good years. The time has come for a new step, a new album. It was cooked and fried in Rijeka's catacombs for over a year just to be ready in time for mass consumption in September 2008. Moonlee Records proudly presents Sonic Gastronomy Volume 1. Listening to the album you will realise that not only your digestive system is being tested, but also your patience and your ability to concentrate. Take the record into your hands. A blow below the belt and an unbelievable cultural electroshock await you. In case anybody was wondering why all these allusions to food: The guys like to eat. Hence all their lyrics are about food.
cd available at:
Moonlee Records E-store
Interpunk, US
Plastic Head, UK
• Ammonite Records, SRB
download available at:
iTunes
eMusic
Amazon
• Rhapsody
• Napster
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 HMRL014
DAMIR AVDIC
Mrtvi Su Mrtvi!
cd / download | release date 24.03.2008
Damir Avdic alias Diplomatz is a hardcore poet and performer who talks about Bosnia today, at the twilight of a modern world controlled by fake religion, commercialized revolution, and false democracy serving as a cover for capitalist brutality. He sings in Bosnian: "Whoever wants to understand, will understand!" Razor-sharp lyrics, shot from the heart and hitting you right in the head. The truth hurts, and Diplomatz tells it without compromise, and without mercy. With the eyes of a psycho and hard, powerful, threatening guitar riffs, he delivers a message without any illusions. Diplomatz alias Damir Avdic is everything in one: singer, poet, guitarist, band, actor, writer, thinker. Everything he does, he does from the heart. He comes from the tough underground scene of Tuzla, where he has collaborated with bands like rock'n'rollers No Rules, dub/reggae outfit Defence, and hip-hop rhyme fighter Frenkie. He is currently part of the Moonlee Records stable. His second album Mrtvi su mrtvi! (The Dead Are Dead!) is more direct than its predecessor and just as raw as his live performances, hitting as hard as ever. "You can't break the system from outside, by explosion. You have to do it from within, by implosion and that can bring you down, too," says hardcore Diplomatz, ending his challenge with a question: "Are you ready?"
cd available at:
Moonlee Records E-store
Mimovrste, SLO
Punkorder, DE
• Ammonite Records, SRB
download available at:
iTunes
eMusic
Amazon
Rhapsody
Napster
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 HMRL013
PSYCHO-PATH
The Ass-Soul Of Psycho-Path
cd / download | release
date 03.03.2008
With their unique brand of alternative rock, fronted by a charismatic singer, two powerful guitars and a tight rhythm section,Slovenian quintet Psycho-Path is a formidable force. Take the coolness of, let's say, Girls Against Boys and some other bands with heavy rock riffs, pack it into a driven guitar-soundwall, that is based on a very tense and quite groovy rhythm section and as the cherry on top: sexy & harsh female vocals. No pretension - eclectic, honest, sweaty and very guitar-laden. In July 2007 Psycho-Path entered the studio with producer Bobby MacIntyre (ex-member of The Twilight Singers, also worked with Bad Brains, Jimmy Girl, Lucinda Williams, Mark Lanegan
) to record their fifth full-length album. Late night sessions, drinking too much whiskey, half-awake percussion recordings, tambourine overdose, metronomes gone amok
The final result? The Ass-Soul Of Psycho-Path. The first album recorded with the new line up and the most varied, eclectic, yet accessible Psycho-Path album to date. Also featuring a special guest on the back vocals, on the epic Bekkognition - Scott Bennett (Brian Wilsons band, also worked with Flaming Lips, Filter, The Smashing Pumpkins, Liz Phair, The Twilight Singers
).
cd available at:
Moonlee Records E-store
Mimovrste, SLO
Plastic Head, UK
Play.Com, UK
Interpunk, US
Punkorder, DE
Stickfigure, US
• Ammonite Records, SRB
download available at:
iTunes
eMusic
Amazon
Rhapsody
Napster
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 HMRL012
DON'T MESS WITH TEXAS
Los Dias De Junio
cd / 12" / download | release
date 08.10.2007
Don't Mess With Texas recorded and produced their sophomore album Los Dias De Junio in a movie theatre in Zagreb by themselves, with some additional help from their friends. Final mastering has been done by Carl Saff (who has previously worked with We Ragazzi, Small Arms Dealer, Sunburned Hand Of The Man and many others). Structured in a similar manner as the band's s/t (2004, hmrl003), Los Dias De Junio is full of glorious moments. It is a carefully constructed album with equal parts of minimalist swell and swirling tension of sound providing each instrument in the texture plenty of space. There is an unspeakable clarity that runs through this record. Mesmerizing subtlety can be heard in aery guitars and lush piano which interweave through the solid and sturdy rhythms. Despite the despodent atmosphere, these nine songs do not appear crestfallen, but provide the sense of ease and placidity with the turbulent undertow. On this album, Don't Mess With Texas manage to condense their established dazzling epic sound into well-defined, focused and concise songs. Hush and serene while being dynamic, but far from sounding pompous or overstuffed, Don't Mess With Texas are determined to make you calm and disturbed at the same time. This is no easy feat, but as heard on this album, Neven, Ozren, Saa and Slobich once again pull it off easily and in a successful manner.
cd available at:
Moonlee Records E-store
Plastic Head, UK
Stickfigure, US
Interpunk, US
Day After, Czech Republic
Linus Records, Japan
• Ammonite Records, SRB
12" vinyl available at:
Moonlee Records E-store
Plastic Head, UK
Stickfigure, US
Interpunk, US
Day After, Czech Republic
download available at:
iTunes
eMusic
• Napster
• Audio
Lunchbox
• Rhapsody
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