Happy Birthday, Brennan Hamill of Moyamoya!

New Music Video: La Cerca "Cicada Radio"

To commemorate La Cerca's brand new album A Nice Sweet Getaway, their very first ambient record, the indie rockers from Tucson, Arizona have a brand new music video for their song "Cicada Radio."  Check it out here, and purchase your copy of A Nice Sweet Getaway on Bandcamp today! 

Happy Release Day to La Cerca!

A Nice Sweet Getaway, the very first ambient album by Tucson, Arizona's indie rockers -- La Cerca -- is officially available as of today on all digital music download and streaming platforms such as Amazon Music, Apple Music, Bandcamp, Deezer, iHeartRadio, Spotify, Tidal Music, and YouTube Music.  Enjoy!

Dutch friends 'Here Comes the Flood' talk about La Cerca's new ambient album

[REPOST from Here Comes the Flood; by Hans Werksman, September 17, 2020]

VIEW PREMIERE: La Cerca - "Gloomy Vista Way"

Tuscon based alternative rockers La Cerca have reinvented themselves with an ambient album, A Nice Sweet Getaway, with touches of post-rock and heavy use of delay. The "Gloomy Vista Way" single, with its drawn out guitar chords, is part Ry Cooder and part Brian Eno. A sense of foreboding that something bad is about to happen is almost tangible, but as long as it sounds this good, that's not a problem. The video was directed by Jason Marrano.

The A Nice Sweet Getaway album will be released on September 25 via Fort Lowell Records. It's available for pre-order here.

---

[REPOST from Here Comes the Flood; by Hans Werksman, September 23, 2020]

ALBUM REVIEW: La Cerca - A Nice Sweet Getaway

Tuscon based alternative rockers La Cerca have changed course (and line-ups) quite a few times. Still, even for longtime followers of the band it comes as a surprise to see them releasing A Nice Sweet Getaway, a full-on, dark ambient album. They even used a basic two-track recording device, and had to cope with the limitations that came along with it.

Echo, delay and reverb were put to good use to create an atmosphere that is not particularly safe or soothing. They point to the dangers that are hiding in the great wide open, with pulsating rhythms and swaths of guitar that are both welcoming and issuing a warning. A Nice Sweet Getaway flows as a continious piece of music and should be enjoyed as such. This kind of music does not allow outside interference, so better disconnect the phone and other things that can break the spell.

A Nice Sweet Getaway will be released via Fort Lowell Records. Release date: September 25.

Tracks:

• Walking the Underbelly
• Suitcase Full of Emotions
• Ice Cubes
• Hazy Beach
• Gloomy Vista Way
• Shimmering Peacock
• Free of Expectation
• Cicada Radio
• Opportunity Presents: The Bicycle Thief
• Too Cold to Ride
• Spiritual Lift

Thank you, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

#RIPRBG

Happy Release Day to honeybrandy!

Ladies & Gentlemen, honeybrandy Not in Our City (Remixed) is officially available now on all digital music download and streaming platforms, such as Amazon Music, Apple Music, Bandcamp, Deezer, Spotify, Tidal Music, and YouTube Music.  Enjoy!

All remixes of "Not in Our City" feature the following speech that Dr. Keith R. Anderson -- Chaplin of the Lynchburg Police Department, founder of the Highly Favored Ministries Association of Churches, and member of the newly formed Alliance for Policing Reform in Lynchburg, Virginia -- delivered to the Lynchburg City Council on June 23, 2020:

The citizens of Lynchburg have awakened however…

And we have awakened with some words on our lips:

"Racial bias has no place in this city!"

And we leave you with four words:

"NOT IN MY CITY"

Not in my city will we allow racism to exist.

Not in my city will we allow the pestilence

of hatred to run rampant in our streets

So, what have we done?

We decided that we - the citizens - will select who represents us,

our wishes in legislation and in policy.

We will choose the appropriate culture that underpins

the law enforcement professional that patrol our streets.

Police officers are grand individuals.

My brother is one.

I serve this community as a chaplain.

But I also know that this man who killed Mr. Floyd

is a benefactor of a culture that targets members of a black & brown community

and hunts them on a routine basis.

My children have cried out to me,

"Speak for me so I can breathe!"

I stand here to speak for them.

It is therefore concluded that

the following conditions must be met

to satisfy the demands of this task force

to ensure that antiracism -

IT'S NOT ENOUGH NOT TO BE RACIST

We need to be actively antiracist -

in our measures

both in theory and in practice

(it's not enough simply to say it with empty words):

#1 - chokeholds and neck restraints policy

must be adopted by the Police

to outlaw its use

and provide sanctions and disciplinary actions

to include imprisonment for its violators.

There must be transparency in the disciplinary records

of these police officers that aid us in our city.

We give them the right to protect us!

Adopt a training model that produces guardians not warriors.

YOU'RE NOT AT WAR WITH ITS CITIZENS!

• Training in de-escalation techniques .

• Specialized training monitoring officers with complaint records.

• Mandated use of body cams.

• Thoughts & published strategies for community policing.

• Mental fitness of officers.

• Military-style equipment is no longer needed.

• Implement a policy that prohibits the use of the "no-knock" warrant.

And, in conclusion, let me remind you...

NOT IN OUR CITY!

NOT IN OUR CITY!

NOT IN OUR CITY!

NOT IN OUR CITY!

Happy Birthday, Andrew Collberg

Fort Lowell Records · Andrew Collberg "Dirty Wind"

Check out Wilmington, North Carolina's Neon Belly's new logo

Fort Lowell Records' upcoming GROW: A Compilation in Solidarity with Black Lives Matter features the debut of The Port City punk rockers: Neon Belly.  Check out their newly designed logo, created by local Cape Fear artist Night Owls Only:

Happy Birthday, Winston Watson of Saint Maybe

Fort Lowell Records · Saint Maybe "Everything At Once (And More)"

Music Video: La Cerca "Climate Control"

We always ❤'ed this music video La Cerca did for their song "Climate Control" from their 2014 album Sunrise for Everyone (Fort Lowell Records FLR011):

GROW. Record. Review.

[Repost from Music. Defined.; by Josh Terzino, September 10, 2020]

MUSIC REVIEW: GROW: A Compilation In Solidarity With Black Lives Matter

As someone who would like to think that every cloud has a silver lining, I’ve been appreciating all the work artists have been doing to raise money and awareness for Black Lives Matter and others across the country who need help. I’ve donated as much as I could while on the dole, and will get back to supporting those organizations in need when I get back into the workforce. I’ve also been impressed with artists ability to create in a time when it is very easy to get overwhelmed with all the darkness in the world.

I was alerted to a new compilation by Fort Lowell Records out of North Carolina a couple weeks ago. They’ve got a vinyl pressing coming out at the end of October, which you can pre-order GROW (as I just did), on Bandcamp. You can also buy the album digitally right now. The release features tracks from Merge artists The Rosebuds and The Love Language, award-winning writer John Jeremiah Sullivan’s former group Life Of Saturdays, and Sean Thomas Gerard (Onward, Soldiers) among others.

My interest was piqued because the comp includes a new song by Kicking Bird, North Carolina’s number one surf rock band to former/current/forever Chaperone superfan yours truly. They’re a thousand miles away, but Shaun and Shaylah will always have a spot deep in the center of my soul. “What Would All The Other Girls Say (If They Knew What I Was Doing)” sits right in the middle of the album and brings a completely different vibe with it.

The track is infused with a bubblegum garage sound that marries the doo-wop of the ’50s with the indie rock of the early 00’s. Shaylah’s vocals float on a river of reverb over the stunted guitar riff that opens the song. The chorus explodes with “oohs” colliding with handclaps that run into a lead guitar solo that’s been simmering under the current waiting to bubble up to the surface.

GROW is raising funds for the Hanover County NAACP. Fort Lowell Records is based in Wilmington, North Carolina and the funds will all go to helping the citizens in their neighborhoods. The area is no stranger to racial issues, and they’ve done their homework to highlight a few of the bigger issues that have faced the state. The 1898 Wilmington Massacre is one of many, many examples of white oppressors doing everything they can to stop black Americans from taking the smallest steps toward equality.

Of course, one needs not look too far into the past to find demonstrations of racial inequality. Perhaps the most openly racist and homophobic Senator of my lifetime, Jesse Helms, was a Senator from North Carolina for 30 years. He filibusterd against making Martin Luther King Day a federal holiday, and called the Civil Rights Act of 1964 the “most dangerous piece of legislation ever introduced in the congress.” He voted against its extension in 1982. AND he was against naming Ruth Bader Ginsburg to the Supreme Court because he said she would support “a homosexual agenda.”

Republicans in North Carolina have been notorious, in recent years, for trying to rig elections through gerrymandering, even going so far as tampering with ballots in the 2018 elections. So, if there’s a state that needs help raising money for local organizations to fight against this attempt to suppress the vote and steal rights from people, please do what you can to lend a hand.

R.I.P. Walter Rossman [1971-2020]

My last conversation with Walter Rossmann of Imprint Indie Printing was over the telephone on June 8, 2020.  We discussed GROW: A Compilation in Solidarity with Black Lives Matter and Imprint's involvement as a sponsor.  At that time, Walter told me about his battle with cancer.  Yet, despite his own necessary and immediate priorities, Walter could not have been more proud to share his own precious time helping us with GROW.  Because of Walter's support, 100% of the sales from the record to endow the North Carolina New Hanover County NAACP with working capital to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate race-based discrimination in our community.  Without Walter Rossmann, this would not have been possible.

Thank you, Walter, not only for your contributions with GROW, but also for all of the support and inspiration you provided the countless people in the music industry for the many years you dedicated to your craft.  So many great projects simply would not have taken place without your involvement.  Rest in peace, Walter Rossmann. - James Tritten of Fort Lowell Records

La Cerca "Free of Expectation" available now on all digital platforms

Music Video: "Free of Expectation" by La Cerca

[REPOST from The Big Takeover; by Big Takeover Exclusives, September 7, 2020]

Tucson, AZ-based ambient/psych-rock band La Cerca will be releasing their fifth album, A Nice Sweet Getaway, on September 25th via Fort Lowell Records. The LP showcases a sonic slideshow of multiple dimensions, with looped guitars and reflective ambiance emanating like waves under the Sonoran Desert sun.

The 11-tracks offer an endless source of inspiration, taking the listener on an exploratory excursion of learning and experimenting with a two-track recording device. The mostly (though not all) improvisational compositions meld together the radiation of fuzz, delay and modulation in a living room setting, with intimate microphone placement capturing the essence of musical movement in the room.

A Nice Sweet Getaway wends through empathetic sensitivities of unrest from stirring up dormant feelings and ideas after a protest; it is a personal voyage of love and memory ruminating on life’s travels…

La Cerca is the wellspring of Andrew Gardner, who is joined by other musicians including Bill Oberdick, Rick Bailey, Roger Reed, Nick Cashman, Brian Green, and Dani Ponci.

Big Takeover is please to host the video premiere of “Free of Expectation,” a gently guided ambient number that glows with shining, slowly drawn out guitar curves, like the unhurried downing of the sun over a desert landscape at the end of the evening. Occasional crackles of light percussion and echoing reverb mimic the sound of insects and plants getting ready to rest from the day.

The video clip, which was done by Jason Marrano, mirrors this gradually slowing down feeling, with close-up images and longer views of the natural world, including focused shots of cacti and other desert flora swaying in the light breeze. Dusky purple and faded red shadows signal the approach of night, under a partially cloudy sky. Soon a half-moon comes into view, completing the cycle of the day…

Fort Lowell Records · La Cerca "Free of Expectation"

Thank you, Bandcamp!

So, the folks at Bandcamp got word of what Fort Lowell Records is doing with our two releases - honeybrandy Not In Out City (Remixed) and GROW: A Compilation in Solidarity with Black Lives Matter - where we are donating 100% of our sales to the North Carolina New Hanover County NAACP, and they have decided to lower their own fees to allow for more money to flow through to our community! 

Thank you, Bandcamp! We truly appreciate your support! - Fort Lowell Records

Pre-Order 'GROW: A Compilation in Solidarity with Black Lives Matter' now

Moved by the horrific Memorial Day murder of George Perry Floyd Jr. at the hands of four Minneapolis Police officers, Fort Lowell Records presents GROW: A Compilation in Solidarity with Black Lives Matter. The project, focused on Wilmington, North Carolina, is a response to the racial injustice continuously displayed by law enforcement across the United States of America.  Friends of the formerly Tucson, Arizona-based label involved with GROW have donated their own talents to allow 100% of the sales from the record to endow the New Hanover County NAACP with working capital to help Fort Lowell’s newly adopted local community.  GROW is an effort to help address the dire effects of racism in America.

Pre-Order GROW now from:

• Gravity Records
• Modern Legend
• Yellow Dog Discs

TRACK LISTING & TIMES

SIDE-A

• A01 - 2:59 - Tracy Shedd - "Holding Space"
• A02 - 3:53 - Life of Saturdays - "That Kind of Love"
• A03 - 3:26 - Summer Set - "Comfortable Town"
• A04 - 2:18 - Neon Belly - "The Boys Are Alright"
• A05 - 3:22 - Pinky Verde - "Come on Over"
• A06 - 2:43 - Kicking Bird - "What Would All the Other Girls Say (If They Knew What I Was Doing)"

SIDE-B

• B01 - 2:19 - The Love Language - "Throwing Darts"
• B02 - 3:22 - The Majestic Twelve - " Amphibious Vehicular Love"
• B03 - 3:32 - Sean Thomas Gerard - "Strange & Electrifying"
• B04 - 4:03 - Lauds - "Don't Mind (GROW Remaster)"
• B05 - 3:47 - The Rosebuds - "Get Up Get Out (Mark Saunders Radio Remix)"
• B06 - 3:57 - Team Player - "Wake for You"

GROW: A Compilation in Solidarity with Black Lives Matter - Release Date: Friday, October 30, 2020

"Not in Our City" ~ Dr. Keith R. Anderson

Harding Street Assembly Lab, a record label based out of Lynchburg, Virginia, recently released an new album titled Deaton Forestbrook for the electronic drone duo honeybrandy.  The Digital LP features a track called "Not in Our City," which showcases a speech that was presented by Dr. Keith R. Anderson -- Chaplin of the Lynchburg Police Department, founder of the Highly Favored Ministries Association of Churches, and member of the newly formed Alliance for Policing Reform in Lynchburg, Virginia -- to the Lynchburg City Council on June 23, 2020.  Friends of Fort Lowell Records -- De La Noche (members of Summer Set), Tracy Shedd (Teen-Beat Records), Kevin Earl (Stoop Records), infinitikiss (member of Grace Joyner, Valley Maker), and Gordon Merrick (member of Life of Saturdays) -- were so moved by the music and Dr. Anderson's words, they all decided to make their own remix version of honeybrandy's song, which we have now made available to you as a Digital EP: Not in Our City (Remixed).

Scheduled to be released on Friday, September 18, 2020 and all digital music download and streaming platforms - honeybrandy's Not in Our City (Remixed) is being made exclusively available on Bandcamp today -- Friday, September 4, 2020 -- in line with Bandcamp Friday, when Bandcamp waives all of their own fees.  100% of the sales from the Not in Our City (Remixed) Digital EP will be donated to the New Hanover County NAACP to provide their organization with working capital to help Fort Lowell Records’s own community of Wilmington, North Carolina ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate race-based discrimination.  Benefactors can give any sum of money that works for their own budget to obtain the digital download audio files and unlimited music streaming access for Not in Our City (Remixed) through Bandcamp at fortlowell.bandcamp.com.

Visit Fort Lowell Records at Bandcamp to make a donation to the New Hanover County NAACP by purchasing honeybrandy Not in Our City (Remixed) now.  In the meantime, enjoy listening to De La Noche and Tracy Shedd's remixes below.  Be well, and be kind. - Fort Lowell Records

honeybrandy "Not in Our City (De La Noche Remix)"

Fort Lowell Records · honeybrandy "Not in Our City (De La Noche Remix)"

honeybrandy "Not in Our City (Tracy Shedd Remix)"

Fort Lowell Records · honeybrandy "Not in Our City (Tracy Shedd Remix)"

Music Video for Saint Maybe pulled from the archives

"Take It Easy (But Take It)" is the seventh track on Saint Maybe's debut album Things As They Are.  Frontman Oliver Ray (Patti Smith) apparently made his own music video for this track, for an alternate version from what ultimately ended up on the famously meditative B-Side to their record, two years prior to their album every being released.  Enjoy!