The debut album featuring 10 songs written by Jerry Vessel, formerly of Red House Painters and recently a touring member of Sun Kil Moon. After residing in San Francisco for a number of years, Vessel returned to California’s San Joaquin Valley to find a new home in a familiar place. Inspired by the rural surroundings in which he now lives, Vessel found the time and solitude to reflect and write, the result being Heirlooms of August’s Forever the Moon.

[Heirlooms of August Forever The Moon]

[The Shins Port of Morrow]

The Collective, called “terrifyingly good” and “essential prog” by Guitar World, was recorded in late 2010 at Paint It Black Studios in Orlando, Florida with producer Mark Lewis (Devildriver, All That Remains, The Black Dahlia Murder). It was supported by five North American tours in 2011 alongside the likes of Periphery, Protest The Hero, The Human Abstract, Fair To Midland, Cynic and 3.

[SCALE THE SUMMIT The Collective]

Mad Planet is a Los Angeles-based foursome consisting of Cooper Gillespie (vocals/bass), Greg Gordon (drums/sequences), Tony Crouse (guitars) and Monica Olive (keys). The self-titled EP, produced by Ethan Allen (The 88, Tricky, Gram Rabbit) departs slightly from the band’s trip-hop roots exposing layers of pulsating bass lines, sultry guitars and punchy drums which allow Gillispie’s sultry vocals to float effortlessly above.

[Mad Planet]

Deep in the heart of Hell Paso Texas, MINISTRY’s Al Jourgensen re-opened the doors of his industrial compound studio in Fall 2011 and invited his favorite co-conspirators Mike Scaccia (Rigor Mortis), Tony Campos (Static X), Tommy Victor (Prong) and Casey Orr (Rigor Mortis/Gwar) to climb on board the Ministry pirate ship and de-construct and re-construct Jourgensen’s monsterpiece Relapse.

Thirty years and 12 albums later, as well as a near-death experience in 2010, Jourgensen rises as a phoenix from the ashes with Relapse — still angry, still political and very very pissed off. Relapsing back into the music industry after a four-year hiatus, Jourgensen launches his audio assault with “Ghouldiggers,” a no-holds-barred metal bullet aimed directly at the pitfalls of the industry he has survived. Everything Jourgensen predicted on Houses of the Molé, Rio Grande Blood and The Last Sucker has transpired and as we approach the Mayan calendar of the End of Days in 2012, Jourgensen, re-invigorated by the global 99 Percenters and Occupy Wall Street movement, navigates through Relapse once again as a reluctant prophet accusing, dissecting, cajoling and exhorting greed, corruption and lies.

Reaching back to his punk rock roots, Jourgensen and his MINISTRY pirates cover S.O.D’s “United Forces” – a track written 20 years ago still relevant today as a call to arms for the unrighteous and to those who feel disenfranchised by the “system” as it stands today.

Sited as the driving force behind a cross-section of metal genres from industrial Nine Inch Nails to thrash artists Static X and Nu Metal’s Korn, Linkin Park, Slipknot, Limp Biskit, and receiving six Grammy Nominations for Best Metal Performance, Jourgensen returns with his greatest achievement to date with Relapse.

Relapse Track Listing:
1. Ghouldiggers
2. Double Tap
3. FreeFall
4. Kleptocracy
5. United Forces
6. 99 Percenters
7. Relapse
8. Weekend Warrior
9. Git Up Get Out ‘n Vote
10. Bloodlust
11. Relapse Defibrillator Mix (Special Limited Edition)

[Ministry Relapse]

[Van Halen A Different Kind of Truth]

Van Halen – Tattoo from Van Halen on Vimeo.

Today’s modern day composer can work in many different areas of sound with one click of a mouse. This is the single most influential factor in Emika’s artistic development. Thrilled by the means and ways technology offers to shape song writing, she chose a software studio as her instrument throughout her musical education and beyond. While Emika’s approach to composition evolved, she worked with Berlin’s legendary engineer Rashad Becker to craft the unique sound of her record. Already highly-rated by everyone from Mary-Anne Hobbs to Thom Yorke and covered by media outlets as varied Resident Advisor and The Guardian, the release of this, her eponymous debut album, is awaited with considerable anticipation.

Emika is inspired by the roots techno culture because “it was a movement with sound and dancing at its very core. It was not about idols or stars, it was about sound and people coming together to dance and feel free.” She’s inspired by dubstep from Bristol and London since 2004 when she lived in these cities because of its meditational bass vibes: “originally it was deep spiritual music made by kids for kids.” These two influences twine together with her love of the great universal pop song, her abilities as a song writer, a classically-trained pianist and a singer, to make something completely unique.

[Emika]

The esteemed Animosity line-up records their first new album as a trio in over ten years. Produced by John Custer, Corrosion Of Conformity is expected to be one of the year’s most anticipated new albums.

Formed in Raleigh, North Carolina in 1982, CORROSION OF CONFORMITY quickly transformed heavy music. Politically charged and socially aware, the band has influenced countless others and today remains humble about their accomplishments. With over 1.1 million albums sold in the United States alone, the new album will be their first since 2005’s In the Arms of God.

[Corrosion Of Conformity]

The four new songs highlight the manifold sonic strengths of the band by delving into moments of triumphant melodic rock, smokey doom, ambient soundscape, acoustic desert-folk, and minimalist electronics. In contrast to the EP’s origin as the product of four different recording studios, including stints with engineers Sanford Parker (Twilight, Circle of Animals, Nachtmystium) and Aaron Harris (ISIS), the carefully crafted track listing boasts a cohesive narrative flow, lending the release an epic feel worthy of a full album.

[PELICAN Ataraxia/Taraxis]

In 2011, U2 returned to Hansa Studios in Berlin to discuss the making of Achtung Baby. From The Sky Down, is a documentary film directed by Academy Award winning director Davis Guggenheim (It Might Get Loud, Waiting for Superman, An Inconvenient Truth). Screened in the UK as part of the BBC’s Imagine Series, From The Sky Down was the first ever documentary film to open the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival. From The Sky Down includes bonus footage of So Cruel, Love Is Blindness, and The Fly shot in May 2011 during the band’s visit to Hansa Studios to mark the 20th anniversary of Achtung Baby; as well as a Q&A with Bono, The Edge and Davis Guggenheim filmed at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2011. Twenty years after the release of U2′s Achtung Baby (1991), Davis Guggenheim charts the path toward this groundbreaking album. Guggenheim uses animation and unseen footage from Berlin and Dublin alongside conversation to reveal what is now a key chapter in U2 s career.

[U2 From The Sky Down]