June Brides: Moon/Cloud artwork

Above is the front cover of the forthcoming June Brides 7" which will be released jointly by Occultation Recordings (PAN7DC015) and Slumberland Records (SLR 175) in North America. The "Moon / Cloud" single is a double 'a' side featuring a new Phil Wilson song, "A January Moon" and a version of a previously unreleased song called "Cloud" written by Nick Halliwell of The Granite Shore and The Distractions. The 7" will go into production next week and we expect to have copies by mid-June (obviously). Official release is set for 25th June but as usual we'll be taking orders before then. Copies ordered from Occultation will come with a special CD featuring not just the two tracks from the vinyl release but a number of related rarities and unreleased tracks in the usual Occultation packaging. More details to follow over the next few weeks.

Salford here we come

Tickets for an Occultation event featuring The Distractions, Factory Star and The June Brides at the King's Arms in Salford, Manchester, have just gone on sale at:

http://www.kingsarmssalford.com/details.php?show_id=282

Sexual Objects and Factory Star live in Manchester

Factory Star will be gearing up to record a new EP for Occultation with a gig at Gulliver's in Manchester on 15th March, second on the bill to the wonderful Sexual Objects. Also appearing are Kill Pretty and Taser Puppets. If you're in the Manchester area this is not to be missed. More details here.

That Opposite Sex album...

We really are very, very excited about this one... See the previous post for information on the Opposite Sex album which we'll be helping to release and distribute, supporting our good friends at Fishrider Records of Dunedin, New Zealand, who are responsible for one of the most talked-about albums of recent months.

We have a very limited quantity of the original NZ CDs available to purchase directly from us in The Occultation Shop. These should arrive here any day and will then be shipping immediately. However there'll also be a 180g LP version (FISH006UK/ARIEL7DC016), retail release is tentatively scheduled for 23rd April though we'd hope to have some a little before that and will take orders once we have a delivery date. There'll also be a UK CD edition as soon as the remaining NZ copies have gone, which is likely to be very soon.

Below is the video for "Sea Shanty". We'll also be stocking a few other Fishrider releases, including the new album by The Puddle, very shortly in a reciprocal arrangement which'll also see Occultation material made more easily available in New Zealand. Hands across the ocean, and all that or, as Ian of Fishrider calls it, "a transglobal alliance". He's not wrong...

Opposite Sex

"New Zealand’s Fishrider Records and UK-based Occultation Recordings (Wild Swans, Distractions, June Brides, etc.), are pleased to announce a trans-global alliance for the UK release of the self-titled debut album by Opposite Sex, available on 180g vinyl and CD from www.occultation.co.uk and distributed in the UK and Europe by Proper from 23rd April 2012.

The subversive pop of Opposite Sex will warm the heart of anyone who viewed the heady years of 1978-1982 (Rough Trade Records including the NME's C81 Cassette, No Wave and the start of Flying Nun Records in NZ) as a watershed period in alternative music - a time when there were no rules and anything seemed possible.

The sound of the trio is, they say, “an absurdist-logico mix of Euro pop, Beat poetry, and subterranean lo-fi adventuring." Although their music ranges from oddly poppy carnival waltzes to manic, melodic post-punk and no wave, this is no retro exercise: the album is their own unique genre-defying trip through the experimental subversive pop underground of their imaginations.

The album has already attracted heavy radio airplay from the likes of Marc Riley and Gideon Coe on BBC6Music, and is winning admirers wherever it goes. Now it is getting a full UK release bringing it to a whole new audience."

More details to follow shortly, video for "La Rat" below.

Tracks In Snow EP - sold out

Unless any copies turn up unexpectedly having strayed from their allotted boxes (fairly unlikely now), we've sold out of The Wild Swans' Tracks In Snow EP. We'd like to thank everyone who did buy the album, with or without the EP, directly from the Occultation Shop; you've no idea what a difference this makes when running a small label nowadays. Not one of us makes a penny out of Occultation, in fact a number of generous people have put money in with no realistic prospect of seeing it again.

Although the EP is now gone, we do still have copies of all other Occultation releases, including the two earlier singles by The Wild Swans (both are different from the album versions and have non-album 'b' sides), the two Granite Shore singles, the two EPs by The Distractions, the Factory Star album and single and Jonathan Beckett's She's A Vampire EP. We're probably going to have a little New Year sale starting over the next few days, offering special deals... So keep an eye on the Occultation Shop.

Caught In The Carousel

If you visit the excellent US Caught In The Carousel website - as you most certainly should - you'll find their latest issue includes not one, not even two but three pieces on Occultation releases by Dave Cantrell:
1) Factory Star Enter Castle Perilous
A detailed and highly perceptive review of the album together with an interview with Martin Bramah.
2) The Wild Swans The Coldest Winter For A Hundred Years
A fine review of the album
3) Factory Star Lucybel / The Granite Shore When Sleep Won't Come
A review of the Christmas single.

We'd like to thank both Dave, who's put a huge amount of work into these pieces, and also editor Alex Green for all their efforts. We can wholeheartedly recommend the site, the standard of the writing is far above so many such sites.

Finally a very Happy New Year from all of us at Occultation Recordings.