Hello, Goodbye

While Blogspot has served us well over the years, let's be honest, it's not great looking. So we've moved ourselves over to Tumblr. This blog will become dormant, or it'll forward you to our new home (if I can figure that out).

So if you'd like to keep up with us we are here:

www.halfmachinerecords.com
halfmachineradio.tumblr.com
(it's the same site)

Sam Willis' debut album out tomorrow

Tomorrow sees the release of Sam Willis' debut solo album 'Winterval'. One-half of Kompakt singed Walls, this is Willis' first release under his own name, following singles on labels such as Buzzin' Fly, RVNG INTL, and Playhouse. 'Winterval' is a bold and immersive album that fuses the saturated analogue sounds of classic house and techno with the plagant / euphoric melodics associated with Brian Eno or Selected Ambient Works era Aphex Twin. In a contemporary context Willis's experimental and hypnotic sounds fit neatly but uniquely alongside the likes of other sonic 4:4 explorers such as Four Tet, Actress, Nathan Fake and Caribou.

The LP comes on limited red vinyl, with full album download included. You can order that HERE (or pop in to your local record shop from tomorrow)

Or you can download HERE for only £7

Here's what people have been saying about the album:
"A perfect storm of a debut..fuses analog techno and house with ambient meditations" - The Fader
"narrative, tonal techno.. entirely absorbing" - Pitchfork
"Winterval has hypnotic, frostbitten beauty..a field of swooning analogue beats and spectral scribblings" - MOJO
"Echos the abstract subtlety of Aphex's 'Selected Ambient Works'..surreal hypnotic exploration that demands your full investment" - Clash Magazine
"Twinkling productions that bear comparison with Pantha Du Prince and Jesse Somfay" - Guardian

And if you're still not convinced, stream the whole album:

The Magic 'Call Me Up' video

Here's the video for Call Me Up by The Magic and starring Sylvie Smith on vocals and walking around. Taken from the debut album Ragged Gold, which is out now.

The video was directed by Sean Michael Turrell

The Magic - 'Call Me Up' from Half Machine on Vimeo.

Sam Willis 'Winterval' album stream

The Fader premiered Sam Willis' debut album yesterday.

Winterval is out on Monday 5th November 2012 on cadmium red vinyl and download (the LP comes with free download). Head to our shop to pre-order > SHOP

A stutter and a pause...

...but we're back now with some more music for you. Harald Bjork, the gentleman from Sweden who makes acid techno for many fine labels, his own among them, has remixed Sam Willis' Frozen/Cirrus with great results I'm sure you'll agree: Also, the ever on it Jon Hillcock, off the wireless, has included Sam's album track Foxglissandro in his new podcast All Back No Front, alongside music from Death Grips, Dam Mantle, Majical Cloudz etc.

Sam Willis 'Frozen/Cirrus' download/ HMR radio

Hi, have two things to mention, but I'll keep this brief;

Sam Willis' Frozen/Cirrus was download of the week on the always reliable Little White Earbuds on Friday. Frozen/Cirrus combines pistoning drum machines with tumbling Terry Riley arpeggios and a hypnotic bass refrain.



Secondly, we have a radio page, where we'll be posting our mixes. It's sorta like Magic FM, with more psych rock. You can listen to it HERE. The first mix is an oldie, but goodie (obvs), the soundtrack to our little trip to Guatemala last year. It's a Tumblr, so you can follow us and all that.

The Magic - European tour

The Magic, who's debut album 'Ragged Gold' came out a couple of months back (listen HERE) are supporting their other band Islands on some European shows along with some of their own.

18th Sep, WOODY WEST, PUSTERVIKSBAREN, GOTHENBURG, SWEDEN*

19th Sep, FRITZ`S CORNER, LILLA HOTELLBAREN, STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN*

24th Sep, HBC, BERLIN, GERMANY*

25th Sep, FEIERWERK, MÜNCHEN, GERMANY*

27th Sep, CLUB STEREO, NÜRNBERG, GERMANY*

28th Sep, KING GEORGE, KÖLN, GERMANY*

1st Oct, SZENE, VIENNA, AUSTRIA*

2nd Oct, NKZ PARK, ZAGREB, CROATIA*

5th Oct, SWAMP, FREIBURG, GERMANY*

12th Oct, LÁRBORDAGE, EVREUX, FRANCE*

25th Oct, HOXTON BAR & GRILL, LONDON, ENGLAND

26th Oct, THE WAITING ROOM, LONDON, ENGLAND

* - with Islands
Note, this will just be the brothers, Geordie and Evan, not full band.

Sam Willis 'Winterval' video

Noisey today premiered the Dan Tombs directed video for 'Winterval', the title track from Sam Willis' debut album, released 5th November.

Download A Sam Willis Remix Compilation

Here's a free unmixed comp of some of Sam Willis' favourite remixes he's done (names redacted to protect the innocent)

DOWNLOAD

Pre-order 'Winterval' on limited 180g heavy red vinyl HERE

Half Machine Records T-Shirts

There's some limited edition Half Machine Records t-shirts in our shop. Grey for the boys, white for the girls.

The back, if you can't see it, reps our ends, England's Lourdes, saying:

Half Machine Records
Solid Gold Hits
Canvey Island, England

BUY BUY BUY

Sam Willis 'Winterval'

Sam Willis is set to release his debut solo album 'Winterval' via Half Machine Records on November 5th on cadmium red vinyl and digital download.

One half of electronic duo Walls, who have released two critically acclaimed and adored albums on Kompakt, his solo debut delivers on the rich promise of his earlier releases and remixes for influential imprints such as Playhouse, RVNG Intl., Rekids and Buzzin' Fly amongst others.

'Winterval' is a bold and immersive album that fuses the saturated analogue sounds of classic house and techno with the plagant / euphoric melodics associated with Brian Eno or Selected Ambient Works era Aphex Twin. In a contemporary context Willis's experimental and hypnotic sounds fit neatly but uniquely alongside the likes of other sonic 4:4 explorers such as Four Tet, Actress, Nathan Fake and Caribou.

You can download the album's pulsing 8 minute long title track, here:

The Magic - mixtape

Listen to The Magic's soul mixtape, featuring tracks from Dr John, Lijadu Sisters, Sly & The Family Stone etc.

The Magic Mix by Half Machine on Mixcloud

The Magic - Q Magazine "weirdo disco" playlist

Head over to Q Magazine's website to listen to a "weirdo disco" playlist from The Magic. Includes tracks from Arabesque, Amii Stewart, Donna Summer, etc

The Magic's Weirdo Disco Playlist (via Q Magazine)

Order the LP HERE

Or head to iTunes, Juno, Amazon, Bandcamp to download

The Magic 'Ragged Gold' out today

The Magic's debut album 'Ragged Gold' is out digitally today.

Order from:
iTunes
Juno
Amazon
Bandcamp

And buy the 180g LP HERE

The Magic 'Ragged Gold' album stream and track by track

Stream the entire debut album by The Magic below, and head on over to Fake DIY to read Evan's track by track guide HERE





ORDER THE 180 gram LP HERE

Roberto Cacciapaglia 'Sonanze' LP

We have a handful of the Wah Wah Records reissue of Sonanze, a more krautrock excursion than The Ann Steel Album. Head over to our shop to buy > HALF MACHINE SHOP

Roberto Cacciapaglia had already gathered attention for his excellent work at the keyboards on Franco Battiato's legendary second LP Pollution before joining forces with krautrock mastermind Rolf Ulrich Kaiser for the release of his 1975 masterpiece Sonanze. Cacciapaglia self-produced the album in Milan for the Cosmic Couriers label, and it certainly brings echoes of some cosmiche kraut experiments like those of Popol Vuh, Klaus Schulze or Tangerine Dream, yet retaining a unique personality of its own. Actually it's the feel given by Cacciapaglia's mixture of classical sense compositions (he was trained in Milan's Giuseppe Verdi conservatory) with adventurous experimentalism (he worked for the RAI's phonology research team and also at the CNR in Pisa) what makes the sound of Sonanze so unique. According to the Scented Gardens Of The Mind book, "good musical references might be Terry Riley, Franco Battiato (Sulle corde di Aries), Klaus Schulze (Cyborg) and William Scheller (Lux Aeterna)."

The Magic - Ragged Gold 180g vinyl pre-order

The Magic's debut album, Ragged Gold, is out next month and will come on 180g heavy weight vinyl, complete with a free album download.

You can pre-order via our shop > HALF MACHINE SHOP (Orders will ship before, or on, 25th June. A little later in the shops)

The Magic - 'Mr Hollywood (Sandro Perri Remix)'

Prefix Magazine premiered the brand new Sandro Perri remix of The Magic's 'Mr Hollywood'

"Fraternal Canadian electro duo The Magic have only put out two songs so far, but they already occupy an musical island all their own. First single "Mr. Hollywood" is equal parts 70s spy flick theme and bayou-burning early Dr. John, but takes on a wholly different quality in the reimagining of Sandro Perri. The prolific Toronto native's soundscapes are as surreal and vivid as the cover to his excellent 2011 album Impossible Spaces. His remix of "Mr. Hollywood" brings the trucking tempo of the original to a slither, a digital lounge with mandolin and analog synths juxtaposed. Perri's sonic vision is on par with producers like Jon Brion, and with material as inventive as The Magic's to work with, he has produced something special."

Sam Willis - 45 minute Boiler Room mix

Sam Willis, one half of Kompakt's Walls, was part of a Boiler Room takeover recently. You can download, watch and/ or stream his 45 minute set below.

The Magic, a look back and a thrust in to the future...

Here at Half Machine we've been lucky enough to release some brilliant records over the past 7 years by bands that have gone on to bigger and better things, which pleases us no end. Real Estate released their debut album on Domino last year, Banjo or Freakout released his on Memphis Industries and two albums via Kompakt as part of Walls (who first met when we commissioned THIS remix), Woods continue to release amazing music via their own Woodsist label, MIT released their second album on V2 and so on.

Last year we released two albums - the second album by Floridian psych-pop band Holiday Shores (which you can hear in full HERE) and a reissue of 'The Ann Steel Album' by Roberto Cacciapaglia. If you're wondering what a 1979 bizarro pop record made by a left-field electronic composer who was an associate of Tangerine Dream and Popol Vuh sounded like, listen HERE.

We still have a handful of The Ann Steel Album reissue in our shop, along with a few other bits and pieces, including some Half Machine tote bags (fancy, I know). Check them out in our SHOP

We have two records coming up this year, the first of which is by Canadian pop alchemist's The Magic. 'Ragged Gold' is released worldwide on 25th June 2012, and is an effervescent pop record influenced by the joyful pop of Phoenix, the white funk of Talking Heads, the studio soul of Hall & Oates and a thousand weird European pop records. You can hear the debut single 'Mr Hollywood', a soulful disco pop hit about the double lives of closeted gay actors, such as Rock Hudson, HERE, alongside the mournful slow burning b-side 'Never Lock The Door'.

You can 'like' The Magic on Facebook, just head on over to them via this link - www.facebook.com/TheMagicOfficial - when they get to 500 likes (we were slow starters on the whole Facebook pages thing) we're going to pick 5 people at random to win a copy of their debut LP.

We'll tell you more on the second album we're releasing another time. It's very exciting and quite different to what we've done previously...

If you'd like to 'like' us on Facebook, you can do so here - facebook.com/halfmachinerecords

The Magic - 'Never Lock The Door'

'Never Lock The Door', the b-side to The Magic's debut single is available to stream via Soundcloud below.



The Magic on Facebook

The Magic - No Sound (Live in Guelph, ON)

The Magic made their live comeback in Guelph, Ontario last week at the Kazoo Fest. Some phone footage of upcoming album track 'No Sound' popped up on Youtube, watch below.



Like The Magic on Facebook here

The Magic 'Mr Hollywood'

Stream the debut single by The Magic below. Taken from their debut album 'Ragged Gold', released on Monday 25th June 2012 on vinyl and download.

'Ragged Gold' is a record as equally indebted to the effervescent pop of Phoenix, as it is the white funk of Talking Heads. Get in to it.



PRE-ORDER HERE >> THE MAGIC 'RAGGED GOLD' PRE-ORDER

Vinyl and CD sale

To celebrate the four day weekend here in the UK we're having a sale - all vinyl LP's £10, CD albums £5 and loads of 7"s for £1.

Includes Roberto Cacciapaglia's 'The Ann Steel Album' LP, Holiday Shores 'New Masses For Squaw Peak' LP, and the upcoming debut by The Magic, alongside rare 7"s and 12"s.

Sale ends Monday 9th April at midnight.

SHOP >> HALF MACHINE STORE HERE

Half Machine Podcast 004

New podcast featuring music from Steve Reich, Timmy Thomas, Molly Nilsson, Jonti, Vinyl Williams etc.

Half Machine Podcast 004 by Half Machine on Mixcloud

The Magic on Youtube

If you prefer to stare at things whilst listening to music, there's this video (not a proper video, just a picture, with a different one at the end).

Holiday Shores - Best Top Of The Pops Performances Ever Playlist

Last year, just before Holiday Shores' second album New Masses For Squaw Peak was released Nathan made a playlist of his favourite Top Of The Pops performances for a magazine, who ended up not using it, so here it is:

Best TOTP performances video playlist:

Altered Images - I Could Be Happy (1982)


(John Peel called Altered Images the biggest band of 1982. Just watch Claire dance)

Kate Bush - Running Up That Hill (1985)


(Kate Bush disappears for three years at the pinnacle of her career and drops RUTH (an acronym provided by the
video uploader which has prompted much laughter about Bush diehards who've probably been calling it RUTH for decades now).


China Crisis - Black Man Ray(1985)


(Flaunt the Imperfection was produced by Walter Becker of Steely Dan, I'd like to think he's responsible for Gary Daly's bolo tie)

XTC - Making Plans for Nigel(1979)


(I love the Mummer and forward phase of XTC but I can't help but love when they made straightforward postpunk/new wave whatever
you wanna call a band that use a gong for a cymbal)

Haircut 100 - Love Plus One (1982)


(I love it all, except for the knee-highs)

Tears For Fears - Pale Shelter (1983)


(Curt Smith made, unarguably, some of the worst hair choices in modern pop history. Roland, however,is seen in a rare moment of hair clarity that would
disappear as soon as Big Chair dropped)

Sade - No Ordinary Love (1992)


(Why doesn't anyone like the early 90's)

Roxy Music - More Than This (1982)


(Note: Look for the toothpick to suddenly appear in Bryan Ferry's man mouth as soon as his synth solo begins. Also shoutout to Tony Levin
playing chapmanstick in a band he wasn't in, just for the TOTP performance.)

Laurie Anderson - O Superman (1981)


(The youtube uploader pretty mercilessly tears the choreography of this piece a new hole. I think it's just missing a wandering Laurie fixing her eyebrows
next to one of those glowing (jellyfish?).

The Magic 'Door To Door' MP3

Download or stream 'Door To Door', the first music to come from the Magic's upcoming debut album



Like The Magic on Facebook

Half Machine Podcast 003

Half Machine Podcast 003 by Half Machine on Mixcloud

With tracks by Steven Jesse Bernstein, Darkside, Esperanza, R. Stevie Moore etc etc

Sam Willis - Stockport Callin' mix

Holiday Shores - 'We Couldn't Be Together' video

Order the album here:
CD
LP

The Magic

The Magic, the newest addition to Half Machine, have a Facebook page for you to like, if you like.

There'll be music and announcements in the coming weeks about releases and all that.

So, go to the link below and click on 'Like'

THE MAGIC FACEBOOK

Roberto Cacciapaglia 'The Ann Steel Album' Re-Press

It's been a while since our last post here, sorry about that, been busy (that's a lie, I've just had nothing to say).

Anyway, the initial run of Roberto Cacciapaglia's Ann Steel Album went better than expected, selling out pretty quickly, so I've ordered up a re-press of a couple of hundred. This is a smaller pressing than the first and when it's gone, they're gone for good.

So, if you missed out, you can order yours here:
HALF MACHINE SHOP

Half Machine Records - Solid Gold Hits

A playlist of our greatest hits on Soundcloud. Includes hits by Real Estate, Banjo or Freakout, Ancient Crux, MIT, Holiday Shores and so on. Listen without prejudice.

Half Machine Sale

We're having a January clearout of stock, so go to our shop and you'll be able to pick up 7"s for £1, 12"s for £3 and CD albums for £4.

I found the last few copies of Banjo or Freakout's 'Upside Down' 12", which has been sold out for sometime too.

Go here to order >> Half Machine Shop

LISTEN: Roberto Cacciapaglia 'The Ann Steel Album''