Fading Ways Music - The Blog

From Ljubljana comes one of the most originally-titled musical projects, The Toronto Drug Bust. Those of you who remember Turku Romantic Movement will recognize the production, courtesy of Rami Helin - but the project is the brain child of Izak Kosir, in what can in fact be called his first solo effort. 9 songs planted firmly in the rock genre, owing as much to Keith Richards (the original Toronto Drug Bust being his, obviously) as to Sir Mick Jagger, an obvious reference point for Izak.

Strongly recommended for any and all who like heartfelt pop-rock and radio friendly tunes for this Summer.

We presente to you here the closing track, Cigar Superstar, under direct permission from the artist. Although this CD is not on the Fading Ways label, it can be ordered via the FW Music Store.

I have been living in Portugal for about two years now, after a much needed break from touring. I am therefore pleased to announce that The Betrayal of the Self, my last studio album - recorded in Stockholm with the Ghosts as well as some very special guests - will now see the light of day in my home country of Portugal on Monday, July 26th.

I will be attempting to introduce the album to the Portuguese audiences via a series of solo acoustic in-stores, which will also be a warm up for my upcoming Slovenian dates in September. These will take the shape of a “storytellers” type gig, very interactive. Take a look at my Facebook for further details…

http://www.facebook.com/neilleytonmusic

Also, if you want some Creative Commons-licensed free MP3s, this is the page to get’em at:

NeilLeyton.com MP3 page

For the rest of the world, word on the stress, er… I mean, street, says Elite Nylon will finally see the light of day this year, via a limited mailorder-only fan release. Longtime Leyton supporters have not been forgotten, and the record is coming!

Love n wine,

N

Red Orkestra’s third album, “All’s Well in Heaven and Hell”, has now been released in Canada, and while we await its European dates (confirmed is a release in the BeNeLux via Sonic RendezVous and Portugal via Compact Records) this Spring, we thought we would present you with the title track from this beautiful album - a more intimate, paired-down offering than Red Orkestra’s “Life with the Machines” album. While “Life with the Machines” was more of a brit-pop offering, “All’s Well…” takes us back to the urban-folk of the acclaimed debut album “After the Wars”, but the landscape is darker and more personal than previously. Johnny Charmer’s songwriting has taken a turn into Nick Drakeian territory, and while all the political lyrical activism remains firmly at the helm, the songs on this album go well beyond the surface. Johnny’s bared his soul on this one.

Red Orkestra - All’s Well in Heaven and Hell MP3.

Visit Red Orkestra on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Red-Orkestra/162059886487

Stereo Satanics. Every true rock n roll fan will one day recognize these glam-punk
fashionistas from small town Balingen, Germany. Ralph on Fyre (Guitar, Vocals), Dan Shandog
(Guitar, Backing Vocals), Black Matze (Bass, Backing Vocals) J. Wilde (Drums) worship at the
altar of Lou Reed, Nikki Sudden and the great unspoken truth that is rock n roll music. This is
post-historic Garage-Punk with its roots in the 60s and 70s, re-invigorated for today.

Their third album “Surrounded by Ghosts” was already released in Germany and the BeNeLux, and is now heading as far south to Australia, with a tour of Portugal also in the works for March 2010. In anticipation, we present you here with the “Stereo Satanics - She was a Hippie and I was On Fire” single MP3 by way of an introduction to this all-style, no-nonsense, back to the roots, rock n roll time bomb.

Visit the Stereo Satanics online at www.stereosatanics.de their MySpace, and their Facebook.

The new Fading Ways Digital Download shop is now up and running with a few of our titles. This store is a result of the new partnership between Fading Ways Music and Cowbell Digital over in Australia; and it is hosted stateside by Missing Ink.

Cowbell will also be releasing select physical-product titles from the Fading Ways catalogue. Visit the digital download shop at https://missinginkshop.com/fadingwaysrecords/store.

By way of an invitation, here is a free mp3 off my “Betrayal of the Self” album, which is now available via the digital download store: Neil Leyton - Alone/Together.

Fading Ways’s resident “spectral cowboy” (Vogue Magazine’s description, not his) Mazgani has announced his appearance in the Super Bock in Stock festival, second edition. Mazgani will appear alongside names like Beach House, Little Joy, Mocky, Wave Machines, Wild Beasts and Voxtrot in what is fast becoming Lisbon, Portugal’s version of SXSW - taking over the Avenida da Liberdade’s theatre-oriented venues for two nights of indie rock n roll fun.

As announced by Mazgani’s management, this will be the last Portuguese date this year. Shortly after the Super Bock in Stock appearance at Cabaret Maxime on the night of December 5th, Mazgani will fly to the Netherlands for a promotional radio tour (and one solo gig) in December:

9    Amsterdam    OBA live / Radio 5 / Omroep Llink 18:00
10    Rijnmond    RTV Rijmond show “Live Uit Lloyd” 14h
10    Haarlem    Patronaat
11    Amsterdam    Amsterdam FM 16:00
13    Haarlem    Haarlem 105 FM, 14.00 – 15.00 hrs
13    Hilversum    Radio 1/ Omroep LLink 19:00

But it doesn’t stop there… He will return to the Netherlands once again in January, by invitation from the Eurosonic/Noorderslag Festival to showcase as part of the Network Europe showcase night at Shadrak, January 14th. Mazgani’s Dutch booking agency, Paperclip, has also announced two complimentary dates for January:

14    Groningen    Eurosonic / Noorderslag: Shadrak, main stage
15    Amsterdam    Paradiso
16    Ottersum    Cultureel Podium Roepaen

We wish the Spectral Cowboy all the best for his travels - Godspeed ! - and leave you bloggers and readers with the new single from “Ladies and Gentlemen introducing Mazgani”: Mazgani - Dust in the Sun MP3.

For those who don’t know Red Orkestra, we need to trace its roots back to a band from the Canadian prairies in the mid-90s called Red Autum Fall. Simeon Ross, Rich Ragany, Gail Thompson and Jackie Duncan moved to Toronto in ‘96 and the band soon conquered the hearts of Smiths-loving Torontonians and any other brit-pop fan that would listen. But alas, Rich and Simeon split the band up and went their separate ways, leaving a certain fella named Johnny  - who had played second guitar in the last couple of R.A.F. shows - to start up a new project with Simeon. This band was called Charmer, so by the time I met Johnny and asked him to play guitar in the Neil Leyton line-up circa 2002, he was already Johnny ‘Charmer’ to me…

By the time Charmer the band split up Johnny’s surname was so a part of him that when he started his own project, Red Orkestra, everyone in our Toronto circle of musician friends knew him as Johnny Charmer. Red Orkestra put out a great debut album, “After the Wars” (the first CC-licensed physical album to be internationally-distributed) produced by Steve Payne (Charmer, Boy, Leyton, iSpies, and a host of other projects) featuring Devin Stoneham, myself and Loaf Pariah (from The Pariahs, eh) in the band line-up before Johnny hooked up with The Machines for the second Red Orkestra record. However, in my honest opinion, this upcoming third album is thus far his best:

Johnny’s got his third album all done, once again with Steve Payne producing. “All’s Well in Heaven and Hell” is coming out in the new year, and Johnny is offering bloggers the chance to post its first single - and other exclusive tunes off the new album, if you contact him - “Red Orkestra - Wait“. The record is a more understated, less brit-pop and more folky, introspective jaunt through one of Canada’s most prolific singer/songwriters mindsets over the last couple of years, through some Canadian and European touring and the “Enola” EP (a digital release). For more information and to get in touch with Johnny requesting more mp3s for your blogs, visit www.redorkestra.com.

Thank you for the great feedback via email on Mazgani’s “Thirst”!

The “Ladies and Gentlemen, introducing Mazgani” disc (now out in the BeNeLux) does indeed feature the full 5 tracks from the new Tell the People EP as well as some (another 5) tracks from Mazgani’s first album, which was never released outside Portugal. So, we are offering you a taste of that:

Mazgani - Somewhere Beneath This Sky - from “Song of the New Heart” (2007)

This track was awarded the third place price (16,000 entries!) by the International Songwriting Competition in Nashville, boasting Tom Waits as one of the judges. Ironically we think that Mazgani’s newer material owes more to Tom (and old St. Nick) than the peaceful sounds of his first album. But who are we to comment?

Decide for yourself: Mazgani: Loving Guide on Last FM - from “Tell the People EP” (2009)

Both of these tracks featured on “Ladies and Gentlemen, introducing… Mazgani”.

Confused? It’s the wine. Visit www.mazgani.com…

N

From 2004 to 2006, the Fading Ways released a series of Creative Commons licensed EP’s that our street teams were encouraged to download, burn, copy and share. In this blog post we offer up a few of these back-catalogue tracks since the original Share site has now gone offline… along with a reminder of what Share Sampler Vol 1 looked like:

1. Neil Leyton: Melancholy, Understanding

2. The Sinisters: Rocket

3. Red Orkestra: Still Waters

4. Aceface: Knock Me Out

5. The Pariahs: Down Again

6. The Conscience Pilate: Money & Alcohol

All the Share Samplers where issued under the CC By-Nc-Sa license starting in early 2004… Fading Ways would eventually become the first record label to distribute internationally available physical CDs using CC licenses on our CDs… Red Orkestra’s debut “After the Wars” was the first…

Enjoy the blasts from the past!

N.

Fading Ways Music welcomes bloggers from around the world!

We believe blogging to be the future of proper music journalism. Mainstream media, and most radio, can no longer be trusted to serve valid independent opinions. Bloggers rule - all the best new music is found in blogs. And, yes, we miss Lester Bangs! So we propose a trade: once a week, the hard-working typewriter monkeys here at Fading Ways HQ shall serve up a new Creative Commons-empowered (By-Nc-Sa licensed), freely downloadable and re-postable mp3 from our new upcoming releases (or back catalogue, for those who like that sort of not-so-new, best-kept-secret sorta thing!), and YOU write about it! In the spirit of old Lester. Plus, if you like what you hear and wanna know more, get in touch with us via fadingways@googlemail.com and we will provide additional and even exclusive contents for your particular blog. Talk to us!

FEATURED THIS WEEK:

FWM066: Ladies and Gentlemen, introducing… Mazgani

Mazgani is a Portuguese singer-songwriter who has released a debut album, Song of the new Heart, and an EP, Tell the People, in Portugal. Ladies and Gentlemen, introducing Mazgani is, appropriately, his first international release and he presents us with all five tracks of the new Tell the People EP combined with 5 tracks from his debut album. Plus, an unforgetable and must-have gem of a bonus track, “Slaughterhouse of Love”, where, alone with an acoustic guitar and a hot mic, Mazgani delivers a passionate tale about right and wrong, and knowing who you are.

However, for now, here is the first track on the comp: Mazgani - Thirst

Mazgani will be at the Super Bock em Stock festival in Lisbon, Dec. 5th, followed by the Eurosonic/Noorderslag festival and showcase in Groningen, NL in January - part of a Netherlands mini tour. Please visit www.mazgani.com for more details - the site is in English and Portuguese, so you can practice your language skills as well.

Mazgani - Thirst MP3