Фирма RidingEasy Records

As RidingEasy Records' highly successful Brown Acid series (now at 10 volumes and counting) proves, there is a massive amount of incredible heavy psych and proto-metal music that has been lost to the sands of time. Case in point, the astoundingly great 50- year-old album The Ice Age by Indianapolis quintet ICE was never even released upon its completion. In 1970, the band recorded 10 original songs at 8-Track Studios in Chicago, only to break up shortly thereafter. Two of the tracks were eventually released as a 45 in 1972, but confusingly under a different band name, Zukus! The A-side of that single was featured on Brown Acid: The Ninth Trip, which led RidingEasy Records to discover when licensing the track that an entire album had been languishing in obscurity all of this time. The 2-inch master tapes had been shelved and forgotten until recently when The Ice Age tracks were converted to digital and remixed, preserving the sounds of the original vocals & instruments. Finally, half a century later, this 10-song album of radioready rock will finally see light of day. The Ice Age is an exceptional archive of hard edged rock with serious pop hooks akin to something like Grand Funk Railroad meets The Guess Who and The Move. It rocks hard, but is also interlaced with glorious melodic hooks. Had fate been less fickle, this album would've long been a classic rock radio staple. Album opener "Gypsy" is a chiming Byrds-like rocker, with glistening 12-string guitar, organ and somewhat over-zealous vibra-slap. "Satisfy" and "3 O'Clock In The Morning" nicely pair up as the most pop friendly tunes, but with very clever melodies and structures sounding ahead of their time, the latter with an extended entrancing and droning refrain led by shimmering organ run through a Leslie speaker. "Running High" and "Catch You" were the two tracks released in '72 under a different band name, which received considerable local radio airplay. And, for good reason: Their nice balance of wayward psychedelic pop and troglodyte thunder is exactly what makes The Ice Age so captivating. Album closer "Song of The East" shares the growling glissando and orchestral style that made Vanilla Fudge and The Moody Blues household names. In the late 1960's five young men formed a rock & roll band on the west side of Indianapolis, Indiana. They chose the coolest name possible: ICE. The group consisted of vocalist/keyboardist Barry Crawford, lead vocalist/ bassist Jim Lee, drummer Mike Saligoe, lead guitarist John Schaffer and rhythm guitarist/vocalist Richard Strange. They was among the first bands to perform an all original set throughout the Midwest at high schools, colleges & concert venues. They opened for national acts like Three Dog Night, SRC, Kenny Rogers & the First Edition, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and others in arenas and theaters. The Ice Age is truly an incredible and unprecedented find, particularly when we'd all thought the glorious history of rock'n'roll had long ago been written and sealed as complete.

Thomas V. Jäger is best known as the vocalist/guitarist in Monolord, the hottest, most crushing melodic doom band in the world. So, releasing an intimate, deeply and boldly personal album of acoustic and synth based songs hot on the heels of the band's most successful and powerful album to date, No Comfort might seem like a risky move. And yet, that's not even the most daring and inspiring thing about A Solitary Plan. Rather, this 7-song album is a cathartic depiction of very real and heart-wrenching situations as a means of musical therapy for the artist and, hopefully, for the listener as well. "This album is me venting all of this emotional energy I've been carrying around," Jäger says. "Now I'm feeling more open about it, but at the start I had a hard time talking with friends and family. The record is what came out instead of talking about it." The central lyrical theme to the album is a coming to terms with the likelihood of not becoming a parent after wanting to have a family for a long time. "When I put down vocal tracks on the last song 'The Bitter End', you can hear my voice is trembling at parts. Every time I listen I get goosebumps, which rarely happens with songs I write." Other songs also deal with personal challenges, like health scares, existential searching, and death in the family. "Goodbye" is written for Monolord bassist Mika and his wife Emma. "When they had to put down their dog Eskil it affected me greatly. This song is him talking to them and telling them it is gonna be alright." Heavy stuff, indeed - but in a different way from Monolord's pummeling riffs. Jäger doesn't intend for the album to be a "woe is me" exercise, but rather something constructive. "I know that music helps people," he says. "This is without any irony, it's therapeutic. I know fans can interpret and use the songs for their own purposes. That feels meaningful to me." The album began organically, as Jäger often writes and records at home, sketching out song ideas on acoustic guitar into a computer with no set goal for anyone else to hear them. RidingEasy Records chief and Monolord manager Daniel Hall cajoled the guitarist into sending him some of the home recordings he'd been working on, and he immediately pushed for them to be released in this stripped-down form. "I could've rearranged them to get a Monolord vibe, but I wanted the basis of just voice, guitar and synths," Jäger says. "Really laid back and mellow." He completed the album between tours, with mixing and mastering by Kalle Lilja at Welfare Sounds. Emil Rolof plays a real Mellotron on the title track, all other instruments and voices are Jäger himself.

Thomas V. Jäger is best known as the vocalist/guitarist in Monolord, the hottest, most crushing melodic doom band in the world. So, releasing an intimate, deeply and boldly personal album of acoustic and synth based songs hot on the heels of the band's most successful and powerful album to date, No Comfort might seem like a risky move. And yet, that's not even the most daring and inspiring thing about A Solitary Plan. Rather, this 7-song album is a cathartic depiction of very real and heart-wrenching situations as a means of musical therapy for the artist and, hopefully, for the listener as well. "This album is me venting all of this emotional energy I've been carrying around," Jäger says. "Now I'm feeling more open about it, but at the start I had a hard time talking with friends and family. The record is what came out instead of talking about it." The central lyrical theme to the album is a coming to terms with the likelihood of not becoming a parent after wanting to have a family for a long time. "When I put down vocal tracks on the last song 'The Bitter End', you can hear my voice is trembling at parts. Every time I listen I get goosebumps, which rarely happens with songs I write." Other songs also deal with personal challenges, like health scares, existential searching, and death in the family. "Goodbye" is written for Monolord bassist Mika and his wife Emma. "When they had to put down their dog Eskil it affected me greatly. This song is him talking to them and telling them it is gonna be alright." Heavy stuff, indeed - but in a different way from Monolord's pummeling riffs. Jäger doesn't intend for the album to be a "woe is me" exercise, but rather something constructive. "I know that music helps people," he says. "This is without any irony, it's therapeutic. I know fans can interpret and use the songs for their own purposes. That feels meaningful to me." The album began organically, as Jäger often writes and records at home, sketching out song ideas on acoustic guitar into a computer with no set goal for anyone else to hear them. RidingEasy Records chief and Monolord manager Daniel Hall cajoled the guitarist into sending him some of the home recordings he'd been working on, and he immediately pushed for them to be released in this stripped-down form. "I could've rearranged them to get a Monolord vibe, but I wanted the basis of just voice, guitar and synths," Jäger says. "Really laid back and mellow." He completed the album between tours, with mixing and mastering by Kalle Lilja at Welfare Sounds. Emil Rolof plays a real Mellotron on the title track, all other instruments and voices are Jäger himself.

From beyond the gutter, The Death Wheelers bring you their second album, the soundtrack to the fictional bikesploitation flick that never was: Divine Filth. Drawing inspiration from instrumental rock, proto- metal, punk and funk, the band embalms the listener in their sonic world of decay, groove and debauchery. Surfing the line between Moto?rhead, The Cramps and Dick Dale, the Canadian quartet uncompromisingly blends rawness and power in their riff fueled compositions. Recorded entirely in 48 hours in a live setting just like in the good old days, this second opus is a testament to what the band stands for: a no BS attitude spiked with a heavy layer of crass. Just like their previous offering, the album is devised to serve as a soundtrack loosely based on a plot synopsis of a B-movie: It's 1982. Spurcity is run-down. The crime rate is up and so is drug use. A new kind of kick has hit the streets and it ain't pretty. DTA, a powerful and highly addictive hallucinogenic drug, is transforming its loyal citizens into undead trash. Its users experience an indescribable high, but it leaves them rotting away within days, craving human flesh. No one knows who is dealing this new potent drug, but rumour has it that the motorcycle cult, The Death Wheelers, is behind this concoction. Could this be the end of civilization as we know it? What is motivating this group of psychotic individuals? The cycle of violence indeed continues with this sordid slab of sounds. So hop on, and enjoy one last ride with The Death Wheelers.

From beyond the gutter, The Death Wheelers bring you their second album, the soundtrack to the fictional bikesploitation flick that never was: Divine Filth. Drawing inspiration from instrumental rock, proto- metal, punk and funk, the band embalms the listener in their sonic world of decay, groove and debauchery. Surfing the line between Moto?rhead, The Cramps and Dick Dale, the Canadian quartet uncompromisingly blends rawness and power in their riff fueled compositions. Recorded entirely in 48 hours in a live setting just like in the good old days, this second opus is a testament to what the band stands for: a no BS attitude spiked with a heavy layer of crass. Just like their previous offering, the album is devised to serve as a soundtrack loosely based on a plot synopsis of a B-movie: It's 1982. Spurcity is run-down. The crime rate is up and so is drug use. A new kind of kick has hit the streets and it ain't pretty. DTA, a powerful and highly addictive hallucinogenic drug, is transforming its loyal citizens into undead trash. Its users experience an indescribable high, but it leaves them rotting away within days, craving human flesh. No one knows who is dealing this new potent drug, but rumour has it that the motorcycle cult, The Death Wheelers, is behind this concoction. Could this be the end of civilization as we know it? What is motivating this group of psychotic individuals? The cycle of violence indeed continues with this sordid slab of sounds. So hop on, and enjoy one last ride with The Death Wheelers.

.. TRIP

2019 RidingEasy Records vinyl repress numbers: 75x Jimmy Hendrix Splatter (Yellow, green, purple) 100x Clear 300x Opaque Yellow with Green Swirl 300x Purple with Black Swirl Opaque 400x Orange Opaque 400x Black 180 gram 400x Green with Black Swirl (BAND EXCLUSIVE)

2019 RidingEasy Records vinyl repress numbers: 75x Jimmy Hendrix Splatter (Yellow, green, purple) 100x Clear 300x Opaque Yellow with Green Swirl 300x Purple with Black Swirl Opaque 400x Orange Opaque 400x Black 180 gram 400x Green with Black Swirl (BAND EXCLUSIVE)