Фирма Fire Records

Style: Independent

In 2005, JOMF released the critically acclaimed flags of the sacred harp, followed by valley of fire in 2007, in between these milestone studio records, the band has released several sprawling live sides, including- america mystica, freedomland, and the c Style: Independent

Debut from Berlin-based Melbourne 3 piece HTRK. Recommended by PLAN B as ones to watch in 2007. Style: Independent

The angular, intricate, and intelligent compositions of Hospitality signal a sophisticated new pop voice. Singer Amber Papini's idiosyncratic songwriting and incisive lyrics coupled with the band's rich arrangements on their self-titled debut explore youth, New York, and the bittersweet commingling of past and present in a way that feels just right, right now. From the opening phrase of "Eighth Avenue," guitar hooks are balanced with a cultivated melody. Papini's singing has a wisp of an English accent via Kansas City (she learned to sing by imitating Richard Butler on The Psychedelic Furs' Talk Talk Talk) and her lyrics create a moonstruck, even cinematic vision of New York City, where the band formed in 2007. The production by Shane Stoneback (Vampire Weekend, Sleigh Bells) and band member Nathan Michel (guitar, drums, keyboards), who released his share of experimental "bedroom" pop, culminating in 2005's The Beast (Skipp/Sonig), imbues the entire record with an intimate yet prodigious sound, layering period keyboards with horns, synthesizers, and treated guitars. Hospitality the album has an overarching vision and should be listened to as a whole, though every song registers as a single. "Friends of Friends" could break the charts with its heavy intro, swingin' breakdown and horn riffs; "Betty Wang" (the lynchpin of their live set a few years back) is impossibly catchy, the story of one of Papini's real-life colleagues at a financial day job; and "The Right Profession" is a power-pop burst of an anthem with Papini chanting the immortal line, "It's hard to change!" (Isn't it?) And "The Birthday," with a sinuous, dissonant lead guitar, the lockstep rhythm of the drums and Brian Betancourt's nimble bass, wouldn't be out of place on The Police's debut record, but its epic coda makes it decidedly CinemaScope. Hospitality, while hearkening back to '70s/'80s pop-both Elvis Costello and Kate Bush are influences-has an ambitious vision: its big promise is nowhere more evident than on the gorgeous anthem "Julie," the album's centerpiece which already sounds like a classic. The song's lush, glorious build is coupled with lyrics inspired by Papini's great-grandfather, a Pennsylvania coalminer. Reprising some songs from a self-released 2008 EP recorded by Karl Blau (K Records) allows Hospitality to nod to its beginnings as a more lo-fi outfit; that early intimacy can be found in the arrangement of the cheeky and distinctly NC-17 "Liberal Arts." After patiently honing their craft, playing concerts (and gaining converts), Hospitality have reached what will be its first apex with many more heights to come; from their modest debut in a Red Hook row house, the band has evolved from four-track low-fidelity to a luxury five-star future. Style: Independent

GUIDED BY VOICES classic '90s line-up releases its first album of new material in 15 years. The cult, low-fi heroes - Robert Pollard, Tobin Sprout, Greg Demos, Mitch Mitchell and Kevin Fennell - returned to the studio to record Let's Go Eat The Factory. I Style: Alternative Rock

Pink Vinyl Single. "Keep it in Motion" is the new non-album single from Guided by Voices. Following the blow-away success of the album 'Let's Go Eat the Factory', the first to be recorded with the 'classic line-up' for fifteen years, GBV continue to make music together that's every bit as good as they were in the old days (if not better!). "Keep it in Motion" is a song with the sort of driving quality and repetition aligned with a ridiculously catchy-melody, to make it a sure-fire hit! Style: Indie Rock

7 with 4 exclusive b sides. Doughnut For A Snowman is an exclusive single from the brand new GUIDED BY VOICES album Let's Go Eat The Factory. The first album of new material in 15 years and featuring the classic GUIDED BY VOICES lineup, Doughnut For A Sno Style: Independent

The new GUIDED BY VOICES album is the best thing the band has recorded since the last album by the legendary Dayton, Ohio rockers. That's not meant facetiously: the last thing GUIDED BY VOICES recorded was the rapturously received "Let's Go Eat The Factory", and "Class Clown Spots A UFO" ups the ante raised by that stellar effort, both in terms of recording fidelity (boring!) and songcraft (not boring!). One could argue there's more depth and variety here than on "Alien Lanes", that there are better songs here than on "Bee Thousand", but that's an argument no one's ever going to win, at least definitively. And this album is a win, by any (definitive) definition. "Class Clown Spots A UFO" is classic GBV, starting with the head-body-head combination of "He Rises (Our Union Bellboy)," "Blue Babbleship Bay," and "Forever Until It Breaks" before finishing you off with the title track, a ridiculously catchy, melodically-complex, shot-through-with-melancholia song that serves as a kind of sadder and wiser riposte to XTC's "Making Plans For Nigel" as performed by the Hollies. If that makes any sense at all (it will when you hear it, hopefully). And that's just the first four songs of a 21-track album clocking in at just under 40 minutes. We've yet to get to "Keep It In Motion," a propulsive, drum-machine driven pop song which features, unusually, acoustic guitars, strings, and Bob/Toby singing together in a way not heard since "14 Cheerleader Coldfront" on 1992's Propeller. Possibly. (The song was one of a few that Bob recorded and sent to Toby at his home studio in Michigan for over-dubbing.) Nor have we discussed galvanic rocker "Jon the Croc," a clear single candidate, or "Chain To The Moon," one of the saddest and (why not?) prettiest songs Pollard has ever written. In between you get wah-wah guitar solos, a wide range of unusual recording techniques of varying fidelity (but, as referenced above, much less of the murk lurking on "Let's Go Eat The Factory"), and a generous helping of "Alien Lanes"-style snippets. In fact, the sequencing of "Class Clown Spots A UFO" seems to hearken back to that landmark LP - as on "Alien Lanes", songs bleed into each other, fadeouts segue into fadeins, short bursts of melodic rock ("Billy Wire," "Roll of the Dice, Kick in the Head") jut against somber chamber pop ("They and Them," "Starfire"). The last song, the anthemic "No Transmission," if played at the proper volume, will in fact blow your mind (and your windows). The band is about to finish their third record since reuniting, because you'll find out sooner or later. A side benefit of Pollard's for-now decision to call it quits on touring is that you get more GUIDED BY VOICES albums. It's really hard to see how that's not a great thing for everyone. Because it is a great thing for everyone. Obviously. Style: Alternative Rock

Style: Rock

Just when you thought Giant Sand couldn't get any bigger, Howe Gelb has done just that by regrouping, expanding and magnifying his vision with the newest version of Giant Sand, calling it (appropriately enough) GIANT GIANT SAND. As a sort of homage, he's named the album "Tucson" after the town he's called home for forty years. This self-described country rock opera by one of music's leading risk-takers, is set to be released on June 11th, 2012 on Fire Records. In GIANT GIANT SAND you will recognize the members all hailing from Denmark who have been a part of Giant Sand for the last 10 years, plus the new string section now added and also the inclusion of stunning pedal steel player Maggie Bjorklund. In addition, you'll be introduced to the new musicians from Howe Gelb's native Tucson making their Giant Sand debuts along with long time collaborator Lonna Kelley lending her smoldering warble from Phoenix. The inspiration for assembling these collaborators (or cast if you will) for an album was the idea of a country rock opera, a vision that has followed Howe for decades. Taking place in the town of Tucson , the story revolves around a "semi grizzled man with overt boyish naïveté" who sets off to escape the trappings of hometown life and embarks on a life-changing road trip; eschewing all his worldly goods and leaving behind his girlfriend, encountering jail at the Mexican border, finding new love at a train station saloon, all while 'the end of the world' provides the landscape game changer. The album is a dusty work of art, conjuring images of the all knowing desert and a confused river inside the cacti-strewn sound scape. The GIANT GIANT SAND lineup includes Brian Lopez, Gabriel Sullivan and Jon Villa who bring their Mex-Amer-i-can zing to the album with a permeating cumbia style of playing, drawing on South American traditional music. Joining them is a string section from Aarhus, Denmark introduced to the band by Señor Lopez (where coincidentally the rest of Giant Sand are from) including violinist Iris Jakobsen, who, ironically, was born in Tucson. No man could've planned it better here when Fate is the founding father. Style: Americana

The haunted Americana of GEORGIA'S HORSE sounds like it could have come from one of several thousand abandoned settlements or ghost towns in the West Texan desert. There are echoes of the (ex pat) Americana of THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS, a light dusting of the Style: Independent

Recorded on a Cordoba roof with his 'Band Of Gypsies' in the Andalucía sun, ''Alegrias, is an exceptional new work from Howe Gelb. Originally only available in Spain, where the record enjoyed considerable success due in part to the wondrous contribution f Style: Indie Rock

LP is on recycled board sleeve. Following their album of Spanish folk songs "Anda Jaleo" (Fire 2010), Josephine Foster and the Victor Herrero Band have created a superb follow-up entitled Perlas (Pearls) due out on Fire Records in May. It is a jewel of a collection, with songs and poems selected by Josephine herself, gathered from dusty old scores and brought vividly to the present with warm performances full of flesh-and-blood emotion. Made with a variety of stringed instruments and simple percussion, the songs were recorded live in the studio on to analogue tape by Paco Loco in Puerto de Santa Maria, Spain. Foster breathes new life into timeless traditional melodies, drawing from the Spanish-folk traditions of Castile, the Basque, Santander and the Costa Brava. Elemental themes of love bind the collection together, with a melancholy joy that casts a shadow of desire and loss Style: Independent

Style: Rock

Style: Americana

Ryan Driver is this unstoppable, quietly torrential flow of music, that has been coming out of Toronto, Ontario for a number of years now. He's been a key member of a number of the most interesting ensembles in the city, including DEEP DARK UNITED, THE RE Style: Independent

5 years is the time it took Daniel Christopher Smith, a.k.a. Brother Danielson, a.k.a. Danielson, to complete this newest work. The tracks are thoroughly arranged (with bass player Joshua Stamper creating some great horn charts), and the rhythm section (w Style: Independent

Musician, misfit, culture warrior and bullshitter: Robert "Bobby" Conn. Fire Records are delighted to announce that they will be releasing the new album from Bobby Conn entitled acaroni'. Recorded with his new band The Burglars, this album is the first since 2007's King for a Day, and his first new release on Fire Records. Bobby has equally delighted and annoyed hipsters since first appearing on the Chicago music scene in the mid '90s. Blending aggressive showmanship with an omnivorous love of musical genres, from Suicide to Streisand or from The Sweet to Stravinsky, Bobby has often irritated and provoked audiences, but never bored them. Bobby Conn's lyrics document the continuing absurdities of contemporary Western culture, illustrating and celebrating the convenient hypocrisies that allow us to sleep soundly every night. He developed "The Continuous Ca$h Flow System" in 1995 as a critic of the magical thinking that Americans employ concerning their debt fuelled lifestyles. 15 years later, Bobby's "Continuous Ca$h Flow" is revealed as the operating principle of the entire financial system. He has accurately described the Armageddon based world view of America's Christian right since 1996, and tracked its evolution from fringe fanaticism to its current place in the heart of America's political mainstream. But despite the relevance and prescience of his songwriting, his devotion to total entertainment in glitter and heels has confused as many as he has enlightened. He continues to collaborate with his wife and musical partner, Monica Boubou. Fully his equal as an entertainer herself (and more than his equal in stature), her electrified violin defines the epic melodic reach of their music. In between bouts of touring, Bobby and his band, The Burglars, headed to the studio to create this collection of new tunes, titled "Macaroni". Macaroni is Bobby Conn's first album in 5 years (and first for Fire Records) will be released on CD/LP in April 2012 - followed swiftly by a re-issue of his landmark debut "Bobby Conn". Macaroni is a contrast between "this is what you want" (the packaged predictable blandness of a Macaroni dinner) but this what you get (the violent mess of reality). Style: Independent

There can be few records that manage to include tributes to the English female, nudist camps, runnin' for the border, and French writer and WWII resistance agitator Guy De Maupassant... but then again there are few artists quite like Dave Cloud. Have no f Style: Blues

18 years after the release of their landmark self-titled debut, Cardinal - the recording collaboration between Richard Davies and Eric Matthews - are preparing to unveil their long awaited new album. The new record, entitled Hymns, picks up where their debut left off - well-crafted, layered orchestral pop, with Matthews' multi-instrumental talents enhancing Davies' sublime songwriting gems. Hymns comprises ten new originals, another milestone in the band's quest to provide the missing link in chamber pop history, following the Beatles and Bee Gees and before Belle & Sebastian, and a worthy follow up to their self-titled debut, a record lauded then, and now, as one of the most important albums of the 90s. Finally completed in 2011, what was thought to be a pipe dream, and an object that is sure to elicit delight from both musicians and music fans alike, a new album Hymns. Hymns signals a new beginning for Cardinal, signing to storied independent label Fire Records - in fact, also originally home to the last album from Davies pre-Cardinal outfit, The Moles. Hymns combines self-assured and pious pop gems ("Northern Soul") with immense-canvas outback masterworks ("Kal"), and improbably, hot-blooded essays on the first law case Davies ever read ("Carbolic Smoke Ball"). Like the first album a lifetime ago, Hymns is a set of diamonds. Great songs - actually, plain-old-fashioned good songs, filtered through Davies' John Donne/Sir John Mortimer law/art prism, and Matthews' trained arranger's ear.The two are perfectly matched. It is clear that, once again they spur each other on to greater heights. Guitars, vocals, horns and strings, bass, along with the weird, are used with invention, purpose, and confidence. Style: Independent