New Vinyl! FLAC downloads!

We have released a lot of records to date, but never so many in such a short span of time. This Friday (Black Friday, November 26th, 2010) we have a 2xLP, 2 single LPs, a CDep, and a limited 7" all hitting stores for the first time.  Here are some pics of the vinyl colors, because we know you like to look at stuff like that (click to enlarge). Order all four from the Hydra Head shop and use the coupon code: SUGARBEAR2 to get 10% off.

Harvey Milk - s/t 2xLP - available on black (not pictured), black cherry, and seafoam vinyl

Daughters - s/t LP - available on Diarrheainbow (aka light brown), Baby Blue, and black (not pictured) vinyl. Free Daughters - The First Supper b/w Boner X-Ray 7" while supplies last (Limited to 500 total!  200 available through the Hydra Head Shop, the rest through local stores)

Cave In - Anomalies Vol. 1 LP - available on black or white vinyl (no pic because you should already know what black or white vinyl looks like. Unless you are blind, in which case we apologize, but also in which case what do you care what color it is?)

Kayo Dot - Stained Glass CDep

If you count both physical formats of the new Jesu 2xCD/2xLP and we are putting out 7 releases in 11 days! Here's a look at those vinyl colors:

Jesu - Heart Ache & Dethroned 2xLP - available on Grey, Clear Pink, White, Clear, and Black (not pictured) vinyl.

Not to mention the Jesu MP3 and FLAC downloads. Yes, that's right, all you audiophile internerds can untwist your marvel superheroes underoos because this is the first of many of our releases to see digital release as FLAC files. Available exclusively in the Hydra Head digital download store (powered by Diystro). 

We are almost rolling at a release per day for the second half of November. Holy moly.

Kayo Dot - Coyote Vinyl LP Now Available from Taiga!

Packaged in custom letterpress & offset full-color materials. 100 transparent yellow / 250 opaque cyan / 400 black. 

Now avalible in the Hydra Head shop. Also available on CD and MP3 from Hydra Head.

Originally released on CD by Hydra Head in Spring 2010, TAIGA records now presents the deluxe vinyl version of Kayo Dot’s melodramatic masterpiece Coyote. The album was mastered for vinyl by Mell Dettmer, cut direct to metal and pressed on 200g virgin vinyl with full-color labels featuring artwork by Toby Driver. The LP features alternate artwork from the CD version and is packaged in custom letterpress materials as an edition of 750. Printed on 200lb art paper, the letterpress jacket has notches at the opening where the ends of a 28 x 7 inch belt tuck in. The belt has more of Driver’s art printed in offset full-color on the inside with letterpress printing on the outside.

Kayo Dot is touring Europe in January/February 2011! They will have opaque cyan colored vinyl copies of Coyote on the road! European dates TBA.

* further information can be found at myspace.com/kayodot

Kayo Dot - Coyote CD

Kayo Dot - Coyote MP3s

Kayo Dot - Stained Glass CDep

New SALE section on hydraheadshop.com!!

We have recently launched a SALE section to our online store.  We got some choice shirts currently on clearance from such acts as CAVE IN, CLOUDS, MARE, AUSTERITY PROGRAM, ZOZOBRA, DAUGHTERS, and TUSK amongst others.  If you head over in that direction, the shirts are only 10 bones, which is prefect for that special someone on your list.  

Check it here!

Keelhaul cancel tour

Due to financial and legal restraints, KEELHAUL have called an end to their current tour. No more news is to follow. Sorry for the bad news!

Jesu Release "Heart Ache & Dethroned" Today on Hydra Head

Release "Heart Ache & Dethroned" on 2xLP/2xCD/Digital Today on Hydra Head!

Justin Broadrick is in it for the long haul -- he started with grindcore legends Napalm Death at age 15, spent decades making brilliant industrial sludge as Godflesh, and has created endless electronic projects. He's six years and counting into Jesu, blending ambient guitar buzz with hypnotic rock rumble. This set re-releases his 2004 debut EP, Heart Ache, two songs (at near 20 minutes each) halfway between Godflesh and shoegaze, plus the Dethroned EP, four old songs that lay unfinished until now. It's the sound of a man moving to his next stage, unsure how he should make his machines howl. Mournful or loud? Why not both? - Spin Magazine

The more metal, shoegaze, various “posts,” and electronics intersect, the more obvious it is ex-Napalm Death/Godflesh/Techno Animal Justin K Broadrick’s been at the forefront of something even before he started Jesu seven years ago. Of all his projects, though — the older Final, more recent Pale Sketcher included — Jesu crystallizes his personalized blend of drone, metal, industrial, electronics, shoegaze, ambient, noise, and disarmingly fragile melodies. This re-release of Broadrick’s first Jesu offering, the 2004 Heart Ache EP, proves the point in shimmering, crunchy spades. - Stereogum

There are few artists operative at the fringes of popular music today whose sound has not been in some way or another informed or shaped by the works of Justin K Broadrick. As a founding member or sole proprietor of seminal outfits such as Godflesh, Napalm Death, Techno Animal, and Final, Broadrick has managed to help change or even define the now widespread genres of industrial and death metal, abstracted hip hop and dub, grindcore, and ambient electronics. So is also the case with his work in Jesu, who in the course of a very productive seven year existence have taken the churning pummel of his former project Godflesh, augmented it with the textural melody of 90s shoegaze rock and spawned a new sub-genre and the inevitable legions of imitators. And while imitators may abound, as the originator of this relatively newfound musical territory Jesu is still the clearly visible leader.

For those who may only be vaguely familiar with the history and subsequent trajectory of Jesu the re-release of the debut EP, Heart Ache, may function as the most suitable starting place for the process of initial immersion and discovery. Over the span of two towering 20 minute tracks one can hear not only the smoldering remnants of Godfleshembedded in the aural tapestry, but also the foundational elements that would define the future of the Jesu lexicon - extended and hypnotic structures, overlapping multi-layered melodies, alternately harsh/beautiful sonic embellishments and a palpable sense of the human capacity to express feeling through the mode of song craft. While Heart Ache itself may be reason enough to warrant investigation by the uninitiated, the inclusion of the recently completed Dethroned EP as a part of this release gives further reason for new listeners and long time devotees to discover (or remember) why so many accolades lay heaped at the altar of Jesu. The 4 tracks from Dethroned were originally conceived and partially finished in 2004, but were only finally completed in 2010. Perhaps due to the length of time over which these tracks were created the full evolution of Jesu is apparent within their structures, fluctuating from suffocatingly heavy to delicately sparse and covering an emotional spectrum of considerable depth. While "full circle" might not be quite the appropriate term to describe the content of Dethroned there is a completeness to its statement, recalling the monuments of Jesu past while simultaneously pointing towards the ever widening path of its future.

* Order "Heart Ache & Dethroned" here!



Track Listing

DISC ONE: heart ache
01 heart ache [19:42]
02 ruined [20:14]

DISC TWO: dethroned
01 dethroned [07:12]
02 annul [07:16]
03 aureated skin [06:46]
04 i can only disappoint you [07:09]

Happy Birthday Boss!

Torche on Dirty Laundry TV

via Dirty Laundry:

This week on Dirty Laundry, Torche fluff, fold and even get Malia to reveal some of her own dirty little NSFW secrets.Torche bare all about playing heavy music, coming out and taking a punch.

CHECK OUT TORCHE EPISODE HERE

Dirty Laundry is also giving away a copy of Torche's new Songs For Singles CD. If you want a chance to win it, just follow them on Twitter or join their email list.

New House of Low Culture, Feral Pig webstore, etc.

aaron turner (hydra head records CEO, art director and absentee office troll) has been busy with a bunch of stuff lately, apparently anything other than the work he's supposed to be doing for hydra head. at the top of the list is the feral pig webstore, which is now up and running. the purpose of this new shop is to siphon off some of our sales by offering a selection of various hydra head related releases, as well as trying to con people into buying a variety of other items he's supposedly been somehow involved in making.

he's also trying to generate some scratch (for who knows what nefarious purpose), by selling a new/old house of low culture release in the form of a "digital album" entitled "housing tracts". for those not already in the know, house of low culture is turner's long running but intermittently operative "solo" project which seems to be moving into gear again now that he's been kicked out of isis. you can grab the new/old HOLC release below or by heading over to the mysterious sige records website....

Black Friday Preorders!

If you plan to get your Christmas shopping done early this year, then you should head over to our online store cause, starting today, you can preorder our special RSD* Black Friday releases!  We got 4 titles in total being birthed on November 26th, including two new exclusive releases and the vinyl versions of two recent classics.  Here's what we got:

HH666-201 CAVE IN "Anomalies Vol. 1" LP - Order here!
7 Song collection of rarities and covers.  Only available on vinyl.

HH666-195 DAUGHTERS "s/t" LP - Order here!
Vinyl version of the last Daughters opus.  The first 200 purchases will include a free Daughters 7" Single.

HH666-181 HARVEY MILK "Harvey Milk" 2xLP - Order here!
Official vinyl version of Harvey Milk's "lost" first full length.

HH666-213 KAYO DOT "Stained Glass" CDep - Order here!
Brand New Kayo Dot CDep follow up to Coyote!




And of course, all these hitmakers have other albums available from Hydra Head.  Which make great stocking stuffers, just saying.












* Record Store Day

Floor "Sight & Seen" 2xDVD Pre-order!

You can now pre-order the Floor Sight & Seen 2xDVD (Chunklet) from our webstore! Here's Chunklet's description:

After years of toiling away in obscurity, followed by years of escalating interest during their hiatus, the legendary Florida band Floor reunited for a handful of shows in April 2010.  Three different drummers.  Three different sets.  Over two hours of material spanning their early dirgey/noise singles to their landmark psych/drone/pop self-titled masterpiece.  Filmed over two nights at the EARL in Atlanta, Georgia.  "Sight & Seen" is truly something that needs to be seen to be believed.   

A multi-camera performance coupled with professionally recorded and mixed audio, "Sight & Seen" is an enveloping, droning wall of guitars.  Floor's two guitarists, Anthony Vialon and Steve Brooks (of TORCHE fame), spend over two hours on stage with their various drummers.  Their three drummers, Betty, Jeff and Henry, rotate through the band's lineup: crashing through their early singles, smoking the viewer with their mid-period haze and ending with the cathartic and anthemic final album.  

Disc #1 of "Sight & Seen" also includes a 20 minute featurette that documents the band's history with never-before-seen live footage, photography and interviews.

Disc #2 is intended to lure in both massive fans and completists alike.  A data disc (which means you pop it in your computer), includes: 

High quality audio files of both Atlanta shows (not just the one shown on disc #1)  

- the complete and edited film of Floor that ended up on the cutting room floor (which clocks in at over 2 hours of video)

And in addition to this, the band has opened up their video vaults to include:

• over an hour of archival footage spanning Floor's career from 1993 at Churchill's in Miami to their final shows in 2002.

"Sight & Seen" is also housed in an elegant package which was initially used on Chunklet's landmark "Anthem" 2xDVD release by Harvey Milk in 2006.  All designed by Chunklet's in-house designer, Henry H. Owings.  

Track Listing:
Disc 1: (Dual Layer Disc)

1. Throttle
2. Chelsea Girl Blues
3. Leasing Winona
4. Meaning Its Over
5. Sunday
6. KTel Presents
7. Chelsea/Pigs
8. The Pulse
9. Dove
10. Namaste
11. Floyd
12. Dead Wrong
13. Goddard
14. A Bun In The Oven
15. Figbender
16. Scimitar
17. Return To Zero
18. Downed Star
19. Iron Girl
20. Night Full Of Kicks
21. Twink
22. Sneech
23. Assassin
24. Kallisti
25. Ein
26. Figured Out
27. Tales Of Lolita
28. Bombs To Abbadon
29. Loanin'
30. // Song
31. Diamond Dave's Are Forever

Disc 2: (High quality audio files of both Atlanta shows)

1. Throttle
2. Chelsea Girl Blues 
3. Leasing Winona
4. Meaning Its Over
5. Sunday 
6. KTel Presents
7. Chelsea/Pigs
8. The Pulse
9. Dove
10. Namaste
11. Floyd 
12. Dead Wrong
13. Goddard
14. A Bun In The Oven
15. Figbender
16. Scimitar
17. Return To Zero
18. Downed Star
19. Iron Girl
20. Night Full Of Kicks
21. Twink
22. Sneech
23. Assassin
24. Kallisti
25. Ein
26. Figured Out
27. Tales Of Lolita
28. Bombs To Abbadon
29. Loanin'
30. // Song
31. Diamond Dave's Are Forever

Plus entire edited video of the night NOT on disc 1 (Same set order as above)

Happy Birthday Boss!

Torche - "U.F.O." Live at Vacation Vinyl

From their in-store at Vacation Vinyl in Los Angeles, September 28th, 2010. We'll be posting more of these in the coming weeks.

Artist Picks: Faith Coloccia (Mamiffer, Everlovely Lightningheart, Pyramids)

Faith Turner-Coloccia (Mamiffer, Everlovely Lightningheart, Pyramids)

Mare - s/t EP
CD, MP3
When I heard this record I felt like I was hearing something perfect. Every note and change and harmony makes sense and resonates within me. I wish Mare would make another record someday. I also wish I could sing like Tyler, and I also wish I could play drums like Caleb. I heard that Tyler had a toothbrush in his back pocket while they were playing in Toronto...what can I say?

Jodis - Secret House
2xLP, CD, MP3
This is one of the saddest and most lonely records I have ever heard, sad and lonely without being dramatic. It sounds very honest, like a twisted version of Fovea Hex. I really appreciate the space the music has, and the time period and personalities of the musicians the recording captures. You can appreciate James Plotkin's exceptional hearing and mastering skills. I tried to make a funny joke about Jodis, but you CANT joke about Jodis, and everyone knows that. This record deflects joking.

BERGRAVEN - Til Makabert Väsen
CD, MP3
When I heard this record I was walking in the rain, it was before the record came out (thanks HHR!). I was listening to it on broken ipod headphones. I listened to it with two bi-polar manic depressives in my car driving in traffic, and all these times I only noticed the music. This is an amazing record. I think this is the most "listened to" record for me of 2009. This record is also not really funny or joke-able.

Old Man Gloom - Christmas
MP3
This record is so fucking awesome, it sounds haunted and it sounds like a bunch of guys were trapped in a recording studio in Salem during a snow storm. In my dream world if I was a dude and I could growl and yell really loud and play electric guitar like I just couldn't stop being influenced by The Dead Man soundtrack, then I would be in this band and I would play live shows and be tired and sweaty afterward. I REALLY wish Old Man Gloom would make some more records...I heard they are going to soon...just saying.

Khanate- Capture and Release
LP, CD, MP3
I don't even need to describe to you my excuse for loving this record. But there are so many good things you can do while listening to Khanate. You can drink coffee early in the morning with your Khanate mug, you can cut the sleeves off of your Khanate shirt and go hiking in the mountains, you can sharpen the Khanate hunting knife you have near your bed while living in the woods, you can drown out your roommates irritating folk music by listening to Khanate really loud, you can appreciate James Plotkin's exceptional hearing and mastering skills, and you can play with your cat by dragging him around with an afghan on the floor while you both listen to Khanate.