BORROKA

Slightly Absurdist Neo Progressive Noise Rock

It's 2009, a meaningless year in the era of stressful and grumpy people who think of themselves as very important and have just lost the last grain of fun left in their remote controlled bodies. But thanks to whatever superpower you believe in, there are a few others left to build a great party. And Borroka proudly present itself as a member of these others. Slightly weird, slightly absurdist, without boundaries and, most importantly, with loads of fun. And what about you? Are you up for it? Are you with us on the crusade against the grumpier creatures that move around on the face of the earth? Come on then!

Borroka started in the beginning of 2009 as a collaboration between JJ Borroka and M. Frau. Two creative minds that felt locked up in the world of their existing bands, the touring and the many uninteresting people involved with those bands. Making music is great, but in a band you always have to think twice about crazy stuff. So the two needed something anonymous to do whatever they liked. And soon, more human beings were getting involved in the quest for fun and rock. A unique combination of American and Dutch musicians.

The first Borroka creation was a Sunday morning remake of the famous Motown slime ball hit "Never Been To Me" by Charlene. "Charlene the mean machine" was the perfect translation of what Borroka wanted. Rock music, without the serious and poetic lyrical themes, but with arrangements going just a wee bit over the edge. As always, it's hard to describe a genre, but this is coming close:

Throw Sonic Youth in a pretty big blender, turn it on, remove the lumpy parts, let it rest for a day or so, sculpt a nice Pixie out of it and finish it off with a Frank Zappa moustache.

Shortly after the Charlene thingy, Borroka sneaked into the studio to record their first official release: The Cedric B maxi single. 3 songs without any link between them. Cedric B himself starred in the Cedric B video as the embodiment of everything Borroka is not: Stuck in Society. The biggest achievement was the fun in the air, and that nobody felt pushed or stressed in anyway. Borroka sat down, played, pressed record and did whatever came in mind.

The grand question for the future was, is this possible on a larger scale? An album? Yes it was! "Siberian Tale" is the proof of that. This 9 track album is based on JJ Borroka’s essay A Siberian Tale which tells the story of an imaginary Siberian family. Again, the Borroka platoon invaded the studio, jammed the story in their brains, and started playing. The result was just what was to be expected: Slightly Absurdist Neo Progressive Noise Rock.

And now? We don't know. Maybe we become grumpy people. But that will be just as likely as Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic Space Travel Agency will be a big success.

SUPERMASSIVE QUAzAR BIO

SQ is literally a one-man musical army. Led by Dominic Lamarre, who by the time he was 34 years old, recorded more than 300 songs, from cool ROCK to very radio-friendly POP to great BALLADS to orchestrated INSTRUMENTALS to indie SOUNDTRACK to just about anything you can imagine.

Growing up with a keen hear, his roots were soaked into CLASSICAL music, ROCK and POP greats like THE BEATLES, QUEEN, PAT BENATAR, DURAN DURAN and also (gasp!) ABBA (not even afraid to admit it the least!). Inspired by a wide number of artists and styles – from NIRVANA, SMASHING PUMPKINS, GREEN DAY, TRAIL OF DEAD, QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE and RADIOHEAD to metal’s finest OPETH to lesser known geniuses like AKIRA YAMAOKA and sElf, always admiring a great female voice/female-fronted band like WITHIN TEMPTATION, NINA GORDON, XANDRIA, AFTER FOREVER, SANDRINE, videogame music guru NUBUO UEMTASU as well as magnificent composer such as DANNY ELFMAN, JERRY GOLDSMITH And JOHN WILLIAMS.

Self-taught, Dominic had never touched a guitar until he saw NIRVANA’s UNPLUGGED in April 1994. Then bought a friend’s cheap acoustic guitar (who had electric strings on it, a trademark he carries to this very day) for 60$, had another write basic guitar chords on a piece of paper, and then started writing songs the day after.

Then came HAPPIER THAN YOU, in 1997. His first band. Something special between 4 friends at the time but that never truly came to fruition. He decided to pursue on his own, creating (properly) SUPERMASSIVE QUAzAR, in 2006. But SQ wasn’t meant to only be a band of one. It was meant to be a musical industry by itself. 300+ songs (recorded, 600+ written) in a mere 6 years is just too much for one band to handle. Plus since SUPERMASSIVE QUAzAR (band) is more into heavy-rock-melodic-pop, not all songs could fit into this category (though to explore musically is a motto nevertheless).

Aside for his publishing deal, many, many recordings and the soundtrack for indie film “DECADENCE PSYCHOTIQUE’, he also joined forces briefly with one of the band members of HAPPIER THAN YOU in 2008 and created a little side project (that created about 20-25 recordings in one year, still) named TEARS OF HEL.

PULzE, SUPERMASSIVE QUAzAR’s first self-produced album was released in 2008.

More to come...

LamRatLazIt1st is a half-British, half South American three piece progressive / post punk band comprising Wagner (drums/vocals), Matthew (guitar/vocals) and Keith (bass/vocals).

The band was formed around September 2006 and immediately embarked on a punishing rehearsal / writing schedule. A series of shows across the south of England, though chiefly in London, followed, before a short tour of Brazil in March 2007. Since then, the band have been hard at work completing their debut recording, "Viver Sem Fronteiras?" which is now available on Tuneless Records. The record collates much of the original material written by the band and weaves this together with a series of audio samples and graphics culled from the aforementioned Brazilian tour.

At the time of writing, the band are promoting "Viver Sem Fronteiras" and preparing to regroup, once the inherent logistical difficulties have been addressed. Keep checking the MySpace page for further updates!

Tag: lamratlazitist

REZA's other pages :

• REZA on Myspace
• REZA on Amie Street
• REZA on Sound Click
• REZA on MP3.com
• REZA on WAT
• REZA on Last.fm

BIO

* January 2004
Songwriter REZA starts recording some of his songs using a small pocket machine at his place in Paris.

* April 2004
Writer and close friend Sotiris living in Birmingham-England sends a poem called "somebody else’s paradise" to REZA. This is the beginning of an important collaboration. REZA will compose and sing about twenty songs composed on Sotiris poems in the following couple of years.

* January 2005
Back from Birmingham-England where he’s been working on new songs with Sotiris, REZA starts looking for musicians to record these songs and play them live.

* Summer 2005
The team is ready : REZA + Stephane (ex-SevenHate lead guitar) + Ghislain + Gautier. 6 songs are recorded by Grégory Fradin at his own studio in Poitiers. One of them is I'm your man, a cover of L. Cohen's song.

* November 2005
First EP: Somebody else's songs is out. It has the famous red octopus on its cover ! Spring 2006 REZA on stage in Paris in small venues like: POP IN, le Kitch’up, le cannibale, l’espace B, le café de la plage, etc. Cello player Julien joins the band !

* Summer 2006
It’s time to work on the first LP. 13 songs recorded by Gregory Fradin in the middle of nowhere in an old abandoned house in la Vienne. November 2006 Second EP: Flying girl is out including some of the songs from the LP recording session. Flying girl, remake, etc. Some of the songs are broadcasted by indie radio programs: planet claire radio aligre, indepen-dance radio pulsar, radio Neo, radio campus paris, etc. The EP has also good reviews in specialized webzines: indie rock mag, indie pop rock, froggy’s delight, etc.

* January 2007
New Paris tour on stage: le Klub, en marge, kitch’up, pomme d’Eve, etc. The LP mixes are getting ready, REZA is now part of the French Toast music collective together with bands like New Pretoria, The Chiltons or Saïbu ...

* April 2007
First LP broken kite is to be out, new gigs comming soon !.

•  All of the tracks
•  Great indie folk ballad
• a great indie folk song
•  Do the Swim!

Love and Mathematics

Stage lights illuminate Love and Mathematics. Squalls of effects-dappled guitar wash over an unsuspecting crowd. Swelling keyboards rise forth and create a kaleidoscope of dizzying sonics. As the lush atmospherics begin to lure listeners towards a dark place, a jubilantly melodic bass guitar intercedes. Drums join the fray, bashing out tribal beats and creating a pulsing rhythm that sets the dance floor writhing. A vocalist wracked with twitching intensity takes to the microphone and casts a hypnotic spell. A second voice chimes in. Working in tandem, they conjure a choir of celestial songbirds.

Esoteric yet immediate, cataclysmic but celebratory, paradoxical Love and Mathematics play spacey psych-pop at its most apocalyptic.

The Vancouver band can trace their beginnings to a longstanding partnership between Ian Somers (vocals/guitar/keyboards) and Shane Turner (bass/vocals). When the pair recruited Lucas Rose (guitar/keyboards), they found his monolithic, dissonant guitar work muddying their pristine pop stylings. Rather than reining Rose in, they embraced the opportunity to reinvent themselves entirely and explore a dynamic new direction. The sea change was complete once the three collaborators discovered talismanic drummer Kyle Koenig. Koenig’s controlled-chaos kit attack brought an urgent energy to the group. Christened Love and Mathematics, the four-piece drew from Built to Spill’s angular melodies, Mogwai’s textured mediations and Animal Collective’s spaced-out oddity to forge a sound distinctly their own.

Adjourning to Vancouver’s storied Hive studio, the band worked with producer Colin Stewart (Black Mountain, Pretty Girls Make Graves) to record a four-song, self-titled EP. Rather than duplicating their oceanic live sound, Love and Mathematics opted to explore a more nuanced approach with the recordings. The final result reflects a band invigorated and inspired by the wealth of new ideas and possibilities presented to them.

Out of the gates, the propulsive “Remember to Masticate” lashes into the listener with discordant guitars, lilting harmonies and rhythms that turn on a whim. “Copper Coin Bikini” brims and bristles with skittish energy as lyrics sketch out an abstract rebellion: “You are the emissary; I am the socialist; Gather the troops and rally outside the capital.” The disc’s most cathartic track, “Plan for a Better Year,” punctuates its emotion-saturated vocals with wails of buzzsaw instrumentation. Finally, the swirling “A Fight Between a Crow and a Seagull” ascends and cascades with an airy grace.

At present, Love and Mathematics are at work self-recording their full-length debut. On their off-nights, they can likely be found upon a darkened stage. With a live set hailed by Exclaim! and The Georgia Straight, the band has shared the limelight with Vancouver’s finest bands – The Book of Lists, You Say Party! We Say Die! and They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? – as well as touring acts Nada Surf, Okkervil River, The Rosebuds and The Appleseed Cast.

Having established themselves as fixtures of the Vancouver scene, Love and Mathematics have only begun to explore their potential as a band. The remainder of that self-discovery should prove equally enthralling for both the musicians and their listeners.