Born amongst wolves: forged in smoke and fire; Invisible Hand plays baroque acid-rock with power-pop guitar theatrics. From and inspired by the ever pastoral central Virginian landscape, with two members having served time as actors (including bit parts as Bat Boys and Charles Darwins), a full time food enthusiast and a visual artist with a knack for the french chanteuses of bygone eras; a live showing may included wild gesticulations, cunning two-steps, razor sharp wit and spaced-out maneuvers. For fans of the Kinks, Wire, Buzzcocks, Sparks and snacks of all kinds
Surviving a tragic childhood, Tess Brunet found an escape through her adopted father’s record collection. She’d often play them on a Fisher Price record player she got as a Christmas gift at the age of 4.
Tess left her childhood home in New Orleans at the age of 17. She landed in New York and also a position at S.I.R. Studios. This opportunity allowed Tess to teach herself how to play drums during breaks.
Three months later, Tess found herself back in Louisiana in a band with Dax Riggs (formerly of Acid Bath). Only 6 months after she began playing, Brunet and Riggs went on to sign with Fat Possum Records as deadboy & the Elephantmen. They played music festivals (Austin City Limits, Sasquatch, Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, and others) and toured across the country. Deadboy was great, but Tess ached for more artistic freedom. What was intended to be a 4 month road trip to visit close friends turned into living in Austin, Texas, Los Angeles, California, and Athens, Georgia for a span of 2 years. This period of time provided many great opportunities; like backing legendary Lady Bo and Twin Tigers. Most recently, she was the drummer for Generationals and collaborated on the Trust EP.
Throughout all of this Tess wrote and recorded as much as possible, also taking the opportunity to teach herself to play other instruments, guitar being her latest quest. She released an EP under the name Animal Electric that only began to hint at what was to come.
For some time now living on the road, and in her van, Tess has been compiling material for a solo debut while in other bands. Fat Possum Records veteran Bruce Watson produced the Au Ras Au Ras self-titled debut album; it was recorded at Dial Black Sound in Water Valley, MS February and April of 2011. Tess’s voice appeals to the aesthetic sense and her songs are strengthened by good friends and fellow musicians Seth Kauffman and Michael Libramento of Floating Action. Currently Au Ras Au Ras plays live shows as a two-piece, with Patrick Hodgkins on bass, they play to backing tracks. Tess and Patrick are slated to record the follow up record in April at Dial Black.
This full length record is a collection of some of Tess’s most poignant songs of longing, time wasted, and redemption.
Preston Lovinggood was the driving force behind Wild Sweet Orange – a powerful and profoundly literate indie-rock combo from Birmingham, AL who is sorely missed by still-growing cult of fans. Despite releasing a sole, beloved full-length and a few EPs, label politics found Wild Sweet Orange dropped. In the time that followed, Lovinggood retreated from music and the rest of the band, led by guitarist Taylor Shaw, carried on in the form of The Great Book of John.
Fortunately, Preston found music once more… Or did it find him? Regardless, Lovinggood is in the process of recording a new album of original material with Darrell Thorp (The Great Book of John, Radiohead, Beck) in sunny Los Angeles, California. In the meantime we have this long-awaited piece of vinyl featuring Lovinggood backed by his compatriots in Wild Sweet Orange before they called it a day… So don’t call it a comeback.
Blessed with a commanding, blast-it-to-the-back-of-the-room voice, the 21 year-old Lydia Loveless was raised on a family farm in Coshocton, Ohio – a small weird town with nothing to do but make music. With a dad who owned a country music bar, Loveless often woke up with a house full of touring musicians scattered on couches and floors. In the time-honored traditions of teenage rebellion, she turned her back on these roots, moved to Columbus and immersed herself in the punk scene, soaking up the musical and attitudinal influences of everyone from Bukowski to Richard Hell to Hank III.
Indestructible Machine, her Bloodshot debut, combines heady doses of punk rock energy and candor with the country classicism she was raised on and just can’t shake. From foggy mountain throwdowns where she sounds like a tuff Neko Case, to muscular power pop driven by choppy, tense guitar tonalities recalling Television’s Richard Lloyd to the take no shit spirit of Loretta Lynn and displaying country soul well beyond her years, Loveless true-to-life testimonials hit and hit hard. Be it whiskey, men, god or alienation, Lydia takes them all on; they may kick, but she kicks back and, even though she stands 5′ tall, when the barstools start flying, we want her on our side.
Like their family namesake, The Reneaus’ music spans generations. Ashley Cooper Winn’s cousins, Steven and David Page, back her on guitar and drums; her husband, Jon, plays keys; and the father-daughter duo, Warren and Layne Guyer complete the sound on violin and stand-up bass.
Perhaps one of the greatest albums in Misra’s canon, Water Liars’ debut was entirely unplanned. Recorded on a whim, with one microphone, the then unnamed rock band – consisting of St. Louis, MO songwriter, vocalist, guitarist Justin Kinkel-Schuster and Oxford, MS drummer, producer, multi-instrumentalist Andrew Bryant – casually convened to play and record.
Over the course of three days, in the small milltown of Pittsboro, MS, a series of ineffable and magical recordings came together. It was one of those seemingly providential experiences – far too remarkable to be denied. Water Liars was born.
Paste, PopMatters, Daytrotter, KEXP, and more have all hailed Justin Kinkel-Schuster during his tenure fronting independent rock act Theodore. Some time back, Misra planned to work with Theodore and, assuming the songs were mere outtakes under a different moniker, the Water Liars demos initially got pushed to the back burner. Kinkel-Schuster pleasantly persisted, however, insisting the project was vastly different and must be heard.
Upon first listen, it was very clear that something truly remarkable really had occurred in the Phantom Limb sessions. Misra signed the band on the spot. Home to groundbreaking debuts by Shearwater, Great Lake Swimmers, and more, the label is excited to extend this tradition with Water Liars.
Taylor Hollingsworth and Kate Taylor singing together is a match made in heaven, (or maybe hell, if the devil has anything to do with this, which would not be surprising). You might know Taylor from previous solo albums or bands but most likely from Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band. He was the guitar player who also wrote and sang Snake Hill and Air Mattress on the album “Outer South”. If you’ve seen Maria Taylor play then you have most likely seen Kate in her band either playing keys, drums, or bass, and most importantly, harmonizing the soft beautiful back ground melodies.
Nowadays, Kate and Taylor have joined hand in hand and formed a band. Ladies and Gentlemen, “Dead Fingers”, might just be what you’ve been waiting for! In a time when guy-girl duo’s are becoming quite popular, this one is not just some gimmick, however perfect the timing and package may be. You would almost think Kate was married to her manager, or record label exec., who was having them act like they were romantic just to sell tickets and albums. But in fact, this Alabama duo are recently married and the two just recorded their first self titled full length with Bruce Watson (RL Burnside, Junior Kimbrough, Iggy and the Stooges, AA Bondy), and is being released on Big Legal Mess/ Fat Possum Records early 2012. While showing a wide range of styles, ranging from duet styled songs like those of John Prine and Iris DeMent, X, or Lee Hazelwood and Ann Margaret, to straight up great classic rock bands like the Stones, Beatles, or even Traveling Wilburys, this band should find a nice home with fans of more current duo’s like She and Him, Jenny and Johnny, or Civil Wars.
