Bosnian Rainbows: s/t (Sargent House, 6/25/13)
Omar Rodriguez Lopez finds it impossible to slow down. The former Mars Volta guitarist is going full blast on his new project, Bosnian Rainbows, mere months after the Mars Volta break-up announcement. The band, a collaboration with Teri Gender Bender, Deantoni Parks, and Nicci Kasper, is releasing its first album June 25.
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Named after the historic home where its offices reside, Sargent House isn’t your ordinary music company. It’s a management company but also a record label — and houses a PR company (US/Them Group), a video-production site (Terroreyes TV), and, now, a licensing and music-supervision division (1656 Music).
Situated between Hollywood and downtown Los Angeles, Sargent House is all of these things, and its owner and founder, Cathy Pellow, isn’t your ordinary businessperson either. From her beginnings as a 20-year-old representing fashion photographers in New York, to her role as a film producer and talent-boutique owner, to creating a music-television show and commissioning videos for Island and Atlantic Records, Pellow holds an unusual pedigree for an indie-label head.
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Le Butcherettes: Sin Sin Sin (Sargent House, 5/10/11)
“Henry Don’t Got Love”
Le Butcherettes: “Henry Don’t Got Love”
Born and raised in Denver by Mexican and Spanish parents, Teresa Suaréz (known professionally as Teri Gender Bender) has, like many, a bicultural identity. Her garage-punk band Le Butcherettes — which began in Guadalajara, Mexico — is a product of that identity, particularly the differences in gender expectations that she has witnessed between the North American neighbors.
Last month ALARM presented its 50 favorite albums of 2012, an eclectic, rock-heavy selection of discs that were in steady rotation in our downtown-Chicago premises. Now, to give some love to tunes that were left out, we have our 50 (+5) favorite songs of last year — singles, B-sides, EP standouts, soundtrack cuts, and more.
Another year, another torrential downpour of albums across our desks. As always, we encountered way too much amazing music, from Meshuggah to The Mars Volta, Converge, Killer Mike, P.O.S, and many more.
When Peanut Butter Wolf started Stones Throw Records in 1996, his friend and rap partner Charizma had just been killed. What started as a cathartic way to release the music they recorded together soon grew into something much larger, a record label releasing an eclectic range of music, with artists as diverse as Madlib, Mayer Hawthorne, and Omar Rodriguez Lopez on their rolls.
Months in the making and years in the waiting, ALARM Magazine is back! We’ve been quiet on the publishing end since our release of Chromatic: The Crossroads of Color and Music last year, but we’re happy to announce the bimonthly return of the mag, now with an increased focus on rock-’n’-roll culture and lifestyle.
The Mars Volta: Noctourniquet (Warner Bros., 3/27/12)
At the start of spring, The Mars Volta released one of its most diverse, balanced albums to date — spiraling through progressive melodies, pop structures, and synthesized effects. Noctourniquet delivered on all fronts, and “The Malkin Jewel” was one of its standout singles.
