Keep a Clean Noise / Mouse Eat Mouse World / Christopher Walken / Cultural Vandal / Reverse the Hearse / Perfect Designs / Thank God for Myself / CWC Haunting / Panic Attack / This Ocean's Angry / Three Day in a Pit / Head of a Pin

HACKPEN RECORDS

Released as a taster of the eclectic and at times exhilarating roster of acts on Hackpen Records, MUSIC...NOT THE MACHINE: A HACKPEN LABEL SAMPLER collects together a suitably mixed bag of music from the UK based label.

Imagine if you will, an even more Scottish sounding version of Arab Strap and you'll be somewhere close to arriving at the sound of five piece punk jazz outfit Mouse Eat Mouse.  Centred around vocalist CD Shade, a kind of wild eyed combination of Irvine Welsh, Billy Connolly, Ivor Cutler and Mark E Smith; Shade delivers rambling poetry and rants in a thick Scottish accent whilst the rest of the band lay down mournful Cello lines and tasty Sax blasts. The gloriously off kilter MOUSE EAT MOUSE WORLD is a compelling piece of work that see CD Shade acting as a sometimes indecipherable preacher, you don't always understand what he's ranting about; but somehow he keeps you intrigued and hanging on his every word.  Its probably safe to say that Ormondroyd have the odd Sigur Ros or Radiohead album in their record collections and judging by their contribution PERFECT DESIGNS they're perhaps stacked right next to Mogwai, Coldplay and Rufus Wainwright.  Combining the intensity of Radiohead with the subtle soundscapes of Sigur Ros, Ormondroyd are fine purveyors of the finest atmospheric, explosive rock.  With shimmering guitars, pounding drums and aching, sweeping vocals, they project a rich, anthemic, yet totally original sound; Ollie Birtill crooning effectively against guitars that veer between shimmering and explosive with unnerving frequency.

Pitched somewhere between Orbital and The Aphex Twin, Simon Heartfield makes dark atmospheric techno that manages to sound both like a dystopian nightmare and haunting dream.  It's been widely reported over the last couple of years that dance music is dying - and while the massive influx of cheesy trance and mindless techno may thankfully be on its last legs (creatively at least), you can always rely on the underground to keep throwing more interesting material your way.  CWC HAUNTING is an odd sounding affair, with what sounds like a creepy little girl singing nursery rhymes beneath a twisted funk bass line and train-track beats, giving the impression of the Aphex Twin scoring The Shining.

The less inspired side of the label is represented firstly by Southampton indietronica outfit Bonemachine, who appear to be stuck down some downbeat musical cul-de-sac somewhere slap bang between the indie rock worthiness of Coldplay and the more dance oriented likes of Underworld or Squarepusher.  Revelling in dour downtempo electronica, Bonemachine are an act who whenever possible attempt to prove their songwriting prowess; an almost embarrassed attempt to deem their work a cut above appearing as mere dance music.  Imagine a comedy version of Jose Gonzalez, all that heartbroken intensity replaced with ironic quirkiness and really bad student humour;  then welcome to the world of A+E Line, a nightmarish cross between early Gomez, Goldie Lookin' Chain, John Cooper Clark, Tenacious D and the aforementioned Gonzalez.  CHRISTOPHER WALKEN is the A+E Line's weak contribution, a subdued acoustic tune that just screams unconvincingly "look at me, I'm really quirky and unusual, really" throughout.  Hinging on the "Chris Walken/I'm going to kick your ass" vocal hook, A+E Line try to shoehorn in as many references to the actor as they can over simple acoustic guitars, and if there is one saving grace here, it is that sparse musical tone.

MUSIC...NOT THE MACHINE: A HACKPEN LABEL SAMPLER is a collection that for the most part showcases the labels diversity and class; a compilation only dulled by the inclusion of a few less than stellar acts taunting you into pressing that skip button and indulging in some selective editing.

BIOGRAPHY

Hackpen Records – What – Why – When - Focus or just ADD 

Record labels should be a dull brown colour – they should lurk, they should have no profile – hence our reluctance to talk about Hackpen Records. It’s nothing sinister - what’s important is the music not the machine.

We started by getting involved in the local scene and then discovered Scotland and its individuality. Across Britain, towns and cities seem to have evolved their own special unique music – we want to tap into this energy.

The label believes in being open, honest and straightforward and trying to do something for music and society – check out the story behind The Nyquist Theory compilation as its our manifesto.

We have achieved a lot – Cayto nominated to head T in the Park by 2010, Toupé’s track selected as one of the five greatest bass riffs by the BBC, Won Mississippi’s album in the top 100 Scottish albums of all time, plus much more. That’s not bad for a label without an A&R policy.

What about the future? The label has focus – we want our releases to sound good and in particular look and feel good. Expect releases from Toupé (the difficult but brilliant second album), Bonemachine and Simon Heartfield. We also want to grow our publishing company Late Callows Music.

If you have something to say and want to be part of a thriving music scene get in contact.

DISCOGRAPHY

VARIOUS ARTISTS - MUSIC... NOT THE MACHINE: A HACKPEN LABEL SAMPLER (Hackpen Records>2007)

96 Tears - Keep a Clean Noise

Mouse Eat Mouse - Mouse Eat Mouse World

A+E Line - Christopher Walken

Stick Finlays - Cultural Vandal

Dumb Instrument - Reverse the Hearse

Ormondroyd - Perfect Designs

Siykm - Thank God for Myself

Simon Heartfield - CWC Haunting

Commander Keen - Panic Attack

Bonemachine - This Ocean's Angry

Toupe - Three Day in a Pit

Cayto - Head of a Pin

LINE UP

96 Tears

Mouse Eat Mouse

A+E Line

Stick Finlays

Dumb Instrument

Ormondroyd

Siykm

Simon Heartfield

Commander Keen

Bonemachine

Toupe

Cayto

LINKS

Hackpen Records>www.hackpenrecords.com