Howling Owl Records

Good monday. This past weekend at the Great Escape has to go...

Mon, 20 May 2013 05:43:37 -0400

Good monday.

This past weekend at the Great Escape has to go down as one of the best ever in the world of Howling Owl. I could spout verbal diarrhoea about the festivities but…actually no I couldn’t because I feel like a husk and I only have a five minute coffee break…so straight to the news!

We have a kind of new release out. I have a written an ‘open letter’ below to explain what’s going on, but this is our first ‘digital only’ release, but probably our last.

Howling Owl Records is, and always will be, a label that puts physical releases ahead of anything. We lose money on most of the records we put out, but we don’t care because we are proud of them and are happy for the world to hear what needs to be heard. Naturally, this is not the best way of becoming a sustainable ‘proper’ label; something that we never envisioned happening but would actually really rather like to happen.

Believe Digital got in touch with us a few months ago with hope of them taking on the role of becoming a digital distributor for Howling Owl. This left us in a strange position as we have never really had anything to do with the digital world, one reason being that we literally have no time to manage such things…which is where Believe will come in.

The way the music industry is now, and has been since we began, we would be naive to think that we can share Howling Owl’s music with as many people as possible without being able to offer a digital alternative to our releases; for those who don’t own record players/tape decks etc (god forbid!). We would never want to feel like we are holding our bands back, so we can now have them up on itunes/amazon/etcetc and have a much more digital presence thanks to Believe.

Pellets and Droppings will be our first ‘release’ with Believe on board, and is basically a way of offering new Howling Owl fans a chance to get a taste of what they’ve been missing out on. Not so much of a best of as a snapshot of what excellence we have been putting out for the past year or two; albeit without the tangible artwork!

This may not seem like a big deal to anyone else but the two of us, but we thought it was important just to let you know what was happening.

We are not going digital, digital is going Howling Owl.

Go find us on iTunes and Amazon etc now!

Jackson Pillock

Wed, 15 May 2013 20:34:36 -0400

Jackson Pillock

Totes great

Wed, 15 May 2013 18:27:00 -0400

Totes great

This is how we do it. Music is Dead

Sun, 12 May 2013 07:08:27 -0400

This is how we do it. Music is Dead

One week today we will be taking over Above Audio for the Great...

Fri, 10 May 2013 05:15:47 -0400

One week today we will be taking over Above Audio for the Great Escape.

Cannot wait.

A few months ago we received an email from Mr Great Escape...

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 05:40:56 -0400

A few months ago we received an email from Mr Great Escape Festival, saying that he was a fan of Howling Owl. He had been to the first Old Blue Last gig we put on and had thoroughly enjoyed it. “I dream of having that line up at my festival one day” he posed. We, of course, thought this was some kind of hilarious prank.

Fast forward a few months, and here we are, hosting our own night at the Great Escape. It certainly is surreal, and we certainly can’t bloody wait.

We will be spreading our gospel of noise all over Brighton, culminating in a Friday night takeover or Above Audio. It is an honour to be asked to do this so thank you Mr Great Escape, we will not let you down.

In other news, last weeks Record Store Day vinyl is ALL GONE. We sold 100 records in about 14 hours. Jesus. Thanks to everyone who purchased!

No sleep til Brighton!!!

Following last years RSD special...

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 15:44:10 -0400

Following last years RSD special (www.howlingowlrecords.bigcartel.com/product…irhorns) we have decided that it would only be polite to offer up another special vinyl for this glorious event.

This year sees us release Music Is Dead Vol.1, with four bands completely contradicting that statement. Side A features the first anyone has heard from The Naturals in over a year; Its Teeth is a monster of a return and shows just why we think that they are genuinely the most exciting band on the planet right now. Spectres follow with another brand new song; a demo recorded shortly after the sessions that spawned ‘Hunger’, the critically acclaimed sell out EP (drownedinsound.com/releases/17520/reviews/4146139). Where Youth? shows that as well as loud, they can tone it down and write something verging on radio friendly..but not for long.

Oliver Wilde stokes the excitement for his upcoming album release (July) with Home, a song that further cements his growing status as a master songwriter who cleverly shrouds his widescreen appeal in lo-fi sparkle. Velcro Hooks finish things off with the original,unheard version of Yesterday’s Man; a much rawer cut than the one found on their sell out EP Gymnophoria.

Housed, as always, in lovingly hand assembled packaging and bespoke artwork; this is another release that emphasises just how strong the Howling Owl family is becoming.

Music Is Dead. Long Live Music.

The records will be available from midnight on the 20th April here: http://www.howlingowlrecords.bigcartel.com/product/music-is-dead-vo-1-record-store-day-2013-available-00-01am-20-04-13

Bed’room’

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 00:29:46 -0500

Bed’room’

A lovely gift from the girls at work

Wed, 06 Mar 2013 07:09:15 -0500

A lovely gift from the girls at work

Technical preparations for tonight

Sat, 23 Feb 2013 06:23:37 -0500

Technical preparations for tonight

Getting ready for noise on Saturday.

Thu, 21 Feb 2013 06:48:34 -0500

Getting ready for noise on Saturday.

Audio

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 18:57:51 -0500

Audio

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 18:47:34 -0500

The G A L P A L S 7” is out on monday! Huzzah!...

Thu, 14 Feb 2013 15:22:47 -0500

The G A L P A L S 7” is out on monday! Huzzah! We’ve been sat on this for a while now, and it’s finally time to release it into the big wide world. Personally it’s probably my favourite release we have done, aesthetically it ticks all the boxes of things I look for in a record. Killer songs - Hand made mono print with hand sprayed gold emblem - dropcard with download link - Illustrated front cover that looks edible. We are proud as punch to be releasing this, we hope you enjoy it! Every single record is different, with some having a little extra (see heart in above pictures). A labour of love for 3 songs that deserve it. Buy it HERE and watch their video HERE

WET OWLS

Wed, 13 Feb 2013 19:39:48 -0500

WET OWLS

Good old ‘days off’

Wed, 13 Feb 2013 12:06:11 -0500

Good old ‘days off’

After sinking the Bristol Diving School with Velcro Hooks last...

Sun, 03 Feb 2013 17:13:58 -0500

After sinking the Bristol Diving School with Velcro Hooks last November, we are once again ready to infiltrate the art world.

The Motorcade Flash Parade (http://www.motorcadeflashparade.com/) will play host to the launch of Spectres new EP ‘Hunger’.

After winning Artocker magazines Unsigned Act of the Year, being featured in the Stool Pigeon and The Guardian and flattening everything in their wake with noise, they are ready to step it up again. The new EP sees them take their sound into new areas…even more intense and uncompromising.

Joining Spectres will be long time stage sharers and one of the best bands in the country today, Towns, Scottish beasts and long time Howling Owl collaborators United Fruit, and the Invada Records signed one man noise machine MXLX.

SPECTRES - http://www.facebook.com/wearespectres?fref=ts

TOWNS - http://www.facebook.com/townsband?fref=ts

UNITED FRUIT - http://www.facebook.com/unitedfruit?ref=ts&fref=ts&__req=1h

MXLX - http://kindarad.bandcamp.com/album/black-meta

We will be collaborating with art collective Bristol Diving School once again, to supply visuals and a space to get lost in
.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bristol-Diving-School/171809322944008?fref=ts

Sound good? Of course it jeffing does.

£2/3 adv £4 door

Welcome to England, G A L P A L S

Mon, 21 Jan 2013 11:00:56 -0500

Welcome to England, G A L P A L S

Audio

Mon, 07 Jan 2013 10:12:50 -0500

It’s nice to take a breather sometimes, reflect on what’s been...

Sun, 30 Dec 2012 13:22:46 -0500

It’s nice to take a breather sometimes, reflect on what’s been happening and whatnot. The final throes of the year are a good time to do this; pat yourself on the back a bit before someone has to pat you on the back to help the last dreg of bile into the toilet on new years day.

2012 has been an amazing year for everyone involved with Howling Owl. We are just a couple of plebs in a couple of bedrooms, so it goes without saying that there is no way in the world we’d be where we are right now without a whole troupe of noise soldiers with us. And where are we anyway? In the grand scheme of things: nowhere. The bottom rung on an ever-unstable ladder that’s been trampled up by an endless stream of shit encrusted boots…but we like it here.

Our bands have infiltrated the ‘mainstream’, delivering jabs to the national press and venues up and down the country. They are dazed now, wondering when and where the next blow will arrive. It will arrive soon and one day it will be a pummeling. Why am I writing like this is a battle? It’s not! This is the biggest ball of fun we have ever played with, and 2013 is going to be even funner.

I’ll stop spouting about Howling Owl for a second now, as we are a mere piece of feedback within the often superlative world of music. Here are our respective top albums and top gigs of the year. This is probably when you will lose all respect for us.

Adrian - Albums

1. Sharon Van Etten – Tramp

2. Metz – S/T

3. Memoryhouse – The Slideshow Effect

4. Diiv – Oshin

5. Jessica Pratt – S/T

6. Ty Segall – Slaughterhouse

7. Goat – World Music

8. Melody’s Echo Chamber – S/T

9. Death Grips – The Money Store

10. Godspeed You! Black Emperor – Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend!

Gigs

1. At The Drive In – Bristol Academy

2. Bo Ningen – 1234 Festival

3. Come Dance With The Dead - The Crypt

Joe - Albums

1. Sharon Van Etten – Tramp

2. Hot Chip – In Our Heads

3. Metz – S/T

4. Ty Segall – Slaughterhouse

5. Beak > - S/T

6. Goat –World Music

7. Godspeed You! Black Emperor – Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend!

8. Death Grips – The Money Store

9. Soko – I Thought I Was An Alien

10. Dirty Lies – The Very Best of Dirty Lies

Gigs

1.Thee Oh Sees – Primavera

2. Sharon Van Etten – Thekla

3. The Crypt/Old Blue Last/Bristol Diving School – All Howling Owl nights so apologies but fuck it.

So there we have it then. That’s two years in a row we have had the same number one…both times with releases that are almost polar opposites to what Howling Owl is all about (last year was The National), which just proves that we are only in this for the money, or loss of it anyway.

Here is our deserved winner performing Give Out somewhere in France.

Happy new year!!