Daniel Romano – How Ill Thy World Is Ordered

Daniel Romano – How Ill Thy World Is Ordered
September 18, 2020 by | | Posted in: Blog 0

With your left eye closed, Daniel Romano seems a master synthesizer of sound and genre, a collage artist combining the corrupted influences of a century of so-called popular music forms, a chameleonic acrobat with a near-criminal authenticity. With the other, he’s revealed as a sincerely dedicated, passionately motivated songwriter aghast at the injustices of the world, a caring bandleader and generous collaborator, a spirited and shockingly playful artist tapped into a great, unyielding inspiration.

Let’s list the facts and see which ones hold: How Ill Thy World Is Ordered is the 9th full-length Daniel Romano album to be released in 2020, but the first to manifest in the physical mediums (LP/CD) since the career spanning, era-defining live album “Okay Wow” was released way back on March 27th. This one too, features the mighty skills of The Outfit, the tightest of tight-knit rock and roll bands: Julianna Riolino (vocals), David Nardi (guitar, vocals), Roddy Rossetti (bass), Ian Romano (drums), supplemented here by Mark Lalama (organ, piano), Briana Salmena (vocals), Victor Belcastro (sax) and Aaron Hutchinson (trumpet). The band assembled in studio in a perfectly tuned geometry to record these new songs following simple guidelines and simple rules: play the whole thing, in sequence, 3 takes or bust, with no overdubs; play “the sound of the feel of a snake bite”; play “a heist on horseback for fool’s gold”.

What unexpected anthems emerge! ‘A Rat Without A Tale’, ‘Green Eye Shade’, ‘First Yoke’, ‘A Secret Still To Be Betrayed’, ‘No More Disheartened By The Dawn’ shock with the full impact of their melodies, the harmonious combination of distinct human voices, the chromed accents of a perfectly arranged horn section, and more guitar playing, real, honest-to-the-core lead guitar playing than Daniel has previously committed to tape. The two-part ‘Joys Too Often Hollow’ and the beautiful closer ‘Amaretto and Coke’ show the band as adept at the swing and sway of softer sentiments, and as quickly tender as brave.

The always-darkened clubs and the strange and dirtied hovels that offered remote shelter to this particular breed of restless musicians on their long and winding journeys across the continents have darkened more. It’s a different age to ply a trade. Every day reveals new cracks in the artifice, new crimes from the oligarchs and politicians, new types of genocide and dispossession. New visions of contempt. O, how ill this world is ordered.

Yet music can lift the spirit, can, uniquely, restore dignity. To sound together, bringing hope:

No more disheartened by the dawn,
No more a sorrow will I see,
No more shall time go trembling on,
No more will I sing misery,
No more the future will I fear,
No more an ending coming near,
No more the shades forever drawn,
No more disheartened by the dawn.

————–

Daniel Romano’s Outfit are dedicated to the heroic effort to bring truth and beauty to this world. Please lend thine ears!

How Ill Thy World Is Ordered is available now in the following formats:

LP: High quality stereo LP pressing in a beautiful Tip-on jacket
CD: How Ill on a bright and shiny disc. Play it in your old car forever
Digital: 1s and 0s in a very particular, encoded sequence. Ordered for your pleasure.

 

MUSIC VIDEO: PARTNER – BIG GAY HANDS

MUSIC VIDEO: PARTNER – BIG GAY HANDS
September 18, 2020 by | | Posted in: Blog 0

Partner present Big Gay Hands, a perfect blast of post-classic rock, power trio brio, previewing the upcoming Never Give Up album. Director Lesley Marshall (who previously worked with Partner on their classic-classic Play The Field video) brings the action to life.

“This song is about a wild night on the town filled with queer desire. It is an important song to us because it expresses a feeling we know is shared by many. There are a lot of songs out there about women’s bodies but this is the only song we know about big gay hands. This song is dedicated to the hotties and to those who love them.” – Partner

Partner – Never Give Up
(YC-046)
LP/CD/Digital
November 20, 2020

“OKAY WOW” – Daniel Romano and The Outfit

“OKAY WOW” – Daniel Romano and The Outfit
February 26, 2020 by | | Posted in: Blog, Daniel Romano 0

Daniel Romano – “OKAY WOW”
(YC-044) – LP/Digital/Live

In a shocking turn of events, Daniel Romano has decided to give you exactly what you asked for–– He and his unparalleled live band, The Outfit, have decided that you deserved it, that it is in fact already yours––and they want to say “you’re welcome.”

Band attributes of note: They all wear the same size clothing. They take the same vitamins and they love with the same warmth and tenderness. They are an outfit, united in song and banded in vitality. If you have seen them, you know all of this as it is evident. If you haven’t, then close your eyes and set the dial to ten, turn the heat up in your sparse, stuff-less, undersaturated, air-plant filled apartment and drop the needle into The Outfit.

The record is called “OKAY WOW”. Which is probably what you’ll say when you listen to it. It’s all your favourite songs except superior in every way to the versions you’ve exhausted.

“OKAY WOW” was RECORDED LIVE by Kenneth Roy Meehan the 1st while on tour across Scandinavia.

The Outfit is: Daniel Romano, David Nardi, Roddy Rosetti, Ian Romano, Juliana Riolino and Tony “The Pope” Cicero

OKAY WOW special edition LP is limited to 1500 units worldwide. Tip-on LP jacket. High quality LP pressing. Available in stores March 27, 2020.

Daniel Romano and The Outfit LIVE:
Feb 26 Brooklyn, NY @ The Sultan Room
Feb 27 Millersville, PA @ Phantom Power
Feb 28 Washington, DC @ Comet Ping Pong
Mar 1 Raleigh, NC @ Kings 
Mar 2 Charlotte, NC @ Recovery Brands
Mar 3 Ashville, NC @ The Mothlight
Mar 4 Greenville, SC @ The Radio Room
Mar 5 Athens, GA @ Flicker Theatre 
Mar 6 Savannah, GA @ Savannah Stopover (festival) 
Mar 7 Jacksonville, FL @ Intuition Ale House 
Mar 10 Atlanta, GA @ The Earl 
Mar 11 Nashville, GA @ Mercy lounge 
Mar 12 Oxford, MS @ Proud Larrys   
Mar 13 Jackson, MS @ Martin’s Downtown 
Mar 16 Houston, TX @ Continental Club
Mar 17 Fort Worth, TX @ Mass 
Mar 19 SXSW @ Sam’s Town Point 
Mar 20 SXSW @ Mohawk 
Mar 22 Fayetteville, AR @ The Smoke & Barrel Tavern 

New Release: WHOOP-Szo – Warrior Down

New Release: WHOOP-Szo – Warrior Down
September 10, 2019 by | | Posted in: Artists, Blog, WHOOP-Szo 0

London, Ontario’s WHOOP-Szo is a blazing force of DIY rock. Fronted by Anishinaabe-Canadian community leader Adam Sturgeon, the band has spent nearly a decade carving out a reputation for themselves in Canada’s crowded DIY scene, rising on the strength of their musicianship, songwriting, and tireless touring.

We are thrilled to welcome WHOOP-Szo to You’ve Changed Records with the release of Warrior Down on November 1, 2019. Warrior Down is thunderous and ground-breaking, harmonious and generative, a concise, focused 35 minutes that dances conscientiously between anger and discipline, frustration and hope. Calling out both specific instances of injustice in Canadian history — such as the murder of bandleader Adam Sturgeon’s cousin by a Saskatchewan RCMP officer (“Gerry”) , or recalling Sturgeon’s grandfather’s experience at a Residential School(“Cut Your Hair”) — and broader, wider-reaching ones such as the experience of having race and culture assigned to you by a government that doesn’t represent you (“6.1/6.2”), Warrior Down depicts the unfolding of a cultural big bang, in which eruptions of truth activate a succession of healthy confrontations.

Read more about Warrior Down and pre-order the LP or CD an the album page, and listen to the album opener Amaruq below.

Amaruq is an Inuktituk word meaning “wolf”. It’s also the name of a school in Nunavik where WHOOP-Szo leaders Adam Sturgeon and Kirsten Palm worked during 2012. “Amaruq” is an entry point into discussions of the Inuktituk language and multilingualism in Canada, and serves as a dedication to the community that welcomed the band. “As much as we try, we cannot always control the feelings that enter our lives. They can come in unexpectedly, like a wild animal appearing just when you thought yourself along. Have you ever crossed paths with a wolf? In the North, where we lived and worked for many years, they call them Amaruq. We dedicate this song to Larry Tamusai and all the other young people who have suffered, are suffering and will suffer the effects of inadequate mental health resources in Indigenous communities across Turtle Island.”

WHOOP-Szo TOUR DATES
Sep 10 – Calgary, AB – The Palomino
Sep 12 – Winnipeg, MB – The Royal Albert Hotel
Sep 13 – Thunder Bay, ON – The Apollo
Sep 14 – Sault Ste. Marie, ON – Dryer Fire
Sep 15 – Sudbury, ON – Townehouse
Nov 01 – London, ON – Rec Room
Nov 02 – Toronto, ON – The Round House
Nov 06 – St. Catharines, ON – The Warehouse
Nov 07 – Guelph, ON – Ebar
Nov 08 – Hamilton, ON – This Ain’t Hollywood
Nov 09 – Windsor, ON – Green Bean Cafe
Nov 21 – Peterborough, ON – Sadleir House
Nov 22 – Ottawa, ON – Cinqhole
Nov 23 – Montreal, QC – La Sala Rossa | M For Montreal
Nov 26 – Moncton, NB – Caveau
Nov 27 – Saint John, NB – Taco Pica
Nov 28 – Halifax, NS – Gus’ Pub
Nov 29 – Fredericton, NB – The Capital
Nov 30 – Quebec City, QC – Scanner

New Release: Shotgun Jimmie – Transistor Sister 2

New Release: Shotgun Jimmie – Transistor Sister 2
June 14, 2019 by | | Posted in: Blog, Shotgun Jimmie 0

Are you ready for the new sincerity?! Shotgun Jimmie’s returns with Transistor Sister 2 – a full fledged sequel to the beloved Transistor Sister album from 2011! Jimmie is joined by long-time collaborators Ryan Peters (Ladyhawk) and Jason Baird (DoMakeSayThink) and José Contreras (By Divine Right), who produced and recorded the record in Toronto, Ontario at The Chat Chateaux for an album full of genuine pop gems that champion truth and love.

In characteristic Shotgun Jimmie fashion, the songs on Transistor Sister 2 focus largely on family and friends with a heavy dose of nostalgia. Jimmie’s hyperbolic takes on the everyday reconstruct familiar scenarios, from traffic on the 401 (the beloved and scorned mega-highway through Toronto known to all touring musicians as the place where punctual arrival at soundcheck goes to die) to cooking dinner.

The album’s lead single Cool All the Time is a plea for people to abandon ego and strive for authenticity, featuring contributions by Chad VanGaalen, Steven Lambke and Cole Woods.

“I decided to make a sequel because I loved making the first one. I value the experience of making records as much as the end product. I know that I’m always trying to make something good, but I’m also aware that the process is the thing that I’ll think about and revisit in the future. With this album, I really wanted to recreate the immersive experience of making the original. The first one was recorded in Nova Scotia in a beautiful little town. The session had the feeling of a destination artist residency. We swam in the ocean and watched scientists cut the head off a shark; they were very eventful days. Maybe I also wanted an excuse to hang out with Jay and Ryan for a week. The three of us are spread out across the country, so being together is a rare treat. On the last day of the session we played a rock show at a tiny Toronto club. We literally went straight from the studio to the venue. It was completely packed with pals from all over; it was the best! I played the first Transistor Sister acoustic, then the full band performed Transistor Sister 2 from top to bottom. The show provided our session a very hard deadline and was probably the cause of some studio stress, but it was a perfect magical ending to the week.”

Are you ready for The New Sincerity? Join Jimmie as he renounces cynicism and promotes positivity!

RJC 12 Inch Jacket

Transistor Sister 2
YC-039
LP/CD/DIGITAL
August 2, 2019

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