Savage Weekend 2017: Hot Releases #1

I decided to go through the roster of Savage Weekend 2017.

For my own learning more than anything else.

While we gather up Soundclouds and Bandcamps and Youchoobs for the relevant participants.

No creepy and sweeping haunted hotel aerial shot overview of Savage Weekend artists would be complete without a quick look in at Hot Releases - the label owned and run by festival founder Ryan Martin aka Secret Boyfriend.

"Ryan Martin does not seem to mind the logistics of booking ninety bands during two days. Instead, Martin — as a musician, label head, and promoter, the area’s most steadfast experimental impresario — views his Savage Weekend as an ad hoc family reunion for international power electronics powerhouses, harsh noise blasters, and drone sculptors.
Martin’s sixth-annual symposium of abrasion gathers touring festival standbys, like the great Rat Bastard, with prime locals, including Lack and Housefire. Martin’s also recruited some of his more recent favorites, including the damaged blasts of Chicago’s HOGG. For more than ten hours each day, the acts cycle through quarter-hour sets, each reevaluating the day’s dynamic in real-time.
“People are vibing off of each other,” he says. “That’s one thing I appreciate across small music scenes — there are people encouraging in such a positive way. It’s a dialogue.” - taken from an Indyweek Q&A with Ryan Martin

“marginal musics and peripheral visions” is the legend on the old website. Hot Releases is mostly dedicated to new music of local North Carolina artists, though they also put out rarities and various cult or obscure albums previously unavailable on LP.

Far as Discogs tells me, the first release was a Secret Boyfriend cassette titled Broken Bleeding Earth.

In writing this, and going through Hot Releases back catalogue, I just realised Maurizio Bianchi has released with them and almost swallowed my tongue with excitement.

Jeff Rehnlund was next with a tape I can’t find, so here’s some Bianchi.

Released on vinyl in 2009, ‘Armaghedon’ was the soundtrack to Bianchi’s unfinished film of the same name.

There’s a lot there on the back catalogue and some seems to be sold out or unavailable whether on purpose or just, time moves fast.

2009 also saw them put out Russian Tsarlag’s now out of print 3rd LP. Here’s a track off that (it’s available to buy digitally on the Bandcamp)

Skipping forward, there was a 2011 7" from Motorcycles and in between and before, splits and more Secret Boyfriend releases.

Then there’s this proper glade release by Inspector 22 that sounds like a lost ’60s nugget resurfaced. One that fits somewhere between the early garage and elements of The Incredible String Band and Dr. Strangely Strange as well as the more psych troubadour stuff.

I’m gonna linger on this for a bit…

Because it’s very good…

I will likely draw a line under the next release and divide this Hot Releases aerial shot into a couple of pieces.

Here’s a VVAQRT release.

It’s also very good, so good it deserves its own review piece.

The Bandcamp blurb reads

"dark, crumbling consciousness saturnine minimal-synth pop automatons / dance-floor alienators from Saxapahaw, NC. Well-recorded, tightly-wound succinct synth sculptures are coupled with ornately mangled text, evoking a mind forcefed too much useless information that has begun to froth and die .... We're very proud of this one, the HOT record with the strongest, bitterest pop appeal so far."

This is a special and unique release that has fists firmly in the old synth, electronica, pop, minimal synth, electro noise and power electronics of the ’70s and ‘80s.

I cannot recommend this highly enough.

It’s pretty special.

And I think you should go buy it immediately.

This is where I’m going to end this first aerial sweep over of the available Hot Releases back catalogue.