The Trunk 6/5/2018: State of the Elephant, Summer 2018

It's been three months almost to the day since our last State of the Elephant, so it's high time for another one.

New and Next

Let's start by spotlighting our recent releases. We've had three full albums out since the last State of the Elephant. Fractal Mirror were first with the chilled, thoughtful tones of Close to Vapour, equal parts musical storytelling and perfect easy-to-listen tunes. Mothertongue wowed us with a sublime slice of art-pop in Where the Moonlight Snows, a sterling set of songs that still sees regular play at Elephant Towers. And, most recently, there was heavy electronic outfit Reformat, whose debut album The Singularity has been backing my late-night gaming sessions recently with excellent results. You can pick up copies of all of these and more right now from the webstore. We also recommend checking out Six Questions, Twelve Answers, a Godfrey brothers archive project released to raise money for Cardiacs legend Tim Smith's dystonia treatments.

What's on the cards next? Well, there's this little thing.

I find myself whispering "hell yeah!" every time I see this cover.

The Euphoric is less than two weeks away, and we highly recommend preordering now to make sure you get it as soon as humanly possible. Two singles, 'Truck' and '1991', are already available for any price you care to name (including for free, if you so desire), so do give those a spin if you haven't already and get yourself a taste of the face-melty goodness.

We've also got a new signing and some new music to announce next week, and that's all we can say about that. For now.

Relatedly...

A Public Service Announcement

For a couple of exciting bits of BEM-related news, make sure you pick up the next edition of PROG Magazine, available next Wednesday. Pay particular attention to the news section, the features page, and the lead review... it's an Elephant-heavy issue and we wouldn't want you to miss anything big.

You'll know what we mean soon enough.

Get A Word In

In the summer to come, we're looking to expand our social media presence to a few more platforms. We have Facebook, of course, and The Trunk will very much stay in place, but, in this lightning-fast digital age, it pays to diversify.

This does, however, raise the question of where exactly we should be. I've been doing my best to research our audience, but I suspect that the best way to research you lot might just be to ask you what you think, and so that's exactly what we're going to do now.

So, dear readers, drop a comment on this post or on its companion post on Facebook, and tell us: what other platforms do you use regularly besides Facebook? Our main prospects at the moment are Twitter, Reddit, and Instagram, but we're very much open to other suggestions if there's significant demand for us to be somewhere else.

Review Roundup

The review mill has been mostly quiet this week. The Prog Mind did give us an 8.5/10 review of The Euphoric, which has only stoked our excitement for the day in just a couple of weeks' time when we can finally get this thing into your hands.

But, again, make sure you get that next PROG. That's the big one.

The Trunk 4/2/2018: State of the Elephant, Spring 2018

Spring is about to spring, and it's time for another State of the Elephant Address. It's been about three months since the last edition and plenty has been happening since then, so let's get you all up to speed...

New and Next

A Map in Fragments is out! Hooray! Grab your copy now, physical or digital, from the webstore right here, or, as always, you can stream the whole thing for free to try before you buy. (And, if Charlie Cawood's virtuoso guitar skills win you over, why not check out some of the other things he's done with BEM?)

We've got one album up for preorder at the moment: Close to Vapour, from international prog duo Fractal Mirror. One track from this chill-yet-sophisticated album is available already on the preorder page, and you can get more of a vertical-slice preview from this short video for a better feel of the whole package. Close to Vapour releases on February 23rd, less than three weeks away - preorder now to make sure you get it as soon as possible.

Also counting down to release is The Euphoric. The third full-length album from Rushden math-rockers The Fierce And The Dead is hotly anticipated, bringing you another face-melting blast of their signature guitar blend. Preorders start on March 5th ahead of a May 18th release, but, if you just can't wait for that, the first single from The Euphoric, 'Truck', is available now, and you can watch the slick, retro-inspired music video over at the PROG Magazine website here. Give it a spin!

Looking a little further ahead, we'll have more details for you in the weeks to come regarding two other hot releases we've got in the pipeline. Experimental rockers Reformat have their album The Singularity coming out very soon, and this time there are not one but two singles to check out already: 'Astrograms', available from the webstore, and 'Vectrex', only on YouTube. Or, y'know, right here.

And we've more new music on the way from BEM alumni Mothertongue, too - anyone who heard their previous album, Unsongs, will attest to their lyrical genius, and, from what we've heard of the album so far, it's a worthy follow-up to their previous work. Again, keep your eyes on our social media for more details to come very, very soon.

Even beyond that, we've got a busy 2018 ahead of us, but let's not get ahead of ourselves...

Live Shows

If you got your copy of A Map in Fragments recently, you'll be delighted to know that Tonochrome have a live show coming up next month! March 7th will see them play alongside Demons of Ruby Mae and Daniels Goldseal at the Sebright Arms over in Hackney. Tickets are just £8 apiece in advance, a fantastic deal for three bands in one night, and we highly recommend that you pop along and take a look. All things being equal, the Elephants themselves will be in attendance - do check in on Facebook if you're going to be there too.

If you find yourself a little further west than London, though, don't fear - Schnauser has your back. They're bringing their joyously chaotic brand of psychedelic prog to Bristol later this very month for a headline show at The Grain Barge on Febrary 22nd. Tickets for this one are even more of a steal - four English pounds each. That's almost too good a deal. Again, there's more information over at the Facebook page.

Way into the future, you can catch The Far Meadow in Southampton this September, and we'll have more gigs to announce as soon as we have the deets... but we shall cross those bridges when we come to them. Once again, keep your eyes peeled.

Review Roundup

Reviews are rolling in for A Map in Fragments. Phil Lively of The Progressive Aspect was caught off-balance - but "that is a good thing" - by the tight structures and sharp edges, ultimately praising an album that "isn't hard to listen to, but it isn't easy to quantify". Meanwhile, Emma Roebuck enjoys the "maturity and restraint", and reckons that "the Delinquent Pachyderm has a real standout album here". (Note to self: discuss possible name change with management. - Ed.)

Meanwhile, the Classic Rock Society offers us their take on Murder and Parliament, which we'll let you all digest yourselves...

Catch you next week!

The Trunk 29/10/2017: State of the Elephant, Winter 2017/18

We're five-sixths of the way through 2017! Good heavens, hasn't it gone by fast? We've released no fewer than twelve albums with more to come before the year's out, and it's been an absolute blast. Still, we're not quite ready to bid this year goodbye just yet, and so, to cover the final stretch, here's a roundup of everything happening in the next three months...

Live Elephants

Progtoberfest 2, featuring the trinity of The Far Meadow, The Gift and The Rube Goldberg Machine, is today at the Bedford! We understand there are still some tickets going, too; they'll be available on the doors for the slightly higher price of £12, which is still a screaming good deal for five great acts and an afternoon of music. We'll keep you updated on the results, of course, and, if you're seeing this early and at a very loose end, here's something to do with your Sunday!

After that, there are two more festivals left in 2017. First up, in collaboration with Prog Sausage, is Prog for Peace on November 11th. The Far Meadow and The Gift will be back, hot on the heels of Progtoberfest, and joined by Konchordat and The Room. This one's at the Iron Horse in Sidcup, from which you can pick up advance tickets, and proceeds go to charity.

Last but not least comes Masquerade 2! The brainchild of The Gift frontman Mike Morton, this is another one-dayer featuring BEM's Big Hogg alongside such esteemed acts as Magic Pie and I Am The Manic Whale. Tickets are available here.

That's about it for upcoming live shows, but there's still plenty else to look forward to, such as...

Studio Elephants

There are still two more albums to go before we call it a year. The first is coming up very soon indeed: Charlie Cawood's The Divine Abstract finally comes out on Friday, and we seriously can't wait to get this one out to you all - it's one of the strangest, most wondrous things ever to pass through our offices. If you want to make sure you get it as soon as possible, you can still preorder, and download the preview track 'Garden Of The Mind' right away!

In early December you can expect the debut album from BEM alumnus Tom Slatter's latest project, Murder and Parliament. There's a preview track here, as well, and you can download it absolutely free, so what are you all waiting for? Preorders for Murder and Parliament will open soon.

And, though we're not quite ready to give you the full details, we've another new signing to unleash on the world in January, so stay tuned...

The Fifth Elephant

Not this one.

We close with a look a little further ahead.

Next year is Bad Elephant Music's fifth anniversary. To be honest, we're still trying to wrap our heads around that. It doesn't seem like all that long ago that we were debating what to call the project and working out what all this record label business was really about.

But five years... that's a big one. And we're definitely going to celebrate.

You can expect new music from the bands behind our first two albums ever, BEM's hoariest veterans - Shineback and The Fierce And The Dead. You can expect a couple of other new developments which I've just been told I can't say any more about, on pain of voltage-calming. And, in general, we expect 2018 to be a very big year for Bad Elephant Music.

Keep an eye on our Facebook page, if you aren't already. Great things are afoot!

Status Update

What, you really want another one after all that?

Review Roundup

Two new reviews for The Divine Abstract flew off the presses this week: one from Progradar, where Emma Roebuck describes "clever sophisticated music that opens doors both spiritually and emotionally", and one from The Progressive Aspect, where Phil Lively praises a "meticulously presented" album that's "sublime by any definition of the word".

And, while it's not strictly a review, Birthday Cake For Breakfast recently sat down with Trojan Horse to discuss some of the musical influences behind Fukushima Surfer Boys. That one's available right now and fully streamable on Bandcamp, and there are still some copies left of the cassette version, too!