[engl] The lost Dead Kennedy recordings? Nope! The debut of Hank Robot & The Ethnics, a Powersolo side project, that doesn't seem to take things too serious and rather blast out a 12 track party record which should leave you with a smile on your face. Label info:"A couple of months ago, I had the honour of DJ-ing at a Powersolo show and heard, saw and understood (I guess) that night their wonderful ability of going beyond borders, underlined by their huge sense of absurdity. I loved these guys. A short while later, Sir Kim Kix sent me some recordings of another of his bands, HANK ROBOT & THE ETHNICS, and for the first time ever since I heard Destruction Unit (that album you listen to when being seriously hopeless), I had the feeling I could destroy walls and felt frankly relieved. On first listening, you will get a little hint of the Dead Kennedys - especially with their bombastic hit “Homba” -, but don't get fooled: that's only a "trompe l'oreille" and it soon disappears. There was something more, way much more, something making me feel like “I'm in love and I feel fine”. Some might call it punk. Well, I guess that's punk, yes! But punk with some nice surprises too... (don't ask, these are surprises). “Lightning Bolt” has this typical fantasy which doesn't readily fit any musical genre, and which I love with Kim Kix. While the opener "Where Are You Gonna Go" might sound modern, well, it is aaaaactually constructed like a wonderful repetitive 60s garage fuzzy tune. It just had to become a Moody Monkey thingy! Thank you Hank & The Ethnics! The really cool artwork is designed by Martin Thorsen of The Courettes. Bobby McBride once referred to Hank’s set as “a bad nightmare in human musical form”, adding that it is still true today. “Hank Robot of course is Kim Kix of Powersolo. They are dirty, nasty desperate men, hell bent on destruction. They kind of breach a gap between psychobilly, punk, surf, garage and trashy French pop. Hank Robot is not by a long-shot the only band Kim Kix has aside from Powersolo, but it’s my favourite and I’m sticking to it. Robot has been teasing an album for a few months now – he’s been getting drunk and laying down tracks. He’s been sleeping on stairs, he’s that unwelcome house guest or that uncle you had who gave you your first cigarette, a sip of beer and an Iggy Pop tape. You dig him. You get him. After recruiting Anders Birkekær from Dro?n and Per Silkjær of Fossils, Hank and his juiced up crew headed into the studio and recorded 12 punk songs – the first of which is “Homba” – which according to Robot: “it’s a true story”. It’s a frenetic old school hardcore punk song, not too far away from vintage Dead Kennedys and Dead Milkmen – the good old shit. If “Homba” is any indication of what’s to come – I’m stoked. What a fucking slice of authentic trash this is. The whole world is looking at Aarhus for ‘punk’ music – we might as well keep dishing it up with Hank Robot to shit it out to the masses with his new band: The Ethnics.“ Bobby McBride

[engl] HIPBONE SLIM & THE KNEETREMBLERS is a band that plays proper rock’n’roll! They take all the influences of original rock’n’roll, rhythm’n’blues, whatever you want to call it, and give it their own unique stamp and energy, with a garage band attitude and enthusiasm. They have somehow captured the true essence of rock’n’roll in a way that very few have been able to do in a very long time. The band is led by the ubiquitous Sir Bald Diddley (aka Hipbone Slim), on guitar and lead vocals, a man who has been described as ‘Britain’s string king’ in reference to his wild and fiery guitar style, influenced by Bo Diddley, Link Wray, Chuck Berry, Dick Dale and the like. He’s also been described as ‘Ricky Nelson gone very wrong’ (with regards to his singing!) which he, and we too, are happy to take as a compliment. Also known for his very precarious stage antics, including the infamous ‘Pea Bug’, which involves much rolling around on the floor during guitar solos! Also a part of this rock’n’roll trio is Bruce ‘Bash’ Brand, one of Britain’s, if not the world’s, finest rock’n’roll drummers. A veteran of such bands as the Milkshakes and Headcoats (as sidekick and comedic foil to Billy Childish), as well as Holly Golightly’s band, the Masonics, and more, he has also worked with the Pretty Things, Downliners Sect, Wreckless Eric, Mungo Jerry and made two albums with Link Wray along the way. Then there’s Gastus Receedus (bass/harmonica), who has played in many a band (Big Wigs, Arousers, Playboys, etc) and worked with many a rock’n’roll legend – Billy Lee Riley, Sonny Burgess, Dale Hawkins, and Don & Dewey to name but a few! Hipbone Slim & The Kneetremblers have become something of a cult sensation thanks to their previous four albums of accomplished rock’n’roll fundamentalism and regular appearances on Mark Lamarr’s radio shows over the years. (Their collaboration with Mama Rosin received rave reviews in both The Guardian and The Independent.) Harsh critics may single out their unwillingness to deviate from the primitive rhythm’n’blues blueprint as their downfall, but this would be a failure to understand the objective of the group. To put it simply, as already stated, Hipbone Slim & the Kneetremblers play rock’n’roll music. And they do it better than pretty much anyone else in the UK right now, if not the entire damn world.

[engl] Imperial Tiger Orchestra play ethiopian groove instrumentals, just as Mulatu Eskete or Getatchew Mekurya did during the late sixties & early seventies ! They already released a self produced mini album, and a 12” on Mental Groove Records. They were the big sensation on stage during the last “Musiques Ethiopiennes”festival in Addis Abeba (organized by Francis Falceto the originator of the classic Ethiopiques compilations series). They also played with the likes of Melaku Belaye, Selamnesh, Zinash or Mesele Asmamaw, & we now impatiently wait for their first long player !!