Saturday, January 22, 2011

Brian Ellis - Quipu ... new album coming in March 2011



Brian Ellis - Quipu
Released on CD and Digital Download in March 2011 on Parallax Sounds


Album Info:

Brian Ellis is an multi-instrumentalist from San Diego, California. He has released several albums in the last few years under multiple monikers and is perhaps better known as lead guitarist for the progressive rock group, ASTRA.

By playing guitar, bass, drums, various synthesizers and keyboards, saxophone, trumpet, sitar, xylophone, kalimba, etc., Brian creates the illusion of a large live band jamming all together. After releasing 2 albums in 2007 for the now defunct Scottish electronic label, Benbecula Records, Brian found himself straying away from the programmed/sequenced elements and wanted to make an album where all the instruments were played live. The album was completed in early 2008 and was set to be the follow up to "The Silver Creature". Unfortunately, Benbecula decided to close it's doors at this time and the album was shelved.

"Quipu" takes Brian Ellis' jazz/fusion/funk sound from his previous solo works to the next level. The opening track "Birth" sets a deep atmosphere of delayed trumpets and saxophones with a slow beat and funky bass before exploding into an odd-timing heavy fusion workout harkening back to the days of Mahavishnu Orchestra. Whereas later tracks like "Psaw" (featuring David Hurley of Astra on drums) take on much more of a free jazz sound similar to Miles Davis "Bitches Brew" era, full of dissonance and surprising elements. The final track "Walomendem" is a 14 minute progressive rock epic hailing as a tribute to the great french band Magma.

Tracklisting:

1) Birth.
2) Canyon.
3) Count To Ten.
4) Funeral March.
5) Gossamer.
6) Psaw.
7) Walomendem.

"Quipu" will finally be released through Parallax Sounds UK in 2011 on CD and download with stunning artwork by Jessica Planter & Sean Painter.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Brian Ellis meets Byard Lancaster - 2xCD coming in 2009 on PORTER RECORDS!



In late February, I had the privilege of playing and recording with the great philly jazz saxophonist Byard Lancaster. Byard has played with so many amazing jazz players throughout his career;, Sunny Murray, John Coltrane, Sun Ra, Fela Kuti, Archie Shepp, Ornette Coleman, just to name a few.

I assembled an all star band including David Hurley (Astra/Seesaw Ensemble/Shaka Kodami) on drums, Mike Hams on Drums (Shaka Kodami), Preston Swirnoff (Seesaw Ensemble, The Shining Path, Habitat Sound System) on Fender Rhodes , Zach Hogan (Lights and Sirens, PEA) on Bass, and Rahsaan Davis (Cattle Decapitation) on bass, with myself switching between a Roland EP-10 and Guitar. We spent 4 days recording at Preston Swirnoff's Habitat Recording Studio in Golden Hill, San Diego, and played 2 live performances at the Pharaoh's Den in Riverside and the Kava Lounge in San Diego.

The music is lodged somewhere between free jazz, prog, blues, funk, and afrobeat... all melding together to create a very energetic, inspiring mood. I can honestly say that this is the most exciting record I have ever been a part of.

I am currently mixing down the sessions (there were over 6 hours recorded in the studio) into what will eventually be a 2 CD set released on Porter Records.

Astra - The Weirding - CD & 2xLP Coming Soon on Rise Above Records



Astra - The Weirding
Released May 25th, 2009

Astra is the progressive rock band that Brian Ellis plays lead guitar and moog synthesizer for. They were signed to Rise Above Records (home of Sleep, Electric Wizard, Witchcraft) in London last year, and have finished their debut album "The Weirding", which will be released in late May 2009.

Bio from the Rise Above Records press release...

"The very thought of a ‘Progressive Rock Concept Album’ in 2009 is likely enough to put the fear of Rick Wakeman’s 1975 King Arthur On Ice Rock Opera into any post punk’s limited musical mind. But Prog is back and like it or not, has never sounded this vital or refreshing. Riding at the forefront of the New Wave Of Psychedelic Prog are San Diego based cosmic masters, Astra.

Free from all the ugliness and self-indulgence that took the initial spirit away from its post-60s psych originators, Astra make timeless music for timeless minds. None of that bloated pomposity that turned Prog it into a four-letter word, their approach is genuine and heartfelt.

Originally forming under the winter sun of 2001 as Silver Sunshine, Astra had undergone several line-up changes before the recent addition of guitar wizard/multi-instrumentalist Brian Ellis, who proved to be the final piece in the cosmic jigsaw. It was at this point the planets aligned and Astra was born.

Already making a name for themselves on the West Coast, they’ve shared the stage with such like-minded and diverse acts as Dungen, Winter Flowers, Earthless, Jennifer Gentle, Jana Hunter, Bigelf, Saint Etienne, Persephone's Bees, Entrance, Titan, The Black Keys, The Sunshine Fix, All Night Radio, Green Milk From the Planet Orange and DMBQ.

The Weirding, like all great concept albums is initially rather vague in it’s er, concept. As band founder Richard Vaughn explains; “The main themes are death, introspection and contemplating what lies beyond. It's about pondering the rapidly deteriorating state of the world today and trying to find an escape”.

Despite being themed in a rather solemn environment the actual tonal beauty that comes from The Weirding makes for a breathtaking and adventurous journey through various states of mind. What would any great album in this genre be without an epic seventeen minute instrumental? Despite its length, the mood-changing wonders of Oroborus still manage to hold the attention without derailing into the realms of pomposity. Aided by the marvelous guitar playing of Ellis, it’s a monumental piece in its own right.

Mellotron-heavy title-track The Weirding invokes a celestial ocean of wah wah waves crashing against a shore of confusion, whilst the ethereal folky strains of Broken Glass mellow the tone for the contemplation of eternal solitude. Beyond to slight the maze ends this epic journey that will be suitably released as a double vinyl edition.

Like a heavy hammer onto anvil, down from Ether's starry meadows, the sounds of Astra are engulfing planet Earth.


The Weirding is scheduled for a May 2009 release.

www.myspace.com/astrasound"

Egyptian Lover - Electro Pharaoh 12" Single and iTunes Mini Album




The new Egyptian Lover "Electro Pharaoh" is out on iTunes and 12" single. Check it out!! Brian E contributes keyboards to the title track "Electro Pharaoh"!

Egyptian Lover @ Myspace

Brian E WINS Anticon Records Restiform Bodies Remix Contest!

The Brian E remix of the song "Foul" by Restiform Bodies has been chosen as one of two winners for an Anticon Records Remix Contest! It will be included on an upcoming Restiform Bodies Remix 12"!

check out my remix here!

Brian E - Yellow Light District 12" NOW AVAILABLE!!



Brian E - Yellow Light District
RLR15


Side A
1. Theme
2. Electric City
3. Sinistyle

Side B
1. Tokyo Rock
2. Scorpion Kingdom
3. De Futura (TANZ MIX)*

*written by Magma/Jannick Top

Order it here!


Check out samples here!

"Fresh from playing keyboards for select live dates with The Egyptian Lover, San Diego based music producer releases his first 12" album "Yellow Light District" on Record Label Records. Drawing influences from electronic pioneers such as Giorgio Moroder, Black Devil Disco Club, Yellow Magic Orchestra, Bruce Haack and Kraftwerk, Brian E delivers an original dance album that takes notice to it's predicessors while expanding upon their ideas. "Yellow Light District" is breath of fresh air for modern electro/disco... A would-be classic had it been made 30 years prior."

Brian E - TECH-NOIR


Brian E - Tech-Noir
RLR2029


1 - Termination
2 - T1000
3 - Reeses Theme
4 - Nueronet
5 - Have You Seen This Boy
6 - Cyberdyne Systems Corporation
7 - I'll Be Back
8 - Plastique
9 - When It's Over (REMIX)
10 - 1997
11 - Conner
12 - I Know Now Why You Cry


click here to download zip of LP

"You're waiting in line for the most exclusive discotheque in the largest metropolitan area of your country. It's about 12:30 AM and all you want to do is fucking dance. You're sweating for it. You can taste it. A Ferrari Enzo pulls up along side the curb. A beautiful blonde steps out in a shimmering and daring low-cut dress that looks like it was spun from pure gold. She looks at you and opens her mouth a little bit, strolls right past you. You are nothing to her. Right behind her is a technician, a surgeon, an engineer, a guru, a master of the dancefloor carrying a metal locked case full of records. You can't see his eyes through his silver coated shades, but you know they're looking right through you and onto the dancefloor. He sets foot into the club and heads for the DJ booth, his classroom, his domain, his kingdom, his operating room. He looks over the masses of sweating and writhing bodies, pulsing and moving to the beat. The master puts a golden, sequined vinyl on the turntable, drops the needle and pulls the fader to ten. He takes a deep breath and a single tear slides down one cheek and falls onto the spinning record. The soundsystem is put into overdrive, the moving bodies dance harder and faster. The emotion in the room is swelling to an out of control proportion... the pure passion of the evening coming to a peak, an explosion of bass and chilling synthpads fills the club. Women fall to their knees, they have been defeated by melody. Men gasp and sway as they are invaded by the rhythm and the beat. Brian E induces yet another evening of pure disco hysteria."