Julian Lennon Picks

iain_archer

Iain Archer
is a singer/songwriter from Northern Ireland, who was once a member of the indie band Snow Patrol.

Iain comes from a musical background and released several solo albums in the mid 90s on the small Scottish independent label Sticky Music. After a stint with Snow Patrol and a side project with Snow Patrol’s frontman Gary Lightbody in Reindeer Section, he returned to his solo career.

In 2004 he released his album Flood The Tanks.  In 2005 Iain picked up an Ivor Novello Award as part of the songwriting team behind Snow Patrol’s Final Straw album.  In 2006 he released the album Magnetic North.
hawkeEighth Dimension Records is pleased to announce the release of +++, the fourth artist album by Hawke, the song-crafting nome-de-plume of producer/DJ Gavin Hardkiss. Recorded in San Diego and San Francisco between 2004 and 2009, the album was conceived as a creative statement of naive beauty and possibility. “At times I tried to imagine what it would sound like if I was a teenager again making this music alone in my bedroom,” Gavin says. “Romantic and futurist, confident and vulnerable, sexually charged and childlike, anticipating something big to happen.”

Drawing inspiration from the electronic/”alternative music” hybrids prevalent during the late 80’s “Second Summer Of Love” +++ is awash in stylistic curiosities, spirited lyrics, evocative instrumentation, and solid melodies. Its genre-blurring disposition is evident in such gems as “Inside Job” (a dub-influenced ode to theft and temptation penned with original Steve Miller Band guitarist David Denny), the exuberant “Monday Comes And Goes” (a defiant stand against the Monday morning condition), the playful “Everything Is Happening At The Same Time“, and “Bob’s My Uncle” (Gavin’s take on the classic Happy Mondays’ song).hawkeartworkFor Hawke’s +++, Gavin Hardkiss draws deep into his influences, referencing songs and memories from his youth, but still reveals his place in “electronic music royalty” (according to Wired Magazine) with psychedelic dance flourishes. The gorgeous and cascading “My Mom Is Your Dad” would not have been out of place on the seminal Hardkiss album Delusions of Grandeur. And “These Combinations Have Not Been Before” (featuring, as Gavin says, the voice of “a being from another dimension”) is filled with a thorough introspection which almost disguises its hypnotic, steady dance rhythm.

Read More About Gavin Hardkiss

"I make music... I buy music... I play music... I steal music... I eat music.. and sometimes music feeds me." - Gavin Hardkiss

gavin_hardkiss

Years ago there was a group of brothers that rocked San Francisco with their sound, record label and live DJ spots.  They were known as the Hardkiss brothers (Gavin, Robbie, and Scott) and the movement they would create in the 90's in the Bay would spill out into the world.  Gavin Hardkiss has been producing music since 1991 and he would manage the Hardkiss label in the early '90's and helped to foster the new psychedelic dance sound with releases of his own and creations with the likes of Rabbit in the Moon, God Within, Little Wing, T Tauri, Symbiosis and his own Hawke.

His name Gavin in Gaelic means White Hawk he took to the moniker Hawke.  Gavin was born in Johannesburg, South Africa and took a few turns and found his home across the Golden Gate near the city by the Bay.  He has had a very successful solo career from his first single "3 Nudes In A Purple Garden," which was released on the classic Hardkiss album, Delusions of Grandeur which is one of the most sought after releases in dance music for a domestic.  Gavin would start to produce music that would cross genres and he wanted to focus on producing timeless provocative tracks.  The album "Namaquadisco" and "Heatstroke" did just that but it was his third album, "Love Won Another" that really broke through.

Gavin has also remixed the likes of Led Zepellin, Elton John, The Beatles and performed alongside Snoop Dogg and The Buena Vista Social Club.  He has appeared on labels such as Astralwerks, Sony/Columbia, Global Underground, OM, Hooj TOons and Ditrec Records and has appeared in coutless TV commercials.  His music has been used on shows such as HBO's "Sex in the City", and MTV's "Real World".

His music and message has been described as a stoned-out-can-do-anything-optimism and we couldn't agree more.  Throughout the many years we have known Gavin he has done that with every release and while he is behind the decks delivering a hybrid sound of house, techno funk, electronica and chilled out groove.  He can't be boxed, he doesn't know what a box is, he is a Hardkiss and that name to us is defined by edge and endless blue sky.

Mason_SinukusThe two chilled-gurus work hard behind the scenes at Below Zero and have been playing gigs together for over 8 years.

They met through a mutual friend at ANU located in San Francisco on 6th Street. Dahi was playing a Sinukus mix while Mason enjoyed a few pints and the music got Mason to inquire about the beats Dahi was playing.

Since then they have done a weekly formerly known as ThumpChill as well as launched the show Below Zero.  Had it not been for beer and beats, these two would have never met which would have meant no Below Zero.  Thankfully since their initial meeting the music and pints have flowed nicely.

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