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LP
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HOS 631LP
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California Black Vows, the new Clay Rendering full length, chronicles the group's move away from the comfort zone straight into the dark heart of the west. Since their last album, Snowthorn (HOS 433CD/LP, 2015) the band relocated from the suburbs of the Midwest to the sinister shine of Los Angeles. The cover's icicle is the last remnant of their time in familiar surroundings. More change was to follow; a duo for most of its existence, Clay Rendering's core of Mike and Tara Connelly chose to invite two allies into their closed circle: Sera Timms of Black Mare on bass and Joe Potts of Sollilja on drums. The warning bell sounded with their inclusion on Vatican Shadow's Berghain (OSTGUT 119LP, 2019) mix. A couple of EPs surfaced since the last full length, but the band has spent most of that time molding the new four-piece incarnation from the ground up and discovering the sounds and directions that new blood brings, while also acclimating to their new surreal setting. The result is a dimly-lit journey into the wild nightside, where nothing is for sure, a hypnotic trek into the center of Clay Rendering's unique brand of gloom rock commences. The album reveals itself slowly for the first minutes of "Blood Into Wine", until the refrain opens wide and dives headlong into the deep -- it's a statement of intent. From there, things rev up with uncertainty and a nervous edge. Tara takes on more vocals than previous records, haunting the nocturnal ocean with "Once In The Well," "Black Vows," and "Take Hold." Strangers come and go and dance and die in "We Wait." Questions remain unanswered in "Don't Understand You." With Dylan Neal (Thief) on production duties, Clay Rendering have delivered their fullest and most fleshed-out album to date. The immediacy of the recording gives the feel that these songs are taking shape as one hears them. Guitars melt over the keyboards and synths throughout the proceedings. The record is filled with a noir life force that transitions back and forth from desperate wails to moonlit hymns. The vocals are clearer and more direct than ever, letting one know exactly where Clay Rendering stands. The bass provides the heartbeat of the mission, the drums ensure everything lands in its place.
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12"
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HOS 463EP
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Clay Rendering, the tortured pop project of former Wolf Eyes member Mike Connelly and his wife Tara, pledge three diverse but unmistakably gothic sacrifices soused in the spirits of black metal, cold-wave pop and shoegaze. With Dominick Fernow as producer and effectively acting in a third band member role, they triangulate a sound that's nostalgic for the gothic undertones of '80s and '90s darkness. "We Are Aware" is hearse-cruising cold-wave pop rocket pointing towards the BM toil and shoegaze anguish in "Never Pass Away". "Towards Motionless" is an instrumental cocktail of ice cold, sounding like Badalamenti meets ambient Plastikman.
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CD
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HOS 433CD
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Perhaps the most compelling of the many projects started by one-time members of Wolf Eyes, Mike and Tara Connelly's Clay Rendering came to life in 2013 and have since released a trio of singles for Hospital Productions that have gained them the admiration of followers spanning the electronic and metal communities. Their material occupies unique terrain, recalling The Cure's widescreen Disintegration-era instrumentals cut through with a black metal palette and an appreciation of electronic music that imbues their production (notably assisted by Dominick Fernow) with an end-of-the-world quality that's impossible to pin down. Evoking Nine Inch Nails one moment and inhabiting a smoke-filled, strobe-lit Road House the next, it leaves the listener bleary-eyed, head spinning, coming down. Guitar, accordion, piano, and electronics underpin the songs on their debut album, Snowthorn, opening with the whirling death march of "Maps on the Floor" and the funereal trudge of "Swallow the Century" before the grinding fuzz of "Sight from Up There" changes pace with the addition of a forlorn piano melody and Becka Diamond's distant vocal zooming in on half-remembered songs, rendered here with hazy definition. "Fall Off the Bed" and "Memory Loses Momentum" find Clay Rendering at their most visceral and catchy, a reminder that they are first and foremost a band that write incredible songs; often submerged in fuzz and atmosphere, here they are left exposed, bare, on display. And yet "Snowthorn," "River Without," and the incredible album closer "Night to Perish" edge the album from the bleak into the sublime, turning away from the snowy landscapes Clay Rendering so often evokes and pulling you instead deep into night. Mastered by Paul Corley and cut at Dubplates & Mastering, Berlin.
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LP
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HOS 433LP
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LP version. Perhaps the most compelling of the many projects started by one-time members of Wolf Eyes, Mike and Tara Connelly's Clay Rendering came to life in 2013 and have since released a trio of singles for Hospital Productions that have gained them the admiration of followers spanning the electronic and metal communities. Their material occupies unique terrain, recalling The Cure's widescreen Disintegration-era instrumentals cut through with a black metal palette and an appreciation of electronic music that imbues their production (notably assisted by Dominick Fernow) with an end-of-the-world quality that's impossible to pin down. Evoking Nine Inch Nails one moment and inhabiting a smoke-filled, strobe-lit Road House the next, it leaves the listener bleary-eyed, head spinning, coming down. Guitar, accordion, piano, and electronics underpin the songs on their debut album, Snowthorn, opening with the whirling death march of "Maps on the Floor" and the funereal trudge of "Swallow the Century" before the grinding fuzz of "Sight from Up There" changes pace with the addition of a forlorn piano melody and Becka Diamond's distant vocal zooming in on half-remembered songs, rendered here with hazy definition. "Fall Off the Bed" and "Memory Loses Momentum" find Clay Rendering at their most visceral and catchy, a reminder that they are first and foremost a band that write incredible songs; often submerged in fuzz and atmosphere, here they are left exposed, bare, on display. And yet "Snowthorn," "River Without," and the incredible album closer "Night to Perish" edge the album from the bleak into the sublime, turning away from the snowy landscapes Clay Rendering so often evokes and pulling you instead deep into night. Mastered by Paul Corley and cut at Dubplates & Mastering, Berlin."
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12"
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HOS 413EP
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This second EP from Mike and Tara Connelly's Clay Rendering further evolves their songcraft through four pieces that draw you in with a slowly building emotive weight. The tracks here recall everything from Cocteau Twins and The Cranes at their most desolate to classic Sonic Youth, colored and mis-shaped through abstract production assistance from Dominick Fernow and additional synth from Robert Beatty of Three Legged Race/Hair Police. Limited stock...
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LP
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HOS 392LP
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"Clay Rendering is a new band born of Aries couple Mike (Wolf Eyes, Hair Police, Failing Lights) and Tara Connelly (the Haunting and The Pool at Metz). The two began work on the project in the fall of 2012, dedicated to resurrection, (much like their sun signs) with a focus on arcane structures. Droning and melancholic guitars are propelled by the skeletal remains of industrial music. Low light vocals weave in and out of the stark atmosphere. Electronics mix with acoustics, vocals and guitar to create songs inspired by last days. Mastered by Russell Haswell. Edition of 500."
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