Growler

The debut instrumental rock album by guitarist/ composer Ramon Fermin (Sun Kil Moon, Magik*Magik Orchestra, Ignition Duo, San Francisco Guitar Quartet). All songs on Old Growler were composed and arranged by Ramon, who also performed all guitars and bass. Drums by Haig Shirinian. Recorded by Jack Shirley (Deafheaven) at the Atomic Garden recording studio in East Palo Alto, California.

Producer/Musician Jeff Eyrich has toured and recorded with Tim Buckley, Bette Midler, Tanya Tucker, Keith Carradine, Air Supply, Natalie Cole, and John Cale to name a few. He's produced more than 30 major label records in the US and in Europe — artists including T-Bone Burnett, the Blasters, the Plimsouls, Gun Club, and Cheech & Chong.

Calypso Music originates from Trinidad and Tabago in the mid Nineteenth Century yet its rhythms can be traced back to West African Kaiso and the arrival of French planters and their slaves from the French Antilles in the 18th century. As English replaced “patois” (Antillian Creole) as the dominant language, calypso migrated into English, and in so doing it attracted more attention from the government -it allowed the masses through music to challenge the doings of the unelected Governor and Legislative town Councils. Calypso has since gone on to inspire many other musical genres including: Ska, Reggae, Socca, Rocksteady, Soul and Funk. Here at Viper we have selected some of the finest exponents of the genre from the first half of the Twentieth Century – Listen to the great: ‘Lord Executor’ ‘Atilla The Hun’ or ‘The Roaring Lion’ tell us with great aplomb about the trials, folk tales and tribulations of Caribbean living!

Calypso legends sing cheerfully honest accounts to the backing of laid-back island music. With tracks such as ‘Man Smart, Woman Smarter’, ‘Rum & Coca Cola’, ‘Illegitimate Children’, ‘Sly Mongoose’ and ‘Don’t Hide Him Behind the Door’, daily life topics are thrown into catchy, cheerful tunes.

Leaders of the new generation and purveyors of dancefloor chaos Serum, Voltage and Bladerunner return to the frontline of drum & bass with their debut, self-titled album 'Kings Of The Rollers'. Whilst each have their own high-grade production style, these three royals have managed to create a sum greater than their parts, as they steamroll through all the rules to deliver an absolute bruiser of an LP.