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Broken Hearts Broken Sounds Broken Hearts Broken Sounds
MP3 compilation 2015 | Silber 175
18 tracks, 80 minutes
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or below to pay $2 to help support the artists
As well as being a musician, Michael Wood has helped the local scene in the Carolinas for nearly twenty years at times as a record store owner (The Lazy I), club owner (Lazy I, Monkey Business, The Basement), label owner (Kosher Kitten), club booker (Limelight, Drink, Chapel Hill Underground), music journalist (Surge, Ghettoblaster), & roadie (The Independents, Electric Bird Noise, Remora).  With his new venture Broken Sounds he's helping bands book tours.  Eclectic bands doing everything from shoegaze to americana to experimental.  Broken Hearts Broken Sounds showcases 18 of the acts he may be bringing to your town - The Veldt, The Affectionates, Hyphen Burnhole, King of Prussia, Planet Cock, LoveyDove, Something About Vampires and Sluts, One Bad Apple, Sleeping Policeman, M is We, Miss Massive Snowflake, Remora, Electric Bird Noise, Feel No Other, Nighttime Tides, Downlouders, Octopus Jones, & Silver Screen Orchestra.

: Press Release
Use Bandcamp or Spotify to listen before you buy.

Track Listing:
The Veldt - It Breaks My Heart
The Affectionates - Cry Wolf
Hyphen Burnhole - Sweat Meat
King of Prussia - From the Vine
Planet Cock - Love Song
LoveyDove - Soul Gem
Something About Vampires and Sluts - Not Tonight
One Bad Apple - Birthday
Sleeping Policeman - Caretaker's Eyes
M is We - Lying Lie
Miss Massive Snowflake - Valentina & Tommaso
Remora - 10,004
Electric Bird Noise - neetxis (til death do us part)
Feel No Other - Even The Blue
Nighttime Tides - 11-7-14 Wedding Theme For Brian and Chelsea
Downlouders - Velocità di Crociera
Octopus Jones - Grand Illusion
Silver Screen Orchestra - Glassĕra

Reviews:
An outstanding compilation release from the always excellent Silber Records label that highlights various groups that hail from the Carolinas. There's a lot to like here as the album offers a mixture of everything, from shoegaze to folk, noise to old-time pop, and even throws in a fun sound sample from the movie Ghostbusters for good measure. My favorite: the hilariously profane "Sweat Meat" from Hyphen Burnhole.
~ Scene Point Blank

North Carolina based indie label, Silber Records, has released a new compilation Broken Hearts Broken Sounds. Put together by Michael Wood, who has been a veteran of the music scene in the Carolinas for almost 20 years, running venues, record stores and record labels, being a music journalist, and of course being a musician. He currently is working with bands to help book tours & Broken Hearts Broken Sounds showcases some of the eclectic bands he's working with from shoegaze to experimental pop to post punk to Americana. A few names on the comp should be familiar to longtime Silber fans - Remora, Electric Bird Noise, Feel No Other, LoveyDove, Miss Massive Snowflake. Stream and buy Broken Hearts Broken Sounds at the link below.
~ Floorshime Zipper Boots

An alternative eclectic mix of shoegaze, drone, indie pop and post rock, Broken Hearts Broken Sounds is a compilation on Silber Media put together by South Carolina music bod Michael Wood who has worked for 20 years in the music scene as a record store owner, club owner, label owner, club booker, music journalist & roadie.
Woods’ latest venture Broken Sounds aims to help local acts with bookings, tours etc. Broken Hearts Broken Sounds showcases 18 of those acts including The Veldt, The Affectionates, Hyphen Burnhole, King of Prussia, Planet Cock, LoveyDove, Something About Vampires and Sluts, One Bad Apple, Sleeping Policeman, M is We, Miss Massive Snowflake, Remora, Electric Bird Noise, Feel No Other, Nighttime Tides, Downlouders, Octopus Jones & Silver Screen Orchestra.
Our picks for standout tracks are shoegaze from Deadly Music! favourite The Veldt and M is We, post rock from LoveyDove, jangly indie pop from Something About Vampires and Sluts and epic drone/ambient masterpiece “Glassera” by Silver Screen Orchestra.
` Deadly Music

Carrboro, NC based promoter Michael Charles Wood has leagued with Raleigh label Silber Records to stack 18 South Eastern bands, give or take a couple from The West Coast and/or Mars...onto a compilation that's all about falling in (and out) of love. And its just in time for Valentine's Day...no shortage of romantics in this ensemble. The theme for this comp is the altered state of consciousness which is love, but you won't find any model citizens of Sweetheartville USA among the broken emotions and bittersweet send offs of this collection. For, if you ask an indie pop band within the envelope of Athens, Columbia, and Raleigh to write a love song, they will first write a beautiful melody, followed by an engaging arrangement, then rip shit about that last fucked up relationship they were in. These bands know love hurts and they like a dash of salt in the wound. Among its abundance, the comp offers a steady mix of overtly pretty songs (acoustic guitars and all), no talking-just action instrumentals...and the purely experimental. ...all in all a pretty good metaphor for the relationships of musicians, no?
~ Secret Carrboro Ninja Patrol

Silber Records is starting out 2015 by releasing their newest compilation. Compiled by music veteran Michael Wood, Broken Hearts Broken Sounds is a report on what he’s been up to during these past few years. Working with old and new sounds, Wood brings in 18 friends from both Carolinas. Complete with experimental pop, shoe gaze, americana, and post-rock, this comp will make you wonder what’s going on down south. Grab it while it’s still free!
~ Dublab

Curated by music industry veteran Michael Wood and featuring bands managed by his Broken Sounds Booking agency, the perfectly-named 2015 compilation Broken Hearts Broken Sounds is truly eclectic. The eighteen artists featured here certainly show the variety and overall quality of the music scene in North and South Carolina, a region that’s largely ignored by a music industry that tends to focus around a handful of “hotspots.” While the combination of tracks here is a mixed bag, in the end this release would certainly offer something (or many things) that would appeal to most every listener.

we’ve just eyed a new compilation entitled ‘broken hearts broken sounds’ which gathers together 18 of the finest purveyors of shoegaze, paisley pop, drone, Americana and experimental sounds currently navigating the waters of pop’s multi generic aural ocean. Of course time permitting we’ll be revisiting this in greater detail but for now catching our ear lobes the immense and monolithic tones of silver screen orchestra see out the set in jaw dropping statue-esque style for what is a 15 minute head phonic slab of bliss fuelled drone dipped loveliness in the shape of ‘glassera’ which unless our ears do us mischief sounds not unlike some heaven sent fantasy band head to head twinning together Flying Saucer Attack, set fire to flames and Bill Horist to find them gathered at some mystical stone site orchestrating the very spirits and vibes of mother nature into an intoxicating harmony of the spheres.
~ Mark Barton, The Sunday Experience

Various Artists compilations are often something of a challenge to write about. Especially projects such as this one, "Broken Hearts Broken Sounds", a compilation released in 2015 through US label Silber Records. The main reason for this being a difficult production to describe is that it doesn't follow any thematic direction as such. It's not a label sampler nor a genre compilation, and the artists aren't tied to a specific concept either. It's an album curated by one Michael Wood, and the red thread to this production is that these are all artists he has worked with at his company Broken Sound Booking.
We are introduced to The Veldt (synth pop meets noise rock and post-rock, possibly with some post punk thrown in for goods measure), The Affectionates (garage rock goes pop with psychedelic and punk flavoring), Hyphen Burnhole (eerie pop/rock with slight Zappa tendencies), King of Prussia (easygoing Americana with a folk orientation), Planet Cock (garage rock goes new wave), LoveyDove (singer/songwriter with a 60's vibe), Something About Vampires and Sluts (new wave meets indie rock R.E.M. style), One Bad Apple (singer/songwriter style Americana), Sleeping Policemen (another take on the singer/songwriter style Americana sound), M Is We (post-punk with slight industrial tendencies), Miss Massive Snowflake (electronica flavored drones), Remora (new wave goes post-punk), Electric Bird Noise (ghostly reverberating instrument textures with drones and noise textures), Feel No Other (pastoral landscapes and firmer, Mediterranean tinged folk), Nighttime Tides (wedding march goes Americana in an odd and electronic flavored manner), Downlouders (psychedelic excursion with cosmic touches, drones and a touch of raga), Octopus Jones (light mood, summertime 60's psychedelic pop) and at last Silver Screen Orchestra (drones and post-rock textures by way of guitar and violin explored in rough and raw as well as ambient landscapes, mostly with distorted instrument details).
A lot of diversity, and the label themselves describes this production as eclectic. As such I can't see myself specifying a specific demographic that would love and cherish this production either, and as for highs and lows in musical enjoyment here they will be pretty much a result of individual taste more than anything else. Personally I'd probably select a few of the artists attached to Silber Records as favorites, M Is We and Remora can be mentioned.
I would suggest that those who generally enjoy checking out new music and finds pleasure in listening to a diverse compilation to find out what's interesting and what isn't will probably be the closest I can get to define an audience for this album. How many people one may find with such an interest in this day and age I do not know, but those that may recognize themselves by such a description can take note of this production.
~ Olav Martin Bjørnsen, House of Prog

The album’s opening salvo is a noisy but somewhat delicate, shoegaze-like track from The Veldt called “It Breaks My Heart.” With a light, electronic rhythm, throbbing harmonic chords, and a breathy main vocal, the hazy piece gradually builds to a louder and more substantial climax of erupting drone guitar. “Cry Wolf” from The Affectionates has a more old-time feel to it, built around twangy guitar and hissy main vocals. I really like the overall imperfection and roughness of the piece: it sounds kind of grimy and worn out which suits the lyrical material very well. Hyphen Burnhole’s “Sweat Meat,” on the other hand, is a crisp modern rock number that’s a definitive guilty pleasure. Upon my initial run-through of the album, I had to immediately repeat this track just to make sure I was hearing it correctly: while the high pitched male vocal during the verse carries on dialogue about and unnamed female, a commanding voice during the chorus declares he’ll “fuck your fucking brains out.” As a track designed to pickup women then, it’s hilariously profane and more than a little catchy: one of my favorites. The echoey and world-weary singer-songwriter track “From the Vine” by King of Prussia is about as dissimilar a follow-up track that could be imaginable. With a lonely acoustic guitar line, glowing background vocals, and occasional piano, the piece has the feel of relaxing light country and is nice to listen to even if it’s not quite my cup of tea. Planet Cock’s “Love Song” is a more noticeably bizarre piece, a sometimes ominous drone composition highlighted by a manipulated (and funny) sound sample lifted from 1984’s Ghostbusters. Though largely experimental in nature, it’s surprisingly listenable and actually fairly melodic, with pounding piano chords and a very tight rhythm section. Reminding me a bit of a slower R.E.M. song, “Soul Gem” by LoveyDove has the sound of ‘90s alternative rock with a female vocal. Gorgeous arrangement makes up for the potentially cheesy lyrics of this slightly quirky track, but it’s the first song here that I was somewhat on the fence about. That said, I think some listeners would really like it. The more uptempo guitar rock of “Not Tonight” by (the fantastically named) Something About Vampires and Sluts is an energetic jolt that pops up at a point in the album where one was needed. Revolving around a confident, soaring vocal, it boasts a familiar compositional structure that’s reminiscent of any number of ‘80s songs. One Bad Apple’s “Birthday” slows things back down for a woozy love song featuring a gruff vocal and a definite sense of yearning, and the much more upbeat and bright “Caretaker’s Eyes” from Sleeping Policemen recalls the music of Mumford & Sons with its stripped-down, folk-like sound. After this trio of more song-like pieces, Me is We’s “Lying Lie” is a bit of an anomaly: a much rougher and noisy track with pounding bass drum and a fuzzed-out, almost indistinguishable vocal. I could almost compare this piece to some of Jeff Mangum’s more experimental and loud early recordings and it’s followed up by another definitively strange track in “Valentina & Tommaso” by Miss Massive Snowflake. Though built around distant, whirring guitar, mechanized rhythm, and a slithering bass, the sound of babbling children is the most prominent element of a track that some might find a bit creepy. Remora’s “10,004,” a grinding, repetitive piece that unleashes a heavy, bass-driven groove and groany, low-pitched vocals, and Electric Bird Noise’s “neetxis (til death do us part),” a warbly guitar track that almost recalls the soundtracks of various ‘50s horror/sci-fi flicks, are probably the most potentially menacing and jarring tracks here. I’d been familiar with both these groups from their 2014 Christmas-themed releases, and their contributions to this compilation clearly show the “dark side” of the Carolina music scene, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Meanwhile, the Spanish-flavored “Even the Blue” has a melodramatic feel with crisp mandolin, a thumping beat, eerie flute melody, and vibrato-laden female vocals, and follow-up “11-7-14 Wedding Theme for Bria” by Nighttime Tides is a slightly woozy, reverb-heavy variation on instantly-recognizable traditional wedding music. The very earthy instrumental “Velocita di Crociera” by Downlouders recalls for me the music of Popul Vuh or maybe even Pink Floyd with its bubbly, gurgling synthesized tones and relaxed guitar and bass: a very meditative and hypnotic number that’s quite calming late in the album. Swaying along to a crisp beat, penultimate track “Grand Illusion” from Octopus Jones stands as pleasant slab of soft rock with a warm melodic structure, and the compilation concludes with the lengthy drone composition “Glassera” from Silver Screen Orchestra. There’s a nice sense of buildup through the early portion of this track followed by a cathartic release - it sounds like something that might have been heard in Kubrick’s 2001 though I suspect it would be something that listeners will either love or hate. Every track here is quite accomplished in its own way, and the whole of the album is extremely impressive: about as perfect a sampler of the very diverse Carolina music scene as one could get. I’m definitely interested in hearing more from several of the artists featured, and the amount of really outstanding tracks here means that virtually everyone would find at least one track they really like. Since it’s being offered for a limited time as a free download, I’d urge anyone who likes good music to jump at the chance to pick up Broken Hearts Broken Sounds on the Silber Records bandcamp page. Highly recommended.
~ Bandjack