Greetings all …

I wanted to briefly introduce Sunrise Ocean Bender Records …

We're a label out of Richmond, Virginia that grew out of the radio broadcast/blog of the same name (mratavist.com).

"Sunrise Ocean Bender Records is an independent label based in Richmond, Virginia, specializing in limited edition vinyl releases as well as digital formats. From psych rock to psych pop, prog to space rock, electronic to the kosmische … the focus may be on elevation and release, but our mission is clear: shine a light on the sounds emanating from a thriving underground. We do this as partners, artists, facilitators and most of all, as fellow obsessives."

We have our first two releases out now. Our first is a double LP of sweeping psych pop/rock from Sweden's The Movements, 'Like Elephants 1 & 2,' available together for the first time …

“ … these two albums are undoubtedly meant to be heard as a pair. Together they roam through the best guitar music of the last few decades, blending their influences into something new, exciting, vibrant and just plain excellent.”—Terrascope

“… such tracks as Boogin', which features a mindbending extended instrumental jam session; Great Deceiver, with its effective use of retro organ and piercing guitar work; All The Lost, which comes across like a harder-edged version of Love combined with garage rock riffage; and Like Elephants 1, a masterpiece of psych-folk … ”—Bliss/Aquamarine

“Describing the sound of “Like Elephants 1” is not a job we have the resources to accomplish, seeing as the album lives up to the band’s moniker, moving toward alternate aural reference points from moment to moment, then as quickly away again, until we ultimately must concede that The Movements sound most like The Movements.”—Revolt of the Apes

“Refreshingly, the Movements approach to psychedelia doesn’t rely on layering their original sound with phasing, extreme levels of reverb (which seems to be the instant psychedelia pre-set these days) and other studio trickery. Instead, they stretch themselves musically in a similar manner to a number of first generation psychedelicists … ”—The Active Listener

"…‘The Death of John Hall D.Y.’ which is one of a number of sun-dappled West Coast sounding tracks which, despite the subject matter, lifts the spirits in the sort of ways that The Byrds lift the spirits."—Backseat Mafia

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The second is 'All the Suns of the Earth' from E Gone, the new solo project of Daniel Westerlund (formerly of The Goner) …

“ … (All the Suns of the Earth) shows Westerlund to be a restless, inquisitive soul with a tendency to dabble in more genres than most would deem safe, but where the dalliances of other solo artists tend to be hesitant when left to their own devices, Westerlund is always in full control of his creations. Attempting to affix labels to music this diverse is likely to make your head spin, but within its running time you’ll find plenty of exotic, eastern fueled psychedelic rock, ominous, droning synth ambience, carefully layered, crystalline examples of (what is now unfashionable to call) post-rock and a couple of European tinged slices of Americana that call to mind the best work of Sixteen Horsepower and the Tallest Man on Earth.”—The Active Listener

“ … eclectic is hardly the word whilst understatement doesn’t seem to feature much in the vocabulary either. Banjos, sitars, raga and surf guitars and farfisa organ assail the sonic antennae and that’s just track one, the outrageously wonderful “Hexx”. Weird electronica follows in the barely corporeal form of “The Drug Behind The Drug” while “The Poor of Heart” further confounds any attempt at pigeon-holing our artist with an emotive helping of folksy, acoustic balladry. Bewildering, indeed, and this is just the first three tracks from nine … taken as a whole, this is an enjoyably eccentric and quite compelling little offering that is well worth taking a punt on.”—Terrascope

"To people of a certain age, E GONE is your second favourite GhostBuster. In this case however, it refers to the solo project of Daniel Westerlund (The Goner). He has produced a dazzling little album of freewheeling songs that demonstrate not only the desire to tear up the genre but the skill to do so as well. Settle in for All The Suns Of The Earth, this is a journey that goes from A to B via ∞ …"—Colourhorizon

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… and we have more in the works from Chef Menteur, Evening Fires and Dead Sea Apes.

More info and sounds are at sunriseoceanbender.com and sunriseoceanbender.bigcartel.com.

For those possibly perusing and checking in from the U.S., we also stock releases from the mighty Cardinal Fuzz Records.

Thanks for your time … and thanks for listening,

≈ Kevin

sunriseoceanbender.com // mratavist.com // @mr_atavist // facebook.com/sunriseoceanbender