"It’s True What They Say" is the debut EP from Edinburgh-based, husband-and-wife duo Sarah / Shaun aka Sarah and Shaun McLachlan

'Sarah and I both have a love for nostalgia,' explains Shaun. 'We watched that amazing old 80’s Sci-Fi, (John) Carpenter movie, Starman, a few months back. Myself and my brother David used to watch it all the time. We must have been, roughly, 5-7 at the time. I remember loving the movie but the end, you know, with the beautiful, atmospheric, synth ending, I love that particular moment the most - best part of the movie, you know, when he goes home… It’s heartbreaking but stunning, all the same. It’s the music that moves you most… It did when I was 5 and it still does to this day. It must have had some form of a (much deeper) impact on me.'

The duo narrates stories across themes of love, hope, family, friends, dreams and sadness - the good that comes with the bad in everyday life, not just on a personal scale but within a community as well.

'Starbed is the first song I have ever written and just came out of the blue really, with Shaun playing a melody and me singing along,' says Sarah. 'It’s simple and just about two people in love. Love songs are always the best songs, after all… Music has been a big part of my life from a young age. I was unwillingly dragged to piano and violin lessons, which I’m thankful for now! I’d say the first band I really became obsessed with growing up were the Beatles, and on the back of that a lot of 60s music and fashion. From then on, I had a love for music. Shaun definitely opened my ears to a lot of sounds and got me thinking about soundtracks and all the noises that can be made. We love just spending time experimenting in the house with instruments, pedals etc and Ali is a real magician to work with, too…'

The recordings took place over the summers of 2022 and 2023, with fellow Delta Mainline member Ali Chisholm (aka Jaguar Eyes) plus long-term friend and collaborator Gavin King. Further collaboration then came via the ‘net from the (international) likes of Chris Dixie Darley (Father John Misty), Darren Coghill (Neon Waltz) and Daniel Land (The Modern Painters), among others (see a full list of credits below).

Both Sarah and Shaun have a love for uber-soundtrack producers such as Hanz Zimmer, Max Richter, Cliff Martinez plus live acts such as Beach House, Spiritualized, M83, Suicide, Moby and OMD (to name a few). Shaun also credits the work of Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein (from Survive) on the Stranger Things score…

The result is a cinematic, synth-wavey, dream poppy and downright beguilingly beautiful body of work. And they’re just getting started…

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Beautifully formed dream-pop here from this husband-and-wife duo. There's an astral projection at play which, combined with the detailed instrumentation and skilled song writing; makes for a highly evocative listen which has already got plenty of tastemakers, DJs and producers clawing after copies. Don't sleep!

TRACK LISTING

A1. Dust Tears
A2. It's True What They Say?
B1. Keep Your Eyes Closed
B2. Starbed
B3. Dust Tears (Instrumental) 

Late 80s / early 90s body music, Attack Decay Sustain Release, or ADSR, was the name of Todd Nickolas and Dominic Paterson's high school synthesizer group, an outlet for their electronic music experiments recorded on Todd’s parents’ farm in Southwestern Ontario, Canada.

In the idyllic rural setting of the Nickolas' dairy and crop farm, the juxtaposition of natural ambience and the repetitive rhythms of the machinery merged within their youthful music-saturated subconscious and found its way into their recordings. This bucolic environment also inspired the teenagers to channel their restless energy into endlessly experimenting with whatever gear they could get their hands on and listening to a steady diet of new music.

A big part of that exposure to non-mainstream sounds came via CBC Radio's Brave New Waves program - a saviour for adventurous and curious listeners living outside of major urban centres. The title "Poised Over Pause Buttons" is directly borrowed from a live studio broadcast by Severed Heads, where host Brent Bambury introduced the set by saying, 'Do you know how many fingers are poised over pause buttons right now?' The title is also a head nod to those early processes of recording onto cassette decks or 4-track tape recorders, and to the tape culture of the time, capturing favourite songs off the radio with precision and making mixtapes from owned or borrowed record collections.

Todd was constantly seeking new electronic music through those formative years - whether it was the futuristic space rock of ELO's “Time” in grade school, Skinny Puppy’s blistering electronic body music in high school, or the ambient bliss of Aphex Twin in university. The tracks coming from their studio in those early days were inspired by a steady diet of these new discoveries. They were rapidly devouring a wide variety of acts from 4AD and Wax Trax!, indie artists like Husker Du, Chicago house to Belgian New Beat, the On-U Sound label to Public Enemy, and all points in between.

The unreleased cassettes that Todd recently rediscovered (some of which are included on this release) are a flashback to that era of pure discovery but also a reminder of the explorations and achievements accomplished by the confidence of the fearless amateur. Over the past three years, Todd and Linus Booth have compiled their favourite glimpses from that '87-'91 period and present them to you as a personal reflection of that time and place.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: An expansive and intriguing EBM curio from Canada. ADSR take cues from Belgium new beat and that fertile pre-house period to concoct their own blend of throbbing, coital dance music.

TRACK LISTING

Dreampain
Nightlife
I Dont Understand
Far Too Late
Great Mysteries
Herethere
Is This The World
Suboceana Demo
Your Whole Life
Freak Response
Fathom
Perpetual
As Soon As Possible V2
Where Are They Now

"The Ick" - a sense of sanity amidst the storm of information. This album by Archetype is an abstract scream for something quite fragile, a polarizing society, disruptive isolation, and the fading collective experience. Utilizing dramatic vocals, industrial trip-hop, and post-punk-leaning electronics, Archetype marks the new moniker by the ever-versatile Viennese Rotterdammer, Leonard Prochazka. Following his manifold of concept-driven, instinctive musical output, Archetype's "The Ick" follows "Strapazen und Genesung" as Geier Aus Stahl on Knekelhuis in 2022. 

TRACK LISTING

Archetype
Mental Is True
Minute After Minute
The Ick
Illusions
Trickster
I See Numbers
Final Chapter

A Chaos Of Flowers is the follow on to BIG|BRAVE's 2023 album nature morte. "BIG|BRAVE’s music has been described as massive minimalism. Their fusillades of textural distortion and feedback emphasize their music’s frayed edges as much as its all-encompassing weight. The potency of the trio’s work is their singular artistry combining elements of traditional folk techniques and a modern deconstruction of guitar music. Gain, feedback, and amplitude are essential.

For A Chaos Of Flowers guitarist/vocalist Robin Wattie drew heavily on the poems of artists whom Wattie found kinship in, their words resonant with experiences of those often sidelined by cultural norms. Guitarist Mathieu Ball and drummer Tasy Hudson help Wattie shape poetry into pieces as dense and impenetrable as they are vulnerable.

BIG|BRAVE achieve their colossal sound through minimalist approaches, a deft understanding of dynamics and an inventive employment of percussion and distortion. The trio reconceptualize what it is to be heavy or minimal, challenging perceptions with their illumination of painfully overlooked perspectives. Guest guitarist Marisa Anderson lends earthen, blues-inflected atmospheres to the album, where guitarist Tashi Dorji and saxophonist Patrick Shiroishi amplify the squall. Working closely with frequent collaborator and producer/engineer Seth Manchester, the internal tumult of Wattie’s voice rings out in warbles, haunting echoes, and unearthly harmonies across bold immense walls of distortion."

TRACK LISTING

1. I Felt A Funeral
2. Not Speaking Of The Ways
3. Chanson Pour Mon Ombre
4. Canon : In Canon
5. A Song For Marie Part Iii
6. Theft
7. Quotidian : Solemnity
8. Moonset

Egyptian Lover is celebrating 40 years of releasing music in 2024 and 'Emotions' is the first track from his upcoming album titled 1987. It's a classic 80s inspired west-coast electro style cut - a style that Egyptian Lover is pretty much responsible for creating, harking back to his classic material like 'Egypt, Egypt' and 'I Need a Freak', his use of the Roland 808 along with Kraftwerk and hip-hop influences making the artist synonymous with the origin of the electro sound. Also included is 'Emotional' which is the instrumental version of the title track. For the B-Side 'Dirty Passionate Yell' is featured, again along with the instrumental version (Dirty Music). Grab your cardboard and meet us on the dancefloor.

TRACK LISTING

Emotions
Emotional (Instrumental)
Dirty Passionate Yell
Dirty Music (Instrumental)

Son of Todd Osborn (Soundmurderer/Ghostly) Kaito Ian makes a hugely impressing first outing on the Galaxy Sound Co label with a series of lo-fi hip-hop beat-strumentals that cannot fail to get your head nodding. He is a dedicated music lover and skater with a deep knowledge of his craft and that shows here with some refined sounds starting with the soul drenched 'Revert', then on to the warped angelic vocal samples of 'Sequoia' and the percussive jumbled and scratching of 'Trek'. 'Wait Up' is another excellently blissed out joint and 'Sloan' is a sunny, laid back, lazy vibe to close down a superb EP.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Phwoooar 'ave some of THAT! Todd Osborn's son (!!) drops a tidy package of hip-hop instrumentals which lands somewhere between DJ Dez (Andres), Madlib and some of the beat tapes we've had through Fat Beats. You'll be clambering after a whole LP once you've digested this 7"!

TRACK LISTING

Revert
Sequoia
Trek
Wait Up
Sloan

A trailblazing amalgam of elevator-friendly R&B and synth-forward smooth jazz, Tony Palkovic’s 1986 debut goes down easy as a huff of dentist-issued nitrous. Born With A Desire’s silky grooves and bursts of drum machine 1.0 endure as an ’80s vision of future earth where 8-bit graphics and pastel palettes swath a synthesizer Shangri La.

TRACK LISTING

SIDE A
Born With A Desire
True To Yourself
Breath Of Sound

SIDE B
Better Than Before
Day To Day
Electric Heart
Hoping For A Better World

Random Factor's 'On The Air' EP is a hugely sought-after classic by those who know. It came on Ralph Lawson's ever-reliable 20/20 Vision and now, as it turns 25 years old, he has decided it is the right time to get it remastered and reissued. 'On The Air' is first up on this fine EP from Carl Finlow and it has serene synths that bring to mind Detroit techno soul over pulsing bass and slick drums. 'Lockdown' has a raw vocoder vocal over punchy drums and twitchy synth stabs and 'Undercurrent' is another weapon that has more than withstood the test of time as it bumps along on funky drums and is overlaid with more playful synth patterns. 'Disconnect' is a crunchy and 8-bit closer with pixelated synths and screwy acid lines. Superb.

TRACK LISTING

On The Air
Lockdown
Undercurrent
Disconnect

Big tip!

Revised eight track re-issue of Maria Somerville's much lauded debut album. This new edition features an additional cut 'Lakes' - a 5+ minute blown out instrumental recorded live on tour in 2019. Building from a reputation of enthralling live shows, Dublin based singer and musician Maria Somerville delivers her debut LP, "All My People", a collection of works recorded across Dublin, Cornamona and Inis Óirr. 

Somerville draws on conventional folk forms alongside post-punk, traditional Irish motifs, starry eyed pop and hypnotic drones to create wholly original music that is a product of its environment. Channeling the wilderness of the Irish landscape through dense, ethereal soundscapes and bare boned percussion, Maria adds ghostly vocals that are ever present and all encompassing, like crystalline glints of sunshine peeking through dark stormy clouds. The duality of darkness and light is at play throughout the releases seven tracks, hinting at an uneasy optimism during difficult times. 

"Stirring and beautiful songs, with a consistent optimism underlying even the murkiest of moments."

Recorded in Connemara and Dublin. Mixed by Brendan Jenkinson. Mastered by The Bastard.

TRACK LISTING

Eyes Don't Say It
This Way
Undoing
Dreaming
All My People
All Too Much
Brighter Days
Lakes

The Tortured Poets Department is the eleventh studio album by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, released on 19th April 2024. Swift announced the album at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards on February 4, 2024, after winning Best Pop Vocal Album for her tenth studio album, 'Midnights' (2022).

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: There's no doubt there's been a big reassessment of Taylor's sound since the superb duo of Folklore and Evermore (and the brilliant Long Pond sessions LP from RSD last year), and mass appreciation for Midnights so it's with some excitement that her new LP 'The Tortured Poet's Department' lands. I for one am excited to hear it.

The Flightpath Estate in association with the Golden Lion have compiled a double vinyl album.

'Sounds From the Flightpath Estate'

9 exclusive tracks plus a previously unavailable Two Lone Swordsmen track. An exclusive cover of 'Smokebelch' by Andy Bell plus one-off recordings by Hardway Bros, Timothy J. Fairplay, Justin Robertson, Richard Sen, Sons Of Slough, Rude Audio, 10:40 and a world renowned Belfast based DJ and producer.

The Flightpath Estate is a Facebook group dedicated to the music, art and work of Andrew Weatherall. It began life in 2013 and has become a virtual home to his fans, friends and family. It is also the host of the Weatherdrive - thousands of hours of recordings of Andrew Weatherall’s DJ sets, mixes and radio shows.

'Sounds From The Flightpath Estate' is a compilation celebrating people and places, the outlook, aesthetic and music Andrew Weatherall was known for, and the sense of community and love of music centered around The Golden Lion.

The sounds are forward thinking, created with a deep understanding of the music of the past but future facing, dance floor oriented and made with love.

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Limited edition double black vinyl, 500 copies only. Gatefold jacket with notes.

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Mastered by Andrew Liles

Sleeve art by Personality Crisis

Labels by Walter Russ

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: The first full length compilation to arrive from the creative hub / musical ashram that is The Golden Lion in Todmorden. Working with Andrew Weatherall’s friends, family and collaborators (plus two large online communities), the compilation even includes an unreleased Two Lone Swordman track and will likely be one of the most sought after releases on this incredibly strong and prolific label.

TRACK LISTING

A1 - Two Lone Swordsmen - The Crescents
A2 - Sons Of Slough - Red Machine (GL Soundcheck)
A3 - Timothy J. Fairplay - Centurion Version

B1 - Justin Robertson's Deadstock 33's - Curtains Twitch On Peaks
B2 - Richard Sen - Tough On Chug, Tough On The Causes Of Chug

C1 - Rude Audio - Running Wild
C2 - 10:40 - Three Rings

D1 - Hardway Bros - Theme For Flightpath Estate
D2 - The Light Brigade - Human : Remains
D3 - Andy Bell - Smokebelch II