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Alan Silvestri

Death Becomes Her (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (Black Friday 23 Edition)

    THIS IS A BLACK FRIDAY 2023 EXCLUSIVE AND WILL BE AVAILABLE INSTORE ON FRIDAY NOVEMBER 24TH ON A FIRST COME FIRST SERVED BASIS, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

    IF THERE ARE ANY REMAINING COPIES THEY WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE ONLINE AT 8AM ON SATURDAY NOVEMBER 25TH).

    This first-ever vinyl pressing of Alan Silvestri’s score for the 1992 black comedy Death Becomes Her features seven cues that were not included in the original soundtrack release, plus the original song “Me,” performed by legendary actress Meryl Streep. Pressed on limited-edition Purple vinyl with original cover art and a printed inner sleeve. 

    A Certain Ratio

    Friends Around Us (Part 1 And 2) (Love Record Stores Edition)

      Love Record Stores Edition available from 9am on Saturday June 20th.
      Limited to one per person.


      First new track in 12 years. White vinyl.

      Acid Mothers Temple

      Does The Cosmic Shepherd Dream Of Electric Tapirs?

        THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2019 EXCLUSIVE, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

        Mustard coloured heavyweight 180 gram audiophile vinyl double LP with new artwork layout. Re-mastered by John Rivers at Woodbine Street Studio especially for first time vinyl release.

        Associates

        Club Country

          THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2019 EXCLUSIVE, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

          The classic 1982 Associates (Billy Mackenzie & Alan Rankine) ‘Club Country’ single is re-issued exclusively for Record Store Day 2019. Released on 12” limited edition white vinyl the single was re-mastered from the original master tapes and includes the original b-sides, ‘A.G it’s you again’ and ‘Ulcragyceptemol’ plus a rare demo version of ‘Club Country’ available for the first time on vinyl. The single originally charted at number 13 in the UK charts.

          Archers Of Loaf

          Raleigh Days / Street Fighting Man

            THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2020 RELEASE AVAILABLE ONLINE ONLY AS PART OF THE AUGUST 29TH DROP DAY AT 6PM.
            LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.


            Limited edition on black vinyl.Raleigh Days is the first new material in 20 years from indie rock icon Archers of Loaf, with a cover of "Street Fighting Man" originally recorded by The Rolling Stones, on the B-side.The band tour North America across the calendar in 2020, including on Record Store Day.

            Asha Puthli

            Asha Puthli (RSD20 EDITION)

              THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2020 RELEASE AVAILABLE ONLINE ONLY AS PART OF THE AUGUST 29TH DROP DAY AT 6PM.
              LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.


              Official Mr Bongo coloured vinyl re-issue for Record Store Day 2020.Asha's debut self-titled album is a wonderful fusion of jazz, soul, blues, and disco.It includes an outstanding cover version of J.J.Cale's 'Right Down Here'; a track which Asha has made very much her own by flipping it into a deep-funk groove with sultry ethereal vocals and a drumbeat almost ready-made for samplers of the future.The record was produced in the UK by Del Newman, who had worked with Carly Simon, Cat Stevens, and Elton John to name a few.It was released on London CBS records in 1973.Shortly after the release of the record, Asha (who was born in Mumbai), was banned by the Home Office from working in the UK for a period of time due to visa issues.These obstacles along with problems with her recording contract did not hold her back.Asha moved on and continued her musical journey elsewhere.This resulted in further astounding creative works that Mr Bongo will also be presenting soon.For this special RSD special edition we have pressed on sky blue vinyl to bring out the colours of Asha's stunning dress that she wears for the cover portrait.

              Asian Dub Foundation

              Access Denied (RSD21 EDITION)

                THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2021 EXCLUSIVE AND WILL BE AVAILABLE INSTORE ON SATURDAY JUNE 12TH ON A FIRST COME FIRST SERVED BASIS, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

                IF THERE ARE ANY REMAINING COPIES THEY WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE ONLINE AT 6PM ON THE SAME DAY (SATURDAY JUNE 12TH).


                The RSD version of Asian Dub Foundation's latest album Access Denied is being compiled in the wake of the band's collaboration with comedian Stewart Lee Comin' Over Here unexpectedly hitting No.1 in the official UK Sales chart during the week the UK finally left the European Union. The tune was able to a raise a defiant cheer from a lot of people that have been disgusted by Brexit and its accompanying anti-immigrant rhetoric, and the rest of the album builds extensively on this theme. We'll be adding a new version of Comin' Over Here featuring another section from Stewart's classic monologue plus two previously unreleased tracks from a special one-off with none other than Adrian Sherwood at the controls. Also, expect two brand new remixes digidub style by Panda Dub and Manudigital and a new version of the album artwork specially designed for the RSD edition. Itís great to be able to re-present the album on record store day as we wholeheartedly support the independent shops keeping alive the wonderful artefact that is the vinyl record, particularly in these times of COVID. Double gatefold vinyl w/ printed inner sleeves & download card included.

                Add N To X

                On The Wires Of Our Nerves (RSD21 EDITION)

                  THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2021 EXCLUSIVE AND WILL BE AVAILABLE INSTORE ON SATURDAY JULY 17TH ON A FIRST COME FIRST SERVED BASIS, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

                  IF THERE ARE ANY REMAINING COPIES THEY WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE ONLINE AT 6PM ON THE SAME DAY (SATURDAY JULY 17TH).


                  In the space of five short years (and as many albums) at the end of the 20th century, Add N To X caused havoc with their unique retro-futurist electronic music. Add N To Xís musical intensity proved too much for the group who split up in 2002. Their album On The Wires of Our Nerves, complete with its classic cover image, recorded on Soul Jazz Recordsí then new offshoot label Satellite Records, launched them into the spotlight and included two NME Singles of the Week ëBlack Regentí and ëKing Waspí. Over twenty years since it was first released and long out of print the album 'On The Wires of Our Nervesí stands up one of the most forward-looking electronic albums of then and now. This classic album is released in a very limited one-off pressing silver coloured vinyl edition as a Record Store Day exclusive title. A 1. The Black Regent 2. Planet Munich 3. Nevermind B 1. We Are Add N To X 2. Murmur One 3. Sound Of Accelerating Concrete 4. Gentle Germans C 1. King Wasp 2. Orgy Of Bubastus 3. Grey Body, Green Gun D 1. On The Wires Of Our Nerves 2. Hit Me 3. Sir Ape

                  Andy Crofts & Le SuperHomard

                  Forevermore (RSD22 EDITION)

                    THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2022 EXCLUSIVE, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

                    This belated 7" record pressing brings you a cinematic collaboration between Andy Crofts and french musical genius Christophe Vaillant of Le SuperHomard. Forevermore is a simple love song of devotion. A person who will forever devote their life, heart and soul to the one they love. Christophe's musical soundscape lays the perfect foundation for Andy's minimal heartfelt words. I'm Dreaming is the perfect song for the flip complimenting side A with it's raw vocal and piano. Dreaming offers words of escape, hope and self sanctuary in a world on fire.


                    TRACK LISTING

                    A SIDE: Forevermore - 2.01
                    B SIDE: I'm Always Dreaming - 3.21

                    Alex Chilton

                    Live At Anvers (RSD23 EDITION)

                      THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2023 EXCLUSIVE, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

                      Never before released on vinyl, no plans to repress. True RSD exclusive. No digital release until far in the fuutre. This was recorded live in Belgium in 2004 with a pick-up band. colour vinyl. CD is long out of print

                      Acetone

                      I've Enjoyed As Much Of This As I Can Stand - Live At The Knitting Factory, NYC: May 31, 1998 (RSD24 EDITION)

                        THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2024 EXCLUSIVE, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

                        Previously unreleased and unheard, this 2LP live concert will be available on limited edition colour vinyl and packaged in a numbered trifold gatefold.

                        I've Enjoyed As Much Of This As I Can Stand represents a singular moment in the band's history. Recorded on the final night of their '98 tour in support of the eponymous LP, Acetone was in peak form. recorded live on 16 track ADAT, the band pulled from all corners of their catalog in a nearly 80 minute set that veers from serenity to recklessness, culminating in an epic 13-minute medley of "I'm Gone / Miserlou" that should put to eternal rest the notion that this was a "slowcore" band.

                        TRACK LISTING

                        Rumble
                        Cindy
                        Another Minute
                        If You Only Knew
                        Every Kiss
                        I've Enjoyed As Much Of This As I Can Stand
                        All The Time
                        In The Light
                        All You Know
                        Waltz
                        Sunny Side Of Heaven
                        Barefoot On Sunday
                        I'm Gone
                        Miserlou
                        Come On
                        Endless Summer

                        Aggrovators

                        Dubbing At King Tubby's Vol. 1 (RSD24 EDITION)

                          THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2024 EXCLUSIVE AND WILL BE AVAILABLE INSTORE ON SATURDAY APRIL 20TH ON A FIRST COME FIRST SERVED BASIS, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

                          IF THERE ARE ANY REMAINING COPIES THEY WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE ONLINE AT 8PM ON MONDAY APRIL 22ND.



                          Aggrovators

                          Dubbing At King Tubby's Vol. 2 (RSD24 EDITION)

                            THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2024 EXCLUSIVE AND WILL BE AVAILABLE INSTORE ON SATURDAY APRIL 20TH ON A FIRST COME FIRST SERVED BASIS, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

                            IF THERE ARE ANY REMAINING COPIES THEY WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE ONLINE AT 8PM ON MONDAY APRIL 22ND.



                            Air

                            Kelly Watch The Stars (RSD24 EDITION)

                              THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2024 EXCLUSIVE AND WILL BE AVAILABLE INSTORE ON SATURDAY APRIL 20TH ON A FIRST COME FIRST SERVED BASIS, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

                              IF THERE ARE ANY REMAINING COPIES THEY WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE ONLINE AT 8PM ON MONDAY APRIL 22ND.


                              Originally released in 1998 this was the second single from the much acclaimed Moon Safari album. Released as a Picture Disc for RSD 2024

                              Alborosie

                              Dub Pirate (RSD24 EDITION)

                                THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2024 EXCLUSIVE AND WILL BE AVAILABLE INSTORE ON SATURDAY APRIL 20TH ON A FIRST COME FIRST SERVED BASIS, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

                                IF THERE ARE ANY REMAINING COPIES THEY WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE ONLINE AT 8PM ON MONDAY APRIL 22ND.



                                America

                                Live From The Hollywood Bowl - 1975 (RSD24 EDITION)

                                  THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2024 EXCLUSIVE AND WILL BE AVAILABLE INSTORE ON SATURDAY APRIL 20TH ON A FIRST COME FIRST SERVED BASIS, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

                                  IF THERE ARE ANY REMAINING COPIES THEY WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE ONLINE AT 8PM ON MONDAY APRIL 22ND.


                                  Travel back in time to August 3, 1975: America takes the stage at the Hollywood Bowl backed by a symphony conducted by George Martin. The never-before-heard tapes have recently been remastered for the new release Live From The Hollywood Bowl - 1975, featuring the live renditions of Americaís hits like ìSister Golden Hair,î ìHorse With No Name,î ìVentura Highway,î and more. This is an unreleased album from the prime of their career. The RSD exclusive will be a 2LP colour variant and include a printed insert of a set list handwritten & autographed by the band.

                                  Amorphis

                                  My Kantele (RSD24 EDITION)

                                    THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2024 EXCLUSIVE AND WILL BE AVAILABLE INSTORE ON SATURDAY APRIL 20TH ON A FIRST COME FIRST SERVED BASIS, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

                                    IF THERE ARE ANY REMAINING COPIES THEY WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE ONLINE AT 8PM ON MONDAY APRIL 22ND.



                                    Apocalyptica

                                    Worlds Collide - Deluxe Edition (RSD24 EDITION)

                                      THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2024 EXCLUSIVE AND WILL BE AVAILABLE INSTORE ON SATURDAY APRIL 20TH ON A FIRST COME FIRST SERVED BASIS, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

                                      IF THERE ARE ANY REMAINING COPIES THEY WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE ONLINE AT 8PM ON MONDAY APRIL 22ND.



                                      Ashby

                                      Power Ballads (RSD24 EDITION)

                                        THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2024 EXCLUSIVE AND WILL BE AVAILABLE INSTORE ON SATURDAY APRIL 20TH ON A FIRST COME FIRST SERVED BASIS, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

                                        IF THERE ARE ANY REMAINING COPIES THEY WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE ONLINE AT 8PM ON MONDAY APRIL 22ND.



                                        Ashnikko

                                        Demidevil (RSD24 EDITION)

                                          THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2024 EXCLUSIVE AND WILL BE AVAILABLE INSTORE ON SATURDAY APRIL 20TH ON A FIRST COME FIRST SERVED BASIS, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

                                          IF THERE ARE ANY REMAINING COPIES THEY WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE ONLINE AT 8PM ON MONDAY APRIL 22ND.


                                          Demidevil is the debut mixtape by American singer-songwriter and rapper Ashnikko. It was originally released on January 15, 2021, through Parlophone and Warner Records. The mixtape was supported by four singles: "Cry" featuring Grimes, "Daisy", "Deal with It" featuring Kelis, and "Slumber Party" featuring Princess Nokia. Never previously reeased on vinyl - now released for RSD 2024 on coloured vinyl.

                                          At The Drive-In

                                          In/Casino/Out (RSD24 EDITION)

                                            THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2024 EXCLUSIVE AND WILL BE AVAILABLE INSTORE ON SATURDAY APRIL 20TH ON A FIRST COME FIRST SERVED BASIS, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

                                            IF THERE ARE ANY REMAINING COPIES THEY WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE ONLINE AT 8PM ON MONDAY APRIL 22ND.


                                            The long out-of-print sophomore title from seminal El Paso, Texas band At The Drive-In, featuring favourites "Napoleon Solo," "Chanbara," and "Alpha Centauri." Drowned In Sound proclaims, ìIn/Casino/Out screams at you, beats you into a pulp along with all your conceptions of punk, chews you up and spits you out a newly formed individual" while Vice describes the record as "a document of the moment when one of punkís most exciting bands discovered what they wanted to be." Pressed on limited edition Purple & Green Smoke vinyl.

                                            At The Gates

                                            Slaughter Of The Soul (RSD24 EDITION)

                                              THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2024 EXCLUSIVE AND WILL BE AVAILABLE INSTORE ON SATURDAY APRIL 20TH ON A FIRST COME FIRST SERVED BASIS, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

                                              IF THERE ARE ANY REMAINING COPIES THEY WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE ONLINE AT 8PM ON MONDAY APRIL 22ND.


                                              Originally issued in 1995, ëSlaughter of the Soulí is considered as one of the most important and influential metal albums of all time. Featuring the classic tracks ëBlinded by Fearí, ëColdí and ëSuicide Nationí, the album married melodic sensibilities with razor edged aggression to devastating effect.

                                              PRESSED FROM THE ORIGINAL MASTER TAPES. THIS ALBUM HAS BEEN SPECIALLY RECREATED USING ëFDRí ñ FULL DYNAMIC RANGE MASTERING - ALLOWING THE MUSICíS NUANCES TO SHINE THROUGH AND GIVING THIS CLASSIC ALBUM A MORE FEROCIOUS AND DYNAMIC SOUND, ENABLING THE LISTENER TO IMMERSE IN THE FULL AUDIO HEAVINESS LIKE NEVER BEFORE. Limited edition Orange and white splatter vinyl with Earache Records exclusive ë35 years Of Noiseí branded OBI Strip & Hype Sticker. ? Includes exclusive new liner notes by At The Gates bassist Jonas Bjˆrler, along with a 12" colour insert featuring classic era photographs. ? Only 1000 copies worldwide, a must have for any death metal vinyl collection. ? Widely considered as one of the most important and influential metal albums of all time

                                              Ateez

                                              World EP.Fin : Will (RSD24 EDITION)

                                                THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2024 EXCLUSIVE AND WILL BE AVAILABLE INSTORE ON SATURDAY APRIL 20TH ON A FIRST COME FIRST SERVED BASIS, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

                                                IF THERE ARE ANY REMAINING COPIES THEY WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE ONLINE AT 8PM ON MONDAY APRIL 22ND.


                                                Ateez US number one album on exclusive RSD coloured vinyl including a bonus 7" with new exclusive tracks unavailable anywhere else Random coloured LP & 7" + 8 random photocards. Exclusive gatefold artwork

                                                TRACK LISTING

                                                We Know / Emergency / Crazy Form / Arriba / Silver Light / Crescent Part.2 / Dreamy Day / Matz / It's You / Youth / Everything / Fin: Will / Bonus Track / Bonus Track

                                                Anne Briggs

                                                Anne Briggs (RSD24 EDITION)

                                                  THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2024 EXCLUSIVE AND WILL BE AVAILABLE INSTORE ON SATURDAY APRIL 20TH ON A FIRST COME FIRST SERVED BASIS, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

                                                  IF THERE ARE ANY REMAINING COPIES THEY WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE ONLINE AT 8PM ON MONDAY APRIL 22ND.



                                                  Alison Goldfrapp

                                                  The Love Reinvention (RSD24 EDITION)

                                                    THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2024 EXCLUSIVE AND WILL BE AVAILABLE INSTORE ON SATURDAY APRIL 20TH ON A FIRST COME FIRST SERVED BASIS, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

                                                    IF THERE ARE ANY REMAINING COPIES THEY WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE ONLINE AT 8PM ON MONDAY APRIL 22ND.


                                                    With her debut solo album ëThe Love Inventioní, pop auteur Alison Goldfrapp delivered an intoxicating cocktail of synth-pop innovation with the disco and house touches that are an integral part of her extensive musical DNA-all capped with her enigmatic and ever alluring voice. Now Alison takes those songs deeper into the dancefloor as she releases ëThe Love Reinventioní on vinyl for the first time with a very limited run. It sees two of the original albumís key contributors, Richard X and GhostCulture (aka James Greenwood), reimagining its acclaimed songs through a sonic prism of techno, electronica and deep house.

                                                    April March / Kelley Stoltz

                                                    April March Sings Kelley Stoltz (RSD24 EDITION)

                                                      THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2024 EXCLUSIVE AND WILL BE AVAILABLE INSTORE ON SATURDAY APRIL 20TH ON A FIRST COME FIRST SERVED BASIS, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

                                                      IF THERE ARE ANY REMAINING COPIES THEY WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE ONLINE AT 8PM ON MONDAY APRIL 22ND.



                                                      Art Tatum

                                                      Jewels In The Treasure Box: The 1953 Chicago Blue Note Jazz Club Recordings (RSD24 EDITION)

                                                        THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2024 EXCLUSIVE AND WILL BE AVAILABLE INSTORE ON SATURDAY APRIL 20TH ON A FIRST COME FIRST SERVED BASIS, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

                                                        IF THERE ARE ANY REMAINING COPIES THEY WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE ONLINE AT 8PM ON MONDAY APRIL 22ND.



                                                        Abracadabra

                                                        Shapes & Colors

                                                          If you find the time, please come and stay a while in abracadabra’s beautiful neighbourhood; a magically wonky wonderland where strangers leave as friends to a block party soundtrack as eclectic as it is infectious. The California duo’s album ‘shapes & colors’ is a dazzling collage of psych-fuelled synthscapes and contemporary Baroque-pop of anti-capitalist movements and escapism, precisely pieced around their own working lives in a blue-collar town. In the heart of Oakland’s industrial Jingletown above a former auto-repair shop in what was once a mechanics’ break room where poker rounds ensued, Hannah Skelton (Vocals, Synthesizers) and Chris Niles, (Bass, Synthesizers) constructed the angular 80s-tinged anthems (think John Hughes montages to Talking Heads) of their new album, to positively offset the pandemic’s amplification of dysfunctional society. “It reflects our current reality: a huge mess that is systematically broken but isn’t entirely lost,” Hannah tells. “We’re inviting listeners to conjure up every drop of hope and willpower left inside them, pour that into the giant vat of anger and frustration bubbling inside us all, and with this potion collectively enact the necessary change to bring love and light into this dark space.”

                                                          When Covid forced Hannah from her salon in San Francisco to become a backyard mobile hairdresser, what she saw inspired them both and the lyrical foundations for their new record. “I’d drive to mansions and people would complain about how hard the pandemic had been next to their swimming pool and tennis courts.” First meeting after the album’s co-producer Jason Kick (Mild High Club, Sonny and the Sunsets) recruited the pair for a Halloween band covering Eurythmics’ art-rock debut ‘In The Garden,’ the pair hit it off and shapes & colors is a product of the years that followed. It combines Chris’ own rhythmic demos following years on the road touring and opening for Amon Tobin, Matthew Dear and Generationals in Maus Haus with Hannah’s lyrical musings honed from project Cassiopeia, so even when topics are as heavy as the beats, they’re met with luminously positive arrangements of hope and warmth.

                                                          The by-product of a psychedelic New Year’s Eve escaping a monotonous 2020 reality, the title track itself captures fireworks over East Oakland as viewed from the pair’s couch whilst listening to Mort Garson’s Plantasia for 6 hours straight. The daydream collage of ‘inyo county’ is “a little souvenir taking me back into the bottled-up essence of a slow lazy morning, waking up in bed far from home,” Hannah tells recalling those enforced stay-at-home days. “It fell out of me because I was craving that blissful flavour.” Meanwhile ‘dawn of the age of aquarius’s new parallel reality evolved from a happy accident when their demos had reset to a drone which Jason reworked into a Laurie Anderson-esque breathy vocoder effect. Even bloops and beeps from a forgotten recording session at the Vintage Synthesizer Museum in Emeryville can be heard, where the pair used Mini Moog, Fairlight EMI and ARP 2600 to arrange their sound into shapes whilst distortion and dirt from mixing on 1979 Neve 5313 Console added to the recordings’ color.

                                                          Casting a brighter rainbow still, in all its pastel-hued glory, Hannah, also illustrated a self-portrait of the band for the album artwork. “It reflects our makeshift recording studio to encapsulate all aspects of that time and space,” she shares of their abode where, over an intense two-week period and fuelled by the aroma of fermenting vino from the winery below, their single chord, bass and drum-heavy, groove-first momentum took them on an unexpected journey whilst the next-door couple would fire pizzas in their yard and a grandfather across the road would sweep the street clean. “We’d drink coffee and start the day, consistently working, without interruption,” Chris tells of finding their flow. “The loft is a cool space with skylights, tall ceilings and no shared walls so we could be as loud as we wanted to be.”

                                                          Just as well. Diving into decades of electronica and crunchy sound effects, field recordings and animal sounds, blended with an infectious Latin influence, shapes & colors is bolstered by live percussionists Greg Poneris (drums), K. Dylan Edrich (Vocals, Percussion: congas, bongos, chimes, cow bells and wood blocks, tone drum and tri-tone whistle) and Tom Smith (Guitar, Synthesizers, Vocals). It shimmies with the charismatic energy of ESG, Tom Tom Club, Lizzy Mercier Descloux, and the dub hits of King Tubby, the melodic sensibilities of Prince, Stereolab, and idiosyncratic Deerhoof offering an ornate alternative to traditional guitar pop chord progressions as they layer wrecking ball-sized danceable motifs to rumble the dust off the cars on the street from the nearby concrete factory. “We take some big swings to create interesting moments,” Chris explains. NIMBY crews grab those earplugs now. abracadabra is your new noisy neighbour, and there’s no turning this party down.

                                                          TRACK LISTING

                                                          Side A
                                                          1. Talk Talk
                                                          2. In A Photo
                                                          3. Telling Time
                                                          4. Swim
                                                          5. Inyo County
                                                          Side B
                                                          6. Don't Like U
                                                          7. Impactor
                                                          8. At The Zoo
                                                          9. Shapes & Colors
                                                          10. Dawn Of The Age Of Aquarius

                                                          Andy Bell

                                                          The Grounding Process

                                                            Stripped down versions of tracks from Flicker. “On my debut solo album The View From Halfway Down I did all of my promotion via Zoom and pre-recorded interviews and acoustic sessions,” explains Andy of the EP. “I enjoyed making the acoustic versions and decided to do some more for this album.” “‘Something Like Love’ is the most popular song from Flicker and one of the oldest, starting life in the ’90s. It’s probably the only one that dates back to the Ride era.“The riffs for ‘World Of Echo’ were written while I was on tour with Oasis, at the height of my La’s obsession. It went through a few iterations from then onwards, but never had a final melody until last year.“’She Calls The Tune’ was the first song I wrote after I joined Oasis, ending a period of writers’ block which I had started going through some time in 1999. The very first performance of it was to an audience of Liam Gallagher, Gem Archer and Richard Ashcroft in a Milan hotel room. No pressure! I don’t think I ever saw this as an Oasis song, but I have them to thank for the fact that I was able to write songs again at all.” ‘Lifeline’ was another riff I came up with while on tour with Oasis. I remember being on a UK tour with Shack, and sitting around backstage on acoustics with Mick and John Head jamming around the Simon & Garfunkel version of ‘Scarborough Fair’. The riff for ‘Lifeline’ followed soon after. It was always called ‘Lifeline’ but I never found the right lyric for it until recently.

                                                            STAFF COMMENTS

                                                            Barry says: The Grounding Process has some of the lesser well known (but equally superb) pieces in the Andy Bell canon, being written while on the road and in various cities around the world. Another lovely addition to the discography.

                                                            TRACK LISTING

                                                            A1. Something Like Love
                                                            A2. World Of Echo
                                                            B1. She Calls The Tune
                                                            B2. Lifeline

                                                            Aoife Nessa Frances

                                                            Protector

                                                              In spring of 2020, Aoife Nessa Frances moved out of the city for the first time in her life. After packing up her things in Dublin, she moved to rural County Clare on the west coast of Ireland, and there, amidst the stillness, she worked on the songs that would become her second album, Protector. The resulting body of work deftly juxtaposes golden hours and arguments, affection and alienation, and above all marks a crucial period of her life that was transformative and left her wiser.

                                                              "I might have been running away from my problems," she admits. "I was disconnected from myself and from nature, but I found peace far away from the city, where there were no distractions. I isolated myself with nothing to do but make music.” Writing Protector provided Frances an essential sounding board for this journey. "I felt a growing inner strength that guided me through the making of this album. It was like sculpting with my eyes closed, this intense sense of self-preservation leading me and growing with each song I wrote. When I started, I didn't recognise myself. With each song, I became more human.”

                                                              Aoife spent that summer with her dad and two sisters. “It was a very special time for my family as we had never been that tight knit before,” she says, “and we all became very close…driving the country roads and swimming in the Atlantic Ocean and lakes of Clare. I had one CD in my car: Jim Sullivan’s UFO and we listened to it over and over again.” Like many people in their late twenties shaking off youthful rebelliousness, Frances experienced a solidification of familial ties like never before, and felt the formation of a protective, impenetrable shell. “For me, Protector acknowledges the part of myself that steers me towards a brighter path. The almost psychotropic power of nature gave me a connection I never felt before. As the countryside seeped into me and lines of communication opened up with my family, I developed an ability to perceive myself and my choices within an expanded world.”

                                                              Protector builds pastoral landscapes through light flourishes and open spaces. Songs float along effortlessly, remaining anchored by Frances’ deep voice. Contemplative tempos tug along atmospheric synths, minimal bass, and shimmering guitar notes, conveying a serenity like early morning. Frances found that the noiselessness allowed her, at long last, to listen to herself. “I got up every day before sunrise and took my guitar to a place where nobody could hear me,” she discloses. “These songs were written in the magic hour before the world wakes up.”

                                                              Recording took place in a small house in County Kerry, at the foothills of the Annascaul, along with Brendan Jenkinson (producer, keys, bass, synth, clarinet) and Brendan Doherty (drums). “We’d wake up early every day and swim at Inch Beach before making music,” Frances describes. “This ritual was crucial for our process. There was an unexplainable joy happening between the three of us.” The arrangements grew with later contributions from Ailbhe Nic Oiroictaigh (strings), Meabh McKenna (harp), and Conor O’Brien (horns). No matter how it expanded in scope and involvement, Frances never let it stray from a central focus on deep truths. “I wanted my voice to be as up front and dry as possible, to create a sense of raw and powerful vulnerability, like Serge Gainsbourg’s ‘Histoire de Melody Nelson’ where the voice feels right in front of you.”

                                                              Across eight songs, Frances found innovative ways to project her intentions. “Emptiness Follows” carries a striking sense of grace, the playfulness of the track’s instrumentation contrast lyrics about friends drifting apart (“the weight of the water, it holds you and tortures time away from you”). “Soft Lines,” spans weightless and brooding, the shimmer of the musical backdrop like a low-settled fog obscuring one’s way, as Frances sings of the illusion of idealized love (“All that I’d give for a life by your side”). “Chariot” is at the core of the record, a powerful testament to the strength and bonds of family and friendships.

                                                              With Protector, Frances has delivered a glowing act of restoration, informed by the power of connection. The songs find the resonance in the hum of life, trapping glimpses of light and crystalizing them into new modes of being. Each track is a nuanced take on a different subject. “Writing and recording this album was a spiritual experience. I experienced love for my family on a level I didn’t know existed, while slowly putting myself back together and watching the ‘protector’ in me grow much bigger.”


                                                              TRACK LISTING

                                                              Side A
                                                              A1 Way To Say Goodbye
                                                              A2 This Still Life
                                                              A3 Emptiness Follows
                                                              A4 Only Child
                                                              Side B
                                                              B1 Chariot
                                                              B2 Back To Earth
                                                              B3 Soft Lines
                                                              B4 Day Out Of Time

                                                              A.O. Gerber

                                                              Meet Me At The Gloaming

                                                                When we pick apart the pieces of our past, and turn them over in our hands, they can feel weighted, worn, and weathered with the smog of perspective. And as we try to stitch them together, how do we navigate our own pattern when what we might’ve been taught is too binary, too black and white, a thread woven too tight?

                                                                On her new album Meet Me at the Gloaming, A.O. Gerber carefully grapples with the constraints she was taught as a child to reach for the flourishing that comes when we look past the black and white, and into the gray gauze of the in-between. “I was thinking about how damaging it can be to exist in that binary space of good and evil,” Gerber explains. “When we see everything in either/or’s, we lose the nuance and complexity that make life rich enough to be worth living.” By interlocking memory and imagination, Gerber crafts a gleaming future, where the light and the dark don’t just coexist––they create a new color entirely.

                                                                Gerber’s debut LP Another Place To Need (2020) garnered critical acclaim for its candid, orchestral ruminations on splintered relationships and the cage of overthinking. While that record took three years to complete, and saw Gerber collaborate with much of her musical community in Los Angeles and the Bay Area – including Sasami, Madeline Kenney, Marina Allen and Noah Weinman (Runnner) – Gerber stripped back the team for Meet Me at the Gloaming. Once again co-producing with Madeline Kenney, Gerber shunned the usual process of seeking constant feedback, and instead leaned into a more isolated process, later producing much of the record at home. “I found a lot of healing while making this record because I had to be the person to call the shots,” she says. “I realized that I can exist as a musician completely outside of other people’s opinions of me.” Recording at Kenney’s home studio on nights and weekends in-between their day jobs, Alex Oñate joined Gerber and Kenney on drums while Gerber also collaborated remotely with Megan Benavente on bass and Lauren Elizabeth Baba on violin and viola.

                                                                This somewhat secluded process serves as a mirror to the deeply introspective and thoughtful nature of Meet Me at the Gloaming. Here, Gerber explores her upbringing, much of which took place under the watchful gaze of a spiritual teacher who led her mother to completely uproot their lives, and move the family from Northern California to Southern Oregon. But this isn’t a scathing composition of redemption or revenge; instead, Gerber parses out her own history with care and grace. “It can be difficult to write about your childhood when you have a lot of shame around it,” she explains. “I wanted to approach it from multiple perspectives, to try to hold the complexity of formative experiences and relationships, and resist the temptation to over-simplify them.”

                                                                Through unwavering, underwater synths and gentle plucked strings, ethereal opener “Disciple Song” chronicles the hold this spiritual teacher had on Gerber’s sense of self. “Arbiter of my worthiness / Arbiter of truth / Make me into a melody / I can sing when you are through,” she laments over a patient, kaleidoscopic arrangement. It’s a taster of the more avant-garde sonic palette that permeates Meet Me at the Gloaming, where Gerber leans into her curious producer side.

                                                                On “Looking for the Right Things,” the production thrives under an electro-pop blanket, as bright percussion and sharp, vivid keys give rise to Gerber’s warm, velvet-smooth vocal. “I just wanna feel clean / I’m missing someone I knew once / Now she doesn’t exist,” she croons,
                                                                charting the push-and-pull between wanting to be good, and the seeming impossibility of it. We are always at odds with ourselves, and “Looking for the Right Things,” peels back the desire to attain this idea of goodness while reckoning with the reality of our humanness, and the beauty of our imperfections. “As much as I’d like to make relationships as simple as figuring out how to be ‘good’ and that being enough, it’s always messier than that.”

                                                                Later, “Hunger” sees Gerber pick apart the opposing forces of desire and restriction through soft-yet-persistent synths and cloud-reaching riffs. “I’ve spent so much of my life vacillating between these polarities, craving and negating,” she says. “Both states of being are a hunger for something, and I like to think there’s a reality where pleasure and accountability to yourself and others can coexist.” On the guitar-led gentle anthem “For,” Gerber wrestles yet ultimately welcomes the darker parts of her personality. Inspired by her experience with a struggling friend, Gerber admits that while we can recognize and see ourselves in another’s pain, we can also acknowledge our limitations in showing up for them, and how we may not feel able to help them through it.

                                                                Closer “Only Mystery,” brings Meet Me at the Gloaming full circle, as Gerber unpacks her complex relationship with her father. Leaning into the eclectic sonic landscape of the album, fluttering strings dance alongside finger-picked guitar, while diaphanous synths coat lyrics of loneliness and betrayal. “Asking where you were / In the years / I called our backyard home” she sings, pointing to her solitary experience as a child. “I’m tenderly trying to meet someone as they are, while carrying the baggage of a life and past disappointments,” she says. “It’s exploring that complexity; of looking at this person who I barely know and who barely knows me, recognizing that there’s still this part of me that just wants to be seen as good, as having done my best, and hoping that’s good enough.”

                                                                Meet Me at the Gloaming is certainly an album that pierces grief head-on but it’s not without hope or certainty. Like curtains strong enough to block the view, but thin enough to let in the light, Gerber is reclaiming the meaning of goodness, where the harsh overwhelming brightness is dimmed to a beautiful, iridescent blue. During the gloaming we are between two spaces, two worlds, two selves and it’s here that we can fully embrace everything that we are.

                                                                Let us remember how dark the beginning of the day is ~ Maggie Smith


                                                                TRACK LISTING

                                                                Side A
                                                                1. Disciple Song
                                                                2. Walk In The Dark
                                                                3. Looking For The Right Things
                                                                4. You Got It Right
                                                                5. Mount Washington Phone Company
                                                                Side B
                                                                1. Hunger
                                                                2. For
                                                                3. Just As A Child
                                                                4. Noon Of Love
                                                                5. PFS
                                                                6. What Are You Reading?
                                                                7. Only Mystery

                                                                Heavy South African cut, unearthed by Dene from LCT, All about the massive title track ''Got My Magic Working''...

                                                                The origins of Amajika is a tale of two worlds colliding at the perfect moment and begin in KwaMushu Township outside Durban. Here would be where a young Tu Nokwe would set up a school to help teach other aspiring youngsters like herself in music, dance and acting. This would become known as the Amajika Youth and Children’s Art Project and would be run from the Nokwe home, a common hangout for artists at the time. Some boast 2000+ pupils going through this program while others claim it wasn’t more than a backyard dance group, but for the lucky group of kids that were members in the mid 80s it would be their chance at stardom.


                                                                It was during these years that a young aspiring playwright and musician Mbongeni Ngema had come across Tu and her group of gifted youngsters at the Nokwe family home. Although he was touring extensively at the time with the plays Woza Albert and Asinamali, the latter which eventually ended up on broadway, he would spend any time off from the tour with Tu and her dance troop. After being inspired by the American group New Edition, Mbongeni envisioned Amajika as the South African answer and decided to bankroll a studio session.


                                                                The session would take place in a private studio in Durban.The release of the first single would follow very shortly. The lead track, Tomati-So is a fun swinging groove over some basic programmed drums. The song is dedicated to Tu Nokwe sings of her unique style and kind heart. On his next tour Mbongeni would take the remaining masters with him to the US and had the track remixed. Although it never materialized in a release States side he did return with the remixed tape and release it in South Africa the following year. Much like Tomato So the song was an ode and would be dedicated to the man who was making all their dreams come true. Got My Magic Working sings of going overseas and being a star on Broadway and TV and the man who is making it all happen. All these true predictions are sung on top of a groovy acid bass by a clearly matured troop of artists.


                                                                During these years of working with Amajika, Mbongeni became very impressed with the exceeding talent of one of the members and decided to cast her in his upcoming musical Sarafina. The other children also wanted to be a part of the Broadway show but not everyone would get a role. This would be the end of Amajika as the next years would be dedicated to creating success on the musical stage. The growing kids that formed Amajika became young adults and pursued their own careers after the fact. Tu Nokwe would leave the country to return years later as the wife of Shaka Zulu on the big screen. To this day she is still very active both on stage and screen while Mbongeni is still writing and adding to the South African Musical Theatre catalog.


                                                                Fast forward 30 years from the original release to a smokey club where ESA hears Got My Magic Working played by Rush Hours Store’s own Bonnefooi. Instantly he inquires about the track from his homeland and feels it a perfect addition the repertoire of the Afro Synth band he is quietly cooking up. The band’s instrumental take ended up as the B side on a mysterious and limited white label released by Rush Hour in early 2020 but quickly sold out.


                                                                Here you have compiled the two title tracks from original Amajika singles along with the instrumental version by ESA’s Afro Synth Band for The complete Amajika experience, past to present. 

                                                                TRACK LISTING

                                                                Amajika - Got My Magic Working
                                                                Amajika - Tomati So
                                                                Esa's Afro-Synth Band- Got My Magic Working (Dub Mix)

                                                                Aoife Nessa Frances

                                                                Land Of No Junction

                                                                  On the eponymously titled final song of her debut album Land of No Junction, Irish songwriter Aoife Nessa Frances (pronounced Ee-fa) sings “Take me to the land of no junction/Before it fades away/Where the roads can never cross/But go their own way.” It is this search that lies at the heart of the album, recalling journeys towards an ever shifting centre - a centre that cannot hold - where maps are constantly being rewritten.

                                                                  The evocative phrase is the result of a fortuitous misunderstanding. Reminiscing about childhood visits to Wales, Aoife’s musical collaborator and co-producer Cian Nugent, mentioned a train station called Llandudno Junction, which she misheard. “Land of No Junction later became a place in itself. A liminal space - a dark vast landscape to visit in dreams… A place of waiting where I could sit with uncertainty and accept it. Rejecting the distinct and welcoming the uncertain and the unknown.” Reveals Frances.

                                                                  The songs traverse and inhabit this indeterminate landscape: the beginnings of love, moments of loss, discovery, fragility and strength, all intermingle and interact. Land of No Junction is shot through with a sense of mystery - an ambiguity and disorientation that illuminates with smokey luminescence. Yet, through the haze, everything comes down to what, where and who you are. Frances has built a universe full of intimacy and depth, with lyrics written through a process of free thought writing. It lends the record fluidity, each song in dialogue with the next not only through language, but the way each musical choice complements or threads into another.

                                                                  Navigated by the richness of Aoife’s voice, along with the layers gently built through her collaborators’ instruments (strings, drums, guitars, keys, percussion), gives a feeling of filling up space into every corner and crack. A remarkable coherent sonic world: buoyant and aqueous, with dark undercurrents. The crossroads as a place where someone can be stuck, static in the face of the future, becomes instead an amorphous realm, where the remnants of the past and what is unknown meld together and come to an understanding. Where nostalgia and newness ebb and flow in equal measure.


                                                                  TRACK LISTING

                                                                  1. Geranium
                                                                  2. Blow Up
                                                                  3. Here In The Dark
                                                                  4. A Long Dress
                                                                  5. Less Is More
                                                                  6. Libra
                                                                  7. In The End
                                                                  8. Heartbreak Junction
                                                                  9. Land Of No Junction 

                                                                  A Certain Ratio

                                                                  1982

                                                                    A Certain Ratio’s greatest strength has always been their unpredictability. They’ve always moved with gleeful disregard for the boundaries of style and genre, their eye fixed firmly on constant progression. It’s an ethos that’s open-minded over all else, and that’s seen them take everything from experimental electronica to vintage funk, filtered through their own Mancunian lens.

                                                                    And their latest studio album 1982 is no different in its unpredictable multidimensional nature. It shoots off in every direction, whether via searing Afrobeat, mind- melting jazz breakdowns or moody electronic experiments all with pop hooks and irresistible dance rhythms.

                                                                    It might be called 1982, but it’s no nostalgia trip, fearlessly facing up to the future and running at it with full speed.

                                                                    The album follows ACR Loco and EP:ACR in what is turning out to be the band’s most creative period, unmistakably ACR and unmistakably like nothing else.

                                                                    STAFF COMMENTS

                                                                    Barry says: There are few bands that manage to competently pull together as many influences as ACR do, and have been doing since the late 70's. It's no surprise then that '1982' is a groove-filled odyssey, dipping seamlessly into disco, afrobeat and funk as they are wont to do. Brilliantly inventive, endlessly innovative and most importantly, hugely enjoyable.

                                                                    TRACK LISTING

                                                                    1 Samo
                                                                    2 Waiting On A Train
                                                                    3 1982
                                                                    4 A Trip In Hulme
                                                                    5 Tombo In M3
                                                                    6 Constant Curve
                                                                    7 Afro Dizzy
                                                                    8 Holy Smoke
                                                                    9 Tier 3
                                                                    10 Ballad Of ACR

                                                                    A Certain Ratio

                                                                    1982 - Q&A Ticket Bundle

                                                                      Album Launch - Q&A / Signing Session  - Night & Day Cafe, Friday 31st March 2023, Doors 7:30pm
                                                                       
                                                                      To celebrate the release of their new LP we are delighted to welcome Manchester's finest A Certain Ratio along to Night & Day to chat with 6 Music's Chris Hawkins about the LP and answer a few questions, followed by a signing session.

                                                                      ****Competition Time!****
                                                                      Preorder the album and you will entered into a draw to win the promo banner for the album, which is displayed instore, signed by the band.

                                                                      A Certain Ratio’s greatest strength has always been their unpredictability. They’ve always moved with gleeful disregard for the boundaries of style and genre, their eye fixed firmly on constant progression. It’s an ethos that’s open-minded over all else, and that’s seen them take everything from experimental electronica to vintage funk, filtered through their own Mancunian lens.

                                                                      And their latest studio album 1982 is no different in its unpredictable multidimensional nature. It shoots off in every direction, whether via searing Afrobeat, mind- melting jazz breakdowns or moody electronic experiments all with pop hooks and irresistible dance rhythms.

                                                                      It might be called 1982, but it’s no nostalgia trip, fearlessly facing up to the future and running at it with full speed.

                                                                      The album follows ACR Loco and EP:ACR in what is turning out to be the band’s most creative period, unmistakably ACR and unmistakably like nothing else.


                                                                      TRACK LISTING

                                                                      1 Samo
                                                                      2 Waiting On A Train
                                                                      3 1982
                                                                      4 A Trip In Hulme
                                                                      5 Tombo In M3
                                                                      6 Constant Curve
                                                                      7 Afro Dizzy
                                                                      8 Holy Smoke
                                                                      9 Tier 3
                                                                      10 Ballad Of ACR

                                                                      A Certain Ratio

                                                                      2023 EP

                                                                        Manchester legends, A Certain Ratio, are back with their brand new 2023 EP on limited edition 12” vinyl.

                                                                        This follows the release of their album 1982, and includes 3 remixes of tracks from the record and a brand new track ‘Day by Day’. The remixers on the EP are fellow mancunians Werkha and Jade Parker, as well as close friend Andy Meecham aka Emperor Machine, who originally contributed keyboards and electronic percussion to the very track he’s reworked, ‘Constant Curve.’ The EP also includes a remix of the popular single ‘SAMO’, which spent 4 weeks on the BBC 6Music playlist, accompanied by an animated lyric video paying homage to the graffiti tag it was named after by Al Diaz and American artist and wunderkind, Jean-Michel Basquiat. The final track on the EP is a remix of ‘Waiting on a Train’, presenting a new and special version of the original song, with the presence of the featuring artists, Ellen Beth Abdi and Chunky, remaining strong.

                                                                        Formed in 1978 with a core line-up of Jez Kerr, Martin Moscrop and Donald Johnson, A Certain Ratio emerged from the hallowed grounds of the late 70s punk scene, and from that day on they’ve moved forwards with gleeful disregard for the boundaries of style and genre, their eye fixed firmly on constant progression.

                                                                        To celebrate their 45th anniversary and support the release on 2023 EP, ACR will be taking to the road to play a select number of shows in the UK and Europe, which will see them play all of their 45s in chronological order across 2 sets in one evening in venues hand picked by the band all with limited capacity.

                                                                        TRACK LISTING

                                                                        A1 Day By Day
                                                                        A2 SAMO (Werkha Remix)
                                                                        B1 Constant Curve - Feat. Ellen Beth Abdi (Emperor Machine Extended Rework)
                                                                        B1 Waiting On A Train - Feat. Ellen Beth Abdi & Chunky (Jade Parker Remix) 

                                                                        A Certain Ratio

                                                                        Christmasville UK EP

                                                                          A Certain Ratio (Jez Kerr, Martin Moscrop, and Donald Johnson) present their new 'Christmasville UK EP' on limited edition orange 12” vinyl.

                                                                          This four-track release features ACR’s first-ever Christmas track, ‘Now and Laughter’ (“ACR does Christmas!” the band exclaims, “who’d have thunk it? We are big Slade fans though…”). Alongside this festive debut are three remixes from their acclaimed album 'It All Comes Down To This'. To celebrate the season, Kerr, Moscrop, and Johnson have invited some extended ACR family to contribute: Jane Weaver, their labelmate from Rob Gretton’s much-missed label in the ‘90s, remixes ‘Where You Coming From’, while long-time friend and collaborator Emperor Machine (aka Andy Meecham) delivers an extended remix of ‘Out From Under’. Adding a fresh twist, some newer friends have been invited into the fold, with London-based Jezebell bringing the Electro-Balearic party vibe to ‘We All Need’.

                                                                          This limited edition orange 12” vinyl is available in a run of 500 copies.


                                                                          TRACK LISTING

                                                                          Now And Laughter
                                                                          Out From Under (Jane Weaver Rework)
                                                                          Out From Under (Emperor Machine Extended Rework)
                                                                          We All Need (Jezebell's Ghost Train Mix)

                                                                          Back with their first new album in 12 years, a confident and revitalised ACR jumped back into the studio following their most successful tour in over 20 years. 

                                                                          ACR Loco feels like an accumulation of ACR's DNA from point zero in 1977 through to 2020 and sounds like a band who have effortlessly perfected their craft. An album to dance to, cry to, fall in love to and most importantly, to party to. 

                                                                          ACR Loco by the core ACR members Jez Kerr, Martin Moscrop and Donald Johnson, are joined by long term partners Tony Quigley, Denise Johnson and Matt Steele, plus special guests Sink Ya Teeth’s Maria Uzor and Gemma Cullingford, Factory Floor’s Gabe Gurnsey and Manchester luminaries Mike Joyce and Eric Random.

                                                                          TRACK LISTING

                                                                          1 Friends Around Us
                                                                          2 Bouncy Bouncy 
                                                                          3 Yo Yo Gi
                                                                          4 Supafreak
                                                                          5 Always In Love
                                                                          6 Family
                                                                          7 Get A Grip
                                                                          8 Berlin
                                                                          9 What’s Wrong
                                                                          10 Taxi Guy

                                                                          A Certain Ratio

                                                                          ACR:MCR

                                                                            As part of the ongoing collaboration with Mute Recordings Several of their albums will be released, including the long out of print albums 'acr:mcr' and 'Good Together.'A Certain Ratio embraced the ethic and culture of the late seventies post-punk explosion, but sounded like nothing else around them and refused to fit in. Formed in 1978, the band had various members throughout their career, and a core line-up of Jez Kerr, Martin Moscrop and Donald Johnson.

                                                                            Hailed universally as pioneers of what became known as “punk funk” thanks to the success of ‘Shack Up’ on both sides of the Atlantic, their sound is not easily pigeon holed and their influence can never be understated. The band introduced the avant-garde elements of funk, jazz, electronics, tape loops and technology to the pop song, wrapping it in a post punk aesthetic, adding great clothes and the coolest haircuts. They have gone on to influence generations of musicians - from LCD Soundsystem, Happy Mondays, Franz Ferdinand, ESG, Factory Floor and Andrew Weatherall. 


                                                                            TRACK LISTING

                                                                            1 Spirit Dance
                                                                            2 Won't Stop Loving You
                                                                            3 BTTW 90
                                                                            4 Be What You Wanna Be
                                                                            5 Good Together
                                                                            6 Funky Heaven
                                                                            7 Tribeca
                                                                            8 Repercussions Live

                                                                            THE PICCADILLY RECORDS REISSUE/COLLECTION OF THE YEAR 2018.

                                                                            A Certain Ratio were born of the Manchester punk/post punk explosion of the late 70s, but while they took on the bleak aggression of the former and the spiky experimentation of the latter, they were rooted in another tradition. By the time their second single, the incredible opium funk dream of "Flight" was released in 1980 on Factory Records, it was obvious that the apparently unlikely union of brooding post punk with dub and funk rhythms was a marriage made in heaven - If heaven is the right word.

                                                                            "Set" follows their current set list (hence the title), pulling material from across their incredibly diverse career. It's perhaps only fitting that two thirds of the collection dates from 1979-1986, while they were signed to Factory, when they arguably produced their finest and most inventive material. If "Shack Up" added a mutant snarl to the Banbarra classic and "Flight" was eerie and sublime, "Knife Slits Water" was a signpost for their future direction, moving away from the paranoia and angst of their earlier sound and introducing a lighter and more loose limbed samba, jazz dance and tropical funk groove. The brighter feel was further cemented by "Wild Party", a moody boogie blend incorporating street soul and electro which perfectly conjured it's title, and the P-funk genius of "Mickey Way” which went on, appropriately enough, to become a Hacienda favourite.

                                                                            The move to A & M brought another diversion, into acid house euphoria, represented here by "Good Together"; this, and the silky, emotive pop of "Won't Stop Loving You", here remixed by Bernard Sumner, were both enhanced by the gorgeous vocal talents of Denise Johnson. There is new material here too, in the shape of "Dirty Boy" featuring Barry Adamson; but, even leaving aside the astonishing span and prolific nature of their output, what is truly amazing is that through all the extraordinary range of their sound they have always maintained a distinct and coherent identity. That takes real talent.


                                                                            STAFF COMMENTS

                                                                            Barry says: An essential package featuring some of the greatest ACR tunes to be committed to tape, with definitive 12" versions sitting brilliantly alongside a couple tracks exclusive to this release. An essential for any fan, and sure to make a few new fans as well!

                                                                            TRACK LISTING

                                                                            Do The Du (Casse) (1979)
                                                                            Wild Party - 12” Version (1985)
                                                                            Flight - 12” Version (1980)
                                                                            And Then Again - 12” Version (1980)
                                                                            Forced Laugh (1981)
                                                                            Wonder Y (1992)
                                                                            Mickey Way (12” Version, 1986)
                                                                            27 Forever - 7” Version (1991)
                                                                            Won’t Stop Loving You - Bernard Sumner Mix (1990)
                                                                            Good Together - 12” Version (1990)
                                                                            Be What You Wanna Be - 12” Version (1990)
                                                                            Shack Up - 7” Version (1980)
                                                                            The Fox - US 12” Version (1980)
                                                                            Knife Slits Water - 7” Version (1982)
                                                                            Si Firmir O Grido (1986)
                                                                            Dirty Boy Extended - Featuring Barry Adamson (2018)
                                                                            Make It Happen (2018)

                                                                            A Certain Ratio

                                                                            Berlin

                                                                              ‘Berlin’ is the second single to be taken from the new A Certain Ratio album ‘ACR Loco’, a remarkable piece of work that is steeped in 40 years of ACR DNA.

                                                                              Includes the original version of ‘Dirty Boy’.

                                                                              TRACK LISTING

                                                                              Berlin
                                                                              Dirty Boy (Original)

                                                                              A Certain Ratio

                                                                              Change The Station

                                                                                This is the latest instalment in an ongoing collaboration with Mute and follows the release of The Graveyard And The Ballroom, To Each, Force, acr:mcr, I’d Like To See You Again, Up In Downsville and the long out of print album Good Together.
                                                                                Change The Station (1986) – An abstract album that sees A Certain Ratio bring the funk to laid back ambience in a way that only they could. The party is still there and it’s more hypnotic than ever.



                                                                                TRACK LISTING

                                                                                1 Listen To The Sound
                                                                                2 Some Day
                                                                                3 You're On Your Own
                                                                                4 Waiting For You
                                                                                5 Yeah Boy
                                                                                6 Sister Brother
                                                                                7 Desire
                                                                                8 Samba 123
                                                                                9 Pole
                                                                                10 Do Du Beep
                                                                                11 Golden Balls
                                                                                12 Funk Off
                                                                                13 Groove (E)

                                                                                A Certain Ratio

                                                                                Clockwork Orange

                                                                                  Legendary Manchester band A Certain Ratio return with new single 'Clockwork Orange' on Speedy Wunderground as part of their illustrious 7" single series. 'Clockwork Orange' marks the band's first material since the release of their acclaimed new album It All Comes Down To This, which Speedy Wunderground's own Dan Carey also produced. Carey explains that he has long had an affinity for the pioneering band: “A long time ago when I was a teenager, I was out in Manchester and spotted a poster that said something about A Certain Ratio remixed by Norman Cook. At the time I didn't really know what a remix was, who Norman Cook was, or who/what A Certain Ratio was, but somehow I knew it was worth investigating. As a result, I discovered ACR, figured out what remixes were, and started trying to do my own. I’ve loved ACR ever since."

                                                                                  'Clockwork Orange' builds around malign synths, incorporating contorted vocal passages and shape-shifting electronics that make the song a compellingly dark, shadowy force.

                                                                                  Martin Moscrop (trumpet, guitars) comments on working in the customarily quick fashion that Carey and the Speedy Wunderground single series are so famed for: "We spent a day recording the song with Dan Carey and arranged to pick up our equipment the following morning at 10am. Dan had been up since 8am working on the elements of the song and as we walked into the studio our jaws dropped. He had transformed the song into something very dark, different and full of interest factor. We left the studio on a real high telling Dan to carry on in that direction and make it as heavy as he possibly could. It was a real eureka moment."

                                                                                  Continuing, Jez Kerr (bass guitar, vocals) says: "We’d worked with Dan on the album, so we knew how quickly he liked to get things down. As a joke [Factory Records producer] Martin Hannett used to like to confuse engineers by disappearing to the pub with the parting line, “yeah just tidy up that patchbay and make that delay on the guitar a bit more yellow.” I think Dan is the guy who can actually make a delay more yellow."

                                                                                  TRACK LISTING

                                                                                  A-side:
                                                                                  Clockwork Orange
                                                                                  B-side:
                                                                                  Dubwork Orange

                                                                                  A Certain Ratio

                                                                                  EP:ACR

                                                                                    A Certain Ratio presents ‘EP:ACR’, the unity of their EP trilogy series on CD. This includes ‘ACR:EPA’, ‘ACR:EPC’ and ‘ACR:EPR’, and will be the first time that these 2021 titles are made available on CD.

                                                                                    The first part is ‘EPA’, dedicated to Denise Johnson. It features the band’s final recordings with Denise and came about when they used up some remaining time booked in the studio for a day jam with no fixed agenda, and the result is something very special.

                                                                                    Next up is ‘EPC’, a collaboration EP with Andy Meecham (Emperor Machine), Maria Uzor from Sink Ya Teeth, Jacknife Lee, and Chris Massey (who remixed their song ‘Dirty Boy’ back in 2019). The whole EP is dedicated to longtime ACR friend Andrew Weatherall, the inspiration for the song ‘Guv’nor’, which the band describe as “a collaboration in spirit.”

                                                                                    The final piece of the trilogy is ‘EPR’, which was recorded with the internal brief that ‘anything goes’. EPR includes Part 2 and Part 1 (in that order!) of the mesmerising ‘$ouls In The City’, followed by the insanely catchy ‘Night People’, ‘Big Boy Pants’ and the final track ‘Downtime Vibes’, a hypnotic piece of repetitive rhythms built up around a set of chimes that Jez found in the back of his car.

                                                                                    TRACK LISTING

                                                                                    Wonderland (Jam 6)
                                                                                    Keep It Together (Jam 5)
                                                                                    Down And Dirty (Jam 2)
                                                                                    Feel No Fear (Jam 1)
                                                                                    Emperor Machine (ACR Vs
                                                                                    The Emperor Machine)
                                                                                    The Guv’nor
                                                                                    YOYOGRIP (Long)
                                                                                    Musik Kontrol (ACR Vs
                                                                                    Massey)
                                                                                    $ouls In The City Part 2 & 1
                                                                                    Night People
                                                                                    Big Boy Pants
                                                                                    Downtime Vibes

                                                                                    Springing forth from the punk era of the late 70s, A Certain Ratio carved their own niche by marrying the gloom and gristle of the Manchester's Factory era with a whole load of groove. Hailed universally as pioneers of what became known as ‘punk funk’ thanks to the success of ‘Shack Up’ on both sides of the Atlantic, their sound is not easily pigeon holed and their influence can never be understated. The band introduced the avant-garde elements of funk, jazz, electronics, tape loops and technology to the pop song, wrapping it in a post punk aesthetic, adding great clothes and the coolest haircuts. 

                                                                                    Alive and well and on A&M after the Factory split, A Certain Ratio were in euphoric and emotive form for 1989’s Good Together. Bursting with the boundless positivity of the acid house era, the LP sees ACR divert their usual funk into the baggy sound of the time, exploiting conventional song structures to convey themes of togetherness and hope. Soulful, smooth and packed with proper anthems, including the saucy eyed serenade ‘The Big E’ and the wriggling acid pop of the title track, ‘Good Together’ remains the ACR of choice for ageing ravers everywhere.

                                                                                    TRACK LISTING

                                                                                    1 Your Blue Eyes
                                                                                    2 Your Little World
                                                                                    3 The Big E
                                                                                    4 God's Own Girl
                                                                                    5 Love Is The Way
                                                                                    6 Backs To The Wall
                                                                                    7 River's Edge
                                                                                    8 Every Pleasure
                                                                                    9 Coldest Days
                                                                                    10 Good Together
                                                                                    11 Repercussions
                                                                                    12 2000 A√:

                                                                                    A Certain Ratio

                                                                                    I'd Like To See You Again

                                                                                      Following the new wave classic Sextet, this Manchester/New York post-punk funk unit's third album, I'd Like to See You Again, points toward a more minimal, stripped-down funk sound. This was apparently influenced heavily by the New York club scene of the early '80s, in which A Certain Ratio immersed themselves following their formation in Manchester. The departure of vocalist Martha Tilson left the band working in a more rhythmic instrumental approach, eschewing the pop forms of Sextet and focusing on a harder electro-funk sound. While this revealed the influence of time spent in club culture and marked a radical departure from the melancholy Manchester sound of their previous albums, the band kept their melodic passages intact, which created a tension between bright and dark moods that was the striking characteristic of their best work. The fact that this album fared well on the dancefloor some 20 years after its release may indicate that A Certain Ratio was ahead of their time. Their influence could be heard cropping up in strains of the Brit-pop, techno, post-rock, and house of the late '90s. Hence, I'd Like to See You Again is an album that deserves a revisit. Essential listening for fans of the Factory sound that spawned the British club sound exemplified by New Order and the New York wave of minimal funk groups, like Liquid Liquid and ESG.. 

                                                                                      TRACK LISTING

                                                                                      1 Touch
                                                                                      2 Saturn
                                                                                      3 Hot Knights
                                                                                      4 I'd Like To See You Again
                                                                                      5 Show Case
                                                                                      6 Sesamo Apriti - Corco Vada
                                                                                      7 Axis
                                                                                      8 Guess Who

                                                                                      A Certain Ratio

                                                                                      I’d Like To See You Again - ACR Loco Edition

                                                                                        A Certain ratio release four special edition pressings to commemorate the release of their new album ‘ACR LOCO’. ‘I’d Like To See You Again’ is album number four and ACR pushed their sounds into new directions again. This is a more jazz-infused album that continues to receive critical acclaim today after the initial confused reaction, just like all the real classic albums that were misunderstood originally.

                                                                                        TRACK LISTING

                                                                                        Touch
                                                                                        Saturn
                                                                                        Hot Knights
                                                                                        I’d Like To See You Again
                                                                                        Show Case
                                                                                        Sesamo Apriti – Corco Vada
                                                                                        Axis
                                                                                        Guess Who

                                                                                        A Certain Ratio

                                                                                        It All Comes Down To This

                                                                                          It All Comes Down to This is the brand new album from Manchester legends A Certain Ratio, produced by Speedy Wunderground’s Dan Carey.

                                                                                          This album takes A Certain Ratio back to their roots, featuring 10 straight-to-the-point tracks, with a sprinkling of electronics for good measure. It is the first time the band has recorded as the core 3-piece lineup of Jez Kerr, Martin Moscrop, and Donald Johnson, with no additional collaborators or members of the live setup. Following on from ACR's acclaimed 1982 album and the electrifying 2023 EP, It All Comes Down to This continues the lineage of constant progression demonstrated by the band.

                                                                                          STAFF COMMENTS

                                                                                          Barry says: A brilliant new album from Manchester's Certain Ratio and a stunning example of ACR's unique fusion of vibrant, groove-led indie music and post-punk adjacent stomp. 'It All Comes Down To This' could be their most definitive statement yet both wilfully celebratory, and brilliantly hefty. A perfect distillation of their hugely varied sound.

                                                                                          Laura says: Speedy Wunderground's Dan Carey, has managed a near perfect distillation of ACR's sound here, as the trio of Jez Kerr, Martin Moscrop and Donald Johnson draw on the post-punk-funk grooves of their early days while ruminating on the current state of the world. For me it's the best thing they've done in ages.

                                                                                          TRACK LISTING

                                                                                          Vinyl Tracklist
                                                                                          A1 All Comes Down To This
                                                                                          A2 Keep It Real
                                                                                          A3 We All Need
                                                                                          A4 Surfer Ticket
                                                                                          A5 Bitten By A Lizard
                                                                                          B1 God Knows
                                                                                          B2 Out From Under
                                                                                          B3 Estate Kings
                                                                                          B4 Where You Coming From
                                                                                          B5 Dorothy Says

                                                                                          CD Tracklist
                                                                                          1 All Comes Down To This
                                                                                          2 Keep It Real
                                                                                          3 We All Need
                                                                                          4 Surfer Ticket
                                                                                          5 Bitten By A Lizard
                                                                                          6 God Knows
                                                                                          7 Out From Under
                                                                                          8 Estate Kings
                                                                                          9 Where You Coming From
                                                                                          10 Dorothy Says

                                                                                          A Certain Ratio

                                                                                          Loco Live At Hope Mills Studios

                                                                                            A Certain Ratio present their recording of the ‘Loco Live at Hope Mill Studios’ session, originally a live stream of the band’s sensational 2020 album ‘ACR Loco’.

                                                                                            After a 12-year hiatus releasing albums, ‘ACR Loco’ was created by a confident and revitalised ACR. The band had jumped back into the studio after their most successful tour in over 20 years to record ‘ACR Loco’, and in the lead up to the release, they filmed and recorded this live session at the heart of the Manchester music scene - Hope Mill Studios. The session featured Maria Uzor of Sink Ya Teeth on vocals and the recorded vocals of the much-missed Denise Johnson.

                                                                                            “‘ACR Loco’ feels more than anything like a celebration - the long awaited re-arrival of one of the best bands to ever bring post-punk to the dancefloor.” - Treble

                                                                                            “Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to ‘ACR:Loco’, a forward-looking genre-defying slice of musical majesty.” - Narc

                                                                                            “On their first new album in over a decade, Manchester’s funkiest post-punk band offer an imperfect distillation of their 40-year legacy, updating their classic sound with nods to contemporary beat-driven music and political strife.” - Pop Matters

                                                                                            TRACK LISTING

                                                                                            Friends Around Us (Live At Hope Mill Studios)
                                                                                            Bouncy Bouncy (Live At Hope Mill Studios)
                                                                                            Yo Yo Gi (Live At Hope Mill Studios)
                                                                                            Supafreak (Live At Hope Mill Studios)
                                                                                            Always In Love (Live At Hope Mill Studios)
                                                                                            Family (Live At Hope Mill Studios)
                                                                                            Get A Grip (Live At Hope Mill Studios)
                                                                                            Berlin (Live At Hope Mill Studios)
                                                                                            What’s Wrong (Live At Hope Mill Studios)
                                                                                            Taxi Guy (Live At Hope Mill Studios)

                                                                                            A Certain Ratio

                                                                                            Loco Remezclada

                                                                                              Following their latest trifecta of EP releases, A Certain Ratio return with the remix album Loco Remezclada. The remix album takes all 10 tracks from 2020’s ACR Loco + ‘Down & Dirty’ from EPA and puts them in the hands of a sensational selection of producers and artists including Lou Hayter, LoneLady, Lounge Society, The Orielles, Maps, Sink Ya Teeth, Skream, Doctor Pieter, Chris Massey, Colleen Cosmo, Number and Muddy Feet. 

                                                                                              TRACK LISTING

                                                                                              Double Vinyl Tracklisting
                                                                                              Down & Dirty (Mr Dan Remix)
                                                                                              Friends Around Us (Lou Hayter Remix)
                                                                                              Bouncy Bouncy (Chop & Drop Lonelady Mix)
                                                                                              Yo Yo Gimix (The Orielles Remix)
                                                                                              Supafreak (Massey Mix)
                                                                                              Always In Love (Skream Remix)
                                                                                              Family (Finger Tip Mix Suite)
                                                                                              Get A Grip (Maps Remix)
                                                                                              Berlin (Cosmodelica Remix)
                                                                                              What’s Wrong (SYT DMT Remix)
                                                                                              Taxi Guy (Number Rework)

                                                                                              Triple Vinyl Tracklisting
                                                                                              Down & Dirty (Mr Dan Remix)
                                                                                              Friends Around Us (Lou Hayter Remix)
                                                                                              Bouncy Bouncy (Chop & Drop Lonelady Mix)
                                                                                              Yo Yo Gimix (The Orielles Remix)
                                                                                              Supafreak (Massey Mix)
                                                                                              Always In Love (Skream Remix)
                                                                                              Family (Finger Tip Mix Suite)
                                                                                              Get A Grip (Maps Remix)
                                                                                              Berlin (Cosmodelica Remix)
                                                                                              What’s Wrong (SYT DMT Remix)
                                                                                              Taxi Guy (Number Rework)
                                                                                              Always In Love (Muddy Feet Remix)
                                                                                              Friends Around Us (The Lounge Society Remix)

                                                                                              CD Tracklisting
                                                                                              Down & Dirty (Mr Dan Remix)
                                                                                              Friends Around Us (Lou Hayter Remix)
                                                                                              Bouncy Bouncy (Chop & Drop Lonelady Mix)
                                                                                              Yo Yo Gimix (The Orielles Remix)
                                                                                              Supafreak (Massey Mix)
                                                                                              Always In Love (Skream Remix)
                                                                                              Family (Finger Tip Mix Suite)
                                                                                              Get A Grip (Maps Remix)
                                                                                              Berlin (Cosmodelica Remix)
                                                                                              What’s Wrong (SYT DMT Remix)
                                                                                              Taxi Guy (Number Rework)
                                                                                              Always In Love (Muddy Feet Remix)
                                                                                              Friends Around Us (The Lounge Society Remix)

                                                                                              A Certain Ratio

                                                                                              Mind Made Up

                                                                                                Produced by Ratio in Manchester between 2006 and 2009, "Mind Made Up" marks a stunning return to hard-edged funky form. 'The songs are timeless and true to ACR's roots,' says Donald Johnson. 'The emphasis was placed on keeping it simple in the studio. Trickery was kept to a minimum and we never took more than three takes on any track.' Adds Martin Moscrop: 'Most songs we jammed in rehearsal one week and recorded the next, so that they were rough round the edges. And the lyrics are some of the best Jez has ever produced. You'll also hear old ACR influences throughout the album. "Teri" was actually the first song ACR ever wrote, but it has never been recorded or released until now.' 

                                                                                                TRACK LISTING

                                                                                                1 I Feel Light
                                                                                                2 Down, Down, Down
                                                                                                3 Everything Is Good
                                                                                                4 Way To Escape
                                                                                                5 Rialto 06
                                                                                                6 Mind Made Up
                                                                                                7 Teri
                                                                                                8 Bird To The Ground
                                                                                                9 Starlight
                                                                                                10 Which Is Reality
                                                                                                11 Skunk
                                                                                                12 Very Busy Man

                                                                                                A Certain Ratio

                                                                                                Sextet

                                                                                                  Self-produced at Revolution Studio, Sextet saw the original Ratio quintet of Donald Johnson, Jeremy Kerr, Martin Moscrop, Simon Topping and Peter Terrell joined by co-vocalist Martha ‘Tili’ Tilson. Written and recorded following a transformative sojourn in New York in late 1980, the album reflects Latin, samba and even jazz influences (eg Skipscada; Day One), while still retaining Ratio’s signature brittle funk textures, heard in full effect on Lucinda, Gum and trancelike floor filler Knife Slits Water. .

                                                                                                  “It all came together for us on Sextet really,” confirms bassist (and latterly vocalist) Jez Kerr. “We were all working together - more involved in the recording, and what went down onto tape. It's definitely got something that the other albums haven’t.” 

                                                                                                  TRACK LISTING

                                                                                                  1 Lucinda
                                                                                                  2 Crystal
                                                                                                  3 Gum
                                                                                                  4 Knife Slits Water
                                                                                                  5 Skipscada
                                                                                                  6 Day One
                                                                                                  7 Rub Down
                                                                                                  8 Rialto
                                                                                                  9 Below The Canal

                                                                                                  A Certain Ratio

                                                                                                  Sextet - ACR Loco Edition

                                                                                                    A Certain ratio release four special edition pressings to commemorate the release of their new album ‘ACR LOCO’. ‘Sextet’ is the band’s third album and a firm fan favourite with Tilly on vocals. Includes the haunting ‘Lucinda’.

                                                                                                    TRACK LISTING

                                                                                                    Lucinda
                                                                                                    Crystal
                                                                                                    Gum
                                                                                                    Knife Slits Water
                                                                                                    Skipscada
                                                                                                    Day One
                                                                                                    Rub Down
                                                                                                    Rialto
                                                                                                    Below The Canal

                                                                                                    A Certain Ratio

                                                                                                    To Each - ACR Loco Edition

                                                                                                      A Certain ratio release four special edition pressings to commemorate the release of their new album ‘ACR LOCO’. ‘To Each’ was the band’s second release, a double album that pushed them in a new direction creatively. Includes the classic and live favourites ‘The Fox’ and ‘Winter Hill’.

                                                                                                      TRACK LISTING

                                                                                                      Felch
                                                                                                      My Spirit
                                                                                                      Forced Laugh
                                                                                                      Choir
                                                                                                      Back To The Start
                                                                                                      The Fox
                                                                                                      Loss
                                                                                                      Oceans
                                                                                                      Winter Hill

                                                                                                      Springing forth from the punk era of the late 70s, A Certain Ratio carved their own niche by marrying the gloom and gristle of the Manchester's Factory era with a whole load of groove. Hailed universally as pioneers of what became known as ‘punk funk’ thanks to the success of ‘Shack Up’ on both sides of the Atlantic, their sound is not easily pigeon holed and their influence can never be understated. The band introduced the avant-garde elements of funk, jazz, electronics, tape loops and technology to the pop song, wrapping it in a post punk aesthetic, adding great clothes and the coolest haircuts. 

                                                                                                      If Good Together saw A Certain Ratio translating the acid house ethos through conventional song, Up In Downsville was a sweat drenched return to the heart of the dance floor. Released on Rob Gretton’s plainly named imprint, the LP shuffles through melodic house, slick acid jazz and brooding electro-funk, pulling together the disparate strands of Manchester’s clubland into one infectious whole. The groove is king throughout but never hits harder than on LP closer Up In Downsville Pt.2, a flute led masterpiece of Mancunian funk which forms a wonderful contrast to enduring Balearic classic ‘Salvador’s (Fish)’, the album’s finest moment.

                                                                                                      TRACK LISTING

                                                                                                      LP Tracklisting
                                                                                                      1 Manik
                                                                                                      2 Turn Me On
                                                                                                      3 Mello
                                                                                                      4 Wonder Y
                                                                                                      5 Up In Downsville Part 1
                                                                                                      6 27 Forever
                                                                                                      7 Tekno 4 An Answer
                                                                                                      8 Salvador's Fish
                                                                                                      9 Up In Downsville Part 2

                                                                                                      CD Tracklisting
                                                                                                      1 Manik
                                                                                                      2 Turn Me On
                                                                                                      3 Mello
                                                                                                      4 Wonder Y
                                                                                                      5 Up In Downsville Part 1
                                                                                                      6 27 Forever
                                                                                                      7 Tekno 4 An Answer
                                                                                                      8 Salvador's Fish
                                                                                                      9 Up In Downsville Part 2
                                                                                                      10 27 Forever (Jon Dasilva Remix)
                                                                                                      11 Mello (M People Remix)

                                                                                                      A Foot In Cold Water

                                                                                                      A Foot In Cold Water

                                                                                                        1972 debut album by these unusually named Canadian psyche / progsters was originally released on the Daffodil label. Musically confident it veers from progressive, through to melodic pop / rock and winding up in a hard heavy psychedelic mode. Paul Naumann is a very talented guitarist and vocalist Alex Machin is so much better than most.

                                                                                                        A Giant Dog

                                                                                                        Bite

                                                                                                          The moment the needle drops on Bite, the new A Giant Dog record, one’s conception of what an A Giant Dog record sounds like bends like space and time around a starship running at lightspeed. The biggest point of departure is that Bite is a concept album, concerning characters who find themselves moving in and out of a virtual reality called Avalonia.

                                                                                                          A Giant Dog’s first album of original songs since 2017’s Toy, Bite finds the band Sabrina Ellis, Andrew Cashen, Danny Blanchard, Graham Low, and Andy Bauer at their peak as musicians, challenging themselves with more complex arrangements and subject matter that forced them out of their heads and into those of the characters who occupy this supposed paradise. “We had to find ourselves within, or project ourselves into, the principal characters. We developed them, got to know their minds, emotions, and motivations, and then expressed those in nine songs,” Ellis explains. Themes of addiction, gender fluidity, living ethically in a capitalist society, physical autonomy, avarice, grief, and consent bubble beneath the promised happiness of Avalonia. This is evident in songs like “Different Than,” where Ellis sings, “My body can’t explain the things my mind don’t comprehend” as if societal gender pressure is squeezing its protagonist out of their skin.

                                                                                                          The songs on Bite are full of bombast, at turns calling to mind the spacefaring operatic rock of Electric Light Orchestra and the high drama of an Ennio Morricone film score. The album’s narrative sweep is epic in scope, its characters facing impossible odds and certain doom, existing as comfortably with the sci-fi grandiosity of Thin Lizzy’s Jailbreak as it does with the high fantasy of Dio and Iron Maiden.

                                                                                                          Appropriately, A Giant Dog came to this narrative armed to the teeth with new ideas, unleashing synthesizers and string sections to create what Ellis describes as orchestral, symphonic, futuristic punk. To achieve this, they left their home turf of Austin, Texas, for La Cuve Studio, just outside of Angers, France. Living in the French countryside, A Giant Dog laid down their vision of the future against a decidedly pastoral backdrop. On walks from Angers to La Cuve, Ellis says that they “would see many things, and also nothing at all. Swans on the river. Romani people living in little trailers, with a side hut built for their dog. A juggler on a unicycle—not fucking with you.” “We thought we wouldn’t be allowed back in France after this trip, to be honest,” they continued. “Five loud, stomping, clapping, rowdy Americans who ran through the streets of Angers for three weeks in November 2022.”

                                                                                                          The experience capped two years of planning and writing, fleshing out the universe of Avalonia beyond the bounds of most concept albums. The resulting nine songs do not merely occupy this space: They’ve lived in it, and they want out.

                                                                                                          TRACK LISTING

                                                                                                          SIDE A
                                                                                                          1. Avalonia
                                                                                                          2. Happiness Awaits Inside
                                                                                                          3. I Believe
                                                                                                          4. In Destiny
                                                                                                          5. Different Than
                                                                                                          SIDE B
                                                                                                          6. A Daydream
                                                                                                          7. Watch Me Sleeping
                                                                                                          8. Watch It Burn
                                                                                                          9. In Rainbows

                                                                                                          A Girl Called Eddy

                                                                                                          A Girl Called Eddy - 20th Anniversary

                                                                                                            20th Anniversary edition of the debut album from A Girl Called Eddy. This sumptuous LP is a masterclass in songwriting and delivery. An album that, had it been released in the mid 1970s, would have been spoken of in the same revered tones normally reserved for Tapestry or Pirates. Imagine Karen Carpenter covering the Bacharach song book in Phil Spector's wall of sound and you'd wouldn't be far off this albums genius.

                                                                                                            Respectfully remastered by Paul McGeechan (Starless, Love & Money, Friends Again) and released on limited edition coloured vinyl by Past Nigh From Glasgow.

                                                                                                            A Girl Called Eddy

                                                                                                            Been Around

                                                                                                              A little more than a year ago Elefant released a very special album from a new project called THE LAST DETAIL, a super group, formed by FUGU and A GIRL CALLED EDDY. Or in other words, Mehdi Zannad and Erin Moran. Just over a year later, here they are releasing an album that many people didn't ever think would every come, the second A GIRL CALLED EDDY album.

                                                                                                              While her debut came out in 2004 to much critical acclaim and was produced by Richard Hawley, it has been a while to say the least. But here is "Been Around" and yes, it was definitely worth the wait. Very much worth it. Throughout her career she has collaborated and provided vocals on projects as varied as Ron Sexsmith ("Exit Strategy Of The Soul"), SUPER FURRY ANIMALS, to French superstar Phillip Katerine's indie classic "Parlez Vous Anglais, Mr. Katerine?". Her debut album saw her out on tour supporting acts as diverse as Josh Ritter, Rufus Wainwright, THE BEAUTIFUL SOUTH and THE CURE. And with that first record Moran has gathered a rather impressive list of fans: from Jane Birkin, Gilbert O'Sullivan, Tracey Thorn to Robert Smith, Don Henley, Jarvis Cocker and Burt Bacharach to name just a few. "Been Around" has arrived looking like a classic. Referencing her heroes from Laura Nyro, and Van Morrison, to Steely Dan and Prefab Sprout, she has put together a collection of songs that still sound completely her own. They bring an essence of the past and real heart to the present. To a 21st century desperately in need of this kind of elegance, soul and inspiration, it is welcome indeed.

                                                                                                              The arrangements on this album work on a different level to Morans debut. Where that album was steeped in dark melancholy, this record seems to bathe in the warm yellow Kodachrome-glow of the best of the 1970's. A looking back, but not pastiche. A sense of genuineness and heart permeates every track. This is an album so full of detail and wonder that we could go on and on. "Been Around" is an enormous record. Made with love. Made the old-fashioned way. Perhaps that’s where its timelessness comes from. Is reaching this exceptional and rich level of composition and emotion justification for such a long silence from A GIRL CALLED EDDY? Is that a question even worth asking? You haven't heard an album like this in fifteen years. She's back. Dig in and enjoy.

                                                                                                              A Good Christian

                                                                                                              I Love You / Free To Be Me

                                                                                                              Another much-needed repress from Surfin In Kansas. This one hanged ten just under three years ago and has since become one bodacious and highly sought after slice of beach grooving joy.

                                                                                                              "I Love You" samples The Gap Band's "Big Fun", extending the percussive breaks, doing away with all the smoochy vocal bits and upping the tempo jussst a tad before adding smatterings of extra piano goodness.

                                                                                                              On side B, Johnny Bristol 's "Love No Longer Has A Hold On Me" is reduced to a dubbed out vox and hefty raregroove lick; the Strat part chiming away over a foundation shaking b-line and manly horns. A hefty slab of soul which is perfectly snipped and tucked by A Good Christian.

                                                                                                              This repress won't hang around long - you have been warned! 


                                                                                                              TRACK LISTING

                                                                                                              A. I Love You
                                                                                                              B. Free To Be Me

                                                                                                              A Grape Dope

                                                                                                              Backyard Blenders: The Remixes (Inc. Four Tet / Laetitia Sadier / Jeff Parker / Roberto Carlos Remixes)

                                                                                                              A 4 song EP of remixes of songs from A Grape Dope's "Backyard Bangers" album. Featured remixers are Laetitia Sadier (of Stereolab), Four Tet, Jeff Parker (of Tortoise), and Roberto Carlos Lange (also known as Helado Negro).

                                                                                                              Laetitia Sadier adds an air of whimsy, holding your hand as she guides you through the enchanted woodland of “Rat’s It Up”.

                                                                                                              Jeff Parker's wobbly-refix reminds me of classic Derrick Carter! Shuffled and twisted to within an inch of toppling over; it's overlapping arpeggios, hushed robo-vox and multitude of intertwining melodies an overwhelming excursion into peak tech-house territory that'd make Suat squirm!

                                                                                                              Side B begins with a more relaxed, jazz-indebted affair, Roberto Carlos' remix of "You Don't Have To" a traditionally informed, though rhythmically challenging number comprised of dry drums, piano, bass and some echo-drenched SFX.

                                                                                                              Completing the record, Four Tet swirls the stems of "Rainbo Locals" into the stratosphere for a dizzying and highly elevating twist which seems destined to turn craniums inside out when unleashed on a mass of people.

                                                                                                              Nice set of remixes to compliment a very nice album indeed. 10 outta 10.




                                                                                                              TRACK LISTING

                                                                                                              1. Rats It’s Up (Laetitia Sadier Remix)
                                                                                                              2. Rats It's Up (Jeff Parker Remix)
                                                                                                              3. You Don't Have To (Roberto Carlos Lange Remix)
                                                                                                              4. Rainbo Locals (Four Tet Remix)

                                                                                                              "Mountain Debris" is the first full-length from A Grave With No Name, a haunting, bewitching history of the band thus far and a glimpse of the compelling future that awaits them A Grave With No Name have always mined their own distinctive vein of haunted, freaked folk/art rock, tracing delicate fissures in the emotional radiography of loss and longing to spellbinding effect. "Mountain Debris" collects together tracks from their (sold out) releases to date – the split 7" single with Natural Numbers and the self-titled EP, released earlier this year – and adds a slew of previously unheard recordings, to create a remarkably beautiful and cohesive whole, albeit one that always seems to be on the verge of imploding into itself, so rarefied and brittle is its beauty. But then, nothing about this record is remotely predictable. The fragile, windblown melodies of "The Sun Rises" and "And We Parted Ways At Mt Jade" open the album, only to be blown away by the stadium-sized guitars of "Sofia", which juxtaposes the galloping drums with AGWWN figurehead Alex Shields' odd, affecting refrain of 'pleased to meet you, I'm so sad'. Similarly, "Silver" roars out of the speakers with almost-anthemic immediacy and urgency, while elsewhere the trembling, piano-led "Underpass" sounds like the most moving song that Palace Music never wrote, and "Open Water" finds the band on fine, mischievous form. 16 songs long and yet still clocking in at just over half an hour, "Mountain Debris" is something of a small miracle.

                                                                                                              A Grave With No Name

                                                                                                              Whirlpool

                                                                                                              ‘Whirlpool’ completes a narrative trilogy of records for A Grave With No Name, beginning in 2009 with ‘Mountain Debris’, and continuing with 2011’s ‘Lower’. It’s a narrative that confronts the theme of loss, something which could be considered a well trodden path within popular music - yet Alex Shields, the songwriter behind A Grave With No Name, has managed to mine his own distinctive voice, tracing a delicate fissure in the emotional radiography of longing to spellbinding effect.

                                                                                                              This record has seen a more collaborative approach to song construction, with contributions from the likes of Linda Jarvis (Echo Lake), Akiko Matsuura (Comanechi) and Alanna McArdle (Ides).

                                                                                                              An album of contrasting beauty, from the hushed lullaby of ‘Bones’, to the euphoric glee of ‘Origami’, and the album’s opening song ‘Aurora’.

                                                                                                              TRACK LISTING

                                                                                                              (higher)
                                                                                                              Aurora
                                                                                                              Float
                                                                                                              Dig Me Out
                                                                                                              (lower)
                                                                                                              Six Months
                                                                                                              ‘73
                                                                                                              Bored Again
                                                                                                              Origami
                                                                                                              Bones
                                                                                                              Streams
                                                                                                              (lower 2)
                                                                                                              The Steps
                                                                                                              Balloons

                                                                                                              A Grave With No Name

                                                                                                              Whirlpool

                                                                                                              ‘Whirlpool’ completes a narrative trilogy of records for A Grave With No Name, beginning in 2009 with ‘Mountain Debris’, and continuing with 2011’s ‘Lower’. It’s a narrative that confronts the theme of loss, something which could be considered a well trodden path within popular music - yet Alex Shields, the songwriter behind A Grave With No Name, has managed to mine his own distinctive voice, tracing a delicate fissure in the emotional radiography of longing to spellbinding effect.

                                                                                                              This record has seen a more collaborative approach to song construction, with contributions from the likes of Linda Jarvis (Echo Lake), Akiko Matsuura (Comanechi) and Alanna McArdle (Ides).

                                                                                                              An album of contrasting beauty, from the hushed lullaby of ‘Bones’, to the euphoric glee of ‘Origami’, and the album’s opening song ‘Aurora’.

                                                                                                              TRACK LISTING

                                                                                                              (higher)
                                                                                                              Aurora
                                                                                                              Float
                                                                                                              Dig Me Out
                                                                                                              (lower)
                                                                                                              Six Months
                                                                                                              ‘73
                                                                                                              Bored Again
                                                                                                              Origami
                                                                                                              Bones
                                                                                                              Streams
                                                                                                              (lower 2)
                                                                                                              The Steps
                                                                                                              Balloons

                                                                                                              A Hawk And A Hacksaw

                                                                                                              Forest Bathing

                                                                                                                Forest Bathing, or Shinrin-yoku, is a term that means “taking in the forest atmosphere.” It was developed in Japan during the 1980s and has become a cornerstone of preventive health care and healing in Japanese medicine.

                                                                                                                “Taking in the forest atmosphere” became the inspiration for A Hawk and A Hacksaw’s newest album. Their forest bath of choice is the Valle De Oro National Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico. This new album features ten original compositions by Heather Trost and Jeremy Barnes. The opening track “Alexandria” features Barnes on the Persian Santur, an ancient hammer struck dulcimer, and Trost’s string and woodwind melodies. The composition evokes the long trader’s route between what is now Bulgaria and the wealthy cities of Istanbul and Alexandria.

                                                                                                                The band has always had a bird’s eye view of this part the world— looking for the connections between places and even eras: a belief in the power of music to reach across borders and unite. The band is based on the idea of collecting music and inspiration through travel. They are not of a place, but their music evokes places along a route. This is not urban music. It’s rural: songs of the woods and roads where there are no sidewalks or street lamps to light your way.

                                                                                                                While the bulk of the music heard on this record is played by Barnes and Trost, they do have some incredible guest performances, namely the clarinet virtouso Cüneyt Sepetçi, from Istanbul, Hungarian cimbalom master Unger Balász, and closer to home, Chicago trumpeter Sam Johnson, Deerhoof’s John Dieterich and Noah Martinez, of the band Lone Piñon.

                                                                                                                TRACK LISTING

                                                                                                                1. Alexandria
                                                                                                                2. A Broken Road Lined With Poplar Trees
                                                                                                                3. A Song For Old People / A Song For Young People
                                                                                                                4. The Shepherd Dogs Are Calling
                                                                                                                5. Night Sneaker
                                                                                                                6. The Magic Spring
                                                                                                                7. The Sky Is Blue, The Desert Is Yellow
                                                                                                                8. Babayaga
                                                                                                                9. The Washing Bear
                                                                                                                10. Bayati Maqam

                                                                                                                A Minor Forest

                                                                                                                Flemish Altruism / Inindependence

                                                                                                                  THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2014 EXCLUSIVE, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

                                                                                                                  Classic albums from the early days of Thrill Jockey.

                                                                                                                  Originally released in 1996/1998 - these have been out of print on vinyl for nearly a decade.

                                                                                                                  Both albums are being re-issued and will be sold as a 4xLP set.

                                                                                                                  ‘Flemish Altruism’ will feature new/updated artwork.

                                                                                                                  Both will include download coupons for the first time.

                                                                                                                  A Minor Forest recently reunited and played a very well received show in San Francisco (with a Bay Guardian cover story)

                                                                                                                  The band will tour the US in April & May of this year.

                                                                                                                  Limited to 60 copies for the UK and Ireland.

                                                                                                                  TRACK LISTING

                                                                                                                  Flemish Altruism
                                                                                                                  ...But The Pants Stay On
                                                                                                                  Bill's Mom Likes To Fuck
                                                                                                                  Ed Is 50
                                                                                                                  So Jesus Was At The Last Supper...
                                                                                                                  Jacking Off George Lucas
                                                                                                                  Speed For Gavin
                                                                                                                  Perform The Critical
                                                                                                                  Straw Transfer
                                                                                                                  Dainty Jack And His Amazing Technicolor Cloth Jacket
                                                                                                                  Beef Rigger
                                                                                                                  The Loneliest Enuretic

                                                                                                                  Inindependence
                                                                                                                  The Dutch Fist
                                                                                                                  Erik's Budding Romance
                                                                                                                  Look At That Car, It's Full Of Balloons
                                                                                                                  ... It's Salmon!
                                                                                                                  The Smell Of Hot
                                                                                                                  Michael Anthony
                                                                                                                  Discoier

                                                                                                                  Australian newcomer A Most Wanted Man joins with the Monologues Records family with a sumptuous debut EP that shows he's very much one to watch.

                                                                                                                  'Hep Cat' is a peppy, soulful slow-burner which gradually reveals a triumphant string sample, 'Voice From Above' is another buoyant beauty with feel-good strings and vocal cuts, and 'Importance Of The Hi-Hat' is a more stripped-back slice of warm deep deep house.

                                                                                                                  Fellow fast-rising Aussie, Jad & The, pursues his passion for tonking breakbeats on his remix of the latter, making for a spooky, mysterious workout.

                                                                                                                  TRACK LISTING

                                                                                                                  A1 Hep Cat
                                                                                                                  A2 Importance Of A Hi-Hat
                                                                                                                  B1 Voices From Above
                                                                                                                  B2 Importance Of A Hi-Hat (Jad & The ‘Kaos’ Remix)

                                                                                                                  A Mountain Of One return to the musical landscape with their brand new track “Custard’s Last Stand” on newly minted label Amore. It is the first new piece of music the band have released in over a decade.

                                                                                                                  ”Custard’s Last Stand” shows the band, made up of musical soulmates Mo Morris and Zeben Jameson, have lost nothing in the past decade. Recorded over Skype during the coronavirus pandemic, with Mo now in Bali and Zeben in west London, it is a shimmering, modern classic, experimental but accessible, melodic and adventurous. As ever, it is utterly unique, made in a musical universe all of their own. Spheric bass bounces out the speakers, electronics whoosh and swirl and folkish guitar? Banjo? Mandolin? strums away giddily. It's good to have them back.



                                                                                                                  TRACK LISTING

                                                                                                                  A1. Custards Last Stand
                                                                                                                  A2. Custards Last Stand (Instrumental)
                                                                                                                  B1. Stars Planets Dust Me

                                                                                                                  A Mountain Of One enlist UK dub legend Denis Bovell to remix “Custard’s Last Stand”. True to dub music's evolving and technically advanced ethos, Denis' more recent output has been much more experimental and electronically guided than the traditional dub crafted by the original pioneers.

                                                                                                                  This release is no exception as the producer naturally takes to the strewn-out, long form nature of A Mountain Of One, drawing "Custard's Last Stand" into a psychedelic-prog-dub epic - throwing the entire stems through a vibrating dub delay, allowing huge waves of strings and choir vox to crash onto our ears and pushing to the foreground those buzzing lysergic synth lines that burrow right into our cranium.

                                                                                                                  Inna typical style we get a vocal and instrumental version; both awash with echo chamber dreaminess and presenting themselves as hi-definition tapestries for the rig. It's an exceptional outing from Bovell, and yet more reasons to love one of the best Balearic-soft-rock bands in recent history. Recommended! 


                                                                                                                  STAFF COMMENTS

                                                                                                                  Martin says: I've been really feeling Bovell's recent direction. Ditching the traditional tropes of original dub and tuning himself into the mixing board for a fresh take on the echo chamber.

                                                                                                                  TRACK LISTING

                                                                                                                  A. Custard's Last Stand (DUBfinity Version)
                                                                                                                  AA. Custard's Last Stand (DUBfinity Vocal Version)

                                                                                                                  A Place To Bury Strangers

                                                                                                                  Don't Turn The Radio / This Is All For You

                                                                                                                    "The Sevens" a series of four 7-inch vinyl records that unveil a treasure trove of previously unreleased tracks from A Place To Bury Strangers' critically acclaimed 6th album, "See Through You"

                                                                                                                    Renowned for their visceral sonic assault and immersive live performances, A Place To Bury Strangers has cemented the end-all-be-all space for over-the-top post- punk / shoegaze destruction. With this special vinyl collection, the band invites listeners to delve deeper into their sonic universe, exploring uncharted territories and hidden gems. Don't Turn The Radio / This Is All For You is the third release.

                                                                                                                    "When looking back at the recordings that were done around the time of See Through You there were a bunch of great tracks that just captured life back then and really had something incredible going on. Even though they are a bit raw and a bit personal, I thought it would be a mistake if they didn't come out. I thought it would be best to go back to my roots and put out a series of 7"s the way A Place To Bury Strangers started. That strange weird format where the tracks each speak for themselves, no album context to muddy the water. These tracks are such a contrast to the way I am feeling now and the current songs we've been working on so slip back into this moment in time." says APTBS' Oliver Ackermann.

                                                                                                                    TRACK LISTING

                                                                                                                    Don't Turn The Radio
                                                                                                                    This Is All For You

                                                                                                                    A Place To Bury Strangers

                                                                                                                    Hologram - Destroyed & Reassembled (Remix Album) - Black Friday Edition

                                                                                                                      AVAILABLE ONLINE ON SATURDAY NOVEMBER 27TH FROM 8AM.

                                                                                                                      LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.


                                                                                                                      Hologram: Destroyed & Reassembled White Vinyl LP will be an LP of Remixes of A Place To Bury Strangers upcoming EP Hologram.

                                                                                                                      Featuring an awesome group of bands including Girl Band, Penelope Isles, Do Nothing, Bodega, Weeping Icon, Ganser, Ceremony East Coast, plus bands from our label including Randy Randall (No Age), Data Animal, Jealous, Plattenbau & more and two of our favorite remixers Grimoose & The Bodies Obtained.

                                                                                                                      TRACK LISTING

                                                                                                                      End Of The Night (Data Animal Remix)
                                                                                                                      I Might Have (Plattenbau Remix)
                                                                                                                      I Need You (Grimoose Remix)
                                                                                                                      In My Hive (Ceremony East Coast Remix)
                                                                                                                      End Of The Night (The Bodies Obtained Remix)
                                                                                                                      In My Hive (Jealous Remix)
                                                                                                                      End Of The Night (Daniel Fox/Girl Band Remix)
                                                                                                                      Playing The Part (Penelope Isles Remix)
                                                                                                                      I Might Have (Randy Randall Remix)
                                                                                                                      Playing The Part (Bodgea Ben Remix)
                                                                                                                      In My Hive (Do Nothing Remix)
                                                                                                                      Playing The Part (Weeping Icon Remix)
                                                                                                                      I Need You (Ganser Remix)

                                                                                                                      A Place To Bury Strangers

                                                                                                                      Onwards To The Wall

                                                                                                                        ‘Onwards To The Wall’ packs every bit of the searing sonic maelstrom listeners have come to expect from A Place To Bury Strangers. Yet, the adroit songcraft that’s always been there is brought more the fore, pop hooks are repurposed and more instantly recognizable.

                                                                                                                        Now joined by bassist Dion Lunadon, formerly of The D4, in whom the band have found a crucial companion in pulling timeless melodies from their jet engine textures.

                                                                                                                        Standout ‘So Far Away’ takes all the pure pop perfection of The Box Tops’ ‘The Letter’ and shoots it through with a barely-harnessed dark energy and snarling propulsion. The title track carries a similar balance of classic, 60s pop hooks and doomed-out vibes, employing a boy-girl vocal trade off that’s at once both sexy and menacing.

                                                                                                                        A handful of contemporary bands are currently exploring the new limits of loud. And here, A Place To Bury Strangers prove that they have not only been leading that charge for some time now, but that they are also evolving and maturing on those front lines.

                                                                                                                        ‘Onwards To The Wall’ is a fresh, complete artistic statement. It’s a new chapter, a prelude for what awaits on the horizon. It is a taste of greatness to come.

                                                                                                                        A Place To Bury Strangers

                                                                                                                        Synthesizer

                                                                                                                          'Synthesizer' is the title of A Place to Bury Strangers' seventh album.

                                                                                                                          It is also a physical entity, a synthesizer made specifically for A Place to Bury Strangers' seventh album. 'Synthesizer' is a record that celebrates sounds that are spontaneous and natural, the kind of music that can only come from collaboration and community. It now features a fully collaborative new lineup, with John and Sandra Fedowitz. That spirit of reinvention is all over the record.

                                                                                                                          TRACK LISTING

                                                                                                                          Disgust
                                                                                                                          Don't Be Sorry
                                                                                                                          Fear Of Transformation
                                                                                                                          Join The Crowd
                                                                                                                          Bad Idea
                                                                                                                          You Got Me
                                                                                                                          Its Too Much
                                                                                                                          Plastic Future
                                                                                                                          Have You Ever Been In Love
                                                                                                                          Comfort Never Comes

                                                                                                                          A Place To Bury Strangers

                                                                                                                          Worship

                                                                                                                            A Place To Bury Strangers’ new album is explosive, visceral, and dark.

                                                                                                                            Coming off the back of their hugely well received ‘Onwards To The Wall’ EP (their first release for new label Dead Oceans), this is the album that they have been promising and hinting at on their previous two.

                                                                                                                            More dynamic, more honest, more brutal and more melodic.

                                                                                                                            A Place To Bury Strangers

                                                                                                                            You'll Be There For Me / When You're Gone

                                                                                                                              Introducing "The Sevens" - A Sonic Revelation from A Place To Bury Strangers Prepare to embark on a transcendent auditory journey with "The Sevens" a series of four 7-inch vinyl records that unveil a treasure trove of previously unreleased tracks from A Place To Bury Strangers' critically acclaimed 6th album, "See Through You"

                                                                                                                              Renowned for their visceral sonic assault and immersive live performances, A Place To Bury Strangers has cemented the end-all-be-all space for over-the-top post- punk / shoegaze destruction. With this special vinyl collection, the band invites listeners to delve deeper into their sonic universe, exploring uncharted territories and hidden gems. You'll Be There For Me/ When You're Gone is the fourth release.

                                                                                                                              "When looking back at the recordings that were done around the time of See Through You there were a bunch of great tracks that just captured life back then and really had something incredible going on. Even though they are a bit raw and a bit personal, I thought it would be a mistake if they didn't come out. I thought it would be best to go back to my roots and put out a series of 7"s the way A Place To Bury Strangers started. That strange weird format where the tracks each speak for themselves, no album context to muddy the water. These tracks are such a contrast to the way I am feeling now and the current songs we've been working on so slip back into this moment in time." says APTBS' Oliver Ackermann.

                                                                                                                              TRACK LISTING

                                                                                                                              1. You'll Be There For Me
                                                                                                                              2. When You're Gone

                                                                                                                              Psychic Yes and Tech Startup founder Rafael fortuitously met on a Berlin dance floor in late 2017. A long period of digital correspondence followed between Berlin and Seattle, culminating in the inaugural release of the Seattle-based Tech Startup label: "TS000001". The project is comprised of 5 tracks built up from initial recordings of percussion, trumpet, and synthesizers honed into drum-focused dance pieces in the melancholy Berlin winter of 2018. Split in function between the two sides, Side A features dancefloor-ready tracks with Side B containing introspective songs geared towards a home-listening environment.

                                                                                                                              Field recordings of Scottish stone slates mark the opening track "Stone Sound", a tribal-leaning dancefloor cut highlighted by syncopated, pounding percussion and discreet melodies. "Spacemaker" features organic, sparse breakbeats cloaked in bright, hazy melodies. "Delicated" is a track that delights as a series of melodic characters move around one another in a foggy electronic atmosphere. "Aldhini Theme" emerges as the standout track on Side B commencing with undulating sequenced bloops and bleeps that slowly build into a hypnotic slow-burner that resolves on a melody.


                                                                                                                              TRACK LISTING

                                                                                                                              A1. Stone Sound
                                                                                                                              A2. Spacemaker
                                                                                                                              B1. Delicated
                                                                                                                              B2. Aldhini Theme
                                                                                                                              B3. 12059

                                                                                                                              A Storm Of Light

                                                                                                                              And We Wept The Black Ocean Within

                                                                                                                                Debut release from Brooklyn, NY trio A Storm Of Light featuring Josh Graham (Neurosis, Blood And Time, Battle Of Mice and formerly Red Sparowes). Graham is joined on the album by bassist/vocalist Domenic Seita (ex-Tombs, ex-Asea) and drummer Pete Angevine of Satanized. Since this recording, rhythmic pugilist extraordinaire Vincent Signorelli (Unsane, ex-Swans) has signed on as second drummer. As you'd guess by the pedigree, A Storm Of Light is brutally hard-hitting. However, the group's haunting harmonic drone meshing guitar, vocals and subtle keyboard layers gives listeners a sense of slow suffocation in waves of noise rather than straightforward pummelling. Aided by master engineer Joel Hamilton (Book Of Knots, Battle Of Mice), Graham's slack-tuned guitar rumbles and groans while subtle keyboard lines and Seita's bass slither throughout the lowest ranges of the musical scale. Angevine's lunging rhythms add crashing and propulsive heft. The vocals sound as intricately layered as the other instruments, often sounding unclear how many voices are adding to the harmony... guitar notes, voices, synth chords all blur into a wash that quite suitably evokes a sense of deep sea water pressure.

                                                                                                                                A Sunny Day In Glasgow

                                                                                                                                Sea When Absent

                                                                                                                                  It's been a while, but A Sunny Day in Glasgow are back with Sea When Absent, their third proper album. Sea When Absent situates itself in the science fiction that is life in 2014 and goes looking for what new myths might speak to us in our post-Fukushima, post-quantum, post-everything world.

                                                                                                                                  Recorded over a year and half with Jeff Zeigler (War on Drugs, Kurt Vile) at his Uniform Recording Studios in Eraserhood Philadelphia, the album is a conscious move away from the bright-dark, ambient maximalism of the band's acclaimed double LP, Ashes Grammar, and a move towards a post-millennial, up-front pop sound. Sea When Absent is simultaneously A Sunny Day in Glasgow at their most accessible, most insane, and most rock.

                                                                                                                                  “Sea When Absent has the quality of one of those spectacularly bright summer days when the color in everything seems a little over-saturated, and it induces the same dizzy, woozy feeling you get after staring directly at the sun. Play it loud enough to see spots.” - Pitchfork.

                                                                                                                                  A Tribe Called Quest

                                                                                                                                  Beats, Rhymes & Life - 2025 Reissue

                                                                                                                                    'Beats, Rhymes and Life' is the fourth studio album by American hip hop group A Tribe Called Quest. Released on July 30, 1996, it followed three years after the highly regarded and successful 'Midnight Marauders'. Produced by The Ummah, the album is a departure from the joyful, positive vibe of the group's earlier albums and is regarded as their darkest album in content.

                                                                                                                                    TRACK LISTING

                                                                                                                                    1. Phony Rappers
                                                                                                                                    2. Get A Hold
                                                                                                                                    3. Motivators
                                                                                                                                    4. The Jam
                                                                                                                                    5. Crew
                                                                                                                                    6. The Pressure
                                                                                                                                    7. 1nce Again
                                                                                                                                    8. Mind Power
                                                                                                                                    9. The Hop
                                                                                                                                    10. Keeping It Moving
                                                                                                                                    11. Baby Phife's Return
                                                                                                                                    12. Separate/Together
                                                                                                                                    13. What Really Goes On
                                                                                                                                    14. Word Play
                                                                                                                                    15. Stressed Out

                                                                                                                                    A Tribe Called Quest

                                                                                                                                    Hits, Rarities & Remixes - 2025 Reissue

                                                                                                                                      'Hits, Rarities & Remixes' is a compilation album by A Tribe Called Quest. Featuring at the time two previously unreleased songs ('Mr. Incognito' and 'The Night He Got Caught'), as well as remixes and some of the group's more familiar songs, it also contains songs that were featured in movie soundtracks.

                                                                                                                                      TRACK LISTING

                                                                                                                                      1. Oh My God [Remix]
                                                                                                                                      2. Award Tour (featuring Trugoy)
                                                                                                                                      3. Can I Kick It?
                                                                                                                                      4. One Two Shit (featuring Busta Rhymes)
                                                                                                                                      5. Electric Relaxation
                                                                                                                                      6. Mr. Incognito
                                                                                                                                      7. I Left My Wallet In El Segundo
                                                                                                                                      8. Check The Rhime
                                                                                                                                      9. Lyrics To Go [Tumblin' Dice Remix]
                                                                                                                                      10. Scenario (featuring Leaders Of The New School)
                                                                                                                                      11. Same Ol' Thing (from Men In Black: The Album)
                                                                                                                                      12. Buggin' Out
                                                                                                                                      13. Bonita Applebum
                                                                                                                                      14. Jazz (We've Got)
                                                                                                                                      15. Glamour & Glitz (from The Show Soundtrack)
                                                                                                                                      16. Clap Your Hands
                                                                                                                                      17. The Night He Got Caught
                                                                                                                                      18. Peace, Prosperity & Paper (from High School High Soundtrack)

                                                                                                                                      A Tribe Called Quest

                                                                                                                                      Midnight Marauders - Vinyl Reissue

                                                                                                                                      The third and last of the 'classic' Tribe records (preceding the addition of Jay Dee and the formation of the Ummah production team), "Midnight Marauders" sees the group at their most musically sophisticated, marrying the distinctive Tribe sound with groundbreaking sampling and adventurous rhymes. The logical evolution of the bop-influenced hooks which characterized "Low End Theory", "...Marauders" seemlessly balances jazz, soul and reggae influences with pure golden age hip hop, graduating from a cool school aesthetic to an electric jazz sound (reminiscent of fusion-era Miles Davis). Lyrically "Midnight Marauders" finds the group's abstract poetics in excellent form as usual, and Phife is miles ahead of the 'mayor-flavor' rhymes of "Can I Kick It." As per the title, the album develops the introspection of "After Hours" into a nocturnal feel which winds its way through "Midnight," the party-rock of "We Can Get Down," "Clap Your Hands" and the complex layers of "God Lives Through." No review of this LP would be complete without a moment in tribute to the majesty of the Ronnie Foster sampling "Electric Relaxation", a flawless cut which sees Q-Tip and Phife Dawg trading killer bars with effortless flow. All in all, a true classic from back in the day, which no home should be without.

                                                                                                                                      TRACK LISTING

                                                                                                                                      Midnight Marauders Tour Guide
                                                                                                                                      Steve Biko (Stir It Up)
                                                                                                                                      Award Tour
                                                                                                                                      8 Million Stories
                                                                                                                                      Sucka Nigga
                                                                                                                                      Midnight
                                                                                                                                      We Can Get Down
                                                                                                                                      Electric Relaxation
                                                                                                                                      Clap Your Hands
                                                                                                                                      Oh My God
                                                                                                                                      Keep It Rollin'
                                                                                                                                      The Chase (Part II)
                                                                                                                                      Lyrics To Go
                                                                                                                                      God Lives Through

                                                                                                                                      A Tribe Called Quest

                                                                                                                                      People's Instinctive Travels And The Paths Of Rhythm - 25th Anniversary Edition

                                                                                                                                      One year after De la Soul re-drew the map for alternative rap, fellow Native Tongues brothers A Tribe Called Quest released their debut, the quiet beginning of a revolution in non-commercial hip-hop. People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm floated a few familiar hooks, but it wasn't a sampladelic record. Rappers Q-Tip and Phife Dawg dropped a few clunky rhymes, but their lyrics were packed with ideas, while their flow and interplay were among the most original in hip-hop. From the beginning, Tribe focused on intelligent message tracks but rarely sounded over-serious about them. Includes "Can I Kick It?", "Bonita Applebum", "I Left My Wallet In El Segundo", "Description Of A Fool", "Luck Of Lucien" etc.

                                                                                                                                      TRACK LISTING

                                                                                                                                      1. Push It Along 7:42
                                                                                                                                      2. Luck Of Lucien 4:32
                                                                                                                                      3. After Hours 4:39
                                                                                                                                      4. Footprints 4:00
                                                                                                                                      5. I Left My Wallet In El Segundo 4:06
                                                                                                                                      6. Pubic Enemy 3:45
                                                                                                                                      7. Bonita Applebum 3:50
                                                                                                                                      8. Can I Kick It 4:12
                                                                                                                                      9. Youthful Expression 4:52
                                                                                                                                      10. Rhythm (Devoted To The Art Of Moving Butts) 4:01
                                                                                                                                      11. Mr. Muhammad 3:33
                                                                                                                                      12. Ham ’n’ Eggs 5:27
                                                                                                                                      13. Go Ahead In The Rain 3:58
                                                                                                                                      14. Description Of A Fool 5:42

                                                                                                                                      A Tribe Called Quest

                                                                                                                                      Scenario

                                                                                                                                        All-time classic hip-hop of the highest possible grade from A Tribe Called Quest, featuring that verse from Busta Rhymes. Replica reissue of the prized, Germany-only 7” from 1992, cut loud.

                                                                                                                                        TRACK LISTING

                                                                                                                                        Scenario (Album Version)
                                                                                                                                        Scenario (Young Nation Mix)

                                                                                                                                        A Tribe Called Quest

                                                                                                                                        The Anthology - 2024 Reissue

                                                                                                                                          A Tribe Called Quest weren't rap's biggest hit makers, but their signature numbers indeed fill this collection with style, eclecticism, and laid-back but deliberate flow; indeed, the group's stature seems to have grown since its 1998 breakup. The continued importance of their music and ideals for many hip-hop fans will only be enhanced by Anthology's 18 tracks (Q-Tip's recent hit "Vivrant Thing," from the Violator album is a bonus track).

                                                                                                                                          Those unfamiliar with Tribe's achievement should have their heads and booties set into motion by the fellas' many moods, from the playful "Check the Rhime" and "I Left My Wallet in El Segundo" to trenchant commentaries such as "Description of a Fool" and "Sucka Nigga." And with its inclusion here, the somewhat rare and all-the-way out "If the Papes Come" will doubtless re-establish itself as an underground favourite.​

                                                                                                                                          TRACK LISTING

                                                                                                                                          Side A
                                                                                                                                          Check The Rhime
                                                                                                                                          Bonita Applebum
                                                                                                                                          Award Tour
                                                                                                                                          Can I Kick It?
                                                                                                                                          Scenario

                                                                                                                                          Side B
                                                                                                                                          Buggin' Out
                                                                                                                                          If The Papes Come
                                                                                                                                          Electric Relaxation
                                                                                                                                          Jazz (We've Got)
                                                                                                                                          I Left My Wallet In El Segundo

                                                                                                                                          Side C
                                                                                                                                          Hot Sex
                                                                                                                                          Oh My God
                                                                                                                                          Stressed Out
                                                                                                                                          Luck Of Lucien
                                                                                                                                          Description Of A Fool

                                                                                                                                          Side D
                                                                                                                                          Keeping It Moving
                                                                                                                                          Find A Way
                                                                                                                                          Sucka Nigga
                                                                                                                                          Vivrant Thing

                                                                                                                                          A Tribe Called Quest

                                                                                                                                          The Love Movement - 2023 Reissue

                                                                                                                                            The Love Movement" stands as A Tribe Called Quest's fifth studio album. It was initially launched on September 29, 1998, under the Jive Records label. This album is a concept masterpiece delving into the theme of love through its 15 album tracks and 6 bonus tracks, spread across 3 LPs. Notable singles from the album include "Find A Way" and "Hot Sex".

                                                                                                                                            TRACK LISTING

                                                                                                                                            DISC 1 - LP - Side A
                                                                                                                                            Start It Up
                                                                                                                                            Find Away
                                                                                                                                            Da Booty
                                                                                                                                            DISC 2 - LP - Side B
                                                                                                                                            Steppin’ It Up
                                                                                                                                            Like It Like That
                                                                                                                                            Common Ground
                                                                                                                                            4 Moms
                                                                                                                                            His Name Is Mutty Ranks
                                                                                                                                            DISC 2 - LP - Side A
                                                                                                                                            Give Me
                                                                                                                                            Pad & Pen
                                                                                                                                            Busta’s Lament
                                                                                                                                            Hot 4 U
                                                                                                                                            DISC 2 - LP - Side B
                                                                                                                                            Against The World
                                                                                                                                            The Love
                                                                                                                                            Rock Rock Ya’ll
                                                                                                                                            DISC 3 - LP - Side A
                                                                                                                                            Scenario (Remix)
                                                                                                                                            Money Maker
                                                                                                                                            Hot Sex
                                                                                                                                            DISC 3 - LP - Side B
                                                                                                                                            Oh My God
                                                                                                                                            Jazzy (We’ve Got) (Re-recording)
                                                                                                                                            One Two Sh*t

                                                                                                                                            A Tribe Called Quest

                                                                                                                                            The Low End Theory - 2024 Reissue

                                                                                                                                              In 1991, A Tribe Called Quest released The Low End Theory, a groundbreaking album that solidified their status as hip-hop legends. Building on the jazz-infused sound of their debut, the album featured sparse grooves and expertly chosen bass samples, with jazz bassist Ron Carter contributing to 'Verses from the Abstract.' DJ Ali Shaheed Muhammad's minimalistic approach allowed Q-Tip and Phife Dawg's lyrical prowess to shine, showcasing their clever wordplay, humor, and social commentary. Tracks like 'Butter' and 'The Infamous Date Rape' addressed misogyny, while 'Rap Promoter' and 'Show Business' critiqued the music industry.

                                                                                                                                              The album's production is consistently smooth, with standout tracks such as 'Check The Rhime' and 'Jazz (We've Got).' The posse cut 'Scenario,' featuring Leaders of the New School, is a legendary closer. The album's influence on hip-hop is undeniable, inspiring future artists like Kendrick Lamar and Outkast. The Low End Theory remains relevant and refreshing, a testament to Tribe's creativity and unflappable style. It's a masterful blend of thought-provoking lyrics and impeccable production, making it one of the greatest hip-hop albums of all time.

                                                                                                                                              STAFF COMMENTS

                                                                                                                                              Matt says: It can be disheartening sometimes to see just how far hip-hop has diverged from its original themes and message. Against a backdrop of regression, with violence and misogyny seemingly rife amongst current drill and trap styles; ‘The Low End Theory’ serves as a consistent reminder of the genre’s positive, innovative and socially-engaging roots.

                                                                                                                                              TRACK LISTING

                                                                                                                                              Side A
                                                                                                                                              Excursions
                                                                                                                                              Buggin' Out
                                                                                                                                              Rap Promoter
                                                                                                                                              Butter

                                                                                                                                              Side B
                                                                                                                                              Verses From The Abstract
                                                                                                                                              Show Business
                                                                                                                                              Vibes And Stuff

                                                                                                                                              Side C
                                                                                                                                              Infamous Date Rape
                                                                                                                                              Check The Rhime
                                                                                                                                              Everything Is Fair

                                                                                                                                              Side D
                                                                                                                                              Jazz (We've Got)
                                                                                                                                              Skypager
                                                                                                                                              What?
                                                                                                                                              Scenario

                                                                                                                                              A Tribe Called Quest

                                                                                                                                              We Got It From Here... Thank You 4 Your Service

                                                                                                                                              Just when it looked like The Avalanches had the 'unlikely comeback of the year' award sewn up, legendary hip hop ensemble A Tribe Called Quest return with their first album in eighteen years, months after the death of group member Phife Dawg. Recorded at Q-Tip's home studio after the group's reunion on Jimmy Fallon, the set sees Q-Tip, Phife and Jarobi swapping the mic at will, exchanging couplets and finishing each other's lines like they'd never been apart. Musically, "We Got It From Here..." finds the group flipping their well loved jazz samples into contemporary arrangements alive with collaborative performances from a whole host of A-list guests, while the free flowing lyrics meditate on culture, sociology and the total shit show which is US politics. As a longtime fan of ATCQ, I'd have been happy with a decent rehash of their early nineties stylings, but "We Got It From Here" excels with modern production and pointed subject matter, serving up a stinging critique of society's ills over the most infectious grooves. Simply put, it's a masterpiece.

                                                                                                                                              TRACK LISTING

                                                                                                                                              1. The Space Program
                                                                                                                                              2. We The People...
                                                                                                                                              3. Whateva Will Be
                                                                                                                                              4. Solid Wall Of Sound
                                                                                                                                              5. Dis Generation
                                                                                                                                              6. Kids... 
                                                                                                                                              7. Melatonin
                                                                                                                                              8. Enough!!
                                                                                                                                              9. Mobius
                                                                                                                                              10. Black Spasmodic
                                                                                                                                              11. The Killing Season
                                                                                                                                              12. Lost Somebody
                                                                                                                                              13. Movin Backwards
                                                                                                                                              14. Conrad Tokyo
                                                                                                                                              15. Ego
                                                                                                                                              16. The Donald

                                                                                                                                              A Trifle Too Far

                                                                                                                                              Catch Your Ear

                                                                                                                                              Mint Condition - A record label focused on excavating the outer fringes of classic house and techno. Unreleased mixes, classics, overlooked gems and never heard before material, mined from the last 30+ years of contemporary dance music are the order of the day. From Chicago, Detroit and New York to London, Nottingham and beyond. Mint Condition have got their digging hats on to bring you exclusive heat and those rarer than rare jams that have been in your wants list for years. Dig in!

                                                                                                                                              Forged in the fertile acid house scene of the late 80s, A Trifle Too Far comprises childhood friends Simon Ward and Tony Grimley from Hornchurch, on London's outer fringes in Essex. Their insatiable thirst for seeking out new sounds led them to countless shindigs, parties and raves, eventually inspiring them to craft their own music based on their adventures on the dancefloor.

                                                                                                                                              Their studio collaboration culminated in the creation of the remarkable record you currently hold in your hands: 'Catch Your Ear / Meringueatang'. This two-track release, recorded in 1992, offers forward-thinking and fresh prog-house cuts, as rare as hen's teeth and as exhilarating as they were upon their original release over three decades ago. Catch Your Ear was expertly engineered by Evren Omer, boss of Essex-based techno bunker Strategy Records, while Meringueatang was helmed by Matt Clayden, one half of M&M and Acorn Arts and the proprietor of X-Gate Records, another stalwart in Essex's underground dance scene.

                                                                                                                                              'Catch Your Ear / Meringueatang' remains the only musical collaboration between the duo. When Mint Condition approached them to reissue this highly sought-after EP, both Simon and Tony were surprised and delighted in equal measure by the proposition. Now, a few months down the line, we find ourselves with yet another top-tier addition to the MC reissue catalogue, fully licensed from the artists, mastered and cut by Keith Tenniswood at Curve Pusher, and available once again for purchase. Do not resist the beat!

                                                                                                                                              TRACK LISTING

                                                                                                                                              A. Catch Your Ear
                                                                                                                                              B. Meringueatang 

                                                                                                                                              Portugal's multi-talented, genre-hopping Star Creature, AVOP is back on the label for another round of musical musings.

                                                                                                                                              As usual, he forays into soulful, retro-tinged boogie, house and US garage stylings; setting swing to maximum and deploying a trusted array of synths and drum boxes to conjure up his paradisical leanings. Four vocal tracks with three corresponding instrumentals (excluding "Ear Dreaming") with "Desires" and "Show Me" treading more housey vibes than the boogie flavours present on "Ear Dreaming" and "Purple". It's rich and thick like honey, drizzled in soul and unequivicolly moving. He's lost none of the splendor and transportive bliss that's been a constant throughout his catalogue. Top drawer stuff for lovers of innocent and pure dance music. 

                                                                                                                                              STAFF COMMENTS

                                                                                                                                              Matt says: Nice old school flavoured selection of house and boogie from the delectable A Vision Of Panorama. It ain't reinventing the wheel but it is keeping us bouncing and grooving well into the night time!

                                                                                                                                              TRACK LISTING

                                                                                                                                              Desires (feat Sykes) 
                                                                                                                                              Show Me (feat Stacie G)
                                                                                                                                              Ear Dreamin' 
                                                                                                                                              Purple 
                                                                                                                                              Desires (Insturmental) 
                                                                                                                                              Show Me (Insturmental)
                                                                                                                                              Purple (Insturmental) 

                                                                                                                                              A Winged Victory For The Sullen

                                                                                                                                              A Winged Victory For The Sullen

                                                                                                                                              'A Winged Victory For The Sullen' is the first installment of the new collaboration between Stars Of The Lid member Adam Wiltzie and L.A. composer Dustin O'Halloran. The duo agreed to leave the comfort zone of their home studios and develop the recordings with the help of large acoustic spaces, hunting down a selection of 9ft grand pianos that had the ability to deliver extreme sonic low end. Other traditional instrumentation was used including string quartet, French horn, and bassoon, but always juxtaposed is the sound of drifting guitar washed melodies.

                                                                                                                                              The recordings began with one late night session in the famed Grunewald Church in Berlin on a 1950s imperial Bösendorfer piano and strings were added in the historic East Berlin DDR radio studios along the River Spree. One last session on a handmade Fazioli piano in a private studio on the Northern cusp of Italy, before the final mixes took place in a 17th century villa near Ferrara with the assistance of Francesco Donadello. All songs were then processed completely analogue straight to magnetic tape. Their secret to harvesting new melodic structures from the thin air of existence was for the duo to push themselves to dangerous territory, realising that clear thinking at the wrong moment could stifle the compositions.

                                                                                                                                              The final result is seven landscapes of harmonic ingemination. In 'Requiem For The Static King Part One' - created in memory of the untimely passing of Mark Linkous - they have taken the age-old idea of a string quartet and then shot it out of a cannon to reveal exquisite new levels of sonic bliss. Of the 13 minute track 'Symphony Pathétique', Wiltzie says 'after almost 20 years of struggling to create interesting ambient drone music, I feel like I have finally figured out what I am doing'. Notable guest musicians include Icelandic cellist Hildur Gudnadottir, as well as Erased Tapes label comrade Peter Broderick on violin. A Winged Victory For The Sullen is not a side project - it is the future of the late night record you have always dreamed of.


                                                                                                                                              STAFF COMMENTS

                                                                                                                                              Martin says: The coming together of Stars Of the Lid and Dustin O'Hallaran is a happy marriage of the sweeping, contemplative drones of the former and the filigree piano led delicacy of the latter. An exquisite and meditative neoclassical wonder.

                                                                                                                                              A Winged Victory For The Sullen

                                                                                                                                              Atomos

                                                                                                                                              Adam Wiltzie and Dustin O’Halloran return with their second studio album inspired by contemporary dance and new instrumentation.

                                                                                                                                              After releasing a first glimpse in the form of the ‘Atomos VII’ EP earlier this year, A Winged Victory For The Sullen finally reveal their second full-length album entitled ‘Atomos’, which besides familiar piano, string and drone sounds also sees the duo introduce flurries of electronics, harp and modular synthesisers.

                                                                                                                                              In 2011 A Winged Victory For The Sullen introduced themselves to the world with a self-titled album, showcasing their unique collaboration of ambient guitar drone from Stars Of The Lid member Adam Bryanbaum Wiltzie and sparse piano tunes by contemporary classical composer Dustin O’Halloran, winning them fans around the world. "An immersive, and inevitably cinematic, ambient gem" ★★★★ – Mojo

                                                                                                                                              Wayne McGregor, founder of Random Dance Company and resident choreographer at the Royal Ballet, was one of these fans and chose to play the album repeatedly during practices with his core group of dancers. After noticing the group's reaction with the music, he contacted Adam and Dustin to see if they could write the score for his new oeuvre. The duo were given complete artistic freedom and they treated the score with the same care and attention as their debut album. They recorded more than sixty minutes of music over a four-month period during the summer of 2013 across studios in Brussels, Berlin and Reykjavik, with the help of their long time collaborative sound engineer Francesco Donadello. During the recording process they realised, that this would become their official second studio album. McGregor provided them with the inspiration to expand their sound palette into more electronic territory, whilst keeping their signature chamber sound, resulting in a very unique record.

                                                                                                                                              IN THEIR OWN WORDS:
                                                                                                                                              “As a wise man once said, one who procrastinates their own choosing will inevitably have their choice served to them by circumstance. We had virtually no time for second guessing ourselves. That being said, we tried to balance the discordance between being creative, and fulfilling our duties for a commissioned soundtrack with a very strict deadline, and all the while staying true to our collective melancholy.” – Adam Bryanbaum Wiltzie

                                                                                                                                              “We never imagined 2013 would be such an explosively creative year. The first record took us two years from start to finish, but in the micro span of time over last summer we were able to change the formula for the way we write, record, and let go. It was incredibly liberating.” – Dustin O'Halloran.

                                                                                                                                              TRACK LISTING

                                                                                                                                              1. Atomos I
                                                                                                                                              2. Atomos II
                                                                                                                                              3. Atomos III
                                                                                                                                              4. Atomos V
                                                                                                                                              5. Atomos VI
                                                                                                                                              6. Atomos VII
                                                                                                                                              7. Atomos VIII
                                                                                                                                              8. Atomos IX
                                                                                                                                              9. Atomos X
                                                                                                                                              10. Atomos XI
                                                                                                                                              11. Atomos XII

                                                                                                                                              A Winged Victory For The Sullen

                                                                                                                                              Atomos VII

                                                                                                                                                Erased Tapes are pleased to announce the release of A Winged Victory for the Sullen's ‘ATOMOS VII’. The first installment leading up to the release of the second full length studio album 'ATOMOS', and score for choreographer Wayne McGregor's long form dance piece.

                                                                                                                                                McGregor was heavily influenced by the duo's 2011 self-titled debut, playing it repeatedly during practices with his core group of dancers. After noticing the group's reaction with the music, he contacted Adam and Dustin to see if they could write the score for his new oeuvre. The duo recorded more than sixty minutes of music over a four-month period during the summer of 2013 in Brussels, Berlin and Reykjavik with the help of their longtime collaborative sound engineer Francesco Donadello. This EP also sees the involvement of Ben Frost, who composed the music for McGregor’s previous work 'Far'.

                                                                                                                                                McGregor, mastermind behind the Random Dance Company and resident choreographer at the Royal Ballet since 2006, is known in popular culture circles for serving as movement director for the film 'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire'. He has also choreographed the Radiohead video 'Lotus Flower' and 'Ingenue’ by Atoms for Peace.

                                                                                                                                                IN THEIR OWN WORDS:
                                                                                                                                                ‘While we were re-amping guitars at Greenhouse studios, Ben expressed interest and admiration in the sounds we had created. We were planning for the B-side to be a metamorphosis of part VII, and Ben seemed the obvious choice. With the multi-tracks transformed, it follows a trajectory that we had not felt comfortable with before. But with Ben's involvement and influence, it was a painless entrance to this crooked, distorted world.’
                                                                                                                                                – Adam Bryanbaum Wiltzie.

                                                                                                                                                ‘We never imagined 2013 would be such an explosively creative year. The first record took us two years from start to finish, but in the micro span of time over last summer we were able to change the formula for the way we write, record, and let go. It was incredibly liberating.’
                                                                                                                                                – Dustin O'Halloran.

                                                                                                                                                A Winged Victory for the Sullen, the composer collaboration between Stars of the Lid founder Adam Wiltzie and L.A. composer Dustin O'Halloran, release new album ‘Invisible Cities’, the stunning score to the critically acclaimed theatre production directed by London Olympics ceremony video designer Leo Warner. Released on their own Artificial Pinearch Manufacturing label, the album comes as part of an agreement with A Winged Victory for the Sullen’s current label, Ninja Tune.

                                                                                                                                                Premiering in July 2019 at the Manchester International Festival, the duo was commissioned by Warner’s 59 Productions to score the music for the 90-minute multimedia theatrical stage show, adapted from Italo Calvino’s 1972 novel, ‘Invisible Cities’. Described by The Sunday Times as “a beautiful frenzy of movement”, it fuses theatre, music, dance, architectural design and visuals and brings to life a series of fantastical places and disparate worlds, centred on the tense relationship between Kublai Khan, the volatile head of a vast empire, and explorer Marco Polo. Originally conceived as a touring project, it’s last performance was in Brisbane, Australia before COVID-19 changed the world as we know it.

                                                                                                                                                “Four months is not a lot of time to create 90 minutes of music for a production using classical theatre, dance, & high res video mapping on a stage the size of 2 football pitches. It was a pleasure to work with 59 Productions, unlike other producers, they left the micro-managing at home, and let us get on with it. Early on in discussions with director Leo Warner it was realised that the human voice would take a central role in the score as it was essentially the only instrument we could see evolving over 600 years with a storyline that would not have the listener screaming “its Zimmertime”…,” says Wiltzie.

                                                                                                                                                Transformed into 45 minutes of breathtaking beauty, ‘Invisible Cities’ opens with the numinous ‘So That the City Can Begin to Exist’, as Wiltzie and O'Halloran draw breath from distinctively enthralling and vastly expansive worlds. The ominous soundscapes of ‘The Dead Outnumber the Living’ contrast with the new beginnings that are presented in ‘Every Solstice & Equinox’, while the jagged and uneasy ‘Thirteenth Century Travelogue’ is one of tension and dread.

                                                                                                                                                Elsewhere, ‘The Divided City’ captivates and intrigues while ‘Only Strings and Their Supports Remain’ and ‘There Is One of Which You Never Speak’ are bold roars for survival before the choral ambience of ‘Desires Are Already Memories’ and piercing drones of ‘Total Perspective Vortex’ bring down the curtain on a spectacular and incredibly emotive body of work.

                                                                                                                                                Releasing their self-titled debut album in 2011 (Erased Tapes), A Winged Victory for the Sullen has developed something of a cult status over the past decade and alongside artists such as Max Richter, Hauschka, Hildur Guðnadóttir and Tim Hecker, are the vanguard of the neoclassical and ambient world and can count the likes of Jon Hopkins as fans.

                                                                                                                                                The duo has gone on to release two further studio albums; ‘Atomos’ (Erased Tapes, 2014) and most recently ‘The Undivided Five’ (Ninja Tune, 2019) and were asked to perform at the BBC proms in 2015 by 6 Music presenter Mary Anne Hobbs. A Winged Victory for the Sullen also scored the music for the independent film ‘Iris’ (2016), directed by Jalil Lespert.

                                                                                                                                                Wiltzie is best known as founding member of drone legends Stars of the Lid, The Dead Texan and Aix Em Klemm and has scored multiple film projects including ‘American Woman’ (2019) starring Sienna Miller, ‘Salero’ (2016) and The Yellow Birds (2017). In 2018, he also scored ‘Whitney’ (2018), the estate-approved documentary about the life of the late Whitney Houston, directed by Kevin Macdonald. Elsewhere, his original music has featured in Hollywood films including ‘Transformers: Dark of The Moon’ (2011), ‘Godzilla’ (2014), ‘Like Crazy’ (2011) and acclaimed TV shows including ‘House M.D’, ‘Nip/Tuck’ and ‘Top Boy’. He also collaborated with the late Jóhann Jóhannsson on his scores for ‘The Theory of Everything’ (2014) and ‘Arrival’ (2016).

                                                                                                                                                O'Halloran, a self-taught pianist from the age of 7, began his musical life as a guitarist and formed the much-loved indie rock outfit Dévics with Sara Lov, releasing four albums on Bella Union. As a solo artist, he has composed music for numerous film and television projects including Sofia Coppola’s ‘Marie Antoinette’ (2006) and Drake Doremus’ ‘Like Crazy' (2011) starring Felicity Jones. Demand for his film scores is high and in 2015, he won an Emmy for theme music for the Golden Globe-winning Amazon series ‘Transparent’, starring Jeffrey Tambor. He has also collaborated with film composer Hauschka on numerous films, including ‘Lion’ (2016), with the score nominated for an Oscar, BAFTA and Golden Globe. Most recently, he co-composed the music for the film ‘Ammonite’ (2020) with Volker Bertelmann, directed by Francis Lee and starring Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan.


                                                                                                                                                STAFF COMMENTS

                                                                                                                                                Barry says: There are few experiences I treasure more than popping some slow moving ambient business on the stereo and sitting down, and there are few bands that do that exact business better than AWVFTS. One of my all-time favourites return for another gorgeous suite of swelling pads and tentative piano.

                                                                                                                                                TRACK LISTING

                                                                                                                                                1. So That The City Can Begin To Exist
                                                                                                                                                2. The Celestial City
                                                                                                                                                3. The Dead Outnumber The Living
                                                                                                                                                4. Every Solstice & Equinox
                                                                                                                                                5. Nothing Of The City Touches The Earth
                                                                                                                                                6. Thirteenth Century Travelogue
                                                                                                                                                7. The Divided City
                                                                                                                                                8. Only Strings And Their Supports Remain
                                                                                                                                                9. There Is One Of Which You Never Speak
                                                                                                                                                10. Despair Dialogue
                                                                                                                                                11. The Merchants Of Seven Nations
                                                                                                                                                12. Desires Are Already Memories
                                                                                                                                                13. Total Perspective Vortex

                                                                                                                                                A Winged Victory For The Sullen, the otherworldly collaboration between Adam Bryanbaum Wiltzie and Dustin O’Halloran, return with their third full-length titled Iris – available worldwide via Erased Tapes. Adam Bryanbaum Wiltzie and Dustin O'Halloran first met the director Jalil Lespert after he had discovered A Winged Victory For The Sullen on a music search online. After listening to their music, he immediately knew: "it was the sound of my new film". With an excellent cast of France’s finest actors Romain Duris, Charlotte Le Bon, and the director himself, plus a script filled with tension, sexuality and darkness, they knew there was a lot of musical territory to mine. It was agreed that they wanted to explore more analogue electronique experiments as well as working with a large string ensemble, to create something that felt very modern and still cinematic.

                                                                                                                                                “Despite A Winged Victory For The Sullen being associated with film score type music, trying to survive the process of creating the modern film score is not for people with fragile egos. It requires those who are the most responsive to change. The director and the film presented a new set of challenges, so we decided to stop thinking about cinema as an object, and moved closer to using the film’s images as triggers for experiences. The more we were able to let go, and see the music as something that happens, like a process – not a quality, the more we were able to reach a place that sounded like us. It was as if we were making our first record all over again, except being filtered through another language littered with dead metaphors”, the duo elaborate. The recording sessions began with their long time sound collaborator Francesco Donadello in the form of some modular synth sessions in Berlin. Dustin and Adam began working from the script in their own studios, and after filming commenced they continued to create music that could be used for first edits of the film – each day getting new scenes that triggered ideas that would become the base of the film score. Over the course of the next few months the two slowly crafted the music with weekly discussion from their studio to the editing room. The final sessions to what is now the score of Iris were recorded with a 40-piece string orchestra at Magyar Radio in Budapest.

                                                                                                                                                Upon label founder Robert Raths' request the over sixty minutes of material were then edited down to a concise album listen at forty-one minutes with a physical release set for January 13, 2017. The digital bonus track edition includes two solo pieces by Adam Bryanbaum Wiltzie entitled The Endless Battle Of The Maudlin Ballade Part 2 and The Endless Battle Of The Maudlin Ballade Part 3, as well as tracks by Petite Noir, dOP, DJ Pone and The Shoes which feature in the film. The artwork was created by Berlin based illustrator Stephanie F. Scholz who also created the iconic cover for Nils Frahm's Music for The Motion Picture Victoria.

                                                                                                                                                STAFF COMMENTS

                                                                                                                                                Barry says: ‘Iris’ builds on their already stunning canon with a smattering of pulsing synthesis joining their trademark modern classical soundscapes.

                                                                                                                                                TRACK LISTING

                                                                                                                                                1. Prologue Iris
                                                                                                                                                2. Retour Au Champs De Mars
                                                                                                                                                3. Fantasme
                                                                                                                                                4. Gare Du Nord Part One
                                                                                                                                                5. L'embauche
                                                                                                                                                6. Le Retour En Foret
                                                                                                                                                7. Metro Part Three
                                                                                                                                                8. Flashback Antoine
                                                                                                                                                9. Galerie
                                                                                                                                                10. Le Renversement
                                                                                                                                                11. Normandie
                                                                                                                                                12. Comme On A Dit

                                                                                                                                                Purveyors of contemporary ambient and electronic inspired music, A Winged Victory for the Sullen make a bold return on new album “The Undivided Five”. The pair, made up of Dustin O’Halloran and Adam Wiltzie, have created iconic film scores and forward-thinking ambient groups, releasing a series of game-changing records for Erased Tapes and Kranky. On “The Undivided Five” they rekindle their unique partnership for only their second piece of original music outside of film, TV and stage commissions, creating an album that channels ritual, higher powers and unspoken creative energies. Their fifth release (following their debut album, two scores and an EP), they embraced the serendipitous role of the number five, inspired by artist Hilma af Klint and the recurrence of the perfect fifth chord.

                                                                                                                                                This album sees them create bold new work built on their foundations in ambient and neoclassical. Since their 2011 self-titled debut, the duo have emerged as part of a much-lauded scene alongside peers like Max Richter, Hildur Guðnadóttir, Tim Hecker and Fennesz. Their 2014 album “Atomos” was the product of a commission to score a new performance by Royal Ballet choreographer Wayne McGregor, while 2016’s “Iris” was the score for director Jalil Lespert’s thriller, “In the Shadow of Iris”. They count the likes of Jon Hopkins among their fans, who included ‘Requiem For The Static King Part One’ on his 2015 Late Night Tales compilation. They composed the score for Invisible Cities, a specially-created performance to herald 2019’s Manchester International Festival, and have played some of the world’s most celebrated venues, including a sold out Boiler Room performance at London’s Barbican, and a 2015 BBC Proms show curated by Mary Anne Hobbs at the Royal Albert Hall.

                                                                                                                                                They were first introduced by mutual friend Francesco Donadello in 2007, a close collaborator who’s gone on to mix all of the AWVFTS records. O’Halloran launched his reputation with two acclaimed solo piano albums, attracting the attention of director Sofia Coppola, who asked him to score her 2006 film Marie Antoinette, and he has since won an Emmy for his 2015 theme song for Jill Soloway’s Transparent series, and been nominated for an Oscar and Golden Globe for his 2017 score with Hauschka for Garth Davis’ Lion. Wiltzie, meanwhile, founder of iconic drone outfit Stars of the Lid, has scored Hollywood films including Kevin MacDonald’s “Whitney”, Jake Scott’s “American Woman” and collaborated with Jóhann Jóhannsson for 2014’s The Theory of Everything.

                                                                                                                                                This album sees them pay greater heed to the small details in their sound than previously, something they say has been encouraged by the move to a new label. It’s been their first opportunity since their debut to create something that’s solely guided by their ideas, and it represented an opportunity to call back to that first outing while also building on the various ways in which they’ve grown. “We understand that times have changed,” they say. “We have evolved, but we also didn’t want to forget the beginning.”

                                                                                                                                                They channel influences such as Debussy, nodded to in the opening track, whose big chords and complicated arrangements inform a lot of their approach – parts that sound simple but require great skill to execute. Likewise, the artist Hilma af Klint – one of the first abstract Western artists – informed their ideas about drawing on spiritual influences to shape their work. “It’s like an invisible hand guiding things,” they say.

                                                                                                                                                The start of recording sessions for the album were marred by the death of one of their closest friends. Within weeks after the funeral O’Halloran found out that he would be expecting his first child, and it was soon after that a visit to see the art of af Klint brought home a profound realisation of life, death, the afterlife, and the spaces in between. She belonged to a group called "The Five", a circle of five women with a shared belief in the importance of trying to make contact with spirits, often by way of séances. This chimed with the duo’s unspoken approach to collaboration, and nudged them to return to their writing process centered around the harmonic perfect fifth; the five senses, the divine interval – The Undivided Five.

                                                                                                                                                The album was also shaped by the breadth of locations in which it was created, helping to shape its nuanced sonics. In addition to O’Halloran and Wiltzie’s respective Berlin and Brussels studios, the record took shape across six different sites. They recorded orchestral samples in Budapest’s Magyar Rádió Studio 22, re-recorded album parts in Brussels’ Eglise Du Beguinage’s unique, reverb-heavy surrounds (where Wiltzie has performed with Stars of the Lid and, in 2018, organised a tribute concert for Jóhann Jóhannsson), experimented with overdubs in Ben Frost’s Reykjavik studio, and recorded grand piano parts in a remote woodland studio in northern Italy. The duo pay close attention to the micro-level of sound, and each of these places was chosen for the qualities which could enrich the finished product. And it’s in Francesco Donadello’s studio in Berlin, where all of the previous AWVFTS material has been mixed, that the album was run through the studio’s analog board, binding the record’s different parts together.

                                                                                                                                                It was their connection to Jóhannsson which partly shaped the direction of their new album. They were asked to create a remix for him, which he heard before his death in 2018, where they unlocked a new process in terms of how they work. They recomposed the strings, using modular synthesis, old synths and string and piano arrangements, a method they applied to album opener ‘Our Lord Debussy’. “It’s about going into the DNA of music and taking different strands,” they say.

                                                                                                                                                The album is their debut for Ninja Tune, and comes as change is underway for O’Halloran, moving from Berlin – hence the title of ‘Keep It Dark, Deutschland’ – after a decade in the German capital. He’s headed to Iceland, the country where the pair shot their latest press photos and which is an important locale for both of them. The wide-spanning connections which have shaped the record are testament to their deep roots as artists. This album’s powerful energy is driven by the deep-rooted bond between them.

                                                                                                                                                STAFF COMMENTS

                                                                                                                                                Barry says: ‘The Undivided Five’ is the newest outing from the masters of ambient classical music, A Winged Victory For The Sullen. Their debut album hit us all pretty hard back in 2011, and has continued to be on the player pretty much constantly since then. Though they’ve released a soundtrack and another LP since, this is really only the second full album, and it is every bit the spiritual successor. Soaring, spine-tingling swells of string and synth coalesce together into a perfectly organic, yet otherworld rush of emotion and heft. Brittle, tentative passages are suddenly engorged with indescribable euphoric joy, evocative but fleeting, bringing to mind their debut, but with every bit rendered in unparalleled definition. ‘The Undivided Five’ deserves every attention you can give it, every precious moment you spend with it revealing more secrets and more colours you didn’t even know existed. An unrivalled beauty.

                                                                                                                                                TRACK LISTING

                                                                                                                                                1.Our Lord Debussy
                                                                                                                                                2. Sullen Sonata
                                                                                                                                                3. The Haunted Victorian Pencil
                                                                                                                                                4. The Slow Descent Has Begun
                                                                                                                                                5. Aqualung, Motherfucker
                                                                                                                                                6. A Minor Fifth Is Made Of Phantoms
                                                                                                                                                7. Adios, Florida
                                                                                                                                                8. The Rhythm Of A Dividing Pair
                                                                                                                                                9. Keep It Dark, Deutschland

                                                                                                                                                A.R. Kane

                                                                                                                                                A.R. Kive

                                                                                                                                                  A.R. Kive collates the three most astonishing works from that most miraculous of duos - A.R. Kane - comprising the ‘Up Home’ EP from 1988 that signified the band’s dawning realisation of their own powers and possibilities, their legendary debut LP ‘sixty nine’ (1988) and its kaleidoscopic, prophetic double-LP follow up ‘i’ (1989).

                                                                                                                                                  In founder-member Rudy Tambala’s new remastering, the music on these pivotal transmissions from the birth of dream pop, have been reinvigorated and re-infused with a new power, a new depth and intimacy, a new height and immensity. Vivid, timeless and yet always timely whenever they’re recalled, these records still force any listener to realise that despite the habits of retrospective myth-making and the safe neutering effects of ‘genre’, thirty years have in no way dimmed how resistant and dissident to critical habits of categorisation A.R. Kane always were. Never quite ‘avant-pop’ or ‘shoegaze’ or ‘post-rock’ or any of those sobriquets designed to file and categorise, A.R. Kive is a reminder that those genres had to be coined, had to be invented precisely to contain the astonishing sound of A.R. Kane, because previous formulations couldn’t come close to their sui generis sound and suggestiveness. This is music that pointed towards futures which a whole generation of artists and sonic explorers would map out. Now beautifully repackaged, remastered and fleshed out with extensive sleeve notes and accompanying materials, ‘A.R. Kive’ reveals that 35 years on it’s still a struggle to defuse the revolutionary and inspirational possibility of A.R. Kane’s music.

                                                                                                                                                  A.R. Kane were formed in 1986 by Rudy Tambala and Alex Ayuli, two second- generation immigrants who grew up together in Stratford, East London. From the off the pair were outsiders in the culturally mixed (cockney/Irish/West Indian/Asian) milieu of the East End, with Alex and Rudy’s folks first generation immigrants from Nigeria and Malawi, respectively. The two of them quickly developed and fostered an innate and near-telepathic mutual understanding forged in musical, literary and artistic exploration. Like a lot of second-generation immigrants, they were ferocious autodidacts in all kinds of areas, especially around music and literature. Diving deep into the music of afro-futurist luminaries such as Sun Ra, Miles Davis, Lee Perry and Hendrix, as well as devouring the explorations of lysergic noise and feedback from contemporaries like Sonic Youth and Butthole Surfers, they also thoroughly immersed themselves in the alternate literary realities of sci-fi and ancient history (the fascination with the arcane that gave the band their name), all to feed their voracious cultural thirsts and intellectual curiosity.

                                                                                                                                                  It was seeing the Cocteau Twins performing on Channel 4 show the Tube that spurred A.R. Kane into being - “They had no drummer. They used tapes and technology and Liz Fraser looked completely otherworldly with those big eyes. And the noise coming out of Robin’s guitar! That was the ‘Fuck! We could do that! We could express ourselves like that!’ moment”, recalls Tambala - and through a mix of confidence, chutzpah, ad hoc almost-mythical live shows and sheer innocent will the duo debuted with the astonishing ‘When You’re Sad’ single for One Little Indian in 1986. Immediately dubbed a ‘black Jesus & Mary Chain’ by a press unsure of WHERE to put a black band clearly immersed in feedback and noise, what was immediately apparent for listeners was just how much more was going on here - a tapping of dub’s stealth and guile, a resonant umbilicus back to fusion and jazz, the music less a conjuration of past highs than a re-summoning of lost spirits. The run of singles and EPs that followed picked up increasingly rapt reviews in the press, but it was the ‘Up Home EP’ released in 1988 on their new home, Rough Trade that really suggested something immense was about to break. Simon Reynolds noted the EP was: Their most concentrated slab of iridescent awesomeness and a true pinnacle of an era that abounded with astounding landmarks of guitar-reinvention, A.R. Kane at their most elixir-like.

                                                                                                                                                  If anything, the remastered ‘Up Home’ that forms the first part of ‘A.R. Kive’ is even more dazzling, even more startling than it was when it first emerged, and listening now you again wonder not just about how many bands christened ‘shoegaze’ tried to emulate it, but how all of them fell so far short of its lambent, pellucid wonder. This remains intrinsically experimental music but with none of the frowning orthodoxy those words imply. A.R. Kane, thanks to that second generation auto-didacticism were always supremely aware about the interstices of music and magic, but at the same time gloriously free in the way they explored that connection within their own sound, fascinated always with the creation of ‘perfect mistakes’ and the possibilities inherent in informed play.

                                                                                                                                                  ‘sixty nine’ the group’s debut LP that emerged in 1988 had critics and listeners struggling to fit language around A.R. Kane’s sound. As a title it was telling - the year of ‘Bitches Brew’, the year of ‘In A Silent Way’, the erotic möbius between two lovers - and as originally coined by the band themselves, ‘dream pop’ (before it became a free-floating signifier of vague import) was entirely apposite for the music A.R. Kane were making. Crafted in a dark small basement studio in which Tambala recalls the duo had “complete freedom - We wanted to go as far out as we could, and in doing so we discovered the point where it stops being music”. There was an irresistibly dreamy, somnambulant, sensual and almost surreal flow to ‘sixty nine’s sound, but also real darkness/dankness, the ruptures of the primordial and the reverberations of the subconscious, within the grooves of remarkable songs like ‘Dizzy’ and ‘Crazy Blue’. Alex’s plangent vocals floated and surged amidst exquisite peals of refracted feedback but crucially there was BASS here, lugubrious and funky and full of dread, sonic pleasure and sonic disturbance crushed together to make music with a center so deep it felt subcutaneous, music constructed from both the accidental and the deliberate, generous enough to dance with both serendipity and chaos. ‘sixty nine’ remains - especially in this remastered iteration - ravishing, revolutionary.

                                                                                                                                                  The final part of this ‘A.R. Kive’ contains 1989’s astonishing double-LP ‘i’ which followed up on ‘sixty nine’s promise and saw the duo fully unleash their experimental pop sensibilities over 26 tracks, plunging the A.R. Kane sound into a dazzlingly kaleidoscopic vision of pop experiment and play. Suffused with new digital technologies and combining searingly sweet and danceable pop with perhaps the duo’s strangest and boundary-pushing compositions, the album did exactly what a great double-set should do - indulge the artists sprawling pursuit of their own imaginations but always with a concision and an ear for those moments where pop both transcends and toys with the listeners expectations. Jason Ankeny has noted that “In retrospect, ‘i’ now seems like a crystal ball prophesying virtually every major musical development of the 1990s; from the shimmering techno of ‘A Love from Outer Space’ to the liquid dub of ‘What’s All This Then?’, from the alien drone-pop of ‘Conundrum’ to the sinister shoegazer miasma of ‘Supervixens’ — it’s all here, an underground road map for countless bands to follow.” Perhaps the most overwhelmingly all-encompassing transmission from A.R. Kane, ‘i’ bookended a three year period in which the duo had made some of the most prophetic and revelatory music of the entire decade.

                                                                                                                                                  After ‘i’ the duo’s output became more sporadic with Tambala and Ayuli moving in different directions both geographically and musically, with only 1994’s ‘New Clear Child’ a crystalline re-fraction of future and past echoes of jazz, folk and soul, before the duo went their separate ways. Since then, A.R. Kane’s music has endured, not thanks to the usual sepia’d false memories that seem to maintain interest in so much of the musical past, but because those who hear A.R. Kane music and are changed irrevocably, have to share that universe which A.R. Kane opened up, with anyone else who will listen. Far more than other lauded documents of the late 80s it still sounds astonishingly fresh, astonishingly livid and vivid and necessary and NOW.

                                                                                                                                                  TRACK LISTING

                                                                                                                                                  UP HOME EP
                                                                                                                                                  1) Baby Milk Snatcher
                                                                                                                                                  2) W.O.G.S
                                                                                                                                                  3) One Way Mirror
                                                                                                                                                  4) Up

                                                                                                                                                  69 LP
                                                                                                                                                  1) Crazy Blue
                                                                                                                                                  2) Suicide Kiss
                                                                                                                                                  3) Baby Milk Snatcher
                                                                                                                                                  4) Scab 5) Sulliday
                                                                                                                                                  6) Dizzy
                                                                                                                                                  7) Spermwhale Trip Over
                                                                                                                                                  8) The Sun Falls Into The Sea
                                                                                                                                                  9) The Madonna Is With Child
                                                                                                                                                  10) Spanish Quay

                                                                                                                                                  i LP
                                                                                                                                                  1) Hello
                                                                                                                                                  2) A Love From Outer Space
                                                                                                                                                  3) Crack Up
                                                                                                                                                  4) Timewind
                                                                                                                                                  5) What’s All This Then?
                                                                                                                                                  6) Snow Joke
                                                                                                                                                  7) Off Into Space
                                                                                                                                                  8) And I Say
                                                                                                                                                  9) Yeti
                                                                                                                                                  10) Conundrum
                                                                                                                                                  11) Honeysuckleswallow
                                                                                                                                                  12) Long Body
                                                                                                                                                  13) In A Circle
                                                                                                                                                  14) Fast Ka
                                                                                                                                                  15) Miles Apart
                                                                                                                                                  16) Pop
                                                                                                                                                  17) Mars
                                                                                                                                                  18) Spook
                                                                                                                                                  19) Sugarwings
                                                                                                                                                  20) Back Home
                                                                                                                                                  21) Down
                                                                                                                                                  22) Supervixens
                                                                                                                                                  23) Insect Love
                                                                                                                                                  24) Sorry
                                                                                                                                                  25) Catch My Drift
                                                                                                                                                  26) Challenge

                                                                                                                                                  DIGITAL POSTCARD
                                                                                                                                                  1) Baby Milk Snatcher
                                                                                                                                                  2) W.O.G.S
                                                                                                                                                  3) One Way Mirror
                                                                                                                                                  4) Up
                                                                                                                                                  5) W.O.G.S (Slowdive Remix)
                                                                                                                                                  6) Baby Milk Snatcher (Tim Reaper Remix)
                                                                                                                                                  7) Baby Milk Snatcher (Louis Tambala Remix) 

                                                                                                                                                  The A's

                                                                                                                                                  Fruit

                                                                                                                                                    Alexandra Sauser-Monnig and Amelia Meath have been yodeling together for upwards of fifteen years – in the backseat of a Prius while on their first cross-country tour, on back porches and backstages. It’s what led them to Fruit, their debut release as The A’s – a joyous ten-song collection spanning genre and decades, with interpretations of traditionals, lullabies, and an original song, it weaves between the weird and the wonderful. “Why I’m Grieving,” originally recorded by the DeZurik Sisters, was the inspiration for the A’s existence. The A’s reach into the past to hold hands with the DeZurik Sisters, two farm girls from rural Minnesota who taught themselves to yodel amongst all their animals, in a continuing celebration of the tradition of folk eccentricity and whimsy.

                                                                                                                                                    The A’s played their first show together in 2013 after Sauser-Monnig first moved to North Carolina, where Meath had been living at the time, but it wasn’t until summer 2021 that they thought seriously about making Fruit. They decamped to Sylvan Esso’s Chapel Hill studio, Betty’s, for two weeks in the midst of a balmy and blooming Carolinian summer. They rehearsed during the day, deconstructing yodeling parts phonetically and staring absurdly into each other’s eyes as they practiced tongue twisting harmonies - and recorded in the nighttime, candles lit, a flickering glow against the windows framing the violet twilight outside.

                                                                                                                                                    “There was a lot of giggling during the session,” Sauser-Monnig explains. “At one point I was getting a tangle out of my hair and was like, oh, my God, that sounds really cool – the sound of my hands in my hair. And then I thought, what if we recorded hair for a percussion track? And then it just sort of snowballed.” Across the record, the A’s employ a bizarre-o ghost orchestra of strange noises that are percussive and melodic. The credits include nylon shorts, string (singular), hair, shoes, ice chunk, gravel, frog sample, and shoelace, among other unexpected makeshift instrumentation. The backing band is built out by a more traditional group of players: saxophone from Sam Gendel on “Copper Kettle,” backing vocals from Jenn Wasner (Flock of Dimes, Wye Oak) on “When I Die,” string arrangements from Gabriel Kahane on “He Needs Me,” and more.

                                                                                                                                                    Fruit is made up simply of songs the A’s love to sing – there are lullabies and love songs; “He Needs Me,” written by Harry Nilsson and first released by Shelley Duvall in the 1980 Popeye film; traditional ballads like “Swing and Turn Jubilee,” “Copper Kettle” and closer “Buckeye Jim,” a multiplying song about frogs and nature. The sole original track to appear on the album is the penultimate “When I Die,” written by Meath. It contains both wishes and instructions for the celebration of her death, a low synth bubbling beneath Sauser-Monnig and Meath’s voices. It’s a collection of ten seemingly incongruous songs, but with the throughline of Sauser-Monnig and Meath’s vocals and sense of humor working in tandem, they fit together into a cosmic yodeling-folk masterpiece. Fruit feels like blowing the dust off a precious artifact of decades past, but also winking and modern. Sauser-Monnig sums up their ethos on the project succinctly: “If it doesn’t make you cackle or cry, it doesn’t belong.”

                                                                                                                                                    TRACK LISTING

                                                                                                                                                    01 He Needs Me
                                                                                                                                                    02 Swing And Turn Jubilee
                                                                                                                                                    03 Wedding Dress
                                                                                                                                                    04 Why I’m Grieving
                                                                                                                                                    05 When The Bloom Is On The Sage
                                                                                                                                                    06 My Poncho Pony
                                                                                                                                                    07 Go To Sleep My Darling Baby
                                                                                                                                                    08 Copper Kettle
                                                                                                                                                    09 When I Die
                                                                                                                                                    10 Buckeye Jim

                                                                                                                                                    A18

                                                                                                                                                    Foreverafternothing

                                                                                                                                                      Featuring founding members of classic California hardcore bands Outspoken, Insted and Chorus of Disapproval. A18's message is not new, but their commitment is particularly refreshing. No room for compromise in their musical vocabulary. This is powerful, loud and demanding hardcore at its best.

                                                                                                                                                      Aarktica

                                                                                                                                                      Morning One

                                                                                                                                                        Compared to Flying Saucer Attack, Azusa Plane, Labradford and Windy & Carl. Beautiful drifting guitars and electronics.

                                                                                                                                                        Slinky and incessantly groovy, prime time US house music here from new school mover Josh Aaron who deploys four expertly constructed pieces of club kinetics that shake and wiggly in all the right places. Released on Jordan Fields Trax Research and brimming with Chi-town flavour. TIP! 

                                                                                                                                                        STAFF COMMENTS

                                                                                                                                                        Matt says: Resplendent with that iconic Chi-town wiggle, Josh Aaron graces Jordan Field's Trax Research with four hyperactive groovers. Littered with loose percussion work, and driven by some super catchy hooks; this is sample based disco-house unique to the Chicago catchment.

                                                                                                                                                        TRACK LISTING

                                                                                                                                                        A1. Check It Out
                                                                                                                                                        A2. Let Me Out
                                                                                                                                                        B1. Bronze (A Lifestyle)
                                                                                                                                                        B2. Get On


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