ALL GENRES
BACK CATALOGUE - G
Emotional Rescue and Jamwax end their Capo Disco series by returning to Glen Adams and his cover of Bob Marley’s classic. The early 70s Lee Perry produced original raw sound is taken to the disco reggae dancefloors of the early 80s with a bottom heavy jam, while his Capo Crew works a killer dub flipside.
“Fussing & Fighting” was originally released on the 1971’s Soul Revolution album and for many came during the pinnacle of Bob Marley & The Wailers output, before the smoothing out of their sound during the later “Island” years. Whichever, the guidance and collaboration with Perry transformed the Wailers from a successful Ska / Rocksteady group towards a visionary, conscious, crossover phenomenon. Perry’s in-house band, The Upsetters, lent so much to this early period, the brothers Aston and Carlton Barrett creating a perfect drum and bass bedrock. With Glen Adams on organ, the original version known simply as is an incessant, rumbling message and in that light, Adams return to it over a decade later makes justified and righteous sense.
Actually released on both Capo Disco and Marley’s own Tuff Gong, Adams’ vocal marries a disco-dub and guitar groove, dropping, in the latter half, right down to tambourine into perfectly stretched Discomix. Things get even more laid out on “Mad Blank” aka the version. Riding the desk, “Capo” lets each instrument time and space, dropping to just a kick and dubbed piano before slowly coming back with hats, guitar and then when the bass comes, the Gospel purity of dub reggae shines, all before the teasing fade calls for a rewind. Rest and rise, Glenroy “Capo” Adams.
“Fussing & Fighting” was originally released on the 1971’s Soul Revolution album and for many came during the pinnacle of Bob Marley & The Wailers output, before the smoothing out of their sound during the later “Island” years. Whichever, the guidance and collaboration with Perry transformed the Wailers from a successful Ska / Rocksteady group towards a visionary, conscious, crossover phenomenon. Perry’s in-house band, The Upsetters, lent so much to this early period, the brothers Aston and Carlton Barrett creating a perfect drum and bass bedrock. With Glen Adams on organ, the original version known simply as is an incessant, rumbling message and in that light, Adams return to it over a decade later makes justified and righteous sense.
Actually released on both Capo Disco and Marley’s own Tuff Gong, Adams’ vocal marries a disco-dub and guitar groove, dropping, in the latter half, right down to tambourine into perfectly stretched Discomix. Things get even more laid out on “Mad Blank” aka the version. Riding the desk, “Capo” lets each instrument time and space, dropping to just a kick and dubbed piano before slowly coming back with hats, guitar and then when the bass comes, the Gospel purity of dub reggae shines, all before the teasing fade calls for a rewind. Rest and rise, Glenroy “Capo” Adams.
Fresh from touring with Hugh Masekela (“The Boy’s Doin’ It”), Gboyega Adelaja goes into the lab to drop heavy keyboard science on his Moog and Fender Rhodes. Its Joe Sample meets the Afro Funk of BLO. With names like Jake Sollo on guitars, Mike Odumusu (BLO, Osibisa) on bass guitar and Gasper Lawal on percussion. This is a top quality, Afro-Funk, all-stars affair that shines from the inspired interventions, masterly arrangements to the sublime production.
“I was already following Hugh Masekela when I met him, he was an outstanding musician and I knew of his collaboration with
Hedzoleh, that band brought him nearer to many of us, because he was playing authentic African melodies with the Hedzoleh
sound which was mostly percussion oriented. Yes I knew about Hugh’s music before I met him. Infact when we started playing
together, he insisted that I stay with him in our three bedroom apartment, other members of the band had their own apartments,
but Hugh and myself shared the same 3 bedroom apartment”.
“We were touring, under Casablanca owned by Neil Boggart, we toured as professional musicians, flying to our gigs. There was
a time when we were touring with George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic we had two luxury buses deployed for our use.
We made many friends where ever we went to play, we met many big and popular musicians who came to watch our shows, the
Spinners came to see us in Detroit, we met Wayne Shorter of Weather Report, Freddie Hubbard, we played a gig with Herbie
Hancock at the Carnegie Hall New York City, we toured almost all the 50 States of the US.”
“I was already following Hugh Masekela when I met him, he was an outstanding musician and I knew of his collaboration with
Hedzoleh, that band brought him nearer to many of us, because he was playing authentic African melodies with the Hedzoleh
sound which was mostly percussion oriented. Yes I knew about Hugh’s music before I met him. Infact when we started playing
together, he insisted that I stay with him in our three bedroom apartment, other members of the band had their own apartments,
but Hugh and myself shared the same 3 bedroom apartment”.
“We were touring, under Casablanca owned by Neil Boggart, we toured as professional musicians, flying to our gigs. There was
a time when we were touring with George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic we had two luxury buses deployed for our use.
We made many friends where ever we went to play, we met many big and popular musicians who came to watch our shows, the
Spinners came to see us in Detroit, we met Wayne Shorter of Weather Report, Freddie Hubbard, we played a gig with Herbie
Hancock at the Carnegie Hall New York City, we toured almost all the 50 States of the US.”
Written and produced with Ebo Taylor and originally released in 1975, "Simigwa" is Ambolley's debut solo album. It's a legendary Ghanain album - with one of the music iconic covers ever! - that fuses Highlife, afrobeat, folk and funk.
Ambolley grew up during the peak of Highlife in Ghana and was a key figure in its fusion with soul and funk influences from the USA. He played in many bands including Houghas Extraordinaires, Meridians Of Tema, Ghana Broadcasting Band and the Uhuru Dance Band, for which he was recruited by his friend, Ebo Taylor. The group went to Nigeria in 1973 to play with Fela at his legendary Shrine spot.
‘Simigwa’ was a chance for Ambolley to release his own productions and to experiment to a certain extent. A main inspiration for this album was the work of the mighty Mr. James Brown, something that is evident from the rhythm section, horns, vocal stabs and percussion breaks throughout the record.
Ambolley grew up during the peak of Highlife in Ghana and was a key figure in its fusion with soul and funk influences from the USA. He played in many bands including Houghas Extraordinaires, Meridians Of Tema, Ghana Broadcasting Band and the Uhuru Dance Band, for which he was recruited by his friend, Ebo Taylor. The group went to Nigeria in 1973 to play with Fela at his legendary Shrine spot.
‘Simigwa’ was a chance for Ambolley to release his own productions and to experiment to a certain extent. A main inspiration for this album was the work of the mighty Mr. James Brown, something that is evident from the rhythm section, horns, vocal stabs and percussion breaks throughout the record.
Debut album from Gabrielle Aplin for Parlophone Records. Entitled English Rain, the album was recorded with Mike Spencer (Rudimental, Alex Clare) in his Buckingham studio over a period of 6 months. Gabrielle wrote or co-wrote all the new songs on the album, and played the majority of the instruments herself.
Greg Ashley has tracked across the States’ metropolises, fringes and sticks for years now, releasing records under his own name and earlier on with black magic psych cult The Gris Gris.
Now together with the Western Playboys, you can hear the dusty technicolor Rio Grande fl owing in the veins of these new recordings. Many of these songs are Greg’s indomitable take on waltz, country swing and golden honky-tonk songwriters like Cowboy Joe Babcock and Hank Mills, but lest we forget the cover of Estrus records’ finest garage rock nihilists The Makers. This 12” EP plays out from start to finish like a band in a washed out juke joint at a desert outpost from a Barry Gifford novel - strung out, sharp-witted and never dull.
Square it up and spin it now!
Now together with the Western Playboys, you can hear the dusty technicolor Rio Grande fl owing in the veins of these new recordings. Many of these songs are Greg’s indomitable take on waltz, country swing and golden honky-tonk songwriters like Cowboy Joe Babcock and Hank Mills, but lest we forget the cover of Estrus records’ finest garage rock nihilists The Makers. This 12” EP plays out from start to finish like a band in a washed out juke joint at a desert outpost from a Barry Gifford novel - strung out, sharp-witted and never dull.
Square it up and spin it now!
Greg Ashley has been a ¬fixture on the underground music scene since the late 90’s while stra¬ng eardrums as a teenager in Houston in garagepunk band The Strate-Coats. Since then he’s proven himself not only as a songwriter, singer and guitar player in bands like The Mirrors & The Gris-Gris, but also as a producer / sound engineer.
His career as a solo artist is vast & varied, spanning the gamut between fried & beautiful psychedelia, gorgeous & cathartic symphonic suites & gentle, damaged folk music, beginning with 2003’s “Medicine Fuck Dream” & last leaving us with 2014’s “Another Generation of Slaves”. His latest, “Pictures of Saint Paul Street” carries forward that album’s musical palette (a rootsy amalgam of tortured, Cohen-esque folk tinged with the beer soaked recklessness of a West Texas honky-tonk).
The songs on “Pictures of Saint Paul Street” are lush & beautiful autopsies of society’s underbelly, with stark and brutally honest ruminations on humanity. Songs like “A Sea of Suckers” & “Pursue The Nightlife” pull no punches, while “Jailbirds & Vagabonds” and “Blues For A Pecan Tree” carouse on a more abstract, human (almost romantic) level. By the time you’ve hit the album’s centerpiece; “Bullshit Society”, Ashley’s songs move from ballads of hopeless misery to rallying anthems for the dispossessed.
His career as a solo artist is vast & varied, spanning the gamut between fried & beautiful psychedelia, gorgeous & cathartic symphonic suites & gentle, damaged folk music, beginning with 2003’s “Medicine Fuck Dream” & last leaving us with 2014’s “Another Generation of Slaves”. His latest, “Pictures of Saint Paul Street” carries forward that album’s musical palette (a rootsy amalgam of tortured, Cohen-esque folk tinged with the beer soaked recklessness of a West Texas honky-tonk).
The songs on “Pictures of Saint Paul Street” are lush & beautiful autopsies of society’s underbelly, with stark and brutally honest ruminations on humanity. Songs like “A Sea of Suckers” & “Pursue The Nightlife” pull no punches, while “Jailbirds & Vagabonds” and “Blues For A Pecan Tree” carouse on a more abstract, human (almost romantic) level. By the time you’ve hit the album’s centerpiece; “Bullshit Society”, Ashley’s songs move from ballads of hopeless misery to rallying anthems for the dispossessed.
Oakland' s psychedelic savant, Greg Ashley, has gone through a tremulous year. Gentrification sent an eviction notice to the doors of his Creamery Analog studio where he recorded such acts as The Dutchess and the Duke, TV Ghost, and The Mantles over almost a decade-long residence.
After a spiritual retreat to Texas, Ashley returned to the Bay Area and began work on a new studio, inhabiting a church just blocks from his former location. In celebration of this transcendence, Bad Diet is releasing two archival nuggets that exhibit Greg Ashley 's genius, described by SF Weekly as a true psychedelic visionary, maybe the greatest of his generation. Living Underground is a slip inside the peak years of Ashley' s widely-lauded act, The Gris Gris. Recorded in 2005, the lost gem s haunting vocals and pounding back beat combine in a ritual resurrecting the band' s nest offerings. It also grounds The Gris Gris stake as progenitors of the Bay Area s contemporary psych and garage scene. Psychopathia Homosexualis provides a glamorous look into the heart of Sir Lord Von Raven, Ashley' s Oakland supergroup with Eric Von Raven (Time Flys), Josh Miller (Wrong Words), and the late, great Jay Bronzini. It was recorded live at the Creamery in 2010.
After a spiritual retreat to Texas, Ashley returned to the Bay Area and began work on a new studio, inhabiting a church just blocks from his former location. In celebration of this transcendence, Bad Diet is releasing two archival nuggets that exhibit Greg Ashley 's genius, described by SF Weekly as a true psychedelic visionary, maybe the greatest of his generation. Living Underground is a slip inside the peak years of Ashley' s widely-lauded act, The Gris Gris. Recorded in 2005, the lost gem s haunting vocals and pounding back beat combine in a ritual resurrecting the band' s nest offerings. It also grounds The Gris Gris stake as progenitors of the Bay Area s contemporary psych and garage scene. Psychopathia Homosexualis provides a glamorous look into the heart of Sir Lord Von Raven, Ashley' s Oakland supergroup with Eric Von Raven (Time Flys), Josh Miller (Wrong Words), and the late, great Jay Bronzini. It was recorded live at the Creamery in 2010.
Greg Ashley has been melting minds since he was a teenager growing up in central Texas; first in his paint-peeling garagepunk band The Strate-Coats, then in lysergic psych band The Mirrors, and finally to great acclaim in his highly influential quartet The Gris Gris. If that weren’t enough, Ashley has peppered multiple solo albums in between all of these releases tracing along a path that veers to & fro from heady psychedelic freakouts to sensitive, folky tunesmithing. “Another Generation of Slaves” is a bold step off that acid-soaked artery, the nine tunes herein are Ashley ’s most directly poetic suite of songs both melodically & lyrically. “Another Generation...” FEELS different. Recorded in 2013 with a cadre of jazz musicians, the malleablity of his players belies dizzying results, allowing Ashley to focus on communicating the feeling of the tunes in addition to playing them. Lyrically, Ashley has never been one to mince words, but the songs are almost joyously direct.
Songs like “Brother Raymond” & “Prisoner #1131267” are character studies, while somber cuts like the folky opener “East Texas Plain” & the sultr y “Patterns Of Days” are extremely insular tunes, unquestionably personal & beautifully unfolded. Ashley ’s grown so comfortable in his ability to craft songs, that even the breezy “Awkward Affections”s brazenly honest lyrics don’t feels forced, but like another piece of the puzzle here. The stories fit together like Ashley ’s own version of “Songs Of Love & Hate” or “Trouble Is A Lonesome Town”. A collection that doesn’t work unless the listener is fully immersed in it ’s world, shackled to it ’s narrative.
The first vinyl edition is pressed on randomly mixed 150-gm vinyl, includes a printed inner sleeve with lyrics & a download code. All other pressings will be on basic black.
RIYL: Kurt Vile, Lee Hazlewood, Leonard Cohen, Nick Cave, Bill Fay, Mikal Cronin.
Songs like “Brother Raymond” & “Prisoner #1131267” are character studies, while somber cuts like the folky opener “East Texas Plain” & the sultr y “Patterns Of Days” are extremely insular tunes, unquestionably personal & beautifully unfolded. Ashley ’s grown so comfortable in his ability to craft songs, that even the breezy “Awkward Affections”s brazenly honest lyrics don’t feels forced, but like another piece of the puzzle here. The stories fit together like Ashley ’s own version of “Songs Of Love & Hate” or “Trouble Is A Lonesome Town”. A collection that doesn’t work unless the listener is fully immersed in it ’s world, shackled to it ’s narrative.
The first vinyl edition is pressed on randomly mixed 150-gm vinyl, includes a printed inner sleeve with lyrics & a download code. All other pressings will be on basic black.
RIYL: Kurt Vile, Lee Hazlewood, Leonard Cohen, Nick Cave, Bill Fay, Mikal Cronin.
Greg Ashley (The Gris Gris, The Mirrors, Strate Coats, solo fame, record maker extraordinaire) continues along his path as a troubador, with two new countrified crooners which’ll find you alone, sittin’ at the bar in broad daylight, lookin’ down low. Skirting the line between legitimate Nashville tears in your beers and marvelous, near-classical new Americana folk, these two sorry sons-a-guns are slowly revealing the full count of Ashley’s skills as a singer, songwriter and arranger.
As meteoric rises go - Gareth Ashton's takes some beating. Born and bred in Derbyshire, he had always been a keen drummer, like his father and in 1977 discovered the joys of punk via The Jam's performance on Top Of The Pops. Within weeks he was forming his own band The Ruin and within months he was playing on the same bill as punk trendsetters The Damned on a nationwide tour and living the dream with the short-lived The Irritators. After gigs in Sheffield, Edinburgh, Dundee and Manchester Gareth went on to pursue other musical goals but never quite hit those heights again. Nonetheless he drummed successfully all over the UK for over two decades playing everything from jazz-funk to country & western. Now retired, Gareth reflects on the lot of a semi-professional musician, a world away from the gilded lives of rock stars and their entourages.
Copenhagen’s Tartelet continues its 10 th anniversary with another an EP in their Limited Edition Series. This one finds Glenn Astro serving up five exclusive tracks on the 12". The EP takes inspiration from Keith Haring’s celebrated Crack is Wack mural in New York, which was a reaction to the drug epidemic of the time. Only 250 copies will be released worldwide.
In a short space of time, Glenn Astro has cooked up his own unique musical world. He has released full-lengths on Ninja Tune alongside Max Graef, and recently on Apollo Rec, sister label of R&S, in conjunction with Hodini.
The opener ‘Crack Is Wack’ is a loose and live sounding jam with warm synth chords, alternating 808 drumpatterns and breaks. It has a celebratory feel as expressive keys and walking basslines take turns to take the lead and move things forwards. The feel good ‘Der Langweiler’ is a much slower and loveably lazy joint, incorporating a cosmic 808 drum groove mixed with arpeggiated Wurlizer chords and a grooving e-bassline sinking you deep into the late night groove.
On the flip and switching up the vibe again is ‘Der Maschine’, which has frazzled electronic synths next to wooden hits and a playfully distorted drum machine to make for something that brims and bristles with dance floor energy in inventive new ways.
‘Boring Times On Beleuse Five’ is a tripped out sci-fi track with percolating drums and heavenly chords. It’s sparse and dynamic but with a compelling rhythm. ‘Discomania’ is an exclusive and vinyl-only cover version of Piero Umiliani’s eponymous electronic disco classic, is a gorgeously spaced out disco instrumental with expressive keys, drums and percussion all adding up to something impossibly infectious.
This is another remarkable EP of effortlessly fused sounds, showcasing Glenn’s new steps exploring cosmic and electronically driven aesthetics.
In a short space of time, Glenn Astro has cooked up his own unique musical world. He has released full-lengths on Ninja Tune alongside Max Graef, and recently on Apollo Rec, sister label of R&S, in conjunction with Hodini.
The opener ‘Crack Is Wack’ is a loose and live sounding jam with warm synth chords, alternating 808 drumpatterns and breaks. It has a celebratory feel as expressive keys and walking basslines take turns to take the lead and move things forwards. The feel good ‘Der Langweiler’ is a much slower and loveably lazy joint, incorporating a cosmic 808 drum groove mixed with arpeggiated Wurlizer chords and a grooving e-bassline sinking you deep into the late night groove.
On the flip and switching up the vibe again is ‘Der Maschine’, which has frazzled electronic synths next to wooden hits and a playfully distorted drum machine to make for something that brims and bristles with dance floor energy in inventive new ways.
‘Boring Times On Beleuse Five’ is a tripped out sci-fi track with percolating drums and heavenly chords. It’s sparse and dynamic but with a compelling rhythm. ‘Discomania’ is an exclusive and vinyl-only cover version of Piero Umiliani’s eponymous electronic disco classic, is a gorgeously spaced out disco instrumental with expressive keys, drums and percussion all adding up to something impossibly infectious.
This is another remarkable EP of effortlessly fused sounds, showcasing Glenn’s new steps exploring cosmic and electronically driven aesthetics.
A German dream team pairing on Apollo here as Glenn Astro joins Hodini for a deliciously sprawling EP that covers Astro's crate-dug style and Hodini's keen ear for electro-jazz sketches. "Turquoise Tortoise" is a masterful, unique concoction that infuses future soul experiments into Detroit influenced house, broken beat and even technoid, up tempo percussions rounded off with classic boom bap sounds.
Conceived as a loose limbed creative experiment, 'Turquoise Tortoise' was not written and recorded in the classical sense of a collaboration as Astro explains: 'We had the idea of doing an album together for quite a while, but with one of us living in Cologne and the other one in Berlin we never really had the chance to spend enough time together in one place and go to the studio together properly.'
Unsatisfied with simply sending files back and forth via the net, they struck upon the idea to produce tracks individually, bringing them together finally on one album. - 'Although we didn't make the music together it still was really important to us to have a motif and to keep it cohesive.' Astro adds.
Hodini's experience working with vocalists proved invaluable, as "Turquoise Tortoise" is the first time that Glenn has worked on a record with such a portfolio of talented featured artists - Ajnascent contributes his dulcet tones to "Found!' and "Viktor And The Quasar" to mesmerising effect. Longtime Astro pal Max Graef shows up to play bass on the vibey b-boy workout "Malaysian Moped" alongside a carefree vocal contribution by Knowsum. A UK flavour comes courtesy via the rap / toasting talents of Peckham's MC Pinty on the beatific "Beautiful Music'".
Within the first three tracks we're hurtled through neo-soul, boom-bap hip-hop and frenetic future jazz before sinking into another opiated sections rich with liquid soul inflections and drizzled in phosphorescent jazz stylings. The perfect album for the intrepid, ADHD-fuelled modern music fan, the depth of Astro & Hodini's musicality, and reinforces anyone that's seen Astro's live performances as a completely multi-talented instrumentalist. A tour de force!
Conceived as a loose limbed creative experiment, 'Turquoise Tortoise' was not written and recorded in the classical sense of a collaboration as Astro explains: 'We had the idea of doing an album together for quite a while, but with one of us living in Cologne and the other one in Berlin we never really had the chance to spend enough time together in one place and go to the studio together properly.'
Unsatisfied with simply sending files back and forth via the net, they struck upon the idea to produce tracks individually, bringing them together finally on one album. - 'Although we didn't make the music together it still was really important to us to have a motif and to keep it cohesive.' Astro adds.
Hodini's experience working with vocalists proved invaluable, as "Turquoise Tortoise" is the first time that Glenn has worked on a record with such a portfolio of talented featured artists - Ajnascent contributes his dulcet tones to "Found!' and "Viktor And The Quasar" to mesmerising effect. Longtime Astro pal Max Graef shows up to play bass on the vibey b-boy workout "Malaysian Moped" alongside a carefree vocal contribution by Knowsum. A UK flavour comes courtesy via the rap / toasting talents of Peckham's MC Pinty on the beatific "Beautiful Music'".
Within the first three tracks we're hurtled through neo-soul, boom-bap hip-hop and frenetic future jazz before sinking into another opiated sections rich with liquid soul inflections and drizzled in phosphorescent jazz stylings. The perfect album for the intrepid, ADHD-fuelled modern music fan, the depth of Astro & Hodini's musicality, and reinforces anyone that's seen Astro's live performances as a completely multi-talented instrumentalist. A tour de force!
STAFF COMMENTS
Matt says: After winning me over on Money $ex, Glenn Astro continues to tickle my fancy as he joins Modini for an expert lesson in downbeat / hip-hop and jazz-tinged vibrations. Check!
Geoff Barrow and Ben Salisbury return to score Ben Wheatley’s 1970s based epic shoot-out ‘Free Fire’, executively produced by Martin Scorsese.
Compiled by director Ben Wheatley himself, the soundtrack will be released on CD and double LP, featuring the full score by Geoff Barrow and Ben Salisbury, dialogue from the film and licensed tracks (The Real Kids, Creedence Clearwater Revival, John Denver).
‘Free Fire’ sees Barrow and Salisbury take a huge directional curve away from their intense, synth-based Ivor Novello award winning score for ‘Ex Machina’, with the composers curating a prog rock, free jazz, psychedelic journey influenced by bands such as King Crimson, Camel and Magma and tips its hat to the Lalo Schifrin thriller genre scores of that era.
Both the LP and CD will include a digital download card which features the full soundtrack as well as additional unheard bonus material not used in the score.
Compiled by director Ben Wheatley himself, the soundtrack will be released on CD and double LP, featuring the full score by Geoff Barrow and Ben Salisbury, dialogue from the film and licensed tracks (The Real Kids, Creedence Clearwater Revival, John Denver).
‘Free Fire’ sees Barrow and Salisbury take a huge directional curve away from their intense, synth-based Ivor Novello award winning score for ‘Ex Machina’, with the composers curating a prog rock, free jazz, psychedelic journey influenced by bands such as King Crimson, Camel and Magma and tips its hat to the Lalo Schifrin thriller genre scores of that era.
Both the LP and CD will include a digital download card which features the full soundtrack as well as additional unheard bonus material not used in the score.
FORMAT INFORMATION
CD includes MP3 Download Code.
Music From Memory’s latest release sees the reissue of G.B. Beckers' 'Walkman' album from 1982.
A painter and musician from Aachen, Germany, Günther Beckers created his third album ’Walkman' to coincide with an exhibition of his latest body of artwork in 1982. Released on his very own 'Milky Music' label with a run of just 500 copies and original pieces of artwork included with some copies, most copies of the album however remained amongst art collectors and with the painter himself. Rediscovered a few years ago through a friend of Music From Memory in the archives of a local radio station where all but one of the stations copies had been destroyed, it has been an album the label have been in love with since the first listen.
Touring as a guitarist with ECM affiliated Jazz musicians such as Alex De Grassi, William Ackerman, Ralph Towner & Larry Coryell to name but a few, Günther Beckers also would record on a number of releases of Klaus Schulze’s cult electronic music label ‘Innovative Communication’.
Always exploring new ideas and the possibilities of technology within his music, Günther would record the ‘Walkman’ album utilising the ‘Kunstkopf’ technique of sound recording. Kunstkopf or ‘Dummy Head’ recording is a 3D audio recording technology that enables listeners to define each source of sound as if they were in the original recording situation itself. Using two microphones which are usually mounted in the ears of a mannequin (giving it the ‘Dummy Head’ name in English) the technique exploits certain basic principles of human spatial hearing.
Listeners to ‘Kunstkopf’ recordings are in fact encouraged to listen to such recordings on headphones, as the 3D perception is often greatly diminished on speakers. With the title ‘Walkman’ G.B. Beckers was very much hoping the album would be enjoyed on headphones, even portably through a Walkman. Minimalist variations around an acoustic guitar, guitar synth, rhythm box and with wordless female vocals, G.B. Beckers' 'Walkman' drifts in and out of moods; it is a unique and at times hauntingly beautiful album, which the Kunstkopf recording technique further adds to the albums at times often otherworldly feeling.
A painter and musician from Aachen, Germany, Günther Beckers created his third album ’Walkman' to coincide with an exhibition of his latest body of artwork in 1982. Released on his very own 'Milky Music' label with a run of just 500 copies and original pieces of artwork included with some copies, most copies of the album however remained amongst art collectors and with the painter himself. Rediscovered a few years ago through a friend of Music From Memory in the archives of a local radio station where all but one of the stations copies had been destroyed, it has been an album the label have been in love with since the first listen.
Touring as a guitarist with ECM affiliated Jazz musicians such as Alex De Grassi, William Ackerman, Ralph Towner & Larry Coryell to name but a few, Günther Beckers also would record on a number of releases of Klaus Schulze’s cult electronic music label ‘Innovative Communication’.
Always exploring new ideas and the possibilities of technology within his music, Günther would record the ‘Walkman’ album utilising the ‘Kunstkopf’ technique of sound recording. Kunstkopf or ‘Dummy Head’ recording is a 3D audio recording technology that enables listeners to define each source of sound as if they were in the original recording situation itself. Using two microphones which are usually mounted in the ears of a mannequin (giving it the ‘Dummy Head’ name in English) the technique exploits certain basic principles of human spatial hearing.
Listeners to ‘Kunstkopf’ recordings are in fact encouraged to listen to such recordings on headphones, as the 3D perception is often greatly diminished on speakers. With the title ‘Walkman’ G.B. Beckers was very much hoping the album would be enjoyed on headphones, even portably through a Walkman. Minimalist variations around an acoustic guitar, guitar synth, rhythm box and with wordless female vocals, G.B. Beckers' 'Walkman' drifts in and out of moods; it is a unique and at times hauntingly beautiful album, which the Kunstkopf recording technique further adds to the albums at times often otherworldly feeling.
STAFF COMMENTS
Patrick says: Music From Memory visit the evocative sounds of Gunther Beckers for their new release, bringing us a ten track excursion into rainsoaked windows, introspective guitar and bedroom beauty. Folk-meets-Balearic with a twist of ambience...
Sao Paulo’s Gui Boratto has been an innovator and leading member Brazil's dance music community for some time. His versatility to cross genres and remain faithful to the floor has been proven time and time again. Be it from “Beautiful Life” to “Azzura” or “No Turning Back”, his influence has struck a permanent chord in melodic dance music.
"Pentagram" sees Boratto expand and diversify his catalogue. It opens with the sublime, electrified beauty of "The Walker" before dropping to the drum-kit guided chaos of "The Black Bookshell". Beautiful Life vocalist Luciana Villanova sings on "Overload", a fast paced and evocative track that's ridiculously now, whilst "The Phoenix", featuring another guest vocalist - Nathan Berger - sees more emotive moods contrasted against Boratto's impressive electronic underlay.
Through his signature kaleidoscopic approach, Boratto has delivered a far-reaching, all-encompassing album that's wonderfully accessible. At once able to soundtrack a cocktail party on the beach, a night out on the town with the ladies / lads as well as the Sunday afternoon chores; it's radio crossover potential is also painfully apparent from the very first track with the Brazilian producer embracing a pop-like charm and songwriting style throughout.
Whereas "Spur" (a field-tested 808 and 909-heavy 'purist track', 'very, very old school' Boratto insists) and "Alcazar" are sheer smooth-edged 4/4 epics, the album also has some surprising, startling moments up it's sleeve: the John Barry-esque "Scene 2" (with a hint of Amon Tobin, "Easy Muffin" style, throw in) and its refined string-laden buildup, 100% fitted for a 007 opening credit sequence; or with "Hallucination" (feat B.T.) and the further James Holden-ish title-track "Pentagram" (think 'The Idiots Are Winning'); 'one of those exercises I did when I got my Buchla modular synth', Boratto analyses, 'I think I’ve used more than 30 different snares, with different delays and reverbs. The whole song is alive'. And so is "Pentagram" in its entirety: alive and definitely just as manifold and hopeful as its architectonics are; the stuff of science and dreams all at once.
"Pentagram" sees Boratto expand and diversify his catalogue. It opens with the sublime, electrified beauty of "The Walker" before dropping to the drum-kit guided chaos of "The Black Bookshell". Beautiful Life vocalist Luciana Villanova sings on "Overload", a fast paced and evocative track that's ridiculously now, whilst "The Phoenix", featuring another guest vocalist - Nathan Berger - sees more emotive moods contrasted against Boratto's impressive electronic underlay.
Through his signature kaleidoscopic approach, Boratto has delivered a far-reaching, all-encompassing album that's wonderfully accessible. At once able to soundtrack a cocktail party on the beach, a night out on the town with the ladies / lads as well as the Sunday afternoon chores; it's radio crossover potential is also painfully apparent from the very first track with the Brazilian producer embracing a pop-like charm and songwriting style throughout.
Whereas "Spur" (a field-tested 808 and 909-heavy 'purist track', 'very, very old school' Boratto insists) and "Alcazar" are sheer smooth-edged 4/4 epics, the album also has some surprising, startling moments up it's sleeve: the John Barry-esque "Scene 2" (with a hint of Amon Tobin, "Easy Muffin" style, throw in) and its refined string-laden buildup, 100% fitted for a 007 opening credit sequence; or with "Hallucination" (feat B.T.) and the further James Holden-ish title-track "Pentagram" (think 'The Idiots Are Winning'); 'one of those exercises I did when I got my Buchla modular synth', Boratto analyses, 'I think I’ve used more than 30 different snares, with different delays and reverbs. The whole song is alive'. And so is "Pentagram" in its entirety: alive and definitely just as manifold and hopeful as its architectonics are; the stuff of science and dreams all at once.
FORMAT INFORMATION
2xLtd LP includes MP3 Download Code.
"Bredow's cast of alumni - the holy trinity o f Atkins, May & Saunderson at the front - fill out this tale with passion, pride and, oddly for music of the future, nostalgia too." - Dazed and Confused
"An enjoyable education into the music, the city and the main players past, present and future." - DJ Magazine
"An enjoyable education into the music, the city and the main players past, present and future." - DJ Magazine
This release contains the finest songs the old man has ever committed to tape - a smorgasbord which encompasses expansive sonic meanderings, unselfconscious indie-rock thrashing, sad-eyed melodrama and the kind of wised-up humour we might expect from a statesman and scholar with such a track record, but which is a rarity in these youthquaking, moronically-earnest and docile times. Here we have George Washington Brown comprehensively topping his past endeavours, having created a truly cherishable thing - a humanistic modern record, a gift from one adventurer to others. For fans of Guided by Voices, Animal Collective, Van Dyke Parks and the Elephant 6 collective.
FORMAT INFORMATION
Ltd LP Info: 330 edition heavy duty vinyl in a paste on sleeve, with a CDR included.
Reduced
Gabriel Bruce’s first solo single, Sleep Paralysis is the sound of the ex-Loverman vocalist finding a new voice, with that band’s primal energies being recalibrated into an impassioned sweeping synthesizer symphony. The track recalls Leonard Cohen’s late 80s synth production on I’m Your Man, yet is altogether murkier and more foreboding, interested in depth of darkness rather than surface glimmer. B-side No Love Lost draws the Cohen connection deeper, primarily through Bruce’s deep vocal range, though tonally Bruce reaches something smoother and more versatile than Cohen did, and the track has shades of Nick Cave’s possessive obsessions and fascinations in subject matter.
Bruce's debut 7” is incorporated into a 50 page illustrated book which looks into the phenomenon of sleep paralysis itself, featuring cuttings and ephemera of people’s recollections of the sensation. The book features three different paper stocks, colour photos, a variety of different printing effects, a card cover and facsimile of rare writings on Sleep Paralysis. The cover is hugged by a bellyband, available in scarlet, royal blue, sapphire or mandarin.
Written by Gabriel, edited and designed by London creative collective Off Modern and released on their label of the same name the release of Sleep Paralysis this December signals the end of months of close collaboration. No wonder this unique single has been picked up on by the likes of the Guardian and The Fader.
Bruce's debut 7” is incorporated into a 50 page illustrated book which looks into the phenomenon of sleep paralysis itself, featuring cuttings and ephemera of people’s recollections of the sensation. The book features three different paper stocks, colour photos, a variety of different printing effects, a card cover and facsimile of rare writings on Sleep Paralysis. The cover is hugged by a bellyband, available in scarlet, royal blue, sapphire or mandarin.
Written by Gabriel, edited and designed by London creative collective Off Modern and released on their label of the same name the release of Sleep Paralysis this December signals the end of months of close collaboration. No wonder this unique single has been picked up on by the likes of the Guardian and The Fader.
A double album celebrating the 60th birthday of this wonderful musician. Gavin Bryars is one of Britain's foremost contemporary composers. His work draws together minimalism, ECM style 'chamber-jazz' and classical music creating a sound that merges them all into a perfect symbiosis of sound. The brilliant "Cello Concerto (Farewll To Philosophy)" is just one highlight on this excellent set.
THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2016 EXCLUSIVE, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.
Commonly referred to as “the first existential country song”, Stuart Maconie has hailed ‘Wichita Lineman’ as “the greatest pop song ever composed”, its reputation further enhanced by its inclusion in Rolling Stone’s ‘500 Greatest Songs Of All Time’ poll. Written by Jimmy Webb and inspired by the image of a solitary lineman atop a telegraph pole, observed while driving through rural Oklahoma during sunset, this definitive version, released as a single in 1968, would go to Number 3 in the US chart and enter the top ten in the UK. In celebration of Campbell’s 80th birthday in April 2016, we’re reissuing it on red coloured 7” vinyl, using the original artwork from the ‘68 Spanish release.
Commonly referred to as “the first existential country song”, Stuart Maconie has hailed ‘Wichita Lineman’ as “the greatest pop song ever composed”, its reputation further enhanced by its inclusion in Rolling Stone’s ‘500 Greatest Songs Of All Time’ poll. Written by Jimmy Webb and inspired by the image of a solitary lineman atop a telegraph pole, observed while driving through rural Oklahoma during sunset, this definitive version, released as a single in 1968, would go to Number 3 in the US chart and enter the top ten in the UK. In celebration of Campbell’s 80th birthday in April 2016, we’re reissuing it on red coloured 7” vinyl, using the original artwork from the ‘68 Spanish release.
Gene Chandler
I'll Make The Living (If You Make The Loving Worthwhile) / All About The Paper
20th Century
Funk and soul at its finest here as two Chicago classics from the Gene Chandler vault get an official remastered, reissue exactly as they deserve to be. On the A side, ‘I'll Make The Living If You Make The Loving Worthwhile’ combines heavenly orchestral flair with Chandler’s sweeter than sweet vocals. That early 80’s influence weaves it’s way throughout with a healthy dose of slap bass bringing a flavour of funk to the fore. Take to the B side and Chandler offers up a more disco focused track, complete with a killer boogie tinged bassline, sensuous keys and strings of stratospheric proportions. Those silky-smooth trademark Gene Chandler tones keep the iconic soul running deeply through the veins of this 1980 number. Any self-respecting music lover deserves this remastered version nestled in their collection.
Gabriella Cohen’s debut solo full-length is the product of ten days and two microphones. Co-produced alongside close friend, bandmate and engineer Kate ‘Babyshakes’ Dillon, the record is the result of what Cohen describes as the “ceremony” of reflecting on a relationship.
The album’s raw, personal side could be traced back to its place of birth at Dillon’s parents’ place in the country, or to the Brisbane streets the songs were composed in. The songs are soaked in the kind of aching nostalgia that is tinged with equal measures of sadness and triumph. On ‘I Don’t Feel So Alive’ Cohen warns: “This could be the last time we get together” and on one hand it’s melancholy but it’s in the spirit of endings that are also beginnings. After finishing the record, Cohen and Dillon hit the road down Australia’s East Coast, from Brisbane to Melbourne, a truck full of instruments and gear following in their wake.
There are two sides to Cohen’s coin though - for every moment of raw, cutting emotion, there’s one of otherworldly ethereality. It’s what makes the record feel timeless, which doesn’t mean old-fashioned - it means that the vocoder on ‘Feelin’ Fine’ and the fuzzy, frenzied drums of ‘Alien Anthem’ don’t feel at odds with the dreamy, ambling melodies and old-school ethos at the heart of Cohen’s songwriting.
‘Full Closure And No Details’ is a definitional labour of love: when Cohen talks about her collaborators she sounds like she’s talking about her family - her bass player and backing singers, ring-ins that recorded after Cohen and Dillon finished up in the country, are ‘dear friends’; and Dillon is her ‘sister’. The songs were written on Cohen’s grandpa’s nylon string guitar and ‘Piano Song’ was recorded on Dillon’s parents’ old, out-of-tune upright, the same piano she learned on as a child.
“‘Full Closure And No Details’ is quietly impressive - a slowburning fusion of defiance and heartache.” - The Guardian
The album’s raw, personal side could be traced back to its place of birth at Dillon’s parents’ place in the country, or to the Brisbane streets the songs were composed in. The songs are soaked in the kind of aching nostalgia that is tinged with equal measures of sadness and triumph. On ‘I Don’t Feel So Alive’ Cohen warns: “This could be the last time we get together” and on one hand it’s melancholy but it’s in the spirit of endings that are also beginnings. After finishing the record, Cohen and Dillon hit the road down Australia’s East Coast, from Brisbane to Melbourne, a truck full of instruments and gear following in their wake.
There are two sides to Cohen’s coin though - for every moment of raw, cutting emotion, there’s one of otherworldly ethereality. It’s what makes the record feel timeless, which doesn’t mean old-fashioned - it means that the vocoder on ‘Feelin’ Fine’ and the fuzzy, frenzied drums of ‘Alien Anthem’ don’t feel at odds with the dreamy, ambling melodies and old-school ethos at the heart of Cohen’s songwriting.
‘Full Closure And No Details’ is a definitional labour of love: when Cohen talks about her collaborators she sounds like she’s talking about her family - her bass player and backing singers, ring-ins that recorded after Cohen and Dillon finished up in the country, are ‘dear friends’; and Dillon is her ‘sister’. The songs were written on Cohen’s grandpa’s nylon string guitar and ‘Piano Song’ was recorded on Dillon’s parents’ old, out-of-tune upright, the same piano she learned on as a child.
“‘Full Closure And No Details’ is quietly impressive - a slowburning fusion of defiance and heartache.” - The Guardian
Australia’s sweetheart, Gabriella Cohen struck gold with the release of her internationally acclaimed debut, Full Closure and No Details in 2016. After extensively touring the album worldwide and sharing the stage with musical heavyweights like The Flaming Lips, Marlon Williams and Rodrigo Amarante, fans and industry alike embraced the dreamy, fuzz-soaked popscapes created by Cohen. The Guardian praised: “Seductive, broody and occasionally sinister,” and it drew four-star reviews from MOJO, UNCUT and Q Magazine.
In the summer of 2017, Cohen moved to a farm in countryside Victoria, Australia, to record and self-produce her second album with engineer and partner-in-crime, Kate ‘Babyshakes’ Dillon. There, amidst flocks of screeching white cockatoos and herds of Black Angus cows, they etched the beginning of Pink Is The Colour Of Unconditional Love. The record was almost complete when the band was invited to join Foxygen’s U.S tour, compelling the girls to finish the album on the road. Armed with a microphone and an interface, Dillon and Cohen captured the final touches on a boat in England, the coast of Portugal; in the mountains of Southern Italy, cafes of Mexico, and finally in Venice Beach, Los Angeles.
Pink Is The Colour is an expansive and exciting body of work, showcasing Cohen’s unusually refreshing twists on pop arrangements. ‘Baby’ was born in the graveyard of unrequited love, while ‘Music Machine’ became a swagger of sultry defiance set in LA. Throughout the new album Cohen creates complex and sugary backing vocals. These signature vocal arrangements—contoured with classic harmonies and nostalgic melodies—form songs remarkable in their originality. Honest heartache is woven into glory throughout the record, and during eleven tracks a candid, almost ethereal self-portrait of its songwriter emerges. For Gabriella Cohen, it’s an epitaph of electric wonder, and a definitive fact: Pink is the Colour of Unconditional Love.
“A modern psychedelic prophet who layers drawling vocals, heartache, and healing over a background of Velvet Underground-esque guitar distortion.” - Rookie Mag
In the summer of 2017, Cohen moved to a farm in countryside Victoria, Australia, to record and self-produce her second album with engineer and partner-in-crime, Kate ‘Babyshakes’ Dillon. There, amidst flocks of screeching white cockatoos and herds of Black Angus cows, they etched the beginning of Pink Is The Colour Of Unconditional Love. The record was almost complete when the band was invited to join Foxygen’s U.S tour, compelling the girls to finish the album on the road. Armed with a microphone and an interface, Dillon and Cohen captured the final touches on a boat in England, the coast of Portugal; in the mountains of Southern Italy, cafes of Mexico, and finally in Venice Beach, Los Angeles.
Pink Is The Colour is an expansive and exciting body of work, showcasing Cohen’s unusually refreshing twists on pop arrangements. ‘Baby’ was born in the graveyard of unrequited love, while ‘Music Machine’ became a swagger of sultry defiance set in LA. Throughout the new album Cohen creates complex and sugary backing vocals. These signature vocal arrangements—contoured with classic harmonies and nostalgic melodies—form songs remarkable in their originality. Honest heartache is woven into glory throughout the record, and during eleven tracks a candid, almost ethereal self-portrait of its songwriter emerges. For Gabriella Cohen, it’s an epitaph of electric wonder, and a definitive fact: Pink is the Colour of Unconditional Love.
“A modern psychedelic prophet who layers drawling vocals, heartache, and healing over a background of Velvet Underground-esque guitar distortion.” - Rookie Mag
It’s been an extraordinary journey for Gaz Coombes, from flashily whiskered pop tearaway to Ivor Novello and BRIT award winning rock star. The mega-watt melodic genius responsible for ten Top 20 hits and six Top 20 albums - 'I Should Coco' was Parlophone’s fastest selling debut since the Beatles 'Please Please Me' - returns with his remarkable new album, entitled 'Matador'.
“There’s this disposable vibe around music at the moment which is odd, because it’s so obviously central to most people’s lives,” says Gaz. “Life is full of moments of fear, loss and longing, but it’s how you get through those things and triumph over them which define you. But there’s as much light as there is dark on this record; there’s beauty in both of those states and that has always intrigued me."
“There’s this disposable vibe around music at the moment which is odd, because it’s so obviously central to most people’s lives,” says Gaz. “Life is full of moments of fear, loss and longing, but it’s how you get through those things and triumph over them which define you. But there’s as much light as there is dark on this record; there’s beauty in both of those states and that has always intrigued me."
World’s Strongest Man is the magnificent third solo album by Gaz Coombes. Inspired variously by Grayson Perry’s the Descent of Man, Frank Ocean’s Blonde, Californian weed, British woodlands, unchecked masculinity, Neu! and hip hop (and a whole lot more besides), it’s a truly remarkable collection of eleven deeply personal songs each set to expansive, addictive melody.
FORMAT INFORMATION
Coloured LP Info: Gatefold Sleeve Pink Coloured Indies Exclusive.
"The Spinning Top", Coxon's seventh studio LP to date, is also his finest yet whether the folky blues shuffle of "Sorrow's Army", menacing thrashes of "Dead Bees", or eight-minute daydream opus, and perhaps album centrepiece, "In The Morning". Comprising 15 original new songs, the album was produced by Stephen Street and featuring collaborators such as Danny Thompson and Robyn Hitchcock. Graham's most intimate and beguiling work to date, "The Spinning Top" ploughs depths, textures and lyrical furrows that few of his contemporaries are still able to muster, especially this far down the line. Conversely, this is the sound of a man rejuvenated and refocused, ready for yet another flourish in an-already compulsive and vital career.
Blur’s Graham Coxon releases a special new single on Parlophone Records on December 15th. ‘Falling’ is a double A-side single which was written by the talented, but unknown song-writer and musician Luke Daniel.
One side features ‘Falling’ recorded by Graham and the other features Luke Daniel’s original recording of the same track.
Proceeds from the sale of this single will be donated to CALM (the Campaign Against Living Miserably), an award-winning charity dedicated to preventing male suicide, the single biggest killer of men under the age of 45 in the UK.
One side features ‘Falling’ recorded by Graham and the other features Luke Daniel’s original recording of the same track.
Proceeds from the sale of this single will be donated to CALM (the Campaign Against Living Miserably), an award-winning charity dedicated to preventing male suicide, the single biggest killer of men under the age of 45 in the UK.
Graham Coxon returns to Parlophone for his new album titled A+E, which will be released on 2nd April. A+E is Coxon’s first release since the acclaimed, acoustic-driven The Spinning Top.
Aptly named not only for the sense of scratchy, frantic urgency that suffuses its 10 songs, A+E finds Graham continuing with his singular vision as a truly eclectic artist. Playing all the instruments and improvising in the studio, Coxon found himself preoccupied with lyrical themes around the effects of weekend hedonism in modern Britain, on which A+E shines an outsider’s light, albeit with a mordant, sharp wit.
Produced by Ben Hillier, A+E features Coxon’s distinctive, visceral garage-punk-pop and is inspired by the experimental genres of Krautrock and the black & white, post-punk era – bringing to mind artists such as Neu! (‘City Hall’), Can and Kraftwerk (‘What’ll It Take’), as well as Peter Hamill, Joy Division (‘Knife In The Cast’) and Monochrome Set - with hypnotic, driving grooves (‘The Truth’). This may be the closest Graham has ever come to making, in a skewed sense of the word, ‘dance’ music.
Coxon describes the album as, “Improvisations, experiments in beats, rhythms. A chance to uninhibitedly make some sort of perversely sad, danceable and funny and despondent songs.” Adding “I didn’t want to get caught up in my usual struggle with trying to make things sound really posh. I didn’t want lovely 60s-sounding drums and valves.”
Aptly named not only for the sense of scratchy, frantic urgency that suffuses its 10 songs, A+E finds Graham continuing with his singular vision as a truly eclectic artist. Playing all the instruments and improvising in the studio, Coxon found himself preoccupied with lyrical themes around the effects of weekend hedonism in modern Britain, on which A+E shines an outsider’s light, albeit with a mordant, sharp wit.
Produced by Ben Hillier, A+E features Coxon’s distinctive, visceral garage-punk-pop and is inspired by the experimental genres of Krautrock and the black & white, post-punk era – bringing to mind artists such as Neu! (‘City Hall’), Can and Kraftwerk (‘What’ll It Take’), as well as Peter Hamill, Joy Division (‘Knife In The Cast’) and Monochrome Set - with hypnotic, driving grooves (‘The Truth’). This may be the closest Graham has ever come to making, in a skewed sense of the word, ‘dance’ music.
Coxon describes the album as, “Improvisations, experiments in beats, rhythms. A chance to uninhibitedly make some sort of perversely sad, danceable and funny and despondent songs.” Adding “I didn’t want to get caught up in my usual struggle with trying to make things sound really posh. I didn’t want lovely 60s-sounding drums and valves.”
Italian multi-instrumentalist, DJ and producer Giovanni Damico should be a familiar face to the Lumberjacks faithful, gracing the imprint a number of times over the years with his dusty house and disco flips. Now he's back on the black stuff with a mindblowing homage to Italy's Disco Sound of the 80's. Taking his lead from the recent Naples scene, Damico refines his love for synths and cheesy vocals and charters new territory with this wonderful 4 Track EP. Club med boogie, Pino D'Angio style vocals, laser fire and squelching bass run riot on this one - winning over even the toughest skeptics (Dave) with ease.
This is a reissue of ‘Casioworks’ by Gust De Meyer, originally released as a cassette on Ding Dong Tapes and Records in 1983. This stuff has been making crooked collectors, old and young minimal-wave heads and other music lovers going bonkers for years. At the age of 35, back in 1983, Gust De Meyer was working as an assistant at the Faculty of Social Sciences of the Catholic University of Leuven, were he did some groundbreaking work. He got a PhD in musical industry and introduced the study of video games.
Besides that he was busy writing texts and selecting records for a weekly 4-hour pioneering radioshow called ‘Funky Town’ on Belgian national radio. The show was specialized in the Afro-American dance music of the era: discofied electronics, funk, boogie and rhythm & blues. Next to brand new American records, from Chicago, Philly and New York there was also room for European stuff, sharing a likewise bouncy character or electronic groove: italo-boogie, kraut-grooves and some local danceable new-wave. Slick, glossy and commercial but also groundbreaking and goddamn funky. No wonder this radioshow became a hit in no time, even outside the national borders.
The producer of this radioshow was the now world famous composer of minimal and soft classical music Wim Mertens. Around 1981 he started up his Soft Verdict project. The first LP Wim released under this name, was in fact a collaboration with Gust: ‘For amusement only’, a rather radical and raw experimental album concentrating on sounds made by pinball-machines and early computer games like Space Invaders and Pac-Man. It was released in 1982 on the now legendary Les Disques du Crépuscule label. This label was promoting a fresh and eclectic mix of ambient, post-punk, exotic electro-pop and contemporary music, all nicely dressed up in well designed sleeves.
Continuing the interest in the chipset sounds of those early videogames, Gust soon released his own magnum opus and: ‘Casioworks’. After which he, strangely enough, never ever released music again.
‘Casioworks’ was made at home with only one instrument: the then very popular and cheap Casio VL Tone 1 synthesizer. Every track was recorded in one take on a porta-sound Fostex 250 4 track cassette recorder/mixer. For a first record it’s very focused and mature but also playful and heavy with urgent and visceral power.
Besides that he was busy writing texts and selecting records for a weekly 4-hour pioneering radioshow called ‘Funky Town’ on Belgian national radio. The show was specialized in the Afro-American dance music of the era: discofied electronics, funk, boogie and rhythm & blues. Next to brand new American records, from Chicago, Philly and New York there was also room for European stuff, sharing a likewise bouncy character or electronic groove: italo-boogie, kraut-grooves and some local danceable new-wave. Slick, glossy and commercial but also groundbreaking and goddamn funky. No wonder this radioshow became a hit in no time, even outside the national borders.
The producer of this radioshow was the now world famous composer of minimal and soft classical music Wim Mertens. Around 1981 he started up his Soft Verdict project. The first LP Wim released under this name, was in fact a collaboration with Gust: ‘For amusement only’, a rather radical and raw experimental album concentrating on sounds made by pinball-machines and early computer games like Space Invaders and Pac-Man. It was released in 1982 on the now legendary Les Disques du Crépuscule label. This label was promoting a fresh and eclectic mix of ambient, post-punk, exotic electro-pop and contemporary music, all nicely dressed up in well designed sleeves.
Continuing the interest in the chipset sounds of those early videogames, Gust soon released his own magnum opus and: ‘Casioworks’. After which he, strangely enough, never ever released music again.
‘Casioworks’ was made at home with only one instrument: the then very popular and cheap Casio VL Tone 1 synthesizer. Every track was recorded in one take on a porta-sound Fostex 250 4 track cassette recorder/mixer. For a first record it’s very focused and mature but also playful and heavy with urgent and visceral power.
This 1975 album is a studio session organized by Maestro Giacomo Dell'Orso (the husband of Edda) here released under his given name and not the Oscar Lindok pseudonym he's better known for. This album had the simple purpose of a fun and playful session without preconceived models. The result is a carefree album, from the friendly cover (Orso means Bear) to the music that is interwoven with bossa nova, samba, jazz and funk in a style that recalls in many ways the work of Maestro Piero Piccioni. Dell'Orso plays organ, electric piano and Bulisacchio (a synth with metal slats that simulate bass), Nino Rapicavoli on flute and sax, Jimmy Tamborelli on guitars and Ciro Cocozza on percussion.
FORMAT INFORMATION
Ltd LP includes MP3 Download Code.
Gareth Dickson has spent the last two and a half years touring with Vashti Bunyan as her guitarist. This gave him the opportunity to work with great musicians like Devendra Banhart, Juana Molina and Coco Rosie, as well as the chance to perform in some of the great venues all over the world from The Barbican (London) to Carnegie Hall (New York). Gareth, who hails from Glasgow, Scotland, uses a steel stringed acoustic guitar and effects (delay and reverb) in his quest to recreate the ambiance of some of his more recent musical influences (Aphex Twin, Brian Eno) while drawing on the guitar techniques of some of the finger-picker guitarists of the past (Bert Jansch, Robert Johnson, Nick Drake).
“The Naked City” album is the musical portrait of a city. It’s a bold portrait told in striking, vivid tone colors, bringing to life the throbbing intensity of a great metropolis and its people. It’s a musical portrait with the pulse-pounding rhythm of the city’s heartbeat and melodies drawn from the dreams, the triumphs, the tragedies of the people (...)”
Naked City is a police drama series which aired from 1958 to 1963 on the ABC television network. It was inspired by the 1948 motion picture The Naked City and mimics its dramatic “semi-documentary” format and filmed on location in New York City.
Ned Washington, author of the lyrics and narrative for “The Naked City” album, is one of the best known and most honored musical collaborators on the Hollywood scene.
Naked City is a police drama series which aired from 1958 to 1963 on the ABC television network. It was inspired by the 1948 motion picture The Naked City and mimics its dramatic “semi-documentary” format and filmed on location in New York City.
Ned Washington, author of the lyrics and narrative for “The Naked City” album, is one of the best known and most honored musical collaborators on the Hollywood scene.
George Duning & The Brothers Candoli / Gianfranco Reverberi
Bell, Book And Candle / The Reincarnation Of Isabel
Finders Kreepers / Finders Keepers
For the final chapter of the Finders Kreepers 7″ series of bygone supernatural psychedelic cinema scores we combine a true universal classic with a very deep underground gem for this unlikely pairing of witchcraft films from entirely different cinematic perspectives.
Taken from a South American only 7″ EP dedicated solely to the nightclub music of The Brothers Candoli in Richard Quine’s Bell Book And Candle, the tongue-in-cheek cat magic theme on the a-side of this release combines whirring electric pianos and muted horns to provide a classic kitsch-witch freaky tiki theme complete with purrs, meows and magical spells sharing the same dark comedic approach to the looming domestication of witchcraft shared in haxan classics like Rosemary’s baby and Virgin Witch as wellas comedies like Bewitched and Saxana.
The final side to this ten-part series finally sees the obscure ritualistic funk soundtrack to Renato Polselli’s Reincarnation Of Isobel available on vinyl for the first time since its ultra rare 1973 release (under a different name) on a small Italian imprint. Composed by library music stalwart Gianfranco Reverberi for a film that also goes by the name of Rites, Black Magic and Secret Orgies In The Fourteenth Century, the bizarre feature-length score does little to authenticate the stylistic vintage of the films plot and brings psych rock, synth and sound effects to the proceedings bequeathing gems such as this impending bass and percussion driven title sequence. Complete with explicit feminine vocalisations and sedated Euro mock afro rock textures this rare theme for the X-rated 1970s take on the 1922 Benjamin Christensen film Haxan does its best to provide a musical backdrop for a film that combines witchcraft, vampires and zombies combining all the key fantasy figures found in the Finders Kreepers series for an ultimate deep groove crescendo.
Taken from a South American only 7″ EP dedicated solely to the nightclub music of The Brothers Candoli in Richard Quine’s Bell Book And Candle, the tongue-in-cheek cat magic theme on the a-side of this release combines whirring electric pianos and muted horns to provide a classic kitsch-witch freaky tiki theme complete with purrs, meows and magical spells sharing the same dark comedic approach to the looming domestication of witchcraft shared in haxan classics like Rosemary’s baby and Virgin Witch as wellas comedies like Bewitched and Saxana.
The final side to this ten-part series finally sees the obscure ritualistic funk soundtrack to Renato Polselli’s Reincarnation Of Isobel available on vinyl for the first time since its ultra rare 1973 release (under a different name) on a small Italian imprint. Composed by library music stalwart Gianfranco Reverberi for a film that also goes by the name of Rites, Black Magic and Secret Orgies In The Fourteenth Century, the bizarre feature-length score does little to authenticate the stylistic vintage of the films plot and brings psych rock, synth and sound effects to the proceedings bequeathing gems such as this impending bass and percussion driven title sequence. Complete with explicit feminine vocalisations and sedated Euro mock afro rock textures this rare theme for the X-rated 1970s take on the 1922 Benjamin Christensen film Haxan does its best to provide a musical backdrop for a film that combines witchcraft, vampires and zombies combining all the key fantasy figures found in the Finders Kreepers series for an ultimate deep groove crescendo.
Sounding a little like a lost Balearic / house treasure, only refracted back through a modern prism, George Earnest's EP here on Pear seeks to update templates laid down by proto- British House pioneers as much as it delivers paradisiacal music for the sunshine isles.
After an ambient, coastal introduction we're flung into the lush driving house of "Organ Of Evening Calm" - with big pitch bent solos enthusiastically jumping from a bed of delicate rhythms and synthy flute licks. The perfect track to get lost in as the stars begin to shine across the outdoor arena. "Dreaming Island" hires in a bolshie breakbeat for extra bump while majestic keys paint a tantalizing picture of serotonin flooded fun. Cheeky, groovy and oh-so-nice this'll have the whole floor smiling at each other. The appropriately named "Mermaid Dive" sounds exactly as describes, as sonar bleeps and underwater bubbles cascade past our ears as we sink deeper and deeper into a swirling sonic world. Finally, another beatless, coastal excursion closes proceedings entitled "A Sea" and decorated beautifully with bird song. I love bird song. I love this EP!
After an ambient, coastal introduction we're flung into the lush driving house of "Organ Of Evening Calm" - with big pitch bent solos enthusiastically jumping from a bed of delicate rhythms and synthy flute licks. The perfect track to get lost in as the stars begin to shine across the outdoor arena. "Dreaming Island" hires in a bolshie breakbeat for extra bump while majestic keys paint a tantalizing picture of serotonin flooded fun. Cheeky, groovy and oh-so-nice this'll have the whole floor smiling at each other. The appropriately named "Mermaid Dive" sounds exactly as describes, as sonar bleeps and underwater bubbles cascade past our ears as we sink deeper and deeper into a swirling sonic world. Finally, another beatless, coastal excursion closes proceedings entitled "A Sea" and decorated beautifully with bird song. I love bird song. I love this EP!
Four Flies keep their quality control sky high with the first vinyl reissue of the original soundtrack to "Io Emmanuelle (also known as A Man For Emmanuelle) – Cesare Canavari’s 1969 erotic-drama starring Italian scream-queen Erika Blanc. The score was composed and arranged by maestro Gianni Ferrio, who created one of his most famous and iconic soundtracks ever, with music that perfectly follows the neurotic character of the young protagonist – from moments of intimacy and introspection, to those of insanity and madness. The result is a terrific cocktail of late 60’s Italian grooves: orchestral beat, RnB, jazz, and avant garde numbers, with an essential contribution of “I Cantori Modernidi Alessandro Alessandroni” (vocal and choir), and featuring Gino Marinacci on flute. One of the rarest records from CAM archives is finally back in the spotlight, remastered from or iginal master tapes and pressed on 180gr vinyl, including an inner sleeve featuring original movie artwork by renowned Italian cinematic painter Sandro Symeoni.
Double Six and Domino Records present ‘All That Must Be’, the second full length album from George FitzGerald. It features collaborations with Lil Silva, Hudson Scott, Bonobo and Tracey Thorne.
‘All That Must Be’ is a record with its psychological roots in two cities - Berlin and London. It documents a period of time when FitzGerald’s decade-long stint in the German capital came to an abrupt end, seeing him back in his hometown of London and becoming a father for the first time. It was against this backdrop that ‘All That Must Be’ started to form and the result is a record that deals with the processes of upheaval, change, acceptance and renewal that affect us all.
‘All That Must Be’ is a record with its psychological roots in two cities - Berlin and London. It documents a period of time when FitzGerald’s decade-long stint in the German capital came to an abrupt end, seeing him back in his hometown of London and becoming a father for the first time. It was against this backdrop that ‘All That Must Be’ started to form and the result is a record that deals with the processes of upheaval, change, acceptance and renewal that affect us all.
"Resembling a hybrid of John Martyn and Gerry Rafferty on the inside sleeve photo of his second album, the Stalybridge singer-songwriter also demonstrates throughout a similar knack for innovative songwriting talents as the aforementioned duo.
Away From The Bright Lights is awash with fine, sensitively delivered Frith originals that superbly demonstrate his versatility: smooth acoustic soul on 'Not The Man' stomping bare bone blues on 'Pretty Penny', an absorbing full-band sound with sweeping violin and a perfectly laid-back rhythm section on 'This One' the mandolin and violin colours the celtic flavours of 'RocknRollBand' and the rich strain of gritty Americana that runs through 'Good Thing'.
What sets Frith apart is his warm and welcoming voice, which maintains its authority and stamps its mark on an album of understated confidence, possessing a beautifully brooding mood and atmosphere." - Danny Moore
Away From The Bright Lights is awash with fine, sensitively delivered Frith originals that superbly demonstrate his versatility: smooth acoustic soul on 'Not The Man' stomping bare bone blues on 'Pretty Penny', an absorbing full-band sound with sweeping violin and a perfectly laid-back rhythm section on 'This One' the mandolin and violin colours the celtic flavours of 'RocknRollBand' and the rich strain of gritty Americana that runs through 'Good Thing'.
What sets Frith apart is his warm and welcoming voice, which maintains its authority and stamps its mark on an album of understated confidence, possessing a beautifully brooding mood and atmosphere." - Danny Moore
Like some latter-day beat-centric version of Goffin & King, Georgia and Dudley have been on a collective creative roll in 2007 that shows no sign of stopping yet. Their futuristic hip hop-soul has already been aired on Georgia's "Olesi" and "Patti Blingh" albums, and their "Beautiful Minds" project with Brit DJ / producer 2Tall. Now "The Message Uni Versa" presents a further 20 tracks of the Stones Throw duo's inimitable peace, rhythm and rhyme.
South Central, Los Angeles rapper G Perico has established himself as one of the most promising and consistently great voices in West Coast hip hop over the past year with his updated take on classic gangster rap. Having already released a full-length album in "All Blue" earlier this year and recently following it up with the G-Worthy project that sees him joining forces with rapper Jay Worthy and super-producer Cardo, Perico is now announcing a third album. "2 Tha Left" picks up where All Blue left off and showcases a prolific young rapper who is relentless about honing his craft and is getting better with every new verse he records. The album features LA rappers TeeCee4800, AD, and Polyester alongside Northern California's Nef The Pharaoh and Mozzy in addition to the legendary New Orleans rapper Curren$y. Production on the project is characterized by a modern take on classic G-Funk courtesy of longtime collaborators Poly Boy, Polyester, Westside Webb, and Cardo amongst others.
FORMAT INFORMATION
Coloured LP Info: A limited clear with blue splatter vinyl. Hand numbered in matte sleeveG. Markus - recently revealed as Ben Gomori of Monologues Records and Sterns Edits - returns with the fifth volume of his vinyl-only edits series: G-Edits.
"Lifted" is a roughly chopped and hard bumping gospel-house edit; cleverly slicing those buoyant vocal passages into a raucous, arm-raising peak timer tied to a gritty, no-nonsense beat.
Flip it over and "Panties" hits you with a wobbly party jam that samples Jackson Jones' 1981 wigged-out disco prototype "I Feel Good / Put Your Pants On". Full of phazing guitar licks, fizzing hats and funked out space bass this is a proper leftfield disco classic that's not had too much attention over the years but always goes down a storm.
Two killer edits once again from the G-Edits camp!
"Lifted" is a roughly chopped and hard bumping gospel-house edit; cleverly slicing those buoyant vocal passages into a raucous, arm-raising peak timer tied to a gritty, no-nonsense beat.
Flip it over and "Panties" hits you with a wobbly party jam that samples Jackson Jones' 1981 wigged-out disco prototype "I Feel Good / Put Your Pants On". Full of phazing guitar licks, fizzing hats and funked out space bass this is a proper leftfield disco classic that's not had too much attention over the years but always goes down a storm.
Two killer edits once again from the G-Edits camp!
Two chunky house workouts on this sixth instalment of the prolific series G-Edits by G Marcus and I have to say that this is probably the mos dancefloor killer of all of them.
On A side you get ‘Red E’ channeling classic 90s piano and sassy spoken vocals with thumping beats and a plump-ass bassline, whilst ‘Cum Thru’ is a woozy slice of late-night deep house with a garagey twist in the second half.
Both must be shorlisted as part of your peak time weaponry - that is if the crowd is right! One full side of wax for each of these mega tunes.
I am getting one myself!
On A side you get ‘Red E’ channeling classic 90s piano and sassy spoken vocals with thumping beats and a plump-ass bassline, whilst ‘Cum Thru’ is a woozy slice of late-night deep house with a garagey twist in the second half.
Both must be shorlisted as part of your peak time weaponry - that is if the crowd is right! One full side of wax for each of these mega tunes.
I am getting one myself!
STAFF COMMENTS
Sil says: Killer house numbers here to complement your surely great selection of peak-time killers. Best G-Edits for me so far!
Reduced
Brimming with creativity, “Fluff” is the debut album from singer-songwriter Andy Gabbard (Buffalo Killers). This is “Modern Grunge Fuzz Pop with 60’s aura”. On “Fluff” you can hear the deeply-solid effects of the grunge genre and mid-90’s ‘alternative music’ in a sonic gestalt. Exhibiting characteristics of fairly recent genres, as well as some classics that surrounded him during his youth, the album breaks barriers of seemingly comfortable, unthreatening music cultivating a physical embodiment of Nirvana, Dinosaur Jr, latter Beatles and even Brian Wilson! Buffalo Killers continue their successful run and now, it’s not running alone. “Fluff” is the start of something great.
Reduced
Brimming with creativity, “Fluff” is the debut album from singer-songwriter Andy Gabbard (Buffalo Killers). This is “Modern Grunge Fuzz Pop with 60’s aura”. On “Fluff” you can hear the deeply-solid effects of the grunge genre and mid-90’s ‘alternative music’ in a sonic gestalt. Exhibiting characteristics of fairly recent genres, as well as some classics that surrounded him during his youth, the album breaks barriers of seemingly comfortable, unthreatening music cultivating a physical embodiment of Nirvana, Dinosaur Jr, latter Beatles and even Brian Wilson! Buffalo Killers continue their successful run and now, it’s not running alone. “Fluff” is the start of something great.
Sampled by Drake (“Jungle”) and G-Eazy (“Running”). Instrumental versions of Gabriel’s Stones Throw Records debut Jardín now available on limited edition wax. Gabriel Garzón-Montano’s formidable skills have come to fruition on Jardín in his Stones Throw debut. “This album came out of wanting to make music that reminds people how beautiful life is and how delicate their heart is,” he said. “I’ve always wanted to make music that is healing, comforting, and funky. I named the album Jardín hoping for it to create a space for healing when people put it on. “A garden is full of life, growth and beauty,” Gabriel said of choosing that unifying image as the title for his new album. “It makes me think of green and white and all the colors as they appear in different flowers.” That vivid spectrum bursts forth on Jardín itself and the album contains references to fruit of all sorts, sour mango, juicy tangerines and sweet peaches. From the heartache and aching vocals that float over the dusty drums of “Crawl” to the stutter-step thump of “Bombo Fabrika” to the high falsetto he nails on “Octave,” Garzón-Montano proves himself to already be one of 2017’s biggest breakout talents.
Sick of Roy Wood's Wizzard, Cliff Richard's "Mistletoe and Wine" or even carols from Kings? Here's a chance to experince the ambience of the first Mass of Christmas in St. Mark's as it might have been celebrated in Venice around 1600. Featuring the music of Giovanni Gabrieli (1554-1612) and Cipriano De Rore (1516-1565) and exquisitely played on period instruments by the Gabrieli Consort and conducted by Paul McCreesh, this is a brilliant spiritual and joyous disc with the wonderful Archiv Production sound quality that recaptures the reality of the voices and instruments.
Those fine folks at Sound Metaphors kick off their Thank You sub label with an essential reissue of Dina Gad's sexy / sleazy S&M stomper "Crack The Whip". Originally released in 1989, this slo-mo slice of late night fun fuses the pilled up euphoria of Italo house pads with the cracking, snapping and slapping percussion and bubbling bass of New Beat. Of course, the most notable element is probably the orgasmic and erotic vocal - not for the faint of heart, but pretty effective at 3 a.m! Alongside the sprawling and strange "First Version", as per the original release, we get the trippier slow build of the "Second Version", which keeps us on the edge for two full minutes before letting the drums kick in. Last up is the entirely NSFW acapella version, perfect for adventurous jocks and inappropriate wedding sets.
This 1989 reissue is a rare downtempo italo house track. Don't sleep!
This 1989 reissue is a rare downtempo italo house track. Don't sleep!
STAFF COMMENTS
Patrick says: I effin love this! A record bag staple for the likes of Tolouse Low Trax and Joe from Zmatsutsi, this leather clad late 80s stomper takes Italo house to Boccaccio for an entirely X-rated night out. Ace.
The story began like this ...We heard Daniel Gadd by pure chance. A flickering neon sign occupied one corner of the stage. Daniel took centre stage. He plays guitar and sings. We happened to be there. Immediately we began to listen. That dark basement in central London, a haven far from the concerns of people on the streets above, was the best place to be in London that night. The audience was spellbound. And then just as he seemed to be finishing up, someone shouted out “one more!” “Okay, thanks…is it okay if I do one more?” asked Daniel, wondering for a moment, not sure if it was. The venue booker by the door did not hesitate and nodded the go-ahead. Daniel played on. And we were very glad to be there. It turned out that Daniel Gadd had somehow got to London via Spain, and he had been in London for a year. He’d trained at Berklee College of Music in Valencia, Spain. He composes and scores for film, and also works as a film composer’s assistant, during the daytime.
At night he likes to play gigs. He’d even recorded an album of songs by the sea at Kalk Bay, a small fishing village that’s now become part of Cape Town. But he hadn’t known what to do next. Well we said we love your music so let’s meet up soon. A few days later we met Daniel at Foyles bookstore café at 107 Charing Cross Road. The album he’d mentioned is his remarkable debut. So here it is…. the album will now be released on CD and digital through Cargo. Daniel named his label 107 Recordings in recognition of the Foyles meeting where the idea for the release of this album was born. Daniel Gadd is 26 years old. He’s British-South African. He grew up in South Africa, he lived in Spain for a year and after that he found his way to London…
At night he likes to play gigs. He’d even recorded an album of songs by the sea at Kalk Bay, a small fishing village that’s now become part of Cape Town. But he hadn’t known what to do next. Well we said we love your music so let’s meet up soon. A few days later we met Daniel at Foyles bookstore café at 107 Charing Cross Road. The album he’d mentioned is his remarkable debut. So here it is…. the album will now be released on CD and digital through Cargo. Daniel named his label 107 Recordings in recognition of the Foyles meeting where the idea for the release of this album was born. Daniel Gadd is 26 years old. He’s British-South African. He grew up in South Africa, he lived in Spain for a year and after that he found his way to London…
Gaika presents his debut album, "Basic Volume" after captivating listeners with a blistering pair of acclaimed, self-released mixtapes "Machine" and "Security" and the Warp-released EPs "Spaghetto" and "The Spectacular Empire". The 15 track collection is co-produced by Gaika, with additional production from similarly forward thinking contemporaries, including SOPHIE, Dutch E Germ, Dre Skull and DADRAS, Aart as well as previous collaborators including Jam City, Nick Leon and Frank Ocean’s "Blonde" and "Endless" collaborator Buddy Ross. Speaking about the album, Gaika says, “Basic Volume" is collection of alchemical parables for all the Immigrants who wander the earth in search of themselves”
FORMAT INFORMATION
2xLP includes MP3 Download Code.
While they’ve released records on their own, and even collaborated in the past (Orcas), Rafael Anton Irisarri and Benoit Pioulard have never made music quite like they do with Gailes. This is a pure winter doldrums soundtrack, when the stillness after a snowstorm ends elongates into deep contemplation.
It’s not surprising that Seventeen Words was conceived, composed and recorded as the duo weathered a brutal winter squall, the remains of which can be viewed on the album’s artwork. This is bottomless music, minimal in sound yet majestic in presentation. Snow slows, time freezes. This is the world of Gailes, just a fragment of our own writ large for eternity.
It’s not surprising that Seventeen Words was conceived, composed and recorded as the duo weathered a brutal winter squall, the remains of which can be viewed on the album’s artwork. This is bottomless music, minimal in sound yet majestic in presentation. Snow slows, time freezes. This is the world of Gailes, just a fragment of our own writ large for eternity.
Charlotte Gainsbourg releases her new album ‘Stage Whisper’ through Because Music. An album of live and unreleased studio tracks, it is the follow up to the critically acclaimed ‘IRM’ album, which was released in January 2010. ‘Stage Whisper’s studio material features collaborations with Beck, Conor O’Brien of Villagers, Noah and the Whale and Connan Mockasin.
Many of the studio tracks on ‘Stage Whisper’ originate from the sessions for ‘IRM’, which enjoyed critical claim across the globe. The Sunday Telegraph declared the album to be a work of “borderline genius”, Mojo claimed “IRM marks Charlotte Gainsbourg’s musical coming of age”.
Many of the studio tracks on ‘Stage Whisper’ originate from the sessions for ‘IRM’, which enjoyed critical claim across the globe. The Sunday Telegraph declared the album to be a work of “borderline genius”, Mojo claimed “IRM marks Charlotte Gainsbourg’s musical coming of age”.
THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2018 EXCLUSIVE AND WILL BE AVAILABLE INSTORE ON SATURDAY APRIL 21st 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 12.01AM SATURDAY APRIL 28th.
3 original tracks from "Rest" album by Charlotte Gainsbourg remixed : "Deadly Valentine" Soulwax Remix, "Ring-A-Ring O'Roses" Sebastian Remix & "Les Oxalis" Alan Braxe Remix.For yhe first time collected on Vinyl. Special cover printing, exclusive 12'' release
3 original tracks from "Rest" album by Charlotte Gainsbourg remixed : "Deadly Valentine" Soulwax Remix, "Ring-A-Ring O'Roses" Sebastian Remix & "Les Oxalis" Alan Braxe Remix.For yhe first time collected on Vinyl. Special cover printing, exclusive 12'' release
Produced by Ed Bangers’ SebastiAn (Frank Ocean, Kavinsky) and mixed by Tom Elmhirst (Adele, Lorde, David Bowie), the album features collaborations with Sir Paul McCartney, Daft Punk’s Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, Connan Mockasin and Owen Pallett (Arcade Fire, Caribou).
Having previously written lyrics with Jarvis Cocker and Air on ‘5.55’ (2006) and Beck on ‘IRM’ (2010), ‘Rest’ is the first album where Gainsbourg penned all the words. Feeling daunted by the desire to poetise her ideas, deliverance would arrive initially courtesy of Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, who provided the music for the title track, steering Charlotte toward a forensically focused approach to lyric writing. “Those were the first words that I actually sang on the album. I came in with all my bunches of lyrics… It was too much, really, and Guy-Man was saying, ‘you can’t say all that, you have to simplify it,’ and he reduced it to three words! It felt so innocent in a way, but it was exactly what I needed at that time”. On the album, Gainsbourg addresses personal topics ranging from the death of her father Serge and more recently sister Kate Barry, to the tensions between her shyness and her life as a performer and public figure, to charmingly illogical childhood fears.
The album’s major production lynchpin would be French DJ, remixer and producer Sebastian Akchoté-Bozovic, aka SebastiAn, best known for his releases on French house label Ed Banger and for his production work for Frank Ocean. His background in electronic music accorded with Charlotte’s desire for a sound with a disquieting, mechanistic edge, inspired by Giorgio Moroder and, perhaps unsurprisingly for a revered, award-winning film actress, movie soundtracks, particularly Pino Donaggio’s score for Brian De Palma’s ’70s horror classic Carrie and Georges Delerue’s music for Jean-Luc Godard’s nouvelle vague masterpiece Le Mepris, as well as the chilly, unsettling ambience of films like Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining and Hitchcock’s Rebecca.
The eleven essays on ‘Rest’ are nothing if not sure-footed, proffering a compelling fusion of gleaming, string-emblazoned modern electro-pop and cinematically textured avant-chanson – their magical music box melodies kissed by bruised, introspective, occasionally disquieting lyrics. The album opens with the nursery rhyme enchantment of ‘Ring a Ring a Roses’, a hazy mosaic of nostalgic childhood snapshots – the verses delivered in intimately captured French, the instantly infectious chorus in coolly clipped English – and ends with the electro-disco-flavoured ‘Les Oxalis’ (named after the eponymous woodland flower). “Those two songs were always the bookends of the album”, Charlotte explains. The latter’s rhythmic energy cuts against the lyric, describing a lachrymose promenade through a cemetery. “I remember SebastiAn asking, ‘Are you sure that’s what you want to say against that rhythm?’ But that’s how this album made sense to me, in the contradiction between things, with the music taking you somewhere and the words going the opposite way”.
It’s a potent dichotomy that permeates much of ‘Rest’, from ‘Lying With You’, whose busy drums and angular synths frame a lyric about Serge Gainsbourg’s death (“Like everyone who’s gone through this, you have to deal with the memory of someone who is still alive in your head, and the way you’ve seen them dead. I wanted to talk about the crudity of this”, explains Charlotte), to the frank, self-examining ‘I’m a Lie’ (“…about not knowing if you’re able to collapse or fly. It’s something that I’m always wrestling with”), and the wonderfully Giorgio Moroder-esque ‘Deadly Valentine’, whose lyrics, essentially a string of uncannily delivered wedding vows, play out against a motorik Euro-disco beat and soaring strings.
Another essay, ‘Songbird in a Cage’, was penned for Charlotte by Sir Paul McCartney, no less. “We had a very nice lunch about six-and-a-half years ago”, she recalls. “I couldn’t believe that I was actually sitting next to him. I told him that if he ever had a song for me it would be a dream come true. A few weeks later he sent this track. It was a demo. I didn’t know what to do with it, because I wanted it to be part of the album. We had to reinvent it. Paul very sweetly came to Electric Lady. He did a bit of piano, some bass, a bit of guitar. It was incredible, just to see him work”.
The aides-de-camp may have played their role on Rest, but it remains undeniably the work of a singular artist, one who has explored her personal darkness in pursuit of a sense of purpose and a place of resolution, purging herself of creative shyness and timidity in the process. “This time it felt like flying on my own. I knew I needed the right collaborator, and SebastiAn was always there, but all the same, this time the album is really mine”.
Having previously written lyrics with Jarvis Cocker and Air on ‘5.55’ (2006) and Beck on ‘IRM’ (2010), ‘Rest’ is the first album where Gainsbourg penned all the words. Feeling daunted by the desire to poetise her ideas, deliverance would arrive initially courtesy of Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, who provided the music for the title track, steering Charlotte toward a forensically focused approach to lyric writing. “Those were the first words that I actually sang on the album. I came in with all my bunches of lyrics… It was too much, really, and Guy-Man was saying, ‘you can’t say all that, you have to simplify it,’ and he reduced it to three words! It felt so innocent in a way, but it was exactly what I needed at that time”. On the album, Gainsbourg addresses personal topics ranging from the death of her father Serge and more recently sister Kate Barry, to the tensions between her shyness and her life as a performer and public figure, to charmingly illogical childhood fears.
The album’s major production lynchpin would be French DJ, remixer and producer Sebastian Akchoté-Bozovic, aka SebastiAn, best known for his releases on French house label Ed Banger and for his production work for Frank Ocean. His background in electronic music accorded with Charlotte’s desire for a sound with a disquieting, mechanistic edge, inspired by Giorgio Moroder and, perhaps unsurprisingly for a revered, award-winning film actress, movie soundtracks, particularly Pino Donaggio’s score for Brian De Palma’s ’70s horror classic Carrie and Georges Delerue’s music for Jean-Luc Godard’s nouvelle vague masterpiece Le Mepris, as well as the chilly, unsettling ambience of films like Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining and Hitchcock’s Rebecca.
The eleven essays on ‘Rest’ are nothing if not sure-footed, proffering a compelling fusion of gleaming, string-emblazoned modern electro-pop and cinematically textured avant-chanson – their magical music box melodies kissed by bruised, introspective, occasionally disquieting lyrics. The album opens with the nursery rhyme enchantment of ‘Ring a Ring a Roses’, a hazy mosaic of nostalgic childhood snapshots – the verses delivered in intimately captured French, the instantly infectious chorus in coolly clipped English – and ends with the electro-disco-flavoured ‘Les Oxalis’ (named after the eponymous woodland flower). “Those two songs were always the bookends of the album”, Charlotte explains. The latter’s rhythmic energy cuts against the lyric, describing a lachrymose promenade through a cemetery. “I remember SebastiAn asking, ‘Are you sure that’s what you want to say against that rhythm?’ But that’s how this album made sense to me, in the contradiction between things, with the music taking you somewhere and the words going the opposite way”.
It’s a potent dichotomy that permeates much of ‘Rest’, from ‘Lying With You’, whose busy drums and angular synths frame a lyric about Serge Gainsbourg’s death (“Like everyone who’s gone through this, you have to deal with the memory of someone who is still alive in your head, and the way you’ve seen them dead. I wanted to talk about the crudity of this”, explains Charlotte), to the frank, self-examining ‘I’m a Lie’ (“…about not knowing if you’re able to collapse or fly. It’s something that I’m always wrestling with”), and the wonderfully Giorgio Moroder-esque ‘Deadly Valentine’, whose lyrics, essentially a string of uncannily delivered wedding vows, play out against a motorik Euro-disco beat and soaring strings.
Another essay, ‘Songbird in a Cage’, was penned for Charlotte by Sir Paul McCartney, no less. “We had a very nice lunch about six-and-a-half years ago”, she recalls. “I couldn’t believe that I was actually sitting next to him. I told him that if he ever had a song for me it would be a dream come true. A few weeks later he sent this track. It was a demo. I didn’t know what to do with it, because I wanted it to be part of the album. We had to reinvent it. Paul very sweetly came to Electric Lady. He did a bit of piano, some bass, a bit of guitar. It was incredible, just to see him work”.
The aides-de-camp may have played their role on Rest, but it remains undeniably the work of a singular artist, one who has explored her personal darkness in pursuit of a sense of purpose and a place of resolution, purging herself of creative shyness and timidity in the process. “This time it felt like flying on my own. I knew I needed the right collaborator, and SebastiAn was always there, but all the same, this time the album is really mine”.
STAFF COMMENTS
Barry says: Brilliant goth-pop, throbbing basslines and the undeniably exotic and infinitely more alluring addition of vocals 'En Fraincaise' (that's french for 'In French'). Lovely.FORMAT INFORMATION
Vinyl comes with CD version of the album enclosed.
After decades in the making Finders Keepers Records proudly present us with the first-ever pressing of Serge Gainsbourg’s most elusive and coveted soundtrack studio recordings - co-written, arranged and orchestrated by the genius Jean-Claude Vannier (‘Histoire De Melody Nelson’) during what many consider to be the dynamic duo’s most definitive creative period.
Believed to have been lost in a studio fire by Gainsbourg enthusiasts for over forty years (a myth that also shrouds Morricone’s lost ‘Danger Diabolik’ soundtrack) the misplaced master-tapes for the drug-fuelled/Mai 68 cash-in/road-movie ‘Les Chemins De Katmandou’ have been widely considered the final audio jigsaw piece in an immaculate discography/filmography thus earning this soundtrack bone-fide Holy Grail status amongst the most avid disc detectives.
Featuring the original crack team of Paris based players now recognised as French library music royalty, this LP epitomises the inimitable musical direction and expert psychedelic pop musicianship that graced classic Gainsbourg/Vannier soundtracks like ‘La Horse’, ‘Cannabis’ and ‘Sex Shop’. Laying the stylistic, futureproof foundations for subsequent decades of forward-thinking Gallic funk mastery.
Comprising Vannier’s signature recipe of thick plucked bass lines, close-mic’d drums, biting Clavinet and Eastern influenced strings and percussion (and a sprinkling of subtle traditional French instrumentation) the soundtrack to ‘Les Chemins De Katmandou’ (aka ‘The Road To Katmandu’ or ‘The Pleasure Pit’) captures Vannier and Gainsbourg in the first year of their creative partnership capturing their unique embryonic energy.
This previously lost full soundtrack score now exists on vinyl for the first time ever as an infinitely important milestone in the early development of the duo who would shape the sound of French pop music for years to come.
Believed to have been lost in a studio fire by Gainsbourg enthusiasts for over forty years (a myth that also shrouds Morricone’s lost ‘Danger Diabolik’ soundtrack) the misplaced master-tapes for the drug-fuelled/Mai 68 cash-in/road-movie ‘Les Chemins De Katmandou’ have been widely considered the final audio jigsaw piece in an immaculate discography/filmography thus earning this soundtrack bone-fide Holy Grail status amongst the most avid disc detectives.
Featuring the original crack team of Paris based players now recognised as French library music royalty, this LP epitomises the inimitable musical direction and expert psychedelic pop musicianship that graced classic Gainsbourg/Vannier soundtracks like ‘La Horse’, ‘Cannabis’ and ‘Sex Shop’. Laying the stylistic, futureproof foundations for subsequent decades of forward-thinking Gallic funk mastery.
Comprising Vannier’s signature recipe of thick plucked bass lines, close-mic’d drums, biting Clavinet and Eastern influenced strings and percussion (and a sprinkling of subtle traditional French instrumentation) the soundtrack to ‘Les Chemins De Katmandou’ (aka ‘The Road To Katmandu’ or ‘The Pleasure Pit’) captures Vannier and Gainsbourg in the first year of their creative partnership capturing their unique embryonic energy.
This previously lost full soundtrack score now exists on vinyl for the first time ever as an infinitely important milestone in the early development of the duo who would shape the sound of French pop music for years to come.
At last, 12 years after his death, a proper retrospective of France's greatest export! His recording career spanned four decades, taking in everything from jazz to rock to reggae, but it's probably for his orchestral easy listening and low-slung cinematic funk that he's best loved round thse Northern Quarter parts. Everyone from Air to David Holmes and Andy Votel are hugely influenced by his sound. If all you know is "Je T'aime... Moi Non Plus", then prepare to have your life enriched with the delights of "Bonnie & Clyde", "Requiem Pour Un C", "Ballade De Melody Nelson" etc. 23 tracks in all, on both vinyl and CD.
This is Gajek. This is '17. Come in, feel free. Don´t worry if you see a flute in the sink.
Matti Gajek's followup to his 2014 debut album 'Restless Shapes' opens the floodgates to signals from a future best navigated by ear. Moving through polyphonic pulses, layers of grooves and sounds, zooming in and out of ever evolving patterns of concentration and decomposition, the ten tracks of Gajek´s '17 are electrifyingly futuristic clubmusic true to the almost five decades old motto of Berlins Zodiak Free Arts Lab: „Total freie Musik“ - totally free music.
Paying tribute to electronic pioneers like Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Florian Fricke while staying clear of historical mystification Gajek revisits the abstract clarity and improvisational audacity of 1970s electronics from a perspective firmly rooted in the digital now – this is not '71. Today motoric rhythms emerge and elapse from postdigital aural scapes, intense and sublime, linking the thermodynamic to the ephemeral. Beyond the echoes of past utopias '17 discovers present signs for possible tomorrows.
Matti Gajek's followup to his 2014 debut album 'Restless Shapes' opens the floodgates to signals from a future best navigated by ear. Moving through polyphonic pulses, layers of grooves and sounds, zooming in and out of ever evolving patterns of concentration and decomposition, the ten tracks of Gajek´s '17 are electrifyingly futuristic clubmusic true to the almost five decades old motto of Berlins Zodiak Free Arts Lab: „Total freie Musik“ - totally free music.
Paying tribute to electronic pioneers like Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Florian Fricke while staying clear of historical mystification Gajek revisits the abstract clarity and improvisational audacity of 1970s electronics from a perspective firmly rooted in the digital now – this is not '71. Today motoric rhythms emerge and elapse from postdigital aural scapes, intense and sublime, linking the thermodynamic to the ephemeral. Beyond the echoes of past utopias '17 discovers present signs for possible tomorrows.
A duo of funky strutting numbers from the Galactic Funk Milita via Sheffield's Black Beacon Sound. On the first part of the Dance Floor Grinder duology, the strutting snappy percussion and super smooth vocal delivery (both rhythmic and melodic) roll around the funked-out rhythmic backline, before peaking in a cacophony of frantic horns and perfectly executed drum licks.
The second side bring a rubberlips remix, breaking down into more of an instrumental redux, with phasing and instrumental solos taking centre stage, backed by the vox rather than led by them. The wig-out peak hits after a few blissful minutes, breaking down into it's component parts before juddering and fading away. A fantastic remix, taking the component parts and inverting them into a fresh take whilst still retaining the heat of the original.
The second side bring a rubberlips remix, breaking down into more of an instrumental redux, with phasing and instrumental solos taking centre stage, backed by the vox rather than led by them. The wig-out peak hits after a few blissful minutes, breaking down into it's component parts before juddering and fading away. A fantastic remix, taking the component parts and inverting them into a fresh take whilst still retaining the heat of the original.
Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds
In The Heat Of The Moment (Andrew Weatherall / Toydrum Dub Remixes)
Sour Mash
THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2015 EXCLUSIVE, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.
This exclusive 12" for Record Store Day is limited edition and feature remixes of the single 'In The Heat Of The Moment' by Andrew Weatherall and Toydrum. Previously unreleased, this is the first time these critically acclaimed remixes are available on vinyl. Noel is a supporter of Record Store Day and says "Record shops are as important as the records themselves".
This exclusive 12" for Record Store Day is limited edition and feature remixes of the single 'In The Heat Of The Moment' by Andrew Weatherall and Toydrum. Previously unreleased, this is the first time these critically acclaimed remixes are available on vinyl. Noel is a supporter of Record Store Day and says "Record shops are as important as the records themselves".
After the phenomenal reaction to his solo track ‘Wall of Glass’ and the emotional scenes that accompanied his first solo shows, Liam Gallagher brings us his eagerly anticipated debut album ‘As You Were’.
“I didn’t want to be reinventing anything or going off on a space jazz odyssey,” says Liam. “It’s the Lennon ‘Cold Turkey’ vibe, The Stones, the classics. But done my way, now.”
The album’s cover features an iconic new portrait of Liam which was taken by the influential photographer, fashion designer and creative director Hedi Slimane.
“I didn’t want to be reinventing anything or going off on a space jazz odyssey,” says Liam. “It’s the Lennon ‘Cold Turkey’ vibe, The Stones, the classics. But done my way, now.”
The album’s cover features an iconic new portrait of Liam which was taken by the influential photographer, fashion designer and creative director Hedi Slimane.
FORMAT INFORMATION
LP includes MP3 Download Code.
Unlike boxing, rock and roll is not renowned for great comebacks. A few missteps and then it’s usually farewell, have a good life, who are you again? Occasionally, though, a true heavy musical champ loses a bout only to re-emerge even stronger later. David Bowie, for example, went through a long fallow period before his renaissance. Paul Weller had a rocky few years before finding his feet as a solo artist. Now we can add a third era-defining voice to that list of champions who returned to reclaim their belt: Liam Gallagher.
After Beady Eye officially split in 2014, Liam found himself “out of the bubble” of being in an organised rock group with all the appropriate management apparatus for the first time in twenty years. He fell hard. Suddenly just a regular geezer (“just a regular absolute legend” he clarifies), he had to consider what he was going to do. For a while, he toyed with the idea of moving to Majorca and living “Sexy Beast-style” around the pool in the sun. He had a few holidays. He went for lots of jogs. He had a few pints. And he got divorced. And when all that was done he took a long look at himself in the mirror and remembered who he is and what he does. He’s Liam Gallagher, son of Peggy Gallagher, of Burnage, Manchester, the best singer and frontman of his generation. So he decided to start singing some songs again. Majorca could wait.
Playing around in his own idiosyncratic style on a guitar at home in London, he surprised himself by writing a song. “I am definitely not a professional at it,” he says, modestly. “It’s proper Frankenstein tackle. But I suppose everyone has their ways. Even Paul McCartney didn’t just sit down and write Hey Jude straight away.”
The song that he wrote was a heavy dollop of soul-rock called Bold and strong enough to get him signed to Warner Bros. There was something there alright. Eventually, he had a whole batch of songs written which he demoed with a multi-instrumentalist called Dan McDougall in London before he started to meet producers and co-writers. “Warner Bros said to me, ‘Are you up for a bit of co-writing? I was, like, ‘never done that before. Why not?’” He flew out to LA, met a few, but really hit it off with Greg Kurstin. “Greg Kurstin played me a few ideas, we had a chat, swapped some ideas, sorted it out and before you know we had some more songs. I’m as surprised as anyone that it worked, but the songs we did are top.”
These songs include Liam’s incredible first single as a solo artist, Wall Of Glass. If you had to make an equation of all the elements that made the early Oasis singles so apocalyptically good - i.e, huge waves of guitar hooks + melody you can’t shake for…ever + thunderous rhythm + LIAM GALLAGHER’S VOICE delivering an unbelievably catchy chorus - then Wall Of Glass fits in the lineage perfectly. It’s hard to recall a time he’s sung better - it’s like hearing him for the first time again, the same yearning menace that claimed a million hearts by the end of Supersonic’s first chorus. His voice is definitely on point.
“Yeah, well,” he almost agrees. “I’m a good singer, man! Nine out of ten times I nail it. In a studio, without a doubt. Never done a shit vocal there.”
After Beady Eye officially split in 2014, Liam found himself “out of the bubble” of being in an organised rock group with all the appropriate management apparatus for the first time in twenty years. He fell hard. Suddenly just a regular geezer (“just a regular absolute legend” he clarifies), he had to consider what he was going to do. For a while, he toyed with the idea of moving to Majorca and living “Sexy Beast-style” around the pool in the sun. He had a few holidays. He went for lots of jogs. He had a few pints. And he got divorced. And when all that was done he took a long look at himself in the mirror and remembered who he is and what he does. He’s Liam Gallagher, son of Peggy Gallagher, of Burnage, Manchester, the best singer and frontman of his generation. So he decided to start singing some songs again. Majorca could wait.
Playing around in his own idiosyncratic style on a guitar at home in London, he surprised himself by writing a song. “I am definitely not a professional at it,” he says, modestly. “It’s proper Frankenstein tackle. But I suppose everyone has their ways. Even Paul McCartney didn’t just sit down and write Hey Jude straight away.”
The song that he wrote was a heavy dollop of soul-rock called Bold and strong enough to get him signed to Warner Bros. There was something there alright. Eventually, he had a whole batch of songs written which he demoed with a multi-instrumentalist called Dan McDougall in London before he started to meet producers and co-writers. “Warner Bros said to me, ‘Are you up for a bit of co-writing? I was, like, ‘never done that before. Why not?’” He flew out to LA, met a few, but really hit it off with Greg Kurstin. “Greg Kurstin played me a few ideas, we had a chat, swapped some ideas, sorted it out and before you know we had some more songs. I’m as surprised as anyone that it worked, but the songs we did are top.”
These songs include Liam’s incredible first single as a solo artist, Wall Of Glass. If you had to make an equation of all the elements that made the early Oasis singles so apocalyptically good - i.e, huge waves of guitar hooks + melody you can’t shake for…ever + thunderous rhythm + LIAM GALLAGHER’S VOICE delivering an unbelievably catchy chorus - then Wall Of Glass fits in the lineage perfectly. It’s hard to recall a time he’s sung better - it’s like hearing him for the first time again, the same yearning menace that claimed a million hearts by the end of Supersonic’s first chorus. His voice is definitely on point.
“Yeah, well,” he almost agrees. “I’m a good singer, man! Nine out of ten times I nail it. In a studio, without a doubt. Never done a shit vocal there.”
FORMAT INFORMATION
Ltd 7" Info: Limited repress!
After teasing fragments of songs and art from new album, Who Built The Moon?, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds turn fans’ attention to the release of 'Holy Mountain', the first single to be taken from the new album out today through Sour Mash.
Nestled high in the tracklisting of the follow up to the platinum-selling, Chasing Yesterday (2015) and featuring Paul Weller on organ, Holy Mountain is delivered with thundering self-assurance.
Gallagher says: “It was one of the first things David and I did on the first week of working together. I knew instantly that it was going to be the first single. There’s so much joy in it. Until the day I die, it will be one of my favourite pieces of music that I’ve ever written. It sounds great live. My kids love it, my friends’ kids all love it and I am sure ‘the kids’ will love it.”
The 12” vinyl release features Holy Mountain accompanied by an exclusive, instrumental version of the track, while the B-Side features Dead In The Water (Live at RTÉ 2FM Studios, Dublin). Also offered as an album bonus track, Dead In The Water catches Gallagher and keyboard player, Mike Rowe in between takes at a Dublin radio station. Such moments are destined to go unrepeated, with Gallagher vowing never to re-record it any other way.
Nestled high in the tracklisting of the follow up to the platinum-selling, Chasing Yesterday (2015) and featuring Paul Weller on organ, Holy Mountain is delivered with thundering self-assurance.
Gallagher says: “It was one of the first things David and I did on the first week of working together. I knew instantly that it was going to be the first single. There’s so much joy in it. Until the day I die, it will be one of my favourite pieces of music that I’ve ever written. It sounds great live. My kids love it, my friends’ kids all love it and I am sure ‘the kids’ will love it.”
The 12” vinyl release features Holy Mountain accompanied by an exclusive, instrumental version of the track, while the B-Side features Dead In The Water (Live at RTÉ 2FM Studios, Dublin). Also offered as an album bonus track, Dead In The Water catches Gallagher and keyboard player, Mike Rowe in between takes at a Dublin radio station. Such moments are destined to go unrepeated, with Gallagher vowing never to re-record it any other way.
Noel Gallagher takes some time out from feuding with shirty brother, Liam to put together a brand new full-length album with his High-Flying Bird cohorts. We kick things off with the decidedly 'D'You Know What I Mean'-y percussive scree, backed with distant shouting, thundering bass and growing shadowy reverbs on 'Fort Knox', obviously setting up a grand and extended entrance piece. From there we move into the stabbing horns and distorted bass of 'Holy Mountain', perfectly displaying his keen ear for melody, and almost irritating ability for penning a ruthless earworm. From there we move into the sleazy rock and roll of 'Keep On Reaching', owing as much to classic rock as it does disco with the harmonising backing vox and effervescent synth-brass.
'She Taught Me How To Fly' presents a truly diverse set of influences, from dreamy synths to the airy ducked bass and dusty snappy percussives, providing a perfect balance between Noel's brilliantly robust compositional techniques and the more avant construction of mesmeric Krautrock or psychedelia. 'Black & White Sunshine' couldn't possibly be any more geared towards Oasis' fans, with that legendary vocal harmony NG does so well making an appearance, as well as the three-chord progressive lift we've heard once or twice before.
What is most impressive is that the High Flying Birds have managed to step away from the considerable shadow that Oasis cast, whilst still retaining the melodic elements that made it resonate with so many people.
'She Taught Me How To Fly' presents a truly diverse set of influences, from dreamy synths to the airy ducked bass and dusty snappy percussives, providing a perfect balance between Noel's brilliantly robust compositional techniques and the more avant construction of mesmeric Krautrock or psychedelia. 'Black & White Sunshine' couldn't possibly be any more geared towards Oasis' fans, with that legendary vocal harmony NG does so well making an appearance, as well as the three-chord progressive lift we've heard once or twice before.
What is most impressive is that the High Flying Birds have managed to step away from the considerable shadow that Oasis cast, whilst still retaining the melodic elements that made it resonate with so many people.
STAFF COMMENTS
Barry says: A twisting, nuanced journey through rock, psychedelia and indie, but nicely tether by Noel's instantly recognisable vocal style, and a veritable cornucopia of sing-along moments. Lovely stuff.FORMAT INFORMATION
LP Info: Includes download code for the album and bonus track ‘dead in the water (live at RTÉ 2FM studios, Dublin)’.
Noel's second studio album finds his song-writing in supremely fine fettle, but then you'd expect that from the master-craftsman. This time he has self-produced and included a song which actually pre-dates Oasis, and one from the aborted Amorphous Androgynous sessions. There' a slightly funky vibe left-over from said collaboration and whilst most of the album is choc-full of Noel's classic sounding melodies (albeit with some fairly obvious cribbing) "The Right Stuff"and opener "Riverman" are the most unusual cuts here, one a spacejazz freakout , the other a seventies acoustic groover inspired by a night out with Morrissey (namecheckin' fact fans!) The remainder of the LP isn't too dissimilar to Noel's debut, but perhaps with a more discernable bottom-end as gloriously displayed on Noel-by-Numbers (and therefore superb!) lead single "In The Heat Of The Moment", and the one-of-the-best-things-he's-ever-done follow-up "Ballad Of The Mighty I". All in all, a splendid record.
STAFF COMMENTS
Martin says: He's still got it!
'Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds' is the eponymous release from the solo project of the former Oasis legend, and the first after his acrimonious split from the aforementioned band. Working in both London and Los Angeles between 2010 and 2011, with frequent collaborator Dave Sardy serving as co-producer, Gallagher utilized the talents of now bandmates Jeremy Stacey (drums), Lenny Castro (percussion) and Mike Rowe (keyboards) for the album.
STAFF COMMENTS
Andy says: Oasis for grown-up people! Excellent songs, none of the baggage.FORMAT INFORMATION
LP Info: Limited edition heavyweight vinyl in a gatefold sleeve.
It can be hard keeping track of all the different little side-projects and sub-labels Bristol's Banoffee Pies are involved in. The relatively young firm have been pivotal in releasing some really quite inspired dance music over the last few years which seems deliciously mellow & biotic in contrast to some of the more icy cold, abrasive dance styles that occupy the scene. Up to record eight on the original stable, Gallegos, a Bristol native, presets four tracks from his studio for our listening pleasure.
"Mad A Hell" opens proceedings with a low-slung breakbeat supporting a vicious, flailing ADSR syth line, shuddering and juddering into focus and sure to cause a rising tide of excitement on the dancefloor. "Beach Feet" contrasts Balearic-tinged Strat guitar lines with gentle propulsive perc and a bubbling b-line to great effect, adding the final embellishment of meandering jazz sax; this is one of those deep coastal burners that'll keep the outdoor terraces simmering nicely as the evening draws in.
Flip for "Be Who You Want To Be", which switches back to the simple, breaks-n-synth formula of the opening track but losing none of its urgency or impact. Finally, "England Is A Bitch" pairs Linton Johnson's powerful spoken word poem ("Inglan Is A Bitch") with riotous flute passages, intricate jazz drumming and mellow Rhodes for a spiritual-jazz-dance hybrid perfectly tailored for 2018's turbulent times. Banoffee Pies ride again! Recommended.
"Mad A Hell" opens proceedings with a low-slung breakbeat supporting a vicious, flailing ADSR syth line, shuddering and juddering into focus and sure to cause a rising tide of excitement on the dancefloor. "Beach Feet" contrasts Balearic-tinged Strat guitar lines with gentle propulsive perc and a bubbling b-line to great effect, adding the final embellishment of meandering jazz sax; this is one of those deep coastal burners that'll keep the outdoor terraces simmering nicely as the evening draws in.
Flip for "Be Who You Want To Be", which switches back to the simple, breaks-n-synth formula of the opening track but losing none of its urgency or impact. Finally, "England Is A Bitch" pairs Linton Johnson's powerful spoken word poem ("Inglan Is A Bitch") with riotous flute passages, intricate jazz drumming and mellow Rhodes for a spiritual-jazz-dance hybrid perfectly tailored for 2018's turbulent times. Banoffee Pies ride again! Recommended.
Side one 'A Thousand Years' represents the angry energy of the album 'The Road Gets Darker From Here' full of menace, fury and guitar eruptions. James Johnston‘s voice expressing rage and desperation, the music propelled forward by incessant slide guitar, sax, and the powerhouse drumming of Ian White. That same voice is breathing and whispering in a duet with German musical icon Dirk von Lowtzow, lead singer of goldselling group Tocotronic, in 'Close The Blinds' on side two.
First single taken from the forthcoming new album "The Soul Of The Hour" - includes the "The Dumb Room Mono Mix" ! Gallon Drunk unleash a raw, ragged, and uncompromising blast of literate rock and roll. A joyous explosion of a song, The Dumb Room celebrates it's cast of misfits in a full-throated roar, erupting into a powerhouse band performance full of passion and carefree abandon. "The Dumb Room" is the single release from the album "The Soul Of The Hour" including The Dumb Room Mono Mix.
Slow Motion’s 38th (!!) release comes courtesy of Berlin-based Gallo who you may know as part of Balearic Gabba Soundsystem. Joining the family for his debut solo release Gallo drops the tempo for three deep-cuts of blissful Balearica. First up, "Faron" delivers emotional synth tones, percolating sequences and hazy electronics, then the titular "Orange Stripe" hits us with suspended animation pads, glistening keys and a killer Italian house rhythm section. "Winging" the final OG on offer slips into Mario's flying cap, drops the tempo to a gentle groove and heads skywards with dreamy melodies and subtle percussion. All this comes backed up with an acidic, chugging re-rub of ‘Faron’ from Fabrizio Mammarella which is perfect when the sun goes down, Orange Stripe arrives just in time for Summer. How to get the most of this track: combine it with blissful and dreamy beach-excursions or with a sunset aperitivo.
STAFF COMMENTS
Patrick says: Highly recommended tackle here from Balearic Gabba Soundsystem's Gallo, who hooks us up with a trio of sundowner serenades. Refreshingly different to the run-of-the-mill Balearica, this electronic set should sound perfect in the sunshine.
"Flush Real Pharynx" is the title of sound designer / junglist / composer and DJ Lee Gamble's new three-part album for Hyperdub, revealed across a series of EPs. The triptych sonic documentary loosely explores three stages of the ‘Semioblitz’ - the aggressive onslaught of visual and sonic stimuli of contemporary cities and virtual spaces. The first part of the series - "In a Paraventral Scale" - zooms in on the seductive / destructive nature of present-day reality through a symbolic prism inhabited by snakes, vehicles and mirages. From the sound morphologies of "BMW Shuanghuan X5" where recordings of high performance cars melt and spectrally morph into synthesized orchestral timbres, through the arpeggiated neon hyper patterns of the beautiful "Folding" and the electro slam of "Moscow", this chapter veers into a crystalline, neon sound mirror of "In The Wreck Room", where 21st century jungle meets footwork and electro, takes a ride on board a hypothetical super highway in the rain at night, leaving us in the haunted tension of Lee’s most emotive tracks to date – "Many Gods, Many Angels" - to await the second part of the triptych.
"In A Paraventral Scale" is a clash of Gamble’s brand of hyper-concrète, where unmanned vehicles hover around us, steel ball bearings roll and scatter, jet engines end up as smashed objects, voices instruct, orchestral instruments morph into the sounds of doppler-shifting vehicles - all this distilled into signature jungle mirages, with brash, restless DJ Stingray-style 160bpm electro and haunting ambience. Gamble exposes us to a new type of digital theater, a unique and futuristic filmic world blurring the distinction between non-musical sound, music and dance floor, a push and pull between reality and fictional worlds. All sonics co-exist in an unreal place whose spatial and temporal location is left for us to assemble.
"In A Paraventral Scale" is a clash of Gamble’s brand of hyper-concrète, where unmanned vehicles hover around us, steel ball bearings roll and scatter, jet engines end up as smashed objects, voices instruct, orchestral instruments morph into the sounds of doppler-shifting vehicles - all this distilled into signature jungle mirages, with brash, restless DJ Stingray-style 160bpm electro and haunting ambience. Gamble exposes us to a new type of digital theater, a unique and futuristic filmic world blurring the distinction between non-musical sound, music and dance floor, a push and pull between reality and fictional worlds. All sonics co-exist in an unreal place whose spatial and temporal location is left for us to assemble.
Gameface have been making quality emocore records for ten years now and this little EP is an exclusive UK release on Firefly to coincide with their forthcoming UK tour and it will satiate the many Gameface junkies out there whilst they wait for the next LP. The lead track is a cover of Elvis Costello's "Everyday I Write the Book" given the inimitable Gameface treatment.
Very few bands have been able to combine the best elements of punk,hardcore, emo and pop to make something simpler, something all of their own. Gameface are one of the few. Ten tracks of their trademark emocore. "Always On" shows undoubted maturity. A band that improves with each release. Produced by Jim Monroe, some of the tunes on the album show the band branching out in slightly new directions. This is definitely the most well-rounded Gameface record yet. Some things do get better with age!
This is one of those records you won't know how you've lived without, and you probably have no idea how bad you need it. A pristine, timeless pop album with all the subtleties and effervescence of those misty classics of the Pre- Punk Powerpop era, constructed and rebuilt into an airtight, flawless specimen of the original form. Not that you'd expect any less from the purveyor behind Sing Sing Records, but Jeremy Thompson has been honing this sound for years now, previously in the frantically jagged Busy Signals and the early incarnation of the Carbonas, along with longtime cohort Dave Rahn, whose production of the debut GAMES LP is nothing short of breathtaking.
Taking the same cues as The Raspberries, Big Star, Rockin' Horse, Shoes, and Milk 'N Cookies did well before the codification of New Wave, GAMES is a crystal-clear shot in the arm to the current state of rock'n roll, a genuine reflection, an instant hit, and something for New Yorkers to be proud of. Along with such an compelling collection of original songs comes something you don't see as often as you used to, a couple of great covers that get your gears turning, digging in to check out the origins, a la the mid-90s punk explosion when every new record left a trail of breadcrumbs to discovering your next obscure 70s overlooked obsession. This is important, and all bands need to rethink this stance, not to mention sharing your bounty of knowledge on the rest of us, always starving for MORE. GAMES serves up two here, from Apostrophe and Sage, both with new life breathed into each, and both done up so well, so streamlined, they fit in perfectly with the sound GAMES is here to play, which means we all win. – Victimoftime.com
RIYL: Big Star, Raspberries, Scruffs, Shoes, Milk 'N' Cookies, Rockin' Horse, Gentleman Jesse, Carbonas, Barreracudas
Taking the same cues as The Raspberries, Big Star, Rockin' Horse, Shoes, and Milk 'N Cookies did well before the codification of New Wave, GAMES is a crystal-clear shot in the arm to the current state of rock'n roll, a genuine reflection, an instant hit, and something for New Yorkers to be proud of. Along with such an compelling collection of original songs comes something you don't see as often as you used to, a couple of great covers that get your gears turning, digging in to check out the origins, a la the mid-90s punk explosion when every new record left a trail of breadcrumbs to discovering your next obscure 70s overlooked obsession. This is important, and all bands need to rethink this stance, not to mention sharing your bounty of knowledge on the rest of us, always starving for MORE. GAMES serves up two here, from Apostrophe and Sage, both with new life breathed into each, and both done up so well, so streamlined, they fit in perfectly with the sound GAMES is here to play, which means we all win. – Victimoftime.com
RIYL: Big Star, Raspberries, Scruffs, Shoes, Milk 'N' Cookies, Rockin' Horse, Gentleman Jesse, Carbonas, Barreracudas
Selected by Sky Girl co-conspirer Julien Dechery, Le Raccourci culls 15 tracks from Gandera's extensive cassette discography, discarded DAT recordings, and split CD with Lyon toy music project Klimperei. ...
While Gandera's nostalgic melodies incidentally parallel with the piano key manoeuvres of Pascal Comelade, Robert Haigh and Dominique Lawalrée, Le Raccourci could only stem from the escapist desires of one Eric Morin.
The impressionist landscapes of a sensitive soul self-reflecting, these miniature compositions alternate across a rudimentary set up of piano, field recorder, sampler and four track. Melancholic utterings hastily captured some 100km east of Paris.
Classically trained by the same teacher as his parents, Gandera first began recording in the confines of his university dorm room, inspired by a C60 from friend and future collaborator Bernard Odot (A Gethsémani). Humbly existing without sparing a thought to music industry or career, Gandera's personal effects surfaced via the European and US cassette networks from 1988 to 1994. Impressively accomplished for the DIY scene they orbited, these tapes were issued in scant quantities, rendering his pieces as private secrets shared and duplicated in small concentric circles. Aside from a sole, avowedly traumatic performance, the material was never shared in a live context.
These sentiently charged compositions only hint at his larger catalogue, but act as a compelling cross section of the artist's oeuvre. The identity is further detailed by archival images, Glen Goetze penned liner notes and original artwork from Perks and Mini's Misha Hollenbach.
While Gandera's nostalgic melodies incidentally parallel with the piano key manoeuvres of Pascal Comelade, Robert Haigh and Dominique Lawalrée, Le Raccourci could only stem from the escapist desires of one Eric Morin.
The impressionist landscapes of a sensitive soul self-reflecting, these miniature compositions alternate across a rudimentary set up of piano, field recorder, sampler and four track. Melancholic utterings hastily captured some 100km east of Paris.
Classically trained by the same teacher as his parents, Gandera first began recording in the confines of his university dorm room, inspired by a C60 from friend and future collaborator Bernard Odot (A Gethsémani). Humbly existing without sparing a thought to music industry or career, Gandera's personal effects surfaced via the European and US cassette networks from 1988 to 1994. Impressively accomplished for the DIY scene they orbited, these tapes were issued in scant quantities, rendering his pieces as private secrets shared and duplicated in small concentric circles. Aside from a sole, avowedly traumatic performance, the material was never shared in a live context.
These sentiently charged compositions only hint at his larger catalogue, but act as a compelling cross section of the artist's oeuvre. The identity is further detailed by archival images, Glen Goetze penned liner notes and original artwork from Perks and Mini's Misha Hollenbach.
FORMAT INFORMATION
Ltd LP includes MP3 Download Code.
With their second album "God's Money" Gang Gang Dance creates a modern music which reorients the palette of electronic music into an organic context, manipulating sound, rhythm and melody in an almost mercurial manner. Painstakingly recorded over the course of a year at Junkyard Audio Salvage, the band utilized whatever means were available to them to craft their sound: drums of all shapes, sizes and circuits, various keyboards and synthesizers, midi-triggering guitar scenarios, vocals reconfigured via guitar effect pedal and even the occasional aluminium chair. Blending their hypnotic rhythms into a highly structured compositional style or soaring in the lofty heights of practiced improvisation, this recording follows in the footsteps of the bands previous output all the while marking new ground.
“Like Arthur Russell before them, they give equal floorspace to the spiritual and the sensual.” Pitchfork
Gang Gang Dance – one of the most enduring and creatively vibrant musical acts of 21st Century New York – return with brand new album, Kazuashita.
Formed initially as an improvisational outfit in the early 2000s, Gang Gang Dance are Lizzi Bougatsos, Brian DeGraw and Josh Diamond. All independently operating artists in their own rights, they consistently blur the boundaries between music and art; as comfortable today performing at the Whitney Biennial as they are at Coachella, and count Dash Snow & Nate Lowman, Tinchy Stryder and the Boredoms as previous collaborators.
Held together by Lizzi Bougatsos and her otherworldly vocal, Kazuashita is an intoxicating mix of ethereal shoegaze and electronic ambience, self-produced by Brian DeGraw.
Gang Gang Dance – one of the most enduring and creatively vibrant musical acts of 21st Century New York – return with brand new album, Kazuashita.
Formed initially as an improvisational outfit in the early 2000s, Gang Gang Dance are Lizzi Bougatsos, Brian DeGraw and Josh Diamond. All independently operating artists in their own rights, they consistently blur the boundaries between music and art; as comfortable today performing at the Whitney Biennial as they are at Coachella, and count Dash Snow & Nate Lowman, Tinchy Stryder and the Boredoms as previous collaborators.
Held together by Lizzi Bougatsos and her otherworldly vocal, Kazuashita is an intoxicating mix of ethereal shoegaze and electronic ambience, self-produced by Brian DeGraw.
STAFF COMMENTS
Barry says: Seguing brilliantly between a swooning electronic swell and clicking, glitched-out histrionics, GGD manage to toe the line between downbeat post-shoegaze electronics and more driven elements without batting an eyelid. Perfectly balanced and brilliantly evocative.
In advance of Gang Gang Dance's upcoming studio full-length comes the band's first ever DVD release. This film was made by Gang Gang Dance member, and visual artist, Brian DeGraw. "Retina Riddim" is by no means a tour film, documentary, live video, or anything as remotely stringent. Though 'art film' is a moniker that may be justly used to describe it, the term falls somewhat short of it's mark. It is, however, Mr. Degraw's first foray into film making and proves to be a more forward thinking release than many of their contemporaries might attempt. As an added bonus "Retina Riddim" also contains an audio CD cut together by Degraw specifically for this release. This was approached by him in much the same manner as the film, by assembling fragments of Gang Gang Dance music, mostly drawn from sound-checks and live shows, into one whole.
Since their inception in 1978 with the legendary "Damaged Goods" EP and debut album "Entertainment!", Gang Of Four, have been one of the most radical and radically important groups of the last thirty years.
Gang Of Four have triumphantly defined their place on the musical landscape, influencing a wide range of bands including R.E.M., Red Hot Chili Peppers, Sonic Youth, Bloc Party, The Rapture and Franz Ferdinand.
"Content" is their first new studio album in 16 years, and is the catalyst for a year long international marketing plan in 2011, driven primarily by massive press and online interest in the band, and supported by an aggressive live performance schedule and radio and TV exposure. ·
Gang Of Four have triumphantly defined their place on the musical landscape, influencing a wide range of bands including R.E.M., Red Hot Chili Peppers, Sonic Youth, Bloc Party, The Rapture and Franz Ferdinand.
"Content" is their first new studio album in 16 years, and is the catalyst for a year long international marketing plan in 2011, driven primarily by massive press and online interest in the band, and supported by an aggressive live performance schedule and radio and TV exposure. ·
FORMAT INFORMATION
Ltd CD Info: Limited to 500 copies, this edition contains six booklets: the new album on CD, a history art piece (a series of twenty drawings and montages), a book of lyrics, a book of Rotoscoped photographs of the band’s emotions, a book containing sachets of the band’s blood and a scratch and sniff booklet which reflects the key areas of human activity.
Some of the most memorable music of the late-70s British new wave era came courtesy of Gang Of Four. Formed in Leeds in 1977 the band were one of the first to be inspired by punk, but come up with a something different from the usual three-chord thrash of the time. The band's 1979 debut album, "Entertainment!", poured punk, funk, and politics into a groundbreaking sound that continues to influence such worthy modern rock descendants as Hot Hot Heat, The Rapture, and !!!. Essential.
STAFF COMMENTS
Philippa says: Putting the funk into punk, Leeds' Gang Of Four's 1979 album is a killer debut. Raw, political, loud ...
Formed in 1977 by Leeds University students, Gang of Four produced some of the most exhilarating and lasting music of the early English post-punk era. They play a stripped-down mix of punk rock, funk and dub, with an emphasis on the social and political ills of society. They have released nine studio albums over their lengthy career as well as an array of compilations and live albums.
Solid Gold is the second album by Gang of Four, released in 1981. Described by AllMusic as a “politically charged, more Teutonic take on funk”, it was listed as one of Pitchfork Media’s best albums of the 1980s.
Solid Gold is the second album by Gang of Four, released in 1981. Described by AllMusic as a “politically charged, more Teutonic take on funk”, it was listed as one of Pitchfork Media’s best albums of the 1980s.
Los Angeles-based Gang Wizard play an unholy gumbo of out-fried rock that draws from fluff between such couch cushions as the more stumblin side of the Royal Trux and the jazzercize neck of sonic explorers like the No Neck Blues Band klan. It's truly a groups effort as 13 members appear on this release utilizing every weapon in the war chest ... from guitars, synths and vocal pipes onwards. Truly the sound of levitation. The band has three previous records on Ecstatic Peace, and its members have been in too many bands to mention: the Hospitals, Kevin Shields, Box Lietner... the list goes on. In short, if you crave the out sound, this record will burrow its way into your routine.
Seemingly out of nowhere comes this 'best of year' challenger from Sacramento's Ganglians. Fusing the unhinged avant-outer-ethereal qualities of Panda Bear with the perfect pop of the Beach Boys and a wide-eyed-dreamy surround-sound hi-gloss, this is an astonishing all encompassing album that's gonna amaze everyone that hears it. It's probably been best described by the band themselves, 'this album is pure naive headphone acid pop to drive to, at least that's what was going through our heads.' - Ganglians. Totally recommended!!!
Tracklisting
1. Something Should Be Said
2. Voodoo
3. Lost Words
4. Candy Girl
5. Valient Brave
6. The Void
7. To June
8. 100 Years
9. Crying Smoke
10. Modern African Queen
11. Try To Understand
Tracklisting
1. Something Should Be Said
2. Voodoo
3. Lost Words
4. Candy Girl
5. Valient Brave
6. The Void
7. To June
8. 100 Years
9. Crying Smoke
10. Modern African Queen
11. Try To Understand
Ganglians’ affection for a sweet melody and wistful lyrical turn was apparent on their acclaimed debut set 'Monster Head Room' and their collectable Captured Tracks 7” of 2009, ‘Blood on the Sand’ – but Still Living, predominantly produced by Robby Moncrieff (Dirty Projectors, Zach Hill), furthers the vision of Grubbs and company. Says the man himself: “It’s a double‐LP for a reason – we wanted to try many different ideas while doing everything in real time, with no metronome and mainly our own instruments. There’s a whole bunch of things tossed in, with various styles going on.”
But, brilliantly, the seams between stylistic shifts aren’t detectable – Ganglians have taken the experimental blueprints of this album’s predecessor and updated (and expanded) their designs. So, moods move from quiet introspection to boisterous merriment, chords stimulating the synapses while the toes can’t keep from twitching. Says Grubbs of the end results: “This is outsider music, but with a pop sensibility that brings everyone in.”
He’s right to highlight the non‐exclusivity of this fare – it might have been made with envelope‐pushing intent, but little on 'Still Living' will leave the listener truly perplexed; unless, of course, they choose to delve deep into the rabbit hole of Grubbs’ inspirations. It’s personal, intimate and romantic, with metaphor preferred over the matter‐of‐fact musing of some other bands riding loosely comparable rhythms. “It’s pretty honest music,” says Grubbs. “Honestly, everyone feels a great range of emotions, like awkwardness and self‐doubt, and not wanting to have to be cool to be cool. And that’s what these songs are like.”
But, brilliantly, the seams between stylistic shifts aren’t detectable – Ganglians have taken the experimental blueprints of this album’s predecessor and updated (and expanded) their designs. So, moods move from quiet introspection to boisterous merriment, chords stimulating the synapses while the toes can’t keep from twitching. Says Grubbs of the end results: “This is outsider music, but with a pop sensibility that brings everyone in.”
He’s right to highlight the non‐exclusivity of this fare – it might have been made with envelope‐pushing intent, but little on 'Still Living' will leave the listener truly perplexed; unless, of course, they choose to delve deep into the rabbit hole of Grubbs’ inspirations. It’s personal, intimate and romantic, with metaphor preferred over the matter‐of‐fact musing of some other bands riding loosely comparable rhythms. “It’s pretty honest music,” says Grubbs. “Honestly, everyone feels a great range of emotions, like awkwardness and self‐doubt, and not wanting to have to be cool to be cool. And that’s what these songs are like.”
Having released records on The GPS previously as part of the late great Jack Rose’s backing band and The Black Twig Pickers- (as well as cutting their cloth as part of the mighty Pelt), Mike and Cara release a great double ‘A’ side for March here in an edition of 500.
“Durang’s Hornpipe” is spectacularly underpinned by the majestic drone of Cara’s Shruti box, with Mike on banjo and fiddle and is backed by the peak and fall and drone pulse of the Shruti once again on an incredible reworking of the standard “Rake and Ramblin’ Boy”.
A beautiful 45, worth it alone for those moments where both voices collide on the flip- it won’t hang around long and is dressed in ace printed inside and out sleeve and on dark cherry wax. Pressing of 500 only.
“Durang’s Hornpipe” is spectacularly underpinned by the majestic drone of Cara’s Shruti box, with Mike on banjo and fiddle and is backed by the peak and fall and drone pulse of the Shruti once again on an incredible reworking of the standard “Rake and Ramblin’ Boy”.
A beautiful 45, worth it alone for those moments where both voices collide on the flip- it won’t hang around long and is dressed in ace printed inside and out sleeve and on dark cherry wax. Pressing of 500 only.
Black Twig Picker and Pelt member Mike Gangloff self released the fantastic Poplar Hollow in an edition of only 200 copies earlier this year, and upon seeing it sneak out we instantly got excited to hear it with the potential for a vinyl edition. And hell, what we heard we loved, and are real pleased to drop it on glorious vinyl for the masses! Poplar Hollow perfectly blends his other projects together, merging experimental sounds with traditional American folk and roots music. Comprising of Mike performing vocal/banjo/violin duties, he brings a new eclectic and at times psychedelic vibe to much of this record. Poplar Hollow is a record unlike any I have heard recently, Gangloff is a truly individual force in the American scene, and this record further cements that status.
Pressed in an edition of 500 copies on 180 gram vinyl including a download of the album. Packaged in a sleeve featuring the inimitable eye popping art of Jake Blanchard.
Pressed in an edition of 500 copies on 180 gram vinyl including a download of the album. Packaged in a sleeve featuring the inimitable eye popping art of Jake Blanchard.
Oft overlooked for over half a century while misfiled amongst exploit bellydance records and holidaymaker souvenirs this one-off 12 track album is the only existing full-length record by the best-kept mutant musical secret of the Armenian American diaspora, oud pop maestro Charles ‘Chick’ Ganimian.
One of the earliest examples of any kind of recorded fusion between rhythm heavy pop music and traditional Turkish music, Ganimian’s developments in New York City - with his sadly unrecorded Turk jerk combo The Nor-Ikes (New Dawn) combo - ran almost simultaneously alongside the rising Anadolou pop scene in Turkey, resulting in his short lived powerhouse of Kif proto-rock under the changing names of Ganim’s Asia Minors, Ganimian & His Orientals and Ganimian & His Oriental Music Orchestra. Combining a line-up of mostly unknown musicians from his local community, Ganimian, in a short unison with ATCO records, was fortunate enough to accommodate jazz guitarist Al Schactman as part of his studio personnel as well as French born Armenian folk singer Onnik Dinkjian and reid player Steve Bogoshian as well as the esteemed Turkish raised Kanun player Ahmet Yatman. As one of the very few early American recorded authentic Middle Eastern fusion record 'Come With Me To The Casbah' has piqued a refined interest in a new generation of progressive world music collector resulting in a distinct drought in original Ganimian pressings on the collectors’ market earning Chicks name a rising placeholder on the want lists of DJs, vinyl hounds and ethno psychedelia collectors.
This LP includes all of Ganimians recordings including the rare singles for Atco and East West which sit awkwardly next to bizarre and unique takes on popular American standards enhancing the exciting freak factor of this record which simply could not be made by today’s stifling self-aware anti-standards. Aside from rare (poorly recorded) private family tapes this album is the only chance to hear the music of this lost enigma of early world music, Eastern fusion and a missing kink in the fabric of New York pop music history captured before his short stint as an exotic Herbie Mann sideman which proceeded his migration into obscurity and his well-imparted tragic struggle with alcohol dependency depriving pop culture of a forward thinking pioneer who paved the way for the more credible exponents of the cross-continental Indo fusion enigma such as John Berberian and the later well pruned hard rock efforts of The Devils Anvil.
One of the earliest examples of any kind of recorded fusion between rhythm heavy pop music and traditional Turkish music, Ganimian’s developments in New York City - with his sadly unrecorded Turk jerk combo The Nor-Ikes (New Dawn) combo - ran almost simultaneously alongside the rising Anadolou pop scene in Turkey, resulting in his short lived powerhouse of Kif proto-rock under the changing names of Ganim’s Asia Minors, Ganimian & His Orientals and Ganimian & His Oriental Music Orchestra. Combining a line-up of mostly unknown musicians from his local community, Ganimian, in a short unison with ATCO records, was fortunate enough to accommodate jazz guitarist Al Schactman as part of his studio personnel as well as French born Armenian folk singer Onnik Dinkjian and reid player Steve Bogoshian as well as the esteemed Turkish raised Kanun player Ahmet Yatman. As one of the very few early American recorded authentic Middle Eastern fusion record 'Come With Me To The Casbah' has piqued a refined interest in a new generation of progressive world music collector resulting in a distinct drought in original Ganimian pressings on the collectors’ market earning Chicks name a rising placeholder on the want lists of DJs, vinyl hounds and ethno psychedelia collectors.
This LP includes all of Ganimians recordings including the rare singles for Atco and East West which sit awkwardly next to bizarre and unique takes on popular American standards enhancing the exciting freak factor of this record which simply could not be made by today’s stifling self-aware anti-standards. Aside from rare (poorly recorded) private family tapes this album is the only chance to hear the music of this lost enigma of early world music, Eastern fusion and a missing kink in the fabric of New York pop music history captured before his short stint as an exotic Herbie Mann sideman which proceeded his migration into obscurity and his well-imparted tragic struggle with alcohol dependency depriving pop culture of a forward thinking pioneer who paved the way for the more credible exponents of the cross-continental Indo fusion enigma such as John Berberian and the later well pruned hard rock efforts of The Devils Anvil.
"Balayage" is Garagen Uwe’s first release on the Berlin-based label Beatbude. It’s a two-hits-single that comes with stickers and a business card and is really quite good!
Landing on some three dimensional, digital landscape the sounds are soothing and languid. "Balayage" sees the ancient rhythms of house music, opiated and re-delivered 66% slower than their original intention as dizzying and exotic synthwork paints a multi-coloured environment onto the sonic canvas.
"Ombre'" re-packages instrumental bedroom boogie into a more beguiling and coastal-leaning idea. Delicate guitar picks jostling against thick analogue synths and twinkly Casio melodies to conjure up that perfect moment of horizontal bliss. Watch you don't get yer towel wet...
Recorded at Miami Nice Studios (GER) and mastered by Kelly Hibbert (CRC) this comes fully endorsed by us here at Picc HQ.
Landing on some three dimensional, digital landscape the sounds are soothing and languid. "Balayage" sees the ancient rhythms of house music, opiated and re-delivered 66% slower than their original intention as dizzying and exotic synthwork paints a multi-coloured environment onto the sonic canvas.
"Ombre'" re-packages instrumental bedroom boogie into a more beguiling and coastal-leaning idea. Delicate guitar picks jostling against thick analogue synths and twinkly Casio melodies to conjure up that perfect moment of horizontal bliss. Watch you don't get yer towel wet...
Recorded at Miami Nice Studios (GER) and mastered by Kelly Hibbert (CRC) this comes fully endorsed by us here at Picc HQ.
Garbage (Shirley Manson, Steve Marker, Duke Erikson and Butch Vig) announce ‘Strange Little Birds’, their sixth studio album, released on the band’s own Stun Volume label.
Produced by the band, the album is the follow up to 2012’s heralded ‘Not Your Kind Of People’.
Working initially in Vig’s basement and then at Red Razor Sounds in Los Angeles, Garbage drew on a variety of sources, from their recent fan letters back to the albums they loved growing up. Some hear echoes of Garbage’s 1995 debut album in ‘Strange Little Birds’, including Shirley Manson herself.
Produced by the band, the album is the follow up to 2012’s heralded ‘Not Your Kind Of People’.
Working initially in Vig’s basement and then at Red Razor Sounds in Los Angeles, Garbage drew on a variety of sources, from their recent fan letters back to the albums they loved growing up. Some hear echoes of Garbage’s 1995 debut album in ‘Strange Little Birds’, including Shirley Manson herself.
STAFF COMMENTS
Barry says: Moreso than any of their more recent work, this is highly reminiscent of their work on 'Version 2.0', melodic and impeccably produced, but with a much more technological edge. Less pop than experimental rock, this is a great return to form, and may signal interesting things to come from Vig & Co.
20th Anniversary reissue of Garbage's acclaimed second album.
The eponymous Garbage debut was a critically acclaimed if unexpected smash. Version 2.0 cemented the reputation of the each of the individuals in the band as leaders in their field. It also announced that Garbage was not just a one-off studio creation but well and truly a band with every intention of conquering the world on its own terms. If there were any doubts that Vig, Erikson, Marker and Manson were not serious about their intentions the doubts were put to rest with their successful sophomore release.Butch Vig, Duke Erikson, and Steve Marker brought to the band a lifetimes worth of production and experienced music making. That experience was married to Shirley’s insightful lyrics and lead singer presence. This combination made for a grand success and spectacular music which many would try to imitate but few would ever master. Platinum certified Version 2.0 would be nominated in 1999 for Grammy’s album of the year and best rock album. In 2000 the single Special would be nominated for Grammys best rock song and best rock performance by duo or group.
2xDeluxe CD Info: Double CD format includes a 12-page booklet. Second disc contains B-side compilation.
The eponymous Garbage debut was a critically acclaimed if unexpected smash. Version 2.0 cemented the reputation of the each of the individuals in the band as leaders in their field. It also announced that Garbage was not just a one-off studio creation but well and truly a band with every intention of conquering the world on its own terms. If there were any doubts that Vig, Erikson, Marker and Manson were not serious about their intentions the doubts were put to rest with their successful sophomore release.Butch Vig, Duke Erikson, and Steve Marker brought to the band a lifetimes worth of production and experienced music making. That experience was married to Shirley’s insightful lyrics and lead singer presence. This combination made for a grand success and spectacular music which many would try to imitate but few would ever master. Platinum certified Version 2.0 would be nominated in 1999 for Grammy’s album of the year and best rock album. In 2000 the single Special would be nominated for Grammys best rock song and best rock performance by duo or group.
STAFF COMMENTS
Barry says: The newest wave of 'Things I Remember Being Into That Have Had 20 Year Reissues' is possibly the best, with Garbage's seminal 1998 classic still brimming with nuanced electronics, Manson's iconic voice and Butch Vig's unrivalled production prowess. Still completely stunning.FORMAT INFORMATION
3xIndies Exclusive LP Info: Limited edition deluxe LP format contains 3 x 180g black vinyl housed inside a rigid box with magnet closure. This box also contains a movie-style poster, 4 x sticker inserts (‘Push It’, ‘When I Grow Up’, ‘Special’, ‘The Trick Is To Keep Breathing’), download card and a condom in a matchbook style card cover2xDeluxe CD Info: Double CD format includes a 12-page booklet. Second disc contains B-side compilation.
Reduced
Remote follow up their head turning Various Artists release with this label debut from Dusseldorf's finest dancefloor export Garben (Gerben Eden). The "What Y Feel" EP comes hot on the heels of sell out releases on Ecstacy, Lampuka and Ethereal Sound, and sees Garben push his other wordly sound all the way through the looking glass. 'Vinyl' is a bass heavy, grime influenced tech house track with haunting synth sounds and tight machine drum percussion. It's exactly the kind of thing Marcel Dettman might play early on in a set, before he declares all out war on the system. On the flip, 'What Y Feel' is a deep and dope analogue house builder, reminiscent of his Vakula collaboration. Dreaming, hazy and drifting chords wash over you while a mean kick keeps you moving. This could very be mistaken for a long lost Pepe Bradock record. Secret weapon alert!!! EP closer (confusingly classed as side C????) "Baby" is a mellow head nodder that bubbles along at sub aquatic depth. A sweet vocal loop, jazzy bassline and smudged synth sounds melt together to form a beatdown groove treading water in a lysergic sea. The A-side will do serious damage for the main room masters, but it's the B-side that's the winner for me.
With their resonating allusions to current trends of electronica and post rock, Gardenbox create a sound idiom that is individual, prolific and tense. The compositions are vigorously intreaguing, featuring drastic transitions and peaks. Their structure is at times dominated by layers of electronic sounds and beats, at others by the circular unfolding of melodic passages on guitar.
next 100
Sunday classics.
https://t.co/KL1FeNcZ4F
#vinyl
#sunday
#ClassicAlbum https://t.co/siSc8g6clD
Sun 17th - 1:43
Sun 17th - 1:43
Let the Saturday shopping commence. We’re open until 6pm.
https://t.co/KL1FeNcZ4F https://t.co/UHSnkkRpSV
Sat 16th - 10:30
Sat 16th - 10:30
The new self titled album from @LadytronMusic is out today. It’s their first album in seven years on Ladytron Music… https://t.co/8kbjEmO9hd
Fri 15th - 4:37
Fri 15th - 4:37
.@DavidBowieReal fans. His 1983 album Let’s Dance has been reissued/remastered. Out today on @parlophone… https://t.co/45eM108QJy
Fri 15th - 1:35
Fri 15th - 1:35
Hollow Earth is the new album out today from @PyeCornerAudio aka Martin Jenkins, his third for Ghost Box. It’s conc… https://t.co/USB9oQ9yrj
Fri 15th - 12:14
Fri 15th - 12:14
Sign up