In an era of increased nationalism and xenophobic bullshit, Antinote reach out to make their first French-Russian connection. Olga is from Moscow. She introduced herself to the label after Dominique Dumont's show in Paris, winter 2018. Zaltan et al immediately fell in love with the song 'Mojno' and step by step built up a nice collection of tracks which became the "1905" LP! Very active in the electronic music scene, she’s spent the last ten years releasing music, performing, recording & DJing as well as being busy with her tech-project Playtronica (with them she's created 3 controllers with which you can play scales on people, objects and colors). Across the "1905" LP she utilises some DIY devices such as Yamaha sampler vss-33, voice glitcher from the Russian company “Naked Boards” and organelle synth that creates this synesthetic tone in “ready when you are”. Besides dreamy pads and dancy beats Olga is ironically singing on Russian about her daily routine, in a positive way. There's no sadness and melancholy in the dark snowy days, where even the full moon or retrograde-mercury don’t even bother you ...if you are in harmony with mother nature's 5 elements.

STAFF COMMENTS

Patrick says: Contemporary cold wave, icy electro-pop and melodic minimal wave from Russia's Omma here, who works her magic in the same vein as Carla Del Forno, Epsilove and fellow Antinote fam Domenique Dumont.

TRACK LISTING

A1. La Qi
A2. 1905
A3. Romantika
A4. Vmeste
B1. Ready When You Are
B2. Mojno
B3. Hearteater
B4. Normalno

ot to not to is an experimental RnB project by VA native Ian Mugerwa that combines low fidelity electronic recording techniques with unconventional song structures to produce music that serves as homage to dusty old blues recordings. At 19, Ian left his hometown of Fairfax for Richmond, where he slept on friends’ floors for several months while recording Goshen. During the day he would “hunt dussy” and during the night he would haul borrowed equipment over to the VCU music facilities and record until the morning. He was moderately successful on both fronts. The resultant recordings form a coming of age album, a snapshot of Ian from the ages of nineteen to twenty. Ian’s goal was to explore new aesthetics in black music through use of nontraditional methods, creating less polished, less sterile RnB in the process. Such methods included layering 40+ cello tracks to create the illusion of an orchestra, or collaging four, separate, 4-minute tracks of improvised percussion into one. Most drums were recorded last. Despite the focus on experimentation, it was important to Ian that he be crafting pop music. It is his belief that an impactful artist has, at least to some degree, a moral responsibility to deliver their art to the maximum amount of people (to efficiently help art as a whole progress). In other words, if restraint can be exercised, it ought to be.

TRACK LISTING

1. Withdrawal And Restraint
2. Mamama
3. Little One
4. Regretta II
5. Addiction And Indulgence
6. Never
7. Ever (Kalimba II)
8. Regretta I (ft Noah Smith)

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

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

180 gram vinyl reissue of 1961 album. This was the first Jamaican album to be manufactured and released in the UK. This re-issue commemorates the 60th anniversary of its release.

THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2023 EXCLUSIVE AND WILL BE AVAILABLE INSTORE ON SATURDAY APRIL 22ND ON A FIRST COME FIRST SERVED BASIS, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

IF THERE ARE ANY REMAINING COPIES THEY WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE ONLINE AT 8PM ON MONDAY APRIL 24TH).

Vinyl version been out of print in UK for a while, not on a colourway for UK since its release in 2018. We were offered a colour vinyl run for the UK RSD in 2023, and here it is!!! A stalwart in the burgeoning OH SEES canon, one the bigger releases of 2018! A limited edition of 666 copies only on "GOLDEN FLEECE" colour vinyl, will also be stickered with a numbered 1-666 golden RSD_Golden Fleece Edition sticker! As golden as it gets! 4/5 Mojo, 4/5 Uncut.. this album got to 66 in the national albums charts when it was released! "Crack the coffers, Oh Sees have spawned another frothy LP of head-destroying psych epics to grok and rock out to. Youíll notice the fresh dollop of organ and keyboard prowess courtesy of "Memory of a Cut Off Headî alum and noted key-stabber Tom Dolas...the Quattrone/Rincon drum-corps polyrhythmic pulse continues to astound and pound in equal measure, buttressed by the nimble fingered bottom end of Sir Tim Hellman the Brave and the shred-heaven fret frying of John Dwyer, whilst Lady Brigid Dawson again graces the wax with her harmonic gifts. Aside from the familiar psych-scorch familiar to soggy pit denizens the world over, thereís a fresh heavy-prog vibe that fits like a worn-in jean jacket comfortably among hairpin metal turns and the familiar but no less horns-worthy guitar fireworks Dwyerís made his calling card. Perhaps the most notable thing about Smote Reverser is the artistic restlessness underpinning its flights of fancy. Dwyer refuses to repeat himself and for someone with such a hectic release schedule, that stretching of aesthetic borders and omnivorous appetite seems all the more superhuman. Hope youíre hungry as these platters are piled high"

THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2023 EXCLUSIVE AND WILL BE AVAILABLE INSTORE ON SATURDAY APRIL 22ND ON A FIRST COME FIRST SERVED BASIS, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

IF THERE ARE ANY REMAINING COPIES THEY WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE ONLINE AT 8PM ON MONDAY APRIL 24TH).

2LP picture disc version of ODB’s 1995 debut album Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version. Features the classic tracks “Shimmy Shimmy Ya”, “Brooklyn Zoo”, Hippa to da Hoppa”.

This is Orbe's first release for Jon Talabot's intuitional Hivern Discs. Chasing technological purity by only retaining the most essential elements is what characterizes Orbe's work. The quest for transcendence needs to have little distractions, focusing the mind and body on the singularity. A thoroughly electric outing, the six tracks plunge the deeper and more enlightened ends of the techno and electro spectrum; splashing the listener with wet snares and sub-aquatic bass patterns while a melee of intricate lead lines jostle for the spotlight in the upper frequency range. It's not too stripped back however, as "Uniformity" displays a musical and diverse side to the producer which is extremely warm and seductive. Held together by an intuitive, concise and highly fascinating sound palette this is one of the stronger Hivern releases to date and is likely to sell out as fast as it came in. Get those skates folks cos this one's a keeper.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: John Talabot's Hivern continue to remain a crucial force, signing up this brand new talent and in turn, releasing one of the most essential joints on the label to date!

TRACK LISTING

1. Somebody Bring Me Here
2. Visceral Terror Intro
3. Visceral Terror
4. Uniformity
5. Unexpected Dream's Rave
6. De Felipe's World

An extraordinary twilight world opens while listening to Organizatisya. Adventurous yet humble, they push the limits towards the unknown. One thing’s for sure, it’s fresher than the juiciest peach on a perfect summer day.

Organizatsiya hail from Lyon, France. Leo and Zoe clearly have strong roots in folk and acoustic music. These ‘old worlds’ blend in surprisingly well with more contemporary digital, futuristic sounds. Soothing analog recordings meet hyperdigital compositions reminiscent of IDM creations and peppered with spoken words that dance around in unexpected ways.

Seductive, intelligent and deeply hypnotic, this esoteric material delivers a dreamlike experience.

Like finishing a game and celebrating victory with cheap champagne in a neon light lit bubble bath with the end tune of The Legend of Zelda in the air.

With great contributions from several guest musicians in this record involved. Designed sleeve and printed inner sleeve by Guilhem Prat.

TRACK LISTING

Die Idee Der Toleranz
Ophélia
We Cannot Promise You Privacy
A Song For Marius
Une Comptine Pour Jeanne
Avatha Subumbra Feat Benoit B
Sur La Digue
A Shade Of The Princess Z' Castel

Our Girl ‘Live At St Pancras Old Church’ showcases tracks from the bands acclaimed debut album like you’ve never heard before. Recorded in London on 19th March 2018 during the snow storms and some of the coldest weather England had seen in decades, Our Girl returned from an overnight flight from the US to play the legendary St Pancras Old Church. The bands specially re-arranged set captivated the capacity crowd and reinforced their standing as one of the most diverse and brilliant new acts in the U.K.

Ólafur Arnalds and Nils Frahm announce Double-CD release ‘Collaborative Works’ – comprising all three vinyl EPs ‘Loon’, ‘Stare’ and ‘Life Story Love And Glory’ as well as 7 new songs from their ‘Trance Frendz’ studio film

‘Stare’ (2012) was the very first collaborative recording made by Ólafur Arnalds and Nils Frahm – a true family effort featuring long-time collaborator and cellist Anne Müller, which took place in 2011 between Reykjavík and Berlin. Originally released as a strictly limited 10-inch vinyl record exclusive on Record Store Day 2012, this long sold-out must-have was re-issued on July 17, 2015 – this time in 12-inch format. Óli and Nils recorded and mixed their first collaborative record between Reykjavík and Berlin as a surprise release for label founder Robert Raths.

‘Loon’ (2015) is a synthesiser-led 5-track EP that was recorded in autumn 2014 across five days at Nils’s Durton Studio in Berlin, and continues with the ambient sounds of ‘Stare’ but with the addition of more percussive elements and dub influences. For ‘Loon’ they wired the Oberheim 4 Voice and a Korg PS3100 to the patch bay/mixing desk and performed live takes. With all four hands on its pots, all mixes were recorded straight onto 2-track ½-inch tape.

'Life Story Love And Glory' (2015) is a 2-track live improv affair on two pianos, also recorded at Nils’s place in October 2012, the day before the two went on the road for the Erased Tapes 5th Anniversary Tour. It was released on August 21, 2015 as a surprise 7” available through record stores only, two weeks ahead of its digital release, and entered the Official UK Vinyl Single Charts at #3, still remaining in the Top 10 after 3 weeks.

‘Trance Frendz’ (2015) is the audio recording of their intimate 45-minute studio film. Originally planned as a short video session of previously released tracks, instead the two ended up recording seven brand new improvisations – showcasing the nature of their musical friendship. It was revealed on September 1, 2015 as part of their joint website www.arnaldsfrahm.com

"The music on this CD is a collection of our studio collaborations from recent years. We would meet in Reykjavik or Berlin with the intention to share some days off work, hiking, swimming or eating pizza. That is great for a couple days, but after a while we would always end up back in the studio, fiddling with synths or pianos. This collection of recordings cannot be an album. It will remain a collage of our studio experiments of the past. It simply is convenient to have them all together here, so you don’t need to look out for some limited 10” somewhere or deal with a nerdy record dealer in Japan to track down this one 7 ̋ which will turn out to sound pretty rough anyways... consider them as moments in space and time where we shared the same room for some days to come down and enjoy making music. After deciding to release the studio collaborations, we planned to do a video session of us performing an improvised duet to promote the release.

On the 28th of July 2015 we met up at Durton Studio in Berlin and invited Alexander Schneider and his camera to document it. But instead of ending the session after the first take we continued improvising throughout the night, ending up with several new pieces written and recorded in 8 hours with no overdubs and no edits. We felt there was something special in these songs as they arrived so quickly and unexpectedly, remembering that our friendship and collaboration originally started with live improvisation on stage. At the end of the night we had all this music that sounded unfamiliar even to us, loudly asking to be included in this collection.” (Ólafur Arnalds & Nils Frahm)

TRACK LISTING

CD 1
1. Four
2. Three
3. Wide Open
4. W
5. M
6. A1
7. A2
8. B1
9. Life Story
10. Love And Glory

CD 2
1. 20:17
2. 21:05
3. 23:17
4. 23:52
5. 00:26
6. 01:41
7. 03:06

Originally released as a strictly limited 10-inch vinyl record exclusive on Record Store Day 2012, this long sold-out must-have for fans of these two artists will finally be re-issued – this time in 12-inch format!

Erased Tapes label mates Ólafur Arnalds and Nils Frahm recorded and mixed their first collaborative record between Reyjkjavík and Berlin as a surprise release for label founder Robert Raths.

The ambient/electronic work ‘Stare’ is a true family effort with long-time collaborator Anne Müller joining in on cello and all graphics created by close label-friend and designer Torsten Posselt of FELD Studios.

Words by Nils Frahm:

“I heard ‘Eulogy For Evolution’ for the first time six years ago and I was totally captivated. Impossible to know back then that I was supposed to meet Ólafur many years later as my label mate. Later when he took me along a tour of his we also noted that we kind of like hanging out together, doing important things like cover versions of long forgotten songs or eating veggie pizza. Also he would join my live set for a jam and I would return the favour by playing along with his set.

All in all, I fell for Óli and after one memorable jam session we had in Berlin at Roter Salon in 2011, he finally proposed the idea to visit me in my studio in Berlin to work on 'some music'. I was happy and delighted about that idea, so we got together in April 2011 and after having a big pizza, I plugged in some old analogue synths and we played for four days until late in the night. Also queen Anne Müller stopped by after a show with Agnes Obel to record some cello at 5 am in the morning for ‘b1’. Making music together with people is lovely!

The time I spent with Óli in Berlin made me very happy and the music wasn't like anything I have heard before. It was all very reduced and minimal and I felt like I couldn't have done this alone. So we decided to do another 4-day jam at Óli´s E7 studio in Reykjavik. So I flew there in the end of October 2011 to repeat the trick and record some out of this world ambient music. It didn't take us too long to write ‘a1’ and ‘a2’. I can’t wait for the follow up!”

Icelandic composer Ólafur Arnalds reissues and revives his debut album in form of a special remastered 10th Anniversary edition titled Eulogy For Evolution 2017 — available worldwide via Erased Tapes on August 25th. Following its initial release in 2007 and coinciding with Ólafur’s 30th birthday, label founder Robert Raths gifted the chance for this record to shine a second time. Eulogy For Evolution is a journey from birth to death, transporting the listener through life itself.

Originally written as a teenager, the record has now been restored with the help of his friends, remixed by Ólafur himself and remastered by Nils Frahm. The cover art was redesigned and enhanced by Torsten Posselt at FELD using the original photographs taken by Stuart Bailes during a trip to Ólafur’s home in Iceland in 2007.

To experience the record in the present day is not only to experience the past, but also the sheer timelessness and relevance of these compositions, and the ambition Ólafur has had from the very beginning. “Fast forward 10 years, our relationships and knowledge in sound have matured, but you can still hear this urgency in Óli’s songs that caught my ears to begin with”, states Robert Raths.

TRACK LISTING

1. 0040
2. 0048 / 0729
3. 0952
4. 1440
5. 1953
6. 3055
7. 3326
8. 3704 / 3837

Island Songs is the innovative brainchild of BAFTA award winning composer Ólafur Arnalds, alongside acclaimed film director Baldvin Z (BBC’s Trapped, Life in a Fish Bowl).

Ólafur will travel to 7 towns across Iceland where he will collaborate with 7 local artists, and at each location he will create, record and perform a new composition with the artist. He will deliver the audio and video the following day. Mercury Classics will release one audio track and one live performance video, each Monday.

Island Songs is a real-time interactive project that will evolve in the digital space, hosted via a bespoke website. Arnalds’ dedicated fanbase will be able to follow him on his travels via Facebook live-streams, Snapchats, Instagram, Twitter and Apple Connect. 

BAFTA winning Icelandic composer,Ólafur Arnalds' highly anticipated new record 're:member' features Ólafur’s ground-breaking new software, Stratus, which transforms the humble piano into a unique new instrument. He is currently performing his new material on a huge worldwide tour. The Stratus Pianos are two self-playing, semi-generative player pianos which are triggered by a central piano played by Ólafur, and are the centrepiece of his new works. The custom-built software is born out of two years of work by the composer and audio developer, Halldór Eldjárn. The algorithms generated from Stratus were also used to create the innovative album artwork.

On the album Ólafur uses these methods reinvigorate the compositional experience, feeding back into the creative process in a completely new way. As Ólafur plays a note on the piano, two different notes are generated by Stratus, creating unexpected harmonies and surprising melodic sequences. Speaking of the album, Ólafur says, “This is my breaking out-of-a-shell album. It’s me taking the raw influences that I have from all these different musical genres and not filtering them. It explores the creative process and how one can manipulate that to get out of the circle of expectations and habit.” 

Creative reimaginings for piano of Ólafur Arnald’s some kind of peace album (2020).

The Icelandic modern classical composer, performer and producer brings together a diverse group of friends, collaborators and musical kindred spirits from across the globe and musical spectrum to experiment and rework his music.

This Ólafur-curated lineup includes artists from the worlds of modern classical, electronic, jazz and alternative, featuring Yiruma, Dustin O’Halloran, Hania Rani, Alfa Mist, tstewart, JFDR, Lambert, Sophie Hutchings, Eydís Evensen and Magnús Jóhann.

TRACK LISTING

Loom - Eydís Evensen
Woven Song - Hania Rani
Spiral - Dustin O’halloran
Still / Sound - Sophie Hutchings
Back To The Sky - Lambert
Zero - Alfa Mist
New Grass – Tstewart
The Bottom Line (live) - Jfdr
We Contain Multitudes – Yiruma
Undone - Magnús Jóhann

Ólafur Arnalds and Nils Frahm reveal third collaborative EP titled ‘Loon’ via joint website – following on from their recent surprise 7” record store release ‘Life Story Love And Glory’ and 12” reissue of 2012’s ‘Stare’.

Containing five synthesiser-led pieces, ‘Loon’ was recorded in autumn 2014 across five days at Nils’s Durton Studio in Berlin, and continues on from the ambient sounds of ‘Stare’ but with the addition of more percussive elements and dub influences. For this new EP the duo wired an Oberheim 4 Voice and a Korg PS3100 to the mixing desk and performed live takes on both instruments. With all four hands on its pots, all mixes were recorded straight onto 2-track ½-inch tape.

Like on ‘Stare’, their first collaborative affair in 2012, they simply followed what was laying in front of them, and this time they were driven by some new synths, a kick drum and tape effects. Indulging in dub, the tracks where all performed rather than engineered, with Ólafur riding a few elements on faders and Nils bringing effects in and out. After running several mixes, they went for the five strongest moments from this session. The release was announced on a joint website www.arnaldsfrahm.com together with the launch of an intimate 45-minute studio film titled ‘Trance Frendz’, featuring another seven improvisations.

“Nils got some new synths and we thought we’d try them out. We loved them so much that we didn’t actually end up using anything else to make these songs.” – Ólafur Arnalds

“When I was young I was smuggled to Goa parties by my brother. The music played there in the late nineties had a somewhat deep effect on me. ‘Loon’ is almost a blurry memory of these times. In other words, it is what I’d like to remember that music sounded like back then. In fact it sounded probably really cheesy.” – Nils Frahm.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Four
A2. Three
A3. Wide Open
B1. W
B2. M

Having been available exclusively as the second disc to 2015's 'Collaborative Works', Ólafur Arnalds and Nils Frahm's improvised audio recordings 'Trance Frendz', taken from their 45-minute studio film of the same name, have been given their own vinyl release – out March 4th, 2016.

Prior to a string of collaborative Erased Tapes releases, which include 2012's 'Stare' 10” and last year’s 'Life Story Love and Glory' 7” and 'Loon' 12” – compiled on the 'Collaborative Works' 2-CD set, Ólafur Arnalds and Nils Frahm spent many hours together in their studios across Berlin and Reykjavik. Both have carved out genre-defying musical careers and formed unique live shows, creating a fan base loyal to their prolific output.

During a session at Durton Studio in Berlin last summer, Nils and Ólafur invited Alexander Schneider and his camera to document it. The recording continued long after the first take, stretching out into the next day until, eventually, several new improvisations had been recorded in 8 hours with no overdubs or edits. The unexpected nature in which these pieces had been created was reminiscent of their first on-stage improvisation many years ago. It became immediately clear how special these songs were.

"At the end of the night we had all this music that sounded unfamiliar even to us, loudly asking to be included in this collection.”

Originally made available as a 45-minute film on their joint website (www.arnaldsfrahm.com) last September, 'Trance Frendz' is now available on vinyl. Press for their 'Collaborative Works':

'A particularly joyous wash of slinky percussion and juddering layers' (8/10) – Clash

'An enchanting listen. The bar for a Lads' Night In has just been raised a few notches' (7/10) – Drowned In Sound. 

‘This is music for slowing down the pace of modern life... An immersive listening experience is guaranteed, while we must hope Frahm and Arnalds go on ‘holiday’ together more in future, and don’t forget to take their musical instruments.’ ★★★★ – MusicOMH. 

'A collection of gorgeously intimate piano compositions and eye-opening synth pieces, each never aggressive but always powerfully poignant' (8/10) – Under The Radar.

'What Collaborative Works offers is something strange: a shared world created by two mad geniuses. Long may Arnalds and Frahm tinker' (8/10) – PopMatters.

'Collaborative Works further proves just how natural a fit Ólafur Arnalds and Nils Frahm are together' – Resident Advisor. 

TRACK LISTING

A1. 20:17
A2. 21:05
A3. 23:17
B1. 23:52
B2. 00:26
B3. 01:41
B4. 03:06

TWO WEEK EXCLUSIVE RECORD STORE ONLY RELEASE!

Ólafur Arnalds and Nils Frahm reveal a new 7” single titled ‘Life Story Love and Glory’ following on from their recently re-issued 2012 collaborative EP ‘Stare’.

Erased Tapes artists and friends Ólafur Arnalds and Nils Frahm have separately carved out a musical career that defies genres both with their unique live shows and a loyal fan base that’s always eager to hear what their prolific output will bring.

Their latest collaborative 2-track release ‘Life Story Love and Glory’ is a live improv affair on two pianos, recorded in 2012 at Nils’s Durton Studio in Berlin. Fans may wonder why they have waited until 2015 to release these tracks, but having revealed a new website www.arnaldsfrahm.com you may think this may not be the end to their musical story this year.

“We would meet in Reykjavik or Berlin with the intention to share some days off work, hiking, swimming or eating pizza. That is great for a couple days, but after a while we would always end up back in the studio, fiddling with synths or pianos.” – Nils Frahm.

“You can hear in the beginning of ‘Life Story’ how I have already started playing the piano whilst Nils is still moving microphones around and preparing everything. It was all kept in!“ – Ólafur Arnalds.

‘Life Story Love and Glory’ will be released as a 7” on Erased Tapes – exclusively through record stores only on August 21, 2015 ahead of its digital release later on – as an ode to this classic and beloved format.

Icelandic composer Ólafur Arnalds set to release his first Hollywood film score. Ólafur Arnalds' original motion picture soundtrack for Sam Levinson's feature film debut 'Another Happy Day', starring Ellen Barkin and Demi Moore, will see a worldwide release via UK modern classical label Erased Tapes Records on February 27, 2012.

In his own words: 'In mid-December 2010 I was on a holiday in China when I received an email from Sam Levinson about the film. We got on the phone at like 4 in the morning Beijing time and ended up talking all through the night, instantly connecting. He told me that they had been listening to my music while making the film, so the film was already very influenced by my music. However, it was not until Ellen Barkin - the beautiful force that she is - had pestered the producers for a week, calling them every day about how I am the right one for this film, that they finally gave in. The only catch was that it had to be done two weeks later, in the first week of January. So I ended up scoring nonstop all throughout Christmas, making my mother mad in the process.' - Ólafur Arnalds.

Born in the suburban Icelandic town of Mosfellsbær, a few kilometers outside of Reykjavík, the 24-year old composer has always enjoyed pushing boundaries with both his studio work and his live-shows. Through relentless touring and determination this young artist has steadily gained recognition worldwide since his 2007 debut Eulogy for Evolution. Ólafur Arnalds' second full-length album ...and they have escaped the weight of darkness, continues his mission to lure an indie-generation of pop and rock fans into an emotive world of beguiling electronic chamber music and delicate classical arrangements.

STAFF COMMENTS

Sil says: Prolific Icelandic composer Olafur Arnalds, only 25 years old of age, strikes again with this compendium of delicate piano melodies. This falls into the neoclassical folder together with Brian Eno or Philip Glass.

I must say that I have not watched this film but the soundtrack easily stands alone and does not need the feature to feel complete.

A contemporary dance score for award winning British choreographer Wayne McGregor inspired by Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev (1872-1929). 'My composer for Dyad, Icelandic musician Ólafur Arnalds, is coming in next week to finish work on the score. It’s an amazing piece of music – it's melancholic and spatial then cuts to extreme rhythmic violence - it's hauntingly inspiring' – Wayne McGregor (Random Dance).

Born in 1987, Ólafur hails from the suburban Icelandic town, Mosfellsbær, just a few kilometres outside of Reykjavík. He has immersed himself completely in a world of delicate symphonic compositions generating near weightless orchestral pieces. Arnalds explores the crossover from classical to pop by mixing chamber strings and piano with discreet electronics which makes him a perfect fit for cinematic pop label Erased Tapes. His motivations are clear: 'The classical scene is kind of closed to people who haven't been studying music all their lives. I would like to bring my classical influence to the people who don't usually listen to this kind of music... open people's minds'.

Icelandic contemporary composer Ólafur Arnalds created and released a new song, one per day for one for one whole week during the month of October 2011. The songs were recorded and filmed live in the living room of his Reykjavik apartment and released instantly for free as streamed videos and mp3 downloads. Thousands of fans followed this exciting project online at: livingroomsongs.olafurarnalds.com

Following in the spirit of Ólafur Arnalds' critically acclaimed Found Songs (2009) where he wrote, recorded and released a free song every day for a week - now comes 'Living Room Songs'. This time Ólafur takes the idea further and invites the audience into the comfort of his living room, where the songs were recorded live and the whole process filmed. The songs were instantly released in form of a free mp3 download and video stream- straight from Ólafur's Reykjavik apartment.

In his own words: 'One night I was just playing my piano here in this apartment and I was writing a new song and I didn't have my phone on me which I usually use to record ideas. So I actually took out my MacBook and I didn't want to open like a proper recording program, so I just opened Photo Booth and recorded a video of myself playing the song so that I would remember the song. And I really liked the atmosphere of that video and that's when I thought I should do a series of songs in my living room...' - Ólafur Arnalds

One Little Indian release composer, producer and performer Olga Bell’s ‘Incitation’. The mini album follows Bell’s acclaimed 2014 song cycle and album, ‘Krai’, which was described by The New York Times as, “at once a folkloric study of her homeland and a contemporary exercise in electronic production” and was included in The Quietus’ Albums Of The Year.

Bell’s newest offering is a collection of deeply personal, urgent songs with her voice once more at the helm of her singular production. This time, “a kind of personal violence is the main force at work,” she says of the mini album, “but it’s more of a brawl with fear than something shell-shocked or confessional. The emotional language of Incitation recognizes that while fear can be brutal, even crippling, it is also a necessary force for change and, perhaps most importantly, not a permanent state. Its remedy is simple: action.”

Born in Moscow and raised in Alaska, Bell is now based in Brooklyn where she makes original music, remixes and videos under her own name. She also makes dance music with British musician Tom Vek as half of Nothankyou. From 2011 to 2013 she toured as a vocalist and keyboardist with Dirty Projectors and Chairlift and is currently at work on her third full-length album, set for release in early 2016 on One Little Indian.

A prodigious classical pianist as a child and teenager, Bell graduated from the New England Conservatory before moving to New York City to pursue electronic composition and songwriting. In 2009 composer Osvaldo Golijov and soprano Dawn Upshaw selected Bell for a workshop and concert of new works by contemporary composers at Carnegie Hall. In 2011 she received a Jerome Fund Grant from the American Composers Forum to aid in the completion of her first large-scale composition, ‘Krai’, which was released as an album in 2014 after a sold out premiere at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis.

TRACK LISTING

Incitation
Rubbernecker
Pounder I
Pounder II
Goalie

Following on from the success of her critically acclaimed ‘Incitation’ EP, Olga Bell is back with new album ‘Tempo’, released via One Little Indian Records.

“Grand compositional ambitions and a dynamic voice... the arty, adventurous edge of pop” - The New York Times

“For those uninitiated, Bell’s work lies somewhere between an industrial night at Berghain and a cyborg performing at Carnegie Hall.” - Dummy

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Encompassing aspects of outsider-pop, synthwave and electronic soul, 'Tempo' confounds expectations of the singer songwriter. Quirky off-kilter rhythms and textures permeate the whole endeavour , rapidly switching from acid pulse-wave stabs to glitched out snares and clave hits. Like a medley of all the electronic tropes of the last 20 years, but distilled into a cohesive and concise representation of modern electronic music culture. This is a capable and sparkling outing, and at no point feels too far from comfort. Like hopping between ten different parties of ten different varieties, each playing different music, and loving each and every minute.

TRACK LISTING

Power User
Doppio
Randomness
ATA
Regular
Zone
Ritual (ft. Sara Lucas)
Your Life Is A Lie
Stomach It
America

A founding member of the London based folk- collective Broadside Hacks (amongst other banded- ventures), Oscar Browne's debut solo endeavour 'Never Quite Right' was released in 2022 to critical acclaim; an established inauguration which saw him eventually signing to So Young Records in the spring of 2023.

Following a six-month spree in which Browne found himself tirelessly writing in order to process the changes taking place around him, the five songs which would eventually go on to form his debut EP 'If Only', are a deep- dive into the heart and soul of an artist who masterfully captures all the joys and heartaches of life in your early-twenties.

Recorded over one week at Bristol's The Playpen, home to producer Ali Chant (Aldous Harding, Katy J Pearson), 'If Only' was all-in-all, a long time coming. Selfaccustomed to doubling things up and hiding imperfections, it was through the art of collaboration, and Ali's teachings in the power of emotional transparency that the pairing of Browne and Chant really shined. "Ali was a massive part in keeping the recordings minimal" notes Browne "he kept the rawness".

Oscar Browne's creative- capability is a limitless array of captivating delights. These aren't simply re-interpretations of eras gone by. Browne channels as much Ben Howard or Kurt Vile as he does Nick Drake and John Martyn. Rather, it's through his ear for musical- lucidity, highlighted throughout the course of these selected songs, that enables Browne to transport his love of traditional folk and folklore, into a uniquely contemporary realm. His fearlessness in baring- all to those who'll listen creates an artistic magnitude will only keep growing with fine prowess, as Browne continues to cut his teeth as a beguiling 'one to watch'.

TRACK LISTING

Cut Me Off
You And I
All Or Nothing
Somebody Else
If Only

The score, lighter and more delicate than Oliver Coates’ previously released music, functions as shadows or half-glimpses, a glowing form of ambient music which adds emotional colour to the cinematography. Aftersun features ‘One Without’, the much talked about piece of music used in the final scene and credits – the one that audiences have been known to sit in silence through the credits for. ‘One Without’ was made away from the film after the composer’s first meeting with Charlotte Wells, the director. On it, the strings are reversed and sped up a little, Each harmony has the next chord bleeding into it because of the reversed tails. The string vibrato is slightly unreal because the playback is faster and Coates explains that the “whole score is derived from the music within this final piece.” The film is a poetic meditation and gradual emotional arc towards the presence of absence, of another story not revealed. It is the light of the camera work, the physical gait of the actors and the music which come together in a climatic resolution.

Coates’ score stands for memory within the film, a growing awareness that the film might be a memory trawl to try and make sense of trauma. The score makes the film feel like it is starting to become self-aware, like a film within a film. Over time the score develops and helps the viewer move beyond the naturalistic and the diegetic. It is made of simple elements, old synths, reversed and slowed down strings. These, the composer explains “gradually reveal the sluggishness in Calum’s (Paul Mescal) demeanour, suggesting something hanging over him.”

TRACK LISTING

1. Memory Opening
2. One Without
3. Bus
4. DVCAM
5. Swimming Pool - Sky
6. Boat
7. Ocean>Rave
8. Gliders Peace Of Mind
9. Tai Chi
10. Sophie Pool With The Guys
11. Night
12. Limit
13. Happy Birthday Sophie
14. Last Dance (score)
15. Afterglow
16. I Love You

For Shelley’s on Zenn-La, Oliver Coates designs a complex of bending truths and reverse walkways to vernal states. Open ears can peer down hidden aux channel corridors, while melodic patterns present two-way mirrors to rooms of other retinal colors. An endless euphoria is just beneath the dance floorboards of Shelley’s, and an inquisitiveness unencumbered by the institution of knowledge surrounding its frame and inhabitants. Shelley’s on Zenn-La was made between the Elephant and Castle neighborhood of London and a future dreamscape. In this realm out of time and space, Shelley’s (Laserdome) – a once-legendary late 80s / early 90s nightclub in the industrial town of Stoke-on-Trent in the north of England – can simultaneously exist on the fictional planet of Zenn-La, and can house a devotional, alien ritual of early UK rave culture, pioneering IDM, and deep minimalism. Much of the album’s construction extends from specific, self-imposed ambitions; particular palettes applied to individual creative ideas. These limitations become limitless manifestations of theme: two bass lines running in parallel (one cello, one synth), synthesized waveforms phasing with bowed acoustic drones and chords, synth sequences in nonstandard tuning sitting against folk melody in standard tuning. Coates made a lot of the music for Shelley’s in Renoise, composing drum sequences in hexadecimal numbers and pencil drawn waveforms and cementing specificity in the intricate, intelligent dance machinations. Cellist, composer, and producer Oliver Coates has studied at the Royal Academy of Music, been an artist in residency at London’s Southbank Centre, and received the Royal Philharmonic Society Young Artist Award. Coates has contributed to the recordings of Radiohead, and collaborated with Laurie Spiegel and John Luther Adams. 

TRACK LISTING

1.Faraday Monument
2.A Church
3.Lime
4.Charlev
5.Norrin Radd Dreaming
6.Cello Renoise
7.Prairie
8.Perfect Apple With Silver Mark

"Significant Other" is now available on vinyl. The score comes pressed on blue vinyl, housed in a spined sleeve with download card and double-sided printed insert. Significant Other follows the sinister events plague a young couple when they take a backpacking trip through the forests of the Pacific Northwest. Oliver Coates is a cellist, composer and music producer known for his work with Radiohead, Mica Levi and more.

TRACK LISTING

Forest Replicant
Deer Jumpscare
Theme's In Ruth's Mind
First Montage
Isn't That Enough
The Cave & Second Montage
Proposal At The Cliff Face
Harry's Return
Goodbye Ruth (Do I Love You?)
Beach
Shark
Endcave
Ruth Smash
Dread Credits

This is an unusual album in the catalogue of Ornette Coleman, and one that passes by most critics. It is however a unique insight into the ‘free jazz’ pioneer’s way of working in the early 70s. Recorded at his large loft space in downtown New York which inspired a whole scene of experimental musicians who were locked out of playing established venues.

The music is a romp showing Ornette playing trumpet as well as saxophone. His quartet which featured second saxophonist Dewey Redman alongside long term cohorts Ed Blackwell and Charlie Haden prove to be the perfect foil for this legendary set.

This is the first vinyl reissue in nearly 20 years and utilises a fresh 24/96 transfer from the original production master.

TRACK LISTING

Side One
1. Friends And Neighbors - Vocal
2. Friends And Neighbors - Instrumental
3. Long Time No See
Side Two
1. Let's Play
2. Forgotten Songs
3. Tomorrow 

The songs on Some Waking Woman come up like ragged wildflowers in the unnameable heel of wasteland between the end house of the terrace and the already-dated concrete and plastic of the new business park. The songs come up from the hot gap between the weird dissociative dreamscape and the phone-alarm of a slate Tuesday morningtime. They look out from the record with a gaze that's lost between doe-eyed affection and a murky voyeurism. They're made of a music caught between the battered nylon-string and a layered orchestration turning between lush and gritty.

It's between the pottery and the calcified dogshit, between the filthy rebels and the eerie loyalists, between the probable cause of an action not quite either the Frenchman's crime of passion or the English barfight. It's a record of between-ness - like, this is just between us, right It's the same gap between the ballad and the mumbled apology, the love song and the exasperated sigh. My trousers have been pulled down in the playground again. Tsk. I love you and all of love turns out to be a colossal shitshow. Tsk.

Some Waking Woman isn't an anthem nor an elegy, although it has moments of both. It isn't quite in the gutter, but it's sure as hell not looking at the stars - the album has its gaze locked on the school playground, or the overgrown tarmac country-road corner, or another identical dawn colouring in the PVC windowframes. In the hands of O. D. Davey, the ordinary surfaces of a life like the one everyone actually has are made to glimmer weirdly with the inevitable love, misery and resignation underneath them.

These are touching, intricate ballads with melodies of nursery-rhyme sweetness, as reimagined by a failed gameshow host humming his old theme-tunes as he staggers back home pissed after closing time. But they're songs of love, for all that, his daughters haven't called in months. The sense is that these narrators have more love than they know what to do with, move love than they can trust themselves to handle, more love than they can believe in. Davey handles the flaws and imperfections and fractures of day-to-day living, finds the gap and digs in. This is an attention paid to the agonising and lovely awkward corners of life that don't get talked about. This is a record as in an LP, but a record too in the sense of a setting down of something true.

TRACK LISTING

1: Some Waking Woman
2: Every Rebel Campaign
3: Two Fingers Flicked
4: The Way Home
5: Holy Land
6: Crash
7: The Blue Note
8: The Mustard Cloud
9: This Time
10: A Right Honorable Friend

Fast rising UK soul-pop star Olivia Dean releases her long-awaited debut album Messy. Featuring the singles ‘Danger’ and ‘UFO’, Messy cements Dean as one of the most original and versatile voices in UK pop.

Crafting classic yet conversational hooks with genre-fluid tinges, she’s honed a way of exploring universal themes of love, loss and everything in between with razor-sharp but open-hearted storytelling. Of her debut album, Olivia shares, “Going into making the record, I'd just done this ‘Growth’ project. And for ages, I was like, well, my debut album needs to be what I've grown into, I need to have the answer. And that really confused me for a while. Then I realised, I'm always going to be growing. So this doesn't have to be a destination, it's just where I’m at now.”

Auckland-based guitarist Oscar Dowling embarks on his debut solo album, leaving his deepest emotions laid bare across the table. The former New Gum Sarn member has created a subdued guitar record in the great indie tradition of his homeland. One that leads into the abyss, tantalising with heartbreak and his unsettling bitterness towards life and death. Influenced heavily from the identity of his country and battling with "my own identity, falling in love, anxiety and mental illness, friends, family and enemies to name a few".

Free And Easy was recorded and mixed with Ben Lawson at The Red Bull Studios in Auckland. The album features local luminaries Steven Huf, Will Wood, Mason Fairey, and Sam Hamilton. Dowling recalls; "Ben heard me play at my neighbours wedding and later asked if I wanted some studio time at Red Bull. He gave me a week in between other projects and last minute I realised I didn't want to record solo and asked friends Steven Huf and Will Wood if they wanted to help me out. I'd seen both of them play with a lot of different people over the years and knew they could pull it off without much warning. I think we only practiced 3 times."

Recording in such swish surrounding felt alien to Oscar, as he states "it was different to the DIY style I'm used to, lots of fancy gear and a soundproofed, air conditioned live room. We had a reasonably strict time schedule so when we were there it was all go and no fucking around."

Whether soaked in Oscar's melancholy voice and warped out guitars, ('Sally Free and Easy'), or accompanied by a delicate piano ('Low Moon') or the jarringly raw ('Ease My Passing') each track paints a vivid picture of Oscar's life. Title track ('The Life') is best at transcending this portrait of the hardship of life with an entrancing melody line and ruthless lyrics, those lyrics severing as a medium for "understanding subjects such as death and love" and finding comfort in writing about his relationship with mental health, the outcome being "very therapeutic."

After spending the past year beekeeping with his brother, Oscar is still able to live out the perfect balance between city life and the countryside. Having grown up in the sticks, he tells us that the reason for moving to the capitol was that "people from all over come here to make music and find others making music, so it has a decent scene. I moved here for that reason and it has influenced me massively in terms of how I think about music and why I continue to make it."

The heavy use of dialogue is what will transcend Free and Easy to it's listeners - reconnecting us with our own identity and making us remember what really is important. "My family, my girlfriend and my friends. They are the people I look to for inspiration everyday."

TRACK LISTING

1. The Life
2. Ease My Passing
3. Sally Free And Easy
4. Human Connection
5. Fair Weather Friend
6. Cream And Peaches
7. Low Moon
8. The Circus
9. Rotten Apple
10. Motorway

Raised by pioneering parents on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, NYC, Odetta’s milieu was a “colorful culture of artistry,” that included early exposure to community activism, renegade film screenings, poetry readings and trips to CBGB's. Inchoate punk and hip hop were aural wallpaper, as were the 45s spinning in the household jukebox featuring her dad’s extensive collection of soul and afrobeat records, as well as her Appalachian mother’s classic country selections. A classically trained violinist with a penchant for back-porch banjo, Odetta combines these variegated sounds of her childhood with her personal passion for folk music and the musicological legacy of Alan Lomax.

Lomax is writ large on Old Rockhounds... at least in spirit anyway. Odetta plays all the instruments on this and her debut 222, which made problematic the changeovers between songs when playing live. Field recordings the singer had collected on her travels were utilized to make such transitions seamless, and so successful was that intermingling of songs and soundscapes that they’ve transitioned into the recording process. It makes for a strangely intimate listen: tingly and a little tipsy: an album for twilight, sitting within the nocturnal hinterland between dusk and somnambulance - candlelit and confidential - a time for stories and secrets.

So far, so old skool. And yet, Old Rockhounds Never Die also embraces modernity without ever sounding incongruous. The mix of manipulated 21st century beats and the musical traditions of centuries meet at a crossroads and consummate their curiosity without inhibition. It’ll probably not surprise anyone listening to the album then that its a co-production. Odetta writes and performs all the songs while her partner Jack Inslee is in the background bringing the digital dark arts. Experimenting with found sounds & foley, the two have developed a sonic vernacular built around playing around with a-typical instruments. Hartman explains: “Many of the beats on the album were recorded in the kitchen: the snare sound is actually a running faucet, or if you hear these glockenspiel bells that's actually a set of kitchen bowls. Other percussive elements include scissors, a pepper grinder and keys on the radiator.”

TRACK LISTING

1. Old Rockhounds
2. Cowboy Song
3. You You
4. Widow's Peak
5. Sweet Teeth
6. Auto
7. Honey
8. Smoke Break
9. The Ocean
10. Spit
11. Freedom
12. Misery
13. Dettifoss
14. Carbon Copy
15. (Still Alive)

Olivia Jean is back on the beat with her second full-length (and first self-produced) album, Night Owl, due out August 30, 2019 on Third Man Records. The album mines the shared spaces between bubblegum, beach pop undercurrents and fuzzed out garage a la B-52s and Dick Dale, lyrically diving headfirst into the frustrations of perfectionism, mental barriers, obsession and modern heartache. Unlike Bathtub Love Killings on which we found Olivia playing every instrument on the vast majority of the album, Night Owl is decidedly more collaborative, with a studio band of buddies backing up her up. Night Owl is exactly what it sounds like: the wee-hour workings of an artist engrossed in a project, pushing against omnipresent forces of fear and judgment to do exactly what you’ve always wanted to do and be exactly what you’ve known you are. It’s candy-coated and also bittersweet, fully aware and also full-hearted.

TRACK LISTING

1. Garage Bat
2. Night Owl
3. Shut Your Mouth
4. Brushfire
5. In Two
6. If You Don’t Love Me By Now
7. Rhinestone
8. The Hunt
9. JaanPehechaanHo
10. Can You Help Me?
11. Siren Call
12. I Used To Be Lonely
13. Perfume
14. Tsunami Sue

Raving Ghost is an album populated by mysterious characters in various states of danger – cursed lovers, doomed souls, women deliriously haunted by unseen forces. Over the course of its 11 spellbinding tracks, Olivia Jean amplifies that drama with her wildly melodic take on garage rock, handling each riff with the power and precision she’s previously shown as a member of the Black Belles and as an in-demand session/touring musician who has played with legends like Wanda Jackson.

Featuring backing from such top musicians as My Morning Jacket keyboardist Bo Koster, Jellyfish co-founder Roger Joseph Manning Jr, and drummers Carla Azar (T-Bone Burnett, Nikki Lane) and Patrick Keeler (The Raconteurs, The Afghan Whigs), the album is a feverish collision of goth- punk, power-pop, and classic garage, charged with an energy so intense that the speakers to several of Valentine Recording Studios’ vintage amps ended up blowing out during the sessions. A stunning evolution of the retro-surf sound featured on Olivia Jean’s critically acclaimed past solo work, Raving Ghost ultimately proves the most magnificently heavy and mesmerizing output yet from an endlessly fascinating artist. 

STAFF COMMENTS

Martin says: Olivia Jean presents a sleek, enjoyable mid-point between lo-fi garage rock and melodic goth-pop, all topped with Jean's psychedelic vocals. Brilliantly produced and presented too, classic Third Man.

TRACK LISTING

SIDE 1
1. Raving Ghost
2. Too Late
3. Spider
4. Trouble
5. I Need You
SIDE 2
1. Ditch
2. Fun
3. Fate
4. Orinoco Flow
5. Godmother
6. Don't Leave

Bathtub Love Killings is the debut solo LP from Olivia Jean, the multi-instrumentalist who cut her teeth in the Third Man stable backing folks as varied as Karen Elson, Wanda Jackson and Jack White in addition to fronting the much-loved Black Belles. Jean has accrued a lifetime of experience in a few short years, from highlight performances on The Colbert Report, Conan, Late Show With David Letterman and the Grand Old Opry stage to having one of her songs used as the theme for the television series Elvira’s Movie Macabre.

Produced by Jack White, Bathtub Love Killings showcases Jean as a songwriting force to be reckoned with. Playing damn-near every instrument she could get her hands on, the result is a well-rounded, catchy record that’s chockfull of ear worm moments.

• Olivia Jean was lead singer, guitarist, main songwriter of the Black Belles (also released by Third Man Records)
• produced by Jack White, who also plays guitar on “Cat Fight”
• drums on “Deadly Hex” and “Cat Fight” by Patrick Keeler (the Raconteurs, the Greenhornes)
• “Green Honeycreeper” features songwriting contribution by Coco Hames (The Ettes, The Parting Gifts)

Oscar Jerome hibernated to make what became The Spoon, his second album. The pandemic had halted his concerts, and he found himself alone in Berlin playing guitar and writing poetry.You can feel that interiority on The Spoon, a laconic piece of work of melodic melancholy. He’ll move from a whisper to a scream throughout the album, and he’s as ready to talk about his feelings of depression as he is to rage about the injustices of his home country. 

TRACK LISTING

1. The Dark Slide
2. Sweet Isolation - Oscar Jerome Feat. Kaidi Akinnibi
3. Berlin 1
4. The Spoon
5. The Soup
6. Channel Your Anger
7. Feet Down South
8. Aya & Bartholomew
9. Feed The Pigs
10. Path To Someone
11. Hall Of Mirrors - Oscar Jerome Feat. Léa Sen
12. Use It Well

One of the most innovative and pioneering musicians of his time, Orlando Julius made an amazing difference to the Nigerian music between the late 60s and early 70s, influencing the likes of Fela Kuti and Tony Allen along the way. This Vampi Soul collection brings together his LPs "Super Afro Soul" (as Orlando Julius & His Modern Aces), and "Orlando's Afro Ideas 1969-72" (as Orlando Julius & His Afro Sounders), previously available on Soundway offshoot Ekosound). The 23 tracks offer up a mind blowing mix of Nigerian highlife grooves, melding jazz, soul, and funk with wonderful Afro-funk rhythms.

Strut present a limited transparent vinyl pressing of the seminal album by one of the all-time legends of Nigerian music, the late, great Orlando Julius, in a mouth-watering collaboration with London super-group The Heliocentrics, originally released in 2014. Starting with his club residency in Ibadan in the mid 60s, Orlando Julius set the blueprint for a whole generation of Afrobeat and Afro funk stars, going on to play with Louis Armstrong, The Crusaders, Hugh Masekela and Lamont Dozier among others, famously co-composing the classic ‘Going Back To My Roots’ in 1979 whilst based in the USA.

For ‘Jaiyede Afro’, Julius went back to his own roots, revisiting several compositions from his early years which had never previously been recorded.

Recorded at the Heliocentrics’ fully analogue HQ in North London, the band take Orlando’s sound into new, progressive directions, retaining the raw grit of his early work and adding psychedelic touches and adventurous new arrangements. They also contribute live favourite, the James Brown cover ‘In The Middle’ and a series of memorable shorter interludes. 

TRACK LISTING

A1. Buje Buje
A2. Love Thy Neighbour
B1. Aseni
B2. Sangodele
C1. Jaiyede Afro
C2. Omo Oba Blues
C3. In The Middle
D1. Be Counted
D2. Alafia 

New Deep Cover! Ólta Karawane ventures beyond borders once again, luring a pair of perfect peaches from the hands of two welcome wanderers who have strayed far from their homeland... Imagination is knee-deep at this, the dream station, though our companions in dub are around the corner.

Deep Cover's infrequent but mythical forays into the cosmic undergrowth continue to beguile and mystify! Join the cult.. 

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: The cult collected, highly eclectic imprint turn their spotlight onto Cosa Rosa's 1983 German masterpiece. Whilst we also get an un-ID'd squishy, Molusc-dance number that's had us pulling funny shapes all afternoon. As always, something different from this illusive camp.

TRACK LISTING

A. Galocher
B. In Freunde Mit Dub

In Okay Kaya songs, her world looks a lot like ours — Netflix, jetlag, vegan peanut butter and chocolate ice cream, lonely bowls of ramen, diet trends. But unlike ours, each of these vibrates and shimmers with deeper, darker meaning, with existential dread and desire for understanding. Through Norwegian-raised New Yorker Kaya’s dreamy soft-focus lens, the language of Twitter memes becomes modernist poetry as her breathy contralto voice sings lines like, “If you don’t love me at my guttural sound, you don’t deserve me at my guttural sound.” This is Sade for nihilists. On the opening track of her new record she sings, “I used to fight the feeling, always let it win.” As she transforms these feelings, defeats, and victories into songs, the lyrics often involve pools of sweat, oceans, and other forms of wetness. But Okay Kaya’s world is not one of renewal and rebirth—it’s not water at all, actually. “It’s more like bile,” Kaya says, “It’s what comes out in the purge.” In these songs, Kaya swims through her melancholy and anxiety— not as a way of cleansing herself, but as an understanding of their depths

TRACK LISTING

1. Baby Little Tween
2. Ascend And Try Again
3. Insert Generic Name
4. Overstimulated
5. Psych Ward
6. Gutteral Sounds
7. Asexual Wellbeing
8. Popcorn Heart
9. Mother Nature’s Bitch
10. Hallelu Ya Hallelu Me
11. Symbiosis
12. Givenupitis
13. Helsevesen
14. Stonethrow
15. Zero Interaction Ramen Bar

Though "Say You Love Me" wasn't "Om" Alec Khaoli's first solo recording, the 1985 EP solidified the bass player and songwriter's standing as one of South Africa's most consistently innovative pop auteurs. He built a career on ubiquitous rock, pop and soul hits with groundbreaking bands like the Beaters, Harari and Umoja. But Khaoli's seemingly endless fountain of music continued outside these ensembles, where he usually played bass and contributed songwriting and vocals. Khaoli released several successful solo works while he made records with Umoja and worked on other productions with friends.
This creativity was aided by Khaoli's own recording studio. He was the first South African to have a privately-owned studio. As black artists were forced to record during lunch breaks and didn't get sufficient access and time in the white-owned studios, having his studio allowed Khaoli to develop in his own way. Hence his productive output during the 80's and early 90's, releasing 5 LPs with Umoja and 5 solo LPs, along with numerous singles and EPs. There's something broad and dynamic about the almost epic pop sound Khaoli creates on "Say You Love Me". Being the first South African to take control his recording process and thereby free himself from one of apartheid's many strictures, he took his vision of music to new realms and made timeless music for the dance floor in the process. 

STAFF COMMENTS

Patrick says: Another rarity reissued by the erm...awesome... Awesome Tapes From Africa, kicking off with the emotional pop of "Say You Love Me", a shoulder rolling love song which could easily have found its way onto the end credits of many an 80s buddy movie. "Make Me Your Lover" fuses a little Paul Simon style songwriting with traditional African styles (oh the irony), while "Crosslines" is an oddball synth funk freakout a la Herbie Hancock. Last but not least we feel the force of the show-stealing "Enjoy It", a dreamy bit a Afro-cosmic for the Balearic crowds.

TRACK LISTING

1. Say You Love Me
2. Make Me Your Lover
3. Crosslines
4. Enjoy It

Second album from West London, singer-songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist, Oscar Lang. A split from his childhood sweetheart sent Lang spiralling, dramatically changing the course of the follow-up to the psychedelic-tinged fuzzy-rock of his 2021 debut Chew The Scenery at the same time as driving Lang into the most creatively fruitful period of his short career. The diversion has resulted in Look Now, an astounding record that makes Lang’s previous output sound like he was just testing the waters. Chew The Scenery and three melodically-breezy EPs that preceded it introduced Lang as a songwriter of rare talents but here is where he really lays down a marker, emerging with an album that takes in playful hooks, poignant lyricism, orchestral swells, ba-roque-pop instrumentation, a record that’s expansive but never overblown, intimate at the same time as being epic. It is his definitive artistic statement.

TRACK LISTING

A Song About Me
Everything Unspoken
Crawl
Leave Me Alone
Blow Ur Cash
Circle Line
Take Me Apart
On God
One Foot First
When You Were A Child (feat. Molly Payton)

Rocafort Records say hello to 2023 with a deep, sultry lilt to usher in the new year. Madrid-based producer, Oscar Martos, offers two wide-hipped tracks that are not rushing to go anywhere – apart from a soft shuffle to the feet and booty.

Both tracks feature the sweet vocals of Cuban singer, Essy, who adds a sexy heat and dreamy languor. 'So Lonely' has a hint of a 90s soul R'n'B hit; not overly produced and left to breathe its groove with instant hook and harmonies. B side, 'Mi Vida' carries a similar imprint, this time with a more pronounced latino/hip-hop sabor. Confident mid-tempo tracks that could easily seal the end of many hot, sweaty nights.

After having worked on a variety of other artists' projects, Martos is finally ready to blow his own trumpet.

TRACK LISTING

1. So Lonely (feat. Essy)
2. Mi Vida (feat. Essy)

There is a sense of quiet, reserved confidence about' Hither Thither', O Emperor‘s debut LP. Many commentators have noted that it sounds more like the recording of a band on their third or fourth album, such is the display of maturity and self-awareness on show. The diversity on display is striking. From songs like 'Don Quixote' (a dense production featuring a stunning, lush string arrangement by pianist Philip Christie), 'Po' (an elusive tale of imaginary childhood friends set against a driving 70s style production) and 'Don‘t Mind Me' (a gracefully melodic, sun-kissed affair, with vocal harmonies shared by all five members) to the albums quieter, more introspective moments of 'Sedalia' (a plaintive narrative with an unexpected psychedelic shift), 'Heisenberg' (an eerily minimalistic piano-led composition) and 'The Fat Lady Sings' (a dramatic send-off that at times hints at a taste for the avant-garde), 'Hither Thither' is an album of dense, sprawling beauty - a collection that is diverse while remaining focused on an overriding aesthethic. A journey from Hither to Thither indeed.

“As Irish debuts go, it’s in a league of its own.” The Irish Times.

“A sumptuous and wondrous debut from a band with a frighteningly bright future.” The Sunday Business Post.

“Think Fleet Foxes/Local Natives, with various vocalists and the vibe of The Band thrown in for good measure…” Futuresounds.

TRACK LISTING

O Fracas return with the limited edition "Factfinding" EP featuring two tracks from their forthcoming debut album, "Fits & Starts", due early next year (08). The band recently signed to I Can Count in the UK and Vinyl Junkie in Japan and this release follows the release of two critically acclaimed singles on Marquis Cha Cha. This EP comprises of two lead tracks "Factfinding" and "And So A Scratch Runs Down A Wall", taken from "Fits & Starts". Along with "Moth To A Flame" and a remix of "Scratched Wall" by Leeds' up and coming hip hop export Breaking The Illusion. O Fracas are the collision of a myriad of influences. Inspired as much by the DC hardcore of Fugazi and Q And Not U along with the rhythms of Billy Cobham and Fela Kuti, they bring this together with the range of Talking Heads songbook and condense it into three minutes pop songs played with a vigour and taut musicianship beyond many of their peers. Lyrically, lead singer Ben writes about the human condition with the insight of a man twice his age, O Fracas set themselves apart from the pack and with an average age of just twenty this really is surely just the beginning for O Fracas.

The album condenses the bands first three years of work, influenced by the likes of Fugazi, Fela Kuti and The Mars Volta into one un-cohesive package. Ranging from the folky lament of "Menwith Hill" to the frenetic avant-rhumba-punk of "Zeroes And Ones", a dystopian view of 'the idea of a liberating universal internet consciousness'.

Another great slice of spikey, angular guitar noise from Leeds lads O Fracas.

Dynamite Cuts is proud to be able to press for the first time on 7” vinyl, two killer soul cuts. “Ride Your Pony”, the Lee Dorsey classic, gets a seductive twist by The Moments, which just oozes sexy soul vibes with a tough groove. On the flip it just gets better, “Sugar, Sugar” is a great soul track, a right singalong, classic club track! Both are first time on 7” vinyl in true Dynamite Cuts fashion, essential for all good music lovers.

TRACK LISTING

A - “Ride Your Pony Girl”
B - “Sugar Sugar”

Continuing to dig up the finest and rarest hip hop bangers, most of which are pressed on a 45 for the first time, 5 Borough Breaks deliver yet another nugget in the shape of O.C.'s legendary "Time's Up". Over on the flip its the original sample source, this time a wigged out big band/jazz cover of The Beatles "A Day In The Life". Another essential release for DJs everywhere. As always very ltd qty pressed, when they’re gone they’re gone.

TRACK LISTING

A. Les Demerle - Times Up
B. O.C. - A Day In The Life

Communing at the triangulation of words, music and image, O’Brien has always conjured powerful worlds: but none more powerful, or as immersive, than on her debut record. In the space that exists between her delivery – at once wry, silky, vicious, and self-assured – and the music – a dynamic, dancing call-and-response from her collaborators, guitarist Julian Hanson and drummer Oscar Robertson – lies a productive tension. Using a method of creating on-instinct, in constant communication with multisensory cues, O’Brien is carving out a space as a musical oracle for an ever-shifting era. The 11-track album was produced by indie super-producer Dan Carey (Fontaines DC, Squid, Black Midi, Kae Temptest, Bat For Lashes, Hot Chip, Franz Ferdinand) and recorded in his south London studio Mr Dan’s in late 2021.

“The story of the album is built up in layers; one song giving context to the next” explains Sinead; “I thought about becoming undressed; testing my ideas, my voice. Working myself out across themes of identity, curiosity, creative process. Experimenting with the form and shape of language, using tone and delivery to get to the immediate centre of what I am saying. The record opens and closes with poems, these tracks have a really clear direction - a form which is set apart from the ‘songs’. I hold stops in different places, moving emphatically through the lyrics, changing the meaning. No punctuation - only the voice mapping out the way.”

“The album title “Time Bend and Break The Bower”, from the song ‘Multitudes’, came into my head and made its demands, an idea that pressed on me throughout the record. It has a very active role. The clock symbol is enlarged, it looms like a moon over my activity watching, counting me down to zero. Dripping with self-sabotage and the feeling of being chased; it pulls and pushes against the verses which talk of ’Multitudes’; the things that faithfully come back - the images, the words, creativity. It is creativity itself.”

Since 2020, O’Brien has garnered international critical acclaim from titles like Rolling Stone, DIY, Dazed, Dork, Loud & Quiet, NME, Paste, Stereogum, The FADER, The Guardian, The Quietus, and AnOther Magazine, among others. O’Brien has also been consistently supported on national radio: she counts Jack Saunders at BBC Radio 1, and Steve Lamacq and Amy Lamé at BBC Radio 6 Music as champions of her music, with the latter station giving two tracks a spot on their B List. And O’Brien is building on her US support from the likes of Seattle’s KEXP alongside appearances at SXSW – in virtual form in 2021, and live with her band in Texas later this spring.

With a background on the design teams for John Galliano and, later, Vivienne Westwood, it’s no surprise that raven-haired O’Brien’s cultural touchstones also span a rich history of art, photography, film, dance and movement: from Helmut Newton femme fatales and Henri Cartier-Bresson’s bleak landscapes to modern performance by Michael Clark and Michael Laub companies, to the writings of Virginia Woolf and Samuel Beckett. Recently tapped by Alessandro Micele’s Gucci to perform, it’s clear that O’Brien’s esoteric instincts will continue to inspire those beyond the industry as well as within it.

TRACK LISTING

1. Pain Is The Fashion Of The Spirit
2. Salt
3. Girlkind
4. End Of Days
5. Like Culture
6. The Rarest Kind
7. Holy Country
8. Spare For My Size, Me
9. There Are Good Times Coming
10. Multitudes
11. Go Again

Geoffrey O'Connor, one time frontman for euphoric guitar pop band Crayon Fields, returns with his first solo album in seven years - but is it really a solo album? For As Long As I Can Remember is a suite of duets with some of Australia's most iconic modern singers, including Jonnine (HTRK), Sarah Mary Chadwick, Laura Jean, Sui Zhen and more. The album explores late night tales of unsublimated desire, a synth-pop cocoon world where obsessions drift slowly into the rear view mirror and exert an unsteadying backwards pull. Geoffrey's duet partners do not proffer easy love or solace, rather they challenge him, gently put him down, or glance back at a history of faded passion.

Other guests include Nicole Thibault of Chapter artists Thibault, Jess Ribeiro, June Jones, Summer Flake's Steph Crase, Sienna Thornton (Cyanide Thornton) and Mystery Guest's Caitlyn Lesiuk. Sydney funk sophisticate Donny Benet appears on bass on two tracks. Since his previous solo album, 2014 critic favourite Fan Fiction (written up by Pitchfork, Spin, All Music and elsewhere), Geoffrey has released Crayon Fields comeback album No One Deserves You (2015) and an expanded reissue of 2009 classic All the Pleasures Of the World. He has also produced albums for Sarah Mary Chadwick, June Jones, Summer Flake and others. Geoffrey has appeared on records by The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart and Donny Benet, been remixed by Chet Faker, and was a member of Melbourne psych pop band Montero

TRACK LISTING

1. For As Long As I Can (with Jonnine)
2. Foolish Enough (with Laura Jean)
3. What A Scene (with Sui Zhen)
4. Renee (with Sienna Thornton)
5. Strange Feeling (with Sarah Mary Chadwick)
6. Precious Memories (with Remember Sarah Mary Chadwick)
7. Catwalk (with Caitlyn Lesiuk)
8. Tired Of Winning (with June Jones)
9. Shelley Duvall (with Nicole Thibault)
10. Tunnel Of Love (with Jess Ribeiro)
11. Love Is Your Best Friend (with Stephanie Crase)

Self-produced American songwriter London O’Connor announces a partnership with New York City-based record label True Panther Sounds as well as the remastered official re-release of his critically acclaimed debut album ‘OΔ’. 

Upon self-releasing ‘OΔ’ on SoundCloud, London’s diary-like accounts and immediate pop songs wooed both critics and fans alike. His energetic live show atop his one-of-one light cube impressed on both sides of the pond just months after the initial release of the album. His first chapter ‘OATMEAL’, the present and relatable ‘Nobody Hangs Out Anymore’ and the I-hate-everything anthem ‘GUTS’ were instant streaming favourites that all wound up getting play on BBC Radio 1 and American radio stations, while the epic album closer ‘SURVIVE’ found a whole new meaning when a room full of music lovers and industry folk in France sang along in sync with O’Connor mere days after the tragic events at The Bataclan Theatre.

‘OΔ’ (pronounced ‘Circle Triangle’) is a post-any-genre narrative told through vivid and visual production he made from the contents of his backpack while sleeping on floors and couches in New York City. It details the suburban world he grew up in and fled from in Southern California years before. The cinematic album also acts as a rallying cry and arrived hand-in-hand with a direct message from O’Connor: “If when you hear it, you feel like its talking about where you live, then I want you to leave.”

The original version of the album lingers on the internet along with a tweet of his actual cellphone number. The creative direction of London’s body of art and the viscerality of its themes to overcome one’s environment liken the symbol ‘OΔ’ in the eyes of his fans to one perceived like the emblem for the Rebel Alliance.

“A singular talent” - The Guardian

“Effortless and blissful, like falling asleep in the grass” - Dazed

“A dreamy tribute to growing up bored in the suburbs and finding adventure in the nether regions of his imagination” - The Fader

“‘OΔ’ works like a mini motion picture” - Pigeons And Planes

“As expertly constructed a pop album as anything that will be released this year” - Pitchfork

“Mercurial, genre-shifting” - Stereogum

STAFF COMMENTS

Millie says: This album is unbelievably catchy, it’s an electro-pop sensation. It cleverly dips in to many different genres while all at the same time retaining a distinctive style. Oh and it’s impossible not to sing along to ‘I hate your gu-uuts’!

TRACK LISTING

(open) 00 00
Oatmeal
Natural
Steal
Nobody Hangs Out Anymore
Guts
Coordinates 00 36
Love Song
09 87 (Where Is Your Home)?
Survive

Sinead was born in Dublin in 1966, and was discovered by Paul Byrne, drummer of U2 proteges In Tua Nua, while singing wedding covers in the city. After cowriting the first In Tua Nua single, she left school to focus on music, studying voice and piano at the Dublin College of Music before relocating to London in 1985.

The follow-up album to the hugely successful I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got album, Am I Not Your Girl? was released in September 1992 and features Sinead performing a collection of songs that she had grown up listening to and which had inspired her to become a singer. It was during the promotional campaign for the album when Sinead made a controversial appearance on Saturday Night Live.

Am I Not Your Girl? features Sinead's unmistakable voice accompanied by an orchestra, performing big- band arrangements of tracks such as the single 'Success Has Made A Failure Of Our Home' (a Top 20 hit), 'Don't Cry For Me Argentina', and 'Why Don't You Do Right?'.

TRACK LISTING

Why Don't You Do Right?
Bewitched, Bothered And Bewildered
Secret Love 
Black Coffee
Success Has Made A Failure Of Our Home
Don't Cry For Me Argentina
I Want To Be Loved By You
Gloomy Sunday
Love Letters 
How Insensitive
Scarlet Ribbons
Don't Cry For Me Argentina (Instrumental)

Sinead was born in Dublin in 1966, and was discovered by Paul Byrne, drummer of U2 proteges In Tua Nua, while singing wedding covers in the city. After cowriting the first In Tua Nua single, she left school to focus on music, studying voice and piano at the Dublin College of Music before relocating to London in 1985.

Released in November 1987, Sinead's striking debut album The Lion and the Cobra was met with critical and commercial success. The album synthesises several of Sinead's influences into a diverse array of sounds and styles, from the hushed, atmospheric 'Troy' and 'Jackie' to the pop-rock hit single 'Mandinka', and the hip-hop inspired 'I Want Your (Hands on Me)'. The album also includes 'Drink Before The War', a song written by Sinead about her experiences at the Catholic reform school she attended, and was recently featured in the HBO series Euphoria.

The album remains a high point.

TRACK LISTING

Jackie
Mandinka
Jerusalem
Just Like U Said It Would B
Never Get Old
Troy
I Want Your (Hands On Me)
Drink Before The War
Just Call Me Joe

Sinead was born in Dublin in 1966, and was discovered by Paul Byrne, drummer of U2 proteges In Tua Nua, while singing wedding covers in the city. After cowriting the first In Tua Nua single, she left school to focus on music, studying voice and piano at the Dublin College of Music before relocating to London in 1985.

Released in September 1994, Universal Mother was described by Sinead as "the first attempt to try to expose what was really underneath a lot of the anger of the other records". The album features sparse, striking but delicate arrangements on intense and honest songs. Standout moments include the singles 'Thank You For Hearing Me' and 'Fire On Babylon', along with contributions from Germaine Greer (opening track 'Germaine'), and Sinead's son Jake Reynolds ('Am I A Human?'), plus a cover of Nirvana's 'All Apologies'.

TRACK LISTING

Germaine
Fire On Babylon
John I Love You
My Darling Child
Am I A Human?
Red Football
All Apologies
A Perfect Indian
Scorn Not His Simplicity
All Babies
In This Heart
Tiny Grief Song
"Famine"
Thank You For Hearing Me

With the help of producer Billy Pavone (The Fall, Asobi Seksu, White Rabbits), the latest O’Death opus, Outside, is their subtlest work by far, but also the most impressive of the band's career. This is a record that lives up to its name with spacious and cinematic arrangements, layers of subtle percussion, and at times an impenetrable wall of found sound.

O'Death recorded the album over a two-month period, easily the longest they've ever spent on a production. The extended recording time allowed the band to write in studio, as well as cultivate the organic noise for the record in an intimate setting. As Pavone observed, "Creating the album in the recording, and not in the mix, was a leap of faith for me. It was challenging to let go and allow the album to breathe a bit, and be its own creation– unique and very different from some of the sounds we hear so often in the world of digital manipulation.

The result is a record that is both the most subtle and massive accomplishment of the band's career, a darkly triumphant and free-flowing album that represents exactly where the songwriters have found themselves in this moment. As Pycior notes, "I love the dynamic disparity in the album: the fragile parts of ‘Bugs,’ ‘Ourselves,’ and ‘Don't Come Back...,’ the huge endings in ‘Alamar,’ ‘Look at the Sun,’ and ‘Pushing Out.’ I know we have the right sequence this time around… and I love ending on a different and demented tone with ‘The Lake Departed.’”

TRACK LISTING

1. Bugs
2. Ghost Head
3. Alamar
4. Black Dress
5 . Ourselves
6. Look At The Sun
7. Howling Through
8. Don’t Come Back
9. Pushing Out
10. Back Of The Garden
11. The Lake Departed

Tara Jane O’Neil describes her latest and eighth solo album “Self Titled” as a “singer songwriter” endeavor. At the invitation and design of Mark Greenberg (The Coctails), she recorded, mostly live, half of the record at Wilco’s Loft Studio in Chicago with a band that included James Elkington, Gerald Dowd, Nick Macri, and Greenberg himself. The other half was made in O’Neil’s home studio in California with Devin Hoff, Wilder Zoby, Walt McClements and string supervisor Jim James.

The album also features the voices of Chris Cohen, Carolyn Pennypacker-Riggs and Joan Shelley. O’Neil herself plays guitar, bass and percussion. A founding member of Rodan, The Sonora Pine, amongst other ensembles, O’Neil has also collaborated on recordings and stages with Papa M, Michael Hurley, Little Wings, Marisa Anderson, Catherine Irwin, Mirah, Mount Eerie, and many, many others. She’s performed at clubs, galleries, and DIY spaces around the world and venues such as the Centre de Pompdou, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and All Tomorrow’s Parties, while also starring in the cult classic film Half-Cocked. Her visual art work has been shown in cities including London, Tokyo and Portland and has been published in three monographs.

TRACK LISTING

1. Flutter
2. Blow
3. Sand
4. Joshua
5. Kelley
6. Laugh
7. Cali
8. Purple
9. Pink
10. Great
11. Metta

Damian O'Neill is the lead guitarist of the Undertones. Damian wrote several singles and many album tracks during the career of The Undertones, often writing with bassist Michael Bradley. Together, they wrote "My Perfect Cousin" which turned out to be The Undertones highest chart entry (top ten).

Damian has recently taken the opportunity to record a selection of material for solo release, under the name Damian O'Neill and The Monotones, in long player and compact disc format. Co produced, engineered and mixed by Damian, Andy Ramsay (ex Stereolab) and Paul Tipler with musical contributions from Sean O'Hagan (The High Llamas) amongst others.

There's some old, new, borrowed and blue on this record. You'll hear new songs and instrumental tracks that are guaranteed to thrill and melt your heart plus Damian's delved into his musical past and revamped selected self penned Undertones/That Petrol Emotion songs too.

Following 5 BBC Folk Awards nominations and a designation by the Guardian as Folk Album of the Year in 2019, it is fair to say that Lisa O’Neill is one of the most evocative songwriters in contemporary Irish music today. Fresh off 2018’s collection Heard a Long Song Gone for the River Lea imprint, The Wren EP in 2019 and an adaptation of Bob Dylan’s "All the Tired Horses" for the final scene of epic TV drama Peaky Blinders, O’Neill now returns with her latest album, and first for the Rough Trade label, the beautiful, resonant All Of This Is Chance.

A raconteur in the truest sense of the word, every story starts somewhere and O’Neill starts this extraordinary collection here on earth, on Irish soil, hands in the land. The album is full of both orchestral masterpieces like the ambitious and cinematic "Old Note", /the title track All Of This Is Chance, inspired by the great Monaghan writer Patrick Kavanagh's prescient meditation on The Great Hunger as well as stirring meditations on nature, birds, berries, bees, and blood that ring out over a clacking banjo, dusting and devastating all those in its wake.

All Of This Is Chance takes Lisa’s inimitable voice to greater heights, or depths, depending on which way you look at it.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: While 'All Of This..' is undeniably reasonably traditional folk, it swims with emotion wrought through O'Neill's evocative rhythmic vocals and a deft instrumental talent, with both guitar and strings perfectly accentuating the affecting and dynamic vocal delivery. There are echoes of folk standards here but it's no more than a dedication, with the originality of the pieces shining on their own merits.

TRACK LISTING

1. All Of This Is Chance
2. Silver Seed
3. Old Note
4. Birdy From Another Realm
5. The Globe
6. If I Was A Painter
7. Whisht, The Wild Workings Of The Mind
8. Goodnight World

Debut single on Clown Prince recordings, from this Wigan based singer / songwriter who cites influences as diverse as Johnny Mathis and the Sex Pistols. His songwriting encapsulates his thoughts and feelings on life with a blend of pathos and tongue in cheek humour, in the most English, self-depreciating way.

Tara Jane O'Neil and Dan Littleton have been seminal figures in the indie rock scene for some time now. Tara first surfaced in 1991 as part of the influential, yet short-lived, band Rodan. Tara then assumed duties concurrently in Retsin and Sonora Pine before embarking on a solo career in early 2000. Over the last ten years or so, you can see Tara's transformation from post-punk rocker to intimate singer-songwriter. This album is reflective of her musical progression.

Recorded between the chaos and bustle of a New York cinema on Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn and the windswept loneliness on the south-side of the Isle of Wight in the spring of 2017, I Can't Stand The Sound is the second album from Berlin based English/Irish songwriter Ryan O'Reilly. Produced by David Granshaw and in collaboration with Canadian, Tyler Kyte the album is an exploration in searching for meaning, the meaning in a fatal car accident, the beauty and darkness on the streets of Berlin, comprehending the American landscape at the end of 2016 and trying to filter out the noise of relentless opinions on 24 hour news TV and online.

Littered with snapshots from myriad conversations; A Grandmother's warning that ghosts are never as dangerous as humans, talking to a loved one after a terror attack, a fall from a horse, with a hangover whilst reading in the bath and the faceless people who blithely tell you to 'live your dreams' the characters and conversations restlessly change locations and perspectives.

I Can't Stand The Sound began life on the journey between New York and Tennessee in the aftermath of the American election in 2016, the long conversations, the search for conclusions and reasoning in a void of reason. Written on municipal Frisbee-golf course in East Nashville, a front porch in Hamilton, Ontario and along side the beautiful, dirty Spree in Ryan's adopted hometown of Berlin each place finds it's way into the heart of the album. In May 2017 Ryan, Tyler and Dave travelled back to New York. Joined by members of Toronto's Dwayne Gretzky and Ryan's European touring partners The O'Pears to begin recording of I Can't Stand The Sound in the Cinema/bar where the journey towards the album began six months earlier. 

TRACK LISTING

1. Don’t You Know That
2. Make It Holy
3. Never Be Afraid Of Ghosts
4. I Can’t Stand The Sound
5. People Tell You
6. The Modern World
7. Flesh & Blood
8. Conversation
9. Somethings Really Wrong
10. Till It Ends

"The Visitor" is a seriously all-Jim O'Rourke affair - all the sounds you hear are Jim and Jim alone. This time you can't blame any of those session dudes and their bloodless line readings - the chill you're getting is a one-hundred percent O'Rourke effect. As a matter of fact, it might be more like two hundred percent — some of it is tracked so deep, it took two hundred tracks to hold it all. It doesn't sound like it though - to Jim's credit, the mix sounds very minimal, very straightforward - not like several hundred tracks at all. All the classic O'Rourke-isms are here: percolating banjos, smooth electric leads, organic, kicking drum sounds, the flickering of shakers to the left and right, mellow but ominous woodwinds, sounds that indicate 'vintage', sonic jokes and sonic tear-jerkers, all wrapped in spacious yet subtle left to right placement of everything in the picture. This is one one-track album everyone's gonna have to buy. However, "The Visitor" doesn't overstay its welcome. Get ready for redefinition - Jim O'Rourke is back.

On "Eureka", Jim O'Rourke's musical career sets of in a whole new direction. An album of near perfect, bright pop songs, including a cover of Bacharch and David's "Something Big".

The Colour of Entropy (In Three Stages) is a collaboration between Belgium's Sleeperhold Publications and multi- instrumentalist  /  composer Daniel O’Sullivan (DOS) with imagery by French artist Felicia Atkinson. The title of this release might not unreasonably suggest decay and decomposition. The first few bars of Entropy instantly dispel any such forebodings. You find yourself, instead, transported to some ineffably gorgeous but nevertheless very earthly paradise. Entropy is over fourteen-minutes long, staged in three parts and, as anyone who knows and loves Daniel O’Sullivan will tell you, he is nothing if not mercurial.

Daniel O’Sullivan has achieved international acclaim writing, recording and performing with Grumbling Fur, Ulver, Sunn O))), Guapo, Miracle, Æthenor and the recent reincarnation of This Heat in the form of This Is Not This Heat. As for his solo work, DOS seems to mature with every recording he puts out. The Colour of Entropy (In Three Stages) features one lengthy suite broken down into three parts which meticulously melt into one other. Every section has its own character, taking us on a voyage of majestic beauty and uniquely ornamented melancholy. With an all-star cast of musicians DOS creates a auditive spectacle with an enduring lyrical poise and an elegant palette of sounds.

Felicia Atkinson’s colourful drawings adorn Entropy’s sleeve and one side of the wax. (All three tracks are featured on the record's A-side.) The experimental French musician, poet, and visual artist reacted in beautiful contrast to the musical output of DOS. Scrawls of colour, not quite figurative but highly suggestive messages of inner space. DOS’ music and Atkinson’s artworks, share a common ground. Views of the natural world through a lens that invokes almost alien qualities. Raising their little families while investigating a series of landscapes, both internal and external.

TRACK LISTING

1. Blue Music: Angelic Architecture (5:29)
2. Yellow Music: Chemical Wedding (2:57)
3. Red Music: Fire In The Breath (5:39)

Third in a trilogy of albums of library music miniatures from composer and multi-instrumentalist Daniel O’Sullivan (Æthenor, Ulver, This Is Not This Heat, etc) following 2020’s Electric Māyā and 2021’s Fourth Density. For heads, the term “library music” in 2021 might evoke dodgy Italian gray market LPs and crate-diggers hunting for “funky breaks”—but London’s venerable KPM Music is working with groundbreakers like O’Sullivan to open up new avenues for composers to experiment. The fifteen tracks on The Physic Garden are fully-formed and orchestrated compositions, which would be highlights on anyone’s release, never mind as incidental music. Of the music, O’Sullivan says: “The Physic Garden is an album of diverse instrumentals inspired by a swathe of verdant vistas from manicured gardens and follies to urban common land, overgrown and forgotten. Convalescent memories in the shape of psychedelic auditory botanics.” Key tracks include the droning acoustic folk of the title song; the Canterbury-esque rolling horn and woodwind melody of “Return The Heart” (with expert drum kit from Frank Byng); the prog-ish odd meter interlude “Buttercup Tea”; The quiet ambience and delicate melody of “Dusty Feather:”; and the Eno-like drift of “Vapourer Larvae.”

TRACK LISTING

1. The Physic Garden
2. Greenfingers
3. Return The Heart
4. Ivy In The Holly
5. Buttercup Tea
6. Wishes On The Wind
7. Crawl Under Here
8. Dusty Feather
9. The Vine Column
10. Paul
11. Perennials
12. On Lawn Drake
13. Vapourer Larvae
14. Axial Flame
15. The Scented Ape

O’Flynn and Frazer Ray - two much-celebrated UK producers and DJs - release their collaborative album, "Shimmer", on Ninja Tune imprint, Technicolour. The album arrives as a result of the duo’s love for the UK dance music scene, from garage to breaks, trance and hardcore. Frazer and O’Flynn’s vast knowledge and respect for underground cultures and genres shine through as a direct influence.

Smothered in a very crisp, very glossy, very now patina; high fidelity throughout and stylishly showing off what modern soundsystems are capable of. It's one of those albums that'll play right through on long, nocturnal night drives or soundtrack your afters whilst still in the spirit of the night before. Half the tracks can also be cherry picked by DJs to smash apart dancefloors as we transition into 2023. A highly functionally, dare-I-say accessible album which still pushes boundaries in terms of production and arrangements.

For fans of Overmono, Soundbwoy Killah, Ross From Friends,HAAi.. Two Shell etc. 

TRACK LISTING

Luna Bay
Call For Noise
Love Fading
Troopa
Holsten
Kolfax
Satyr
Rosetta Feat. Byulah And Ekhe
Tando
Katara
Light It Out
You Need Me

The long-awaited second solo album from The Undertones guitarist Damian O'Neill is an exquisitely inventive collection of largely instrumental tracks, mixed by veteran producer Paul Tipler (Stereolab, Placebo, Julian Cope, House Of Love). The title "An Crann" is Irish for "The Tree", a symbol of growth and inspiration.

O>L>A “One Little Atlas” are a Electronic/Ambient two piece based in Manchester.

They self produced & released their debut album which was recorded in England & West Coast of Scotland between 2012-2013 on their own Desty Records. 

Over 2014 they have collaborated with a number of musicians, artists and writers on various projects. In May they worked with Video Jam for Sounds From The Other City festival in Salford on a soundtrack to the opening 15 minutes of documentary Baraka which was performed live.

In October O>L>A then collaborated with artists Alison Erika Forde & writer David Gaffney for the exhibition Men Who Like Women Who Smell of their jobs at John Rylands Library, Manchester. They had responded to the text and paintings by writing three original pieces of music and performed them live within the library's historic front entrance.

On November 1st they performed in Manchester Cathedral opening for Columns Festival performing alongside Future Islands, East India Youth & Zola Jesus.

They are currently touring, working on their second album release.

TRACK LISTING

Sails
Fold Time
Summer
Luminy
Elska
Reverie
Coastline

Reissue of Paul Oakenfold's classic "Southern Sun" from 2002, now
remastered for 2023 - this remix package features the full 9 min 44 sec trance journey by Tiësto & the equally dazzling Gabriel & Dresden remix, both of which have seen their stocks rise inline with the recent upinterest in trance; meaning 2nd copies fetch quite the pretty penny. 

Originally released as a double A side with "Ready Steady Go", it peaked at No. 16 in the UK chart. It was taken from 1M worldwide selling album "Bunkka" which was released the following month (and is also reissued alongside this single). Featuring vocals by Carla Werner, the original version and various remixes have been included on over 70 compilation albums. 

Tiësto's remix is an absolute beast of a track. Pulsating and rippling with various arps and leads, it epitomizes the long form trance epic - with a detailed and adventurous arrangement which constantly reveals more tantalizing hooks and endorphin-rushing greatness, the soaring vocal only surfacing towards the second half of the track. 

Gabriel & Dresden's remix contrasts jagged, hard-edge bass notes with an eerie mood and squishy background breaks. The vocal emerges early, guiding the track alongside an almost live bassline. If anything is accentuates the pop-like sensibilities of the track; with the focus on that vocal part; but the production surrounding it is nothing short of breaktaking, even some 20 years later. 

TRACK LISTING

1. Southern Sun (Tiësto Remix)
2. Southern Sun (Gabriel & Dresden Unplugged Remix)

The first time vinyl pressing of Paul Oakenfold's 1 million selling classic debut "Bunkka". The original vinyl release from 2002 featured remixes, whereas this version contains the original album mixes. It has been remastered + pressed on 180g heavyweight double vinyl. The inner sleeves packaging includes extra iconic 'robogirls' imagery designed by Michael Nash Associates + photographer Matthew Donaldson that was originally used on the single packshots from the album campaign.

A galaxy of music stars, including Nelly Furtado, Perry Farrell, Ice Cube, and Tricky as featured artists. It also contains his 3 biggest selling tracks: "Starry Eyed Surprise" with Shifty Shellshock from Crazy Town, "Ready Steady Go," with vocals by So Solid Crew's Asher D. + "Southern Sun" with Carla Werner. Furtado and Tricky guest on album closer "The Harder They Come," while Farrell sings on "Time of Your Life." Ice Cube chimes in on "Get Em Up," followed by former Grant Lee Buffalo frontman Grant Lee Philips on "Motion". Author Hunter S. Thompson, and vocalists Emiliana Torrini and Tiff Lacey also make appearances on 'Bunkka'.

21 years old & till sounding fresh, it's now become a timeless classic.

TRACK LISTING

1. Ready Steady Go (feat. Asher D)
2. Southern Sun (feat. Carla Werner)
3. Time Of Your Life (feat. Perry Farrell)
4. Hypnotized (feat. Tiff Lacey)
5. Nixon's Spirit (feat. Hunter S Thompson)
6. Zoo Zoo York (feat. Clint Mansell & Kronos Quartet)
7. Hold Your Hand (feat. Emiliana Torrini)
8. Starry Eyed Surprise (feat. Shifty Shellshock)
9. Get Em Up (feat. Ice Cube)
10. Motion (feat. Grant-Lee Philips)
11. The Harder They Come (feat. Nelly Furtado + Tricky)

‘(What’s The Story) Morning Glory?’ is Oasis’s biggest-selling album, with 22 million copies sold worldwide. On release in October 1995 it spent 10 weeks at No.1 and is the 5th biggest-selling album in UK Chart history. In their 14-year recording career (1994 - 2008) Oasis sold over 70 million albums worldwide, had 22 consecutive UK Top 10 singles, 7 No.1 studio albums but, more than that, they helped define a generation.

It was during the ‘Morning Glory?’ era when Oasis played their some of their most iconic gigs, including two nights at Maine Road Stadium, the then home of Manchester City Football Club, in April 1996 and Knebworth House, where the band played to 250,000 fans over two nights in August 1996. Over 2.6 million people applied for tickets for the shows, making it the largest ever demand for concert tickets in British history.

TRACK LISTING

1. Hello
2. Roll With It
3. Wonderwall
4. Don't Look Back In Anger
5. Hey Now!
6. [Untitled]
7. Some Might Say
8. Cast No Shadow
9. She's Electric
10. Morning Glory
11. [Untitled]
12. Champagne Supernova

‘Be Here Now’ is the third release in the Oasis series ‘Chasing The Sun: 1993-1997’, released on Big Brother Recordings on the 20th anniversary of the first day of the ‘Be Here Now’ recording sessions at Abbey Road Studios.

Arguably the most anticipated British album release of all time, ‘Be Here Now’ was recorded with producer Owen Morris at Abbey Road Studios, Ridge Farm Studios, and Air Studios between October 1996 and May 1997. Originally mastered by Mike Marsh at The Exchange; the album was then remastered in 2016 by Ian Cooper at Metropolis Studios.  

Originally released at midnight on Thursday August 21st 1997, ‘Be Here Now’ sold 700,000 copies in just 3 days and remains, to this day, the fastest selling UK album on release. To date it has sold over 8 million copies worldwide. Oasis released three singles from the album, two of which - ‘D’You Know What I Mean?’ and ‘All Around The World’ – charted at No.1, with ‘Stand By Me’ reaching No.2.

TRACK LISTING

DISC 1
SIDE A
1. D'You Know What I Mean?
2. My Big Mouth 
3. Magic Pie
SIDE B
1. Stand By Me
2. I Hope, I Think, I Know 
3. The Girl In The Dirty Shirt
DISC 2
SIDE C
1. Fade In-Out 
2. Don't Go Away
3. Be Here Now
SIDE D
1. All Around The World 
2. It's Gettin' Better (Man!!) 
3. All Around The World (Reprise)

‘Be Here Now’ is the third release in the Oasis series ‘Chasing The Sun: 1993-1997’, released on Big Brother Recordings on the 20th anniversary of the first day of the ‘Be Here Now’ recording sessions at Abbey Road Studios.

Arguably the most anticipated British album release of all time, ‘Be Here Now’ was recorded with producer Owen Morris at Abbey Road Studios, Ridge Farm Studios, and Air Studios between October 1996 and May 1997.

Originally released at midnight on Thursday August 21st 1997, ‘Be Here Now’ sold 700,000 copies in just 3 days and remains, to this day, the fastest selling UK album on release. To date it has sold over 8 million copies worldwide. Oasis released three singles from the album, two of which - ‘D’You Know What I Mean?’ and ‘All Around The World’ – charted at No.1, with ‘Stand By Me’ reaching No.2.

The album has now been re-mastered from the original tapes.

TRACK LISTING

1 D'You Know What I Mean? 
2 My Big Mouth
3 Magic Pie 
4 Stand By Me 
5 I Hope, I Think, I Know 
6 The Girl In The Dirty Shirt 
7 Fade In-Out 
8 Don't Go Away 
9 Be Here Now 
10 All Around The World 
11 It's Gettin' Better (Man!!) 
12 All Around The World (Reprise) 

In their 14-year recording career Oasis sold over 70 million albums worldwide, had 22 consecutive UK Top 10 singles, 7 No.1 studio albums but, more than that, they helped define a generation. Now Big Brother Recordings are to reissue the band’s classic albums in chronological order as part of the new ‘Chasing The Sun’ series. Each album has been remastered and will be made available with rare and exclusive bonus content.

With 2014 marking the 20th anniversary of its original release, ‘Definitely Maybe’ will be the first reissue in the series. ‘(What’s The Story?) Morning Glory’ and ‘Be Here Now’ will follow later this year.

‘Definitely Maybe’ was originally released in August 1994 and was an immediate critical and commercial smash. The fastest selling debut album ever (at the time), it went seven-times platinum in the UK (over 2 million copies), and sold 5 million worldwide. Containing the classic debut single ‘Supersonic’ - released April 1994 - and subsequent singles ‘Shakermaker’, ‘Live Forever’ and ‘Cigarettes & Alcohol’, ‘Definitely Maybe’ frequently appears on Best Album Of All Time polls, including a No.1 placing in a 2008 Q Magazine poll of the Greatest British Albums.

STAFF COMMENTS

Andy says: Come onnn, come onnnn, come onnnn, YEAH, YEAH, YEAAAHHHHH!

TRACK LISTING

Rock ‘n’ Roll Star (Remastered)
Shakermaker (Remastered)
Live Forever (Remastered)
Up In The Sky (Remastered)
Columbia (Remastered)
Sad Song (Remastered) ***
Supersonic (Remastered)
Bring It On Down (Remastered)
Cigarettes & Alcohol (Remastered)
Digsy’s Dinner (Remastered)
Slide Away (Remastered)
Married With Children (Remastered)

*** Vinyl Only Track.

"Dig Out Your Soul" sees Dave Sardy return to the producer's chair following his work on Oasis' 2005 album, "Don't Believe The Truth". Recorded at Abbey Road and mixed in Los Angeles, all four members once again contribute tracks but the recording marks a new approach for the band as described by the band's principle songwriter, Noel Gallagher: 'I wanted to write music that had a groove; not songs that followed that traditional pattern of verse, chorus and middle eight. I wanted a sound that was more hypnotic; more driving. Songs that would draw you in, in a different way. Songs that you would maybe have to connect to - to feel.'

Don't Believe The Truth was the sixth Oasis studio album - their first since the number one multi-million selling Heathen Chemistry, released in 2002. It includes the single "Lyla". Noel Gallagher describes the track as "the Soundtrack of our Lives doing The Who on Skol in a psychedelic city in the sky (or something!)"

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: I thought I'd gaffaw at this slew of Oasis represses but having scanned the tracklists and relived the glories through the week, I'm still 100% behind brothers G. 20 years later and we're still buzzin' to one of MCR's greatest ever bands.

Heathen Chemistry, released July 1st 2002 was the fifth studio album from Oasis and includes the anthemic singles The Hindu Times, Stop Crying Your Heart Out, Little By Little, and the beautifully written Songbird.

Newly remastered with new sleeve notes and pressed onto heavyweight vinyl, don't miss out on one of Manchester's proudest exports.

This year marks 25 years since Oasis’ two iconic record breaking live concerts at Knebworth Park in Hertfordshire on the 10th and 11th August 1996. The shows were both the pinnacle of the band’s success and a landmark gathering for a generation of young people.

Released alongside the cinema debut of the feature length documentary film of the event, ‘Oasis Knebworth 1996’ is the definitive live recording featuring a setlist packed with stone cold classics album taken from across both nights of the concert, from the opening salvoes of ‘Columbia’ and ‘Acquiesce’, to ‘Champagne Supernova’, ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’, ‘Live Forever’, an orchestra backed ‘I Am The Walrus’, and ‘Wonderwall’ the first song from the 1990’s to reach over one billion streams on Spotify and universally loved anthem.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: As one of the most legendary indie gigs of all time (or series of gigs, rather), Knebworth will go down in history, so this document of the live show is something to be treasured. A wonderfully important and undeniably gigantic piece of musical history.

‘The Masterplan’ is an extraordinary collection of B-sides originally featured on singles from Oasis’ era-defining first three albums, ‘Definitely Maybe’ (1994), ‘(What’s The Story) Morning Glory?’ (1995), and ‘Be Here Now’ (1997). Far from being inferior to the singles they backed, many of the 14 tracks that feature on ‘The Masterplan’ have become as cherished as the band’s biggest singles from that seminal period.

The album includes tracks ‘Acquiesce’, ‘Half The World Away’, ‘Talk Tonight’, Oasis’ iconic live cover of The Beatles’ ‘I Am The Walrus’ and the epic title track. Noel has often described ‘The Masterplan’ as one of the best songs he has ever written.

‘The Masterplan’ charted at No.2 in the UK Official Album Chart UK selling over 122,000 copies in its first week. It went on to be certified triple platinum and has sold over three million copies worldwide.

TRACK LISTING

1. Acquiesce (Remastered)
2. Underneath The Sky (Remastered)
3. Talk Tonight (Remastered)
4. Going Nowhere (Remastered)
5. Fade Away (Remastered)
6. The Swamp Song (Remastered)
7. I Am The Walrus – Live Glasgow Cathouse June ‘94 (Remastered)
8. Listen Up (Remastered)
9. Rockin' Chair (Remastered)
10. Half The World Away (Remastered)
11. (It's Good) To Be Free (Remastered)
12. Stay Young (Remastered)
13. Headshrinker (Remastered)
14. The Masterplan (Remastered) 

'We are the biggest band in Britain of all time, ever. The funny thing is, all that fucking mouthing off three years ago about how we were going to be the biggest band in the world - we actually went and did it.' Noel Gallagher

Oasis are one of the biggest bands the word has ever seen. Here, in Supersonic, they tell the story of the their beginnings from dive-bar hopefuls to global superstars.They themselves talk us through the pivotal moments in their phenomenal trajectory, from the day Noel Gallagher joined his brother Liam's band, through their first crucial five years culminating at their landmark gigs at Knebworth Park in 1996 - the pinnacle of their success.

With over thirty hours of interviews with Liam, Noel and those closest to them, this book documents in unprecedented depth and with their trademark candour and humour, the story behind one of the world's greatest bands, all told in their own words and fully illustrated with exclusive photographs and ephemera throughout.

Standing on the Shoulder of Giants was the fourth studio album by the Britpop band, originally released in 2000. It is the 16th fastest selling album in UK chart history, selling over 310,000 copies in it's first week. Standing on the Shoulder of Giants has been certified double platinum by the British Phonographic Industry and has sold around 208,000 copies in the US.

The album is an effective modern psychedelic record complete with drum loops, samples, electric sitar, mellotron, synthesizers and backward guitars, resulting in an album more experimental with electronica and heavy psychedelic rock influences. Songs such as "Go Let It Out", the Indian-influenced "Who Feels Love?", and the progressive "Gas Panic!" were a departure from the band's earlier style.

"The Masterplan" is a selection of Oasis B-Sides that never made it to an official studio album. Initially only intended for release in Japan and US, it was given a full UK releas on November 2nd 1998 and reached #4 in the Official UK top 40 album chart and #2 globally, showing the global popularity of the band at the very height of the Britpop era. It contains the massive, "Fade Away", the Royle Family-endorrsed "Half The World Away"  and the epic Beatles cover, "I Am The Walrus", amongst many other hits-not-hits from one of the UK's most monumental bands.

STAFF COMMENTS

Andy says: It says so much about Oasis's imperial early phase that this compilation of b-sides would actually weigh in as their third best album, after, of course, the double whammy of their first two. Everything they released in those first few years was absolutely brilliant, and here's the proof!

TRACK LISTING

A1 Acquiesce 
A2 Underneath The Sky 
A3 Talk Tonight 
A4 Going Nowhere 
B1 Fade Away 
B2 The Swamp Song 
B3 I Am The Walrus (Live)
C1 Listen Up 
C2 Rockin' Chair
C3 Half The World Away 
D1 (It's Good) To Be Free 
D2 Stay Young 
D3 Headshrinker 
D4 The Masterplan

‘Aventine’ is the second album release from Berlin-based Danish phenomenon Agnes Obel, the follow up to her critically acclaimed debut ‘Philharmonics’ of 2010 which has sold close to 500,000 worldwide since release.

Originally from Copenhagen, Agnes has lived in Berlin since 2006, where ‘Aventine’ was recorded at her Chalk Wood Studios between January and May 2013.

Like ‘Philharmonics’, the new album was written, arranged, and produced by Agnes, who provides piano and vocals. The album features a small ensemble including cellist Anne Müller, who has also played with Nils Frahm, along with Mika Posen of Timber Timbre playing the violin and viola on ‘The Curse’, ‘Pass Them By’ and ‘Fivefold’. Robert Kondorossi of Budzillus plays guitar on ‘Pass Them By’.

Building on the sonic template of her debut, ‘Aventine’ is a deeper and darker (though none the less elegantly sublime) affair, with songs of genuine heart stopping beauty in the likes of first single ‘The Curse’, ‘Dorian’ and ‘Fuel To Fire’.

Agnes is a Danish singer, songwriter and musician. She began playing the piano when she was a child and in her late teens she founded the Copenhagen based band, Sohio, together with the Danish musician and producer Elton Theander. The two worked together for several years but nowadays she writes, plays, sings, records and produces her material on her own.

Feeling musically related to Roy Orbison, Agnes currently lives in Berlin and possesses the rare gift of a songbird’s voice, bringing to mind Ane Brun, Joanna Newsom or even Ricki Lee Jones.

STAFF COMMENTS

Darryl says: Beautiful and delicate piano led folk from this Danish starlet. The arrangements are kept simple and minimal allowing her amazing vox to take centre stage.

TRACK LISTING

1. Falling Catching
2. Riverside
3. Brother Sparrow
4. Just So
5. Beast
6. Louretta
7. Avenue
8. Philharmonics
9. Close Watch
10. Wallflower
11. Over The Hill
12. On Powdered Ground

Highly anticipated stunning third album from Danish born singersongwriter Agnes Obel, the follow up to her UK breakthrough record ‘Aventine’.

Recorded, mixed and produced by Obel in Berlin, where she currently resides, ‘Citizen Of Glass’ is a work of haunting beauty and an expansion of Obel’s mesmerising world.

The title surfaced in Obel’s mind while touring ‘Aventine’ and, inspired by modern composers, the album conceptually and thematically revolves around the leitmotif of transparency.

On this record Obel experiments with her vocals in inventive new ways, in order to manipulate them into alternative versions of her own voice, as can be heard on first single ‘Familiar’.

Obel also incorporates a number of different instruments, such as the Trautonium (an extremely rare instrument that possesses a glistening, glass-like sound), alongside vibraphone, cembalo, cellos and more.

STAFF COMMENTS

Martin says: Agnes Obel has a voice so exquisite, pure and crystalline it seems as if it might shatter into a thousand beautiful shards at any moment. Up until this release it has been given plenty of room by a simple, beautiful debussy/jazz inspired piano accompaniment; but while 'Citizen Of Glass' does share the same sparse framework, it is lent added texture and depth by the addition of rare and unusual instruments, again applied with sparing delicacy to frame, rather than intrude on Obel's beautiful intonation.

TRACK LISTING

Stretch Your Eyes
Familiar
Red Virgin Soil
It’s Happening Again
Stone
Trojan Horses
Citizen Of Glass
Golden Green
Grasshopper
Mary

Highly anticipated stunning third album from Danish born singersongwriter Agnes Obel, the follow up to her UK breakthrough record ‘Aventine’.

Recorded, mixed and produced by Obel in Berlin, where she currently resides, ‘Citizen Of Glass’ is a work of haunting beauty and an expansion of Obel’s mesmerising world.

The title surfaced in Obel’s mind while touring ‘Aventine’ and, inspired by modern composers, the album conceptually and thematically revolves around the leitmotif of transparency.

On this record Obel experiments with her vocals in inventive new ways, in order to manipulate them into alternative versions of her own voice, as can be heard on first single ‘Familiar’.

Obel also incorporates a number of different instruments, such as the Trautonium (an extremely rare instrument that possesses a glistening, glass-like sound), alongside vibraphone, cembalo, cellos and more.

STAFF COMMENTS

Martin says: Agnes Obel has a voice so exquisite, pure and crystalline it seems as if it might shatter into a thousand beautiful shards at any moment. Up until this release it has been given plenty of room by a simple, beautiful debussy/jazz inspired piano accompaniment; but while 'Citizen Of Glass' does share the same sparse framework, it is lent added texture and depth by the addition of rare and unusual instruments, again applied with sparing delicacy to frame, rather than intrude on Obel's beautiful intonation.

TRACK LISTING

Stretch Your Eyes
Familiar
Red Virgin Soil
It’s Happening Again
Stone
Trojan Horses
Citizen Of Glass
Golden Green
Grasshopper
Mary

'This track is 1st official single track from Agnes’ new album on exclusive 7” vinyl.

TRACK LISTING

Island Of Doom  
Island Of Doom (Instrumental).

LuckyMe show some mad A&R skills with their latest release, securing the up-and-coming Obey City (otherwise known as Sam Obey) to deliver a genre melding EP of leftfield dancefloor sounds and eclectronic brilliance. The 18 months since the Brooklyn producer released his superlative debut EP ‘Champagne Sounds’ have seen him tour Europe, the US and Japan (releasing the ‘Shochu Sounds’ EP as a Japan exclusive which topped their native Electronic chart on its first week) as well as get down to business in the studio in LA and NYC. Merging the production styles of the Neptunes, Jamie XX and the neo soul of FKA Twigs and Frank Ocean, Obey City producers a unique and cutting edge sound as future proofed as it is classic. EP opener, "With Grace We Go" is a euphoric neo soul cut with a sublime "Slave To The Rhythm Sample", while "Waterbed" is as sleazy and seductive slow jam as you'd find in a lifetime of Westwood radioshows. "The Motion Blurs" and "Cloud Lust" are frenetic future beats blasting out of the crossroads between nu garage, neo soul and grime, while "Chante" is a brain melting example of cutting edge rap sounds. It's perhaps EP closer "Airy", which gives us the most obvious example of Sam's skill as a songwriter. A timeless ballad featuring the gorgeous vocals of Kelela, "Airy" sounds like a modern take on a Prince classic, boasting that perfect balance of melodrama and kitchen sink that purple one did so well. 

Obits are a four-piece band who currently live in Brooklyn, NY, and whose music is probably considered an occupant of the rock music genre, specifically in the areas of garage, punk, surf, surf-punk, and garage-punk.

On this new album, ‘Bed & Bugs’, they’ve also covered a song (‘Besetchet’) from Volume 23 of the excellent ‘Ethiopiques’ series. So much for tidy categorization. · This is the third full length album by Obits, following their 2011 album ‘Moody, Standard And Poor’, which itself followed their 2009 album ‘I Blame You’.

‘Bed & Bugs’ was recorded by Nikhil Ranade, Eli Janney and Geoff Sanoff.

The discerning listener may well note more than a passing similarity to such bands as Hot Snakes, Edsel, Drive Like Jehu, Girls Against Boys, Pitchfork, and possibly Television or the Wipers. This is un-coincidental - with the exception of those last two, Obits share members with all of those bands.

TRACK LISTING

Taste The Diff
Spun Out
It’s Sick
This Must Be Done
Pet Trust
Besetchet
Operation Bikini
Malpractice
This Girl’s Opinion
Receptor
I’m Closing In
Machines
Double Jeopardy (For The Third Time)

It's All True is an opera-in-suspension from New York ensemble Object Collection based on the complete live archives of iconic underground band Fugazi.

Grounded upon the Live Archive series of the Washington DC outfit, composer Travis Just and writer/director Kara Feely's work uses only the incidental music, text and sounds, none of Fugazi's actual songs. An obsessive leap into 1500 hours of gig detritus spanning shows from 1987 to 2002, and encompassing random feedback, aimless drum noodling, pre-show activist speeches, audience hecklers, and the police breaking up gigs. All of this material is the foundation of an ear-body-and-mind-flossing 100 minutes for 4 voices/performers, 4 electric guitars/basses and 2 percussionists.

It's All True is overloaded, maddening, mundane, properly funny, and a radical incitement to action. Half of this delectably bruising megalith is collected here for the first time and on the accompanying Prisons For Profit EP [SLP041], which together form Object Collection's debut outings on Slip. The label itself came to a lot of people’s attention last year with the release of Mica Levi and Oliver Coates stunning Remain Calm collaboration, a track from which was recently picked by the New York Times in it’s article 25 Songs That Tell Us Where Music Is Going.

It’s All True was commissioned by and premiered at 2016’s Borealis Festival in Bergen, Norway. The album is available on 12” vinyl and CD with artwork featuring Henrik Beck's beautiful photography of the original stage production. Vinyl comes with a foldout doublesided A2 newspaper print featuring both performance text and liner notes, replicated in the CD edition as a 20 page booklet. Mastered and cut by by Josh Bonati.

TRACK LISTING

01. Introduction
02. So Much Fun
03. Victory Parade
04. Loss Of Momentum
05. It’s Time To Expand The Definition
06. Children Dressed As Fish
07. What’s The Problem
08. Somebody In The Government
09. Ice Cream Eating Motherfucker
10. One Thousand Sorties
11. Da Da Da Da
12. Change

Prisons For Profit is the neighbour release of the full-length It's All True [SLP040], a bite-sized preview of New York ensemble Object Collection's opera-in-suspension based on the live archives of iconic underground band Fugazi. Grounded upon the Live Archive series of the Washington DC outfit, composer Travis Just and writer/director Kara Feely's work uses only the incidental music, text and sounds, none of Fugazi's actual songs, to build a disorienting wall of voices, instruments and raw polemic.

Collected here are two tracks exclusive to this EP: “Prisons For Profit” and “Male Lame-Asses”, alongside the LP cut "What's The Problem".

Limited edition cherry red 7” vinyl with artwork featuring Henrik Beck's beautiful photography of the original stage production, and a 2-sided printed insert. Mastered and cut by by Josh Bonati.

Object Collection was founded in 2004 by writer/director Kara Feely and composer/musician Travis Just. Based in Brooklyn, the group operates within the intersecting practices of performance, experimental music and theater. They are concerned with simultaneity, complexity, and radicality, combining dense layers of text, notation, objects and processes. They work to give audiences unconventional viewing experiences through our merging of theatricality and pedestrian activity. Their works upset habitual notions of time, pace, progression and virtuosity. They value accumulation above cohesion.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Prisons For Profit
B1. What’s The Problem
B2. Male Lame-Asses

Steven Umoh grew up in Calabar, Nigeria. He was raised by his grandmother; his mother had moved to the UK to escape Umoh's father, who was abusive. Early in his life, he primarily listened to bootleg rap, particularly Eminem, Usher, Nelly, Snoop Dogg and Ciara. Umoh moved to live with his mother in England at the age of 17, but stayed active in the Nigerian music scene. He grew up a devoutly religious Christian, but became less so after he attended university in Norwich. In college he sang primarily in an American accent, influenced by his childhood spent listening to American hip hop music, but he transitioned to singing in his natural Nigerian-British accent before embarking on his professional career. Obongjayar's music has been called "hard to describe", incorporating elements of afrobeat, spoken word, soul, and electronic music. His lyrics incorporate spiritual overtones, although they are not readily identifiable with any specific religious tradition. A unifying feature of all of Obongjayar's music is his very deep voice, which slides between rapping, singing, and spoken word.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: It's really mindblowing work, this. A heady juxtaposition of soulful synth music, minimalist pop and bright, percussive African rhythms all brought together flawlessly and meticulously into a cohesive and unique vision.

TRACK LISTING

SIDE 1
1. Try
2. Message In A Hammer
3. Parasite
4. Some Nights I Dream Of Doors
5. Wrong For It
6. Sugar

SIDE 2
1. My Life Can Change Today (Interlude)
2. New Man
3. All The Difference
4. Tinko Tinko (Don't Play Me For A Fool)
5. I Wish It Was Me
6. Wind Sailor

Metroplex doesn't need an introduction, arguably world's first and longest-running techno label. Driss Bennis is a new face at Juan Atkins' Metroplex Records. Since starting his own label Casa Voyager in 2017, the Moroccan artist has gained a reputation for being as versatile an A&R as a producer. He debuts his OCB project on Metroplex with "The Sequel", an expansive five-tracker, covering a wide range of musical territory from funk-infused breakbeats, fast-paced electro bass, chilled downbeats and classic Detroit techno. The astral pads in the opening track "THX (The Sequel)" give way to lush electro beats, a funky bassline and warm chords before a vocoded voice exclaims 'trans human express'. Despite its slightly menacing title, "Global Warning" has the same ethereal star-gazing vibe, driven by breakbeats and accentuated by dreamy piano chords. On the flip side, the fast-paced electro of "Syntax Error" does its title justice with highly-processed fragments of a robotic voice propelling the track forward. "Translate" is a classic Motor City techno track - Metroplex style. "The Sequel" rounds off with a short, chilled downtempo track, that once again underscores Bennis' musicality. Recommended!

TRACK LISTING

The Sequel
Global Warning
Syntax Error
B2
But In Time

Recorded live at Londons iconic Roundhouse in Dec 2021, when Ocean
Colour scene played all their greatest hits and were joined on stage for two
tracks by the mighty Paul Weller.

TRACK LISTING

LP TRACKLISTING
Disc 1
Side 1
1. The Riverboat Song
2. You've Got It Bad
3. North Atlantic Drift
Side 2
1. Second Hand Car
2. Better Day
3. Lining Your Pockets
4. So Low
Disc 2
Side 1
1. Crazy Lowdown Ways
2. Jane She Got Excavated
3. It's My Shadow
Side 2
1. Profit In Peace
2. One For The Road
3. Get Blown Away
Disc 3
Side 1
1. The Circle
2. Travellers Tune
3. Hundred Mile High City
Side 2
1. Robin Hood/Live Forever
2. It's A Beautiful Thing
3. The Day We Caught The Train

CD TRACKLISTING
Disc 1
1. The Riverboat Song
2. You've Got It Bad
3. North Atlantic Drift
4. Second Hand Car
5. Better Day
6. Lining Your Pockets
7. So Low
8. Crazy Lowdown Ways
9. Jane She Got Excavated
10. It's My Shadow
Disc 2
1. Profit In Peace
2. One For The Road
3. Get Blown Away
4. The Circle
5. Travellers Tune
6. Hundred Mile High City
7. Robin Hood/Live Forever
8. It's A Beautiful Thing
9. The Day We Caught The Train

Following a successful reissue for Record Store Day, on red vinyl, we present the black vinyl edition of this classic album. Originally released in 1996, at the height of ‘Britpop’, the album reached no. 2 in the UK, and amassed 92 weeks on the charts and sold a million copies world-wide!

‘Moseley’ takes its name from an area in Birmingham, ‘Moseley Shoals’ is a tribute to Muscle Shoals, the legendary soul recording studios in Alabama. A low-key start to their career was boosted by two things – the endorsement of two of Britain’s biggest pop stars – Paul Weller and Noel Gallagher, and the exposure given to the first single, The Riverboat Song, by Chris Evans on his hit TV show ‘TFI Friday’.

The album was produced by Weller’s producer at the time – Brendan Lynch, giving it a strong, organic R&B feel (influenced by the Small Faces and Weller’s solo recordings) with a pronounced 60s flourish, mixing in traces of Beatles and Stones, as well as elements of prog-rock and psychedelia, adding an even more eclectic flavour to their sound.

Contains three other top-10 singles – The Day We Caught the Train (no. 4), You’ve Got It Bad (no. 7) and The Circle (no. 6).

TRACK LISTING

Side A

The Riverboat Song
The Day We Caught The Train
The Circle

Side B

Lining Your Pockets
Fleeting Mind
40 Past Midnight

Side C

One For The Road
It's My Shadow
Policemen & Pirates

Side D

The Downstream
You've Got It Bad
Get Away

All beginnings start with a name. And so, in October 1989, Simon Fowler, Steve Cradock, Damon Minchella and Oscar Harrison sat down together, chose their three favourite words, arranged them in a satisfactory order and became Ocean Colour Scene. Thirty five years on , and Ocean Colour Scene are still together: making music and regularly selling out huge concert halls across the country. They have the support of an extraordinarily dedicated and loyal fan base who cherish their music and hold close to their hearts a lifetime of memories supporting the group.

Continuing our celebration of one of Britain’s finest bands Demon Records are proud to present Yesterday Today 1999 to 2003 . This is the next in the ongoing series where we focus on a period from the bands illustrious career and pull together their studio albums in one concise vinyl box.

Within this boxset set you’ll find One From The Modern the bands fourth album that at the time represented something of a slight departure from the previous two. A more reflective, soulful and pastoral sound as well as a more political message, albeit with a late 60s psychedelic slant, reminiscent of The Byrds , Small Faces or later period Beatles. The band’s firth album Mechanical Wonder peaked in the UK chart at #7 and lasted four weeks in the top 75. Tracks such as Up On The Downside , If I Gave You My Hear & Mechanical Wonder represent a continuation of the popular Ocean Colour Scene sound. Plus this is the first time this album has been reissued on vinyl since it was first released in 2001. Finishing off the set is North Atlantic Drift , which is also appearing on vinyl for the first time since it’s initial release. An exceptionally good album that ranks alongside the band's best, featuring tracks I Just Need Myself , Golden Gate Bridge and Second Hand Car .

Put together in full coordination with the band, all of these albums have been remastered by Phil Kinrade at Alchemy Mastering

TRACK LISTING

LP1: One From The Modern (1999)
A1. Profit In Peace
A2. So Low
A3. I Am The News
A4. No One At All
A5. Families
A6. Step By Step
B1. July
B2. Jane She Got Excavated
B3. Emily Chambers
B4. Soul Driver
B5. The Waves
B6. I Won’t Get Grazed

LP2: Mechanical Wonder (2001)
A1. Up On The Downside
A2. In My Field
A3. Sail On My Boat
A4. Biggest Thing
A5. We Made It More
B1. Give Me A Letter
B2. Mechanical Wonder
B3. You Are Amazing
B4. If I Gave You My Heart
B5. Can’t Get Back To The Baseline
B6. Something For Me

LP 3: North Atlantic Drift (2003)
A1. I Just Need Myself
A2. Oh Collector
A3. North Atlantic Drift
A4. Golden Gate Bridge
A5. Make The Deal
A6. For Every Corner
B1. On My Way
B2. Second Hand Car
B3. She’s Been Writing
B4. The Song Goes On
B5. When Evil Comes

Oceans Apart are a five-piece indie-rock group made up of ambitious, like-minded individuals with a shared passion for music. Formed in February 2004, the band met at University in Manchester and in the last two years have brought their individual eclectic blend of styles to a number of different Manchester venues.

“A dusty plain, a red sky, sand in your teeth - ‘I don’t feel so great’ - a post-apocalyptic hooptie jeep-jammer. ‘Why is everything in ruins? There must be others like us out here somewhere…’

“This fine sizzling grease pit of cyber punk comes to us from psychic veteran Rick Pelletier (of Six Finger Satellite, Landed, La Machine), always bringing an interesting, bent and lurid account of visions to wax for the hungry ear bone. This time around the equipment scavenged is guitar, drums, synth and vocals. The beat goes full lotus climbing out of the goo, like men with sap gloves slapping the hulls of the remaining clubs, keeping the peace during live actions, gorgeous nauseating synthesized harmonies blowing through the ceiling vents, frickle-fried guitar belly slish and vocals delivered over the P.A. at Barter Town (sometimes from the workers in the pit, in unison).

“Picture a bucket of molten metal with gobs of scalp sizzling and sinking away-dance music for the infected. Be sure to double up on your dose before driving around on this one so you can wipe the chum smear off your wind screen.” - John Dwyer.

TRACK LISTING

1. Hope Will Pass
2. Baby Chiffon
3. Sully
4. I'm On A Roll
5. Borderline
6. Bill Fill
7. Shazzamatazz
8. Blowin My Mind