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

Pakistani-American avant-composer and drummer of the cult experimental acoustic trio Dawn of Midi, Qasim Naqvi releases his new record titled Beta on a limited edition clear vinyl for the first Love Record Stores Day on June 20.

Meant as a sister release to last year’s acclaimed six-part modular synth suite Teenages, Beta is a series of experiments chronicling Naqvi’s understanding of writing for this type of instrument and the growth of the instrument itself.

“Beta is a prequel to the story of Teenages. At the time I had the most basic elements of a modular synthesizer- one oscillator and a random voltage generator which is a module that releases sporadic currents through the system. Ironically, this component provided a lot of warmth and humanness to the music, a kind of fallibility. I fed simple melodic ideas and rhythmic patterns into this bare bones setup and observed the responses, while occasionally guiding the music in other directions. It was like a diagnostic test. At the time I felt that this music was underdeveloped but listening back, I think the Beta tracks add an interesting dimension to the entire Teenages arc.They’re the zygotes.” — Qasim Naqvi

The B side of Beta is a live performance of the track 'Teenages', which was recorded at the first Erased Tapes x LCO: Purcell Session at the Southbank Centre, in London last February. “I had performed this work just a couple of times and this particular one was special. There were microphones up everywhere and you could hear the room bleeding into the sound of the synthesiser” says Qasim of the performance.

If Teenages captured the sound of electronics living, breathing and mutating of their own accord, Beta rather describes the moment they came to life.

Love Record Stores Day is an initiative from the #loverecordstores campaign, launched during lockdown to encourage music fans to shop online with their favourite record stores. Qasim Naqvi joins a wide range of artists and labels who have pledged to release exclusive, limited edition records including Caribou, Belle and Sebastian, Beach House, Robyn, New Order and many more.

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

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

July 17 will see the much-treasured analog synthesizer suite Chronology by Pakistani-American composer and drummer of the cult trio Dawn of Midi, Qasim Naqvi, finally receiving a worldwide vinyl release on Record Store Day 2021. Originally conceived only digitally in 2016, Chronology was Qasimís first release of electronic music. Having been in the world of improvised and classical music up to this point, it seemed only fitting for Naqviís inaugural electronic music album to be made exclusively on a malfunctioning synthesizer ó an old Moog Model D. Leaving the abundant options of a computer behind. Transparent vinyl

Pakistani-American composer Qasim Naqvi will release his debut album for Erased Tapes on May 3rd. 'Teenages’ captures the sound of electronics living, breathing and mutating of their own accord – almost autonomously – with only subtle, sparing but perfectly-judged and masterful guidance.

This album is one singular synergy between Qasim and his machine within a broader milieu of sound, also explored by contemporaries Sarah Davachi, Alessandro Cortini, Caterina Barbieri and also the forefather, Morton Subotnick. At points tonal, textural and rhythmic, over six evolving and growing audio organisms, the album flourishes upwards in stages, from initial micro-sonics to something bigger, brighter and anthemic.

This is Naqvi’s first non-soundtrack release, having previously established himself as a renowned composer for dance, theatre, film and installation-based art, not to mention his role as drummer in lauded trio Dawn of Midi. According to Naqvi, “my past releases like ‘Chronology’, ‘Preamble’, ‘Fjoloy’ and ‘Film’ were made to accompany visual mediums. The music was always written to enhance another form. ‘Teenages’ is the first album with its own motivating force. It’s a live multi movement work that I recorded for myself.”

With ‘Teenages’, Naqvi summoned all the material on an analog modular synthesizer – a voltage-controlled sound generating system comprised of multiple modules. Naqvi built this synth over the course of two years and amassed a collection of works for this album.

“I’ve always been drawn to the power of un-amplified acoustic music. And for me modular synthesizers are a natural progression forward from the acoustic realm into the electric. It feels like an orchestra comprised of very unusual instruments, and their orchestration and vibrational properties lie in the patching and flow of voltages through a system.

They’re also unstable and they rarely play the same thing twice in any exact way. It’s almost organic and human. It was really important for this album to capture that kind of uninterrupted behavior.”

Capturing a live feeling without the aid of heavy studio production was an important component to this release: “Even though this is ‘electronic music,’ I didn’t want to rely heavily on a computer with an array of plugins, loops and samples, or exhaustive editing as part of the writing process. I wanted to treat this work like a live piece of music and have the natural behavior of the machine shine through and sound huge, like an orchestra of electrical signals.”

Gently stuttering like a time lapse-video of a seed sprouting up from the earth, ‘Intermission’ sets the scene, before musical motifs begin to emerge on the dancing, bubbling bassline of ‘Mrs 2E’, which possesses a playful, infantile quality, like a newborn animal learning to walk after birth.

More bouncy, skewed bottom-line squelch appears on the jittery, buzzing ‘Palace Workers’, which seems to evoke life in the form of amplified insect or bat noises, with a melody that eventually unfolds into something akin to a fractal rendition of ‘Oxygene’. By ‘No Tongue’ more traditionally identifiable musical signifiers begin to emerge, with a bright and melodic synth line evoking the new blooms of spring, whereas ‘Artilect’ takes a more ominous drone tone, insinuating the dark, potential threat of artificially augmented biological intelligence.

Like a coming-of-age, the album culminates on title track ‘Teenages’ – a dynamic, technicolour symphony that was recorded in one take, with no overdubs or edits. In the year leading up to ‘Teenages’, Naqvi created a series of shorter works. These stepping-stones eventually became the first 5 tracks of the album and were part of a larger process, leading to the realization of the title track. “I wanted to show the stages of development that lead to the main act. All of these tracks share the same D.N.A., even though they seem distantly related.” Explains Naqvi.

The pieces heard prior to ‘Teenages’ chronicle both Naqvi’s understanding of writing for this type of instrument and the growth of the instrument itself: “I started with just a few modules. And naturally things had to be layered and pieced together but as the synthesizer and its components grew over time, I was able to create broader and more complex strokes in the moment. And by the time I got to ‘Teenages’, it was possible to create a robust, large-scale piece spontaneously. This is very much an experiential album for me because it was borne out of my direct experience of learning the instrument. And as the synthesizer grew over time with more components, it matured. At times I felt like it was even rebelling against my instructions or surprising me with what felt like its own choices.

When everything was finished and I was thinking about track titles, this idea of artificial intelligence came into my head; a machine that reacts to your impulses and is capable of giving you something different from what you ask, and even defying you. It felt like different stages of growth and adolescence, and that lead to the album title, ‘Teenages’.”

Deeply rewarding on close listening, Naqvi has created an inspiring and synapsestimulating new masterwork, within the analogue/modular cannon.

TRACK LISTING

1. Intermission
2. Mrs 2E
3. Palace Workers
4. No Tongue
5. Artilect
6. Teenages

For its first release on newly launched, fully licensed label DISCOLIDAYS, The Reflex tackles two underground disco cuts remixed from the original multitrack for the very first time.

‘The Voice of Q’ is a leftfield electro disco gem originally released in 1982 on Philly World records. Produced by the studio team behind the label, the track has become a cult classic but had never been remixed from the stems until now. The Reflex brings it up to date with the added discovery of a pre-vocoder vocal and a full rap vocal that were left unused in the tapes, highlighting the funk bass to the max while pushing the cosmic vibes envelope even further.

‘Everybody Loves A Good Funk’ is a rather obscure ghetto disco-funk produced by none other than John Davis (of the John Davis Orchestra fame) that was recorded at Sigma Sound studios in Philly in 1980 for the Midsong International label. Heavy synth bass, super punchy horns and a devastating groove make up for one hell of a dancefloor killer revision. Again remixed strictly from the tapes for the first time, The Reflex gives this Ruth “Silky” Waters track the shine it always deserved.

With both tracks running at 118 bpm, this release will speak to a wide range of DJ’s and music lovers, from the disco-house contingent to early electro disco fans alike and beyond.

This is the first vinyl release on DISCOLIDAYS (with digital to follow), a new label by remixer extraordinaire The Reflex, fully licensed from the copyrights holders, with more exciting releases to come.

STAFF COMMENTS

Millie says: New label alert! Discolidays bring us their first instalment from Q / Ruth 'Silky' Waters with an edit from The Reflex Revision, from the name you might be able to guess it's a whole lotta disco! Synth-y, disco, electro-funk this really has it all.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Q - The Voice Of Q [The Reflex Revision]
B1. Ruth 'Silky' Waters - Everybody Loves A Good Funk [The Reflex Revision] 

First release from these emo / art rockers, since their "No Kill No Beep Beep" album in 2000. Two new tracks, produced by Ian Mackaye.

Bristol’s four-piece outfit Quade's debut album.

‘Of The Source’ opens in familiar territory for Quade, with distant drones and searching violin, before breaking down into perhaps the album’s most experimental track.

‘Nacre’ is the culmination of three years of work from the band, the blueprints of their songwriting and sound firmly established in the sprawling, haunting and yet hopeful record. Traipsing between gothic expansiveness and cosmic psychedelia, the record cannot be pinned down into one recognizable place. By the album’s close, the listener may be left wondering whether it was all a memory or a dream.

The recording and production of the record was collaborative, with the band drawing upon the services of Jack Ogbourne and Larry ‘Bruce’ McCarthy - two divergent pillars of Bristol’s music community - for engineering and mixing respectively.

TRACK LISTING

The Balance
Piles Copse
Of The Source
Circles
Stretching Out
Measure
Technicolour

"II: The Next Wave" is the long-awaited second album from hip-hop production supergroup Quakers.

Featuring over 25 MCs on over 30 tracks across 2 LPs, it's a highly accomplished journey into the more concious and musical territories of rhyme and beat. It contains explosive, up-to-date commentaries on subjects such as American politics, Black identiy, gun laws, disproportionate wealth and global disengagement with minorities.

There's a tense & abrasive mood to the entire album, as if a demoltion ram is about to smash through a brick wall. It's fiercly aligns itself with Run The Jewels & Clipping and is terrifyingly arresting with its urgent aggression.

Featured MCs include Sampa the Great, Koreatown Oddity, Jonwayne, Guilty Simpson, Grandmilly, Jeremiah Jae, & more. 

TRACK LISTING

1. Electrify
2. Start It Like This Ft Phat Kat
3. One Of A Kind Ft Guilty Simpson
4. Sell Your Soul
5. Bare Essentials Ft The Niyat
6. A Myth Ft Sageinfinite
7. This Station Ft Jeremiah Jae
8. Alive
9. Heat On It Ft Grandmilly
10. Double Jointed Ft The Koreatown Oddity
11. Who Dat Ft Chester Watson
12. Radiola Ft Radioactivists
13. Gun Control Ft The Black Opera
14. We Tried
15. Duck & Cover Ft Guilty Simpson & Cysion
16. Morphine Ft Bob Banner
17. Approach With Caution Ft Sampa The Great
18. The Streets
19. Looking For Love Ft Denmark Vessey
20. Fa Real Ft Jeru The Damaja
21. A Quick Fix Ft Y2 & Super Vic
22. Test My Patience Ft Jonwayne
23. Too Many To Count
24. Greatness Ft Nolan The Ninja
25. Hit List Ft Cazeaux O.L.S.O
26. Another Kind Of War Ft Jeremiah Jae
27. Leaflet Drops
28. One O’clock
29. All Of It Ft Boog Brown
30. Machine Room Ft Fat Ray
31. Pain Ft SavKillz
32. The Line Ft Cavalier
33. Blocks Ft Dante Boom

The new album by Quantic aka multi instrumentalist, DJ, composer and producer Will Holland is in many ways an evolution. Now 20 years into his career, ‘Dancing While Falling’ is the British born New York based artist’s most live sounding, euphoric and, in his own words, grown up release to date.

Predominantly recorded at his own Brooklyn studio, Selva, Quantic’s initial idea for his new album was to experiment sonically. However, after a while, he changed direction and realised that the record needed to also relate to the human condition not just his “singular pandemic wormhole”. The demos, then, started off as symphonic, loosely disco era dance music a departure from his previous Latin and Spanish instrumental releases. Influenced by legendary artists in the scene like Bohannon and Larry Levan, Quantic wanted to make a disco leaning album at first. “I’m really interested in Latin music and Afro Caribbean rhythms and I think there's a really amazing point in history where the emergence of those rhythms and its combination with American soul sparked what we now know as disco,” he says.

TRACK LISTING

1. Run (feat. Andreya Triana
2. Subway Lover
3. Stand Up
4. Unconditional (feat. Rationale)
5. Get In The Ride (feat. Connie Constance)
6. Brooklyn Heat (feat. Andreya Triana
7. Emeralds
8. Morning Light (feat. Andreya Triana)
9. Tikurin
10. Where The Flowers Grow (feat. Andreya Triana)

The genesis of Ryan Hemsworth’s new project, Quarter-Life Crisis, can be traced all the way back to his childhood bedroom in Nova Scotia, where the producer spent the bulk of his high school years listening to emerging indie acts and playing guitar. Not loving the sound of his own voice and without a band, he eventually started making music on his laptop, which earned him accolades as he stepped out into electronic and club music scenes. His prolic output, paired with a voracious appetite for a wide range of genres and creation of his own label Secret Songs, has made Hemsworth a xture since he released his debut solo album, Guilt Trips, in 2013.

But now, Hemsworth’s trying his hand at something unexpected that is nonetheless close to his heart and origin story as a musician. Quarter-Life Crisis is a collaboration with various artists who’ve come to prominence over the past couple of years , many of whom got their start playing scrappy DIY shows. “This project has me in the process of going back to when I was a kid when I’d sit down and play guitar for hours and come up with melodies and chords by just messing around,” Hemsworth says. “It’s something I’ve been wanting to do for ages.”

The self-titled debut EP features contributions from Frances Quinlan (Hop Along), Meg Duy (Hand Habits), Charlie Martin (Hovvdy), Yohuna, and Claud. It showcases Hemsworth in a new phase of his career, one that is perhaps a bit less indebted to the nightclub dance oor. “It’s always been a goal to mix, like, 25% electronic sounds and 75% live indie rock sounds,” he says. Collaboration is paramount to Hemsworth’s process, and though he produced all of the instrumentation on the album, he left the lyrics and intention of the song up to the contributors. The resulting collection shapeshifts from track-to-track, taking on new personalities as it moves between. “I think of my music-making process as ‘sneaking in as a fan,’” Hemsworth says. “Quarter-Life Crisis is just another way for me to work with artists whose music I really enjoy and listen to all the time .”

Though Hemsworth has been a working musician for a decade now, Quarter-Life Crisis has felt like a wholly new experience. He recorded the tracks using live instruments, which he doesn’t typically do, and for many of his collaborators the shift to performing without a band, or even an instrument in their hands, was unfamiliar. For Quinlan, who sings on the arresting “Postcard from Spain,” this was one of the only times she’s made music with someone outside of her circles. “Recording with Ryan ended up being a really freeing experience to focus solely on vocal melody, to play with where I could take what was already there, already strong on its own,” she said.

Quinlan’s experience overlapped with that of the other contributors. Going into the studio almost as a session artist gave Duy the opportunity to alter their voice in a way they might not have considered with a Hand Habits song. “Meg asked me to make them sound like Travis Scott,” Hemsworth remembers, laughing. The hypnotic track, “Comfortable,” made Duy think about “AI and cyborgs” and “souls disassociating from bodies.” “I kind of just freestyled until a theme started to swim up,” they said. For Hovvdy’s Martin, this was his rst time ever writing lyrics to accompany another artist’s work. “It was really exciting to hear [Ryan] meet me in the middle style-wise. There are many hidden gems in the production of ‘Waterfall,’” Martin muses. “Lyrically the song explores a parallel I’ve been feeling lately: the diculty of understanding and being understood and how sometimes that struggle almost mirrors the state of the planet. It’s like a downward spiraling feedback loop where any optimism feels like a triumph.”

Working with musicians who largely fall into the category of “indie” gave Hemsworth the opportunity to revisit some of the artists who inspired him to become a musician in the rst place. He cites bands like the Cardigans, Grandaddy, Bright Eyes, and Sparklehorse as being foundational to his writing process this time around. Quarter-Life Crisis a sharp turn away from his last project, 2019’s CIRCUS CIRCUS, which he made alongside the Japanese rap duo Yurufuwa Gang, but for Hemsworth, working in a wide array of genres and modes keeps him on his toes, and ultimately, keeps his career interesting. “Getting out of my comfort zone and bringing others into that process has always led to something really unique,” Hemsworth says. “As a producer, I really respond to other people’s ideas and whatever they can bring to a song. Being in a room with someone with a dierent outlook, or working remotely with them, I hopefully help facilitate something that feels new and exciting for both of us.”

TRACK LISTING

1. Waterfall (feat. Charlie Martin Of Hovvdy)
2. Comfortable (feat. Hand Habits)
3. Postcard From Spain (feat. Frances Quinlan)
4. You & Me (feat. Claud)
5. Fatigue
6. Stars (feat. Yohuna)

Four tracks of esoteric and spatial electronica are served up on Quartz’s debut release for R&S Records.

Via releases for Metalheadz, Rupture London and System Music, amongst others, the ascending producer from Cardiff has impressed with his unique take on drum & bass, and more recently via grime influenced dubstep.

A thrilling hybrid of sounds and rhythms are pulled together on the ‘Deity Spear’ release as Quartz deploys angular breakbeats, gargantuan bass tones, convoluted rhythms, and panoramic sound design across four mesmerising tracks.

The opening track ‘Lilac Cobwebs’ is a reference and homage to his deceased mother, featuring a snippet of one of her last voice notes to him, and a reference to a colour he fondly remembers of her.

A spellbinding and dense release from one of the UK’s most audacious producers.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: R&S are at it again, scouting the talents of Cardiff's Quartz aka Elliot Garvey. The music speaks for itself - hi-tek & scrambled DnB with metallic sfx and that moody, space-age, dystopian aesthetic that pulls it straight outta the future. Mega stuff.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Lilac Cobwebs (ft. Selena Jones) 
A2. Deity Spear 
B1. Cosmic Horror 
B2. Switchblade Groove 

Two generations of rock icons join forces on Face To Face, the exciting creative collaboration between KT Tunstall and Suzi Quatro. An album of original duets written by KT and Suzi, the duo covers themes of love and loss, fear and triumph— all essential to their experiences as groundbreaking women in rock. Tracks like “Shine a Light” and “Truth Is My Weapon” showcase the dynamic flow Suzi and KT created recording together in England.

TRACK LISTING

Side A
1. Shine A Light
2. Face To Face
3. Scars
4. Good Kinda Hot
5. If I Come Home
Side B
1. Damage
2. Overload
3. Illusion
4. Truth As My Weapon
5. The Ladies’ Room

Maverick a Strike is the debut studio album by Scottish musician Finley Quaye. Originally released on 6 August 1997. The album peaked at number three on the UK Albums Chart and spawned five singles: "Sunday Shining", "Even After All", "It's Great When We're Together", "Your Love Gets Sweeter", and "Ultra Stimulation“.

The album has been certified double platinum by the British Phonographic Industry.

Numbered sleeves, limited run of 2000.

TRACK LISTING

SIDE A 
1 Ultra Stimulation 
2 It's Great When We're Together 
3 Sunday Shining 
4 Even After All 
5 Ride On And Turn The People On 
6 The Way Of The Explosive 
7 Your Love Gets Sweeter
SIDE B
1 Supreme I Preme
2 Sweet And Loving Man
3 Red Rolled And Seen
4 Falling
5 I Need A Lover
6 Maverick A Strike

This 1978 LP is the only recorded output of Quazar, the follow up project of Parliament members Glenn Goins and Jerome 'Big Foot' Brailey. Very much in the P-funk style of crazed vocals, bubbling bass and supa-funky breaks, the album is a must for Parliament-Funkadelic collectors (originals go fo a tidy sum). Sadly Goins died before the album was completed, leaving his brother Kevin to finish the job using the vocals Glenn had laid down.

Hiding in Place, the new EP from Philadelphia’s Queen of Jeans, opens with the springy pluck of a single note on electric guitar, like a ping from a satellite waiting for a response in a long, quiet expanse. Then, Miri Devora’s voice atop guitar and drums: “Hiding in place, conjure your face/Don’t wanna lose my mind.”

This is the title track’s invitation to a four-song study of loneliness, alienation, and the unraveling that comes with those states, but it’s also bookended with moments of levity: joy and romance burst through on second track “Why Hide,” a response of sorts to the title track’s cloistered anxiety. Devora wrote the songs at the start of the pandemic in March 2020 when she had just been laid off from her job of almost 10 years. Her partner, guitarist Mattie Glass, worked 11 hour shifts at a grocery store, so Devora was alone in their apartment for months on end. When they were written, these weren’t intended to be pandemic-specific.

“While these aren’t ‘pandemic songs,’ they carry that weight,” says Devora. “There’s that sense of loneliness and even longing that I think for many have gone hand-in-hand with the pandemic. Hiding in Place is like hiding within these walls that we were confined to, but it’s also about hiding within yourself and not being able to necessarily express any kind of fears or desires you have.”

This is part of what makes Hiding in Place such an apt collection for this moment: with this EP, which follows the band’s 2019 LP If you’re not afraid, I’m not afraid, hiding can be a safe release or a painful suppression, depending on the context. That duality—and the complicated nuance of lived experience that it suggests—defines our lives now.

This 12” EP features Hiding in Place in Full as well as the entirety of Queen of Jeans’ 2021 Covers EP, including a bombastic cover of Wheatus’ now viral “Teenage Dirtbag.”

TRACK LISTING

Side A
1. Hiding In Place
2. Why Hide
3. Was I Ever
4. The Wait Is Over
Side B
1. Teenage Dirtbag
2. I’m The Only One
3. Actor Out Of Work

A favourite of some of the biggest DJs out there, including the likes of Floating Points and Theo Parrish, Queen Yahna - Ain't It Time is a slice of P&P gold that’s been crying out for an official reissue.

Succulent soul-soaked vocals with that top shelf disco production that effortlessly marries peaking strings with glorious horns and a conga-led percussion section. Smiles for miles - this is feel-good business right here with the instrumental nestled on the flip.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Vocal
B1. Instrumental

Hot off the back of their self-titled debut single – the energetic five piece made up of Joel Douglas (vox/guitar), Tom Butler (vox/bass), Robbie Cottom (keys), Mike Hendry (guitar) + George Thompson (drum/percussion) follow it up with the provocatively titled ‘Your God Owes You Money.’

For those unacquainted with the band’s brand of esoteric eclectic pop - The Queen's Head are a five piece from South London making alternative music about modern anxieties. Blending elements of post-punk, noise-rock, disco and modern dance music, wrapped in a familiar verse-chorus pop structure, the resulting sound is simultaneously enchanting and terrifying.

Ordering this giddy chaos are the dual vocals of childhood friends Joel Douglas and Tom Butler. Together they combine cutting, spoken word narratives and growling melodies which take form as vigorous, traumatised calls to arms, scriptures not as much sung but bellowed and preached to the audience. It’s a sermon.

‘It did feel like that’ recounts Speedy co-runner Pierre Hall who put them on at one of Speedy’s ‘Homecoming’ nights at The Social at the end of lockdown. ‘From the second they came on to the second they finished – everyone was completely entranced. You were sucked in. It was powerful. Scary, intense, confrontational. But powerful nonetheless. I was hooked.’

On the resulting track – a heady mix of post-punk influences crossed with everything from The Clash to The Specials via Daniel Avery and Charlie XCX, the band say: ’We are a band interested in world-building, with our process normally meticulous, pouring over tiny production and song-writing details. Taking 'Your God Owes You Money' into Dan Carey's space and method was a deliberate attempt to disrupt our complacencies. We played live, welcomed error and followed improvised ideas, under Dan's guiding hand. The version of this song we produced in just a day hopefully captures the rage and range of our live show - a direct glimpse into the band, what we believe and our frailties as self-confessed performers. An honour, a privilege and a wholly enjoyable day amidst Dan's Aladdin's cave.’ The genie is out of the lamp.

"In every sense, A Day at the Races is an unapologetic sequel to A Night at the Opera, the 1975 breakthrough that established Queen as rock & roll royalty. The band never attempts to hide that the record is a sequel -- the two albums boast the same variation on the same cover art, the titles are both taken from old Marx Brothers films and serve as counterpoints to each other. But even though the two albums look the same, they don't quite sound the same, A Day at the Races is a bit tighter than its predecessor, yet tighter doesn't necessarily mean better for a band as extravagant as Queen. One of the great things about A Night at the Opera is that the lingering elements of early Queen -- the pastoral folk of "39," the metallic menace of "Death on Two Legs" -- dovetailed with an indulgence of camp and a truly, well, operatic scale. Here, the eccentricities are trimmed back somewhat -- they still bubble up on "The Millionaire Waltz," an example of the music hall pop that dominated Night, the pro-Native American saga "White Man" is undercut somewhat by the cowboys 'n' indians rhythms -- in favor of a driving, purposeful hard rock that still could have some slyly hidden perversities (or in the case of the opening "Tie Your Mother Down," some not-so-hidden perversity) but this is exquisitely detailed hard rock, dense with minutiae but never lush or fussy. In a sense, it could even function as the bridge between Sheer Heart Attack and Night at the Opera -- it's every bit as hard as the former and nearly as florid as the latter -- but its sleek, streamlined finish is the biggest indication that Queen has entered a new phase, where they're globe-conquering titans instead of underdogs on the make." - Allmusic.

"Queen were straining at the boundaries of hard rock and heavy metal on Sheer Heart Attack, but they broke down all the barricades on A Night at the Opera, a self-consciously ridiculous and overblown hard rock masterpiece. Using the multi-layered guitars of its predecessor as a foundation, A Night at the Opera encompasses metal ("Death on Two Legs," "Sweet Lady"), pop (the lovely, shimmering "You're My Best Friend"), campy British music hall ("Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon," "Seaside Rendezvous"), and mystical prog rock ("'39," "The Prophet's Song"), eventually bringing it all together on the pseudo-operatic "Bohemian Rhapsody." In short, it's a lot like Queen's own version of Led Zeppelin IV, but where Zep find dark menace in bombast, Queen celebrate their own pomposity. No one in the band takes anything too seriously, otherwise the arrangements wouldn't be as ludicrously exaggerated as they are. But the appeal -- and the influence -- of A Night at the Opera is in its detailed, meticulous productions. It's prog rock with a sense of humor as well as dynamics, and Queen never bettered their approach anywhere else." Allmusic.

"Famously tagged as "fascist" in a Rolling Stone review printed at the time of its 1978 release, Jazz does indeed showcase a band that does thrive upon its power, thrilling upon the hold that it has on its audience. That confidence, that self-intoxication, was hinted at on News of the World but it takes full flower here, and that assurance acts as a cohesive device, turning this into one of Queen's sleekest albums. Like its patchwork predecessor, Jazz also dabbles in a bunch of different sounds -- that's a perennial problem with Queen, where the four songwriters were often pulling in different directions -- but it sounds bigger, heavier than News, thanks to the mountains of guitars Brian May has layered all over this record. If May has indulged himself, Freddie Mercury runs riot all over this album, infusing it with an absurdity that's hard to resist. This goofiness is apparent from the galloping overture "Mustapha," and things only get a lot sillier from that point out, as the group sings the praises of "Fat Bottomed Girls" and "Bicycle Races." May and Mercury have an unspoken competition on who can overdub the most onto a particular track, while Roger Taylor steers them toward their first disco song in the gloriously dumb "Fun It." But since over-the-top campiness has always been an attribute in Queen, this kind of grand-scale exaggeration gives Jazz a sense of ridiculousness that makes it more fun than many of their other albums." - Allmusic.

"If Day at the Races was a sleek, streamlined album, its 1977 successor, News of the World, was its polar opposite, an explosion of styles that didn't seem to hold to any particular center. It's front-loaded with two of Queen's biggest anthems -- the stomping, stadium-filling chant "We Will Rock You" and its triumphant companion, "We Are the Champions" -- which are quickly followed by the ferocious "Sheer Heart Attack," a frenzied rocker that hits harder than anything on the album that shares its name (a remarkable achievement in itself). Three songs, three quick shifts in mood, but that's hardly the end of it. As the News rolls on, you're treated to the arch, campy crooning of "My Melancholy Blues," a shticky blues shuffle in "Sleeping on the Sidewalk," and breezy Latin rhythms on "Who Needs You." Then there's the neo-disco of "Fight from the Inside," which is eclipsed by the mechanical funk of "Get Down, Make Love," a dirty grind that's stripped of sensuality. That cold streak on "Get Down, Make Love" runs through the album as a whole. Despite the explosion of sounds and rhythms, this album doesn't add up to party thanks to that slightly distancing chilly vibe that hangs over the album. Nevertheless, many of these songs work well on their own as entities, so there is plenty to savor here, especially from Brian May. Whether he's doing the strangely subdued eccentric English pop "All Dead, All Dead" or especially the majestic yet nimble rocker "It's Late," he turns in work that gives this album some lightness, which it needs. And that's the reason News of the World was a monster hit despite its coldness -- when it works, it's massive, earth-shaking rock & roll, the sound of a band beginning to revel in its superstardom." - Allmusic.

Queens Of The Stone Age announce their sixth studio album, ‘...Like Clockwork’, on Matador Records. The band have also unveiled the new album’s stunning artwork by UK artist Boneface.

Described by Queens principal Joshua Homme as “an audio documentary of a manic year,” ‘...Like Clockwork’ is the band’s first full length collection of all new material since 2007’s ‘Era Vulgaris’, as well as the band’s debut release on new label partner Matador.

‘...Like Clockwork’ was produced by Joshua Homme and QOTSA, and recorded by Mark Rankin with additional engineering by Justin Smith, at Josh’s Pink Duck studio in Burbank, California.

TRACK LISTING

1 Keep Your Eyes Peeled 
2 I Sat By The Ocean 
3 The Vampyre Of Time And Memory 
4 If I Had A Tail
5 My God Is The Sun 
6 Kalopsia 
7 Fairweather Friends 
8 Smooth Sailing 
9 I Appear Missing 
10 ...Like Clockwork

"Era Vulgaris" sees Queens Of The Stone Age return to their deepest, darkest roots, with shadowy riffs reminiscent of the desert sounds of the Kyuss days combined with multi layered industrial power guitar and organ blasts of a new era. It was produced by long time Queens production cohort Chris Goss and Josh Homme himself at their hideaway in the dunes of Joshua Tree. Julian Casablancas from The Strokes and Mark Lanegan appear as guests on various tracks.

2007's Era Vulgaris finds QOTSA touching on a variety of styles, incorporating electronic and acoustic textures alongside the band's trademark heavy rock crunch. The album includes such fan favorites as "Sick, Sick, Sick," "3's & 7's" and "Make It Wit Chu," with guest appearances by Julian Casablancas of The Strokes and frequent QOTSA collaborator Mark Lanegan.

The previous LP edition was on 3x 10” LPs, this LP edition marks the first-ever release of Era Vulgaris on 12" vinyl.

TRACK LISTING

Turnin’ On The Screw
Sick, Sick, Sick
I’m Designer
Into The Hollow
Misfit Love
Running Joke *exclusive Vinyl Track
Battery Acid
Make It Wit Chu
3’s & 7’s
Suture Up Your Future
River In The Road
Run, Pig, Run

Queens of the Stone Age have announced their long-awaited 8th studio album, In Times New Roman… 

In Times New Roman... is raw, at times brutal and not recommended for the faint of heart. And yet, it’s perhaps the most beautiful and definitely the most rewarding album in their epic discography. Founder Joshua Homme's most acerbic lyrics to date are buoyed by the instantly identifiable QOTSA sonic signature, expanded and embellished with new and unprecedented twists in virtually every song. With In Times New Roman… we see that sometimes one needs to look beneath scars and scabs to see beauty, and sometimes the scabs and scars are the beauty.

Feeling a bit out of place, and having difficulty finding music they could relate to, the members of QOTSA did as they are wont to do: In Times New Roman… is the sound of a band creating the music its own members want to hear, while giving the rest of us a sonic forum in which to congregate. “The world’s gonna end in a month or two," sings Homme, begging the question: What do you want to do to with the time you’ve got left? Homme, Troy Van Leeuwen, Dean Fertita, Michael Shuman and Jon Theodore may not be able to save us, but they’re giving us a place to ride it out.

In Times New Roman… was recorded and mixed at Homme’s own Pink Duck (RIP), with additional recording at Shangri-La. The album was produced by Queens of the Stone Age and mixed by Mark Rankin.

Artwork and double LP gatefold packaging designed by long time collaborator Boneface.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: QOTSA return for their most cathartic outing yet, dealing with Homme's cancer treatment, the loss of friends and the 'new normal' we find ourselves in. It's a quintessentially QOTSA LP, but pushed to 11, with the quiet moments all the more menancing, and the loud interludes (of which there are many) all the more incendiary. Superb.

TRACK LISTING

Obscenery
Paper Machete
Negative Space
Time & Place
Made To Parade
Carnavoyeur
What The Peephole Say
Sicily
Emotion Sickness
Straight Jacket Fitting

“The title Villains isn’t a political statement. It has nothing to do with Trump or any of that shit. It’s simply 1) a word that looks fantastic and 2) a comment on the three versions of every scenario: yours, mine and what actually happened… Everyone needs someone or something to rail against—their villain—same as it ever was. You can’t control that. The only thing you can really control is when you let go."—Joshua Homme

Hundreds of epic shows, memory lapses, unexplained injuries, one yearlong detour with Iggy Pop and multiple Grammy nominations later, Queens Of The Stone Age re-emerge from the desert newly scarred and somehow strangely prettier with lucky seventh album, Villains.

Produced by Mark Ronson and co-produced by Mark Rankin and mixed by Alan Moulder, Villains is the first full album offering from Queens Of The Stone Age since 2013’s …Like Clockwork gave the band its first #1 album in the U.S. Like the stunning artwork of returning illustrator Boneface, the sonic signatures of the line-up that took …Like Clockwork around the world and back are as unmistakable as ever, though coexisting with sufficient new twists to induce recurring double takes. As Homme himself puts it, “The most important aspect of making this record was redefining our sound, asking and answering the question 'what do we sound like now?' If you can’t make a great first record, you should just stop—but if you can make a great record but you keep making records and your sound doesn’t evolve, you become a parody of that original sound."

Of his role working within such a closed and confident ecosystem as Queens Of The Stone Age, Ronson says, "Queens are and have always been my favourite rock n roll band ever since I walked into Tower on Sunset and bought Rated R in the summer of 2000, so it was incredibly surreal to be welcomed into their secret, pirate clan—or the ‘jacuzzi’ as Josh likes to call it. There were moments during the making of the album in which I was aware I was watching my musical heroes craft something that was sure to become one of my moments on any Queens album. And to have some part in that felt like being in a dream--a very heavy, dark, wonderful dream.”

Long-time Queens cohort co-producer Mark Rankin added, "After the baptism of fire that was …Like Clockwork, I was excited to get into the studio again with the challenge of pushing the sound for this record, especially with the addition of Ronson into the creative mix… What we’ve made is forward looking yet unmistakably Queens."

STAFF COMMENTS

Darryl says: ‘Villains’ finds the QOTSA boys in fine rockin’ form. Heavy sonic riffage with an added groove appeal too, no doubt courtesy of Mark Ronson in the producer’s chair.

TRACK LISTING

Feet Don’t Fail Me
The Way You Used To Do
Domesticated Animals
Fortress
Head Like A Haunted House
Un-Reborn Again
Hideaway
The Evil Has Landed
Villains Of Circumstance

More than a quarter century since its primal emergence from the Desert, Queens Of The Stone Age has elected to give three of its landmark albums the upscale re-release treatment, including limited edition color vinyl pressings, exclusive new and restored artwork, and more.

Villains is reissued in a special 5th Anniversary package featuring etching, obi-strip, and a brand new poster by Boneface, and as a limited edition opaque white vinyl.

TRACK LISTING

Feet Don't Fail Me
The Way You Used To Do
Domesticated Animals
Fortress
Head Like A Haunted House
Un-Reborn Again
Hideaway
The Evil Has Landed
Villains Of Circumstance

"Queen had long been one of the biggest bands in the world by 1980's The Game, but this album was the first time they made a glossy, unabashed pop album, one that was designed to sound exactly like its time. They might be posed in leather jackets on the cover, but they hardly sound tough or menacing -- they rarely rock, at least not in the gonzo fashion that's long been their trademark. Gone are the bombastic orchestras of guitars and with them the charging, relentless rhythms that kept Queen grounded even at their grandest moments. Now, when they rock, they'll haul out a clever rockabilly pastiche, as they do on the tremendous "Crazy Little Thing Called Love," a sly revival of old-time rock & roll that never sounds moldy, thanks in large part to Freddie Mercury's panache. But even that is an exception to the rule on The Game. Usually, when they want to rock here, they wind up sounding like Boston, as they do on John Deacon's "Need Your Loving Tonight," or they sound a bit like a new wave-conscious rocker like Billy Squier, as they do on the propulsive "Coming Soon." But even those are exceptions to the overall rule on The Game, since most of the album is devoted to disco-rock blends -- best heard on the globe-conquering "Another One Bites the Dust," but also present in the unintentionally kitschy positivity anthem "Don't Try Suicide" -- and the majestic power ballads that became their calling card in the '80s, as they reworked the surging "Save Me" and the elegant "Play the Game" numerous times, often with lesser results. So, The Game winds up as a mixed bag, as many Queen albums often do, but again the striking difference with this album is that it finds Queen turning decidedly, decisively pop, and it's a grand, state-of-the-art circa 1980 pop album that still stands as one of the band's most enjoyable records. But the very fact that it does showcase a band that's turned away from rock and toward pop means that for some Queen fans, it marks the end of the road, and despite the album's charms, it's easy to see why." - Allmusic.

The Queers return to Lookout! 'Today' is produced by Ben Weasel (Screeching Weasel) and features 5 blasts of patent Queers punk rock and pop.

Formed in the Bay City/Saginaw area of Michigan in 1962 by Mexican-American children of migrant farm workers, the band gained popularity with the addition of drummer Robert Martinez’s brother Rudy, aka Question Mark, as lead vocalist. The eccentric Question Mark (often stylized as ‘?’) has claimed to have been born on Mars and lived among dinosaurs in a past life.

The band’s debut single “96 Tears”, with its distinctive organ line played by Mysterians’ keyboardist “Little” Frank Rodriguez, was originally released on Pa-Go-Go Records in 1966, but quickly reissued by the more established Philadelphia-based label Cameo-Parkway Records. The raw-yet-infectious song swept the airwaves, hitting #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on October 29, 1966, beating out The Monkees, Four Tops, The Rolling Stones, Elvis Presley, Dionne Warwick, Sonny & Cher, The Beach Boys and many more established acts. ? and The Mysterians’ debut album, also titled 96 Tears, followed in October ’66 just as the single was crossing the one million sales mark. The LP, filled out with ten more originals — including the Top 40 hit “I Need Somebody” — plus a version of T-Bone Walker’s “Stormy Monday,” peaked at #66.

A mere eight months after 96 Tears was released, Cameo-Parkway put out the follow up full-length Action in June of ’67. Their sophomore album is more evenly split between originals and covers, among them “Can’t Get Enough of You, Baby,” written by Denny Randell and Sandy Linzer and first recorded by The Four Seasons one year previous. ? and The Mysterians’ version got to #56 on the Billboard Hot 100, faring better than Smash Mouth’s ubiquitous 1998 version, which appeared on four other Billboard charts but was absent from the coveted Hot 100. Action would be the band’s last studio album for more than three decades.

“‘96 Tears’ IS one of the greatest rock ‘n’ roll songs in the history of the genre,” said Bill Holdship of Detroit Metro Times in 2009. “In fact it may be the greatest.” In a May 1971 issue of Creem magazine, Dave Marsh referred to a ? (Question Mark) and The Mysterians reunion as “a landmark exposition of punk-rock,” one of the very first times the genre was applied to a band. Not only did they influence others within punk, but they have also had a profound impact on music writ large. “96 Tears” alone has been covered by a diverse range of artists, including Iggy Pop, Suicide, The Modern Lovers, Todd Rundgren’s Utopia, Sir Douglas Quintet, Tom Tom Club, Primal Scream, Big Maybelle, Jimmy Ruffin and Aretha Franklin.

SiriusXM’s Little Steven’s Underground Garage channel air personality Lenny Kaye, who masterminded the famed Nuggets compilations that shined a light on the garage rock phenomenon of the mid-1960s commented, “‘96 Tears’ is the ur-text of garage rock, the truest ‘Nugget’ if you dug It… In these two albums, Question Mark and The Mysterians answer the eternal query with the yearning spirit and self-revelation that is becoming a band, yowl, reedy organ and guitars on stun, with a backbeat that accelerates the move-and-groove. I remember seeing ‘Qwesty’ and the band at Coney Island High in the mid-90s, me and Joey Ramone hollering, ‘Yeah baybee!,’ knowing we were at the heart of rock as it begins to roll.”

TRACK LISTING

Side A
I Need Somebody
Stormy Monday
You’re Telling Me Lies
Ten O’Clock
Set Aside
Up Side
Side B
“8” Teen
Don’t Tease Me
Don’t Break This Heart Of Mine
Why Me
Midnight Hour
96 Tears

Formed in the Bay City/Saginaw area of Michigan in 1962 by Mexican-American children of migrant farm workers, the band gained popularity with the addition of drummer Robert Martinez’s brother Rudy, aka Question Mark, as lead vocalist. The eccentric Question Mark (often stylized as ‘?’) has claimed to have been born on Mars and lived among dinosaurs in a past life.

The band’s debut single “96 Tears”, with its distinctive organ line played by Mysterians’ keyboardist “Little” Frank Rodriguez, was originally released on Pa-Go-Go Records in 1966, but quickly reissued by the more established Philadelphia-based label Cameo-Parkway Records. The raw-yet-infectious song swept the airwaves, hitting #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on October 29, 1966, beating out The Monkees, Four Tops, The Rolling Stones, Elvis Presley, Dionne Warwick, Sonny & Cher, The Beach Boys and many more established acts. ? and The Mysterians’ debut album, also titled 96 Tears, followed in October ’66 just as the single was crossing the one million sales mark. The LP, filled out with ten more originals — including the Top 40 hit “I Need Somebody” — plus a version of T-Bone Walker’s “Stormy Monday,” peaked at #66.

A mere eight months after 96 Tears was released, Cameo-Parkway put out the follow up full-length Action in June of ’67. Their sophomore album is more evenly split between originals and covers, among them “Can’t Get Enough of You, Baby,” written by Denny Randell and Sandy Linzer and first recorded by The Four Seasons one year previous. ? and The Mysterians’ version got to #56 on the Billboard Hot 100, faring better than Smash Mouth’s ubiquitous 1998 version, which appeared on four other Billboard charts but was absent from the coveted Hot 100. Action would be the band’s last studio album for more than three decades.

“‘96 Tears’ IS one of the greatest rock ‘n’ roll songs in the history of the genre,” said Bill Holdship of Detroit Metro Times in 2009. “In fact it may be the greatest.” In a May 1971 issue of Creem magazine, Dave Marsh referred to a ? (Question Mark) and The Mysterians reunion as “a landmark exposition of punk-rock,” one of the very first times the genre was applied to a band. Not only did they influence others within punk, but they have also had a profound impact on music writ large. “96 Tears” alone has been covered by a diverse range of artists, including Iggy Pop, Suicide, The Modern Lovers, Todd Rundgren’s Utopia, Sir Douglas Quintet, Tom Tom Club, Primal Scream, Big Maybelle, Jimmy Ruffin and Aretha Franklin.

SiriusXM’s Little Steven’s Underground Garage channel air personality Lenny Kaye, who masterminded the famed Nuggets compilations that shined a light on the garage rock phenomenon of the mid-1960s commented, “‘96 Tears’ is the ur-text of garage rock, the truest ‘Nugget’ if you dug It… In these two albums, Question Mark and The Mysterians answer the eternal query with the yearning spirit and self-revelation that is becoming a band, yowl, reedy organ and guitars on stun, with a backbeat that accelerates the move-and-groove. I remember seeing ‘Qwesty’ and the band at Coney Island High in the mid-90s, me and Joey Ramone hollering, ‘Yeah baybee!,’ knowing we were at the heart of rock as it begins to roll.”

TRACK LISTING

Side A
Girl (You Captivate Me)
Can’t Get Enough Of You, Baby
Got To
I’ll Be Back
Shout (Parts 1 & 2)
Side B
Hangin’ On A String
Smokes
It’s Not Easy
Don’t Hold It Against Me
Just Like A Rose
Do You Feel It

Finally, a proper legit "Best Of" covering their prime period!! 27 nuggets of rockin', soul-driven garage ravers! Includes two previously unreleased tracks from 1996. And yes, it does include the awesome "96 Tears" before you ask!!!

Quickbeam are an atmospheric/cinematic band based in Glasgow, Scotland. Originally formed in 2010 by Monika Gromek and Andrew Thomson, the band has since grown in numbers to a four piece. After releasing their first single ‘Seven Hundred Birds’ to widespread critical acclaim in April 2012, the band now look forward to further collaboration with Scottish label Comets and Cartwheels on the release of their Creative Scotland funded debut album in June 2013.

The resulting collection of songs reveals more of what Quickbeam have to offer in the studio, and saw them find a well-suited collaborator in Scottish producer Stuart MacLeod. Part sparse minimalism and part luscious extravagance, the record is a confident showcase of the members’ growing maturity as songwriters. Consistently underpinned by orchestrally arranged strings, brass, and rich harmonium pitted against thunderously distorted guitar passages and pounding rhythms, the album’s overall feel is one that calls to mind grand themes such as the passage of time. Throughout the record, female led vocals are complemented by warm harmonies and subtle atmospherics which lend the music a rather captivating and often melancholic beauty.

TRACK LISTING

1. Remember
2. Seven Hundred Birds
3. Immersed
4. Mountains
5. Fall
6. Home
7. Matter
8. 1743
9. The Great Expanse
10. Far Out At Sea
11. Grace
12. One To Hold

Since Beach Slang came into being, bandleader James Alex has taken to performing his group's heartfelt anthems as more intimate solo renditions. Appropriately dubbed "Quiet Slang," these alternate reality versions of Beach Slang's music have now simultaneously been stripped down and fleshed out in the studio to include piano and cello. Following on from the recent We Were Babies & We Were Dirtbags EP, Quiet Slang now bring you a full album of such songs - 'Everything Matters But No One Is Listening' .

TRACK LISTING

1. Bad Art & Weirdo Ideas 
2. Noisy Heaven [
3. Future Mixtape For The Art Kids
4. Filthy Luck 
5. Dirty Cigarettes 
6. Too Late To Die Young 
7. Spin The Dial 
8. Young Hearts
9. Throwaways 
10. Warpaint

An amorphous musical collective put together by Rich Machin and Duke Garwood, with a rolling cast of players assembled from the likes of Soulsavers, Spiritualized, Stereolab and Julian Cope. For Machin, Garwood and the other musicians (Ray Dickaty, Tim Lewis (aka Thighpaulsandra), Pete Marsh, Paul May Doggen), a sense of adventure and devil-may-care inventiveness took precedence over precise design when they started the recording process at Gabriel’s Real World studio in the autumn of 2017.

'One of the big things I wanted to achieve with this record was breaking away from things being super planned out,' Machin explains. 'To actually just go into a studio without having everything mapped out in advance. And being comfortable enough to see what happens. It was incredibly stressful at first, but once you realize it works it’s actually a really nice way to work.'

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Like a slo-mo distillation of Joe Henderson and Alice Coltrane, the quiet temple serve up a trundling jazzy bouquet brimming with languid psychedelic flourishes, slowly growing into a bloom otherworldly drone. Properly hypnotic and brilliantly emotive.

TRACK LISTING

The Last Opium Den (On Earth)
The Bible Black
Shades Of Gemini
Rated
Noah’s Theme
Utopia & Visions

Following their 2011 self-titled debut on Mexican Summer, Quilt return with their sophomore album 'Held in Splendor'.

'Held in Splendor' is an audacious pop-rock record with cascading harmonies and billowing textures, punchy rhythms and snarled guitars, wonderful depth and resplendent peaks. “Mary Mountain” takes hazy Summer of Love memories on a mid-summer road trip in a gleaming muscle car. “Tired & Buttered” invites Booker T over for an energy-addled jam in the garage. “The Hollow” twinkles like Fleetwood Mac and Galaxie 500, with sweet singing backed by the lap steel sighs of young acoustic guitar star and longtime Quilt pal Daniel Bachman.

Held in Splendor is an album of personal poetry and public questions, confessions and aspirations—really, these 13 tracks are their own playground, brimming with the sort of unapologetic energy and wonder that turns simple songs into absolute anthems.

“handmade and stitched-together, as though its creators were sifting through a collection of musical hand-me-downs and collating the bits that spoke to them into something new" - PITCHFORK

“A classical approach to music and an appreciation for the age-old practice of chant and melody with a slight lean toward the weird and experimental" - FADER "A fresh take on well-worn folk rock textures, instilling a bit of color into vintage grooves." – STEREOGUM

The mesmerizing debut LP by Nova Scotia’s Quilting on October 7, 2022. The album is a quietly stunning collection of pastoral ambience dotted with moments of tension that reflects the maritime environment in which it was created, inadvertently paying homage to the light and darkness of rural life.

Co-founded by Holy Fuck’s Brian Borcherdt, the quartet is comprised of a diverse and accomplished collection of musicians who came together when he moved back to his home province in 2019 after a lengthy stay in Toronto.

The shock of settling into a town of 600 people was softened almost immediately by a care package left on Borcherdt’s front porch. It included the curious juxtaposition of homemade preserves and a circuit-bent keyboard. His interest was piqued. As luck would have it, his new neighbour happened to be renowned folk guitarist Kim Barlow.

“Kim was in the process of organizing an improvisation series featuring over a dozen Nova Scotia-based musicians. The series struggled under lockdown restrictions, and on the second attempt only the four of us showed up.” Borcherdt recalls. “We didn't really know each other that well, were a bit shy and played very quietly. However, we really enjoyed how spacious our jam was.”

One week after their initial jam, Borcherdt was invited to perform a solo set at a Halifax-based experimental festival called Open Waters. He instead volunteered the same lineup: himself, Barlow, distinguished Isle Of Skye harpist (and Berklee professor) Mairi Chaimbeul, and Sahara Nasr, a noted songwriter and player of the rare Indian Sarangi. It wasn’t long before they began recording and soon realized a name was necessary to make the project official.

“When we get together to play music, it's our 'poker night'. That led us to think of other community or 'grown-up' gatherings, similar or antiquated... like barnraising bees, quilting bees.” Explains Borcherdt. “We were sort of quilting: four corners of fabric, texture, sewing threads, telling a story, all making one complete piece while drinking a few beers. We could've also called it ‘Therapy’.”

While providing a necessary distraction from early-COVID life, Quilting also offered a chance to improvise within a uniquely ambient soundspace. This was a welcome change for some of the members, including Borcherdt, who was used to creating music with decidedly more volume.

“Space is welcome. Writing in Quilting is a spontaneous and thoughtful process, very synesthetic and, of course, collaborative. I've only really gotten to explore space and silence with solo music.” He reflects. “With my other bands, even when spontaneous and improvised, the result is dense and cathartic, expressive through pulse and rhythm and volume. With Quilting we get to drift, no beats, no safety net. Every note counts. Yet rather than being stressed or scrutinized under a microscope we all have fun and daydream a bit.”

Sonics aside, Quilting has also given all four members the chance to experiment with the boundaries created by headquartering in a remote area not commonly associated with the avant-garde music community.

“Nova Scotia, unlike other provinces, has basically one city, one place where musicians congregate, play shows and hang out. Anything happening outside of Halifax can be considered an experiment, a test to see anything can get off the ground.” Borcherdt explains. “ In Toronto there's already an infrastructure, whether you play the same venues or build your own new thing- there's an audience, there are friends and like-minded individuals. It's healthier. Here we have to take what we get. But the good news is that it's kind of a blank slate.”

The LP, which features hand-calligraphed cover art from Upstate New York-based artist and musician Sarah Le Puerta, features five songs all recorded live off-the-floor in a single live performance. Moods range from reflective to unsettled, and even at its loudest parts a sense of intimacy persists.

“This album feels like a complete picture, a snapshot of one fun night.” He states. “That seems to me to be a perfect introduction. The listener gets to “attend” the concert, which is an amazing way to discover new music.”

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: I’m obsessed with Nova Scotia. I think I’ll move there one day. And knowing there’s a growing community of isolated musicians making maritime ambience like this only entices me further. I guess it’s like the Highlands without the whiskey… oh wait. :P

TRACK LISTING

Streaming
Tambora
Maisie Macleod
Crescent Moon
April 10 First

Plaza is the third album by Quilt; a name implying a meeting place, a crossroads, a coming together. In the space of ten songs, Plaza clarifies Quilt’s musical stance of a congregation, mixing folk, pop-psych, and wanderlust into a common ground where each form takes on the characteristics of one another to create something wholly satisfying, styles and sentiments hand in hand, the purest and sharpest distillation of Quilt’s group aesthetic to date.

On Plaza, Quilt has pivoted their sound on a new foothold. The guitars shimmer, squawk, warble, swell, and tense up. The organs and synths flow in the background as mood-enhancers. The drums dig in a little deeper. We hear flutes and harps, a string quartet, grand pianos and Casios, feedback and distorted violas. Among all these sounds the group’s shared and solo vocals showcase some of the strongest lyrics and hooks the band has made to date.

Plaza showcases a tighter, more concise version of Quilt, particularly as the members have learned to encourage each other’s strengths and allow each other to confidently exist as distinct voices cooperating within a very intimate creative space; their songcraft has tightened up, their singing now crystal clear, vis á vis personal experiences of loss, frustration and isolation.

TRACK LISTING

1: Passersby
2: Roller
3: Searching For
4: O’Connor's Barn
5: Eliot St.
6: Hissing My Plea
7: Something There
8: Padova
9: Your Island
10: Own Ways

Listening to their self-titled debut, it's no surprise that the members of Quilt came together out of a shared love of visual art. While their music is steeped in timeless qualities like the gorgeous harmonies on "Milo" or the twinkling guitar on "Utopian Canyon," the entire record is full of expansive, cinematic moments. Each song can be enjoyed independently, but taken as a whole, the record becomes a world of its own: guitars drift languidly, keys sparkle in and out, often following their own threads into the stratosphere, with vocals that are at once powerful and intimate.

Wait, what? A new Quince? Call the newspapers! It has been YEARS since the Dutch techno producer from Utrecht found the peace of mind to actually release something. In fact, the "Anthology of Interest EP on the illustrious NOWHERE series is his first proper record in eight years. His daytime job as a medic kept him rather occupied. You might remember those times when there was a pandemic around? We missed Quince, even though his sound is rather timeless. Fluid Detroit infused techno with pulsating rhythms, alluring keyboard stabs and sultry basslines, like on "Ghost In The Machine" and the extremely funky "The Butterjunk Effect". Opening track "Meanwhile" has that hazy peak time feel you love so much while dancing with your eyes closed. But the winner of this very versatile EP may just be "Space Pilot 3000". A futuristic and jumpy electro-track where the worlds of Drexciya and Juan Atkins collide in a blinding orange supernova.

TRACK LISTING

Meanwhile
Ghost In The Machines
Space Pilot 3000
The Butterjunk Effect

“We should try again to talk,” Frances Quinlan writes. It not just a lyric—it’s a suggestion, a warning, a plea, a wish. This request is woven throughout Likewise, her forthcoming solo album, amidst dramatically shifting motifs. Some are jubilant, some are dreamy and abstract, and a few are sinister, but within each dark void that Quinlan explores, there is a light peering back at her.

Frances Quinlan has built an identity for herself over the past decade as the lead songwriter and front-woman of the Philadelphia-based band Hop Along, and her distinct voice is among the most recognizable and inimitable in music. While the band began as Quinlan's solo project (originally titled Hop Along, Queen Ansleis), Likewise (out January 31st on Saddle Creek) is Quinlan's debut under her own name. To make the record, she enlisted the virtuosic skills of her bandmate Joe Reinhart, and together they produced the album at his studio, The Headroom, recording in stints over the course of a year.

With a renewed openness to explore different sounds, Quinlan supplements her typical guitar-based instrumentation with synthesizers, digital beats, harps, strings, and a wide variety of keyboards. The shifting and exploratory nature of these musical arrangements allow her lyrics and vocals—which have always been at the forefront of her music—to reach emotional depths like never before. Her vocal tones beckon a kaleidoscopic range of emotions across all nine songs on the album, from soft and ruminative to enraged and commanding; from conveying powerful messages to highlighting small, yet poignant, moments.

Quinlan is a voyaging songwriter. Throughout Likewise, she confronts what confounds her in the hopes that she will come out on the other side with a better sense of what it is to be human. She presents listeners with a complicated, albeit spirited vision of what it could mean to truly engage with another person, to give a small piece of oneself over to someone else without expectation. Although such is likely to be a lifelong effort, these songs prove evident that light can still permeate from unsettling depths.

TRACK LISTING

1. Piltdown Man
2. Your Reply
3. Rare Thing
4. Detroit Lake
5. A Secret
6. Went To LA
7. Lean
8. Now That I'm Back
9. Carry The Zero

'Honky Tonk Medusa' is Donovan Quinn’s first album that he’s both recorded and produced since the Skygreen Leopards’ adventurous 'Life & Love in Sparrow’s Meadow'. Along with Quinn’s work on vocals, guitar and synth, the album also employs San Francisco musician’s Jason Quever (Papercuts), Michael Tapscott (Odawas), along with his regular rhythm section of Nick Marcantonio and Michael Carreira. Working in reverse order to many current acts, the sound of 'Honky Tonk Medusa' is molded to each individual song; letting the lyrics and spirit of the song dictate the instrumentation and style with the lyrical narrative tying it all together.

The story of the album is one of decaying American cities, Internet age entropy, and equal parts romance and loneliness. In addition to the music the album features artwork by San Francisco artist Joe Roberts and liner notes by Elisa Ambrogio (Magik Markers, 200 Years) & Ben Chasney (Six Organs of Admittance).

“I went back to my roots,” says Émilie Tiersen (née Quinquis). “And I realised how much Breton culture was a part of me.”

Émilie Tiersen has, over the course of two albums and several years, made music as Tiny Feet and is now, with the release of Seim, her debut for Mute, known as QUINQUIS. The name change is symbolic; simultaneously paying homage to her personal and family history by referencing her maiden name, as well as representing a fresh start musically. “It’s been a new start for many things,” Émilie says. “Self-acceptance has been a really big thing for me.”

From forging a deeper connection to her own culture, history and identity, to exploring new musical terrain and becoming a mother, it’s been a period filled with significant change. It was during this time that she began to explore new ideas. “I was on tour with Yann [her husband, Yann Tiersen] and our baby,” she recalls. “During my baby's nap I created a rule for myself: to come up with one new idea in every new city. From the very beginning this was a journey.”

Soon people began to join Émilie on this journey. Characters - some from her own life, others rooted in the history of Breton culture - began to come alive in song ideas. She discovered Ankou, a servant of death in Breton mythology who comes to see you in the year that you die; she explored Seiz Breur, a 1923 Breton art movement founded by a young woman in the very same small village she is from; she tapped into the lives of friends, exploring a rich tapestry of people, places, emotions and stories all tied together by a shared commonplace: Brittany. “I put the stories of those people around mine so that I could have them share this journey with me.”

“It’s been a really rich and nourishing period,” Émilie says. “I've discovered what it is to be a mother. To have a son has answered many questions I had about life and roots, and so this was the first step to a very deep discovery. I am raising my child in the Breton language, so there was this kind of rebooting of the whole system.”

Once these ideas began to mutate into something more musical, she connected with Gareth Jones, celebrated producer who has worked with groups such as Liars, Depeche Mode and Apparat. He initially offered to play some synths but their partnership grew into something more. “The record revealed itself in the back-and-forth Gareth and I had,” she says. “It was really unexpected because Gareth and I are quite the opposite. We are really different on paper but through this album we've shared something unexpected. He’s got a bit of a mentor aura - he was the light to my darkness.”

The result of their work is one that merges sparse electronics, immersive atmospherics, and deft melodies, all of which are carried by Émilie’s tender yet quietly soaring vocals. The opening ‘Adkrog’ (aptly translated as ‘Start Again’) stirs the album to life with soothing yet unpredictable pulsations, as though a new world is awakening and working out its newfound surroundings. “It's about finding the energy in environment and nature,” she explains. “When I was feeling desperate, I sat outside and I prayed for nature to give me some answers. This song is about that - if you just let go then nature gives you an answer.” ‘Setu’, on the other hand, a story about the aforementioned Ankou is driven by scattered beats, floating vocals and considered sonic textures that bubble up from peaceful to potent.

The subtle arrangements across the album are reflective of a philosophy Émilie was exploring. “I'd been reading into wabi-sabi,” she explains. “It's a Japanese way of thinking about finding beauty in imperfections. The idea was to accept my imperfections and find the beauty in simple and small things. Minimalism has impacted the album - to try to find a way to stay humble.”

Collaborations also extend to Ólavur Jákupsson, who sings in Faroese on ‘Run’ (which translates to ‘Hill’), a song about being woken up by a blast of cold wind on top of a hill, which melds woozy tones, plucked strings, engulfing atmospheres and Émilie’s intimate and whispered vocals. On ‘Netra Ken’ the writer and endurance cyclist Emily Chappell features, reading an extract from her book (in Welsh) “Where There’s A Will”, capturing her determination and resilience. Talking about the use of language on the album, she explains, "I think languages are a living way of telling people’s mind and culture, their diversity brings us closer and helps us understand better. That’s why I was happy to have Welsh and Faroese along with Breton in the record… they are somehow cultures that seem close to mine.”

To make it even more unique, Émilie sings throughout in Breton. “Singing in the Breton language made me realise what I was made from,” she says. “Everything was suddenly easier and it gave me more freedom. It's a very special language and so to write interesting lyrics was a process of researching but it was so nourishing to discover new stuff about nature or people thanks to that language.”

Nature is key to the album and lends itself to the title, as well as key themes in individual songs. The album title Seim translates as “sap”. “It's really about when you have low energy,” Tiersen says, “and you need to recollect the sap so that the tree gets green again. The whole album was really about making me green again. The more I recorded music, the more I felt green.”

This sense of rejuvenation, rebirth and a musical awakening coincided with Émilie plunging into her own community, history and culture. “The more I was learning about myself, the more I was discovering the people around me,” she says. “Now I'm on the City Council here on Ushant [the remote Breton island she and her family live on]. The more I go into it, the more involved I am in the Ushant community. I really felt during these past few years that people have been so supportive.”

This feeling of being lifted by the community is reflected in ‘Ôg’ a story about a woman from Ushant whose husband went to work at sea (the oil tanker Betelgeuse) while she was 8 months pregnant. All 52 men died, 51 on board, with the exception of her husband who died trying to make it ashore.” The widows of the 51 men on board came together to help the woman with clothes and other things for the baby. “This story really resonated with me.”

This sense of interconnectedness leads to the album being a multifaceted one. It is deeply personal and introspective yet also collaborative and expansive. It is rooted in both historical and modern stories. It is an album that connects worlds while being entirely its own. “There is something cosmic about it,” says Émilie. “I don't know how to explain that but the way it happened with Gareth, and the way everything just suddenly all came together feels like cosmic harmony.”

It’s also an album that brings to life, in a singular and contemporary way, the lives, stories and people of the Breton culture and its language. “The album was a way for me to tell stories of the people here. I really felt that during the whole process that through stories I could tell the history of Brittany or Ushant. It's an album that is full of ghosts. I'm happy with that. I have a good relationship with ghosts.” 

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Seim is a striking collection of swooning electronic anthems, rooted in club music, but tempered into a hazy post-party wooze, all topped with soft French vocals. It's a wonderfully written evocative set of electronic anthems, and perfectly at home on Mute.

TRACK LISTING

1. Adkrog
2. Eñvor
3. Setu
4. Run
5. Mintin
6. Estren
7. Netra Ken
8. Ôg
9. An Divare
10. Te

The Quireboys release a limited run of a totally new re-recorded version of A Bit Of What You Fancy to mark the albums 30th Anniversary - We live in strange times and from the darkness there is a beautifully shining beacon of rock’n’roll light. Our favourite hard-working quartet have been back in the studio re-recording their iconic first album with the current Gypsy Rock n Roll sound of The Quireboys. The new recording will prove to be powerful, inspirational and full of all the quality a modern-day recording can anticipate.

Following the incredible 35 & live show at The O2 Academy Forum London in September 2019, the boys were blown away at how the crowds still respond to the music after 30 years, the atmosphere was electric and hearing the whole crowd singing the timeless tracks cemented that unity between the audience, the band and the music. A Bit Of What You Fancy remains one of the greatest rock albums of all time, loved by fans and critics alike, the singles and many of the album tracks can be heard to this day on rock radio, the music remains timeless and is almost certainly guaranteed to fill the dance floor at any party or rock bar. At the time of release back in 1990 the band managed to score a very respectable Number 2 in the UK Album Charts, this time around they’re gunning for Number 1, everywhere they can.

This is a must for all Quireboys fans worldwide and while this will be available on Vinyl, both will be on limited runs, with a new modern cover. The album will be available on Black Vinyl with a very special Vinyl Collector’s item in Blue Vinyl available too. The Quireboys frontman Spike commented, "It's where it all began, it was an incredible album that launched our careers, but the way we sound n play now doesn't give it the justice it needs. Henceforth, it's been a pleasure updating it to our modern-day Gypsy Rock n Roll Sound. I'm sure everyone will enjoy this new version in all its glory, marking its 30th Anniversary."

TRACK LISTING

1. 7 O’clock
2. Man On The Loose
3. Whippin’ Boy
4. Sex Party
5. Sweet Mary Ann
6. I Don’t Love You Anymore
7. Hey You; Mislead
8. Long Time Comin’
9. Roses And Rings
10. There She Goes Again
11. Take Me Home Tonight

Following his 2014 'Acid Beth EP' on Young Turks, Josh Quirke drops a new 12" white label on his own Quirke label. The 12" comes with a bonus cassette. We've got THREE copies - fastest finger first, folks!

Italian legend Walter Del Vecchio aka Quiroga pays tribute to the acid house era on Hell Yeah with a new package that comes with two originals, an ambient mix and a remix from cult hero DMX Krew.

Quiroga released his last sublime album Passages on this label and it came as the latest entry into a discography filled with beauty and detail. He is a talented musician from Naples who has his own left-of-centre take on the Mediterranean sounds of the city, as he shows once again here with a house-leaning outing.

Quiroga has teamed up with cult musician Dario Bassolino and called upon Whodamanny's mixing skills for these new tracks. First is 'Once Again', a punchy and chunky house cut with skewed bass spraying about the mix. Its rough analogue edges are lit up by searing acid lines that never quit and will turn any party into a cauldron of intensity. The Ambient Version is a full-flavour downtempo workout that keeps the wild acid lines, adds in some FX, old-school piano chords and a yelping female vocal next to a blissful breakdown. 'Once Again' (DMX Krew Remix) is then a bumping acid-electro monster with fat drums and the manic 303 offset by serene chord work to make for a perfectly emotional dance floor delight.

'Freak The Funk' is a second original cut, as rides of crisp snares and snapping drum breaks blend with a warm bassline and smeared cosmic chords up top. It's a classy peak-time house cut with magical pixelated synth melodies.

Alongside superb artwork from PlanetLuke, this is another essential package from Hell Yeah.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Once Again
A2. Once Again (Ambient Version)
B1. Once Again (DMX Krew Remix)
B2. Freak The Funk

New London based quartet Qwalia, led by drummer Yusuf Ahmed, offer a plethora of influences whilst remaining resolutely itself. Assembled from musicians who play with David Byrne, Joy Crookes, Nubiyan Twist, Frank Ocean, Jordan Rakei, Sampha, Cat Stevens and more; Yusuf is joined by Tal Janes on guitars and vocals, Ben Reed on bass and keyboardist Joseph Costi. Qwalia’s debut album ‘Sound And Reason’ is set for release by Alberts Favourites on 24th March 2023.

The name Qwalia stems from the same sounding word Qualia, a philosophy of mind with the property of being an ineffable experience. Qwalia’s music is an instinctive aural expression of how things seemed in the moment of creation.

In April ‘21, Qwalia spent two days recording completely improvised music at the Fish Factory in North West London. There was no plan or preconceived idea of what the music should sound like or what was going to happen.

“We set up altogether in one room, dimmed the lights, pressed record and just played,” says Yusuf. “We came away with over 13 hours of music, which was consolidated into three albums worth of material. The final record is mainly a result of pulling faders up or down to create space and structure out of what was already there from the live recording. The production process felt akin to a sculptor chipping away excess stone to reveal a statue that was already there, and occasionally putting some makeup on it!”

The band members are Pakistani, Italian, Venezuelan, Jewish and English. A reflection of the fact that cultural categories are infinite; Qwalia’s music unconsciously explores identity, exposing what this can mean. Or perhaps that it doesn’t mean anything at all.

TRACK LISTING

A1.  Fool Me Once
A2.  The Grip
A3.  Sound & Reason
A4.  Electric Highway
B1.  Haven’t You Heard
B2.  Vahgerah
B3.  In Your Own Words