ALL GENRES
BACK CATALOGUE - X
Reduced
While everyone is social distancing, closing ranks and donning masks while they shop, life can seem somewhat surreal to the senses. Yet, through all of the chaos, one thing is constant, music brings us together. Now, on the 40th Anniversary of the landmark, Los Angeles, and 35 years since the original band have released an album – X, one of the greatest Punk Rock bands in music history, releases ALPHABETLAND. The original foursome - Exene Cervenka, John Doe, Billy Zoom, and DJ Bonebrake have now made the album available for fans to purchase and by adapting to this moment, X continues to embody the same spirit they did when they began in 1977.
“When your heart is broken you think every song is about that. These songs were written in the last 18 months & it blows my mind how timely they are,” explained John Doe. “We all want our family, friends & fans to hear our records as soon as it's finished. This time we could do that. Thanks to Fat Possum & our audience.”
“When your heart is broken you think every song is about that. These songs were written in the last 18 months & it blows my mind how timely they are,” explained John Doe. “We all want our family, friends & fans to hear our records as soon as it's finished. This time we could do that. Thanks to Fat Possum & our audience.”
STAFF COMMENTS
Barry says: Alphabetland is exactly what we need right now, rawkous good-natured punk-rock. Irreverent in places but as politically charged as you'd expect from some veterans of the scene. Brilliantly good fun, and as serious as it needs to be.TRACK LISTING
1. ALPHABETLAND
2. Free
3. Water & Wine
4. Strange Life
5. I Gotta Fever
6. Delta 88 Nightmare
7. Star Chambered
8. Angel On The Road
9. Cyrano DeBerger's Back
10. Goodbye Year, Goodbye
11. All The Time In The World
Xander Harris, former sidekick to vampire slayer (and sometime fondler) Buffy has gotten out of the stake-wielding game and brought us his 6th album, this time on Mogwai's own Rock Action records. Very much a horror/library sort of affar (no doubt inspired by his illustrious past), comprising of silky-smooth synth sweeps, heavy on the low-pass and saturated to the high heavens. Tracks like 'The Eye In The Triangle' wouldn't sound out of place on a Pye Corner Audio album, meandering but without being too wispy to really make an impact. 'Predator State' is more along the cold-wave lines, lots of delay and swirling pads, ambient and harrowing. Arpeggios swirl in the background before slowly coming to the fore before the groove kicks in, understated but ridiculously effective. 'Buckle Bunny' is probably the most obvious dance number on the LP, with Krauty sequenced synths, 1-2-1-2 percussives and majestic melody lines. The whole album is a perfect example of restraint and melody, understated enough to really shine but with a melodic sensibility that really stands out. Brilliant from beginning to end.
STAFF COMMENTS
Barry says: RIYL : Pye Corner Audio, Horror soundtracks, John Carpenter et al. Groovy but dusty synthetic soundscapes, grooving analogue percussives and shimmering arpeggios work together to make this a stunning and enthralling listen.
Musician/composer Justin Sweatt, aka Xander Harris, was in the process of working on an ambitious double LP when he was struck by a car riding his bike in New Orleans. The accident could have been much worse, but Justin has still been de-commissioned for several weeks/months while he heals from an injured shoulder and a concussion. A 9 to 5er with benefits and vacation time might be inconvenienced by this but would recover and life would begin as it had before. For an independent musician who works part-time and relies on his or her hands to work and create art, something like this can be life-altering.
Villains of Romance is leaner than first envisioned, but that gives the record a vital nature. At 9 tracks just under 50 minutes it’s another exploration of life through the eyes, heart, and mind of Xander Harris. The tracks follow the dystopian vibes of Termination Dust, but with touches of dark pop strewn throughout. From hazier fare like “Bleeding Meridians” to techno banger like “First Taste of Hate” to the gothic beauty of “Individual Outs”, Sweatt outdoes himself. There is even a collaboration with singer Nicolas Nadeau on the lilting and gorgeous “Wither Lace”.
Villains of Romance is leaner than first envisioned, but that gives the record a vital nature. At 9 tracks just under 50 minutes it’s another exploration of life through the eyes, heart, and mind of Xander Harris. The tracks follow the dystopian vibes of Termination Dust, but with touches of dark pop strewn throughout. From hazier fare like “Bleeding Meridians” to techno banger like “First Taste of Hate” to the gothic beauty of “Individual Outs”, Sweatt outdoes himself. There is even a collaboration with singer Nicolas Nadeau on the lilting and gorgeous “Wither Lace”.
TRACK LISTING
1. Bleeding Meridians
2. First Taste Of Hate
3. Individual Outs
4. Stranger Danger
5. Where’s Your Villain
6. Mall Walk
7. Feral Stare
8. Wither Lace
Wearing their influences on their sleeves, it’s clear they draw faithfully from the authentic stylings of Billy Childish, Dan Sartain, nasty 50’s rockabilly, gritty 60’s garage and trashy 70’s punk rock. They are a no-messin’ rock and roll band.
TRACK LISTING
A1. Haunted Man
A2. Strange Times At Roswell High
A3. Jackalope
A4. True Love
A5. Now That You're Gone
B1. Ouija Board Waltz
B2. Hotel Metropole
B3. Cry Baby Don't Like It
B4. Stop Talking
B5. Ranchero
A microkosmic domestic synth pop, pocket punk, French funk ultra rarity, originally released in 1985 as a limited edition of 100 black cassette tapes.
As one of the most prolific and viciously self-sufficient exponents of the early 80s French DIY / domestic synth pop scene, X Ray Pop are a group who are easy to scratch the surface but almost impossible to get the bottom of. Peeping out of a warren of unexplored passages their seminal self-distributed debut singles and appearances on the genre defining ‘Alternative Funk Folie Distinguée’ compilation in 1984 made them an omnipresent fixture for the French tape wave scene that shaped a generation and influenced many more to follow. But beneath the trademark fluorescent sleeves stands the highly stacked foundations of endless cassette only releases that give this pocket punk husband and wife duo one of the most impressive and elusive back catalogues of all their cut ‘n’ paste French funk contemporaries.
Plundering the depths of a self-estimated 400 recorded songs, X Ray Pop founder Didier Pilot has joined up with Finders Keepers sister label Cache Cache to reassess, rescue and reissue some of the band’s most underexposed sonic snapshots, many of which were distributed in issues of less than 50 up to 500 for exclusive global releases in France, Spain, Portugal, Japan and America (where bands like Brian Ladd and Julie Frith’s Psyclones and The Beastie Boys championed the band as a likeminded inspiration).
From the earliest, lower levels of the X vault Cache Cache and Pilot resurrect one of the band’s finest untraveled moments in the form of the rare tape only one-sider ‘Pirate!’ - a spontaneous long player comprised of raw, rhythm heavy electronic versions of exclusive tracks alongside heavier and darker industrial versions of tracks that would later creep into the band’s unhinged official pop discography.
Wearing their unabashed and generally incompatible influences of Can / Devo / Brigitte Bardot / Cramps / The Residents / Kraftwerk / Captain Beefheart / PIL / Brian Eno / Robert Wyatt / Gainsbourg / MAGMA proudly on their sleeves, this long lost tape captures a one day recording session which was originally released as 100 cassettes in 1985 at a time where various outside influences and competing labels were trying to snare the band into a slower more manageable pop entity.
This is the sound of France’s two most highly charged battery operated cabaret cosmonauts at their hardest, loosest and uninhibited, celebrating the dual-unison that can also be identified in similar two-headed freak funk outfits such as Moderne Mathermatiques, Stereolab, Elli et Jacno and most notably (and perhaps unconsciously) Silver Apples, to whom this release bears a welcome and femininised close comparison.
Catch this album for an early glimpse of an outer-national punk funk Neo-dadaist phenomenon that may well have eluded you until now, and witness X Ray Pop at their most powerful. ‘Pirate!’ labelled by Didier himself as ‘The Dark Side OF The X’ provides a pre-curser to a forthcoming wider anthology of the group’s work alternating erratic pulsating cosmic rock with dreamy metronomic private pop via their über legendary Casio-to-cassette production line.
Released with the full cooperation of Didier Pilot, with unrivalled access to his personal X Ray Pop vault.
As one of the most prolific and viciously self-sufficient exponents of the early 80s French DIY / domestic synth pop scene, X Ray Pop are a group who are easy to scratch the surface but almost impossible to get the bottom of. Peeping out of a warren of unexplored passages their seminal self-distributed debut singles and appearances on the genre defining ‘Alternative Funk Folie Distinguée’ compilation in 1984 made them an omnipresent fixture for the French tape wave scene that shaped a generation and influenced many more to follow. But beneath the trademark fluorescent sleeves stands the highly stacked foundations of endless cassette only releases that give this pocket punk husband and wife duo one of the most impressive and elusive back catalogues of all their cut ‘n’ paste French funk contemporaries.
Plundering the depths of a self-estimated 400 recorded songs, X Ray Pop founder Didier Pilot has joined up with Finders Keepers sister label Cache Cache to reassess, rescue and reissue some of the band’s most underexposed sonic snapshots, many of which were distributed in issues of less than 50 up to 500 for exclusive global releases in France, Spain, Portugal, Japan and America (where bands like Brian Ladd and Julie Frith’s Psyclones and The Beastie Boys championed the band as a likeminded inspiration).
From the earliest, lower levels of the X vault Cache Cache and Pilot resurrect one of the band’s finest untraveled moments in the form of the rare tape only one-sider ‘Pirate!’ - a spontaneous long player comprised of raw, rhythm heavy electronic versions of exclusive tracks alongside heavier and darker industrial versions of tracks that would later creep into the band’s unhinged official pop discography.
Wearing their unabashed and generally incompatible influences of Can / Devo / Brigitte Bardot / Cramps / The Residents / Kraftwerk / Captain Beefheart / PIL / Brian Eno / Robert Wyatt / Gainsbourg / MAGMA proudly on their sleeves, this long lost tape captures a one day recording session which was originally released as 100 cassettes in 1985 at a time where various outside influences and competing labels were trying to snare the band into a slower more manageable pop entity.
This is the sound of France’s two most highly charged battery operated cabaret cosmonauts at their hardest, loosest and uninhibited, celebrating the dual-unison that can also be identified in similar two-headed freak funk outfits such as Moderne Mathermatiques, Stereolab, Elli et Jacno and most notably (and perhaps unconsciously) Silver Apples, to whom this release bears a welcome and femininised close comparison.
Catch this album for an early glimpse of an outer-national punk funk Neo-dadaist phenomenon that may well have eluded you until now, and witness X Ray Pop at their most powerful. ‘Pirate!’ labelled by Didier himself as ‘The Dark Side OF The X’ provides a pre-curser to a forthcoming wider anthology of the group’s work alternating erratic pulsating cosmic rock with dreamy metronomic private pop via their über legendary Casio-to-cassette production line.
Released with the full cooperation of Didier Pilot, with unrivalled access to his personal X Ray Pop vault.
X Ray Pop are the synth-pop duo of Doc Pilot and Zouka Dzaza from Tours, France. They got their start in the no wave art group Bocal 5 in 1981 and split off in 1984 to focus on their own brand of quirky synthesized electronics. Influenced by Erik Satie, Brigitte Bardot, Suicide and Young Marble Giants, they call their music “minimum naive new wave.” Armed with a Casio PT-20 keyboard and a rudimentary Yamaha MR10 drum machine they recorded their demo cassette and first 7″ “Eurasienne”/ “La Machine à Rêver” in 1984. Upgrading their synthesizers and adding some saxophone and guitar, they recorded the “Alcool”/ “Amazone” 7″ in 1985 and the “DS”/” El Gato” 7″ in 1986.
“The Dream Machine” collects X Ray Pop’s first three 7″ singles plus 8 songs from their demo cassette, never released on vinyl before. Their songs are short, concise and well structured; richly textured, moving at a quick speed with hardly a pause. The demos show a sense of humor, vitality and carefree playfulness. Zouka’s pouting, tongue-in-cheek vocals (sung in French) come together for a catchy, sensuous, danceable, eccentric psychedelic ride. Reminiscent of the Mo-dettes, early OMD or Algebra Suicide, X Ray Pop could be the missing link to Stereolab.
28 years later, this is the first time since the original issue that the songs of X Ray Pop are reappearing on vinyl again, but is the world ready?
“The Dream Machine” collects X Ray Pop’s first three 7″ singles plus 8 songs from their demo cassette, never released on vinyl before. Their songs are short, concise and well structured; richly textured, moving at a quick speed with hardly a pause. The demos show a sense of humor, vitality and carefree playfulness. Zouka’s pouting, tongue-in-cheek vocals (sung in French) come together for a catchy, sensuous, danceable, eccentric psychedelic ride. Reminiscent of the Mo-dettes, early OMD or Algebra Suicide, X Ray Pop could be the missing link to Stereolab.
28 years later, this is the first time since the original issue that the songs of X Ray Pop are reappearing on vinyl again, but is the world ready?
TRACK LISTING
01. La Machine á Rêver
02. L´Eurosienne
03. Alcool
04. Amazone
05. DS
06. El Gato
07. Playgirl
08. Mina
09. Analphabelfe
10. Contakt
11. Louphoque
12. Madison Fraise
13. Bobby Bonbeck
14. Revers
Super sweet sleepover core from the turn of the millennium. When not at the mall or elementary school, Jessica, Ayden, Janet, and Mary created a suburban Spice World all their own, singing, dancing, and making videos in anticipation of a global pop takeover. 'Summer 2000' expands their home-burned Y2K CD-R Stardust, encapsulating girl group R&B, trip hop, Eurofunk, and pool party heartbreak into a revealing portrait of millennial girlhood.
Party til 2, sleep til 1, come on baby let’s have some fun.
Party til 2, sleep til 1, come on baby let’s have some fun.
TRACK LISTING
1. Idiotic
2. Another Girl
3. Speechless
4. Forever
5. Summer 2000
6. Conversation
7. Wonderland
8. Wasn’t There
9. Promises
10. The Laarge Daark Aardvark Song
11. Fly Into Your Arms
X-Coast unveils the storming 9-track double LP: "The Riviera Collection" on his own Riviera Records.
Hot on the heels from remixing instant dance hits such as Shygirl's '4eva' and DJ Gigola's 'La Batteria' and spotted in the studio with adored vocalists Eartheater and Miss Bashful, Serbian-born, NYC-based DJ/producer X-Coast returns with a collection of signature tracks that feel like the lost treasure chest of his dance island.
Over the past decade, he has quietly but consistently shaped the pulse of dancefloors worldwide, with a distinctive style that traverses genres like house, techno, electro, drum and bass, and trance. This rare versatility has led X-Coast to release on the likes of Mall Grab’s Steel City Dance Discs, Diplo’s Higher Ground, Anetha’s Mama Told Ya and DJ Haus’s Unknown To The Unknown, to name a few.
What sets X-Coast apart is not just his ability to move fluidly between styles but the unique character embedded in every track. His productions have an undeniable warmth and authenticity, often evoking the raw, euphoric spirit of the 90s and 00s rave era. This nostalgic yet forward-thinking approach makes his music feel timeless, effortlessly blending old-school rave energy with modern production techniques. It's a quality that has made him a go-to for DJs across the board, whether they’re playing peak-time techno sets or deep, groovy house sessions.
"On The Riviera Collection", X-Coast hits the jugular with high impact techno tracks destined for big arenas and main stages. Full fat productions with tons of dynamics, referencing some pivotal points in the development of the genre and bringing them right up to date.
From the early 2000s tribal influences layered with X-Coast’s signature chord work on ‘Neapolis,’ to the soaring, synthetic trance energy of ‘Desert Storm,’ and the infectious, camp vibe of the diva house ‘Hold Me Baby,’ the collection takes us on a nostalgic trip through the many facets of Big Room Techno.
Hot on the heels from remixing instant dance hits such as Shygirl's '4eva' and DJ Gigola's 'La Batteria' and spotted in the studio with adored vocalists Eartheater and Miss Bashful, Serbian-born, NYC-based DJ/producer X-Coast returns with a collection of signature tracks that feel like the lost treasure chest of his dance island.
Over the past decade, he has quietly but consistently shaped the pulse of dancefloors worldwide, with a distinctive style that traverses genres like house, techno, electro, drum and bass, and trance. This rare versatility has led X-Coast to release on the likes of Mall Grab’s Steel City Dance Discs, Diplo’s Higher Ground, Anetha’s Mama Told Ya and DJ Haus’s Unknown To The Unknown, to name a few.
What sets X-Coast apart is not just his ability to move fluidly between styles but the unique character embedded in every track. His productions have an undeniable warmth and authenticity, often evoking the raw, euphoric spirit of the 90s and 00s rave era. This nostalgic yet forward-thinking approach makes his music feel timeless, effortlessly blending old-school rave energy with modern production techniques. It's a quality that has made him a go-to for DJs across the board, whether they’re playing peak-time techno sets or deep, groovy house sessions.
"On The Riviera Collection", X-Coast hits the jugular with high impact techno tracks destined for big arenas and main stages. Full fat productions with tons of dynamics, referencing some pivotal points in the development of the genre and bringing them right up to date.
From the early 2000s tribal influences layered with X-Coast’s signature chord work on ‘Neapolis,’ to the soaring, synthetic trance energy of ‘Desert Storm,’ and the infectious, camp vibe of the diva house ‘Hold Me Baby,’ the collection takes us on a nostalgic trip through the many facets of Big Room Techno.
STAFF COMMENTS
Matt says: Primal chest beaters that'll have you howling like a banshee and swinging off the rafters. X-Coast gives Dolly a run for their money from across the pond in New York.TRACK LISTING
A1. Neapolis
A2. Put Ya Hands Together
B1. Warrior Chant
B2. Desert Storm
B3. Hold Me Baby
C1. Da Boing Boing Trak
C2. Nu Style
D1. Pogona
D2. Minds Eye
Hot on the heels of their fifth fantastic LP ‘Thee’ - their first for 25 years and debut for Acid Jazz - house stalwarts X-Press 2 have enlisted David Holmes to remix album track ‘Phasing You Out’.
The original version of ‘Phasing You Out’ features Kele Okereke from Bloc Party and sits at the heart of the new album which again showed that Rocky and Diesel remain dedicated to proper house music.
David Holmes has had a 25-plus year career in music that has seen him release several vital albums and remix artists like Andrew Weatherall, Primal Scream and Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, hold down a cult NTS radio show and turn out a seminal mix for Late Night Tales.
David Holmes brings plenty of signature musicality to what is a standout remix - his version of ‘Phasing You Out’ is an intense one that unfolds over eight minutes of percussive density, dusty drum work and careful treatment of the original vocal. The whole arrangement is lavishly decorated with wispy pads and glassy sound effects, police sirens and a rhythmic intensity that never lets up and will work any floor into a frenzy.
The original version of ‘Phasing You Out’ features Kele Okereke from Bloc Party and sits at the heart of the new album which again showed that Rocky and Diesel remain dedicated to proper house music.
David Holmes has had a 25-plus year career in music that has seen him release several vital albums and remix artists like Andrew Weatherall, Primal Scream and Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, hold down a cult NTS radio show and turn out a seminal mix for Late Night Tales.
David Holmes brings plenty of signature musicality to what is a standout remix - his version of ‘Phasing You Out’ is an intense one that unfolds over eight minutes of percussive density, dusty drum work and careful treatment of the original vocal. The whole arrangement is lavishly decorated with wispy pads and glassy sound effects, police sirens and a rhythmic intensity that never lets up and will work any floor into a frenzy.
TRACK LISTING
1. Phasing You Out (David
2. Holmes Remix)
3. Phasing You Out
The sophomore and final studio album from punk icons - X-Ray Spex.
The highly sought after album received a very limited CD only release in 1995 on Receiver Records in the UK and has been officially unavailable for the past 27 years!
The album reunited the iconic X-Ray Spex vocalist - Poly Styrene with original X-Ray Spex saxophonist - Lora Logic and bassist - Paul Dean, as well as guitar from Kula Shaker frontman Crispian Mills under his then pseudonym Red Spectre.
This release has been remastered from the original master tapes and is available on LP for the first time ever! Including the original and expanded artwork, including previously unpublished lyrics and original sleeve notes from Poly.
Pop culture is full of classic albums that slip between the cracks. In recent years the late Poly Styrene and X-Ray Spex have achieved iconic status with their 1978 debut ‘Germfree Adolescents’ album but the group’s follow up album 'Conscious Consumer’ released 17 years later has been lost to the sands of time.
These days most people don’t even realise that X-Ray Spex had a follow up to what is now embraced as one of the classics of the punk rock period. This lovingly compiled revisit puts the spotlight on a lost gem that has many of the hallmarks of the debut but is sieved through a different lens. ‘Conscious Consumer’ was an upgrade of the classic debut with a same punk rock urgency and themes of consumerism but with a poppier edge and a more considered wisdom gleamed from the ups and downs of life from the perspective of an older, wiser, Krishna devotee.
In 1995 the album was an unexpected comeback and a lost classic. It was the first new material recorded by the band for years despite many of the songs being written a decade before. On release, though, the album disappeared into a void being out of sync with the times and before Poly got her deserved iconic status.
The band who also re-formed in 1991, 1995 and 2008 are now revered worldwide for sparking a new kind of attitude in music. The late Poly is now a pop culture pin-up for an originality and feminism that barely existed at the time. Her acerbic, witty and brilliant lyrics and distinctive voice have stood the test of time, and along with the band’s original sax player Lora Logic, she has become part of the punk rock narrative. The fuzzy snapshots of the brief early lineup see the sassy and sharp dressed teenager core oozing talent, originality and style in a freeze frame of pop culture punk rock perfection.
Listening to the album again after a long break, Paul Dean is surprised.
“‘Conscious Consumer’ now sounds so much better than I remember. It wasn’t properly released at the time and so no one knows about it. If you love Germfree Adolescents you will love ‘Conscious Consumer’ they are linked together. X-Ray Spex didn’t have just one great album it was two!”
The highly sought after album received a very limited CD only release in 1995 on Receiver Records in the UK and has been officially unavailable for the past 27 years!
The album reunited the iconic X-Ray Spex vocalist - Poly Styrene with original X-Ray Spex saxophonist - Lora Logic and bassist - Paul Dean, as well as guitar from Kula Shaker frontman Crispian Mills under his then pseudonym Red Spectre.
This release has been remastered from the original master tapes and is available on LP for the first time ever! Including the original and expanded artwork, including previously unpublished lyrics and original sleeve notes from Poly.
Pop culture is full of classic albums that slip between the cracks. In recent years the late Poly Styrene and X-Ray Spex have achieved iconic status with their 1978 debut ‘Germfree Adolescents’ album but the group’s follow up album 'Conscious Consumer’ released 17 years later has been lost to the sands of time.
These days most people don’t even realise that X-Ray Spex had a follow up to what is now embraced as one of the classics of the punk rock period. This lovingly compiled revisit puts the spotlight on a lost gem that has many of the hallmarks of the debut but is sieved through a different lens. ‘Conscious Consumer’ was an upgrade of the classic debut with a same punk rock urgency and themes of consumerism but with a poppier edge and a more considered wisdom gleamed from the ups and downs of life from the perspective of an older, wiser, Krishna devotee.
In 1995 the album was an unexpected comeback and a lost classic. It was the first new material recorded by the band for years despite many of the songs being written a decade before. On release, though, the album disappeared into a void being out of sync with the times and before Poly got her deserved iconic status.
The band who also re-formed in 1991, 1995 and 2008 are now revered worldwide for sparking a new kind of attitude in music. The late Poly is now a pop culture pin-up for an originality and feminism that barely existed at the time. Her acerbic, witty and brilliant lyrics and distinctive voice have stood the test of time, and along with the band’s original sax player Lora Logic, she has become part of the punk rock narrative. The fuzzy snapshots of the brief early lineup see the sassy and sharp dressed teenager core oozing talent, originality and style in a freeze frame of pop culture punk rock perfection.
Listening to the album again after a long break, Paul Dean is surprised.
“‘Conscious Consumer’ now sounds so much better than I remember. It wasn’t properly released at the time and so no one knows about it. If you love Germfree Adolescents you will love ‘Conscious Consumer’ they are linked together. X-Ray Spex didn’t have just one great album it was two!”
TRACK LISTING
Side A
1. Cigarettes
2. Junk Food Junkie
3. Crystal Clear
4. India
5. Dog In Sweden
6. Hi Chaperone
Side B
7. Good Time Girl
8. Melancholy
9. Sophia
10. Peace Meal
11. Prayer For Peace
12. Party
New outfit formed by Matthew Benn of Hookworms and Christopher Duffin of Deadwall. Its six tracks of improvised ambient beauty are both meditative and peaceful, it is astral jazz with an experimental kosmische undercurrent; modular synths meet saxophones; Cluster meets Terry Riley; Laurie Spiegel meets Pharoah Sanders; Ohr meets Impulse!. A warm, immersive and downright musical record, it rewards repeat listens. XAM was originally Matthew’s solo project, the name borrowed from the closing song of latter-day Dusseldorf-via-Detroit cult classic ‘Subway II’. He recorded a number of tracks at home between Hookworms albums in 2014 which were released last year as the ‘Tone Systems’ EP on Deep Distance.
Christopher says he approaches each song as a “mini-soundtrack to an imaginary film that doesn’t exist yet” and reveals that, while he was practising at home, he played along to clips of ‘There Will Be Blood’, ‘Mulholland Drive’ and ‘Synecdoche, New York’ to get the requisite atmosphere. Live sets are also completely improvised, meaning no two shows are ever the same. “I appreciate that improvised music isn’t for everyone, but it’s something I love doing,” Matthew concludes. “And, more often than not, Chris and I create something beautiful together
Christopher says he approaches each song as a “mini-soundtrack to an imaginary film that doesn’t exist yet” and reveals that, while he was practising at home, he played along to clips of ‘There Will Be Blood’, ‘Mulholland Drive’ and ‘Synecdoche, New York’ to get the requisite atmosphere. Live sets are also completely improvised, meaning no two shows are ever the same. “I appreciate that improvised music isn’t for everyone, but it’s something I love doing,” Matthew concludes. “And, more often than not, Chris and I create something beautiful together
STAFF COMMENTS
Barry says: Otherworldly developing ambience and celestial synth swells, gradual building and eventual fragmentation turn this into a tour-de-force of Reich-esque structural integrity. Jazzy interludes give way to churning echoes, while hints of percussion give just enough purpose to direct the cloud of blissful fog.TRACK LISTING
1. Proem
2. Pine Barrens
3. I Extend My Arms Pt I & II
4. Ashtanga
5. The Test Dream
6. René
XAM Duo – the Yorkshire-based pairing of Matthew Benn and Christopher Duffin – follow up their acclaimed self-titled 2016 debut with a new album. They have spent the past few years collaborating with Virginia Wing and releasing the fun single ‘Tisch Tennis’, as well as playing live with everyone from Stereolab, Sonic Boom and Michael Rother to Jessy Lanza, The Necks and Anna Meredith. They are also both members of Holodrum, the band formed from the ashes of Hookworms whose debut album came out earlier this year.
Despite being over five years in the making, ‘XAM Duo II’ is a much more concise affair than their debut, clocking in at just under 30 minutes. The journey begins and ends with the beat-driven ‘Blue Comet’ and ‘Cold Stones’, taking in shorter ambient jams along the way, making use of saxophone, drawn out tape chords, floating Rhodes piano and spaced-out synths, alongside very precise and intentional, sequenced and punchy synth tones. With the digital approach it could feel cold and processed, but it’s the opposite – warm and natural.
This is something that is reflected in the striking artwork by long-time collaborator Jonathan Wilkinson which comes from a series of prints inspired by his time hiking around the Calder Valley in West Yorkshire. One thing that has stayed the same is the influence of The Sopranos, with three of the six tracks on the album named after episodes of the classic series.
Despite being over five years in the making, ‘XAM Duo II’ is a much more concise affair than their debut, clocking in at just under 30 minutes. The journey begins and ends with the beat-driven ‘Blue Comet’ and ‘Cold Stones’, taking in shorter ambient jams along the way, making use of saxophone, drawn out tape chords, floating Rhodes piano and spaced-out synths, alongside very precise and intentional, sequenced and punchy synth tones. With the digital approach it could feel cold and processed, but it’s the opposite – warm and natural.
This is something that is reflected in the striking artwork by long-time collaborator Jonathan Wilkinson which comes from a series of prints inspired by his time hiking around the Calder Valley in West Yorkshire. One thing that has stayed the same is the influence of The Sopranos, with three of the six tracks on the album named after episodes of the classic series.
TRACK LISTING
1. Blue Comet
2. LGOC
3. Kaisha
4. The Middle Way
5. Lifeguard At Mohang Beach
6. Cold Stones
XAM Duo – the Yorkshire-based pairing of Matthew Benn and Christopher Duffin – follow-up their The A-side features a reworking of the album’s closing track, ‘Cold Stones’, by legendary electronic artist and DJ, James Holden. In one of his first remixes for a number of years, he has taken the original’s calming, comedown energy and transformed it into an epic, 11-and-a-half-minute journey, which somewhere around the five-minute mark comes right back up. “It didn't turn out quite how I expected, but as they say the sculpture is already in the stone, we just have to find it,” says Holden. “It's like the most rave thing I’ve done for ages and also not rave at all, like a blurry dream about a rave?” Whatever it is, it’s incredible, as are the two further reworkings on the B-side. The Early Years resurface after another lengthy hiatus and reframe ‘LGOC’ as a divine astral jazz / krautrock crossover, while Richard Pike (of PVT and Deep Learning, among others) turns ‘Blue Comet’ into a glitchy and discordant soundtrack to the best 1980s computer game you never played. “It’s lovely to hear three different interpretations of songs that we already tend to keep quite loose and elastic,“ says Matthew Benn. “These remixes feel like a natural extension of the music on the album, like they're from the same world, but perhaps in a different language.”
TRACK LISTING
A1 - Cold Stones (James Holden Remix)
B1 - LGOC (The Early Years Remix)
B2 - Blue Comet (Richard Pike Remix)
Love them or hate them, you'll never forget them! Over the years Xbxrx's style of joyous musical assault has been championed by many major figures in the underground. Having opened up for Sonic Youth, Peaches, Unwound, Deerhoof and Q And Not U as well as having worked with accomplished producers such as Steve Albini, Ian Mackaye and Tim Kerr. This album shows a new found musical growth and maturity over its 18 tracks.
Fifth album from the Scottish alternative rock band, originally formed in Aberdeen in 2001. The release follows their 2023 recent singles 'Ache', 'GIMME', "A furiously catchy, superbly punchy return” [CLASH], and their 2021 covers EP 'So No One Told You Life Was Gonna Be This Way' which saw coverage from Distorted Sound Magazine, Upset Magazine, and Kerrang!. Released independently via Australia's leading heavy music label UNFD.
TRACK LISTING
1. GIMME
2. Car Crash Culture
3. Jealousy
4. Ache (featuring Sam Carter)
5. Drag Me Out
6. Everything I Cannot Live Without
7. Lovesick
8. Inhale(her)
9. Lust In Translation
10. Blame
11. My Friends Forever
12. It Aint Easy
Ferocious, crushing SoCal hardcore maelstrom of sound that perfectly captures the spirit of their explosive live performances. Raging, committed quadruple vocal harmonies, an unrelenting guitar barrage and steamhammer rhythms combine to mercilessly bludgeon your aching synapses into a bleeding pulp...ouch...
Xenoula is Romy Xeno. Romy spent her early years in South Africa where she was influenced by the elemental songs of nearby villagers and the (tranquil) rhythms of nature. Here she developed an introspective affinity with flora and fauna rather than with man and machines.
Teaming up with producer Sam Dust aka LA Priest, whose recent work includes his own debut solo album as well as Connan Mockasin collaboration Soft Hair, Xenoula’s songs are adorned in a chameleon-like coat of shape shifting sonic textures and glide over an energetic core of ground shaking rhythm.
Teaming up with producer Sam Dust aka LA Priest, whose recent work includes his own debut solo album as well as Connan Mockasin collaboration Soft Hair, Xenoula’s songs are adorned in a chameleon-like coat of shape shifting sonic textures and glide over an energetic core of ground shaking rhythm.
TRACK LISTING
Chief Of Tin
Luna Man
Cyan Water
Caramello
Dawn Bunny
She Ghosts
Honey Priest
Alauda
Deer Ron
Leyline Ogres
Tororoi
"Too Far Gone" is the second 'mood' EP by XIIhundredarrows. The feel of this EP is much darker than its predecessor "Circles and Butterflies", but still uses a lot of the trademark-layered guitar sound that we have heard in previous recordings. This is the first XIIhundredarrows EP to use vocals and showcases Jon Lawton's brutally honest lyrical content. The EP comes in a new 'ejector-case' and is completed with artwork also by Jon.
THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2014 EXCLUSIVE, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.
All tracks re-mastered on double vinyl in a handmade, individually numbered sleeve. Includes 21 track Rarities CD.
All tracks re-mastered on double vinyl in a handmade, individually numbered sleeve. Includes 21 track Rarities CD.
TRACK LISTING
SIDE A :
Suha,
Sad Pony Guerrilla Girl,
Crank Heart,
I Luv The Valley OH!,
Muppet Face,
Bog People.
SIDE B :
Boy Soprano,
I Do What I Want, When I Want,
No Friend Oh!,
Dear God, I Hate Myself,
Hi, Honey-Suckle.
SIDE C :
Dr. Troll,
Sad Redux-O-Grapher,
Ian Curtis Wishlist,
Fabulous Muscles (Mama Black Widow Version),
Mike.
SIDE D :
Rose Of Sharon (Grey Ghost Version),
Buzz Saw,
Puff And Bunny,
Hyunhye's Theme,
I Luv Abortion,
Black Drum Machine.
(Rarities CD) :
10000x A Minute,
Sad Cory-O-Grapher,
Asleep (Acoustic),
Don Diasco (Acoustic),
Clowne Towne (Acoustic Live),
Fleshettes,
Helsabot Of Caraleebot,
Red Croissant,
Jack The Ripper,
Juarez (feat. Eugene Robinson),
Don't Cha,
Kangaroo,
All We Ever Wanted,
Yo Yo Bye Bye,
Farther On,
Hated For Loving,
Sammy,
Quagga,
Hair Hopper,
Thylacine,
The Girl Is Mine (Pale Molester Version)
Over the course of the last two decades, Xiu Xiu’s prolific and influential output of acclaimed albums and collaborations has been consistently dazzling. They’ve released 17 full-length LPs that have been praised in outlets such as The New Yorker, The Wire, Rolling Stone, The Guardian, NME and many others. They have toured the globe relentlessly, performing in places as far off the beaten path as Kazakhstan and Lebanon and places institutionally vital as the Guggenheim and Centre Pompidou.
On Xiu Xiu’s latest album, 13" Frank Beltrame Italian Stiletto with Bison Horn Grips, Angela Seo and Jamie Stewart deliver some of the band’s most compelling and mesmerizing music to date. Mixed by John Congleton (Chelsea Wolfe, Swans, Lana Del Rey) this album is unlike anything the band has ever recorded previously and was motivated by the destruction of previous aesthetic notions, as well as the band's recent move from Los Angeles to Berlin.
On Xiu Xiu’s latest album, 13" Frank Beltrame Italian Stiletto with Bison Horn Grips, Angela Seo and Jamie Stewart deliver some of the band’s most compelling and mesmerizing music to date. Mixed by John Congleton (Chelsea Wolfe, Swans, Lana Del Rey) this album is unlike anything the band has ever recorded previously and was motivated by the destruction of previous aesthetic notions, as well as the band's recent move from Los Angeles to Berlin.
TRACK LISTING
1. Arp Omni
2. Maestro One Chord
3. Common Loon
4. Pale Flower
5. Veneficium
6. Sleep Blvd.
7. T.D.F.T.W.
8. Bobby Bland
9. Piña, Coconut & Cherry
The impulse that drove artists such as Suicide, Einstürzende Neubauten and Scott Walker to embark on extraordinary and uncompromising journeys, refusing to flinch in the face of humanity’s ugly truths and terrible beauty, also underpins the sound and vision of Xiu Xiu, aka LAbased duo Jamie Stewart and Angela Seo.
‘Angel Guts: Red Classroom’ is the sound of Xiu Xiu’s descent into the deepest blackness endurable.
‘Angel Guts: Red Classroom’ is the sound of Xiu Xiu’s descent into the deepest blackness endurable.
TRACK LISTING
Angel’s Guts
Archie Fades
Stupid In The Dark
Lawrence Liquors
Black Dick
New Life Immigration
El Naco
Adult Friends
The Silver Platter
Bitter Melon
A Knife In The Sun
Cynthya's Unisex
Botanica De Los Angeles
Red Classroom
The album was produced by John Congleton (Blondie, Sigur Ros), Greg Saunier of Deerhoof and Xiu Xiu's own Angela Seo.
It features guest appearances by fabled minimalist composer Charlemagne Palestine, L.A. Banjee Ball superstar commentator Enyce Smith, Swans guitar virtuoso Kristof Hahn and legendary drag artist and personal hero of Xiu Xiu, Vaginal Davis.
FORGET was recorded during a period of epic productivity for Xiu Xiu. While writing FORGET, they released the lauded Plays the Music of Twin Peaks, collaborated with Mitski on a song for an upcoming John Cameron Mitchell film, composed music for art installations by Danh Vo, recorded an album with Merzbow and scored an experimental reworking of the Mozart opera, The Magic Flute. All of this frantic, external activity lead to a softly damaged dreaminess and broadened intent that has not been heard before in other Xiu Xiu works.
Standout track, “Wondering” is one of the catchiest boogie pop gems in the Xiu Xiu catalog, but like much of FORGET, it still bears an underlying tension that manifests differently in each piece. From the haunted guitar duet of "Petite", the hilariously fraught lyrics of "Get Up," the advanced industrial boxing match of "Jenny GoGo," or the experimental goth explosion of "Faith, Torn Apart", all the songs, in their own ways, build to a roiling boil of a fate in vanishing.
The calligraphy on the cover translates literally to "we forget." It bows to the universality of everything and everyone's inevitable decline and foggy disappearance. Regarding the album title, Xiu Xiu singer Jamie Stewart said, “To forget uncontrollably embraces the duality of human frailty. It is a rebirth in blanked out renewal but it also drowns and mutilates our attempt to hold on to what is dear.” FORGET is both the palliative fade out of a traumatic's past but also the trampling pain of a beautiful one's decay.
Xiu Xiu is Shayna Dunkelman, Angela Seo and Jamie "Butch Jenny" Stewart.
It features guest appearances by fabled minimalist composer Charlemagne Palestine, L.A. Banjee Ball superstar commentator Enyce Smith, Swans guitar virtuoso Kristof Hahn and legendary drag artist and personal hero of Xiu Xiu, Vaginal Davis.
FORGET was recorded during a period of epic productivity for Xiu Xiu. While writing FORGET, they released the lauded Plays the Music of Twin Peaks, collaborated with Mitski on a song for an upcoming John Cameron Mitchell film, composed music for art installations by Danh Vo, recorded an album with Merzbow and scored an experimental reworking of the Mozart opera, The Magic Flute. All of this frantic, external activity lead to a softly damaged dreaminess and broadened intent that has not been heard before in other Xiu Xiu works.
Standout track, “Wondering” is one of the catchiest boogie pop gems in the Xiu Xiu catalog, but like much of FORGET, it still bears an underlying tension that manifests differently in each piece. From the haunted guitar duet of "Petite", the hilariously fraught lyrics of "Get Up," the advanced industrial boxing match of "Jenny GoGo," or the experimental goth explosion of "Faith, Torn Apart", all the songs, in their own ways, build to a roiling boil of a fate in vanishing.
The calligraphy on the cover translates literally to "we forget." It bows to the universality of everything and everyone's inevitable decline and foggy disappearance. Regarding the album title, Xiu Xiu singer Jamie Stewart said, “To forget uncontrollably embraces the duality of human frailty. It is a rebirth in blanked out renewal but it also drowns and mutilates our attempt to hold on to what is dear.” FORGET is both the palliative fade out of a traumatic's past but also the trampling pain of a beautiful one's decay.
Xiu Xiu is Shayna Dunkelman, Angela Seo and Jamie "Butch Jenny" Stewart.
'Girl with Basket of Fruit' is a rowdier, yet more stylistically splenetic offering than 2017's 'Forget', with the usual eye-catching list of collaborators this time including Eugene Robinson (Oxbow), Devin Hoff and Haitian percussionists Emmanuel Obi and Ayo Okafor. Xiu Xiu is the conduit for the uncompromising and unnervingly personal musical works of Los Angeles-based multi-instrumentalist Jamie Stewart, plus a roll call of collaborators both in studio and onstage.
TRACK LISTING
01. Girl With Basket Of Fruit
02. It Comes Out As A Joke
03. Amargi Ve Moo
04. Ice Cream Truck
05. Pumpkin Attack On Mommy And Daddy
06. The Wrong Thing
07. Mary Turner, Mary Turner
08. Scisssssssors
09. Normal Love
Repressed on vinyl for the first time in 15 years - As conceptual as Xiu Xiu's fusion of post-punk, gamelan, synth pop, folk, and noise might seem, the group's music never feels overly cerebral or detached. On the contrary, it's usually brimming over with often contradictory emotions: love, hate, sex, violence, fear, and humor cling together so tightly in Jamie Stewart's songs that they can't be separated. Harsh and beautiful words and sounds remain intertwined on La Foret, which ranks among Xiu Xiu's subtlest, and scariest, albums.
TRACK LISTING
1. Clover
2. Muppet Face
3. Mousey Toy
4. Pox
5. Baby Captain
6. Saturn
7. Rose Of Sharon
8. Ale
9. Bog People
10. Dangerous You Shouldn't Be Here
11. Yellow Raspberry
12. XIU XIU - La Forêt - DRUNK COMMENTARY
“Gothics” - a time before the word goth had even taken shape - believed in the do-it-yourself punk ethos that anyone could pick up an instrument. Gray clouds were starting to form and in the unlikely city of Hamburg, a brazen and haunting gang of five women formed Xmal Deutschland. As any true punk would, Xmal Deutschland’s members Caro May, Rita Simon, Manuela Rickers, Fiona Sangster and Anja Huwe, started the band despite any previous musical experience.
The “Schwarze Welt” seven-inch was released on the local punk label, ZickZack, in 1981 and introduced the band as an unsettling swarm of intensity. There’s an urgency in its repetitive dirge, a swirling mania that persists on the b-side with “Die Wolken” and “Großstadtindianer” whose crude synthesizer noises escalate in tension. Most of all, Huwe’s uniquely venomous German vocals quickly became embedded in the unbridled and burgeoning scene of glamorous gloom.
Punk’s independence from the stiff grip of tradition allowed the band to find solace in anti-establishment art and music, far from the conventions of the past. With their peacocked hair and thick kohl-lined eyes, Xmal Deutschland’s music retained both a restlessness and delicacy, transcending any confines of the “Neue Deutsche Welle” movement (much like their colleagues and friends DAF and Einstürzende Neubauten) with the release of the “Incubus Succubus” single in 1982. It instantly became a post-punk classic. The guitar’s buzz ransacks through the melody as the ghoulish primitiveness of Huwe’s voice teases that maybe, just maybe, she is the nightmarish creature of which to be aware. The b-sides, “Zu Jung Zu Alt” and “BlutIst Liebe,” keep strict militaristic dance beats as they teem in agitation.
That same year, the band performed in London as support for the Cocteau Twins; it was the platform they needed to ricochet into the arms of the ripped fishnet masses. Early Singles (1981-1982), is a map of the foundational movements of Xmal Deutschland, just seconds before takeoff. Bonus tracks on the compilation, “Kaellbermarsch” and a gritty live version of “Allein,” further accentuate their fusion of toughness with the quixotic decadence of atmospheric synthesizers. The band’s pursuit of something greater is palpable with this release, a reflection of a time that introduced accessibility to new means of making music following the onset of punk.
The “Schwarze Welt” seven-inch was released on the local punk label, ZickZack, in 1981 and introduced the band as an unsettling swarm of intensity. There’s an urgency in its repetitive dirge, a swirling mania that persists on the b-side with “Die Wolken” and “Großstadtindianer” whose crude synthesizer noises escalate in tension. Most of all, Huwe’s uniquely venomous German vocals quickly became embedded in the unbridled and burgeoning scene of glamorous gloom.
Punk’s independence from the stiff grip of tradition allowed the band to find solace in anti-establishment art and music, far from the conventions of the past. With their peacocked hair and thick kohl-lined eyes, Xmal Deutschland’s music retained both a restlessness and delicacy, transcending any confines of the “Neue Deutsche Welle” movement (much like their colleagues and friends DAF and Einstürzende Neubauten) with the release of the “Incubus Succubus” single in 1982. It instantly became a post-punk classic. The guitar’s buzz ransacks through the melody as the ghoulish primitiveness of Huwe’s voice teases that maybe, just maybe, she is the nightmarish creature of which to be aware. The b-sides, “Zu Jung Zu Alt” and “BlutIst Liebe,” keep strict militaristic dance beats as they teem in agitation.
That same year, the band performed in London as support for the Cocteau Twins; it was the platform they needed to ricochet into the arms of the ripped fishnet masses. Early Singles (1981-1982), is a map of the foundational movements of Xmal Deutschland, just seconds before takeoff. Bonus tracks on the compilation, “Kaellbermarsch” and a gritty live version of “Allein,” further accentuate their fusion of toughness with the quixotic decadence of atmospheric synthesizers. The band’s pursuit of something greater is palpable with this release, a reflection of a time that introduced accessibility to new means of making music following the onset of punk.
TRACK LISTING
1. Schwarze Welt
2. Die Wolken
3. Großstadtindianer
4. Kälbermarsch (from The Compilation “Lieber Zuviel AlsZuwenig”)
5. Incubus Succubus
6. Zu Jung Zu Alt
7. BlutIst Liebe
8. Allein (from The Compilation “Nosferatu Festival”)
The extraordinary impact Xmal Deutschland had upon British audiences in the early Eighties is difficult to convey forty years on. A spell was cast by the staccato rhythms, unmediated channels and mysterious (to us) language of their music, and by the vision and strength of the women involved. Their breakthrough support slot with Cocteau Twins and first two albums with 4AD dazzled and dug deep, speaking in tones and temperatures unlike any band before or since. “And at some point, it seemed to people we just...disappeared”, muses singer Anja Huwe. “So this myth of Xmal Deutschland just got bigger and bigger over the years…”
'Gift', which will fascinate newcomers just as it feeds the faithful, is brimming with presence. And if the word “gift” in German slyly relates to a kind of poison, nobody said this music was all sweetness and light. Even if its radiance resonates, four decades later. Xmal Deutschland’s 4AD years were a bold and bewitching boomerang. The magic’s back.
'Gift', which will fascinate newcomers just as it feeds the faithful, is brimming with presence. And if the word “gift” in German slyly relates to a kind of poison, nobody said this music was all sweetness and light. Even if its radiance resonates, four decades later. Xmal Deutschland’s 4AD years were a bold and bewitching boomerang. The magic’s back.
TRACK LISTING
LP Tracklisting:
LP1 - Fetisch:
1. Qual
2. Geheimnis
3. Young Man
4. In Der Nacht
5. Orient
6. Hand In Hand
7. Kaempfen
8. Danthem
9. Boomerang
10. Stummes Kind
LP2 - Tocsin:
1. Mondlicht
2. Eiland
3. Reigen
4. Tag Für Tag
5. Augen-blick
6. Begrab Mein Herz
7. Nachtschatten
8. Xmas In Australia
9. Derwisch
LP3 - Incubus Succubus II & Qual:
1. Incubus Succubus II
2. Vito
3. Qual - 12” Remix
4. Zeit
5. Sehnsucht
CD Tracklisting:
1. Qual
2. Geheimnis
3. Young Man
4. In Der Nacht
5. Orient
6. Hand In Hand
7. Kaempfen
8. Danthem
9. Boomerang
10. Stummes Kind
11. Qual
12. Sehnsucht
13. Zeit
14. Mondlicht
15. Eiland
16. Reigen
17. Tag Für Tag
18. Augen-blick
19. Begrab Mein Herz
20. Nachtschatten
21. Xmas In Australia
22. Derwisch
23. Incubus Succubus II
24. Vito
French electronic music from California: "Last Wave", the fifth solo album by the artist and musician Bernard Xolotl, was originally released on cassette in 1982. He named himself after the Aztec god of lightning and death. His music is influenced by the Berlin school of electronic music. This reissue includes a previously unreleased bonus track (not on vinyl)! As a teen, Bernard Xolotl (born 1951 in France) was introduced to electronic music through the works of musique concrete composers like Pierre Henry and Pierre Schaeffer, although he found the early recordings of Pink Floyd to be more inspirational. During the early 1970s, Xolotl began creating music of his own, working in studios across Europe and the US before settling in California in 1974, where he slowly built his own studio. Between 1978 and 1981 he recorded four solo cassette albums. On his album "Last Wave" Xolotl expanded his musical palette with many new instruments such as the Yamaha CS60 and the PPG.
Bernard Xolotl on the creating process of "Last Wave": The first "Last Wave" I started early on while still living in San Francisco, as a simple and longish piece which could be used as a background for the concerts I was giving with Daniel Kobialka and Richard Horowitz, both of whom I saw almost every day at that time. However, after I moved to the residential suburb of Marin to build up my studio, I kept adding tracks to it so it just became part of my next album. This was going to have more instruments and progressively, I got to do everything myself, playing and recording one track at a time. But mixing there was still out of the question, so I had to wait for the right opportunity to use the proper San Francisco studio with the best reverbs and acoustics. This took several years in the end and was the last album I didn't mix at home.
Bernard Xolotl on the creating process of "Last Wave": The first "Last Wave" I started early on while still living in San Francisco, as a simple and longish piece which could be used as a background for the concerts I was giving with Daniel Kobialka and Richard Horowitz, both of whom I saw almost every day at that time. However, after I moved to the residential suburb of Marin to build up my studio, I kept adding tracks to it so it just became part of my next album. This was going to have more instruments and progressively, I got to do everything myself, playing and recording one track at a time. But mixing there was still out of the question, so I had to wait for the right opportunity to use the proper San Francisco studio with the best reverbs and acoustics. This took several years in the end and was the last album I didn't mix at home.
Legendary UK dance act return with their first new album in over a decade. House music would sound very different without the work of X-Press 2. For the last three decades, they have been serving up a broad spectrum of music ranging from catchy, to anthemic, to moody and atmospheric. Having won an Ivor Novello award for their hit ‘Lazy’ (feat. David Byrne), and even had their music synced by fashion house Givenchy, they have always showed evoluPon, shown in their 4 previous studio albums. Having set the tone with singles ‘You Know (Everybody)’ and ‘Muse’, anPcipaPon is growing for this special double LP
TRACK LISTING
1. Moov
2. Zeven
3. Phasing You Out
4. Muse
5. I Can See The Love
6. The Rain
7. You Know
(Everybody)
8. Reach For Me
9. Cope
10. Bloom
11. Werq
Genre: Balearic, boogie, vintage
After a string of ambient and experimental releases across labels such as Bedroom Suck, Best Effort, Ken Oath and Analogue Attic, Matthew Hayes - veteran bassist of Z*F*E*X, welcomes his latest project Xpress Point, designed to keep your hips moving rather than kicked back on your couch. Born out of jam sessions and collaborations with artists such as Dreamcastmoe, Jitwam, Ziggy Zeitgeist, Finn Rees and Allysha Joy and an obsession with reclaiming the nostalgic sound sounds of the Korg M1 and Yamaha DX7, Xpress Point, which takes Its name from a local surf break off the coast of Phillip Island, draws heavily from the boogie tradition with a nod to vapourware, downtempo, Balearic and funk breaks.
Assembled in 2023 across Melbourne/Naarm, London and Berlin, from surf breaks to crusty drum breaks, Xpress Point is a vehicle for Hayes to search for the perfect bass line, explore funk minimalism, continue nurturing long time musical relationships with close friends and offer his own take on music to make you move.
After a string of ambient and experimental releases across labels such as Bedroom Suck, Best Effort, Ken Oath and Analogue Attic, Matthew Hayes - veteran bassist of Z*F*E*X, welcomes his latest project Xpress Point, designed to keep your hips moving rather than kicked back on your couch. Born out of jam sessions and collaborations with artists such as Dreamcastmoe, Jitwam, Ziggy Zeitgeist, Finn Rees and Allysha Joy and an obsession with reclaiming the nostalgic sound sounds of the Korg M1 and Yamaha DX7, Xpress Point, which takes Its name from a local surf break off the coast of Phillip Island, draws heavily from the boogie tradition with a nod to vapourware, downtempo, Balearic and funk breaks.
Assembled in 2023 across Melbourne/Naarm, London and Berlin, from surf breaks to crusty drum breaks, Xpress Point is a vehicle for Hayes to search for the perfect bass line, explore funk minimalism, continue nurturing long time musical relationships with close friends and offer his own take on music to make you move.
TRACK LISTING
A1. Been Remindin’ Me
A2. Newbutt Lane
A3. Wine W/Me
A4. Gregory
A5. Ohh Take!
B1. Feel Free
B2. Boi Plz Don’t Go
B3. Go For It
B4. Follow Me
Femme fronted pocket punk and domestic-synth pop from French DIY workaholics X Ray Pop. Compiled from the mastertapes of the original 1980s privately pressed vinyl LPs and minuscule cassette runs.
X Ray Pop are a group of whom are easy to scratch the surface, but almost impossible to get the bottom of. With an iconic moniker, telltale graphic style and demanding ‘buy me’ Day-Glo colour coding policy the French vinyl output of X Ray Pop as a specialist subject is, at first glance, memorable and achievable. Cocksure fans of Euro wave pop often proclaim X Ray expertise from behind many a record shop counter or blog page but the truth of the matter is that no-one, not even the band members themselves, have the knowledge or mental capacity to truly understand the splatter range of the god speed anti-tactics that have turned this interchangeable, unarrangable and thirty-year sustainable auto-pop combo into one of uber-legendary status. For those that tread the chemins of 80s Gallic record racks, from agit pop to Zeuhl-school (bridging synth pop to Celluloid) these 7″ square flags reading El Gato, L’Eurasienne, Alcool and Fuzzy Christmas are merely alluring landmarks pointing to another sebaceous underground of magnetic tape that flows swiftly (like Magma) awaiting Pirates and liberators alike. X marks the spot!
Peeping out of a warren of unexplored passages their seminal self-distributed debut singles and appearances on the genre defining alternative funk Alternative Funk Folie Distinguée compilation in 1984 made them an omnipresent fixture for the French tape wave scene that shaped a generation and influenced many more to follow. But beneath the trademark fluo- rescent sleeves stands the highly stacked foundations of endless cassette only releases that give this pocket punk husband and wife duo one of the most impressive and elusive back catalogues of all their cut ‘n’ paste French funk contemporaries. Plundering the depths of a self-estimated 400 recorded songs, X Ray Pop founder Didier Pilot has joined up with Finders Keepers sister label Cache Cache to reassess, rescue and reissue some of the bands most underexposed sonic snapshots, many of which were distributed in issues of less than 50 up to 500 for exclusive global releases in France, Spain, Portugal, Japan and America (where bands like Brian Ladd and Julie Frith’s Psyclones and The Beastie Boys championed the band as a likeminded inspiration.
CD edition (available separately) is accompanied by two vinyl releases - ‘Ding Dong Disques’ and ‘Ding Dong Dubs’ - compiling the rarest vinyl (‘...Disques’) and cassette (‘...Dubs’) releases (both featuring exclusive bonus tracks).
X Ray Pop are a group of whom are easy to scratch the surface, but almost impossible to get the bottom of. With an iconic moniker, telltale graphic style and demanding ‘buy me’ Day-Glo colour coding policy the French vinyl output of X Ray Pop as a specialist subject is, at first glance, memorable and achievable. Cocksure fans of Euro wave pop often proclaim X Ray expertise from behind many a record shop counter or blog page but the truth of the matter is that no-one, not even the band members themselves, have the knowledge or mental capacity to truly understand the splatter range of the god speed anti-tactics that have turned this interchangeable, unarrangable and thirty-year sustainable auto-pop combo into one of uber-legendary status. For those that tread the chemins of 80s Gallic record racks, from agit pop to Zeuhl-school (bridging synth pop to Celluloid) these 7″ square flags reading El Gato, L’Eurasienne, Alcool and Fuzzy Christmas are merely alluring landmarks pointing to another sebaceous underground of magnetic tape that flows swiftly (like Magma) awaiting Pirates and liberators alike. X marks the spot!
Peeping out of a warren of unexplored passages their seminal self-distributed debut singles and appearances on the genre defining alternative funk Alternative Funk Folie Distinguée compilation in 1984 made them an omnipresent fixture for the French tape wave scene that shaped a generation and influenced many more to follow. But beneath the trademark fluo- rescent sleeves stands the highly stacked foundations of endless cassette only releases that give this pocket punk husband and wife duo one of the most impressive and elusive back catalogues of all their cut ‘n’ paste French funk contemporaries. Plundering the depths of a self-estimated 400 recorded songs, X Ray Pop founder Didier Pilot has joined up with Finders Keepers sister label Cache Cache to reassess, rescue and reissue some of the bands most underexposed sonic snapshots, many of which were distributed in issues of less than 50 up to 500 for exclusive global releases in France, Spain, Portugal, Japan and America (where bands like Brian Ladd and Julie Frith’s Psyclones and The Beastie Boys championed the band as a likeminded inspiration.
CD edition (available separately) is accompanied by two vinyl releases - ‘Ding Dong Disques’ and ‘Ding Dong Dubs’ - compiling the rarest vinyl (‘...Disques’) and cassette (‘...Dubs’) releases (both featuring exclusive bonus tracks).
TRACK LISTING
Orques Et Goblins Intro
Dream Of A Shadow
Klac Klac
Alain Aime Samantha
BAL
Les Nonnes En Noir
Pamela
Living Dead
Le Mouchoir Violet
Nana Electronique
Oh Quel Supplice
Ca Te Mouille Le Bec
Orques Et Goblins Outro
Femme fronted pocket punk and domestic-synth pop from French DIY workaholics X Ray Pop. Compiled from the mastertapes of the original 1980s privately pressed vinyl LPs and minuscule cassette runs.
X Ray Pop are a group of whom are easy to scratch the surface, but almost impossible to get the bottom of. With an iconic moniker, telltale graphic style and demanding ‘buy me’ Day-Glo colour coding policy the French vinyl output of X Ray Pop as a specialist subject is, at first glance, memorable and achievable. Cocksure fans of Euro wave pop often proclaim X Ray expertise from behind many a record shop counter or blog page but the truth of the matter is that no-one, not even the band members themselves, have the knowledge or mental capacity to truly understand the splatter range of the god speed anti-tactics that have turned this interchangeable, unarrangable and thirty-year sustainable auto-pop combo into one of uber-legendary status. For those that tread the chemins of 80s Gallic record racks, from agit pop to Zeuhl-school (bridging synth pop to Celluloid) these 7″ square flags reading El Gato, L’Eurasienne, Alcool and Fuzzy Christmas are merely alluring landmarks pointing to another sebaceous underground of magnetic tape that flows swiftly (like Magma) awaiting Pirates and liberators alike. X marks the spot!
Peeping out of a warren of unexplored passages their seminal self-distributed debut singles and appearances on the genre defining alternative funk Alternative Funk Folie Distinguée compilation in 1984 made them an omnipresent fixture for the French tape wave scene that shaped a generation and influenced many more to follow. But beneath the trademark fluo- rescent sleeves stands the highly stacked foundations of endless cassette only releases that give this pocket punk husband and wife duo one of the most impressive and elusive back catalogues of all their cut ‘n’ paste French funk contemporaries. Plundering the depths of a self-estimated 400 recorded songs, X Ray Pop founder Didier Pilot has joined up with Finders Keepers sister label Cache Cache to reassess, rescue and reissue some of the bands most underexposed sonic snapshots, many of which were distributed in issues of less than 50 up to 500 for exclusive global releases in France, Spain, Portugal, Japan and America (where bands like Brian Ladd and Julie Frith’s Psyclones and The Beastie Boys championed the band as a likeminded inspiration.
X Ray Pop are a group of whom are easy to scratch the surface, but almost impossible to get the bottom of. With an iconic moniker, telltale graphic style and demanding ‘buy me’ Day-Glo colour coding policy the French vinyl output of X Ray Pop as a specialist subject is, at first glance, memorable and achievable. Cocksure fans of Euro wave pop often proclaim X Ray expertise from behind many a record shop counter or blog page but the truth of the matter is that no-one, not even the band members themselves, have the knowledge or mental capacity to truly understand the splatter range of the god speed anti-tactics that have turned this interchangeable, unarrangable and thirty-year sustainable auto-pop combo into one of uber-legendary status. For those that tread the chemins of 80s Gallic record racks, from agit pop to Zeuhl-school (bridging synth pop to Celluloid) these 7″ square flags reading El Gato, L’Eurasienne, Alcool and Fuzzy Christmas are merely alluring landmarks pointing to another sebaceous underground of magnetic tape that flows swiftly (like Magma) awaiting Pirates and liberators alike. X marks the spot!
Peeping out of a warren of unexplored passages their seminal self-distributed debut singles and appearances on the genre defining alternative funk Alternative Funk Folie Distinguée compilation in 1984 made them an omnipresent fixture for the French tape wave scene that shaped a generation and influenced many more to follow. But beneath the trademark fluo- rescent sleeves stands the highly stacked foundations of endless cassette only releases that give this pocket punk husband and wife duo one of the most impressive and elusive back catalogues of all their cut ‘n’ paste French funk contemporaries. Plundering the depths of a self-estimated 400 recorded songs, X Ray Pop founder Didier Pilot has joined up with Finders Keepers sister label Cache Cache to reassess, rescue and reissue some of the bands most underexposed sonic snapshots, many of which were distributed in issues of less than 50 up to 500 for exclusive global releases in France, Spain, Portugal, Japan and America (where bands like Brian Ladd and Julie Frith’s Psyclones and The Beastie Boys championed the band as a likeminded inspiration.
TRACK LISTING
Rana
Ding Dong
Petit Animal
Bulle De Sang
Dream Of A Shadow
Marilyn Au Paradis
Klac Klac
Louche
Le Bateau Cellulose
BAL
Ca Te Mouille Le Bec
Pam Pam
Alain Aime Samantha
Living Dead
Oh Quel Supplice
Rock N Popoff
Pamela
Les Nonnes En Noir
Oh Oui J'Aime
Le Mouchoir Violet
La Mort
Alcool
L'Eurasienne
La Morte (Doc Pilot Solo)
Alcool (Doc Pilot Solo)
L'Eurasienne (Doc Pilot Solo)
Contact / I Wanna Be A Dog Medley (Live)
For many music fans, this is the XTC classic album, the one there is always the most demand for... The album has been mixed for Dolby Atmos Immersive Audio from the original multi-track studio master tapes by Steven Wilson and is fully approved by XTC.
TRACK LISTING
SIDE A
A1. Summer's Cauldron
A2. Grass
A3. The Meeting Place
A4. That's Really Super Supergirl
A5. Ballet For A Rainy Day
A6. 1000 Umbrellas
A7. Season Cycle
SIDE B
B1. Earn Enough For Us
B2. Big Day
B3. Another Satellite
B4. Mermaid Smiled
B5. The Man Who Sailed Around His Soul
B6. Dear God
B7. Dying
B8. Sacrificial Bonfire
A vinyl LP issue of Cities On Flame by Xwave, originally released as a limited CDr/tape by the Brisbane-based Breakdance The Dawn label. recorded in 2008. Featuring guitar heaviness that some have compared the sounds to Kray Cherubs. I think it hits on the Vermonster "spirit of yma" leanings. Either descriptions are a great place to start. A limited edition of 250 copies, housed in silk-screened album art. Little Big Chief Records.
With Coexist, The xx defied any perceived "difficult second album" pressures to create a record that cemented their status as a truly global breakout act. On the follow up to their acclaimed, era-defining debut, the London based trio of Romy Madly Croft, Oliver Sim and Jamie Smith (aka Jamie xx) continued to deal in compelling, sparse atmospherics but expanded their musical world, especially through producer Jamie's growing electronic sound palette.
Coexist surpassed expectations to become the best-selling vinyl record of 2012. Meanwhile, the band progressed from playing intimate venues to becoming an international must-see live act, curating their own festivals and collaborating with symphony orchestras. A final ambitious run of 25 shows at New York's legendary Armory venue rounded off the album campaign, witnessed by fellow artists (such as Beyonce, Jay-Z and Madonna) and fans alike.
Coexist surpassed expectations to become the best-selling vinyl record of 2012. Meanwhile, the band progressed from playing intimate venues to becoming an international must-see live act, curating their own festivals and collaborating with symphony orchestras. A final ambitious run of 25 shows at New York's legendary Armory venue rounded off the album campaign, witnessed by fellow artists (such as Beyonce, Jay-Z and Madonna) and fans alike.
TRACK LISTING
Angels
Chained
Fiction
Try
Reunion
Sunset
Missing
Tides
Unfold
Swept Away
Our Song
The long awaited second album from The XX.
Three years on from their Mercury Prize winning debut, Romy Madley Croft, Oliver Sim and Jamie Smith are back with a new album, ‘Coexist’, and a new perspective.
Where ‘XX’ lent in close to whisper in your ear, ‘Coexist’ gazes warmly in your eyes. Much has happened to lead to this point: most pertinently, they’ve grown up.
Three years on from their Mercury Prize winning debut, Romy Madley Croft, Oliver Sim and Jamie Smith are back with a new album, ‘Coexist’, and a new perspective.
Where ‘XX’ lent in close to whisper in your ear, ‘Coexist’ gazes warmly in your eyes. Much has happened to lead to this point: most pertinently, they’ve grown up.
STAFF COMMENTS
Ryan says: Even more dazzling than their last! The vocals are intimate & soulful while subtle club rhythms chug along nicely to give it all just the right amount of impact.TRACK LISTING
1. Angels
2. Chained
3. Fiction
4. Try
5. Reunion
6. Sunset
7. Missing
8. Tides
9. Unfold
10. Swept Away
11. Our Song
I See You marks a new era for the London trio of Romy Madley Croft, Oliver Sim and Jamie Smith, both sonically and in terms of process. For while xx and Coexist were both made in relative isolation in London, I See You was recorded between March 2014 and August 2016 in New York, Marfa TX, Reykjavik, Los Angeles and London, and is characterised by a more outward-looking, open and expansive approach. Produced by Jamie Smith and Rodaidh McDonald, I See You is The xx at their boldest yet, performing with more clarity and ambition than ever before.
STAFF COMMENTS
Andy says: After two perfect, and pretty similar albums of clipped, late-night minimalism, The XX ring the changes, tinkering with their template with a record showing some of the dynamism and richness of Jamie's smash-hit solo album of 2 years ago. It still has all their hallmarks intact, just warped and deepened to beautiful effect. Brilliant.TRACK LISTING
1. Dangerous
2. Say Something Loving
3. Lips
4. A Violent Noise
5. Performance
6. Replica
7. Brave For You
8. On Hold
9. I Dare You
10. Test Me
Listening to “XX” is an uncomfortable, obtrusive experience, akin to eavesdropping on two lovers while they whisper and caress. So intimate are the songs contained within that at the very least, you feel you should turn away your face to hide your shame. In fact, it’s impossible to talk about The XX without talking about sex. Like so many bed sheets strewn across the floor, Romy and Oliver’s duets are littered with sexual anxiety, claustrophobia and desire and their take on romance is a particularly urban one, more council high rise and public transport than the Crystal and Gucci version favoured by the R&B they love so much. “XX” is a debut album that’s old beyond its tender years but such is its fragility, it’s only when the final note of “Stars”, the albums closing track has dissolved that we can breathe again, relieved that we’ve made it to the end, safe and in each other’s arms.
STAFF COMMENTS
Darryl says: An intimate listen, and one that makes it perfect for the winter months. Sparse to the point to the point of fragility their debut album is moody, menacing and downright brilliant.TRACK LISTING
1. Intro
2. VCR
3. Crystalised
4. Islands
5. Heart Skipped A Beat
6. Fantasy
7. Shelter
8. Basic Space
9. Infinity
10. Night Time
11. Stars
Unless you have been living under a rock, XXXTentacion is a name that needs no introduction. A true artist who was tragically slain in 2018 – XXXTentacion left an indelible mark on culture and music in his all too brief 20 years on this planet. His catalog will go on to live forever, and he left one final piece of music for the world with "Skins". The album comes in at a short, but sweet 10 tracks with songs that delve into Xxxtentacion's deep and complex mind, and soul. In the weeks following his murder, he won Best New Artist at the BET Awards, scored a Billboard number 1 with "Bad!" and won best album for "17" at the AMAs. Boasting a more lyrical flow than most of his new school contemporaries, but the post-genre, lo-fi aesthetic the Soundcloud era is known for, XXXTentacion looked set to dominate the scene for years. While the world may have been robbed of his talent all too soon, this LP is a worthy goodbye from the young artist.
TRACK LISTING
1. Introduction
2. Guardian Angel
3. Train Food
4. Whoa (Mind In Awe)
5. Bad!
6. Staring At The Sky
7. One Minute
8. Difference
9. I Don't Let Go
10. What Are You So Afraid Of
A passion for exploration comes naturally to Xylouris White, the ruggedly visionary duo formed of Cretan lute player George Xylouris and revered Australian drummer Jim White. For their debut album, 2014’s Goats, Xylouris White compared themselves to the titular animals, wandering fearlessly through rough-hewn terrain. Two years later, they showed how far their horizons could reach on 2016’s majestically expansive Black Peak, named after a mountain top in Crete.
Just 15 well-toured months later, the duo’s exploratory instincts drive them further onwards still on their third album, Mother, named to denote “new life”. As Xylouris puts it, “Mother is the extension of Goats and Black Peak. Three things, all part of a whole. Goats are mothers, Zeus was raised on Amaltheia’s milk, Black Peak is Mother Earth… Mother Earth is the mother of everything.”
Across Mother’s nine tracks, Xylouris White nurture fecund growths from the spaces between their instruments. Sometimes the songs drive with an invigorating urgency; sometimes they brood, plead, yearn and lull. The duo seem to discover each other anew at every turn, teasing the songs out from their fluid chemistry with the kind of virtuosity that knows when to listen, accommodate and learn afresh. “A theme of the album is the significance of simplicity and a child-like approach,” Xylouris explains. “So, we connect mother and child and play instruments as toys. Xylouris White is still gestating.”
That ongoing gestation is a remarkable extension of already remarkable back-stories. Xylouris is a scion of one of Greece’s most revered musical families. His father is legendary singer / lyra player Psarantonis. A child when he began playing the lute, Xylouris would accompany his father in a backing role. Yet just as Psarantonis stretched the lyra’s range, so Xylouris elevated his eight-string laouto to the lead role in his Xylouris Ensemble.
Jim White has commanded international attention for more than two decades as part of Australia’s Dirty Three, storm’s-eye instrumental diviners whose emotionally choppy soundscapes brim with elemental force. Now New York-based, White has often been called on to collaborate with numerous alt-A-listers (including: Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, PJ Harvey, Cat Power and Smog), where he redeploys the rolling momentum of free-jazz to variously supple, sensitive and seismic ends. Most recently he can be collaborated with Kurt Vile and Courtney Barnett on their acclaimed album “Lotta Sea Lice”.
PJ Harvey likened White’s playing to dancing. Yet if dancers need partners, Mother also pays testimony to a friendship forged over almost three decades. Xylouris was performing with his Ensemble when he met White in Melbourne in the early 1990s; back then, the drummer was in his pre-Dirty Three avant-rock outfit Venom P Stinger. In retrospect, a cycle of influence emerges: Xylouris’s 1990s live contributions to the Dirty Three set a blueprint for Xylouris White, yet the Dirty Three were themselves inspired by Xylouris and Psarantonis.
That mutual exchange resonates throughout Mother. Album opener “In Medias Res” finds the duo already in motion, feeling their way around one another, seeking out ways to bring a song to full bloom. Proving they can also be thrillingly direct when the mood takes them, “Only Love” follows with a brilliantly barrelling sense of momentum, White’s powerhouse percussion urging Xylouris’s liquid-fingered lute-playing and impassioned baritone on to increasing heights of urgency.
From here, Xylouris White proceed as if by intuition, feeling their way around new terrain. “Motorcycle Kondilies” is muscular and epic, White’s rimshots providing on-alert accompaniment as Xylouris’s reaching vocal and dancing lute lines build in intensity. If the marching rhythm and pretty lute melody of “Spud’s Garden” highlights the duo’s occasional elegant side, “Daphne” and “Achilles Heel” showcase Xylouris White’s at their most hypnotic and brooding. “Woman from Anogeia” hosts a particularly emotive vocal from Xylouris; “Call and Response” is the duo at their freeform finest, circling each other querulously, again teasing at possibility. Finally, resolution is embraced openly on the tactile and reverberant “Lullaby”, as lovely a track as any Xylouris White have birthed.
As on Black Peak, Mother’s labours benefited from the midwifery of choice collaborators. Fugazi’s Guy Picciotto produced again. Also on hand this time was Anna Roberts-Gevalt of old-time folk duo Anna & Elizabeth, whose earthy violin/viola lines and exquisitely sighing vocals can be heard on the track “Lullaby”.
The result is an album of extraordinary accomplishment from two supremely seasoned players who’ve kept a close kinship with the richly, rewardingly inquisitive instincts of their youth. In Xylouris’s words, “It's the natural maturity of fruits as they ripen. As fruit matures by the rhythm of nature, so the music grows at its own pace. So, here are two maturing fruits giving the taste of their present maturity – and they’re still children.”
Just 15 well-toured months later, the duo’s exploratory instincts drive them further onwards still on their third album, Mother, named to denote “new life”. As Xylouris puts it, “Mother is the extension of Goats and Black Peak. Three things, all part of a whole. Goats are mothers, Zeus was raised on Amaltheia’s milk, Black Peak is Mother Earth… Mother Earth is the mother of everything.”
Across Mother’s nine tracks, Xylouris White nurture fecund growths from the spaces between their instruments. Sometimes the songs drive with an invigorating urgency; sometimes they brood, plead, yearn and lull. The duo seem to discover each other anew at every turn, teasing the songs out from their fluid chemistry with the kind of virtuosity that knows when to listen, accommodate and learn afresh. “A theme of the album is the significance of simplicity and a child-like approach,” Xylouris explains. “So, we connect mother and child and play instruments as toys. Xylouris White is still gestating.”
That ongoing gestation is a remarkable extension of already remarkable back-stories. Xylouris is a scion of one of Greece’s most revered musical families. His father is legendary singer / lyra player Psarantonis. A child when he began playing the lute, Xylouris would accompany his father in a backing role. Yet just as Psarantonis stretched the lyra’s range, so Xylouris elevated his eight-string laouto to the lead role in his Xylouris Ensemble.
Jim White has commanded international attention for more than two decades as part of Australia’s Dirty Three, storm’s-eye instrumental diviners whose emotionally choppy soundscapes brim with elemental force. Now New York-based, White has often been called on to collaborate with numerous alt-A-listers (including: Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, PJ Harvey, Cat Power and Smog), where he redeploys the rolling momentum of free-jazz to variously supple, sensitive and seismic ends. Most recently he can be collaborated with Kurt Vile and Courtney Barnett on their acclaimed album “Lotta Sea Lice”.
PJ Harvey likened White’s playing to dancing. Yet if dancers need partners, Mother also pays testimony to a friendship forged over almost three decades. Xylouris was performing with his Ensemble when he met White in Melbourne in the early 1990s; back then, the drummer was in his pre-Dirty Three avant-rock outfit Venom P Stinger. In retrospect, a cycle of influence emerges: Xylouris’s 1990s live contributions to the Dirty Three set a blueprint for Xylouris White, yet the Dirty Three were themselves inspired by Xylouris and Psarantonis.
That mutual exchange resonates throughout Mother. Album opener “In Medias Res” finds the duo already in motion, feeling their way around one another, seeking out ways to bring a song to full bloom. Proving they can also be thrillingly direct when the mood takes them, “Only Love” follows with a brilliantly barrelling sense of momentum, White’s powerhouse percussion urging Xylouris’s liquid-fingered lute-playing and impassioned baritone on to increasing heights of urgency.
From here, Xylouris White proceed as if by intuition, feeling their way around new terrain. “Motorcycle Kondilies” is muscular and epic, White’s rimshots providing on-alert accompaniment as Xylouris’s reaching vocal and dancing lute lines build in intensity. If the marching rhythm and pretty lute melody of “Spud’s Garden” highlights the duo’s occasional elegant side, “Daphne” and “Achilles Heel” showcase Xylouris White’s at their most hypnotic and brooding. “Woman from Anogeia” hosts a particularly emotive vocal from Xylouris; “Call and Response” is the duo at their freeform finest, circling each other querulously, again teasing at possibility. Finally, resolution is embraced openly on the tactile and reverberant “Lullaby”, as lovely a track as any Xylouris White have birthed.
As on Black Peak, Mother’s labours benefited from the midwifery of choice collaborators. Fugazi’s Guy Picciotto produced again. Also on hand this time was Anna Roberts-Gevalt of old-time folk duo Anna & Elizabeth, whose earthy violin/viola lines and exquisitely sighing vocals can be heard on the track “Lullaby”.
The result is an album of extraordinary accomplishment from two supremely seasoned players who’ve kept a close kinship with the richly, rewardingly inquisitive instincts of their youth. In Xylouris’s words, “It's the natural maturity of fruits as they ripen. As fruit matures by the rhythm of nature, so the music grows at its own pace. So, here are two maturing fruits giving the taste of their present maturity – and they’re still children.”
TRACK LISTING
1. In Medias Res
2. Only Love
3. Motorcycle Kondilies
4. Spud’s Garden
5. Daphne
6. Achilles Heel
7. Woman From Anogeia
8. Call And Response
9. Lullaby
“C’est ce que je fais qui m’apprend ce que je cherche. (It’s what I do that teaches me what I’m looking for.)” - Pierre Soulages
Jim White and George Xylouris have been friends since Jim’s early days in Dirty Three. Their musical connection goes back to then and led them to start Xylouris White in 2013. Since then, they have released three albums and been touring the world. ‘The Sisypheans’ is their fourth release.
Jim on ‘The Sisypheans’: “As George Xylouris and I traveled around these last five years, we found ourselves talking about Sisyphus. George had a theory about Sisyphus, condemned to climb that hill with that rock forever. George saw him carrying the rock in different ways, in his left hand, behind his back, pushing it with his head while crawling and noticing each journey the seasons changing, the grass and the insects. The meaning was clear and for George it fit with playing the popular Cretan song ‘Proto Hanoti’ many turns each day for his life and discovering it new each time... I found it fit in with a long held set of thoughts I’d had, that if one concentrated activity and thought enough on one thing it would expand and be a whole world. It sounded like the same idea and also with the idea of first principles, for it to be new each time: that is our job as musicians. We would talk about this as we traveled playing music. One day a waitress heard us talking, and she asked if we knew the Camus essay about Sisyphus. We didn’t, but I got it in English and then we found it in Greek and it fit too. When we were playing in Louisville and working on Black Peak, we stayed at a house and saw the artwork you see on the cover, by Elsa Hansen Oldham... We’d finished the circular trilogy of Goats, Black Peak, and Mother and we found ourselves making -. What we do leads us to who we are, the Sisypheans.”
Jim White and George Xylouris have been friends since Jim’s early days in Dirty Three. Their musical connection goes back to then and led them to start Xylouris White in 2013. Since then, they have released three albums and been touring the world. ‘The Sisypheans’ is their fourth release.
Jim on ‘The Sisypheans’: “As George Xylouris and I traveled around these last five years, we found ourselves talking about Sisyphus. George had a theory about Sisyphus, condemned to climb that hill with that rock forever. George saw him carrying the rock in different ways, in his left hand, behind his back, pushing it with his head while crawling and noticing each journey the seasons changing, the grass and the insects. The meaning was clear and for George it fit with playing the popular Cretan song ‘Proto Hanoti’ many turns each day for his life and discovering it new each time... I found it fit in with a long held set of thoughts I’d had, that if one concentrated activity and thought enough on one thing it would expand and be a whole world. It sounded like the same idea and also with the idea of first principles, for it to be new each time: that is our job as musicians. We would talk about this as we traveled playing music. One day a waitress heard us talking, and she asked if we knew the Camus essay about Sisyphus. We didn’t, but I got it in English and then we found it in Greek and it fit too. When we were playing in Louisville and working on Black Peak, we stayed at a house and saw the artwork you see on the cover, by Elsa Hansen Oldham... We’d finished the circular trilogy of Goats, Black Peak, and Mother and we found ourselves making -. What we do leads us to who we are, the Sisypheans.”
TRACK LISTING
Tree Song
Goat Hair Bow
Heart’s Eyes
Telephone Song
Black Sea
Inland
Wedding Song
Ascension