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.” 

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

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.” 

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

Electronic musician Xopher Davidson drops ‘Lux Perpetua’ via Daydream Library Series. A noted protége of Maryanne Amacher, Xopher recorded these two tracks in 2020 utilizing vintage synths within the beloved music studios of Mills College in Oakland, California. Xopher builds his experiments in electronic sound from a basis in painting, photography, and film, and through an interest in electronic circuits going back to building radios and homemade circuits as a kid. He has built and explored the sound world of a homebrew modular synthesizer comprised of surplus laboratory equipment: various oscillators, pulse generators, filters and an analog computer.

He has released 4 albums as ANTIMATTER : ‘Transfixion’, ‘Antimatter Vs. Antimatter’, ‘Our Lady of the Skies’, and ‘Reset’. As an audio engineer, Davidson has worked on projects composed / performed by: the League of Automatic Composers, John Cage, Marcel Duchamp, Subtropic, Diamanda Galas, Kid 606, DJ Rupture, Darwin's Bitch, Once 11, Mix MasterMike, Hans Grusel, Phoenecia, Jonah Sharp, We, Zbigniew Karkowski, and Iannis Xenakis.

"Absolute Phase" is dark, non-linear; frozen in deep ice. Teeming with macrobiotic as the cogs of organic existence grind to an almost stationary halt. I guess it's title alludes to the dual stationary position of his oscillators - just guessing!

"Lux Perpetua" carries on the theme onto side B but with a little more movement and evolution of phase. Piercing tones are introduced subtly but noticeably, and sonic filters are applied to some of the frequency range to create feelings of low pass. The 'buzz', or distortion, seems to increase as we near the track's climax as well as some rather pleasing upper register harmonies, hidden fathoms deep within the wall of sound.

File under: dark drone, seismic ambient, canyonesque noise. 

TRACK LISTING

Side 1
1. Absolute Phase (18:25)
Side 2
1. Lux Perpetua (16:17)

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”.

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

Once the listener has set the needle down on the record and heard for themselves the intimacies and impressionism, abstraction and unfiltered emotion found in ‘The Forest In Me’, Xylouris White’s fifth album release (and first since 2019’s ‘The Sisypheans’), one may wonder what was the mood of the room in which this music came to be. Only three people can say for sure, and even then...

Guy Picciotto: “In late 2019, we had begun taking steps to working on new material. In a haphazard fashion, Jim and I started tracking drums in my basement, cutting them up into shapes with no set landing in mind. Some of it we sent to Giorgos in Crete - he responded with his lyra and his lute. Without intention we had initiated a process that would soon become more ruthlessly mandated by the world events that separated and isolated us to three corners of the globe in the following year.”

Giorgos Xylouris: “Every harmonic is a fallen tree trunk that I climb over. I’m stepping in muddy waters in the woods or coming to a clearing - that is part of the journey I take whether I am playing music with an audience or recording alone. It’s a journey around the forest of my inner self. That’s how I see it.”

Jim White: “I ended up in the pandemic in rural Australia on care duty and then back in Melbourne alone in a house with an imminent, ultimately very long lockdown.”

Giorgos: “The past several years created a very particular situation that none of us had ever lived through, in such seclusion in our homes and within ourselves. In the isolation I found other wrinkles/folds in my inner being. That helped create this music, as did the unusual way we went about recording.”

Jim: “The night before the curfew I acquired some mics from a studio and bought an interface. And learnt to record. And tracked. George tracked in Crete. Guy, in New York, helped assemble the structures and find combinations.”

Giorgos: “So every note, every phrase, every instrument came from in and around our inner forests.”

Guy: “On previous projects our customary way of working was to be in one room all together; an inward facing triangle of instant communication leading to marathon sessions from which we would build an archive from which to sculpt the records, finding the binding lines that connected the statements we were trying to make.”

Giorgos: “Using whatever instruments I had with me in the studio at home, in the silence I discovered things I hadn’t had the peace to uncover previously. I saw that music isn’t static, moving only in its usual ways within the parameters of its centrifugal force–it can move a long way further in other directions.”

Guy: “With this record we still had that stash to draw from but now we were also adding material composed from this enforced new geometry; this different, wider triangle where we each assumed different roles than we had previously with writing, engineering, arranging all mixed up like finger paints.”

Giorgos: “While we were recording, I noticed that the music had a certain solitude about it, both from the title and from inside. That led us to find more music from within that we had not yet discovered.”

Jim: “The idea emerged, naturally nourished and nourishing a record with none of our usual angles and themes, no verbal language, no angst nor sudden dynamics, a more subtle structure. And we found ‘The Forest In Me’.”

TRACK LISTING

Second Sister
Latin White
Seeing The Everyday
Missing Heart
Tails Of Time
Night Club
Forest In Me
Red Wine
Underworld
Witnessed By Angels
Memories And Souvenirs
Long Doll

X Club. (Steel City Dance Discs) launch their label 'Hide The Junk'
Big tip for fans of Fjakk, Shed, Luke Slater, Kettama etc.

The production duo of Ben Clarke and Jesse Morath. Founded in Brisbane / Meanjin Australia’s warehouse scene and exported to London and beyond, their music is inspired by early 90s techno all the way through to future-facing drum’n’bass, with X Club. carving out a space entirely of their own thanks to their authentic and eclectic take on dance music with serious consideration for underlying groove.

With releases on labels such as Steel City Dance Discs, SPANDAU20 / CROWDS, 99CTS Records and Stay On Sight, X Club have seen their records reach global audiences with frequent touring across the UK, Europe, North America, Asia and Australia.

"HTJ001" is the debut release and launch pad of their own label Hide The Junk, which will explore the groovier, percussive and fun side of techno. It features four tracks that have been heavily tried and tested across many dancefloors over the past 9 months and teased/  promoted across the duos debut Boiler Room at AVA in Belfast, as well as Lot Radio NYC and HÖR Berlin. It's a high powered juggernaut of blistering modern techno. 

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: High speed wreckin' ball techno from Steel City Dance Discs signing X Club who keep up the relentless rumble across four intense, Rush Friendly bangers. Nice to spot a Chemical Bros sample too ;)

TRACK LISTING

A1. Block Rockin
A2. End Of The Line
B1. It Isn’t Nice To Fool Mother Nature
B2. Exertion (Transmission)

The Brisbane beasts resurface for their 2nd EP on the label, wreaking havoc with a 4-track attack of pumping, straight-to-the-face rhythms which incorporate classic hard house tropes alongside modern, speaker-busting engineering to create a melee of techno goodness that you imagine DJs like VTSS, Shacke, Ben Sims and such like are getting plenty of road miles out of at the moment.

There's no let-up in intensity throughout the four tracks, although final track "Only If U" does let us settle into a half-time breakbeat if we've pushed it too hard the previous three tracks... This is strictly for the headstrong, die hard ravers out there! 

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Gut-wrenching, wreckin' ball techno from the hottest camp in the UK right now. Really feelin' the hard house tropes injected into this one!

TRACK LISTING

A1. Say No More 
A2. These Streets Look Dangerous 
B1. Hide The Junk
B2. Only If U Ft. Pretty Girl 

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.

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?

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

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.

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!”

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

Real Gone Music is proud to present Germfree Adolescents, one of the signature albums of the early (1978) British punk movement, in an "x-ray clear" vinyl edition that serves as an ideal prism through which to see the hypocrisy of consumerist culture. The one and only LP release from X-Ray Spex and its irrepressible frontwoman Poly Styrene has been deemed by everybody from Greil Marcus to Robert Christgau to Spin to Mojo as one of the greatest punk albums ever made, and for this reissue, we've done it right; besides the clear vinyl (offering excellent sound), we've reproduced the inner lyric sheet, where you can read Poly's brilliant observations about the plastic, corporate nature of modern society. All of which she sings in a passionate yowl all her own (with Lora Logic among others backing on saxophone); this is not only one of the most penetratingly observant punk records, it's also one of the most passionate, and, surprisingly enough, catchy. Check out "The Day the World Turned Day-Glo" and "Germ Free Adolescents" if it's hooks you're after; if it's righteous anger and a noisy racket you're seeking, every track will do ya.

TRACK LISTING

Art- I- Ficial
Obsessed With You
Warrior In Woolworths
Let's Submerge
I Can't Do Anything
Identity
Genetic Engineering
I Live Off You
I Am A Poseur
Germ Free Adolescents
Plastic Bag
The Day The World Turned Dayglo
Highly Inflammable
Age

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

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.

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.

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.

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)

Rarely is so much meaning conveyed in the space of six letters. And with regard to Xiu Xiu, its applications are infinite: always relevant, always provocative, always surprising, always evolving, always glittering.

It's fitting, then, that as the band (now comprised of Jamie Stewart, Angela Seo, Bettina Escauriza, Marc Riordan, and returning member Devin Hoff) marks a decade in existence, such a powerful sentiment would serve as the title of its latest album.

At its core, Always symbolizes the mutual camaraderie with and deep dedication to each person who has internalized Xiu Xiu’s work, tattooed its name on their skin or soul, and throughout the past ten years made the band a part of their lives.

The origin of these intense, everlasting bonds is Stewart. His fearless lyrics have given voice to life's most untouchable and taboo subjects, while his distinctively committed but hushed vocals crystallize and medicate their unsettling impact.

Those familiar with the band's work will take particular note of the times Stewart re-visits profoundly personal accounts from his own life -- most prominently on "Beauty Towne" (a not-so-uplifting postscript to the muddle of those depicted in "Clowne Towne" from 2004's Fabulous Muscles) and "Black Drum Machine" (which finishes the narrative of incest and molestation begun on "Black Keyboard" from 2008's Women as Lovers).

Elsewhere, Stewart's willingness to broach any subject finds him confronting both the topical and the intimate in equally meaningful ways: "Gul Mudin" seeks to bring comfort to an Afghani teenage boy murdered for sport by American soldiers; "Joey's Song" strives to do the same for Stewart's brother in the aftermath of a family tragedy.

"Factory Girls" chronicles the sexual objectification and desperate existence of Chinese female, migrant workers. "I Luv Abortion," featuring perhaps Stewart's most unhinged vocal ever, careens through the resolute heartache of a friend too young to be pregnant and seeks to personalize this most political issue.

But while such writing is worthy of reverence, Always' most arresting moments lie in its sonic innovation -- transforming avant pop elements from an undertone into a bright black focal point while adding new influences such a choral music, kraut rock and animal field recordings.

Produced by Deerhoof's Greg Saunier (who also contributes drums and vocals to the album) and mixed by John Congleton (Antony and the Johnsons, Marylin Manson, the Roots) the album is positively vibrant.

Opening track and first single, "Hi," is an immediate invitation for listeners to make their presence known, as Stewart commands you to voice the title refrain along with him: "If you are wasting your life / Say "Hi" / If you are alone tonight / Say "Hi."

The song's infectious, dance-worthy beat is only the first of many instances when Stewart’s unflinching lyricism is coupled with pure, singable melodies -- the kind of pairings that bring into stark relief how often life's worst moments are shouldered with a skewed, cheery grin.

Nowhere is this contrast more apparent than on the bittersweet duet "Honeysuckle," a pleasantly uplifting cadence undercut by feelings of utter despair and hopelessness in Seo's lyrics.

That such dazzling music can so seamlessly blend with such undeniably dark content is but one of the ways Always succeeds in accentuating the intent that is central to all Xiu Xiu creates.

During recording, Stewart saw a Bible verse spray painted on the wall of his gym. He interpreted the verse to mean, "Horror and beauty are the same; love and hate are the same, the tireless dread of our own lives and of living can be embraced with the same fervency as what we find beautiful."

TRACK LISTING

1. Hi
2. Joey's Song
3. Beauty Towne
4. Honey Suckle
5. I Luv Abortion
6. The Oldness
7. Chimney's Afire (Mickensian Suicide)
8. Gul Mudin
9. Born To Suffer
10. Factory Girl
11. Smear The Queen
12. Black Drum Machine

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.

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.

 '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

Over the course of the last two decades, Xiu Xiu’s prolific output of critically acclaimed albums and collaborations has been consistent and dazzling. They have collaborated with songwriters like Mitski, Sharon Van Etten, Deerhoof, Chelsea Wolfe, Twin Shadow and others, as well as avant-garde composers like Charlemagne Palestine. They’ve released many full-length albums that have been praised in outlets such as The New Yorker, Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, The Guardian, NME and others, and have toured the globe relentlessly, performing alongside artists such as Deerhoof, Swans, Tune-Yards, and more at places like The Guggenheim, Primavera Festival, Benicassim Festival, Pitchfork Festival and others. Xiu Xiu has spent twenty years grappling with how to process, to be empathetic towards, to disobey and to reorganize horror.

Ignore Grief is a record of halves. Angela Seo sings on half of the record. Jamie Stewart sings on half of the record. Half of it is real. Half of it is imaginary. The real songs attempt to turn the worst life has offered to five people the band is wconnected with into some kind of desperate shape that does something, anything, other than grind and brutalize their hearts and memory within these stunningly horrendous experiences. The imaginary songs are an expansion and abstract exploration of the early rock and roll “Teen Tragedy” genre as jumping off point to decontaminate the band’s own overwhelming emotions in knowing and living with what has happened to these five people.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Xiu Xiu have admittedly, never been the easiest band to follow. While their dedication to the more off-piste sonic arenas has certainly showed what a talented and inventive bunch they are, i've not really got it before. 'Ignore Grief' has made it twig for me, with the juxtaposition of really quite tender instrumental restraint meeting hellscape industrial noise battering me into submission. It's intense, huge and brilliant.

TRACK LISTING

1. The Real Chaos Cha Cha Cha
2. 666 Photos Of Nothing
3. Esquerita, Little Richard
4. Maybae Baeby
5. Tarsier, Tarsier, Tarsier, Tarsier
6. Pahrump
7. Border Factory
8. Dracula Parrot, Moon Moth
9. Brothel Creeper
10. For M. 

Xiu Xiu, now a three-piece featuring Jamie Stewart, Caralee Mcelroy, and Ches Smith, crafts a sickeningly intimate art that is equally sensual and icy. A double CD set of covers and remixes. The first disc, a batch of covers, is an exercise in sisterly fan-dom and inspired innovation. Larsen's version of "Mousey Toy" is a six-minute electro-pop build with spoken computer vocals. Oxbow's cover of "Saturn" is gothic folk, backwoodsy and death-marching. Recent Xiu Xiu tour-mates Sunset Rubdown do "Apistat Commander" as a majestic pop orchestra with drums that sound like slamming doors. Marissa Nadler covers "Clowne Towne", reworking it into stately, ornate folk. Kid 606 revamps "Fabulous Muscles" as a big, warm, clustering blossom of claustrophobic dance music. Why? plays "The Wig Master" as fractured avant-pop. The final track on the covers side is Devendra Banhart's take on "Support Our Troops", showcased originally on a split 7" with Xiu Xiu. Finishing off the record with Devendra's optimist, playful croon, Stewart's chilling mini-essay on warmongering and not thinking for yourself becomes street corner doo-wop. The remix disc has remixes by; Gold Chains, Kid606, To Live And Shave In LA, Warbucks, Xiu Xiu, Grouper, Cherry Point, Son, and This Song Is A Mess But So Am I.

Brand new signing XOA maintains a foundation in broken beat and house music, while drawing from classic afrobeat, funk and jazz - making this release more right-now than a fake news feed about Kim Jong Un. Headed up by multi-instrumentalist (and Gentleman’s Dub Club member) Nick Tyson, XOA fuses golden era 1970s afrobeat with deep grooves and contemporary electronic productions sizzling with analogue synths, guitars and percussive rhythms. Collaboration has always been at the heart of the project, with an emphasis on live instrumentation, crucial to transmitting a rich energy on the tracks.

Hailing from London, Tyson has been building a keen following with his live gigs and DJ sets, including a sell-out live show at the Jazz Cafe featuring Eva Lazarus and Dele Sosimi on vocals. The new release on Soundway reflects his steady progression towards sophisticated production and collaborative processes, as well as his ability to effortlessly cross multiple genres.

TRACK LISTING

Mass
Mon Ecole
Diaspora
Echoes

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

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).

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.

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)

The 1978 classic album, newly cut from masters by Jason Mitchell at Loud mastering and approved by Andy Partridge. Available on vinyl for the first time in decades as a 2-disc set complete with the Go+ Dub EP.

Reissue of the classic debut album from 1978.

TRACK LISTING

Side 1:
Radios In Motion
X Wires
This Is Pop
Do What You Do
Statue Of Liberty
All Along The Watch Tower

Side 2:
Atom Age
Set Myself On Fire
I’m Bugged
New Town Animal
Spinning Top
Neon Shuffle

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.

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.

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

Arguably the pin up for the Soundcloud Rap-era, XXXTentacion's career was as controversial as it was influencial, with the artists' legacy continuing to inform the new generation of DIY rappers out there today. Dropping in 2017, his debut LP "17" was a departure from the single that gained him noteriety, "Look At Me!", and foreshadowing of what was to come. With a talent ahead of his time, and a life cut too short, Xxxtentacion's legacy will forever live on in physical form via these releases. Swerving the rap rock and trap he'd burst onto the Soundcloud scene with, "17" sees X offer an alternative to traditional RnB, incorporating elements of emo and indie, all smudged and scuzzed in the artist's trademark lo-fi style. The result is an album Cody Chesnutt would have released if he'd just come out of juvie with a profound xanax addiction. 

TRACK LISTING

A1. The Explanation
A2. Jocelyn Flores
A3. Depression & Obsession
A4. Everybody Dies In Their Nightmares
A5. Revenge
A6. Save Me
B1. Dead Inside (Interlude)
B2. Fuck Love (feat. Trippie Redd)
B3. Carry On
B4. Orlando
B5. Ayala (outro)

More hot edits from the common series camp.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Want To Be
A2. Getting Over
B1. America
B2. Shaker

“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.”

TRACK LISTING

Tree Song
Goat Hair Bow
Heart’s Eyes
Telephone Song
Black Sea
Inland
Wedding Song
Ascension