Invitation was conceived on the Oregon coast, an outlier among American landscapes, where vast stretches of empty beach are decorated with silver driftwood and towering pines. It is here among the dunes, tide pools and colossal rock formations that Heather spent her childhood summer day-trips. And it is here that she returned as an adult to construct her newest LP, an album of dreamy baroque-pop that swells and whispers with grand string arrangements, intimately descriptive lyrics, and impassioned songcraft built around earnest piano melodies, painting a lifelike picture of the locale in which it was written.

In the years between her early youth and the creation of Invitation, Heather has played in Efterklang, Horse Feathers, the live bands of Laura Gibson, Lisa Hannigan, and Damien Jurado, and has also been a longtime collaborator and bandmate to Sharon Van Etten. But while this list may seem enviable for an aspiring young musician, any experienced player will know that the life of a touring musician comes with its own sacrifices. Lasting relationships and financial certainty can be tenuous, as can mental stability itself. Feeling this first hand, Heather traded her usual launchpad of Brooklyn for the sleepy town of Pacific City where she would quietly take a job cleaning houses for a cast of local eccentrics, sitting down at the piano in the off-hours to unpack the personal tragedies and triumphs of the intervening decades since her first trips there. Throughout Invitation, floral tendrils of sound design and dynamic strings decorate the edges of each track, propelling the album beyond mere singer-songwriter fare into something altogether more grand and immersive in scope. 

RIYL: Sharon Van Etten, Weyes Blood, Marissa Nadler, Julianna Barwick, Julia Holter. 

FORMAT INFORMATION

Coloured LP Info: Limited edition coral & seawater coloured vinyl (pink w/ bluish/black centre blob)

Coloured LP includes MP3 Download Code.

Twisting big themes of disillusionment, divorce, cheating, sorrow into the realities of an independent-minded, modern British teenager, Jade’s music transcends genre with a wealth of influence coming from everywhere, and anywhere. Classic, contemporary, and a total breath of fresh air in the current musical landscape, Jade Bird is that rare, next-generation artist who appears as clued up on the past as she is determined to learn from its lessons: in control, sometimes in your face, and in possession of gifts beyond her years.

The debut self-titled debut album via Glassnote Records. Featuring breakthrough singles Lottery, Uh Huh & Love Has All Been Done Before.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Jade Bird's voice is simply astounding for someone so young, perfectly capturing the spirit of 70's psychedelic Americana mixed with the more subtle tones of modern emotive pop. Bird's songwriting shines through whatever medium it may present itself, from the more downbeat piano ballads and the more rocking, effusive pieces, this whole outing is an absolute delight.

FORMAT INFORMATION

Coloured LP Info: Indie exclusive white vinyl edition.

This reissue marks the 10th anniversary of the release of their seminal Self Titled album. This special re-issue includes two never-before-heard outtakes from the Self Titled recording sessions: Baltimore, and Watersider... included on a 7” with the LP (180G), and as bonus tracks on CD.

Cherished by fans and critics alike, this fifteen track opus by the Catskill Mountain based band of brothers boasts classics like Frankie’s Gun, Wonderful Life, Whisky In My Whisky and Don’t Wake The Scarecrow, and remains one of the most influential works of this century's indie-folk-rock revival.

Hailing from upstate New York's Catskills Mountains, the Felice Brothers look like their entire approach was based on staring long and hard at the Band's second album cover: Beards, white shirts, hats and ill-fitting suits. The comparisons to Big Pink/Basement-era Dylan are also inevitable.

Yet this second album proper from the three siblings and their bass player Christmas (an ex-travelling dice player, apparently) is so chock full of whiskey-soaked, ramshackle bonhomie that it'd be a hard-hearted music critic indeed who didn't succumb to the charms contained therein. The group have somehow taken Americana and wrung out some more good times. It's time to visit the bar again…

With most of the numbers croaked out by brother Ian, whose vocal chords draw most of the Zimmerman comparisons, this is a collection of songs that are equal parts travelogue, shaggy dog story, drunken lament and filched traditional fare. They're all captured in gloriously scratchy lo-fi (complete with ambient chat, phone conversations and other audio verite) as befits a band whose last recordings were supposedly completed in a chicken coup on a two-track.

Like Dylan, their self-mythologising puts them not in the modern age, but somewhere in the early part of the last century. Jaunty, piano-led ballads like Greatest Show On Earth or Take This Bread are lifted by parping brass and rollicking choruses, like a night out in a riverfront bar, filled with unfaithful women and gun-toting men (guns are mentioned in just about every song) bent on drunken revenge. Elsewhere the waltz time of Ruby Mae approaches a Tom Waits-like pathos. Whiskey In My Whiskey sounds like a murder ballad that's centuries old.

Yet all these tales are shot through with a red-eyed humour that sounds as authentic as their beards. This is how they manage to convince the listener. Frankie's Gun! With it's truck driving narrative and wheezing accordion is particularly hilarious. Rather than some studious authenticity, they sound like they're just having a good time. And that's just about the only recommendation you need to seek out this fine album… 

The Yawpers are the sheep in wolf’s clothing. Through their first three albums, the group divined a signature style--what Pitchfork described as - an expansive vision of rock n roll, one that cherrypicks from various folk traditions: punk, rockabilly, blues, whatever they might have on hand or find in the trash. The sound is a front-heavy, groovy, fire & brimstone punk-blues overlying a dynamic and metaphysical roots rock.

Americana UK - 10/10 - "Flawless third record from one of the most exciting bands around."

Buzzsaw Joint was born of a club offering Londoners the chance to revel in the sounds of good ol trashy rock n roll in all its vintage vinyl forms. Club top-cat, Fritz, then took the primitive Buzzsaw sounds online with a series of savage Mixcloud mixes created by record fiends from all over the globe. Now, the high-octane energy of Buzzsaw Joint has manifested into the physical form with a run of compilations on Stag-O-Lee Records. Get your ears around the wild n weird sounds of the extraordinary and inimitable Buzzsaw Joint! Bill Springer, The Demons, Jimmy Uke & His Islanders, Herb Zane and lots more. 

Here we have the very first, 100% rockabilly compilation to be minted by the Juke Box Music Factory. And what a compilation! Crafted by a true 45-tour aficionado, a lover of rhythm, of authentic sounds, and – most importantly – of quality music. None other than His Highness, Keb Darge!

After seducing us in the mid ‘90s with his trailblazing “Legendary Deep Funk” and “Funk Spectrum”, followed by his 2010 curveball “Legendary Rockin R’n’B”, the ever impeccably coiffed DJ delved body and soul into the origins of rockabilly. The revelation occurred in Japan (where else!), where following his little lady into a club, Darge was knocked over (albeit belatedly) by the “Rockabilly Boogie” of Johnny Burnette. Sayonara Northern Soul, so long rare funk. Keb duly rolled up his sleeves and made up for lost time, churning out 5 furious volumes for his “Legendary Wild Rockers” series.

A stampeding collection corralled in collaboration with Little Edith (the little lady in question). Today, Keb Darge forsakes his traditional partner, BBE, to offer our friend El Vidocq the perfect rockabilly selection. This time produced with his old bud Neil Scott (first-rate collector of Rockabilly, met at a Camden market and owner of the record shop “Rock That Swing”), “The Rockabilly Crown Jewels” is every bit as juicy as Keb’s previous salvos. Indeed, this compilation comprises only the choicest morsels. Thanks, Keb!

FORMAT INFORMATION

Vinyl comes with CD version of the album enclosed.

Hell-O my satanic friends! Do not listen to the evil biblical propaganda from above because you are undoubtedly worthy enough, daring enough, and ready for a second insane stroll through the devil's carnival. For a sinful walk through this hellish fair! You feel seedy enough to secure a second devilish ticket for my fiendish ghost train! Escape your boringly sizzling purgatory and come, hurry up and step in, come aboard, take a seat, because I’m the only one who really knows how to have a hell of a time. Satanic rites from the likes of Gene Vincent, Lefty Frizzell, Roy Acuff, The Louvin Brothers and more. 

Who the hell is the devil? As we all know, God (that old slowcoach) is commonly known and allowed to have but one name (or none). As his everlasting arch-enemy, however, of my names there are plenty: Allow me to introduce myself: Satan from Arabia! Devil, El Diablo, fiend, deuce, Old Nick, the one that bedevils everything- these are only a few of my names in Western cultures! Lucifer - the one who brings the light- or, as seen through the eyes of my grumbling competition, the one who was exiled from the light! Beelzebub, Azrael. I hereby present you a small selection of satanic songs and maleficient melodies from my infernal jukebox. Let me seduce you! 

Remastered DMM vinyl cut
Lovingly restored artwork & hi-grade printing
Quality vinyl pressing made in Germany

Produced by Mark Lee Allen and Micha Gottschalk
Based on a concept by Mark Lee Allen
Introduction & liner notes by Mack Stevens
Short story by Avery Powell
Artwork & hand-lettering by Olaf Jens.