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‘Goodnight City’ features 12 brand new songs produced by Thomas Bartlett (Surfjan Stevens, Glen Hansard) and longtime producer Brad Albetta. It recalls the emotional rawness of her debut album, much of it encapsulated by the captivating lead track ‘Around The Bend’ and her extraordinary voice.
“Making ‘Goodnight City’ was the most fun I’ve had in a long time,” Martha admits. “Thomas (keys), Brad (electric / bass), Phil Melanson (drums) and I would sit in a circle and work out arrangements for these vividly different songs. Recording them live with very few overdubs the focus remains on the integrity of the song and our ability to play together as a band.”
Martha wrote half the songs on the album while the other half were written by friends and relatives: Beth Orton, Glen Hansard, Rufus, Wainwright, Michael Ondaatje and Merrill Garbus of tUnE-yArDs.
“Because these writers know me and because I was able to personalise these songs by changing things here and there, I made them feel as if I wrote them myself,” Martha explains. “Somehow they wonderfully reflect my life and I am so thankful to the other artists for writing them.”
‘Goodnight City’ was recorded in Montreal. Last year Martha and Lucy Wainwright Roche released ‘Songs In The Dark’ as the Wainwright Sisters.
TRACK LISTING
Around The Bend
Franci
Traveller
Look Into My Eyes
Before The Children Came Along
Window
Piano Music
Alexandria
So Down
One Of Us
Take The Reins
Francis
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- LP
- £16.99
Usually ships within: 2-5 days - Cat Number
- COOPD345LP
- Release date
- 11 Nov '16
- Includes MP3 Download Code.
-
- CD
- £9.99
Usually ships within: 2-5 days - Cat Number
- COOPD345CD
- Release date
- 11 Nov '16
‘Goodnight City’ features 12 brand new songs produced by Thomas Bartlett (Surfjan Stevens, Glen Hansard) and longtime producer Brad Albetta. It recalls the emotional rawness of her debut album, much of it encapsulated by the captivating lead track ‘Around The Bend’ and her extraordinary voice.
“Making ‘Goodnight City’ was the most fun I’ve had in a long time,” Martha admits. “Thomas (keys), Brad (electric / bass), Phil Melanson (drums) and I would sit in a circle and work out arrangements for these vividly different songs. Recording them live with very few overdubs the focus remains on the integrity of the song and our ability to play together as a band.”
Martha wrote half the songs on the album while the other half were written by friends and relatives: Beth Orton, Glen Hansard, Rufus, Wainwright, Michael Ondaatje and Merrill Garbus of tUnE-yArDs.
“Because these writers know me and because I was able to personalise these songs by changing things here and there, I made them feel as if I wrote them myself,” Martha explains. “Somehow they wonderfully reflect my life and I am so thankful to the other artists for writing them.”
‘Goodnight City’ was recorded in Montreal. Last year Martha and Lucy Wainwright Roche released ‘Songs In The Dark’ as the Wainwright Sisters.
TRACK LISTING
Around The Bend
Franci
Traveller
Look Into My Eyes
Before The Children Came Along
Window
Piano Music
Alexandria
So Down
One Of Us
Take The Reins
Francis
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- CD
- £11.99
- Cat Number
- CK31462
- Release date
- 29 Jan '01
-
- CD
- £12.99
- Cat Number
- GEL4025
- Release date
- 24 Sep '01
-
- LP
- £30.99
- Cat Number
- 4889847
- Release date
- 6 Oct '23
-
- CD
- £12.99
Usually ships within: 2-10 days - Cat Number
- 4889845
- Release date
- 6 Oct '23
All remastered to HD audio.
TRACK LISTING
Side A
The Earth Died Screaming
Dirt In The Ground
Such A Scream
All Stripped Down
Who Are You
The Ocean Doesn't Want Me
Jesus Gonna Be Here
A Little Rain
Side B
In The Colosseum
Goin' Out West
Murder In The Red Barn
Black Wings
Whistle Down The Wind
I Don't Wanna Grow Up
Let Me Get Up On It
That Feel
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- CD
- £11.99
- Cat Number
- 8714092755022
- Release date
- 15 Jun '18
The collection of 56 songs went far beyond a simple career retrospective. It dipped back as far as 1984 with the bulk of it’s songs hailing from the mid-nineties onward. Over 2/3 of the material had never been heard when originally released in 2006 and had 30 newly recorded songs. Orphans also featured a number of songs finding a home on a Waits’ album for the first time. They included Waits’ unique interpretations of songs by such diverse talents as The Ramones, Daniel Johnston, Kurt Weill & Bertolt Brecht and Leadbelly. These outtakes, rarities and the previously unreleased material were separately grouped into themes and named, Brawlers, Bawlers, and Bastards. And now these titles will be released individually.
Brawlers is a collection of raucous blues and full-throated juke joint stomps.
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- 2xColoured LP
- £29.99
- Cat Number
- 279743
- Release date
- 2 Jun '23
- Format Info
180g clear vinyl in gatefold sleeve.
180g clear vinyl in... [ + ]
TRACK LISTING
SIDE A
1. Ol’ 55
2. I Hope That I Don’t Fall In Love With You
3. Virginia Avenue
SIDE B
1. Old Shoes (& Picture Postcards)
2. Midnight Lullaby
3. Martha
SIDE C
1. Rosie
2. Lonely
3. Ice Cream Man
SIDE D
1. Little Trip To Heaven (On The Wings Of Your Love)
2. Grapefruit
3. Closing Time
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- LP
- £31.99
- Cat Number
- 4889833
- Release date
- 22 Sep '23
-
- CD
- £12.99
Usually ships within: 2-10 days - Cat Number
- 4889497
- Release date
- 8 Sep '23
Newly remastered for the first time ever from the original ½” flat master tape and personally overseen by Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan. Mastered by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering under the guidance of Waits’ longtime audio engineer, Karl Derfler. The album packaging has also been restored. Franks Wild Years includes tracks such as “Cold Cold Ground,” “Way Down In The Hole” – versions of which were used as the theme music of HBO’s series The Wire – and “Temptation.”
TRACK LISTING
Side A
Hang On St. Christopher
Straight To The Top (Rhumba)
Blow Wind Blow
Temptation
Innocent When You Dream (Barroom)
I'll Be Gone
Yesterday Is Here
Please Wake Me Up
Franks Theme
Side B
More Than Rain
Way Down In The Hole
Straight To The Top (Vegas)
I'll Take New York
Telephone Call From Istanbul
Cold Cold Ground
Train Song
Innocent When You Dream (78)
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- LP
- £31.99
- Cat Number
- 4889853
- Release date
- 22 Sep '23
-
- CD
- £12.99
- Cat Number
- 4889851
- Release date
- 8 Sep '23
Originally released in 1985 on Island Records, the album is newly remastered for the first time ever from the original ½” flat master tape and personally overseen by Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan. Mastered by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering under the guidance of Waits’ longtime audio engineer, Karl Derfler. The album packaging has also been restored. Rain Dogs includes tracks such as “Downtown Train,” “Clap Hands” and “Jockey Full Of Bourbon.”
TRACK LISTING
Side A
Singapore
Clap Hands
Cemetery Polka
Jockey Full Of Bourbon
Tango Till They're Sore
Big Black Mariah
Diamonds And Gold
Hang Down Your Head
Time
Side B
Rain Dogs
Midtown
9th & Hennepin
Gun Street Girl
Union Square
Blind Love
Walking Spanish
Downtown Train
Bride Of Rain Dog
Anywhere I Lay My Head
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- LP
- £31.99
- Cat Number
- 4889842
- Release date
- 22 Sep '23
-
- CD
- £12.99
- Cat Number
- 4889836
- Release date
- 8 Sep '23
The album is newly remastered for the first time ever from the original EQ’ed ½” production master tape and personally overseen by Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan. Mastered by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering under the guidance of Waits’ longtime audio engineer, Karl Derfler.
TRACK LISTING
Side A
Underground
Shore Leave
Dave The Butcher
Johnsburg, Illinois
16 Shells From A 30.6
Town With No Cheer
In The Neighbourhood
Side B
Just Another Sucker On The Vine
Frank's Wild Years
Swordfishtrombone
Down, Down, Down
Soldier's Things
Gin Soaked Boy
Trouble's Braids
Rainbirds
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- CD
- £5.99
- Cat Number
- IMCD 249
- Release date
- 19 Sep '11
-
- CD
- £5.99
- Cat Number
- CID 9993
- Release date
- 19 Sep '11
-
- 2xLP
- £21.99
Usually ships within: 2-5 days - Cat Number
- BF097
- Release date
- 28 Feb '20
-
- CD
- £7.99
Usually ships within: 2-5 days - Cat Number
- BFCD097
- Release date
- 28 Feb '20
For fans of HNNY, Caribou, Ross From Friends, Jacques Greene, Channel Tres.
STAFF COMMENTS
Barry says: It would be hard for anything to get you down after listening to the title track of this killer collaboration, and the rest of the album only continues in the same vein. Owing as much to early instrumental hip-hop as it does modern soul and electronica, this is a rich and varied outing and one you have to hear to believe. Grooves for DAYS.TRACK LISTING
Renegades
Little Man
Don’t Let Get You Down
Realize
Tonight
138
January
Marmite
Depth Has A Focus
Another Sun
All I Need Is You
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- CD
- £10.99
- Cat Number
- ARI501542
- Release date
- 12 May '03
-
- CD
- £8.99
- Cat Number
- 4907742
- Release date
- 12 Feb '01
-
- 3xLtd LP
- £34.99
- Cat Number
- FBN29
- Release date
- 20 Jan '23
-
- 2xCD
- £13.99
Usually ships within: 2-10 days - Cat Number
- FBN29CD
- Release date
- 20 Jan '23
The Wake formed in Glasgow in 1981 after singer/guitarist Caesar left Altered Images, and joined Factory the following year. Harmony was recorded at Strawberry Studios in Stockport with producer Chris Nagle (formerly Martin Hannett’s preferred engineer), by which time the group comprised Caesar (vocals, guitar), Carolyn Allen (keyboards), Steven Allen (drums) and Bobby Gillespie (bass). On release as Fact 60 the original 7 track mini album earned a 5 star review in Sounds magazine, hailed as the missing indiepop link between Factory and Postcard Records.
CD Edition:
Bonus tracks on CD1 include The Wake’s dub-informed second single, Something Outside, rare debut single On Our Honeymoon, and also their John Peel session from July 1983 – the last recordings to feature Gillespie before his departure for The Jesus and Mary Chain and Primal Scream.
CD2 is a fascinating collection of 21 lost recordings compiled from live and demo cassettes located in the Rob Gretton tape archive, all taped between 1981 and 1983.
The enhanced artwork for this new edition includes images of the band by noted photographer Paul Slattery, taken at the Mitchell Library in Glasgow, as well as new liner notes by Caesar.
Vinyl Edition:
Bonus tracks on Disc 2 include The Wake’s dub-informed second single, Something Outside b/w Host, and also their John Peel session from July 1983 – the last recordings to feature Gillespie before his departure for The Jesus and Mary Chain and Primal Scream.
Disc 3 offers a desk recorded live set from Ayr Pavilion on 15 April 1983 during a tour with New Order. The concert includes several songs never recorded in the studio, including Recovery and Country of the Blind.
The enhanced trifold artwork for this new edition includes images of the band by noted photographer Paul Slattery, taken at the Mitchell Library in Glasgow, as well as new liner notes by Caesar.
TRACK LISTING
CD1 Tracklist (Harmony + Singles):
1. Favour
2. Heartburn
3. An Immaculate Conception
4. Judas
5. Testament
6. Patrol
7. The Old Men
8. Chance
9. Something Outside
10. Host
11. The Drill
12. Uniform
13. Here Comes Everybody
14. On Our Honeymoon
15. Give Up
CD2 Tracklist (Lost Recordings 1981-83):
1. Move With The Times 2.36
2. Communion 2.39
3. No More Green Space 2.48
4. Move With The Times (reprise) 0.46
5. Move With The Times 2.35
6. Cold Home 3.03
7. Communion 2.19
8. No More Green Space 2.07
9. Patrol 1.55
10. Give Up 2.04
11. Careering 2.34
12. Favour 2.21
13. Cold Home 2.22
14. Forced To Think 1.40
15. Patrol 2.38
16. Give Up 2.01
17. Move With The Times 2.04
18. An Immaculate Conception 3.47
19. Chance 3.49
20. Judas 3.49
21. Company 4.07
Vinyl Tracklist:
A1. Favour
A2. Heartburn
A3. An Immaculate Conception
A4. Judas
B1. Testament
B2. Patrol
B3. The Old Men
B4. Chance
C1. Something Outside
C2. Host
D1. The Drill (Peel)
D2. Uniform (Peel)
D3. Here Comes Everybody (Peel)
E1. Heartburn (live)
E2. Host (live)
E3. Recovery (live)
E4. Uniform (live)
F1. The Old Men (live)
F2. Something Outside (live)
F3. Country Of The Blind (live)
F4. The Drill (live)
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- Coloured 7"
- £10.99
- Cat Number
- ON408
- Release date
- 24 Jun '22
- Format Info
Part of The Optic Sevens 4.0 Reissue Series.
Limited to 800 copies worldwide.
Pressed on White Vinyl.
Includes postcard and poster.
Part of The Optic Sevens... [ + ]
With few opportunities to play large live shows the new group financed a single on their own Scan 45 label, coupling upbeat indiepop number On Our Honeymoon with Give Up, a darker song featuring a keyboard line picked out by band friend Robert ‘Bobby’ Gillespie.
TRACK LISTING
Side A
On Our Honeymoon
Side B
Give Up
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- Ltd 7"
- u/avbl
- Cat Number
- ON7
- Release date
- 17 May '19
Limited to 500 copies on splatter vinyl Includes Poster & Postcard.
Originally released on Factory Records in 1987 on a 4 track 12” EP entitled “Something That No One Else Could Bring” These 2 tracks make their first appearance as a 7” single.
TRACK LISTING
Side 1
PALE SPECTRE
Side 2
PLASTIC FLOWERS
-
- LP
- £16.99
Usually ships within: 2-10 days - Cat Number
- DAP039LP
- Release date
- 8 Apr '16
It was during his first recording (The Voices of Panola County: Como Now) that he encountered the Walker family and learned of their great musical tradition. Raymond Walker was courted by both Fred McDowell and Sam Cooke - each asked him to sing behind them on tour. espectfully, Raymond declined, on account that the singers wanted him to sing blues rather than gospel.
However, it was the Walkers’ voices and not their rich history that captured the attention of Daptone and inspired Reilly’s return to Como to make a full-length record of the Walker family songs. Recorded in their living room, these performances are as deep and stirring as they are unembelished. Take a moment to take in Panola County Spirit, with The Walker Family Singers.
-
- 7"
- £5.99
- Cat Number
- JI040
- Release date
- 13 May '16
-
- LP
- £18.49
Usually ships within: 2-5 days - Cat Number
- DOC121LP
- Release date
- 19 Aug '16
-
- CD
- £9.99
Usually ships within: 2-5 days - Cat Number
- DOC121CD
- Release date
- 19 Aug '16
‘The Roundabout’ represents a symbolic return to Chicago, while other songs are directly wedded to Ryley’s actual return there. Perhaps more than any other song on the record, the somnambulant sun-dappled intimacies of opening track ‘The Halfwit In Me’ most audibly bear the imprint of Ryley’s improvisational sessions with Wilco multi-instrumentalist, Chicagoan and producer Leroy Bach, while ‘Funny Thing She Said’ is an unflinching study of separation set to a shimmeringly supple ensemble performance.
Soft, slo-mo explosions of melody intermittently burst through the distant thunder of the verses on ‘A Choir Apart’. Intriguing, surreal images are meted out by ‘I Will Ask You Twice’, like a malfunctioning slide projector and, perhaps best of all, the stunning finale, ‘Age Old Tale’, which spiders out from an Alice Coltrane-inspired reverie into a sustained rapture that very few artists have managed to achieve.
STAFF COMMENTS
Barry says: Having been one of our end of year favourites in 2015, Ryley Walker had a lot to live up to with this follow-up (obviously he had impressing us in mind). It turns out that this is just as monumental, if not more so. There is a sense of assurance here, a confidence gained through years of honing his craft. Perfectly sculpted Americana-tinged acoustic guitars are bolstered but never overpowered by frenetic violin slashes while molasses-slow drums perfectly compliment the unhurried and confident instrumentation. Walker and band have got a lot of bettering to do if they'll ever top this, but going on previous form, i'm sure they will. An absorbing and rewarding listen.TRACK LISTING
The Halfwit In Me
A Choir Apart
Funny Thing She Said
Sullen Mind
I Will Ask You Twice
The Roundabout
The Great And Undecided
Age Old Tale
-
- LP
- £18.49
Usually ships within: 2-5 days - Cat Number
- DOC121LP
- Release date
- 19 Aug '16
-
- CD
- £9.99
Usually ships within: 2-5 days - Cat Number
- DOC121CD
- Release date
- 19 Aug '16
‘The Roundabout’ represents a symbolic return to Chicago, while other songs are directly wedded to Ryley’s actual return there. Perhaps more than any other song on the record, the somnambulant sun-dappled intimacies of opening track ‘The Halfwit In Me’ most audibly bear the imprint of Ryley’s improvisational sessions with Wilco multi-instrumentalist, Chicagoan and producer Leroy Bach, while ‘Funny Thing She Said’ is an unflinching study of separation set to a shimmeringly supple ensemble performance.
Soft, slo-mo explosions of melody intermittently burst through the distant thunder of the verses on ‘A Choir Apart’. Intriguing, surreal images are meted out by ‘I Will Ask You Twice’, like a malfunctioning slide projector and, perhaps best of all, the stunning finale, ‘Age Old Tale’, which spiders out from an Alice Coltrane-inspired reverie into a sustained rapture that very few artists have managed to achieve.
STAFF COMMENTS
Barry says: Having been one of our end of year favourites in 2015, Ryley Walker had a lot to live up to with this follow-up (obviously he had impressing us in mind). It turns out that this is just as monumental, if not more so. There is a sense of assurance here, a confidence gained through years of honing his craft. Perfectly sculpted Americana-tinged acoustic guitars are bolstered but never overpowered by frenetic violin slashes while molasses-slow drums perfectly compliment the unhurried and confident instrumentation. Walker and band have got a lot of bettering to do if they'll ever top this, but going on previous form, i'm sure they will. An absorbing and rewarding listen.TRACK LISTING
The Halfwit In Me
A Choir Apart
Funny Thing She Said
Sullen Mind
I Will Ask You Twice
The Roundabout
The Great And Undecided
Age Old Tale
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- 2xLtd CD
- £9.99
- Cat Number
- DOC124CD
- Release date
- 19 Aug '16
In November 2015, at the end of a ten-month period which saw Ryley play over 200 shows in support of Primrose Green, Ryley decided that he should probably head home. However you wished to measure it, he was surely due some sort of holiday. Although, a holiday was the last thing on Ryley’s mind – and certainly not a holiday in his adopted hometown. After a year spent on the road, all that Ryley could associate with Chicago was the emotional debris he had left behind.
He went into the studio over the Christmas vacation to record Golden Sings That Have Been Sung whose songs were directly wedded to Ryley’s return to Chicago. Some of his formative musical memories had been shaped by the work of pioneering Chicago acts such as Gastr del Sol and Tortoise. “Jeff Parker was the guitarist with Tortoise, and I used to listen to him a lot,” recalls Ryley, who figured that, for the first time in his career, it might be helpful to enlist the services of a producer. With only one person on his shortlist, once again, all roads led back to Chicago.
Ryley had been a long-time admirer of sometime Wilco multi-instrumentalist LeRoy Bach. Back in 2009, still in his teens, he had frequented the improv nights hosted by Bach at a restaurant/gallery space called Whistler. “For me, it was an incredible opportunity,” recalls Ryley, “…because you would sometimes also have Dan Bitney, the drummer with Tortoise, and I’d get to play with these people. I mean, they were twice my age. I’m sure they thought I was annoying at first, maybe some of them still do, but I kind of looked at them like gurus – and to have these old school Chicago heads taking me in was just amazing.”
For Ryley then, the prospect of having Bach produce his album was something of a no-brainer. “It was everything I wanted it to be,” he enthuses. “I would go to LeRoy’s house every other day with a riff, and we would take it from there.” Perhaps more than any other song on the record, the somnambulant sun-dappled intimacies of opening track and lead single “The Halfwit In Me” most audibly bear the imprint of those Whistler sessions.
Golden Sings That Have Been Sung was made for the dewy magic hour when night and day have yet to meet and, as long as the song is playing, you feel might briefly leave the corporeal world with them. This is the music you might imagine the woodland animals making once the humans have left for the night. This is Ryley Walker’s coming of age.
STAFF COMMENTS
Barry says: Having been one of our end of year favourites in 2015, Ryley Walker had a lot to live up to with this follow-up (obviously he had impressing us in mind). It turns out that this is just as monumental, if not moreso. There is a sense of assurance here, a confidence gained through years of honing his craft. Perfectly sculpted Americana-tinged acoustic guitars are bolstered but never overpowered by frenetic violin slashes, molasses-slow drums perfectly compliment the unhurried and confident instrumentation. Walker and band have got a lot of bettering to do if they'll ever top this, but going on previous form, i'm sure they will. An absorbing and rewarding listen.TRACK LISTING
2CD Tracklisting
1 The Halfwit In Me
2 A Choir Apart
3 Funny Thing She Said
4 Sullen Mind
5 I Will Ask You Twice
6 The Roundabout
7 The Great And Undecided
8 Age Old Tale
9 Sullen Mind (Live At SiriusXMU The Loft)
2LP Tracklisting
1 The Halfwit In Me
2 A Choir Apart
3 Funny Thing She Said
4 Sullen Mind
5 I Will Ask You Twice
6 The Roundabout
7 The Great And Undecided
8 Age Old Tale
9 Sullen Mind (Live At SiriusXMU The Loft) - Part 1
10 Sullen Mind (Live At SiriusXMU The Loft) - Part 2
-
- CD
- £7.99
Usually ships within: 2-5 days - Cat Number
- DOC101CD
- Release date
- 30 Mar '15
The band on Primrose Green is a mixture of new and old Chicago talent, blending both jaded veterans of the post-rock and jazz mini-circuits together with a few eager, open-eared youths. (It’s worth stating at this point that this is not a jazz record, despite the sheer volume of jazz and experimental heavyweights that make up the rest of Primrose Green’s all-star cast. Chicago has blurred these lines since forever.)
Ryley Walker is the reincarnation of the True American Guitar Player. That’s as much a testament to his roving, rambling ways as to the fact that his Guild D-35 guitar has endured a few stints in the pawnshop. Swap out rural juke joints for rotted DIY spaces and the archetype is solidly intact. His personal life might be tumultuous and his residential status in question, but his bedrock is disciplined daily rehearsal and an inexhaustible wellspring of song craft.
Raised on the banks of the ol’ Rock River in northern Illinois, Ryley’s early life doesn’t give us much more than Midwestern mundanity to speak of. Things start to pick up in 2007, when he moves to Chicago and briefly attempts a collegiate lifestyle. Here, he storms the local noise scene with his Jasmine-brand electric guitar, and a few years of wasted finger-bleeding basement shows firmly established his name locally, if not always positively. By 2011, at age 21, Ryley’s music offered impressive displays of fingerpicking prowess, though not fully elaborated documents.
It was a 2012 bike accident that set Ryley on his current path. Practice became more diligent. He began lacquering his fingertips at cheap salons. Ryley was finding a new path refracting the British traditional spectrum, from Bert Jansch to Nick Drake, and defying all the limitations of the genre. His 2013 recordings — The West Wind EP and All Kinds of You LP – fully express these Anglophilic tendencies to the point of nearly exhausting their possibilities.
“Primrose Green” is a colloquial term for a cocktail of whiskey and morning glory seeds that has a murky, dreamy, absinthian quality when imbibed, and a spirit-crushing aftereffect the morning after. It is the moment before departure from the mindstate of Ryley’s previous release, All Kinds Of You.
STAFF COMMENTS
Andy says: Love Tim Buckley, John Martyn and Nick Drake? So does Ryley Walker! Classic songs, grooves and vibes, but unlike the folk-lite froth choking up the "Charts", this goes straight to the source and brings it on home! Good stuff.TRACK LISTING
1. Primrose Green
2. Summer Dress
3. Same Minds
4. Griffiths Bucks Blues
5. Love Can Be Cruel
6. On The Banks Of The Old Kishwaukee
7. Sweet Satisfaction
8. The High Road
9. All Kinds Of You
10. Hide In The Roses
-
- CD
- £9.99
Usually ships within: 2-5 days - Cat Number
- CAD3428CD
- Release date
- 20 Oct '14
With a career spanning more than five decades, Scott Walker’s cult status remains as significant as ever before. Experiencing mega-stardom as part of The Walker Brothers before carving out a career as a solo crooner who released a quartet of peerless self-titled LPs that painted rich vignettes of life in the late 60s, Scott went through what felt like a massive U-turn by recording a collection of masterfully challenging albums: Climate Of Hunter (1984), Tilt (1996), The Drift (2006) and Bish Bosch (2013). While there’s some truth to this artistic arc, the actual picture is a lot more complex, with his knack for introducing the disturbingly counter-intuitive and the uncanny into his songwriting dating back to the likes of 'The Plague' (1967) and ‘It’s Raining Today’ (1969).
Centred around the core duo of Stephen O’Malley and Greg Anderson, Sunn O))) have been at the heart of underground and experimental metal since they began in Los Angeles back in 1998, broadening in range to increasingly encompass avant-garde and jazz dynamics to their dark music. Anderson runs Southern Lord (Sunn O)))’s usual label home), whilst O’Malley is involved in a remarkable web of projects as a musician, designer, and label head of Ideologic Organ. They appear alongside extended Sunn O))) member Tos Nieuwenhuizen on this recording.
Recorded in London in early 2014 and produced by Scott Walker and long-time ally Peter Walsh with the assistance of musical director Mark Warman, Soused is a 5-track, 50-minute collaborative record that cements the status of both act’s wide-reaching and otherworldly renown.
-
- Indies Exclusive LP
- £15.99
Usually ships within: 2-5 days - Cat Number
- CADD3620
- Release date
- 19 Aug '16
- Format Info
Limited edition clear vinyl.
Limited edition clear... [ + ] -
- CD
- £9.99
Usually ships within: 2-5 days - Cat Number
- CAD3620CD
- Release date
- 19 Aug '16
Partly inspired by Jean-Paul Sartre’s short story of the same name, The Childhood of a Leader is a tense psychological drama tracing the formative years of a young boy and set against the backdrop of the 1919 Paris Peace Conference that led to the establishment of the Treaty of Versailles.
Walker continues to work with long-term collaborators Peter Walsh (co-producer) and Mark Warman (musical director), with the latter conducting an orchestra comprised of 46 string players and 16 brass for the studio recording.
TRACK LISTING
CD Tracklisting:
1. Orchestral Tuning Up
2. Opening
3. Dream Sequence
4. Village Walk
5. RUN
6. Down The Stairs
7. Up The Stairs
8. The Letter
9. Versailles
10. Cutting Flowers
11. Boy,Mirror,Cars Arriving
12. Third Tantrum
13. Printing Press
14. On The Way To The Meeting
15. The Meeting
16. Post Meeting
17. Finale
18. New Dawn (synth Layout For Cut Scene)
LP Tracklisting:
A1. Orchestral Tuning Up
A2. Opening
A3. Dream Sequence
A4. Village Walk
A5. RUN
A6. Down The Stairs
A7. Up The Stairs
A8. The Letter
A9. Versailles
B1. Cutting Flowers
B2. Boy,Mirror,Cars Arriving
B3. Third Tantrum
B4. Printing Press
B5. On The Way To The Meeting
B6. The Meeting
B7. Post Meeting
B8. Finale
B9. New Dawn (synth Layout For Cut Scene)
-
- LP
- £17.99
- Cat Number
- ALNLP55R
- Release date
- 27 Sep '19
-
- CD
- £9.99
- Cat Number
- ALNCD55
- Release date
- 19 Jul '19
‘Aquamarine’ is a projection and culmination of all he’s absorbed. A cosmic explosion of sound and colour, rhythm, shape and patterns. The arrival of an unassuming dreamer now projecting his unique flavour of expression. ‘Aqua- marine’ is the take-off of this audial spaceship, a sound discovered in the grooves of thousands of records, united in one. A meditation designed to inspire good energy, Ash hopes to bring a sense of calm and tranquility to the listener amongst the chaos of life. Recorded at home with the freedom of time and space, it combines analogue with digital, and a fondness for normally unwanted shapes and textures such as fuzz, hiss and crackle.
“My previous albums have felt to me more like ventures on land. This one feels more like a deep sea voyage into the subconscious. Living to dream with visions of grandeur. Manifesting a beautiful path to walk on. It was inspired by everything around me, from friends and family to art and design, engineering and architecture, movement and how we use our five senses. I love to try and push my own boundaries of what I perceive to be right and wrong, seeing mistakes as innovations, and obstacles as inspiration.”
Highlights on the album include ‘Under The Sun’, ‘Time’ and ‘Finishing Touch’, all of which feature the smooth and silky voice of Laville. Themes of metaphysical exploration and transportation re-occur in the cosmic jazz of ‘Brave New World’ and the smoked beats on ‘Come With Us’. Also featured across the album are trumpet and flugel-horn genius Yazz Ahmed, bassist Marc Cyril (Keziah Jones, Jr Walker & The All Stars) and renowned musician and producer Jonathan Shorten.
STAFF COMMENTS
Barry says: Mixing elements of downbeat, hip-hop and a healthy dose of soul, 'Aquamarine' is another superb outing for the ever-talented Ash Walker. Shadowy beats clash with reverbed guitar and echoing vocals before breaking into loungy slow-jazz and heady opium-den instrumentals. It actually confounds all genre expectations and is all the better for it. Proper lovely.TRACK LISTING
CD
1. Under The Sun (ft Laville)
2. Time (ft Laville)
3. Come With Us
4. Brave New World
5. Finishing Touch (ft Laville)
6. Aquamarine 07. Sanity (ft Laville)
8. I Need Money
9. Fat King Smoke
10. Aint Got You (ft Laville)
Vinyl
A1. Under The Sun (ft Laville)
A2. Time (ft Laville)
A3. Come With Us
A4. Brave New World
A5. Finishing Touch (ft Laville)
A6. Aquamarine B1. Sanity (ft Laville)
B3. I Need Money B4. Fat King Smoke
B5. Aint Got You (ft Laville)
B6. The Dagon's Cashmere Jumper
-
- Coloured LP
- £22.99
- Cat Number
- ALNLP67
- Release date
- 30 Jun '23
- Format Info
Rose coloured vinyl
Rose coloured vinyl
An avid record collector, Walker has DJed far and wide... from the infamous Royal Mail squat party to the canals of Venice, spinning vinyl in Brixton with The Specials to scattering dub across San Francisco and LA. His own production output is similarly explor- atory: his journeys have taken him far and wide, from tunnels under the river Thames to recording local percussionists in the Atlas mountains of Morocco
TRACK LISTING
01 Only Love Feat. Lou Rhodes
02 Letting Go Feat. Andrew Ashong
03 Afronaut Feat. Amp Fiddler & Laville
04 Babylonian Triangle Of Captivity Feat. Ebi Soda
05 Time Gets Wasted Feat. Sly5thAve & Denitia
06 Automation Feat. Oscar Jerome & Joe Armon-Jones
07 Running Away Feat. Jazz Ahmed & Laville
08 Petrol Head Feat. Laville
09 Detroit Velvet Smooth Feat. Yazz Ahmed
10 Jupiter Feat. Kennebe
-
- Ltd LP
- £22.99
- Cat Number
- HPR008LP
- Release date
- 11 Jun '21
- Format Info
LP pressed to the highest standards. Lacquer cut at Dubplates & Mastering in Berlin, pressed at Record Industry in Amsterdam. Audiophile Quality.
Matte Obi Strip on every LP.
LP pressed to the highest... [ + ] -
- CD
- £11.99
Usually ships within: 2-10 days - Cat Number
- HPR008CD
- Release date
- 11 Jun '21
Walker spent his formative years in Chicago, absorbing those heady sounds and finding ways to make them his own. Even though he emerged at first in folk-rock troubadour mode, it makes sense that he’s arrived at this point; each LP has grown more intricate and assured, his influences distilling into something original and unusual. To put it simply: Course In Fable is Walker’s best record yet, full of active imagination and endless possibilities.
Last October, Ryley went straight to one of the primary architects of the Chicago sound to make the LP. John McEntire, Course In Fable’s producer/engineer/ mixer, can rightly be called a legend for his work with Tortoise, Stereolab, The Red Krayola, Jim O’Rourke and countless others over a prolific career that now spans more than three decades. Seeing his name in an album’s liners is pretty much a trademark of quality.
Another Windy City exile, McEntire is based on the west coast these days, working out of the Portland, OR studio he’s dubbed Soma West. On the seven songs here, he delivers the signature shimmering and pristine sonics he’s become known for over the years. But McEntire was also intimately involved with Course In Fable’s overall creative process. “I told him to take the mixes and have at it,” Walker says.
The result is a rich, immersive affair — a headphones record if ever there was one. Course In Fable’s songs are twisty, labyrinthine things, stuffed full of ideas (Walker half-jokingly calls it his “prog record”). But no matter how complex it gets, the album is never overwhelmingly busy. Wiry guitars melt into gorgeous string sections (arranged by Douglas Jenkins of the Portland Cello Project). Tricky time signatures abound but feel as natural as can be. Melodies o@en dri@ in unexpected directions but remain downright hummable. Like Walker’s beloved Genesis, the pop element is never too far from the surface even when shit gets weird. (And speaking of weird, Ryley says that in addition to Genesis, much of the album’s inspiration comes from “Australian extreme scooter riders on YouTube and balding gear heads on Craigslist.” Go figure.)
To help put together these various puzzle pieces, Ryley assembled a band made up of several longtime collaborators. Bill MacKay (another Chicago mainstay) and Walker have made two excellent instrumental duo records of interlocking guitars and warm give-and-take — a rapport very much in evidence throughout Course In Fable. The freakishly talented drummer Ryan Jewell has performed with Walker for years now in a variety of settings, from straightforward song-centric sets to blown-out improv extravaganzas. Bassist Andrew Scott Young (Tiger Hatchery, Health & Beauty) has logged many miles on tour with Walker; he and Jewell are frequently astonishing, a buoyant-but-always-locked-in rhythm section, able to navigate sometimes dizzying turnarounds with apparent ease. Listening to the interplay between Walker and these musicians and you might be fooled into thinking they’d spent a year road-testing Course In Fable’s songs. But it all came together relatively fast, thanks to demos, rehearsals and the kind of musical empathy that comes from years of playing together.
Beneath the wondrous interplay, you’ll find some of Walker’s most personal – if still typically cryptic — lyrics, hinting at some of the trials the songwriter has been dealing with in recent years. Balanced with necessary doses of dark humour and oddball poetry, Course In Fable feels most of all like a life-affirming record, fresh air in the lungs, sun on your skin. “Fuck me, I’m alive,” Ryley sings at one point, a moment of both disbelief and pure joy.
Walker has released his albums on a who’s-who of independent labels over the past decade — Tompkins Square, Dead Oceans, Thrill Jockey and Drag City among them. This time around, he’s doing it DIY-style, putting Course In Fable out on his own Husky Pants imprint. You’re in good hands. This is an album that sounds great (mastered by Greg Calbi), looks great (artwork by Jenny Nelson and design by Michael Vallera). It probably even smells great. Whether you’ve been onboard since the beginning or are new to the Ryley Walker universe, you’re in for a treat.
STAFF COMMENTS
Barry says: Though we've seen a number of iterations of that Ryley Walker sound, it's great to hear him go back to the sound that drew me in in the first place. 'Course In Fable' touches upon the more avant-jazz leanings of his more recent output but lies firmly within the progressive full-bodied folk-rock ethos that made 'Primrose Green' and 'Golden Sings...' such essential listening experiences. Really marvellous stuff.TRACK LISTING
1. Striking Your Big Premier (5:10)
2. Rang Dizzy (4:50)
3. A Lenticular Slap (7:54)
4. Axis Bent (4:36)
5. Clad With Bunk (6:15)
6. Pond Scum Ocean (8:05)
7. Shiva With Dustpan (5:43)
-
- Ltd LP
- £18.99
Usually ships within: 2-5 days - Cat Number
- DOC160LP
- Release date
- 18 May '18
- Includes MP3 Download Code.
-
- CD
- £7.99
Usually ships within: 2-5 days - Cat Number
- DOC160CD
- Release date
- 18 May '18
I’m lucky enough to have some people who are playing on it who had a big part in shaping the songs and writing with me. Cooper Crain, the guy who engineered it, and played all the synthesizers. And when the flute guy, Nate Lepine came in, that was really something that made it special. The producer was this guy LeRoy Bach. I love LeRoy, he’s a really talented guy. He did the last record too.
And it’s more Chicago-y sounding. Chicago sounds like a train constantly coming towards you but never arriving. That’s the sound I hear, all the time, ringing in my ears.” – Ryley Walker.
STAFF COMMENTS
Barry says: Narcotics enthusiast and all-round ledge Ryley takes us on his newest journey into the wilderness with 'Deafman Glance', with the same tender plucking acousticry we've come to know and love, but with the psychedelic element all the more pronounced. Brilliantly progressive and nuanced songwriting with Walker's imitable style.TRACK LISTING
1. In Castle Dome
2. 22 Days
3. Accommodations
4. Can't Ask Why
5. Opposite Middle
6. Telluride Speed
7. Expired
8. Rocks On Rainbow
9. Spoil With The Rest
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- 2xLP
- £19.99
Usually ships within: 2-5 days - Cat Number
- DOC170LP
- Release date
- 16 Nov '18
-
- CD
- £9.99
Usually ships within: 2-5 days - Cat Number
- DOC170CD
- Release date
- 16 Nov '18
With a delicate rhythmic latticework and vocals that ask you to lean in, ‘Busted Stuff’ recalls Jim O’ Rourke’s golden Drag City days. Emerging from a wall of distortion, ‘Diggin’ a Ditch’ becomes a power trio wallop à la Dinosaur Jr, shaking off existential malaise like twenty-something pals writing rock songs in the garage. Walker’s ‘Grace is Gone’, the most faithful take here, is a testament to his unflagging love for the music that helped make him a musician.
This end-to-end interpretation of youthful fascination is a collective reminder that we are all just kids from somewhere, reckoning with our upbringing the best we can. Walker has stepped through the door long ago opened by the Dave Matthews Band to find a world teeming with musical possibilities. On ‘The Lillywhite Sessions’, he has, in turn, created his own.
STAFF COMMENTS
Barry says: As well as being a VERY good follow on the ol' Twitter, Ryley Walker is also a superb chap and undeniably brilliant songwriter and musician. Although the songwriting doesn't really get a look in on this release (it being entirely covers), it is clear that his laid-back style and impeccable vocal performance is only improving. Even if you've never heard this Dave Matthews Band release before, I implore you to hear Walker's take on things. Stunning.TRACK LISTING
Busted Stuff
Grey Street
Diggin’ A Ditch
Sweet Up And Down
JTR
Big Eyed Fish
Grace Is Gone
Captain
Bartender
Monkey Man
Kit Kat Jam
Raven
-
- Ltd CD
- £8.99
Usually ships within: 2-5 days - Cat Number
- TAD2731CD
- Release date
- 1 Oct '07
-
- Ltd LP
- £23.99
- Cat Number
- 3728846
- Release date
- 20 Oct '17
- Includes MP3 Download Code.
Following the groups demise in 1967 Walker set our to pursue solo stardom in perhaps the most peculiar way possible, with over-the-top baroque pop songs owing more to his idol Jacques Brel, Tony Bennett and Frank Sinatra than they did to the Beatles or the Stones.
This is his first solo LP from 1967 and features three of his own compositions along with covers of songs by Brel, Tim Hardin, and the Brill Building team of Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann. A true original.
-
- Ltd LP
- £27.99
- Cat Number
- 3728847
- Release date
- 20 Oct '17
- Includes MP3 Download Code.
-
- Ltd LP
- £27.99
- Cat Number
- 3728848
- Release date
- 20 Oct '17
"Scott 3" again features string heavy production courtesy of Wally Scott, though it occasionally moves out of pop ballad territory into a more cinematic feel influenced by Ennio Morricone among others. An huge influence on folks like David Bowie and Nick Cave, as well as just about anybody on the 4AD label.
-
- Ltd LP
- £27.99
Usually ships within: 2-10 days - Cat Number
- 3728852
- Release date
- 20 Oct '17
- Includes MP3 Download Code.
Simeon Walker crafts gorgous, plaintive piano pieces whose strength lies not in their complexity (though there is layer upon layer of complexity to even the simplest sounding outcomes), but in their absolute, trasportative wonder.
The aforementioned 'Turn' obviously owes some dues to the dull hammers and dampened grace notes of Nils Frahm (though the comparison feels a little lazy, there are few modern pianists that cover the wide emotional range that Frahm does without it feeling overwrought), but with a wintery tentative unease coming in waves before being hushed again through the ambient echoes of creaking wood and paddling keys.
Pieces like 'Drift' pull things back down to earth with infrequent harmonic clashes and slowly unfurling blossoms, redolent and fragile. There is a recurring juxtaposition of terse, semi-melodic intervals leaving a question in the air before being answered by overwhelming beauty. The sadness is overcome by a wealth of melody like the thaw of the winter is culled by the rich, warming progressions.
The flipside sees a more plaintive beginning, with the held notes and echoing shadows of 'Froze' slowly increasing intensity (and tempo) into a more visceral but no less mournful requiem, the minor keys producing overlapping notes until the the established notes stumble over themselves into an intentionally jarring key change.
Throughout 'Mono', walker display an innate knowledge of melody, an impeccable ear for progression, and an undeniably human outlook. Beautifully designed (aesthetically and thematically), and impeccably produced. Walker is a true, undiluted talent.
STAFF COMMENTS
Barry says: Completely beautiful minimalist piano pieces, swimming in icy ambience and warm, fireside euphoria. Recommended for fans of Frahm, Johannsson, Richter et. al, but reducing it's appeal to that may be doing a mis-service. This is stunning on it's own merits and manages to do that rare thing of giving nods to the greats without mindless emulation. Stunning.TRACK LISTING
1. Turn 06:12
2. Lull 04:19
3. Drift 03:38
4. Hush 07:01
5. Froze 06:13
6. Lilt 04:33
7. Breathe 07:02
8. Letters 04:08
9. Coda 02:13
-
- LP
- £18.99
Usually ships within: 2-10 days - Cat Number
- SOREALLP008
- Release date
- 23 Aug '19
STAFF COMMENTS
Matt says: Tasty merging of flavours makes this a highly accomplished UK offering. Rich with a multi-coloured, carnival energy, with a skilled and attentive songwriting to boot. A winner!TRACK LISTING
SIDE A
1. Breakout
2. Can't Tell Me Anything
3. OK
4. Come Over
SIDE B
1. Ulla (Your Best Life)
2. Breakout (Rap Version)
3. Can't Tell Me Anything (Rap Version)
4. OK (Rap Version)
5. Ulla (Your Best Life) (Rap Version)
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- 7"
- £11.99
- Cat Number
- ATH149
- Release date
- 9 Jun '23
TRACK LISTING
1. We've Got One
2. Nice & Slow (feat. Dan-Elle)
-
- LP
- £18.99
- Cat Number
- LITA113LP
- Release date
- 30 Jun '14
Light In The Attic and the legendary folk/blues/roots label Vanguard Records are proud to begin a series of collaborations under the umbrella Vanguard Vault.
The series will explore the vaults of Vanguard and see the reissuing of obscure nuggets, psychedelic weirdness and just some good old-fashioned seminal music.
Originally released in 1968 on Vanguard Records, Peter Walker’s album “Second Poem To Karmela” Or Gypsies Are Important was a ground breaking blend of folk, raga, psychedelia, Eastern and Modal sounds that has remained unsung for decades. While his debut album for Vanguard,Rainy Day Raga, has been reissued several times on LP and CD, this album (his sophomore effort), remains an obscure and hard to find vinyl relic. Until now..
Carefully re-mastered from the original tapes, guitar scholar Glenn Jones recently interviewed Peter Walker for hours and has written a book-deep essay for the CD and LP liner notes that detail Walker’s association with an incredible cross-section of 1960’s counter-culture icons including LSD guru Timothy Leary (Walker personally provided ‘the soundtrack’ to many a trip), he studied raga music with Ali Akbar Khan, and like his close friend Sandy Bull, Walker worked on a fusion of Western and Eastern sounds. Jim Pepper plays flute on Second Poem (he also recorded with The Fugs and Don Cherry), other accompaniment to Walker’s guitar, Sarod and Sitar playing includes violin, organ, tablas, and tamboura.
This is true “acid folk” as interesting, progressive, and memorable as fellow 1960’s world travelers Robbie Basho, Davy Graham, and the Incredible String Band.
TRACK LISTING
1. Second Song
2. I & Thou
3. Southwind
4. Tear
5. Barefoot
6. Gypsy Song
7. Circus Day
8. Blake Street
9. Socco Chico
10. Mixture
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- 2xLP
- £23.99
Usually ships within: 2-5 days - Cat Number
- CAD3220
- Release date
- 3 Dec '12
- Format Info
180 gram vinyl, also includes a CD copy of the album and booklet.1 copy found!
180 gram vinyl, also... [ + ]
Since the 1960s, Scott Walker has scaled the heights of pop superstardom, produced some of the most revered solo albums of the late sixties, coasted on his laurels during the seventies, then metamorphosed into something very different. The music he has been making at his own pace since the early eighties might be utterly estranged from the songs that made him a household name, but they stem from the privacy he requires to write this complex and hugely inventive music.
Bish Bosch is the latest in Scott’s discography to pursue the line of enquiry he began back in 1978, with his four devastatingly original songs on the Walker Brothers’ swansong, Nite Flights, and continuing through Climate of Hunter (1984), Tilt (1995), The Drift (2006). He has continued to mature and develop in a late style utterly at odds with the music that made him a superstar, a lifetime ago, but which is totally honest, uncompromising and transcendent.
Scott began writing new material around 2009 - whilst also scoring the ROH 2’s Duet For One Voice ballet - recording it sporadically over the following three years. Aided again by co-producer Peter Walsh and joined by the regular core of musicians, Ian Thomas (drums), Hugh Burns (guitar), James Stevenson (guitar), Alasdair Malloy (percussion) and John Giblin (bass).
Musical director Mark Warman also played a prominent role, both as conductor and keyboardist, while guests include trumpeter Guy Barker and pedal steel guitarist BJ Cole, who worked on three of Scott’s midseventies LPs. For three tracks (‘SDSS1416+13B’, ‘Dimple’ and ‘Corps de Blah’), Scott drafted in an orchestra, recording them in The Hall at Air Studios last November.
If The Drift was a dark place, full of scorching orchestral textures and ominous rumblings, Bish Bosch is a tauter but more colourful experience, with greater emphasis on processed, abrasive guitars, digital keyboards and thick silences.
Bish Bosch is released on December 3rd and a comprehensive booklet accompanies the album. For the cover art, Scott worked closely with painter Ben Farquharson and designer Philip Laslett.
TRACK LISTING
‘See You Don’t Bump His Head’
Corps De Blah
Phrasing
SDSS1416+13B (Zercon,
A Flagpole Sitter)
Epizootics!
Dimple
Tar
Pilgrim
The Day The “Conducator” Died
-
- CD
- £11.99
- Cat Number
- TMU095
- Release date
- 24 May '04
-
- CD
- £5.99
Usually ships within: 2-5 days - Cat Number
- BELLACD340
- Release date
- 4 Jun '12
“We felt like it was time to make a bigger, more generous statement…" When describing The Walkmen's new album, lead singer Hamilton Leithauser portrays a band hitting maturity, comfortable in its mastery after a decade together.
It's been ten years since the Walkmen made their debut album, 'Everybody Who Pretended To Like Me Is Gone'. Ten years since critics attached them to a New York scene they never wanted to be part of. This spring the band played a series of 10th anniversary shows in the US that demonstrated how far they have outstripped their peers: two sets over two hours, no filler, rapturously received.
The Walkmen are the great New York band of their generation, making the best music of their career and filling their largest venues yet. Their spot at the top of the bill at May’s Crossing Brooklyn Ferry festival, curated by The National, demonstrates the respect in which they are held by the current wave of bands making music in the city.
When renowned producer Phil Ek approached the guys last year asking if they’d like to make a record with him, they travelled to the studio he uses in the woods outside Seattle for the most intense recording sessions they had ever experienced. “There can be something brittle about our sound,” Maroon says. “He made it just a little bit warmer, a little bit stronger. When I play it in my car, it sounds strong, which I love.”
All five members of the band have kids now and if the impact of parenthood is hard to pin down in a single lyric, there is definitely a new openness and emotional honesty to the songs. Most importantly, the old gang mentality has deepened, becoming something worthwhile and lasting. “I’m very proud of what we’ve done. We’ve stayed friends and those friendships have grown,” says Bauer. “We have survival experience and real love that children generate in your life.”
'Heaven' is a definitive statement of purpose and commitment, from a band at the peak of its powers that is finally winning the recognition it deserves.
STAFF COMMENTS
Darryl says: 'Heaven', their sixth album, showcases a band completely at one with itself. Confident and striding elegantly at their own pace the songs offer us a warm and enveloping sound very much in keeping with band's new maturity.-
- CD
- £5.49
Usually ships within: 2-5 days - Cat Number
- BELLACD260
- Release date
- 11 Oct '10
"Victory" sounds like a winner's brash cheer, but bears the sting of being second place. "Woe Is Me" turns a pity party into an actual party, making reminiscences about a girl who was 'my not so long ago' into one of the band's most immediately appealing songs in some time, while "Angela Surf City" shoots the curl of a difficult relationship's tides, ebbing and cresting like "Bows + Arrows"' "The Rat". These songs anchor "Lisbon"'s hazier, sadder moments, of which there are plenty: the title track closes the album with a dreamy remembrance that echoes "You & Me"'s brooding travelogue, minus that album's desolation; "Blue as Your Blood" and "Stranded" provide "Lisbon"'s broken but ever-romantic heart, filled with transporting stories of black-eyed girls and waltzes among broken glass. Best of all is "While I Shovel the Snow", which once again proves what a rich muse winter is for the band. When Leithauser sighs 'There's no life like the slow life', it's another potent Walkmen motto: "Lisbon", like the rest of their music, is meant to be savoured, the fullness of its songs allowed to develop over many listens.
-
- CD
- £8.49
- Cat Number
- HARBINGER164
- Release date
- 1 Sep '17
TRACK LISTING
1/Contrapt
2/Ontrapt
3/Ntrapt
4/Trapt
5/Rapt
6/Apt
7/Pt
-
- Ltd 12"
- £13.99
- Cat Number
- RS065
- Release date
- 5 Apr '24
'Wallace's impact on the scene has been nothing short of extraordinary, since Ripples' he has gone on to play in the iconic Panorama bar, tour Japan and release a double LP on Mule musiq. Wallace continues to cultivate a dedicated following among discerning listeners and industry tastemakers alike. Now, with the forthcoming release, Wallace is poised to ascend to new heights, continuing the undeniable Wallace-maina.
Kicking off with the hypnotic, piano-driven house jam, "Papertrip" which manages to restrain a highly energetic core much like a pressure cooker. "BB" has sirens, Reece bass, swung garage beats and echo-drenched soundboy vox - in other words an absolute no-brainer for anyone playing the big rigs this weekend! "The Function" is a poised and futuristic techno trip, again the way Wallace seems to contain explosive energy within a compact arrangement is quite impressive. Final track, "Backwaters", is arguable the most anthemic; with deep chord progression highlighted beautifully by glidein bass and techy dub stabs.
Probably Wallace's best record to date - Rhythm Section back at'cha!
STAFF COMMENTS
Matt says: Rising star of the London underground, Wallace returns to his home at Rhythm Section for, I reckon, his best EP to date. Raw house and garage flavours pulled off with confidence and charisma. Yes mate!TRACK LISTING
A1. Papertrip
A2. BB
B1. The Function
B2. Backwaters
-
- CD
- £11.99
Usually ships within: 2-10 days - Cat Number
- RIBBED1
- Release date
- 21 Oct '02
-
- 12"
- £6.99
Usually ships within: 2-10 days - Cat Number
- KOMPAKT249
- Release date
- 23 Jan '12
The duo's uncanny ability to fuse sophisticated experimentation with catchy nostalgia only became more palpable thanks to their sophomore album “Coracle”, released this year to great critical acclaim, and second lead single “Into Our Midst” is no exception to the anti-formulaic unruliness we come to expect from the freak minds of those two visionaries. Starting off procedures with some trademark drone work, the title track soon introduces a surprisingly danceable beat pattern straying no too far away from what luminaries like Caribou or Animal Collective are doing to tighten up their jam sessions, but nothing prepares the listener for the lush vocals, the succulent textures and the hallucinatory bloom that follows. “Into Our Midst” might just be Walls' finest achievement to date: you can literally hear the duo nailing it. Backed up by an exclusive edit of the title track and unreleased freeform thump-out “Idle Sway”, this 12” manages to accomplish the impossible: bringing the bounce back to the chill-out. One can only wonder what Walls will do next to woo and enchant their audience growing bigger every split second.
-
- CD
- £8.99
Usually ships within: 2-10 days - Cat Number
- KOMPAKTC82
- Release date
- 10 May '10
-
- LP
- £16.99
Usually ships within: 2-5 days - Cat Number
- WCR069LP
- Release date
- 28 Apr '17
-
- CD
- £9.99
Usually ships within: 2-5 days - Cat Number
- WCR069CD
- Release date
- 28 Apr '17
“The Five Boroughs’ most vicious singer with any real songs behind her this decade” - NME
“Louche post-punk, all starkly angled guitar lines and minimalist beats” - Noisey
“The energy and swagger of a cocky young ruffian” - DIY Mag
“Ripping apart at the seams and bursting through with unnerving vitality” - Stereogum
‘Untitled’ is the debut album from “New York City’s buzziest new band” (NME).
This follow up to their cult classic, eponymous EP documents WALL’s rapid ascent from a relatively unknown entity to a hard-playing, highly sought after act on the NYC underground circuit and beyond.
From the pensive minimalism of ‘River Mansion’ to the fervent satire of ‘High Ratings’, the barely nascent four-piece captures the nervous energy of a city defined by constant change.
TRACK LISTING
High Ratings
Wounded At War
Sonic
Save Me
Turn Around
River Mansion
Charmed Life
Weekend
Circus
Everything In Between
-
- LP
- £16.99
Usually ships within: 2-5 days - Cat Number
- WCR069LP
- Release date
- 28 Apr '17
-
- CD
- £9.99
Usually ships within: 2-5 days - Cat Number
- WCR069CD
- Release date
- 28 Apr '17
“The Five Boroughs’ most vicious singer with any real songs behind her this decade” - NME
“Louche post-punk, all starkly angled guitar lines and minimalist beats” - Noisey
“The energy and swagger of a cocky young ruffian” - DIY Mag
“Ripping apart at the seams and bursting through with unnerving vitality” - Stereogum
‘Untitled’ is the debut album from “New York City’s buzziest new band” (NME).
This follow up to their cult classic, eponymous EP documents WALL’s rapid ascent from a relatively unknown entity to a hard-playing, highly sought after act on the NYC underground circuit and beyond.
From the pensive minimalism of ‘River Mansion’ to the fervent satire of ‘High Ratings’, the barely nascent four-piece captures the nervous energy of a city defined by constant change.
TRACK LISTING
High Ratings
Wounded At War
Sonic
Save Me
Turn Around
River Mansion
Charmed Life
Weekend
Circus
Everything In Between
-
- Coloured LP
- £18.99
- Cat Number
- LUCKY172LP
- Release date
- Expected 14 Jun '24
- Format Info
Pearl edition - milky clear transparent vinyl.
Pearl edition - milky... [ + ]Release date: Expected 14 Jun '24 -
- Indies Exclusive LP
- £24.99
- Cat Number
- LUCKY172LPX
- Release date
- Expected 14 Jun '24
- Format Info
Indies exclusive with alternate cover art on 'orchid blush' two colour vinyl.
Indies exclusive with... [ + ]Release date: Expected 14 Jun '24 -
- CD
- £10.99
- Cat Number
- LUCKY172CD
- Release date
- Expected 14 Jun '24
Release date: Expected 14 Jun '24
Written on both sides of the Atlantic, from Los Angeles and Austin to Glasgow and London, The Warping is a significant step forward from a band who have already seen strong success. After its release in 2022, Unlearning picked up nominations for the Scottish Album of the Year (SAY) Award and AIM Independent Album of the Year, while shows at SXSW, festivals across Europe and support stints with Primal Scream and Duran Duran saw the band reach new fanbases and cross genre divides.
Taking the cinematic glam of their debut and pushing it further, the band brought in classically trained orchestral musicians. Sonically, the horns, woodwind and swelling string sections lend an entirely new level to the Walt Disco sound - one that feels both fantastically organic and technically accomplished. While the foundations were laid during pre-album recording sessions at Phil Manzanera of Roxy Music’s studio the songs themselves largely come together in collaboration. In comparison to the ‘Frankensteined’ recording process for Unlearning, stitched together across a digital divide of necessity during lockdown, The Warping was co-produced by the band and Chris McCrory, with engineering from The Vale studios’ Chris D’Adda, and the instrumentation is almost entirely analogue.
Deft lyricism takes in deeply personal issues and writes them large, transposing feelings of envy, fear, joy and hope out of individual experiences. Yearning for another self is a recurring dream on The Warping, as they explore gender dysphoria and envy with radical honesty, accepting them as two tangled threads in the same experience. The world, the band note, can feel like a hostile environment at the moment - especially for queer people, trans people, or anyone who is different. But they aren’t going to let that stop them. Jocelyn agrees. ‘If I’m beaten down by it, I’m not going to be able to pay it forward and act accordingly,’ they say. On The Warping, every moment changes with just a trick of the light.
TRACK LISTING
1. Seed
2. Gnomes
3. Come Undone
4. The Warping
5. You Make Me Feel So Dumb
6. Pearl
7. Black Chocolate
8. Jocelyn
9. The Captain
10. Weeping Willow
11. I Will Travel
12. Before The Walls
-
- Coloured LP
- £20.99
Usually ships within: 2-10 days - Cat Number
- LUCKY155LP
- Release date
- 1 Apr '22
- Format Info
Transparent blue vinyl.
Initial quantities include a signed postcard.
Transparent blue vinyl.... [ + ] -
- CD
- £9.99
Usually ships within: 2-10 days - Cat Number
- LUCKY155CD
- Release date
- 1 Apr '22
While the themes of the album are universally relatable, Walt Disco’s gift is in the unique experience of discovery and heartbreak between queer people - something that frontperson James explores in depth on songs such as ‘Weightless’, ‘Be An Actor’ and ‘Hold Yourself As High As Her’. In Walt Disco’s eyes, it’s never too late to become what you might have been and there are plenty of possibilities to explore on Unlearning.
TRACK LISTING
1. Weightless
2. Selfish Lover
3. How Cool Are You?
4. Cut Your Hair
5. Timeline
6. Be An Actor
7. The Costume Change
8. Those Kept Close
9. Hold Yourself As High As Her
10. My Dear
11. Macilent
12. If I Had A Perfect Life
-
- CD
- £11.99
- Cat Number
- LYN006CD
- Release date
- 22 Jun '15
“Surf Metal drops that punchy kind of rock you know and love from DeMarco’s band, but they also throw in elements that suggest it’s different While the song bounces and punches along to its punky riffs, some good ol’ fashioned black metal like shrieks sneak their way into the background of the song. It’s everything you could ever want from a song that can probably be described as Varg’s Day at The Beach.” – Noisey.
TRACK LISTING
01. Candles
02. Neighbour
03. Paranormal Witness
04. Walter’s Kaya
05. Punk Song
06. Surf Metal
07. Fan
08. Thanksgiving (Looper)
09. C’mon Now
10. Tall Mountains
-
- Coloured LP
- £18.99
- Cat Number
- SR047LPC2
- Release date
- 24 Sep '21
- Format Info
Transparent Clear.
Transparent Clear. -
- CD
- £11.99
- Cat Number
- SR047CD
- Release date
- 24 Sep '21
The accompanying arrangements utilize a kitchen sink approach to production, spanning the poles from electronic to orchestral and everything in between (like talk box and tap dancing!). Known for her “near-cosmic voice” (WIRED) and “stratosphere of songwriting all her own” (Consequence of Sound), Walter invites you on I Am Alicia into the most dynamic iteration of her world as she knows it. Inspired by a life on the move and born from a restless passion for creation, I Am Alicia is part practice in personal mythology, part call to “set yourself free” and join Walter on her odyssey.
What developed in a time of intense change as she relocated from Chicago to New York City in 2016, where the only constant was the time spent with herself, the artist sees this 10-track collection as “a hero’s journey through the unconscious, driven by my desire to experience who it is I am, inside, and what it is I do in this life, outside.”
TRACK LISTING
Side A:
1. Prelude
2. House Of Yes
3. Who Am I
4. Suit Yourself
5. Just A Little
Side B:
6. Standing At Your Doorstep
7. I Feel You
8. Talking To Myself
9. A Toast
10. I Am
-
- CD
- £12.49
Usually ships within: 2-10 days - Cat Number
- KRANK210
- Release date
- 21 Apr '17
Michigan trumpeter Justin Walter’s solo work centers on evocative, intuitive explorations of the EVI (Electronic Valve Instrument), a rare wind-controlled analog synthesizer from the 1970’s.
Its unique, smeared tonality allows for an expressive range of glassy, jazz-like textures, which Walter loops and layers with hushed electronics and twilit trumpet, painting opaque landscapes of resonant beauty.
Walter’s 2013 debut, Lullabies & Nightmares, included a handful of collaborations with percussionist Quin Kirchner but Unseen Forces finds him fully solo, refining the project to its essence: shape-shifting watercolors of pastel haze, lit by the soft synthetic glow of electric breath. It’s a sound both modern and timeless, fusing emotion and technology, gauze and melody, force and fragility.
From Justin Walter: Unseen Forces is a collection of recordings that document the use of improvisation as a means to create sounds that can either function on their own or serve as the foundation of, or source material for, additional improvisation. There was a definite process used to create this music but at no point was any music ever written or composed.
When putting this music together I was often aware of feelings related to density, spacing, silence, and the sense of time pulling back on itself, like trying to stretch a scene and pull on it in ways that distort it ever so slightly. This is a record of melodies, alone and in complex relation. This music is a reflection of both feeling, and thought, as much construction as composition. The recordings of the EVI, as well as the sequencing done using samples of those recordings, are mostly the result of exploring melody through intuition. Harmonically simple, but with a complex pallet of texture.
STAFF COMMENTS
Barry says: Introspective wandering avant-jazz sections clash with soaring airy ambience and cut-up string sections. Sparse pianos on 'End Of Six' for example are alone but for their own shimmering reverb tails, left to ruminate through the sound field uninterrupted. From the minimalism and fog comes beauty and warmth, presenting as snippets of found sound and crackling pads.TRACK LISTING
1. 1001
2. Unseen Forces
3. Sixty
4. End Of Six
5. It’s Not What You Think
6. Isotope
7. Following
8. Soft Illness
9. Red Cabin
-
- LP
- £14.99
Usually ships within: 2-10 days - Cat Number
- 22A023
- Release date
- 25 Jan '19
Channelling the spirit of Woody Shaw, Charles Mingus and absent friends the band features some familiar faces such as Ed Cawthorne (aka Tenderlonious) on tenor sax and flute, Aidan Shepherd (Ruby Rushton) on accordion and synth, and of course the incomparable Nick Walters (Ruby Rushton & Riot Jazz) on trumpet and synths.
Tracks include “34268”, inspired by an Agbadja rhythm from Togo, features two ways of emphasising the same rhythmic motif - the first half a slower pulse of three beats to the bar before quickening to a four to the floor groove for the second half, accompanied by a classic trumpet solo from Walters.
”Dear Old Thing” is a tribute to beloved cricket commentator Henry Blofeld. The musical inspiration is channelled from Eric Dolphy via an exquisite flute solo from Ed Cawthorne (Tenderlonious) and another transcendent solo from Walters.
Nick Walters is arguably one of the most underrated musicians in the UK jazz scene. This project on 22a, which is entirely composed and arranged by him and featuring a roster of unbelievably talented musicians, will hopefully change
TRACK LISTING
34268
Dear Old Thing
Brahman
Zeno
-
- LP
- £21.99
- Cat Number
- DOT004LP
- Release date
- 27 Oct '23
‘Marine Moods’ is a collection of compositions inspired by the sea. The compositions are designed to allow space and creative freedom for all the musicians to express themselves and interact with one another. Much like the oceans which have inspired the album, the pieces take the listener through a range of moods - from the energetic optimism of ‘Gulf Stream’, through the darker hypnotic groove of ‘Hydrothermal’, to the stillness and peacefulness of the raga-inspired ‘Journey for Joan’. Recorded in one summer's day in a roasting hot North London studio, ‘Marine Moods’ is a document of six musicians and friends coming together to improvise, interact and collaborate to create something new.
The album artwork features another stunning original oil painting by Lorna Robertson, a still life of a trumpet, plant and goldfish bowl in her signature semi-abstract style. Inspired by the iconic Henri Matisse painting 'Goldfish' from 1912, the painting is about the experience of inspiration during creativity. In the imagined scene, Nick is in a blue apartment day dreaming while looking at goldfish swimming around, as he contemplates writing new music inspired by the sea.
‘Challenger Deep’ kicks things off in an infectious groove-laden fashion. Walters leads his band through an epic Coltrane-esque intro, that breaks into a snappy drum groove and catchy lead line. Rebecca Nash takes over on piano with her distinctive voicings, setting the scene for an epic flute solo from Tenderlonious. ‘Challenger Deep’ is named after the deepest point of the seabed, found in the Mariana Trench at a depth of over 10 km.
‘Gulf Stream’ kicks off in Walters’ familiar amiable style. A joyful, summery horn line leads the way, succeeded by a glorious trumpet solo from the man himself. Tenderlonious takes over with a thrilling soprano solo, matched by some masterful drum work from Laurie Lowe. That melodious lead line comes back, gradually bringing the sundown on another memorable track for the album. ‘Gulf Stream’ is named after the ocean current which flows across the Atlantic ocean, bringing warm water and weather to the shores of Western Europe.
‘Wine-Dark Sea’ is a reference to the phrase used multiple times by Homer in The Iliad and The Odyssey, often to describe rough, stormy seas. This track was a studio jam built around another catchy hook. Kudjovi Kush leads the way on percussion, before solos from Walters on trumpet and Tenderlonious on flute.
‘Hydrothermal’ is another stand out track on the album. Again, another memorable lead line lays the foundations for some more stellar solo work from Walters, Nash and Tenderlonious. Nim Sadot comes to the fore on this one, leading the rhythm section with some slick bass work that underpins the track. ‘Hydrothermal’ is named after the deep sea hydrothermal vents found in volcanically active regions, home to diverse simple life forms and bacteria, and hypothesised to have been the origin of all life on Earth.
‘Journey for Joan’ a ballad written in tribute to Nick’s granny, Joan Walters. A deep, spiritual offering capturing melancholy and joy. A fitting way to end what is another great album from Nick Walters.
TRACK LISTING
1. Challenger Deep
2. Gulf Stream
3. Wine-Dark Sea
4. Hydrothermal
5. Journey For Joan
-
- LP
- u/avbl
- Cat Number
- BEWITH150LP
- Release date
- 19 Apr '24
- Format Info
140 gram black vinyl.
140 gram black vinyl.
And, perhaps, its title.
Cedar Walton's Mobius is as outrageously, disorientatingly brilliant as the stunning jacket design, featuring the legendary jazz pianist morphing into a mobius strip, set against a beautiful sky filled with cumulus clouds. A proper jazz-funk fusion slapfest, Mobius is a stellar electric set from - essentially - one *hell* of a SUPERBAND.
Yes, in addition to Walton's Fender Rhodes wizardry, Mobius is elevated by Ryo Kawasaki's stinging electric guitar, pristinely clear vocals by Adrienne Albert and Lani Groves, rootsy percussion by Ray Mantilla and Omar Clay, alto and baritone from Charles Davis, trumpet from Roy Burrowes, Gordon Edwards on bass and Frank Foster's tenor sax. Oh and did we mention STEVE GADD ON DRUMS?!?!
Gem after gem of looping, bliss-inducing gold, it's an incredibly revelatory album. It presents a thrilling synthesis of R&B, funk, blues and hard bop (with a hint of rock), all driven by an idiosyncratic electronic keyboard. Walton, a giant in the jazz world, got quite the workout every time he played, from piano to arp synthesizer to clarinet to electric piano to mini-moog and back again.
Mobius was Cedar Walton's debut for RCA in 1975. The versatile artist confirmed his abilities as a player, composer, interpreter and arranger with this stunning record, and his own bright compositions offered a springboard for the improvisations of the different soloists. Coltrane's "Blue Trane" is the first classic to be given the funkafied Mobius treatment, Ryo Kawasaki let loose all over neck-snapping Gadd-drum gold before the horns take a fiery turn and subsequently give way to Cedar's virtuosity. A sparkling b-boy break version of Thelonious Monk's "Off Minor" (featuring an absolutely *fire* solo from Walton) really sets proceedings alight. Of the three original pieces, the shuffling, percussive power of "Soho" is just absolutely mind bending Latin-influenced jazzy soul whilst the mellow vibes of "The Maestro" bring elegant, sumptuous soul. And then there's the effortlessly funky "Road Island Red". Just too, too good.
Cedar Walton was born in Dallas, Texas, on January 17, 1934 and began his professional career in 1959 when he began touring for several years with the J.J. Johnson Quintet. He later joined the Art Farmer-Benny Golson Jazztet and then Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. Pretty solid credentials, right? While based in New York City, Cedar played with such luminaries as Donald Byrd, Eddie Harris, Blue Mitchell, Kenny Dorham, Lee Morgan, Freddie Hubbard, Jimmy Heath and Milt Jackson. Without question, he was one of the most complete and gifted musicians of his time and Mobius provides proof of that. The fresh, danceable tracks, all firmly rooted in the living tradition of blues and gospel, are skilfully presented by a master who enjoyed keeping abreast of contemporary tastes and was always keen to renew his language.
As the album notes state: “Mobius, which is the theoretical shape of the infinite universe, makes use of the most modern recording techniques and synthesizers. We mastered and mixed so that it’s hotter than the competition, which should help radio play and in-store demonstration.” Indeed. Mobius is really gorgeous mid-70s fusion, ranging from the funky to the ecstatic. It's an absolute MONSTER that will completely blow you away; and, yes, it's as wild and hypnotic as the cover. The audio for Mobius has been carefully remastered by Be With regular Simon Francis, ensuring it sounds better than ever. Cicely Balston's expert skills have made sure nothing is lost in the cut whilst the records have been pressed to the highest possible standard at Record Industry in Holland.
The original, iconic sleeve has been restored here at Be With HQ as the finishing touch to this long overdue re-issue.
TRACK LISTING
A1 Blue Trane
A2 Soho
B1 Off Minor
B2 The Maestro
B3 Road Island Red
-
- 12"
- £14.99
- Cat Number
- MIE023
- Release date
- 20 Jan '23 (originally released 15 Apr '22)
- Format Info
Includes printed folded insert and sleeves
Includes printed folded... [ + ]
A ridiculously strong debut EP, side A begins with the fiery, dominating and controlled aggression of "River Nile" which blends upfront bass and drill patterns to deadly effect. "Promise" is a huge R&B / hip-hop banger, destined for repeated reloads at the best house parties in town before "Sulwe" concludes side A with a jazz-n-bass informed piece of deep introspection that both Giles Peterson and Theo Parrish would both snap up given half a chance.
Before introducing side B with a thick sweltered piece of ambience, "Nilotic" erupts off the record with a vicious intent and highly infectious groove - highlighting injustices and discrimination with a quick-fired, witty delivery that's surely indebted to Nadia Rose, over a kind-of dancehall-pop beat that's impossible to ignore.
"Hunger" finishes off this faultless debut with an anthemic R&B / afrobeats hybrid which has almost Rihanna-esque grandiosity and shows an elegance and ambition in her songwriting that few can match at such an early stage in their career.
Put simply, this is one of the best debut EPs I've heard for a while - a star in the making surely. Get on it!
STAFF COMMENTS
Matt says: Have you heard me talk about Elsy Wameo yet? No? - then you haven't seen me!! I'm currently waxing lyrical about this new addition to the musical landscape. Like a cross between Nadia Rose and Lil Simz, with plenty of soul in her belly - big things afoot for this lady!TRACK LISTING
A1. River Nile
A2. Promise
A3. Sulwe
B1. The Call
B2. Nilotic
B3. Hunger
-
- LP
- £15.99
Usually ships within: 2-5 days - Cat Number
- DC625
- Release date
- 25 Sep '15
August of 2014 was ‘Ganglion Reef’, Wand’s debut album release, on the GOD? label, revelling in their dark circuits and three-ring modulations. Following that, they ranged from their south-Cali base, towing their sound around this maze of interstates and state routes. Shows of all kinds were playing, plenty of people to meet up with on the way. Europe got booked and suddenly it was March of 2015 with a second album entitled ‘Golem’ (this time on In The Red) trailing Wand’s sound farther down the road, past the sky, into storm and casino food.
Recorded in Los Angeles and San Francisco in between tour days, ‘1000 Days’ finds Wand searching in corners. Where have all the people gone? Where have they put them? Panoramas of the body history are viewed through Wand’s spy-glass as it sweeps the horizon. · Never shy of a new machine, Wand found extra texture during ‘1000 Days’ via synthetic animation. Songs compelled them to reach across lifestyle, relying on broadcast to find out who might need the sound. The atmosphere is quicksilver and the space acoustic; as a beacon sparks electric, a cascade of hifi noises for everyone’s ear moles - raucous, impassive, inevitable musical expressions.
-
- LP
- £22.99
Usually ships within: 2-5 days - Cat Number
- BRV129
- Release date
- 22 Mar '24
-
- CD
- £10.99
Usually ships within: 2-5 days - Cat Number
- BRC129
- Release date
- 22 Mar '24
The Wandering Hearts intimately explore this maternal transformation on their aptly titled third full-length offering and Chrysalis Records debut, MOTHER. The UK trio — Tara Wilcox [vocals], A.J. Dean [vocals, acoustic guitar], and Francesca “Chess”Whiffin [vocals, mandolin] — chronicle this season of growth and change across eleven tracks.
“During the process, we really found ourselves as a band. Motherhood has helped us grow and find meaning. It brought our writing and performing to a different level.” Notes Chess, "From the get-go, it felt like the most authentic and true representation of who we are now."
Mother started as a folk EP but incorporates elements of folk, Americana, rock, blues, pop and more with the band's vocals tying them all together, A.J. explains "We were really just making an album for us. We think the result is the best music we've ever made.”
TRACK LISTING
1. About America
2. Still Waters
3. Tired
4. Letter To Myself
5. Hold Your Tongue
6. Waiting
7. Dance Again
8. Not Misunderstood
9. River To Cry
10. Will You Love Me
11. What Fools Believe
-
- 2xLP
- £24.99
Usually ships within: 2-5 days - Cat Number
- DC744
- Release date
- 19 Apr '19
Largely recorded on the infamous southern border of broken, decadent America, Laughing Matter belongs to the after-life. After the dull flood. As rock n roll lurched sideways and fell away, drunkenly lost in a funhouse mirror of…recycled Funhouses. With no major label funding, no management or lawyers, no corporate distribution, near zero social media presence and no commercial dealings whatsoever (with only poor, pitiful Drag City to help them carry the flag!), Wand have toured the world a bajillion times in five years and made four varied and compelling records while accumulating a devoted following. There may be a future in rock music beyond slapping rote regurgitations onto a lifeless syntactic grid. Wand are proof you don’t have to be an industry toy to sell records – that, with devotion and time, the seeds you plant with intention and care will grow back into the world.
Swerving between out-of-focus parable, travel diary, pep talk, polemic, love song, and lullabye, Laughing Matter is a tough and tender album, its eyes on a lot of prizes. Where Plum held the tension of its five band members getting on their feet, the songs on Laughing Matter are concentrated and relaxed, even as they search for the right accusations to hurl at cynics and megalomaniacs. The music is distilled and sculpted from an ash heap of collected improvisations, riven with audio-verite; the methods and instrumentation are traditional handmade rock ‘n’ roll. Yet the unorthodox arrangements of “Scarecrow”, the joyous embrace of pastiche and disruption on “Walkie Talkie”, the radical eclecticism of shapes and approaches on “Thin Air”, the ascendant choruses of “Wonder” are all decidedly contemporary. This music is not revivalism or throwback; Wand are a precision instrument, a band that probes and teases style, genre, trope and anachronism into material, according to a law of motion that is aimed directly toward an uncertain future.
Laughing Matter is a record about love in a time of terror, about making the best use of the surveillance technology available today. It calls you down from panic room labyrinths, to work the deep tissue of unravelling trauma we all carry so dear. The 15 songs on this record face their energy outward, to take with you through a common world that can’t suffer its human abusers much longer. Laughing Matter encourages you to shake hands with your old demons, to lay your pathologies to rest, to hold your spirit close, and let your body do what’s next.
TRACK LISTING
1 Scarecrow
2 Xoxo
3 Bubble
4 High Planes Drifter
5 Walkie Talkie
6 Thin Air
7 Hare
8 Wonder
9 Evening Star
10 Tortoise
11 Rio Grande
12 Airplane
13 Lucky's Sight
14 Wonder II
15 Jennifer's Gone
-
- CD
- £10.99
Usually ships within: 2-5 days - Cat Number
- DC707CD
- Release date
- 25 May '18
Here are seven electric hues, shocks of light that flagrantly provoke the dark, a posy’s clutch of purple, fuchsia, green and snowy white that curl against a stench of plague.
Recorded between tours and fire seasons in Grass Valley, California, by Tim Green, ‘Perfume’’s potent, expansive tunes were mixed in Woodstock, New York by Daniel James Goodwin. The band features Sofia Arreguin, Evan Burrows, Robbie Cody, Cory Hanson and Lee Landey.
There’s a kind of return here, a haunting, the déjà vu you only take in through a curious nose. Your nose invites the world inside your skull. A familiar fragrance finds you when you thought you’d let a lover go but it won’t linger like a lover, flickering away with the breeze toward a yawning future.
-
- CD
- £9.99
Usually ships within: 2-5 days - Cat Number
- DC673
- Release date
- 22 Sep '17
In late winter of 2016, the band expanded their core membership of Evan Burrows, Cory Hanson, and Lee Landey to include two new members — Robbie Cody on guitar and Sofi a Arreguin on keys and vocals. From the outset, the new ensemble moved naturally toward a changed working method, as they learned how to listen to each other and trust in this songwriting process was consciously relocated to the practice space, where for several months, the band spent hours a day freely improvising, while recording as much of the activity as they could manage. Previously, Wand songs had generally been brought to the group setting substantially formed by singer and guitarist Cory Hanson; now seedling songs were harvested from a growing cloudbank of archived material, then ! eshed out and negotiated collectively as the band shifted rhythmically between the permissive space of jamming and the obsessive space of critique.
This new process demanded more honest communication, more vulnerability, better boundaries, more mercy and persistence during a year that meanwhile delivered a heaping serving of romantic, familial and political heartbreak for everyone involved. They learned more about their instruments and their perceived limitations. Much else fell apart in their personal lives, in their bodies, and the bodies of those near to them. In this way, Plum lengthened like a shadow underneath a dusking Orange; or rather “Weird Orange,” an affectionate name given to the color of a roulette-chosen, tour-rushed batch of Golem vinyl... an idiom, an inside joke, a talisman, a bookmark, a mood ring. And meanwhile all the shifting weather, the wireless signals, the helicopters overhead. Weird orange softened, darkened delicately, and rouged itself to a Plum.
The music of Plum focuses teeming, dense, at times wildly multichromatic sounds into Wand’s most deliberate statement to date, with a long evening’s shadow of loss and longing hovering above the proceedings. Plum delicately locates the band’s tangent of escape from the warm and comfortable shallows of genre anachronism, an eyes-closed, mouth-open leap toward a more free-associative and contemporary pastiche of logic that more honestly re! ects the ravenous musical omnivorousness of the " ve people who wrote and played it.
It usually goes without saying — we are so lucky to have had each other in this time, and we are more than lucky to have you all listen to this record.
TRACK LISTING
1 Setting
2 Plum
3 Bee Karma
4 CDG
5 High Rise
6 White Cat
7 The Trap
8 Ginger
9 Blue Cloud
10 Driving
-
- 2xLP
- £34.99
- Cat Number
- DC785
- Release date
- 28 Oct '22
How do you get ‘Spiders in the Rain’? Start by going all the way back to January 2020. Do you remember? Wand do. They’d been touring ‘Laughing Matter’ for ten months. They’d done the coast, spanned the country, crossed the water twice, came back home and kept on going... driving, flying, occasionally floating, always on to the next town. They did all kinds of shows - clubs, ballrooms, festival gigs with no roof overhead - the songs expanding and contracting according to the dimensions of each day.
The essential truth of the live vibe - that it’s always better when everybody’s here - was clear, so they booked a few shows more in Cali, from LA up to Marin. They brought along light and projections from The Mad Alchemist Liquid Light Show and Mike Kreibel and Zac Hernandez too, to tape everything - to get the big-deck energy out of performances in SF and LA, but also to draw it out of the margins in Sacramento, Novato and Big Sur. It all happened, too. Everyone brought their experience - the kids in the audience and the folks behind the boards, all along with Wand, where it meant something different for everybody in the van:
Sofia: “At the end of 2019, the live show had become our (my) home. It was the most familiar and comfortable place to be after consistent touring for years. An access point into the language we created together, and something that was constantly evolving and refining.”
Lee: “Breakfast in Big Sur, lots of liquid lights, redwoods, a short mossy hike, a dark tunnel and seaspray, friends, my fav Echo shows, Bernie polls, Delany books from City Lights, mounds of elephant seals honking at dusk. God bless Zac and Mike.”
Evan: “Maybe this quiltwork of live recordings reflects a certain screwy, fugitive energy we bring that I think will feel familiar to people who have seen us at shows all these years, and that more or less refuses to be domesticated for posterity in recording studios. These shows were so much fun and so much else—loud and living. I hope this record can be a vivid little token of all those buzzing and broken and ecstatic times we shared that lately feel more fleeting, precious and poignant than ever.”
Robbie: “John Cage said that ‘art and our involvement in it... somehow introduc[ing] us to the very life that we are living...’ is for an artist the highest goal imaginable. If that’s the case then this record is Wand’s high water mark. Both because it accurately represents the way I have most often heard Wand’s music over the past six years (in rooms filled with other people) and because it is a document of the choice I made to seek out a life for myself through music. I’m happy it exists.”
Cory: “The live show has always been a means of cracking open the hi-fi-neuroticism of our studio records; to reach back into the essence of what made the composed music possible to begin with, and tap that essence as the basis for expressive unison improvisation, ‘Spiders in the Rain’ is a document of our live efforts, and I do believe it is our strongest record until we can produce a studio LP that adequately captures and expands on what is essentially displayed here.”
TRACK LISTING
1. HARE
2. WONDER
3. PLUM
4. WHITE CAT
5. EVENING STAR
6. BLUE CLOUD
7. THE GIFT
8. SELF HYPNOSIS
9. MELTED ROPE
-
- CD
- £12.99
- Cat Number
- BB382
- Release date
- 17 Sep '21
For 'Solar Müsli' though, Niklas takes centre stage with a debut solo LP informed by kosmische, jazz, Afrobeat and ambient, but placed in a universe of its own. This is not formalism at work, but an exhilarating, freely flowing album which started out as an exercise in improvised percussion and developed into a multidimensional journey, at times both introverted and ebullient. Stitched through with snippets of spoken word by some of his nearest and dearest, this wildly psychedelic listen is a journey through the nebulous realm of electronic jazz, both emotive and escapist.
TRACK LISTING
A1. Der Glaeserne Tag
A2. Durch Den Spalt
A3. Lo Spettro
A4. Wo Es War
B1. Kusnacht
B2. Solar Musli
B3. Am Rande
-
- Ltd 10"
- £15.99
- Cat Number
- NBNWAO
- Release date
- 1 Mar '24
WAO (Waltaa Abnd Onra) is an ephemeral project, a musical experiment between two friends that happened during a rainy afternoon in the Parisian suburban area in 2014.
After years of knowing each other, Waltaa and Onra finally decided to make music together in the same room for once, and this double-sided 10” single is the product of this collaboration between the two underground French producers.
With “Sexy Robot”, a (then) retro-futuristic ballad for a talkbox duet, and “All Night Long”, a new jack swing instrumental cut, the release encompasses many different influences that the two producers share, but the use of the talkbox on both tracks suggest a direct inspiration from legendary 90’s R&B producers, Devante Swing and Teddy Riley respectively.
Matt Says: Landing somewhere between the cough syrup swillin' slo-mo futurism of chopped n screwed, and the vocodered electro funk of Ed DMX, Wao showcase their own gnarly version of RnB and it's great!
STAFF COMMENTS
Matt says: Landing somewhere between the cough syrup swillin' slo-mo futurism of chopped n screwed, and the vocodered electro funk of Ed DMX, Wao showcase their own gnarly version of RnB and it's great!TRACK LISTING
Sexy Robot
Sexapella
All Night Long
Sexy Robot (Instrumental)
-
- CD
- £12.99
- Cat Number
- 0075678660634
- Release date
- 25 Aug '17
For much of the three and a half year period since the release of Lost In The Dream, The War On Drugs’ frontman, Adam Granduciel, led the charge for his Philadelphia-based sextet as he holed up in studios in New York and Los Angeles to write, record, edit, and tinker—but, above all, to busy himself in work. Teaming up with engineer Shawn Everett (Alabama Shakes, Weezer), Granduciel challenged the notion of what it means to create a fully realized piece of music in today’s modern landscape. Calling on his bandmates – bassist Dave Hartley, keyboarding Robbie Bennett, drummer Charlie Hall and multi-instrumentalists Anthony LaMarca and Jon Natchez -- continuously throughout the process, the result is a “band record” in the noblest sense, featuring collaboration, coordination, and confidence at every turn. Through those years of relocation, the revisiting and re-examining of endless hours of recordings, unbridled exploration and exuberance, Granduciel’s gritty love of his craft succeeded in pushing the band to great heights.
STAFF COMMENTS
Andy says: Adam Granduciel and co. exploded into our hearts with the peerless ‘Lost In The Dream’, three years ago. Taking classic 70s rock (particularly of a Dylan vintage) and somehow making it modern, here was a band for right across the ages, a band to truly believe in. They returned, this year (on Record Store Day!) with their magnum opus, and it was immediately apparent that with "Thinking Of A Place", they had, incredibly upped the ante. Here was 11 massive minutes of bliss and wonder. High summer and the album dropped: ‘LITD’ part two, or squared, if you like. The songs were huge (in every way) but the production was out of this world. This was sun-roof down, beers in the back, cruise control, heart-rending, shimmering classic rock. But, crucially, with a drum machine! Everything we could have hoped for in a follow-up to a modern classic.TRACK LISTING
1. Up All Night
2. Pain
3. Holding On
4. Strangest Thing
5. Knocked Down
6. Nothing To Find
7. Thinking Of A Place
8. In Chains
9. Clean Living
10. You Don’t Have To Go
-
- 2xLP
- £38.99
- Cat Number
- 0075678641299
- Release date
- 29 Oct '21
- Format Info
Double black vinyl.
Double black vinyl. -
- CD
- £12.99
- Cat Number
- 0075678642050
- Release date
- 29 Oct '21
Just a month after The War On Drugs’ ‘A Deeper Understanding’ received the 2018 Grammy for Best Rock Album, the core of Granduciel, bassist Dave Hartley, and multi-instrumentalist Anthony LaMarca retreated to upstate New York to jam and cut new demos, working outside of the predetermined roles each member plays in the live setting. These sessions proved highly productive, turning out early versions of some of the most immediate songs on ‘I Don’t Live Here Anymore’. It was the start of a dozen-plus session odyssey that spanned three years and seven studios, including some of rock’s greatest sonic workshops like Electric Lady in New York and Los Angeles’ Sound City. Band leader Adam Granduciel and trusted co-producer/engineer Shawn Everett spent untold hours peeling back every piece of these songs and rebuilding them.
One of the most memorable sessions occurred in May 2019 at Electro-Vox, in which the band’s entire line-up — rounded out by keyboardist Robbie Bennett, drummer Charlie Hall, and saxophonist Jon Natchez — convened to record the affecting album opener “Living Proof.” Typically, Granduciel assembles The War On Drugs records from reams of overdubs, like a kind of rock ‘n’ roll jigsaw puzzle. But for “Living Proof,” the track came together in real time, as the musicians drew on their chemistry as a live unit to summon some extemporaneous magic. The immediacy of the performance was appropriate for one of the most personal songs Granduciel has ever written.
The War On Drugs’ particular combination of intricacy and imagination animates the 10 songs of ‘I Don’t Live Here Anymore’, buttressing the feelings of Granduciel’s personal odyssey. It’s an expression of rock ’n’ roll’s power to translate our own experience into songs we can share and words that direct our gaze toward the possibility of what is to come.
STAFF COMMENTS
Andy says: Already being hailed as their best record yet, main man Adam Granduciel freshens things up by welcoming more band collaboration than on previous records. Those trademark, lush, chunky drums are, of course, still present, but opening proceedings with a stark, naked ballad, indicates that change is afoot. A nice twist on a winning formula.TRACK LISTING
Living Proof
Harmonia’s Dream
Change
I Don’t Wanna Wait
Victim
I Don’t Live Here Anymore
Old Skin
Wasted
Rings Around My Father’s Eyes
Occasional Rain
-
- 2xLP
- £22.99
- Cat Number
- SC310LP
- Release date
- 17 Mar '14
-
- CD
- £8.99
Usually ships within: 2-5 days - Cat Number
- SC310CD
- Release date
- 17 Mar '14
That essence drives Lost In The Dream, a 10-song set produced by Granduciel and longtime engineer Jeff Zeigler. In the past, Granduciel built the core of songs largely by himself. But these tunes were played and recorded by the group that had solidified so much on the road: Dave Hartley, (his favorite bassist in the world), who had played a bit on The War on Drugs' 2008 debut Wagonwheel Blues, and pianist Robbie Bennett, a multi-instrumentalist who contributed to Slave Ambient. This unit spent eight months bouncing between a half-dozen different studios that stretched from the mountains of North Carolina to the boroughs of New York City. Only then did Granduciel--the proudly self-professed gearhead, and unrepentant perfectionist--add and subtract, invite guests and retrofit pieces. He sculpted these songs into a musical rescue mission, through and then beyond personal despair and anxiety. Lost In The Dream represents the trials of the trip and the triumphs of its destination.
"I wanted there to be a singular voice, but I wanted it to be a project of great friends. Everyone in the band cares about it so much," he says. "That is the crux of it--growing up, dealing with life, having close friends, helping each other get by. That is what the record's all about."
As such, these tunes reveal a careful and thrilling reinvention of the sound that's become The War on Drugs' trademark. The signature meld of long tones and scattershot layers still stands, with phantom drum machines and organ lines dotting the musical middle distance all across Lost In The Dream. Note the way the keys whisper against the guitar's growl as the tempestuous "An Ocean in Between the Waves" approaches pentecostal heat. Hear how, when a sharp and hard riff cuts into the inescapable chorus of "Red Eyes," synthetic strings and baritone saxophone shape a soft, infinite bed beneath it.
But there's a newfound directness to these tunes, too. Granduciel's voice steps out from behind its typical web of effects--louder now, with more experiences to share and more steel from having survived them. He sounds less like a prismatic reflection of a rock bandleader, more like the emboldened actualization of that idea. With its crisp, unencumbered delivery, "Eyes to the Wind" becomes the album's centerpiece and the group's new anthem. This is Granduciel's to-date triumph and the exact moment where Lost In The Dream moves from a tale of confusion to one of resolve. Throughout most of the record, grips loosen and senses fail, memories are mourned and expectations are abandoned. But after the Rolling Thunder lift of "Eyes to the Wind," Granduciel finds new contentment and direction. Anguish sublimates into deliverance. Backed by his bros, Granduciel becomes a preacher in a new pulpit.
TRACK LISTING
1. Under The Pressure
2. Red Eyes
3. Suffering
4. An Ocean In Between The Waves
5. Disappearing
6. Eyes To The Wind
7. The Haunting Idle
8. Burning
9. Lost In The Dream
10. In Reverse
-
- CD
- £8.99
Usually ships within: 2-5 days - Cat Number
- SC190CD
- Release date
- 5 Sep '11
‘Slave Ambient’, their second album proper, is a brilliant 47-minute sprawl of rock ‘n’ roll, conceptualized with a sense of adventure and captured with seasons of bravado.
Recorded over the last four years, the album puts the weirdest influences in just the right places. Tom Petty and Spacemen 3, ‘Neu! '75’ and ‘Blood On The Tracks’, Flying Saucer Attack and Bruce Springsteen, New Order and No Wave, The Byrds, Bread and Burt Bacharach. How is a music fan supposed to reconcile all of this?
Synthesizers fall where you might expect electric guitars (and vice versa); country rock sidles up to the warped extravagance of '80s pop. Instant classic ‘Baby Missiles’ is part Springsteen fever dream, part motorik anthem. ‘Original Slave’ might sound like a hillbilly power drone, but ‘City Reprise #12’ suggests Phil Collins un-retiring in order to back Harmonia.
STAFF COMMENTS
Andy says: This is a beautiful, hazy, rock'n'roll record, which, sure enough shimmers and thrums and is actually semi-ambient. Check all the tasty influences listed below, but if I told you that Kurt Vile is a sometime member of this band and that this was like a mysterious cousin to Vile's "Smoke Rings..", then you'd get the feel of this album right away. Cool.TRACK LISTING
1. Best Night
2. Brothers
3. I Was There
4. Your Love Is Calling My Name
5. The Animator
6. Come To The City
7. Come For It
8. It's Your Destiny
9. City Reprise #12
10. Baby Missiles
11. Original Slave
12. Black Water Falls
‘Future Weather’ (Bonus Disc With Ltd CD Version Only)
Come To The City
Baby Missiles
Comin' Through
A Pile Of Tires
Comin' Around
Brothers
Missiles Reprise
The History Of Plastic
-
- CD
- £9.99
Usually ships within: 2-5 days - Cat Number
- SC167CD
- Release date
- 2 Jun '08
In The War On Drugs we have a fresh face that already sounds like an old friend. Bringing a dose of the West Coast to the hard streets of Philadelphia, their songs recall the '80s guitar army of Sonic Youth with the captivating lyrics and vocal stylings of Tom Petty or Bruce Springsteen. Songwriter Adam Granduciel (vocals/guitar) leads the attack with his lyrical paintings of his own American landscape. Walls of guitar - acoustic, electric, and twelve-string - douse each track of this debut album, threatening to cast the band into space rock territory, but the melodies and immediately identifiable lyrics soldier on to keep these songs from blasting into the esoteric beyond. With Wagonwheel Blues, Granduciel joins a distinct set of songwriters in a new golden era of polished-yet-subcultural underground music. The War On Drugs have that unmistakable singularity that comes along only so often, with the spirit of invention and playfulness lying earnestly at the forefront of their creative process.
-
- CD
- £9.99
- Cat Number
- BELLA521CD
- Release date
- 4 Mar '16
In addition to his celebrated work as a musician, Ward is an accomplished producer, handling those duties for such luminaries as Mavis Staples, Jenny Lewis and Carlos Forster as well as his own projects.
M. Ward knows how to live with rain. Having spent the last decadeand- a-half based in the perennially damp Portland, Oregon, the singer-songwriter and producer has learned how to shine through the soggy gloom by simply embracing its inevitability. For Ward, there is inspiration in a dark sky and harmony in foreboding winds. With his new album ‘More Rain’ he has made a true gotta-stay-indoors, rainyseason record that looks upwards through the weather while reflecting on his past.
“I think one of the biggest mysteries of America right now is this: How are we able to process unending bad news on Page One and then go about our lives the way the style section portrays us?” says Ward. “There must be a place in our brains that allows us to take a bird’s-eye view of humanity, and I think music is good at helping people - myself included - go to that place.”
This album, Ward’s eighth solo affair, finds the artist picking up the tempo and volume a bit from his previous release, 2012’s ‘A Wasteland Companion’. Where that record introspectively looked in from the outside, ‘More Rain’ finds Ward on the inside, gazing out. Begun four years ago and imagined initially as a DIY doo-wop album that would feature Ward experimenting with layering his own voice, it soon branched out in different directions, a move that he credits largely to his collaborators here who include REM.’s Peter Buck, Neko Case, kd lang, The Secret Sisters and Joey Spampinato of NRBQ.
STAFF COMMENTS
Andy says: More warm 50's/60's vibes from the golden voiced maestro. Another enveloping record where everything feels just right. Great songs, obviously.TRACK LISTING
(More Rain)
Pirate Dial
Time Won’t Wait Up
Confession
I’m Listening (Child’s Theme)
Girl From Conejo Valley
Slow Driving Man
You’re So Good To Me
Temptation
Phenomenon
Little Nany
I’m Going Higher
Herb Ward / Bob Brady & The Con Chords
Honest To Goodness / Everybody's Goin' To The Love-In
Deptford Northern Soul Club
-
- Ltd 7"
- £9.99
Usually ships within: 2-5 days - Cat Number
- DNSCR006
- Release date
- 26 Jun '20
Featuring Herb Ward’s 1968 RCA release that goes for around £200 if you can find a copy.
A Catacombs Club favourite that emphasizes Ward’s deep soulful vocal with a gorgeous call-andresponse bridge that leads into a truly uplifting chorus.
Backed with Bob Brady And The Con Chords’ blueeyed soul classic from the same year.
Often compared in style to Smokey Robinson, ‘Love In’ is a brass-led scorcher with a pulsating back beat that could have been a Motown 45.
Both tracks remastered from the original sound sources for maximum dancefloor effect.
TRACK LISTING
Herb Ward - Honest To Goodness
Bob Brady & The Con Chords - Everybody's Goin' To The Love - In
-
- LP
- £20.99
Usually ships within: 2-10 days - Cat Number
- 277351
- Release date
- 3 Apr '20
-
- CD
- £9.99
Usually ships within: 2-10 days - Cat Number
- 277352
- Release date
- 3 Apr '20
M. Ward’s music has always felt intricate, intimate and other worldly. With Migration Stories he breathes beautiful life into vignettes of human flight, blurring the lines between reality and fantasy as it reckons with a world that feels more divided than ever before, even as its inhabitants grow more inextricably linked by the day.
TRACK LISTING
Migration Of Souls
Heaven’s Nail And Hammer
Coyote Mary’s Traveling Show
Independent Man
Stevens’ Snow Man
Unreal City
Real Silence
Along The Santa Fe Trail
Chamber Music
Torch
Rio Drone
-
- LP
- £19.99
Usually ships within: 2-10 days - Cat Number
- 277901
- Release date
- 5 Feb '21
-
- CD
- £9.99
Usually ships within: 2-10 days - Cat Number
- 277902
- Release date
- 11 Dec '20
TRACK LISTING
I Get Along Without You Very Well
For Heavens Sake
It’s Easy To Remember
You’ve Changed
Violets For Your Furs
For All We Know
But Beautiful
All The Way
I’m A Fool To Want You
I’ll Be Around
You Don’t Know What Love Is
-
- Coloured LP
- £16.99
Usually ships within: 2-5 days - Cat Number
- MWARD001LP
- Release date
- 18 Jan '19
- Format Info
Limited edition clouded clear vinyl.
Limited edition clouded... [ + ] -
- CD
- £9.99
- Cat Number
- MWARD001CD
- Release date
- 18 Jan '19
Via Ward: “This is a record inspired by people in the industry I have known - heroes and villains in equal measure. There’s some beautiful moments when you travel for a living, and I’m grateful for being part of an industry that’s taken me around the world so many times - but you quickly learn there’s a perfectly imperfect balance of cold-blooded and warm-blooded animals in the zoo. This record visits the most memorable characters. There’s a lot of very inspirational people I’ve had the pleasure to work with but there are also a few I wish I’d never met. It all tragically ends with an imaginary Griffin Mill-inspired murder ballad. This album is a reminder to keep your friends close, your enemies closer and don’t let the ones that just need an extra couple hours of therapy bring you down. Anyway I hope you like it. All names have been changed to protect the innocent".
TRACK LISTING
Side A:
1. Arrivals Chorus
2. Miracle Man
3. Shark
4. Motorcycle Ride
5. El Rancho
6. Sit Around The House
Side B:
1. Kind Of Human
2. A Mind Is The Worst Thing To Waste
3. Return To Neptune's Net
4. Poor Tom
5. War & Peace
6. Bobby
-
- Coloured LP
- £25.99
- Cat Number
- MRG301LPC1
- Release date
- 26 Jan '24
- Format Info
Indies only opaque beige vinyl.- Includes MP3 Download Code.
Indies only opaque beige... [ + ] -
- LP
- £24.99
- Cat Number
- MRG301LP
- Release date
- 26 Jan '24
- Format Info
Black vinyl edition.- Includes MP3 Download Code.
Black vinyl edition. -
- CD
- £12.99
- Cat Number
- MRG301CD
- Release date
- 26 Jan '24
- Format Info
CD is chipboard digipak.
CD is chipboard digipak.
In 2003, everything broke open for Ward with the release of Transfiguration of Vincent. Critically lauded and long beloved, Pitchfork hailed it as an album that “broadcasts timelessness and defies genre constraints,” and Slant placed it on their list of the best albums of the 2000s. On Transfiguration of Vincent, Ward’s elegant fingerpicking, evocative croon, and heartrending lyricism came into full bloom, casting a spell so powerful that even a song as universal as David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance” felt not only new but irrevocably his. One of the most cherished albums in the Merge catalog, Transfiguration of Vin- cent is both a great place to begin your love affair with M. Ward and a deep, stunningly realized work that listeners have returned to over and over again for 20 years.
TRACK LISTING
Duet For Guitars #2
Beautiful Car
Fishing Boat Song
Scene From #12
Good News
The Crooked Spine
Look Me Over
Who May Be Lazy
It Won’t Happen Twice
He Asked Me To Be A Snake & Live Underground
Song From Debby’s Stairs
It Was A Beautiful Car
Were You There?
Not A Gang
Duet For Guitars #1
-
- Coloured LP
- £25.99
Usually ships within: 2-10 days - Cat Number
- 279603
- Release date
- 23 Jun '23
- Format Info
Eco mix vinyl edition.
Eco mix vinyl edition. -
- CD
- £9.99
- Cat Number
- 279602
- Release date
- 23 Jun '23
The album's guest stars -- First Aid Kit, Shovels & Rope, Scott McMicken, Neko Case, Jim James, others -- enliven the album with surprises. On "Too Young to Die," the women's voices in First Aid Kit spread a light frosting over the melody, and their Beach Boyslike chorus on "Engine 5" makes the song sound like an instant hit. Eight of the album's ten songs are Ward originals. There's an unusual Bowie choice, "I Can't Give Everything Away" from Blackstar, and a live rendition of Daniel Johnston's 'Story of an Artist.'" -By James Cushing.
Both as a solo artist and as one-half of She & Him, M. Ward became one of the defining voices of the American indie landscape in the 2000s, earning fans and critical acclaim for his distinctive brand of breezy West Coast Americana which pulled from folk, country, blues, pop, and experimental indie rock elements. Ward established himself with warm, analog- minded releases like 2003's Transfiguration of Vincent and 2006's Post-War before joining forces with singer/ actress Zooey Deschanel to form the highly successful indie pop duo She & Him in 2008. Over the following decade, Ward split his time between projects, releasing a 2009 album with indie supergroup Monsters of Folk, several highprofile albums with Deschanel including She & Him's Columbia- issued 2014 set Classics, and critically acclaimed solo releases like 2009's Hold Time, 2012's A Wasteland Companion, and 2018's What a Wonderful Industry. Ward kicked off the next decade with a deeply atmospheric set called Migration Stories and a Billie Holiday covers album Think of Spring most recently.
STAFF COMMENTS
Barry says: Another suite of brittle balladry and swimming harmonies from the brilliant M. Ward, riding effortlessly through folky melodies, country atmospherics and Ward's distinctive melodic sensibilities, joined by some stellar guest stars to boot! Lovely.TRACK LISTING
Lifeline
Too Young To Die Feat. First Aid Kit
Supernatural Thing
New Kerrang Feat. Scott Mcmicken
Dedication Hour Feat.
Neko Case And Gabriel Kahane
I Can't Give Everything Away (Feat. Jim James And Kelly Pratt)
Engine 5 (Feat. First Aid Kit)
Mr. Dixon (Feat. Shovels & Rope)
For Good
Story Of An Artist
-
- Coloured LP
- £25.99
- Cat Number
- MRG223LPC2
- Release date
- 26 Jan '24
- Format Info
Indies-only Clear + Gold Swirl vinyl + printed sleeve + printed insert for full album download
Indies-only Clear + Gold... [ + ] -
- LP
- £24.99
- Cat Number
- MRG223LP
- Release date
- 26 Jan '24
- Format Info
black vinyl in a jacket + printed sleeve + printed insert for full album download.
black vinyl in a jacket +... [ + ]
TRACK LISTING
SIDE A
1. Transfiguration No. 1
2. Vincent O’Brien
3. Sad, Sad Song
4. Undertaker
5. Duet For Guitars No. 3
6. Outta My Head
7. Involuntary
SIDE B
8. Helicopter
9. Poor Boy, Minor Key
10. Fool Says
11. Get To The Table On Time
12. A Voice At The End Of The Line
13. Dead Man
14. Let’s Dance
15. Transfiguration No. 2
-
- CD
- £11.99
- Cat Number
- SEECD 418
- Release date
- 27 Aug '01
-
- CD
- £12.99
- Cat Number
- LOCA004
- Release date
- 10 Jun '02
-
- CD
- £10.99
- Cat Number
- STORM006CD
- Release date
- 30 Apr '01
-
- LP
- £31.99
- Cat Number
- EMIVZ2092
- Release date
- 14 Jul '23
- Format Info
Standard vinyl edition.
Standard vinyl edition.
“Pearls is a record that doesn’t take itself too seriously but demands you to have a dance. It’s inspired by divas like Donna Summer, Evelyn Champagne King, Teena Marie and Chaka khan and I guess attempts to show - in lightness - all the hats I try to wear (usually at the same time). It’s the second song you will hear from my collaboration with Stuart Price and Coffee - with the wonderful addition of Sarah Hudson - and hopefully gives you a taste of the fun we have working together. “ Jessie also added, “That! Feels Good! stems from over 10 years of understanding who I am, and who I enjoy being as an artist and the thrill of performance. “
The new single follows recent release ‘Free Yourself’, that offered a taster session to Jessie’s upcoming studio album. ‘Free Yourself’ went on to have the biggest week one streams in both the UK and internationally ahead of any other Jessie single to date.
‘That! Feels Good!’ is the follow up album to 2020’s ‘What’s Your Pleasure?’, which proved her status as one of the UK’s most influential artists and became her highest charting album to date. It included singles ‘Save A Kiss’, ‘Spotlight’ and Barack Obama approved ‘Remember Where You Are’ (added to his NYE playlist). Last year saw Jessie support juggernaut Harry Styles in the USA, gain 2.4 billion global streams and complete a fantastic run of live shows including career defining sets at Glastonbury and Primavera. She continues to cement herself as a formidable force and at the forefront of UK pop.
STAFF COMMENTS
Liam says: Following on from her incredible disco odyssey 'What's Your Pleasure?', 'That! Feels Good!' sees Jessie Ware fully diving into high camp. Lead single 'Free Yourself' is empowering disco floorfiller, whilst 'Pearls' serves as a long-lost Chaka Khan-esque funk cut that has 'Ru Paul's Drag Race Lipsync For Your Life' written all over it. It's infectious, sultry and undoubtedly got the potential to be the party record of the year - Mega, mega stuff!!TRACK LISTING
1. That! Feels Good!
2. Free Yourself
3. Pearls
4. Hello Love
5. Begin Again
6. Beautiful People
7.Freak Me Now
8. Shake The Bottle
9. Lightning
10. These Lips
-
- CD
- £7.99
Usually ships within: 2-10 days - Cat Number
- CDV3245
- Release date
- 26 Jun '20
TRACK LISTING
Spotlight
What’s Your Pleasure
Ooh La La
Soul Control
Save A Kiss
Adore
In Your Eyes
Step Into My Life
Read My Lips
Mirage (Don’t Stop)
The Kill
Remember Where You Are
-
- 2xDeluxe LP
- £45.99
Usually ships within: 2-10 days - Cat Number
- VDLX3245
- Release date
- 11 Jun '21
- Format Info
Double vinyl, mirror board outer sleeve with silver lamination, download card
Double vinyl, mirror... [ + ]
Her newest track, ‘Please’ sees Jessie continue the energy of ‘What’s Your Pleasure’ in the form of a throwback to 70s and 80s dance music, and pulls it together in a wonderfully anachronistic style, all packaged with Ware’s outstanding vocals. The track fits perfectly into ‘What’s Your Pleasure - The Platinum Pleasure Edition’, Ware’s deluxe offering of her sensational 2020 record. This edition still bears the cohesive, complementary songwriting, the killer grooves and flawless production of the original version. The Platinum Pleasure Edition only serves to heighten the rich and powerful soul of last year’s release with tracks like Please, 0208 featuring synthpop visionary Kindness, the Endless Remix of ‘Adore You’ and a whole host more.
Talking about the deluxe and new single Jessie said: ”I had such an amazing response to the ‘What’s Your Pleasure?’ record that I didn’t want the lights to go up and the party to be over just yet! ‘Please’ is full of optimism and ready to be played in a place where we can all be together and flirt, dance, touch and kiss. A wonderful excuse not to stop the party from ending.”
It’s safe to say that the last twelve months have been pretty stellar for Jessie Ware. June 2020 saw Jessie release ‘What’s Your Pleasure?’ and gain not only her fourth UK Top 10 album of her career, but also her highest charting record when it entered straight into the UK Official Album Charts at No.3. As if this wasn’t amazing enough, she went on to release her first cookbook and continued her immensely popular podcast Table Manners and recently hit a massive milestone of 21 million individual listens, oftentimes featuring household names such as Dua Lipa, Kylie Minogue, Yungblud, Robbie Williams, Alanis Morissette., Dawn French and Dolly Parton to name a few.
Last year saw the album continue to receive widespread critical acclaim, with ‘What’s Your Pleasure?’ featuring heavily amongst ‘album of the year’ lists including for music critic Anthony Fantano, also known as The Needle Drop, who gave What’s Your Pleasure?’ the coveted no. 1 spot on his ‘Best Albums of 2020’ list, declaring it to be “a religious experience”. The record garnered praise from The Guardian who say it’s“Ware’s finest record yet"; Rolling Stone laude it as a “fantastic dance-pop record”; Pitchfork say “Jessie reminds us why we listen to dance music in the first place.”, GQ proclaim it as “the perfect album” and NME stated it was“pure escapism.”
TRACK LISTING
1. Spotlight
2. What’s Your Pleasure?
3. Ooh La La
4. Soul Control
5. Save A Kiss
6. Adore You
7. In Your Eyes
8. Step Into My Life
9. Read My Lips
10. Mirage (Don’t Stop)
11 .The Kill
12. Remember Where You Are
13. Please
14. Impossible
15. Eyes Closed
16. Overtime
17. Hot N Heavy
18. Pale Blue Light
19. 0208 (feat. Kindness)
20. Adore You (Endless Remix)
-
- CD
- £12.99
Usually ships within: 2-10 days - Cat Number
- CDDBL0018
- Release date
- 29 Oct '21
TRACK LISTING
The Past Is Our Plaything
Cashing In
The Last Word
Robin & Richard
The Corridors Of Power
As Much As It Was Worth
Under Skys
Red Hollywood
Duchess
Why Are We In Vietnam?
-
- CD
- £11.99
- Cat Number
- BR012CD
- Release date
- 30 Sep '16
TRACK LISTING
01 Oscillator
02. Exit Only
03. Simultaneous Contrasts
04. Arbitrarium V
05. Super Low
06 Reservoir
07. Long Exposure
08 Modifier Analog
09 Audrey Horne
10. Garden Walls
-
- CD
- £11.99
- Cat Number
- MULEMUSIQCD60
- Release date
- 23 Feb '18
STAFF COMMENTS
Sil says: Without a doubt and by a mile my favourite record so far this year. This feels as good as taking a swim in the Pacific watching a waterfall meander its way to the sea. This is a mesmerizing journey. Buy on sight. An absolute diamond this album is.TRACK LISTING
Water
Sky
Sun
Wood
-
- LP
- £25.99
Usually ships within: 2-5 days - Cat Number
- PIASR1330LP
- Release date
- 11 Nov '22
-
- CD
- £10.99
- Cat Number
- PIASR1330CD
- Release date
- 11 Nov '22
TRACK LISTING
1. Open Window
2. When I Am With You
3. It Had To Be You
4. Time Bomb
5. Desire
6. I’ll Miss You Baby
7. Mondello’s Melody
8. Batteries & Toys
9. Shadow Play
10. Best I Ever Had
-
- CD
- £13.99
- Cat Number
- AK205
- Release date
- 1 Jul '02
-
- Ltd LP
- £21.99
Usually ships within: 2-10 days - Cat Number
- EZRDR108
- Release date
- 20 Sep '19
“Remember when indie rock sounded all grimy, corroded and metal-sludgy-the last thing you’d hear in a commercial or being played at an arena show? Warish do. It’s music to the ears of anyone who wants to damage their ears.” - Rolling Stone.
“Warish totally rules... An awesome mixture of punk energy, biker rock fuzz, and grunge growl.” —Kerrang!
-
- Coloured LP
- £22.99
Usually ships within: 2-10 days - Cat Number
- EZRDR130RV
- Release date
- 14 May '21
- Format Info
Red vinyl edition.
Red vinyl edition. -
- CD
- £10.99
- Cat Number
- EZRDR130CD
- Release date
- 14 May '21
“‘Next To Pay’ is about a sense of imminent doom, everyone is going to die,” vocalist/guitarist Riley Hawk says. “It’s not the happiest record, I guess.” To say the least. On the title track opener, Hawk screams through shredded vocal chords with the tuneful rage of Kill ‘Em All era James Hetfield and the seething desperation of Kurt Cobain.
“This album is more of an evolution, it’s a little more punk-heavy,” Hawk says of the group quickly founded in 2018. “We figured out what our sound was.” And with that evolution comes a change in the lineup. Original drummer Nick (Broose) McDonnell plays on about half of the songs, while new drummer Justin de la Vega brings an even tighter urgency to the remaining, more recent tracks. Bassist Alex Bassaj joined after the debut album was recorded and here showcases muscular and melodic low end previously missing. Riley Hawk is also the pro-skater son of Tony Hawk.
Inspired by early-Nirvana, The Misfits, The Spits and Master of Reality-era Black Sabbath, Next To Pay keeps things heavy and pummeling at all times. The guitars are heavy and powerful, though decidedly not straightforward cookie cutter punk; more like Greg Ginn’s and Buzz Osbourne’s wiry contortions, and occasionally drenched in chorus effects. The rhythms bash right through it all with aggressive force ensuring that nothing gets overly complicated. Warish’s cover of 80s Dischord Records punks Gray Matter turns the emotive flail of “Burn No Bridges” into a Motorhead style basher.
TRACK LISTING
1. Next To Pay
2. Another No One
3. S.H.M. (Second Hand Misery)
4. Burn No Bridges
5. Say To Please
6. Seeing Red 7. Destroyer
8. Woven 9. Scars
10. Ordinary
11. Superstar
12. Make The Escape
13. Fear And Pride
-
- Ltd 7"
- £9.99
- Cat Number
- EZRDR105
- Release date
- 21 Jun '19
-
- 7"
- £9.99
- Cat Number
- EZRDR103
- Release date
- 1 Mar '19
Their sound takes cues from a variety of cool underground sounds and twists it all into an energetic and exciting fist to the face of dark fury. Hawk’s effect-laden vocals hearken to early Butthole Surfers and David Yow’s tortured caterwaul in Scratch Acid. The guitars are heavy and powerful, though decidedly not straightforward cookie-cutter punk; more like Cobain’s and Buzz Osbourne’s wiry contortions. The rhythms bash and pummel right through it all with aggressive force ensuring that nothing gets overly complicated and the horrors keep coming throughout this five track, eleven minute debut.
TRACK LISTING
1. Bones
2. Voices
3. Fight
4. Human
5. Shivers
-
- CD
- £9.99
Usually ships within: 2-5 days - Cat Number
- MI0589CD
- Release date
- 3 Apr '20
Infused with the restive spirit of Warm Digits and their guests, these inspirations are taken as a call to arms rather than an academic panel discussion. “Fools Tomorrow” uses the language of scientific revolutions and a spiral-eyed swirl of electro shoegaze to show how being able to accept you’re wrong can change your life, while “Replication” takes the ever-circling influence of Steve Reich and cult synth-composers like Laurie Spiegel to create a luminescent sparkling throb that’s impossible to resist. The Delgados’ Emma Pollock lends her vocals to "The View From Nowhere" which concerns two people working out their closeness and distance. It could be about any relationship, but the title is a reference to the way psychoanalysts historically kept themselves a "blank screen" with their patients, as if they could take a "view from nowhere" and be wholly objective in what they saw. “Feel the Panic” sees wigout psych-merchants The Lovely Eggs take advantage of Warm Digits’ relentless momentum to enthusiastically rail against pigeonholing and outmoded systems of authority with an unruly air-punching chorus. The song was inspired by the "being sane in insane places" experiment, which argued that the power wielded by psychiatrists' diagnoses was dangerously capricious, and that in some instances the treatment induced precisely the psychic distress they sought to classify.
"Shake The Wheels Off" is about the moment when those subjugated by archaic systems of control take their power back: in this instance, the way research on transport safety took the male body as the norm, drastically increasing the risk that women would get injured in a car crash. The Orielles' roll-call of female engineering heroes heralds the moment when the balance starts to be redressed. Meanwhile Rozi Plain gently turns insecurity on its head over a pulsating Eurobeat-meets-MBV backing to make “Everyone Nervous” almost feel like a valedictory slogan. Celebrate Your Uncertainty!
In an increasingly off-kilter world where reality shifts daily, truth is merely what we decide it to be, and an avalanche of possible identities overwhelms us with possibility, it can feel like our lives are careering towards chaos down a one-way street. The question is: do we “Feel The Panic” or “Shake The Wheels Off”? With its glorious defiance and heart-bursting grooves, “Flight of Ideas” calls to our past experience for answers, and dares us to listen.
Warm Digits are Andrew Hodson and Steve Jefferis from Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK. Their previous album for Memphis Industries, "Wireless World", featured guest vocals from Field Music and Sarah Cracknell, amongst others, garnered plaudits from BBC 6Music including an "Album of the Day" slot and playlists for “End Times” “Growth of Raindrops”, and boosted them on to the festival bills of Bluedot, Green Man and Festival No.6 amongst others.
TRACK LISTING
1. Frames And Cages
2. Feel The Panic (feat. The Lovely Eggs)
3. The View From Nowhere (feat. Emma Pollock)
4. I'm OK, You're OK
5. Fools Tomorrow (feat. Paul Smith)
6. Replication
7. Shake The Wheels Off (feat. The Orielles)
8. Everyone Nervous (feat. Rozi Plain)
9. False Positive
10. Flight Of Ideas
-
- LP
- £16.49
Usually ships within: 2-5 days - Cat Number
- MI0452LP
- Release date
- 4 Aug '17
-
- CD
- £9.99
Usually ships within: 2-5 days - Cat Number
- MI0452CD
- Release date
- 4 Aug '17
Wireless World is loosely themed around a present-day that teeters between progress and collapse. The band explain, “Our experience of the world and our states of mind are shaped and thrilled by unimaginably exciting leaps in technology, and yet that world will only last for a few moments as we fail to find a way to act collectively on rising temperatures, the failures of democracy and the unstoppable hunger for exploitation of the ground under our feet. This record is our attempt to make music from our experience of this present that teeters between celebration and devastation.”
STAFF COMMENTS
Barry says: Dynamic Karutrock-inspired breakdowns, soaring synths and dreamlike, hazy shoegazing vocals mix into a euphoric and satisfying melting pot. Brilliant stuff.TRACK LISTING
Two To Four Degrees
End Times (feat. Field Music)
Wireless World
Always On
Better Friction (feat. Mia La Metta)
Victims Of Geology
Growth Of Raindrops (feat. Sarah Cracknell)
Deluge And Delusion
Fracking Blackpool
The Rumble And The Tremor (feat. Devon Sproule)
Mute Ocean
Swallow The City
-
- LP
- £16.49
Usually ships within: 2-5 days - Cat Number
- MI0452LP
- Release date
- 4 Aug '17
-
- CD
- £9.99
Usually ships within: 2-5 days - Cat Number
- MI0452CD
- Release date
- 4 Aug '17
Wireless World is loosely themed around a present-day that teeters between progress and collapse. The band explain, “Our experience of the world and our states of mind are shaped and thrilled by unimaginably exciting leaps in technology, and yet that world will only last for a few moments as we fail to find a way to act collectively on rising temperatures, the failures of democracy and the unstoppable hunger for exploitation of the ground under our feet. This record is our attempt to make music from our experience of this present that teeters between celebration and devastation.”
STAFF COMMENTS
Barry says: Dynamic Karutrock-inspired breakdowns, soaring synths and dreamlike, hazy shoegazing vocals mix into a euphoric and satisfying melting pot. Brilliant stuff.TRACK LISTING
Two To Four Degrees
End Times (feat. Field Music)
Wireless World
Always On
Better Friction (feat. Mia La Metta)
Victims Of Geology
Growth Of Raindrops (feat. Sarah Cracknell)
Deluge And Delusion
Fracking Blackpool
The Rumble And The Tremor (feat. Devon Sproule)
Mute Ocean
Swallow The City
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