The Sedate / Tony Soprano Fashion Inspo. serves as a solo release from Ailie Ormston of ******** / GUINNESS [Domino Recording Co.]. Comprised of two separate projects, the works coalesce to provide highly surged compositions. The tracks were co-written alongside one drum machine and one synth, embracing elements of chance and coincidence. Writing and recording came simultaneously, a production line of spontaneous melodies with realtime decision making ultimately determining how it sounded, as opposed to preconceived ideas.

Ormston intends to confront the traditions of presenting, performing and digesting music in an attempt to articulate a form of a contemporary condition. She aims to construct a coherent visual language that corresponds to music writing, carrying its ethos into different forms and varying modes of communication.

Side A - 001, 002, 003 and 004 were composed specifically for The Sedate, a work by artists Stasis, developed throughout 2018, concluding as a short film and a performance on a building site in Merchant City, Glasgow. Heavy drums, tiny handbags, choral synths, big earrings, a fight scene, a breather and finally, La Macarena. They are listed here in order of appearance.

Side AA - A32, A18, A67, B12 and B34 were composed in short succession post Side A, collectively known as Tony Soprano Fashion Inspo. Providing increasingly convoluted textures and arching narratives, these tracks are challenging in their multiplicity, with contrapuntal instrumentation being heard simultaneously. Multitasking is encouraged. Physical renditions of each track were realised and presented as an exhibition, An oat latte, but with no image in the foam at Market Gallery, Glasgow. An accompanying text written during this residency can be found alongside the release.

TRACK LISTING

[The Sedate]
A1 001
A2 003
A3 002
A4 004

[Tony Soprano Fashion Inspo.]
AA1 A32
AA2 A18
AA3 A67
AA4 B12
AA5 B34

iconoclastic saxophonist and composer ornette coleman shook the jazz world when he arrived at the five spot café in new york city in 1959 and began his run of seminal albums on atlantic that laid the foundation for the free jazz movement to come.

after a period of disillusionment during which he withdrew from public music making, coleman re-emerged on blue note in 1966 and began writing an intriguing new chapter of his legendary career. the boxset round trip: ornette coleman on blue note presents all-analog 180g tone poet vinyl editions of all six albums featuring coleman that were recorded for blue note records, including his five albums as a leader—the two-volume at the ‘golden circle’ stockholm (1965), the empty foxhole (1966), new york is now! (1968), and love call (1968)—as well as his lone sideman appearance on new and old gospel (1967) by fellow saxophonist jackie mclean. the boxset includes a booklet featuring rare photos and an enlightening essay by critic thomas conrad. the tone poet audiophile vinyl reissue series is produced by joe harley and features all-analog, mastered-from-the-original-master-tape 180g audiophile vinyl reissues packaged in deluxe stoughton printing “old style” gatefold tip-on jackets. mastering is by kevin gray (cohearent audio), and vinyl is manufactured at record technology incorporated (rti).

Oro Azul‘s debut offering, "Water Seeds", takes us through 4 shades of an aquatic garden. Dembow floats underneath the waves while woodblock melodies bubble up through the weeds. Sub bass shifts the tide. Some sounds are moss-like, a protective balm. Other tones come through as minerals and metals, shining in the refracted light from above.

A collaboration between Ultima Esuna and Michael Red, the music of Oro Azul took shape over the course of a year of purposeful and transformative studio sessions. This release follows the pair’s solo releases on DJ Python’s Worldwide Unlimited, Nervous Horizon, and Isla.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Lemuria
A2. Atlantis
B1. Mantarraya
B2. Eros

Bobby's 2019 tour ended in New York City and he had two days off before flying home to Finland. Leon invited him to the Diamond Mine to record some music. Bobby had been talking about wanting to stretch out lyrically and write about more esoteric subject matter, Leon was game. They recorded "Reasons" in one session which put the chemistry between the two on the world stage and sparked the idea of doing a full length album together. More than halfway through the recording process, they have decided to treat us to another two-sider of the new material.

On the A side, "Whatcha Know" Bobby explores death and the human experience, putting his philosophical ponderings into his music. Michels' production and overall ethos is the perfect complement to Bobby's desire to stretch out his sound. EMA provides a gorgeous backing track that compliments Bobby's style and simultaneously broadens its scope.

The B side "Losing It" is a dramatic and moving number that Bobby sings in Spanish and English. A gorgeous guitar riff is countered with eerie sound effects that crescendo when the drums come in. Bobby professes he's "Losing It" over a love too strong and El Michels Affair's production turns the whole affair into a saga that thunders through speakers.

TRACK LISTING

Whatcha Know
Losing It

Bobby Oroza puts his desire for the profound on wax with his sophomore album Get On The Otherside. Musically, he has updated the formula we were introduced to on the first record. But lyrically, songs are bravely rooted in the more complicated, ubiquitous inner tangles of life like self-examination and coming to terms with the vastness of the human experience. With Coronavirus bringing the world to a halt, Bobby—a father and husband—had to do something. No tours to play or studio time to fill, Bobby found himself back in the construction yard, doing blue-collar work to provide for his family. "I was super grateful for the work—a lot of my colleagues didn't have an option like that," Bobby admits. More than a few personal hardships forced him to acknowledge and work through some brutal truths. And what came of it?

Well, for one, this new record Get On The Otherside which pretty well describes what Bobby's been through: He had to demolish his ego, his old ways of thinking, and his tried approaches to anchor into a refreshed perspective with new understandings. As Bobby tells it, "I had to do some real self-searching, come to terms with what was wrong, and how much of it I was responsible for." So how does this translate to the new album? Moments of clarity as to where the real value in life lies on "I Got Love," encouraging numbers like the title track "The Otherside", and declarations of self actualization on "My Place, My Time." Even the more straightforward love songs are outside the box lyrically like "Sweet Agony" and "Loving Body." If you have never had the pleasure of catching one of Bobby's live shows you may have no idea that he is a maverick on the guitar.

He lets us in on a little of that on "Passing Things" with a solo that possesses the same restrained and space that his lyrics do. As we'd expect, the songwriting still has that raw, direct edge to it. But an evolution has taken place. There are new points of view on familiar territory which in Bobby's words "For me to love, I needed to take a bigger view of love. One with less ego and more empathy" really hold true. The result is a record with Bobby's new found humility on full display and a message of encouragement to anyone who is struggling and can't see a way out. It still may be hard to nail down and define Bobby and his sound. He's no one thing more than the other. But what he's showing us now, on Get On The Otherside, is that we can also label him a soulful, philosophical optimist. Someone who can say a lot with a little, and who wants us all to know that it's us that has to do the hard lifting to truly live a life in love—both with the world and with yourself

TRACK LISTING

Side A:

I Got Love
Loving Body
Bobby’s New Mood
The Otherside
Soon Everyone Will Know
Blinding Light

Side B:

My Place My Time
Sweet Agony
Passing Thing
Make Me Believe
Real Connection
Through These Tears

While Bobby Oroza puts the finishing touches on his next album, he treats us to this killer two-sider to end out 2021 and hold us over until the new record is finished. Bobby's debut album "This Love" made big waves around the world and amassed him a cult following from the US to Japan and everywhere in between.

He found big love in the sweet soul scene early, but has since made fans in a myriad of circles and subcultures globally. It has by now become clear that his music is not just one thing, analog soul textured for sure, but also with an array of influences that span far beyond the soul ballad world. It is that inability to really nail down his sound that has become the biggest charm, an esoteric and profound passion permeate the lyrics and vibe of everything about Mr. Oroza.

This new 7" shows off two sides of Bobby's song writing, an upbeat number on the "plug" side and a heavy duty ballad on the flip. The A side "The Otherside" is an optimistic tune that Bobby humbly shares his story about the troubles we can create for ourselves and the possibility of having a change of mind that frees us from them.

The track is equally encouraging with its sunny energy that carries an important message from Bobby to anyone who is struggling and can't see a way out. The B side "Make Me Believe" is another instant classic for the slowie enthusiasts. A moody, soul bearing, cry for help that comes off with a sweet- ness. The vulnerability makes it romantic while the heavy backing track brings it that unique energy that classic B sides have where they are heart- breaking and gorgeous at the same time.

TRACK LISTING

Make Me Believe
The Otherside

On this, their third album, they combine talents with Cuban lyricist, singer and composer Kiko Ruiz, who has toured and recorded with Pancho Amatʼs illustrious Estrellas del Buena Vista Social Club as well as having a longstanding history as a singer, composer and arranger with Orquesta Maria Alejandra y Cubanía.

Caracoles ushers (GRAMMY-award nominated) Orquesta Akokánʼs unique brand of mambo into the 21st century, imbuing it with the groupʼs signature sense of akokán–a Cuban Yoruba word meaning “from the heart”.

Back at the helm are producer and multi instrumentalist, Jacob Plasse and virtuosic pianist, composer and arranger Michael Eckroth - a collaboration that continues to lead Orquestaʼs exploration of the sublime mambo in all its depth and breadth. 

TRACK LISTING

1. Con Licencia
2. Pan Con Tibiri
3. Caracoles
4. Suave Suave
5. Cha-Cha-Cha Pa’ca
6. La Fiera
7. Pregonero
8. Las Sieta Vidas Da Inés
9. Flor De Mi Campo
10. Dona Felipa

Direct from Cuba! Daptone Records is proud to introduce Orquesta Akoka?n, a big band collective of Havana's top musicians both young and old, joining forces with some of the most creative and spirited talents of New York's Latin music scene.

Born out of a shared vision by singer Jose? "Pepito" Go?mez, producer Jacob Plasse, and arranger Michael Eckroth, the group reinvigorates the sound of the golden era of Cuban mambo with a bold new energy.

Featuring all-original music cut live to tape over a three day session at Havana's hallowed state-run Estudios Areito - one of the longest operating studios in the world and where seminal Cuban records have been made since the early '40s, and more contemporarily with the 1997 release of the Buena Vista Social Club album - the group's self titled debut feels like a heartfelt gift from the band to listener. Which is no coincidence being that Akoka?n is a Yoruba word used in Cuba meaning "from the heart", and indeed every song presented here is just that.

This is a fascinating next step for Daptone, which released the final album by Sharon Jones and the Dap- Kings and mourned the loss of Charles Bradley in 2017. ‘Orquesta Akoka?n’ finds the label branching outside its own studios to release its first Spanish language album.

Acoustic, folk-flavoured desert blues from this band featuring members of Kyuss, Queens Of The Stone Age, The Earlings? and The Desert Sessions.

The self-titled “Orquesta Olivieri” was originally released in 1972, just when the Fania Records revolution and the explosion of salsa music, was reaching its peak. Very few copies were distributed at the time.

Produced by boogaloo-don Bobby Marin, the album comprises a variety of Latin rhythms, including the much in-demand vocal harmonies-led ‘There is No Other Girl,’ a lowrider soul gem.

Side A opens with the slow-paced Latin soul song ‘There is No Other Girl’, that style-wise connects to their previous LP, released when the boogaloo trend was still around. In fact, this song had been previously released two years earlier on a 45 and was then overdubbed (adding an organ on top) for this LP version. The song is very much in demand these days in the lowrider soul scene due to the breath-taking vocal harmonies and appealing production.

The album also comprises spicy guaguancós on ‘Cuando llegué a Borinquen’, the classic ‘Los Muchachos de Belén’ and ‘Tabaritiando’. There is also room for a cha-cha-chá, ‘María Isabel, and a guaracha ‘Perrito sabueso’, and the album closes with the Latin soul ballad ‘Preferí perderte,’ interpreted in Spanish.

In 1956, the percussionist and composer from Guantanamo, Elio Revé, founded the orchestra popularly known as La Revé, which in the space of a few years became the Cuban music group par excellence for foreign audiences. "De Habana a Lima..." comprises a dozen songs labeled changüis, mostly written by Cuban composers.

Quite an invisible record even for hardcore collectors, and almost impossible to find in any condition, "De Habana a Lima" is now reissued for the first time.

Lucio Fulci directed this dystopian sci-fi epic in 1984. In 2072 the world is ruled by TV networks. Two of these networks are locked in a bitter rating battle and in finding more ways to outdo each other one of them decides to host a Roman centurion style battle to the death featuring convicted murderers fighting each other on motorcycles (wait is this a documentary?) As you would expect from Fulci it’s outrageous, silly, super entertaining and full of over the top violence. The score was composed by Maestro Riz Ortolani and here he delivers one of his most bombastic, striking (and fun) scores. Loaded with killer synth lines, chunky riffs and pounding synthetic drums.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Roma Imperial Rock (Titoli)
A2. I Guerrieri Dell'Anno 2072 (Love Theme)
A3. Roma Imperial Rock
A4. I Guerrieri Dell'Anno 2072 (Rock Fanfare)
A5. I Guerrieri Dell'Anno 2072 (Future Rome)
A6. The Fighter Centurions
B1. I Guerrieri Dell'Anno 2072 (Tension & Mystery)
B2. Roma Imperial Rock
B3. I Guerrieri Dell'Anno 2072 (Warrior's Action)
B4. I Guerrieri Dell'Anno 2072 (Labyrinth Of Death)
B5. The Fighter Centurions
B6. I Guerrieri Dell'Anno 2072 (More Tension)
B7. Roma Imperial Rock 

Much like the beautiful, thumb-sized songbird from which the band derives its name, the music of Ortolan possesses the kind of startling beauty that reintroduces wonder to the weary. With playful lyrical themes ranging from sandcastles to buckets of light to fanciful creatures following you home, it’s music with sass and spunk, born from fierce imaginations and young hearts just as enamored with the classic sounds of The Ronnettes, The Shirelles, The Beatles and Motown, as with modern songwriters Regina Spektor, Feist, and Joanna Newsom.

Perhaps what is most striking about Ortolan's music is its satisfying inevitability: the melodies, the chord progressions, the instrumentation, the production all boil down to the right note followed by the right note followed by the right note. All this inevitability and sense of rightness—and yet quirkiness, spontaneity, and joy scamper rambunctiously through every measure. The sound makes you feel that perhaps there are things in the world that exist as they are meant to, and that is no small feat.

TRACK LISTING

1. Once
2. Sticky Situation
3. Be So Bold
4. Just Like Me
5. Opposites
6. Insist For More
7. Changes
8. Sleep, Sleep, Sleep
9. Gaze
10. Mirror Image
11. Ludwig
12. Anything

It was released in 1999 as a follow up to the acclaimed Trailer Park and received a Mercury Music Prize nomination and helped Beth earn a BRIT Award in 2000 for Best British Female. The album also features in the book, 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

The album featured the hit singles Stolen Car and Central Reservation and is now re-issued with a second disc of material compiled by Beth. It features key b-sides, including the Spiritual Life Ibadon remix of title track Central Reservation plus unreleased live recordings and demos.

The expanded packaging features brand new sleevenotes including a new interview with Beth.

Rolling Stone – “A space cowgirl with a stolen car heart”

Beth remembers: “Listening back to the record now, I enjoy hearing the melodies and how I played with them and the words. The making of records is often a period of redemption for me and the recording of Central Reservation was the actualizing of all my most positive

Central Reservation also makes a welcome return to vinyl having not been available outside the US since its release in 1999. This is the album which saw Beth win a BRIT Award and a Mercury Prize nomination and is home to some of her most popular tracks including Stolen Car, Pass In Time (featuring Terry Callier) and the title track, Central Reservation. 

TRACK LISTING

SIDE ONE
01 Stolen Car
02 Sweetest Decline
03 Couldn’t Cause Me Harm
SIDE TWO
01 So Much More
02 Pass In Time
03 Central Reservation (Original Version)
SIDE THREE
01 Stars All Seem To Weep
02 Love Like Laughter
03 Blood Red River
SIDE FOUR
01 Devil Song
02 Feel To Believe
03 Central Reservation (The Then Again Version)

Brit Award nominated Trailer Park makes a welcome return to vinyl with a 2LP pressing to ensure a superior audio quality and with the track Whenever re-instated, having been left off the original 1LP release. This sits alongside classics such as Someone’s Daughter, She Cries Your Name and the epic Galaxy Of Emptiness (produced by Andrew Weatherall).

TRACK LISTING

Side One
01 She Cries Your Name
02 Tangent
03 Don’t Need A Reason
Side Two
01 Live As You Dream
02 Sugar Boy
03 Touch Me With Your Love
Side Three
01 Whenever
02 How Far
03 Someone’s Daughter
04 I Wish I Never Saw The Sunshine
Side Four
01 Galaxy Of Emptiness

“Through the writing of these songs and the making of this music, I found my way back to the world around me – a way to reach nature and the people I love and care about. This record is a sensory exploration that allowed for a connection to a consciousness that I was searching for. Through the resonance of sound and a beaten up old piano I bought in Camden Market while living in a city I had no intention of staying in, I found acceptance and a way of healing.” - Beth Orton

Many musicians turn inward when the world around them seems chaotic and unreliable. Reframing one’s perception of self can often reveal new personal truths both uncomfortable and profound, and for Beth Orton, music re-emerged in the past several years as a tethering force even when her own life felt more tumultuous than ever. Indeed, the foundations of the songs on Orton’s stunning new album, Weather Alive, are nothing more than her voice and a “cheap, crappy” upright piano installed in a shed in her garden, conjuring a deeply meditative atmosphere that remains long after the final note has evaporated.

“I am known as a collaborator and I’m very good at it. I’m very open to it. Sometimes, I’ve been obscured by it,” says Orton, who rose to prominence through ‘90s-era collaborations with William Orbit, Red Snapper and The Chemical Brothers before striking out on her own with a series of acclaimed, award-winning solo releases. “I think what’s happened with this record is that through being cornered by life, I got to reveal myself to myself and to collaborate with myself, actually.”

TRACK LISTING

1. Weather Alive
2. Friday Night
3. Fractals
4. Haunted Satellite
5. Forever Young
6. Lonely
7. Arms Around A Memory
8. Unwritten

"...grounded in samba, but with layers of psychedelic rock on top... the original numbers rock the hardest – 5/5." MOJO Magazine

Rare and highly sought after in its original format, Os Brazoes self-titled album was originally released on RGE Discos in 1969. It is a psychedelic masterpiece that fuses samba, r’n’b and rock ’n’ roll influences using fuzz guitars, synths, percussion, lush vocals and effects.

Os Brazoes formed in Rio de Janeiro in the late 1960’s. They backed Gal Costa during her Tropicalia period, yet apparently never recorded in the studio with her. Miguel de Deus, the bands front man, recorded the highly sought after ‘Black Soul Brothers’ LP in 1977, which became an important record in the ‘Black Rio’ movement. Mr Bongo released the title track from that LP, on the ‘Brazilian Beats: Brooklyn’ compilation in 2006 and recently as part of their Brazil 45’s re-issue series.

‘Os Brazoes’ features covers of Gilberto Gil’s ‘Pega a Voga, Cabeludo’ and Jorge Ben and Toquinho’s ‘Carolina, Carol Bela’.

The Mr Bongo LP reissue is manufactured in Japan, presented in a super high quality card sleeve with replica original artwork. The CD is presented in a 4-page digi-pack.

Number 94 in the Brazil45 series is one for the Brazilian boogie lovers out there.The vocal and instrumental group Os Carbonos from Sao Paulo had a long career that straddled the 60s, 70s and 80s

'Pássaro Selvagem' is taken from the latter years of their career. Its a bass driven, boogie- funk groove (with a bassline not too dissimilar to Queen 'Another One Bites The Dust') that is Brazilian boogie at its finest. Taken from the B-side to a 7" campacto released in 1981 on Copacabana records, its proven to be a favourite of Luke Una and we foresee it becoming a staple in your DJ box for years to come too.The B-side comes from one of our all-time favourite artists, the mighty Sandra Sa. Sandra is a wonderful vocalist, her intense and recognisable style is one of THE voices of the Brazilian boogie golden era. Check out her classic album 'Vale Tudo' (MRBLP230) on Mr Bongo for further proof of her credentials here. 'Palco Azul' is also taken off a 7" single from 1981 and is a feel-good dancefloor groover with punchy brass stabs, warm keys and uplifting chord changes. It contains all the right elements that we have come to associate with that knockout late 70s / early 80s Brazilian sound.

TRACK LISTING

Os Carbonos - Passaro Selvagem
Sandra De Sa - Palco Azul

This sublime funky Samba joint has always ignited the dancefloor for us. It featured on the band’s 1978 album, ‘O Conjunto Que Faz Voce Vibrar’, which originally saw release on EMI. No crazy hype needed for this one, just a fantastic straight-up, no messing Samba Funk made for dancing. We only know of four albums by Os Devaneios and for the A-side of this 45, we have selected one of our more recent discoveries with a track entitled ‘A Beleza e Voce Menina’.

Taken from their 1979 album ‘Ra a Suor E Suingue’ (also originally released on EMI), it was recorded only a couple of years after ‘Embalo Diferente’. Whilst it remains in that Samba mold, it has also taken on some of the vibe and characteristics of Soul, Brazilian Boogie and AOR from that late 70s and early 80s period.

A feel-good and uplifting record, yet one which simultaneously has a hint of melancholy and is all the more beautiful for it. It’s always good to discover a new song by an old favourite, and we hope you grow to love it too.

TRACK LISTING

A Beleza E Voce Menina
Embalo Diferente

In terms of their status and influence Os Mutantes are often referred to as the Brazilian Beatles. How did 60s Brazil produce the wildest, most psychedelic rock'n'roll group of them all? And why, three decades on, has the rest of the world gone crazy over them? Kurt Cobain, Beck, Super Furry Animals, The Bees and David Byrne are just a few of the musicians that have flown the flag for Os Mutantes. Against all odds, in May 2006 the band reunited for the first time in over 30 years for a euphoric show at the Barbican's Tropicalia Festival. The recording of this historic concert, with special guests Devendra Banhart and Noah Georgeson, is now released on CD and DVD. The live album features the best-loved tracks of this legendary group and the full-length DVD includes the entire Barbican concert plus documentary, backstage footage, video clips and photos.

The mid to late 1960s in Brazil produced the creative arts and music movement Tropicalia, of which the band Os Mutantes were the most outrageous. Their creative cannibalism produced psychedelic gems unlike anything happening anywhere at the time. They were exactly what their name implies - a mutant genetic recombination of of elements of John Cage, The Beatles (circa "Sgt Pepper") and bossa nova. This collection brings together the best tracks from the four albums they released between 1968 and 1971; "Os Mutantes", "Mutantes", "A Divina Cemedia Ou Ando Meio Desligado" and "Jardim Eletrico".

TRACK LISTING

A1. Ando Meio Desligado
A2. Ave, Lúcifer
A3. Dia
A4. Baby (1971)
A5. Fuga No. II
A6. Cantor De Mambo
A7. Adeus, Maria Fulô
B1. Desculpe, Babe
B2. El Justiciero
B3. Panis Et Circenses
B4. A Minha Menina
B5. Bat Macumba
B6. Le Premier Bonheur Du Jour
B7. Baby (1968)

Number 95 in the Brazil45 series sees things take an excursion into samba.

'Mar Afunda', what a track! Instantly addictive with its relaxed guitar and Cuica samba- rock beauty and mighty- fine vocal arrangements by Os Novos Crioulos. Taken from their collectible self-titled album that was released on Pirata Records in 1976. Its a track that always works its magic on the dancefloor.

Supersom T.A. keeps things uplifting with its female/ male paired vocal arrangements, key stabs and Cuica. 'Brasileira Roxa' is rich in breezy sunshine vibes. A beautiful slice of feel-good samba that was originally released in 1972 on a compacto 7" via Fermata Records.

TRACK LISTING

Os Novos Crioulos – Mar Afunda
Supersom T.A. - Brasileira Roxa

Hailing from 1964 and originally released on the iconic Copacabana
Records, 'Um Balanco Pra Voce' by Os Rouxin is is one of the oldest releases featured in the Brazil45 series. This quirky, shufing bossa nova / exotic number was penned by the fabulous Arnaud Rodrigues and is taken from a fve-track 7" Compacto that features tracks that the group performed on television shows.The funky, soulful MPB 'O Viajante' by Wal Sant'ana is a long-time favourite here at Mr Bongo. Originally released on 7" by RGE Records in 1974, this male lead with female backing vocals groover is a sure- fre hit on the dancefoor and is equally enjoyable on headphones or at home. Uplifting, good vibes by the amazing Wal Sant'ana, whose vinyl output may have been small, but was certainly mighty.

TRACK LISTING

1. Os Rouixinois - Um Blanco Pra Voce
2. Wal Sant'Ana - O Viajante

THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2014 EXCLUSIVE, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

First time Greensleeves 12" issue of Johnny Osbourne thunderous 'Give A Little Love' complete with two previously unreleased dubs showcasing Roots Radics in full effect with Scientist at the controls. Recorded at Channel One and mixed at King Tubby's.

Limited Record Store Day coloured vinyl pressing with dual Greensleeves / Greensleeves Dub Master labels. Available on Red, Green or 'Gold' coloured vinyl – collect the set! Pot luck which colour you get.

Limited to 400 units for the UK.

Joan Osborne's debut album "Relish" was a huge worldwide hit but her second disappered without trace. It's a case of back to basics with "How Sweet It Is" her brand new third release. This album combines soul and rock classics from such artists as Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye and Jimi Hendrix with contemporary soul and funk arrangements resulting in music that is familiar yet cutting edge. Osbourne has one of the best voices in the business and her interpretaions put the likes of Eva Cassidy to shame and she's on familiar territory here - every track is a well known classic and her take on them is often suprisingly successful.

Enter Max Colombie’s world, and you’ll discover a uniquely dazzling and shimmering fusion of contemporary R&B and a more European electro-pop sensibility, uniting shivery melody, shifting beats and vocals steeped in drama, sensuality and yearning. Colombie hears, “a twilight zone where it doesn’t sound dark nor happy. It’s like the name Oscar and the Wolf; it’s a balance between light and dark, this perfect combination between the sun and the moon. It’s beautiful and scary at the same time.”

Oscar and the Wolf’s official debut, the 2012 EP Summer Skin, showed his gifts arrived virtually full-formed, but he truly came of age in 2014 with his debut album Entity. Balanced between dancefloor anthems and slow jams, Entity went 4 times platinum in his native Belgium and quickly jettisoned Colombie to superstar status. He sold out arenas in Belgium and the Netherlands, taking the penultimate headlining slot (behind Muse) at 2016's Lowlands festival before headlining Belgium’s Pukkelpop festival sharing the bill with Rihanna and LCD Soundsystem.

Released in 2017, the second Oscar and the Wolf album, Infinity went platinum at home, whilst amassing a huge Middle Eastern fanbase across Turkey (where his 2018 tour sold out inside minutes), Egypt, Israel and Iran. On stage, Colombie cut a commanding and lithe performer, often garbed in shimmering outfits that interacted with the dynamic lighting.

The new Oscar and the Wolf album The Shimmer distils the essence of Colombie’s sound and vision in its title and the image of Colombie on the album cover, bathed in starry light. The album is a benchmark of his transformation on record; whereas Entity was recorded in a barn, “very lo-fi with no access to gear,” he recalls, The Shimmer’s bold, rich and layered dynamics were captured at ICP Studios in Brussels, home to, “one of the best live rooms in Europe, with all this vintage gear.” More intimate moments were added at Colombie’s house outside the city, “those magic takes we made just after we’d written something, which are so hard to capture again.”

By ‘we’, Colombie includes producer Jeroen De Pessemier and multi-instrumentalist Ozan Bozdag, who had both worked on Infinity (and Bozdag on Entity too). “It’s a magical trio,” Colombie says. “Everyone is allowed to be themselves, and to explore themselves. I’m really happy with The Shimmer because I hear a more mature version of myself. I always want things to grow, and I’m proud that I allowed myself to not follow people’s expectations and reproduce what had been successful before. There are no four-to-the-floor clubby pop songs this time.”

Instead, The Shimmer more accurately reflects Colombie’s personality. “My emotions run from super-happy to super-melancholic in a split second,” he says. “To me, The Shimmer feels like the soundtrack to a blockbuster, with many types of tracks and themes. It’s always changing.”

TRACK LISTING

1. James
2. Ghost Of You
3. Crystalline
4. Your Choice
5. Ocean City
6. Transfixions
7. Nostalgic Bitch
8. Livestream
9. Oliver
10. The P.I.C.
11. The Shimmer

After five Truesoul EPs and an A-Sides contribution, Oscar L steps up for his debut Drumcode EP.

The artist has been one of the most consistent contributors since his debut on Truesoul in 2017, his groove-orientated productions a favourite go-to for Adam Beyer. But the Spaniards production palette has always been broad, highlighted by ‘Dark Fate’, his brooding atmosphere-rich cut that featured on A-Sides Vol.9 back in 2020.

‘Again’ further reinforces his breadth. This is a searing 4am cut led by an incandescent vocal and Oscar’s tight percussive work that beautifully sustains the energy from start to finish. Another standout addition to his discography. ‘Driving into Techno’ brings tonnes of personality to the plate, highlighted by a fun bouncy vocal and stabbing Reese. An all-round colourful jam.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Again
B1. Driving Into Techno

Essentially the project of multi-instrumentalist and producer Demian Castellanos, The Oscillation was formed in London in 2006 with the release of the debut seven-inch and Rough Trade Records ‘single of the week’; ‘New Way To Feel’ on Bee And Smoke records. Drawing inspiration from The Cure, Loop, Can, The Durutti Column, PIL, Spacemen 3, Popol Vuh and Chrome, they’ve since gone on to release three critically acclaimed studio albums; ‘Out Of Phase’ (2007), ‘Veils’ (2011) and ‘From Tomorrow’ (2013). Over the last few years The Oscillation have also appeared on several highly rated compilation albums and provided remixes for the likes of Simian Mobile Disco, Telepathe, Nick Nicely and most recently the Fat White Family.

The new long player ‘Monographic’ sees the multi-talented Castellanos, who sings, play bass, guitars and synths on the album, joined by Valentina Magaletti on drums in what is without doubt the band’s most accomplished and outstanding set of songs to date.

The Oscillation are set to embark on several dates in the UK and Europe with a band line up that sees Demian Castellanos (guitar/vocals) and Valentina Magaletti (drums) joined by Tom Relleen (bass) and Cathy Lucas (keys). 

THE OSCILLATION 'Monographic' Album Teaser from JULIAN HAND on Vimeo.

TRACK LISTING

Monographic
Take Us To The Moon
Let It Be The End
Truth In Reverse
Another Attack
Lonely People
Alignment Zone

Following a series of meditative explorations in the form of the Singularity Zone series of releases, The Oscillation have returned with a new sense of vigour and purpose. Refreshed and re-energized, the result is ‘The Start Of The End’, an album that casts more light and shade than ever before to create a mood of hope and re-birth. Be it the celestial majesty of the title track, the melodic infusions that drive opening track ‘War On The Mind’ or the pulsing grooves underpinning ‘Faraway’ and ‘Body Electric’ or even hypnotic repetition at the heart of ‘Mantra’ and ‘The Eternal’, this music brimming with zeal and confidence. And to crown it all, closer ‘Sovereign’ is akin to communing with angels.

At once warm and welcoming, ‘The Start Of The End’ is an album quite unlike anything that The Oscillation have ever released before. Fuelled by optimism and taking stock of what’s good about life and what needs to be jettisoned, the record is a result of spiritual and physical re-charging and cleansing.

Leaving the claustrophobic environs of the big city for a more bucolic backdrop, the change in location has left a profound mark on Demian Castellanos, the creative force behind The Oscillation. Where the exorcism of dark emotions of previous album ‘Untold Futures’ left Castellanos wondering if he’d ever make music again, his new surroundings stirred something within him.

“When I made my new home, I allowed myself time to do nothing for a while,” says Castellanos, “and I then started some new songs without worrying about them being on an album. I just wrote with the mindset to put out something positive.”

He continues: “I did a lot of reflecting on the past and really wanted to change something in myself, but not knowing how and thinking that a lot of people must be feeling the same way.”

Recalling the creation of ‘The Start Of The End’, Castellanos says, “Writing and recording in an environment where I had little contact with people, no hanging out or partying or even having conversations was very interesting.”

The result is an album that’s recognisably the work of The Oscillation while pointing to a variety of new directions. ‘The Start Of The End’ is a line in the sand and one that points to a better tomorrow.

For fans of : Spectrum / Recurring Era Spacemen 3, Loop, AR Kane, MBV, bdrmm, Cocteau Twins , Telescopes and early 90s Creation records..

TRACK LISTING

Side A
War On The Mind
Far Away
The Start Of The End
The Eternal
Side B
Body Electric
Mantra
Sovereign

Bonus Dinked Edition CD Tracklisting:
Sovereign (Celestial Mix) 26.53
The Eternal (Unseen Mix) 09.17
Body Electric (Magnetic Mix) 08.26
The Start Of The End (Around And Around Mix) 07.38
Aftermath (Fade In) 04.03

The Oscillation’s continuing journey into the centre of the mind and beyond shows absolutely no signs of slowing down. Indeed, new album "Untold Futures " is less a consolidation of all that we’ve come to love and expect from the cosmic explorers and more a leap forward into an upcoming reality. Redefining the possibilities of altered states through audio stimulation, “Untold Futures” finds The Oscillation at their most daring and breathtaking.

A multi-layered assault on the senses, this is an unexpurgated experience for the seasoned connoisseur and unspoiled novice alike. Its power is felt in the multi-layered dissonance and undying throb of “Dilated Mind”, the metaphysical possibilities that beat at the heart of metronomic pulses of “Forever Knowing” and the face-melting attack of “The Inner Void”. “Heart Of Nowhere” is a mantra for the profane, while the dissonant beauty of “Obscured” realises re-birth and resurrection.

Revelatory in its brilliance and an intersection between the individual self and the collective unconscious, this is music to fuel the inner technology of the mind. Veering between krautrock edginess, droning medicated tones and noise driven no wave fuzz, The Oscillation recalls the music of Neu! and Tangerine Dream and Loop interpreted with an eye on Pil’s dubbed out punk funk, Miles Davis’ experimentalism and Spacemen 3’s strung out blues rock.

Beginning in 2007, when DC Recordings released the debut “Out Of Phase”, The Oscillation have released many albums and EPS both self released and with labels (Fuzz Club and Hands In The Dark and Cardinal Fuzz). Recent releases include the mutant kosmiche techno of “U.E.F”, the pounding and otherworldly “Wasted Space” from 2018 and the epic exploration of the inner landscapes with “Droneweapon”. Now The Oscillation return with a new face-biting album questioning our strange relationship with reality as “Untold Futures”.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Wild, incendiary, chest-beating psych rock that shoots off the stage like a flamethrower. Roaring with wobbly feedback and howling like a banshee for its entire duration. Unmissable!

TRACK LISTING

Untold Futures
1 Dilated Mind
2 Forever Knowing
3 The Inner Void
4 Heart Of Nowhere
5 Obscured

Ambient Version LP (DInked Edition)
Obscured (ambient)
The Inner Void (ambient)
Dilated Mind (ambient)
Heart Of Nowhere (ambient)

Representing Seattle Funk. The Oscillators' debut 45 RPM single is deep, raw and energetic. Led by drummer oLLi kLoMp, the line up features members of the polyrhythmics, Rippin' Chicken, the Pulsations, Lucky Brown, the Trueloves, 45th Street Brass, The S.G.'s, and more...

This 45 RPM single is limited to 300 copies and contains two non-album tracks.

TRACK LISTING

1. Cosmonaut
2. Off The Clock

Representing Seattle Funk. The Oscillators' debut album is deep, raw and energetic. Led by drummer oLLi kLoMp, the line up features members of the polyrhythmics, Rippin' Chicken, the Pulsations, Lucky Brown, the Trueloves, 45th Street Brass, The S.G.'s, and more...

As of yet, as these words were written, the Oscillators is not a band. the Oscillators is an experimental recording collaboration that turned out swimmingly.

Our gauge was this: "Do we like it?" No agenda or goal. The main mode being simply; create what we like out of thin air. Yet the air was heavy therefore create what we like out of thick air. Magical, gravy-thick air. Molecules, olli'cules. Alchemically thick. Apparently, we needed to sample something out-of-the-ordinary… the process is called, "stackin- phat". Minimal gear, maximum vibe. In fact, this process and this gear would make most educated sound engineers cringe but the players know.

Pushing the tape…yes, tape! 4 track to be exact, pushing the tape to it's edge. First, stack two drum tracks. bounce them to one primal track. Sometimes one drummer, sometimes two; "a great drumbeat already contains melody." This is your first layer of phat. Generally, unless the muse says otherwise, you wanna bring in your bass player next, gently caress guidance and encouragement (maybe a beer or a hit a grass), then he or she can stack the next layer of phat. The next few layers are where things really take off. Maybe it's guitar then horns, maybe keys. Maybe just horns. Whatever the tune calls for. Whatever the muse "calls" for. Everyone stacking is simultaneously inspired, while hindered, by the previous layer; "constricted genius" works of magic from thin/thick air.

Most of the time the players weren't in the same room at the same time, and in some cases, haven't seen each other in years, but it sounds like a family and feels like a band. Create what we like.

The natural unfolding of this creation was affirming, in that the process of creation proved most relevant. An expression of faith and appreciation of the experiMENTAL process with no preparation for something else. Beyond fortunate for the allowance of time. "never underestimate the power of positive thought"

TRACK LISTING

1. Track Suit
2. Packet O' Cheese
3. Good News
4. Let's Get There
5. Spanish Monster
6. Intersextion
7. Spinning Species
8. Emulsify
9. Flip Flap
10. Pull One Down
11. Filterface
12. Elaborate
13. Trees In Space

"Osees don’t seem to mutate or morph so much as remain extraordinarily open to what moves them to do next and capable of getting music done that’s consistently good. What motivated the band to turn loose this hyperconcentrated slightly less than 22 minute burst of meteor density somewhat punkazoidal music? When it comes to the Osees, that’s at best a mediocre inquiry as they just do the next thing, genre, prevailing tastes or whatever influence might guide a lesser unit are not even a consideration. A Foul Form is a cool pivot from their 2020 studio efforts Metamorphosed, Panther Rotate and Protean Threat. A Foul Form vigorously shakes the Oseesetch a sketch clear so whatever comes next (which will probably be sooner than later) will likely be something completely different yet again. As far as a potential inspirational indicator, you might notice the final track on A Foul Form is a cover of Rudimentary Peni’s Sacrifice, which can be found on their Farce 7” released in 1982. A fitting way to blow out this rad slice." HENRY ROLLIINS.

Brain stem cracking scum-punk
recorded tersely in the basement of my home.
After a notoriously frustrating eon the knee-jerk song path was aggressive and hooky.
This is an homage to the punk bands we grew up on.
The weirdos and art freaks that piqued our interests and pointed us on the trail head to here/now.
Bad times make for strong music is something I agree with.
I would say that is evident by the past few years of output from the underground.
Transmissions have been all over the map.
scanning…
searching…
sweeping out in the darkness looking for a foot hold.
A Foul From represents some of our most savage & primal instincts.
Fight or flight.
And the importance of a sense of humor in the darkest hour.
Nothing wrong with keeping it snappy in the meantime.
For fans of Rudimentary Peni, Crass, Bad Brains, Black Flag, Screamers, Abwarts, Stooges and all things aggressively tilted towards your face.
You can lean back but don’t flinch…it’s a brief foray into the exhausting pogo pit so stiffen your back and jerk with your knees.

Enjoy - JPD.

TRACK LISTING

1. Funeral Solution
2. Frock Block
3. Too Late For Suicide
4. A Foul Form
5. A Burden Snared
6. Scum Show
7. Fucking Kill Me
8. Perm Act
9. Social Butt
10. Sacrific

It seems that every time you turn around, there’s another Oh Sees slab. Long ago we lost all capacity to be surprised that this sturdy unit keeps putting out records and that they’re really good. You can now add the Metamorphosed 12” to your ever deeper shelf sagging row of John Dwyer & Co.’s seemingly no sleep release schedule. The five tracks were taken from the sessions that formed 2019’s Face Stabber album, a 17 track/80+ minute jammified four-sider. Metamorphosed would have been the perfect third LP to fit in with the other two. The very existence of Metamorphosed asks any number of questions. Speculation is for pundits and amateurs. Let’s go to John Dwyer and see if he’ll kick loose some information.

As to the Metamorphosed coming out so long after Face Stabber: This is just how the release landed. We are trying to stagger the releases a bit this year and we have a salvo coming down the pipe, so that’s how the cookie crumbled. Metamorphosed would’ve been out sooner but with the virus restrictions, shipping of LPs has obviously slowed down and so has manufacturing, so here we are. It’s worthwhile to note the Face Stabber sessions also resulted in The 12” Synth, a two track deal released in November of 2019. So, what was happening in the studio that rendered almost three hours of finished music? Just the usual run with ideas. Usually this takes place at the end of the planned recording. We have extra time and tape to lay down some deep cuts and long jams, etc., the fun part, really. It’s a test to keep up with Dwyer and his extraordinarily able bandmates. It seems like there’s always something on the way to the pressing plant. When and how did Metamorphosed come together? Basically, I found myself with a 12"'s worth of material in the new year and things were starting to grind to a halt, so it was the perfect time to sew it all up. People need some tunes right now and I think the artist's community is making a good run of it. So much great shit is seeing light right now. John and Matt Jones run the Castle Face label with full autonomy, so it would make sense that Metamorphosed, like The 12” Synth, would have been a CF release. Yet, it’s on the very cool Rock Is Hell Records label, which has put out some great Dwyer related jams in the past. The OCS Live In San Francisco album was not only great musically but all the vinyl and sleeve variants made the collectors break out in a fan sweat they’re probably still recovering from. Being able to do all this yourself, it’s obviously cool to still work with Jochen and Rock Is Hell. Yes. I’ve worked with Jochen a few times over the past decade or more (so he is grandfathered in. :) It’s pretty rare these days that I work outside my own label but his stuff is so well done and usually its own work of art. Last question. The fan cannot resist! At any time, were you thinking of making Face Stabber a 3LP set? Hell no. But now maybe I am. Metamorphosed isn’t just some barrel scrape for those who can’t get enough. All of the five tracks stand up to anything on Face Stabber. The record’s 23+ minute I Got A Lot is one of the coolest songs the band has ever done. As it is with a full on Rock Is Hell roll out, there’s a lot of details. Metamorphosed is no exception. This is what the release schedule looks like: In October, there will be a silkscreened cover limited to 300 copies with four sleeve variants. A larger press run will follow in January with four or five color variants. Whew! Something to look forward to! - Henry Rollins.

Latest iteration of John Dwyer’s everchanging, impossible-to-describe band.

Witness the ever-changing, ever-mutating threat that is reality. Perception is under duress; sensibility is bending everyday under the barrage of nonsense. One must make note of whom one is and what one has become: look into the mirror of the planet-killers—psychic cannibals infiltrate and contaminate once familiar and seemingly secure territories… formidable foes indeed! What powers these beasts? What fuels discord and hatred? The behemoth of a “civil” society? What are the weapons at one’s disposal? Generosity is the aegis against greed, empathy is the armor to deflect apathy, love is the club to abate hate…the fog is lifting and humans are opening their eyes.

And so Castle Face offers this field recording, the Osees Protean Threat, from the pits as a quick booster between protein pills and recycled sweat beverage anthems to assist the listener to not worship at the altar of violence and greed, to not offer oneself up for free, to stand up and be vigilant! Truth will not be found in the speeches and photo ops of the overlords— stand strong and together under the gaze of the oppressors. Stand vigilant, united with those who don’t have the same privileges. Demand respect and a peaceful life for all. This recording is at the apogee of scuzz—punk anthem amulets for the ears and heart, a battery for one’s core. Be strong. Be human. Be love.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: They're going to start running out of different iterations of those 5 (or 6) letters soon aren't they? No matter the moniker, this is classic Oh Sees territory, mathy guitars, perfect production and DRIVE. Quintessential OCS.

TRACK LISTING

1. Scramble Suit II
2. Dreary Nonsense
3. Upbeat Ritual
4. Red Study
5. Terminal Jape
6. Wing Run
7. Said The Shovel
8. Mizmuth
9. If I Had My Way
10. Toadstool
11. Gong Of Catastrophe
12. Canopnr ’74
13. Persuaders Up

Welsh electro wizard OSHH releases his debut album on 6th October on Blinc Records.

The tremulous vocals and the creeping tectonic plates of reverb and synth, make OSHH’s debut an unlikely piece of euphoric pop. Yet from windswept shores of Anglesey, via a studio in rural north Wales, OSHH has built an album of futuristic slow burning hooks and ambitious arrangements. From the opener Hen Hanesion, the interplanetary communique Used to Fly featuring Casi, the big beat drama of Birds and the beating electronic heart of You Were Wrong and You Were Right, this is a distinctly modern album with a strong dose of mysticism.

A music graduate from Bangor University, Howells crew up in the village of Star on the island of Anglesey off the Welsh coast. Having made a name for himself in Wales as a founder member of pop band Yr Ods, Osian Howells began releasing his own material on Blinc Records in 2014. The tracks All Mistakes, Lleisiau’n Galw and Dal i Frwydro. Another of his songs, Rhywbeth Gwell featuring on the Welsh language compilation O’r Nyth.

His live performances have included Huw Stephens’ Sŵn Festival in Cardiff, and Gŵyl Gardd Goll on Angelsey, with a live band consisting of Gwion Llewelyn (Villagers, Race Horses), Griff Lynch (Yr Ods), brother Guto Howells (Yr Eira) and Ioan Llewelyn.

Recorded at Ironworks Studio in Llanllyfni near Caernarfon, with producer Kevin Jones, OSHH exists at the darker end of the pop spectrum, plotting the distance between peoples and places in stories both real and imagined.

TRACK LISTING

1. Hen Hanesion
2. Alive
3. Used To Fly
4. Birds
5. All Mistakes
6. Oriau Prin
7. Sibrydion
8. You Were Wrong And You Were Right
9. Aflonyddu (1 & 2)

On the heels of his already critically acclaimed (yes, already!) retrospective, World Spirituality Classics 3: The Muslim Highlife of Alhaji Waziri Oshomah, Alhaji Waziri Oshomah — the Oyoyo King, the Godfather of Afemai Music, the Etsako Super Star, Mr. Please Please Please, Mr. Dynamite — returns with Vol. 1.

Along with the other four volumes of the series, Vol. 1 is now available—for the very first time!—as part of a complete set (in a box): Vol 1 - 5 (1978 - 1985) (November 4, 2022).

Waziri hails from a small part of Edo State in southern Nigeria called Afemailand, known for being a harmonious region where Muslims and Christians live—and dance—together. And there, as a devout Muslim and an exemplar of religious piety in his community, Waziri’s music fuses Etsako/Afemai folk styles with pan-Nigerian highlife and pop to create a sublime vehicle for his Islamic philosophy that gets everyone—Muslims, Christians, whoever—on the dancefloor.

Vol. 1 focuses on Waziri’s illustrious mid-career output—the music he created during the years leading up to and after he performed his first hajj. Every song here (one of which you might recognize from The Muslim Highlife) strikes his signature balance of traditional music, highlife, and funk, as he entreats you to stay on the straight and narrow, though there’s nothing straight about his beat.

TRACK LISTING

1. Forgive Them Oh God Amin -- Amin
2. Emoi Khakiegwi Aghumheile
3. Igwegi Baba
4. Iyuchele Opomumhe 

Alhaji Waziri Oshomah begins his sermon before a dancing crowd. His lyrics warn about the vice of jealousy but the congregation is here to get down. We’re in a small part of Edo State in southern Nigeria called Afenmailand, which is known for being a harmonious region where Muslims and Christians live and dance together. The atmosphere is one of enjoyment, excitement, and pleasure, because to see Waziri perform is to be addressed, body and soul.

He’s the creator of a unique dance music that’s fused with local folk styles, highlife, and Western pop, and imbued with Islamic values— and he’s the greatest entertainer in all of Edo State.

They call him the Etsako Super Star.

TRACK LISTING

CD
1. Forgive Them Oh God Amin – Amin
2. Jealousy
3. Alhaji Yesufu Sado Managing Director
4. Omhona - Omhona
5. Ovini Omoekeke Alhaji Inu Umoru
6. Okhume Ukhaduame
7. My Luck Feat. Madam Hassanah Waziri And Her Velvet Voice

2LP
A1. Forgive Them Oh God Amin – Amin
A2. Jealousy
B1. Alhaji Yesufu Sado Managing Director
C1. Omhona - Omhona
C2. Ovini Omoekeke Alhaji Inu Umoru
D1. Okhume Ukhaduame
D2. My Luck Feat. Madam Hassanah Waziri And Her Velvet Voice

At the heart of Oskar’s Drum are Patrick Fitzgerald and Yves Altana

Patrick is best known for his work with seminal 90s band Kitchens of Distinction who released four albums on One Little Indian/A&M before splitting in 1996. They reformed in 2013 for one final album titled ‘Folly’ on 3loopmusic. Patrick has also written and performed as Fruit, Stephen Hero, Lost Girls with singer Heidi Berry and The April Seven with singer Paul Frederick of The Family Cat.

Yves is best known for his work with Manchester bands Wonky Alice, The Chrysalids and (with Mark Burgess) Invincible. He currently plays drums live for Chameleons Vox and is the producer and engineer behind Alchemized Music Production.

Together as Oskar’s Drum they write and perform songs that are jagged, witty shards of angular pop. Their first album - A Cathedral of Hands - is released on Ragoora Records. It features ten new songs ranging from the elegiac Green-Veiled Mirror Ghost to the stomping Blackouts.

File alongside: Magazine, REM, Scott Walker, Siouxsie and the Banshees and (of course) Kitchens of Distinction.

STAFF COMMENTS

Laura says: The welcome return of Patrick Fitzgerald from Kitchens Of Distinction (one of the most underrated bands of the late 80s / early 90s IMO). Gorgeous heartfelt songs that swoop and soar. Lovely stuff!

TRACK LISTING

Green-veiled Mirror Ghost
Infernal
Quartz
In Water
Blackouts
The Last Time I Saw Roger
Arms Of The Dark
Porcelain (The Last Queen Of Vietnam)
Shadowlight
Floating

‘Enter The Kettle’ is the second album on Alex Paterson’s new label Orbscure. It’s primarily a duo LP with him and old friend Fil Le Gonidec, who together are OSS. OSS have played at Glastonbury, Fuji Rock, supported Kraftwerk and played chess with Robbie Williams, who also stole their speed. They were originally known as Orb Sound System – a half DJ/half live version of The Orb, which could gig more nimbly than the main machine. Early shows saw reggae-heavy selections and sometimes featured toasters, but seeing as they never actually had a sound system, can’t play out at the moment and have made a record – it’s currently just OSS, which now stands for On Sum Shit. Fil went on to feature on the albums ‘FFWD’, ‘Orbus Terrarum’, ‘Bicycles & Tricycles’, ‘Orblivion’ and ‘Orbsessions Volume 1’. He has played live with The Orb many times, and also released industrial techno as Autolump on BadOrb and Mike Coles’ Malicious Damage. Other guests on the album include official-other-half-of-The Orb Michael Rendall, plus Jah Wobble, Roger Eno and George Holt – whose credits include Depeche Mode and Erasure.

TRACK LISTING

1. Wow Picasso!
2. Whippersnapper
3. No Speed Limit
4. Disco Bombing
5. Digital Bicycle Clips
6. Delta River

How does it sound when you’re slowly being driven insane? Death Waltz Recording Company is proud to bring you a soundtrack that aurally illustrates this in great detail in the form of Giona Ostinelli’s mesmerising score to DARLING. Written and directed by Mickey Keating (POD) and starring Lauren Ashley Carter (THE WOMAN) and genre favourite Sean Young (BLADE RUNNER), the film is a psychological horror in the vein of pictures like such Roman Polanski’s REPULSION, and features a young woman who becomes a caretaker of an isolated New York mansion and is driven slowly insane while walking the corridors.

TRACK LISTING

A1. NYC Pt. 1 (1:23)
A2. Darling (1:22)
A3. The City (2:17)
A4. Why Did You Come Here Tonight ( 2:04)
A5. Abyssus (2:22)
A6. Dragging The Body (2:18)
A7. James Abbott (1:51)
A8. Crucifix (2:04)
A9. Falling ( 2:29)
A10. Pacing Around ( 1:56)
A11. Coming To Life (1:06)
A12. The Phone Call (1:31)
B13. Invocation (1:33)
B14. NYC Pt. 2 (1:13)
B15. The Door (1:34)
B16. The House (1:13)
B17. Conversation (3:43)
B18. Following Him ( 1:10)
B19. Henry Sullivan ( 4:46)
B20. Abyssus Pt. 2 (2:05)
B21. Inferno (1:07)
B22. Makeup (1:17)
B23. Encounter (2:39)
B24. Exploring The House (4:48)
B25. Scriabin Preludes Op. 11 (3:28)
B26. NYC Pt. 3 (1:05)
B27. Demon (0:49)
B28. Second Phone Call (1:12)
B29. I Couldn't Let Him Live (3:21)
B30. Darling Reprise (1:09)

Released on Audio Eagle Records, owned by The Black Keys' Patrick Carney. "Perfect Cities" is the first album by Cleveland, Ohio's Other Girls. Recommended for fans of Band of Horses, the Walkmen, the National, and Sound Team. On songs like "Sleep A Year" and "The Facility," The Other Girls have managed to fuse the real life practicality and bottled romanticism of all great pop rock bands, from The Replacements to The Smiths - bands from cold, matter of fact places where romanticism is a valuable commodity, that when accessed, is more beautiful, poignant, and rarified than any other. It's on songs like "Hey Fella You Fell", the drifter, couch surfing nostalgia of young fathers who both accept and resist the everydayness of their lives translates into a danceable pop song that makes you want to scream at your fate and embrace your ugly world all at the same time.

Channelling his considerable improvisational skills to evoke notions of island life, his concept was to create something that could work equally well in the wilds of the Western Isles as in the sunnier spots of the world that we all yearned to escape to at that time. The more he played with this idea of groups of islands, of archipelagos the world over, the more it also became about people themselves experiencing isolation as individuals, while still feeling a sense of togetherness with others in the same boat.

Working a little at home but mainly here at Athens of the North studios, he would come in each day over the course of a few weeks and just hit record, playing at times almost without mind. Sometimes the mood would call for keys, strings, or drums through delays for days and days. Often, the music would happen by chance as much as by design. One rule he tried to adhere to was to not overthink things, capturing moments honestly with minimal editing or digital processing.

What we've ended up with is a beautiful, spontaneous, timeless and honest meditation on what it is to be at once both alone and part of a larger whole.

TRACK LISTING

1. Braidbit
2. SoLong SoFar
3. Ambergris
4. Zeniba
5. Cave Code
6. Selkie Road
7. Open Sea
8. HomeWords
9. Landmasses
10. Circles

The much loved Portland band Other Lives return after five years away following 2015’s ‘Rituals’.

Recorded at their own Cooper Mountain Sound studios, ‘For Their Love’ is a ten track collection that nods to the past whilst progressing positively towards the future.

The band have a loyal following across the UK, as seen by their social engagement.

STAFF COMMENTS

Andy says: Other Lives return with their fourth and greatest record yet. ‘For Their Love’ combines their dark and doomy, widescreen baroque rock with the best set of songs they’ve written so far. Well worth the wait.

TRACK LISTING

Sound Of Violence
Lost Day
Cops
All Eyes - For Their Love
Dead Language
Nites Out
We Wait
Hey Hey I
Who’s Gonna Love Us
Sideways

Third full length from Oklahoma-turned-Portland trio Other Lives, their most lush, layered and striking musical creation to date.

‘Rituals’ reflects the change in location, the spontaneity of travel and feelings of isolation.

Produced by Jesse Tabish and Jonathon Mooney from the band with Joey Waronker (Eels, Atoms For Peace, Beck).

For fans of The Antlers, The War On Drugs, Interpol, Grizzly Bear.

Long-awaited new album from Oklahoma five piece Other Lives – darlings of the blogosphere, live highlights of SXSW and purveyors of lush orchestral epic and widescreen baroque indie rock.

Taking over 14 painstaking months to put together, ‘Tamer Animals’ was inspired by Sigur Ros, Ennio Morricone and Godspeed You Black Emperor, and is sure to appeal to fans of Grizzly Bear, Kurt Vile and Fleet Foxes.

“Tamer Animals’ feels organic and lovingly crafted, a record whose lushness often invites you to simply collapse into it” – Pitchfork.

TRACK LISTING

1. Dark Horse
2. As I Lay My Head Down
3. For 12
4. Tamer Animals
5. Dust Bowl III
6. Weather
7. Old Statues
8. Woodwind
9. Desert
10. Landforms
11. Heading East

10th anniversary reissue of this wonderful LP from the finest purveyors of lush orchestral epic and widescreen baroque indie rock.

Taking over 14 painstaking months to put together, ‘Tamer Animals’ was inspired by Sigur Ros, Ennio Morricone and Godspeed You Black Emperor, and is sure to appeal to fans of Grizzly Bear, Kurt Vile and Fleet Foxes.

“Tamer Animals’ feels organic and lovingly crafted, a record whose lushness often invites you to simply collapse into it” – Pitchfork.

TRACK LISTING

1. Dark Horse
2. As I Lay My Head Down
3. For 12
4. Tamer Animals
5. Dust Bowl III
6. Weather
7. Old Statues
8. Woodwind
9. Desert
10. Landforms
11. Heading East

Bonus Download Tracks
Glass Leaves
Take Us Alive
Dead In The Water
Great Sky
Living Dead
Song Song
This Is Not
Dust Bowl 1 

Experimental downbeat Afro-futurism album by dub poetry free spirit Jasmine Tutum, with production by OG Jahtari lads Disrupt and Rootah as The Other Others, oscillating between spaced out soundscapes, floaty hoovers and heavy movers.

Tokyo-born, grown up in Jamaica and living in Germany (with various stops in-between) Jasmine’s wild biography translates into sonic territory with this LP, drawing inspiration from Grace Jones and Theo Parrish, newworldaquarium and Roger Robinson alike.

TRACK LISTING

The Birth Of May Ayim
Daze Days
The Race
Our Daily Bread Battle
This Little Poem
Outside Last Night
Cant Trust
Vibrate

Factory Benelux presents an expanded CD edition of the debut album by The Other Two, the electronic pop duo comprising Stephen Morris and Gillian Gilbert of New Order.

Originally slated for release on Factory Records in 1992, The Other Two & You was eventually issued on London the following year. Produced by 02 with Stephen Hague (New Order, OMD, Pet Shop Boys), the ten track album features polished pop singles Tasty Fish and Selfish, as well as fluid club anthems (Ninth Configuration) and filmic interludes (Night Voice).

The album closes with Loved It, written back in 1990 for the opening of Factory’s opulent new office building on Charles Street, Manchester. The ‘found’ vocals by Tony Wilson, Rob Gretton, Martin Hannett and others now serve to mark the recent 40th anniversary of the iconic Manchester label.

The 6 bonus tracks include clubby (and collectible) remixes by Pascal Gabriel, Moby and Farley & Heller.

Cover art by Peter Saville and Howard Wakefield. Cover portrait by Neil Cooper. Liner notes by James Nice. Released under licence from Warner Music UK Ltd.

TRACK LISTING

1. Tasty Fish
2. The Greatest Thing
3. Selfish
4. Movin’ On
5. Ninth Configuration
6. Feel This Love
7. Spirit Level
8. Night Voice
9. Innocence
10. Loved It (The New Factory)
11. Tasty Fish (Pascal Mix 12”)
12. Selfish (That Pop Mix)
13. The Greatest Thing (Pascal Mix)
14. Movin’ On (Moby Mix)
15. Tasty Fish (Almond Slice Mix)
16. Selfish (Junior Style Dub)

Following on from the huge success of the recent Subscape release on Dub Police, The Others are back with a bang with ultra-wobble big-hitter "King Pin". This sees their signature sound developing and morphing into an even bigger relentless weapon. In the same way that the Subscape release was arranged, the flip of this release sees The Others on a much lighter tip incorporating old school drum & bass vibes and possibly highlighting a softer sensitive side to the boys we all assumed were premier league hit-men.

A high octane burst of emo-punk from a viscious little Virginia USA band that goes straight for your jugular. In an unusual clear slipcase package.

Otherwise released one of the original three CDs on Firefly back in Jan 2001 and since then they've been busy taking their distinctive brand of emo around the UK and Europe impressing audiences all the way. It's honest uncomplicated and typical of the high standard people expect from the Firefly label.

Follow up to the critically acclaimed "First In Third" album released on Them's Good in Sept 99, this band are beginning to find their own sound. Supported Gameface recently in the UK and this 5 track mini album has all the hallmarks of top quality emocore.

The new LP by Krefeld-born, Berlin-based artist Philipp Otterbach entitled 'The Dahlem Diaries'.

Recorded in a little-visited corner of the German capital, 'The Dahlem Diaries' is a convergence of ideas, sketches and tracks, both old and new, most of which were produced between 2020-2022. Whilst eerie atmospheres, electronics and drums have played a pivotal role in Philipp’s earlier releases, his latest is a rather more introspective affair, in which the guitar takes a leading role. A role Otterbach uses to quietly bring light and hope to his music.

Speaking about his writing process, Philipp explains that, based around his original compositions, “Friends were nice enough to contribute additional parts on their instruments which I then reworked, put together and re-contextualized. The recordings encapsulate a very specific moment in time, one that would have sounded perhaps very different the day before or after.”

Combined with a strong use of effects and field recordings, 'The Dahlem Diaries' feels somewhat like a scene or fragment from a story, in which the narrative remains undefined. It is a playful album that is something of a blurred underwater adventure, sounding as bright as it is hazy, even psychedelic at times, yet with an almost melancholic positivity. In Philipp’s own words: “It could be an album about friendship and being at one with myself, whilst at the same time bringing a certain seriousness to my music, but not necessarily to myself; there is also a playful humour hidden in there. ”

Artwork by David McFarline.

TRACK LISTING

The Dahlem Diaries Pt. 1
Half Brain Naked
Left Hand Society
Talkoot
Small Town Nights
Geoluread
Gottischlag Ft. Gatto Fritto
Solid Maybe
Malarkeys
Happy And I Skipped

With an avid following from the days in his former band Gomez, A Man Apart is singer/songwriter Ben Ottewell’s third solo offering and follows his albums Shapes and Shadows and Rattlebag. The album is a record that crosses musical genres such as Americana, blues and folk backed by Ben’s unmistakable gutsy and gravelly voice. Co-written with childhood friend and former Tunng member, Sam Genders, the album was recorded in Los Angeles and Sheffield and engineered and produced in the latter by Martin Smith (Richard Hawley).

A Man Apart delves into such relevant subjects as love and relationships, fame and politics. The album’s title track focuses on populist politicians exploiting people’s hopes and fears, with Bones touching on the realisation of not being worthy of someone, and opener Own It, sees Ben reflect on his time growing up in public in Gomez. New single Watcher is the perfect introduction to the album and despite its pensive meaning, is a melodic Americana led track that builds into a memorable bluesy and soulful chorus. A video for the track will be premiering soon.

Ben says; "A Man Apart is a transatlantic affair written and recorded both here and in the states. It continues to explore my deep love of Americana through a British filter with themes of love, escape, responsibility and loss, written against the unfortunate backdrop of the populist political upheavals and demagogues that have come to dominate here and in the states.:

TRACK LISTING

1. Own It
2. A Man Apart
3. Watcher
4. Cradle
5. Back To The World
6. Walking On Air
7. Steal Away
8. Bones
9. Lead Me Away
10. A Better Lie

The debut album from Otto Smart aka The Otto Show, on Spanish label Annika. Delicate understated pop songs over gentle bossa-nova beats.

After making music in his bedroom for four years, Seattle kid Josh Ottum had the bright idea to make his debut album "Like The Season" a sort of 'personal greatest hits'. Joining Ottum on his solo debut are Sufjan Stevens' drummers and multi-instrumentalists James McAlister and Casey Foubert. Bolstered by semi-hollow body guitars, old keyboards, dry drums, and a hundred multi-tracked voices singing melodies, harmonies and backwards woah-woahs, Ottum's exquisite pop songs harken back to the sweet melodic days of 70s pop, Stevie Wonder and Steely Dan, Randy Newman, but also has the influence of such modern bands as The Flaming Lips, Grandaddy and Phoenix.

Tel Aviv's Elado has put out a fine run of eight releases in just two years on the likes of GAMM, Barefoot Beats and Bonfido Disques, but for his next move, he branches out with his own reissue label. Its aim is to "focus on uncovering lost gems" with the original paired with his own remixes. The first one is a 1983 private press from the Canadian pair OUI. 'Circle Of Love' is a big disco banger with flashy synth work and rugged arps, with a pair of Elado's mixes making it even more dancefloor ready. 'You Make Me High' is a more sentimental 80s pop sound. A fine start to life for this new label.

STAFF COMMENTS

Mine says: One for fans of euro pop soundalikes and big, borderline cheesy disco tunes. This 12" has got it all - 3 versions plus a bonus number for those who like it extra kitschy, what more could you ask for!

TRACK LISTING

Side 1
1. Circle Of Love (Elado Remix)
2. Circle Of Love (Original)

Side 2
1. Circle Of Love (Elado Remix Instrumental)
2. You Make Me High

Our Beautiful Ridiculous Plan are a two piece of guitar and double bass. They've been compared to Bela Bartok, Don Caballero, Dave Pajo and Pentangle.

Epitomising triumph over adversity, the first Our Broken Garden album since 2010 not only embarks on a newly minted sound – a gloriously warm and nuanced brand of slowburning Scandinavian soul - but Danish singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Anna Brønsted has dug deep to provide an emotional tour de force that shines as a beacon of resilience, resistance and perseverance. Welcome to Blind.

Blind’s musical DNA is warmer, more inviting and even poppier than previous album, The Golden Sea: Brønsted suggests that it’s down to Blind’s backing tracks being recorded live (as opposed to Golden Sea’s layered production), but also that she was particularly taken with ‘70s singer-songwriters (she namechecks Neil Young, Nick Drake and Joni Mitchell) and contemporary R&B, especially FKA Twigs. And it’s that intimacy, and candour, which also makes Blind sound that much warmer and inviting. Brønsted’s life was on the line, and her creative response has thrown her a lifeline. As she prepares to play the first Our Broken Garden shows in ten years, the darkness of her recent past recedes further, but she is sanguine about the present.

“With deep feelings of loss but also deep feelings of love,” Brønsted concludes, “the good thing is that I am not caught in the numbness of my ‘safe’ everyday life anymore. Every day is new - which is not necessarily pleasant and without challenges. But I feel free - and one of the gifts is that I have found places that I didn’t know existed in myself. And that I have found peace here – until the next crisis comes around, I guess!”

TRACK LISTING

1 Prelude
2 Lost
3 Rain
4 Fallen
5 Shameless
6 Prayer
7 Waltz
8 Words
9 Sirens
10 Storm
11 Crown
12 Found
13 Lies

Hailing from Denmark, Our Broken Garden is the sound of sometime Efterklang keyboardist Anna Bronsted’s bewitching voice and songs plus assorted musical friends. Our Broken Garden’s debut album, “When Your Blackening Shows”, arrived in September 2008 and signalled Anna’s connection to water with various nautical references in her lyrics, and a deeply atmospheric, drifting ebb and flow to the sound - with a serene, torchy Anna resembling a modern day siren at its heart.

"Golden Sea" is a substantial step forward. There’s more drama and rhythm this time round and Anna’s song-writing has evolved significantly… "In The Lowlands" has an overriding sense of blissed-out serenity sense while "Nightsong" is more haunted. "Share" and "Warriors Of Love" are more typically dreamy numbers before the devastating finale "The Dark Red Roses" where mournful strings preface one of Anna’s most haunting vocals… 

Like the golden sea that names Our Broken Garden’s new album, their music is wide and deep, beautiful and mysterious…

TRACK LISTING

1. The Departure
2. In The Lowlands
3. The Fiery And Loud
4. Garden Grow
5. Nightsong
6. Garden The Burial
7. Seven Wild Horses
8. Share
9. Warriors Of Love
10. The Dark Red Roses

At first, it’s difficult to pinpoint exactly what makes Our Girl so special, or why the Brighton-formed, London-based trio’s music stands out within a busy crowd of fellow guitar-wielding-types. But if an explanation didn’t jump out when they first emerged with a debut EP of mighty fuzz-soaked songs in November 2016, it surfaces with ‘Stranger Today’, a debut album of personal, emotional juggernauts that could have only been made by these three people: Guitarist / vocalist Soph Nathan, bassist Josh Tyler and drummer Lauren Wilson.

Since forming in Nathan and Tyler’s Brighton home four years ago – Wilson joining as a late recruit when she was wowed by a demo of their self-titled debut track, and ‘Stranger Today’’s opener – Our Girl’s members have only had pockets of time to work together. A day booked in a local studio here, a soundcheck there, full-time jobs and other projects meant the three rarely had a concentrated, collective patch. This changed in September 2017, when they stayed in Eve Studios in Stockport for a week, recording with Bill Ryder-Jones. Their week in Stockport became a crucial catalyst for what would follow. Ryder-Jones is a guitar virtuoso himself (“He did stuff neither me or Soph had ever seen anyone do before,” Tyler remarks), and he became an unofficial fourth member of the group.

‘Stranger Today’ is a special debut for several reasons: First, because it’s the sound of a band beginning to grasp their own value and place in the world. Secondly, because you can hear the trio’s hunger to finally get in the same room and put to tape years’ worth of scrapbooks, half-finished ideas, and a slowly-forming feel for how their first album would actually sound. “What band isn’t itching to make their debut? But it’s quite frightening, knowing you’re about to do it,” Wilson remembers.

The real clincher, however, is Our Girl’s dynamic, and how it plays out across ‘Stranger Today’. Best friends in person, the trio share the same close kinship and chemistry on record. On one side is Nathan’s visceral lyricism, which has a habit of detailing and chipping away at precise moments; the first heart-flutter of a new crush; the moment a long-term friendship begins to ebb away. Around her, Tyler and Wilson’s rhythm section carefully mirrors each feeling Nathan conveys. When she sings pointedly about love (‘I Really Like It’), she’s backed by a major-key afterglow. When the subject turns on its head (‘Josephine’), out steps a wall of taut, earth-shaking noise. They each “serve the song,” in Wilson’s words, moving in sync but with their own personal slant. Not least on the closer ‘Boring’, where all restraint is thrown aside and the trio let out one final, violent thrash. They inhabit a space bigger than the first loves, sleepless nights and growing pains that define this record.

Nathan remembers being in Brighton four years ago, shortly after Our Girl formed, and realising, “I was finally in the band I wanted to be in.” Almost half a decade later, and this eureka moment is sewn up on ‘Stranger Today’. It’s the sound of three friends totally at ease in their own space, discontent with being anywhere else; a vibrant document of what it’s like to be young, invigorated and amongst people who feel the same.

TRACK LISTING

1. Our Girl
2. Being Around
3. In My Head
4. I Really Like It
5. Josephine
6. Two Life
7. Level
8. Sub Rosa
9. I Wish It Was Sunday
10. Heat
11. Boring

CD2/LP2
'Bedroom Record’
1. I Really Like It
2. Being Around
3. Two Life
4. Careful
5. I Wish It Was Sunday
6. Our Girl (Demo)
7. I Really Don't Mind
8. Whatever (Demo)
9. Josephine (Demo)

Jawdropping new collection of crop circles etched in sonic candy-floss by New Zealand’s beardsmith / noise-farmer Campbell Kneale. Rated by the horses mouth as the best thing he ever made, ever, "Blue Eyes Are My Reward" shimmers like an icicle-clad forest resplendent in its own crystalline magnificence. Snakecharming groove, dublike boomph, and bleary eyed strum blast the path out of a decidedly greying world of so-so metalized myspace drone, into a miniaturized drone-prairie of superpowered starshine and dazzling stellar-commotion.

Beyond the tyrannous clutches of omnipresent zeroes and ones, the macro and micro merge into an all encompassing nowhere of sound, each expansion checked by equal contraction like Messiaen's ‘modes of limited transportation’ scrambled by the Large Hadron Collider and replayed by one of those little twinkly watch reflections that occasionally dance around on the roof. Beautiful. 180g Vinyl, everything by Campbell.

Absolutely stunning debut album of ambient electronic space rock from a frighteningly young three-piece from South London - their first full release, having had an early version of album track "The Tinderbox" included on the Type Records "Free The Future" compilation. Having met at school, Sam Purcell, Josh Rothberger and Karl Jawara started experimenting with various musical instruments and sounds using software and basic recording equipment, inspired by the music they were into and with the aim of creating their own wall of sound. After 14 months they emerged with something they were sufficiently happy with to allow it to be heard by others, and ultimately that brings us to the present day - an eight-track, 45-minute debut that is comparable to any in this field in recent times. Our Sleepless Forest's music is multi-layered, complex and dense, yet dedication and attention are rewarded as the intricate slow-build melodies are revealed beneath the feedback, crackle and hiss. Reminiscent at times of the likes of Loscil or even Radiohead's more out-there moments but on the whole avoiding the predictable comparisons associated with music of this genre, this is an album that simply has to be heard.

Jamal Moss aka Hieroglyphic Being aka The Sun God aka Chicago avant-electronic genius, student of Adonis, protege of The Muzic Box and overall overlord of experimental dancefloor mechanics returns with a BRAND NEW ALIAS (!!) and drops his second record for esteemed label Modern Obscure Music.

Encased in strange artwork which stretches out images of various dogs, it took me a while to realize that it was Jamal Moss behind the release. I have a feeling this is a deliberate move by the artist to offer up a body of work that's to be judged in its own merit, without any preconceptions alluding to what to expect.

Die-hard Moss fans will, of course, recognize the warped galactic production aesthetic favoured by the producer during his near-30 year career but this is a decidedly new (non)direction taken by the already quite non-linear and indeed, oft-astray producer.

Two tracks of over 18 minutes length each which crawl deceptively through tectonic mounds and deep underground caves; somehow churning up the landmass through a powerful array of equipment: Moog Mother 32 Semi-Modular Analog Synths, Behringer 303 Clones, Dr - 5 Drum, Korg Ddd1 Drum Machine, Ensoniq Mirage Workstation, Stagg Electric Upright Bass Casio Dh-100 Digital Horn Midi Sax.

TRACK LISTING

Alpha Parte - Magna Controversia 
Omega Parte - Quomodo Erit Finis

Out Hud release the follow up to 2002's "STREET DAD", keeping up associations with !!! (for whom Tyler Pope, Nic Offer and Justin Vandervolgen also play) and LCD Soundsystem (for whom Tyler Pope also plays bass). "Let Us Never Speak Of It Again" was recorded in Washington DC, before the band returned to their New York house to have it mixed and deconstructed by band member Justin Vandervolgen. The album is an indefinable feast of filthy grooves, spectral sounds, tribal beats and haunting melodies that is unmistakably their own and yet immediately familiar, with tracks influenced by sources as various as Adrian Sherwood, Larry Levan, Judy Nylon, Dr Dre, dub, disco, The Neptunes, Timbaland, Lenky and Dancehall. It's been called 'Freak Sh*t' and it's been called 'Mutant Disco', inevitably it's going to be one of the defining records of 2005.

Out Lines is a project by singer / songwriter Kathryn Joseph (Scottish Album Of The Year winner 2015), The Twilight Sad’s James Graham and producer / songwriter / musician Marcus Mackay.

This exciting body of work was inspired by conversations Kathryn and James had with people who use Platform: a groundbreaking multi-arts and community space in Easterhouse, an area in the east end of Glasgow.

With James and Kathryn at the helm of translating the stories heard through their conversations with locals and Marcus steering the sound, this inspiring collection of songs is being released through Rock Action Records.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Haunting dual-vocal lines, pulsing synths and hefty, echoing percussion make this a fascinating and enthralling journey through electronics, chamber-rock and swirled with a hint of folky drone. Beautifully constructed, and massively enjoyable.

TRACK LISTING

1 Buried Guns
2 Our Beloved Dead
3 The Left Behind
4 There Is A Saved Place
5 If You Love Me You Will Lie
6 Open Shut
7 These Three Desire Lines

Out Lines is a project by singer / songwriter Kathryn Joseph (Scottish Album Of The Year winner 2015), The Twilight Sad’s James Graham and producer / songwriter / musician Marcus Mackay.

This exciting body of work was inspired by conversations Kathryn and James had with people who use Platform: a groundbreaking multi-arts and community space in Easterhouse, an area in the east end of Glasgow.

With James and Kathryn at the helm of translating the stories heard through their conversations with locals and Marcus steering the sound, this inspiring collection of songs is being released through Rock Action Records.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Haunting dual-vocal lines, pulsing synths and hefty, echoing percussion make this a fascinating and enthralling journey through electronics, chamber-rock and swirled with a hint of folky drone. Beautifully constructed, and massively enjoyable.

TRACK LISTING

1 Buried Guns
2 Our Beloved Dead
3 The Left Behind
4 There Is A Saved Place
5 If You Love Me You Will Lie
6 Open Shut
7 These Three Desire Lines

Born in a rural upstate NY town of 500 people, Cara Beth Satalino aka Outer Spaces, studied studio composition at Purchase College, where she also met her bandmate and life partner Chester Gwazda (producer of the first three Future Islands albums, and Dan Deacon's Bromst and America, among others). The Baltimore-based artist's new album Gazing Globe documents Satalino's effort to find herself through the creation of her own esoteric world of pop songs. While writing Gazing Globe, Satalino felt lost and listless, after she and Gwazda decided to take a break from their long-term relationship. To deal with her anxiety and self-doubt, and ultimately evolve emotionally and spiritually, she began a daily meditation practice, and writing songs. "I think I was trying to get back to myself and my identity, separate from my relationship," says Satalino. The result of her efforts is a collection of Murmur-era REM-esque power-pop songs, full of catchy guitar riffs, sonical ly juxtaposing her despondent perspective. Press Quotes - “Satalino wears her heart on her sleeve... crafting soft melodies that waver between slightly confessional and deeply personal” Consequence of Sound // “hyper-articulate indie pop” KEXP // “...brimming with delicate, elegantly crafted songs punctuated by incisive lyrics and unexpectedly vivid choruses” Under the Radar // “the record explores life’s transitions through a blend of mellow folk rock and catchy indie ballads” 

TRACK LISTING

01 See Her Face
02 Truck Song
03 Gazing Globe
04 YWLGOML
05 Album For Ghosts
06 TV Screen
07 Telling You Things
08 I Slowly Close My Eyes
09 Paper Flowers
10 Teapot #2

At the beginning of 2014, Outfit found themselves scattered across two countries and three cities, separated by life and love from each other and from those closest to them. Slowness, the band's second full length on new label home Memphis Industries, is the sound of its five members snatching intensive weeks to plant themselves in one place, with the tensions of touring, moving, and transatlantic relationships still weighing heavy in mind, to create an album with bold presence. 

STAFF COMMENTS

Darryl says: An expansive and elegant sound that hints at a combination of Talk Talk, Field Music, Japan and the Dutch Uncles. Released on the ever dependable Memphis Industries label.

TRACK LISTING

New Air
Slowness
Smart Thing
Boy
Happy Birthday
Wind Or Vertigo
Genderless
Framed
On The Water, On The Way
Cold Light Home
Swam Out

At the beginning of 2014, Outfit found themselves scattered across two countries and three cities, separated by life and love from each other and from those closest to them. Slowness, the band's second full length on new label home Memphis Industries, is the sound of its five members snatching intensive weeks to plant themselves in one place, with the tensions of touring, moving, and transatlantic relationships still weighing heavy in mind, to create an album with bold presence. 

STAFF COMMENTS

Darryl says: An expansive and elegant sound that hints at a combination of Talk Talk, Field Music, Japan and the Dutch Uncles. Released on the ever dependable Memphis Industries label.

TRACK LISTING

New Air
Slowness
Smart Thing
Boy
Happy Birthday
Wind Or Vertigo
Genderless
Framed
On The Water, On The Way
Cold Light Home
Swam Out

Luke Pabich's extensive career takes a new turn with the first full length release from his new project. Given that he was possibly the crucial component behind the pointed and exuberant genius that was Good Riddance, it shouldn't come as any surprise then that this is a majestic opener, combining his trademark caustic way with words with inspirational and melodic punk rock power.

Output/Input was formed by Melvin Lee Davis, an esteemed bassist, composer, producer, and arranger who also happens to be Musical Director for 10-time GRAMMY award-winning 'Queen of Funk', Chaka Khan, who he still regularly tours with. He has also recorded, toured and worked with legends of Soul and Jazz, including George Benson, Lee Ritenour, George Duke, Will Downing, Lalah Hathaway, Patti Austin, Ledisi, and Angie Stone among many others. Davis' musical pedigree is also in evidence as co-writer of 'Soul Train's A Comin', the theme song for Don Cornelius' legendary weekly television show 'Soul Train'.

Lead vocalist Antonio McLendon has worked and performed with James Ingram, Tata Vega, Gladys Knight and Donna Summer, and features on 'Someone I Used To Love, 'Smilin' Faces', and 'I'm In Love', which received rotation plays at radio last year. 'Smilin' Faces' is a hit at UK Soul radio right now. 'Here We Go Again' is also still getting radio play and features the vocals of Audrey Wheeler-Downing, who has worked with Unlimited Touch and Chaka Khan, and Brent Carter, the current lead singer of AWB and previous to that, Tower Of Power. 'Doin' Alright' features vocals from O'Bryan, who Davis worked with extensively on his albums for Capitol. This is a re-recorded version with added horns and strings, co-written by Melvin, that originally appeared on the album of the same name in 1982. Also on vocals is Katie Holmes-Smith, a globally sought-after singer, who backed Adele on her world tour as well as currently performing with her for the duration of Adele's residency at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas.

TRACK LISTING

1. Smilin' Faces (feat. Antonio McLendon)
2. Don't Be Scared (feat. Antonio McLendon)
3. Here We Go Again (feat. Audrey Wheeler & Brent Carter)
4. Doin' Alright (feat. O'Bryan)
5. Someone I Used To Love (feat. Antonio McLendon)
6. Time Of Our Lives (feat. Antonio McLendon)
7. I'm In Love (feat. Antonio McLendon)
8. Really No Chance (feat. Katie Holmes-Smith)
9. Love Of Another Guy (feat. Antonio McLendon)
10. True Love (feat. Antonio McLendon)
11. Every Time You Touch Me (feat. Antonio McLendon)

Detroit's psychedelic pop kingpins Outrageous Cherry return with "Our Love Will Change The World" a shorter, sweeter, harder-hitting package of future rock'n'roll classics tuned to the classic AM radio zeitgeist, but still laced with jagged, explosive guitar solos and haunted, cryptic lyrics like previous Outrageous Cherry records. As Rolling Stone said: 'Outrageous Cherry mix old-school acid-eaters (Stones, Byrds, Beatles) with modern genre revivalists (Dandy Warhols, Brian Jonestown Massacre), wrapping their noise-pop in a distinctive psychedelic overcoat.'

"Seemingly Solid Reality" is the tenth full length studio LP from Detroit rock n' roll experimentalists Outrageous Cherry. After the critically acclaimed glam/psych miasma of 2009's "Universal Malcontents", and subsequent tours in Europe and the USA, O.C. returned to their analog cave somewhere within the Detroit city limits to record Matthew
Smith's latest batch of tunes. Keeping the recording approach somewhat primitive, the group wanted to capture the energy and excitement of their recent live performances, but in a semi-controllable studio environment.

The album was recorded on a reel-to-reel 8-track in the kitchen of a house in the same neighborhood, (and with the same architectural dimensions) as the old Motown studio. Throughout "Seemingly Solid Reality", sweet melodies and harmonies soar over the gnashing of vicious, urban Motor City guitar workouts. Motown-fueled bass and drums throb hypnotically. The lyrics weave a tapestry of hallucinatory 21st century tension over all of this, punctuated by occasional blasts of music concrete synthesizer. This time, the mood is closer to the anarchistic tendencies of the Plastic Ono Band than the Beatlesque feel of more recent Outrageous Cherry records.

When he's not fronting Outrageous Cherry, Matt Smith is often producing and sometimes playing onstage with numerous other artists. Recently he's worked with Rodriguez, Andre Williams, and Scott Morgan (ex-Rationals, Sonic's Rendezvous Band). He also produced the last two albums by late Detroit soul legend Nathaniel Mayer. Guitarist Larry Ray has played with the Spike Drivers and the Ivories. Drummer Samantha Linn has played with Little Claw and her group the Arch Mystics (also featuring Larry Ray). Bassist Sean Ellwood also plays with Don Bolles' new group the Fancy Space People. Outrageous Cherry recently got a lot of love from The New Pornographers who released a EP of Outrageous Cherry covers on Matador records titled "Togetherness - The New Pornographers play Outrageous Cherry".

TRACK LISTING

1. Seemingly Solid Reality (2:13)
2. Unbalanced In The City (3:12)
3. Fell (2:52)
4. My Ghetto (2:43)
5. Self-Made Monster (3:06)
6. The Happy Hologram (3:41)
7. Nothing's Changed (3:28)
8. Forces Of Evil (3:15)
9. I Like It (3:11)
10. Unamerican Girls (3:39)
11. The Unimportant Things (4:14)

From the same Detroit-based family that gave birth to the Sights, White Stripes, Dirtbombs, and Electric Six comes another rabble of Detroit mainstays: Outrageous Cherry. Ballads, outer space atmospherics, distorted rock'n'roll wig-outs and symphonic arrangements.

Recorded over three years, across three continents and featuring a cast of over 80 musicians, ‘Galeria De La Luz’ is a slow burning classic in the making, to be filed alongside Jim O’Rourke, Grizzly Bear, Low and Sonic Youth’s more pastoral moments.

Centred around Matthew Nicholson, this debut release as Outshine Family follows well received output as Function which garnered high praise from The Wire, Pitchfork, and Dusted.

In recent years Nicholson has shared stages with Low, Fennesz, Animal Collective and Espers, gaining fans internationally with his quietly powerful arrangements and knack for devastating melodies.

TRACK LISTING

1. Get Laid Like An Egg
2. The Dream, The Lie
3. Alone With Your Tattoos
4. Stars Wept Upon Us
5. Always I Marvel At You
6. Flying Ear
7. Galeria De La Luz
8. Seven Tongues Tasting The Night
9. A Carol For The Speechless And The Heartbroken
10. Silly Bird
11. Natural Diamonds
12. May Death Less Darkly Find Its Way
13. Spectrum Ablaze

With comparisons previously drawn that puts them somewhere between The Arcade Fire and Pulp, The Outside Royalty have created a sound that perplexes and astounds journalists and fans alike. A sound perfectly demonstrated on "Falling". A song of two parts, it is firstly and obviously a song about love. However, behind its uplifting musical celebrations lies a darker element. It is also about discovering love in the most unfortunate circumstances. On a plane, a plane which then proceeds to plummet from the skies. Driven by a thumping dance floor drum beat and power house vocals, it reverberates around the room with each verse and spirals into a hook laden chorus that penetrates your very being with all the force and vigour of a gospel priest.

Limited repro single from 60s Dutch garage-beat kings, the Outsiders.

Inspirational Orange County straight edge heroes are back with a new album of burning, brilliant and melodic hardcore. Tight, hard, ringing rhythm guitar is propelled by expert, shifting, hi-octane rhythms and overlain by John Coyle's strangled cynical roar.

DNA is a mountain of an album: an audio CD with 25 tracks, each about three minutes long. Some are no longer than a minute. Here you’ll find a collection of rare Oval pieces and 12 previously unreleased tracks. DNA is a mixture of music from Markus Popp’s various creative phases. It’s surprising how old and new meld seamlessly together, and how, for Oval, formalism and musicality have produced similar results. Markus Popp has found an unmistakable musical language and declined it from A to Z. DNA, so to say, is the accompanying dictionary. Originally, this album was supposed to appear before “O” and conclude the “electronic” phase of Oval. A farewell of sorts.

Disc 2 of DNA is almost something like an Open Source Manifesto: It contains the SoundBrowser/Sequenzer-Software OvalDNA and more than 2,000 Oval Sounds from various phases of Popp’s work as individual AIFF files. The software and sound files are intended for music producers and are available to all without restrictions. Also included is a video documentation of PlayGroundTV/Madrid, the “Glass UFO” music video by AmberleyProductions/Berlin and 10 bonus tracks for the OvalDNA album as WAV files.

In you try to define Oval’s music in words, sooner or later you’ll end up describing organizational processes. Terms such as “tissue” or “weaving” seem suitable. In fact, here everything seems to undulate, pulsate and breathe. DNA is intoxicating and wonderful. There is the intensive guitar work of the new pieces, an eruptive bundle of sounds, the sparkle and shimmer of high tones. The simultaneousness of countless events, unbelievably dense and at the same time secretly light. Then comes a maelstrom of surfaces, warm, warped drones that penetrate into the depths. An expressive, open playfulness with rhythm. Great harmonic, melodic richness. Euphoric, breathless and uplifting.

For years, Markus Popp aka Oval has belonged to the most prolific and internationally renowned producers of contemporary electronic music. His CD releases, remixes and film soundtracks are considered timeless classics. His radical, process-oriented and nonetheless highly musical approach anticipated “glitch”, “clicks & cuts” and “minimal” and still inspires and provokes a whole generation of musicians. Besides the long-standing projects MICROSTORIA (with Jan St. Werner/MOUSE ON MARS) and SO (with Eriko Toyoda) Popp has worked with BJÖRK, RYUICHI SAKAMOTO, TORTOISE, SQUAREPUSHER,JIM O‘ROURKE, PIZZICATO 5, MOUSE ON MARS, GASTR DEL SOL.

Markus Popp's early, now legendary album releases sent shockwaves through the "electronica" landscape in the late 1990's. The distinctive, organic appeal of Oval tracks, remixes and albums have brought along several watershed moments for the entire genre. Oval is one of THE prolific and influential forces in contemporary electronic music today. So far, so good. And now... Popp. 

Markus Popp's early, now legendary album releases sent shockwaves through the "electronica" landscape in the late 1990's. The distinctive, organic appeal of Oval tracks, remixes and albums have brought along several watershed moments for the entire genre. Oval is one of THE prolific and influential forces in contemporary electronic music today. So far, so good. And now... Popp. 

Markus Popp is endlessly curious, and his music as Oval is delightfully inventive. Since pioneering albums in the 90s ‘systemisch’ and ‘94diskont.’, Oval has continually excavated new spaces in electronic music, leaving an indelible mark on the landscape.

New album, ‘Romantiq’, finds Popp delivering his most light and delicate tones to date. Like the plucking of harp strings, Popp’s organic and playful approach to sound is warm and bright. Oval continually, confounds with his ability to conjure such lithe, evocative sonics from software. 

‘Romantiq’ evolved from an audio visual collaboration with digital artist Robert Seidel for the grand opening of the German Romantic Museum, where a huge outdoor projection covered the museum building. Popp sought a more expansive definition of the romantic, conjuring flickering images that glitch, evolve and collapse in on one another - opulent neo-chamber music lit by the paradoxically heart-warming screen glow of social media flirtations.

Popp crafted dozens of short vignettes that each sought to evoke a specific mood or emotion. Processed period instruments trace luxuriant spaces that shift from low-lit chambers to glistening palatial grandeur, glitching through past, present and future. Swelling atmospheres emerge like perfume, rich scents flooding the senses before evaporating on the breeze. ‘Romantiq’’s musical oxytocin is made from ancient instruments processed and edited by a modern electronic master with the utmost deftness and delicacy.

TRACK LISTING

1. Zauberwort
2. Rytmy
3. Cresta
4. Amethyst
5. Wildwasser
6. Glockenton
7. Elektrin
8. Okno
9. Touha
10. Lyriq

Kassa Overall is a Grammy-nominated musician, emcee, singer, producer and drummer who melds avant-garde experimentation with hip-hop production techniques to tilt the nexus of jazz and rap in unmapped directions.

On ANIMALS, his kaleidoscopic Warp Records debut, Kassa engages with themes of race and mental illness and pushes his subversive vision further with an allstar roster of collaborators including Danny Brown, Wiki, Lil B, Shabazz Palaces, Nick Hakim, Laura Mvula, Theo Croker and more.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Kassa's debut for Warp Records draws a rare path between modern jazz and classic R&B, moving deftly from sleazy nu-lounge grooves to clattering percussive breaks and wonky minimalistic pop.

TRACK LISTING

1. No Camera
2. Anxious Anthony (feat. Anthony Ware)
3. Ready To Ball
4. Clock Ticking (feat. Danny Brown & Wiki)
5. Still Ain’t Find Me (feat. Tomoki Sanders, BendjiAllonce, Mike King & Ian Fink)
6. Make My Way Back Home (feat. Nick Hakim &Theo Croker)
7. The Lava Is Calm (feat. Theo Croker)
8. No It Ain’t (feat. Andrae Murchison)
9. So Happy (feat. LauraMvula & Francis And The Lights)
10. It’s Animals
11. Maybe We Can Stay (feat. J. Hoard)
12. The Score Was Made (feat. Vijay Iyer)
13. Going Up (feat. Lil B, Shabazz Palaces & Francis And The Lights)

Kenny Dope brings the funk with this remix of Francis Overcast’s soulful vocal house groove, "I Aint".

This release initially dropped in 2020 on Dopewax Records, and has quite rightly gone on to become one of the most popular house tracks in recent years, with heavyweight support from the likes of Honey Dijon, Todd Terry, Terry Hunter, Luke Solomon and The Shapeshifters.

Driven by a gritty bassline and bouncing percussion, and coloured throughout with trippy synth lines, this track is freaky and fiery - and an instant floor-filler.
Now available on 7 inch via the firing Kay-Dee Records.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Big house blasts on tidy 7" format! Kenny Dope delivers pure style and finesse with a sexy, red-lit rework of Francis Overcast's "I Ain't". A backroom burner of the highest order.

TRACK LISTING

A. I Ain't (Kenny Dope Pt. 1)
B. I Ain't (Kenny Dope Pt. 2) 

The debut album of electronic-inflected folk-soul by Brooklyn-based duo Overcoats.

Produced by Nicolas Vernhes (Daughter, Dirty Projectors, Wye Oak, Cass McCombs) and experimental R&B artist Autre Ne Veut. Mixed by Ben Baptie (Låpsley, Lianne La Havas).

For fans of Lykke Li, Sylvan Esso, Fleet Foxes, Laura Marling, Lion Babe, King Krule, Jess Glynne, Amy Winehouse, Chet Faker, Jamie xx.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Brilliantly smooth electronic soul, neon synth anthems and the soaring two-part vocals of Hana Elion and JJ Mitchell. Folky but electronically injected, danceable but written from the soul. Superb outing. One to watch out for.

TRACK LISTING

Father
Smaller Than My Mother
23
Leave The Light On
Hold Me Close
The Fog
Walk On
Little Memory
Siren
Nighttime Hunger
Kai’s Song
Mother

Overmono first performed their version of The Streets’ seminal 'Turn The Page' at the 2022 edition of Lost Village Festival to a rapturous response. Hailed by Rolling Stone UK as a "glitchy techno banger”, it has since grown into a word-of-mouth phenomenon and a pinnacle moment in the duo’s critically acclaimed live show. From their Coachella debut to their viral Boiler Room and more recent sold-out headline show at London’s Roundhouse, the track continues to resonate across continents, solidifying its status as a timeless dancefloor anthem. Now available for pre-order on 12” black vinyl with laser etched lyrics on the b-side.

TRACK LISTING

1. Turn The Page

Highly anticipated would be an understatement; since their inception Overmono have purposefully cultivated a fanbase that heralds them as one of the UK’s most original contemporary live electronic acts.

A run of ground-breaking club EPs between 2020 and 2022 built momentum and culminated in their breakthrough club single, “So U Kno”, which encapsulated the hearts of clubbers and went on to become a bonafide phenomenon as dancefloors re-opened; featuring in end of year lists published by Resident Advisor, Pitchfork, DJ Mag and Mixmag. Since then, Overmono have been named ‘Best Live Act’ at the prestigious DJ Mag Best of British Awards, taken their custom audio-visual live show to the most credible festivals across the globe, including Glastonbury, Movement Festival, Dekmantel and to sold-out crowds in London, LA and NYC as part of their debut headline tour last year. And, they have produced innovative releases including their instalment of their ‘Fabric Presents’ DJ mix series and collaborations with the likes of Joy Orbison.

Now, Overmono return to present their most ambitious release to date. Across the twelve-track project, Overmono journey through a powerful distillation of their musical career so far; incorporating “So U Kno” alongside new music that propels them beyond the dancefloor. Good Lies remoulds and interweaves captivating vocal cuts into a series of multi-genre electronic sounds that flits effortlessly between euphoria and melancholy.

Talking about their debut album Good Lies, Overmono says: “Across the last two years, we have spent so much time on the road, making music whenever we could. Moving around all the time was always really inspiring and got us experimenting a lot and having fun with how we created chords or chopped and pitched vocals. This album is really a letter of love to the journey so far and marks where we want to take things. Much love, T&E x

STAFF COMMENTS

Ethan says: ‘Good Lies’ opens with what could easily be mistaken for a scrapped 2020 Charli XCX instrumental – chopped cutesy vocals, bubble-gum bass passages, the occasional eclectic SOPHIE-esque drum pattern. This may seem undermining, but only reflects the current trajectory of the Welsh duo – a clear path to the (metaphorical) electronic hall of fame.

There’s brilliant runs of hit-after-hit throughout this album that somehow convinced my musically-blind (and likely tone-deaf) dad that he wanted to start DJing. But when you’ve got songs like “Cold Blooded” and “Skulled” transitioning perfectly into each other, it’s not hard to see why. The title track is one of the biggest mood-lifters I’ve heard in a good while and I think it’s a crime that I’ve not heard it played in more clubs this year. However, some of the album's greatest strengths lie in its alternative R&B and even ambient passages – which feels almost polarising to say when considering the club potential of tracks like “Is U” and “‘So U Know”. “Arla Fearn” functions as a breather between the bangers that open the album up, with its droning pads and bass-driven instrumental, but there’s still a bouncy feel to the drums here that keeps the energy flowing. The snappy snare with its trail of reverb is a really satisfying piece of production. “Vermonly” definitely runs with the ambient ideas as well, with the drums being subdued for once and lead cycling through a glossy motif.

And to top it all off, there’s a cool dog on the cover. That should sell you on the album alone!

TRACK LISTING

1. Feelings Plain
2. Arla Fearn
3. Good Lies
4. Walk Thru Water
5. Cold Blooded
6. Skulled
7. Sugarushhh
8. Calon
9. Is U
10. Vermonly
11. So U Kno
12. Calling Out

Goner Records release "City Of Rotten Eyes", the debut from Jackson, Mississippi’s Overnight Lows. It’s about time. Marsh and Daphne Nabors, guitar and bass, have been playing out as Overnight Lows ever since their previous band, The Comas, imploded in early 1995. Goner and many other labels have badgered them to record for years. Their reluctance to release anything until now reflects both their disdain for musical trends and their quest for a recording worthy of their sound. With "City Of Rotten Eyes", they’ve achieved it. Playing everything 'in the key of Hep C', the Overnight Lows mix a sick and sickened attitude with a classic Angry Samoans / Queers aesthetic: establish a blazing guitar riff, yell some memorable antisocial blather over it, hit a chorus, and get out. Who has time for anything else these days? Overnight Lows aren’t going to waste your time attempting to show you the path to enlightenment or the way to your lover’s heart. They’d rather show you the door. Melodies? Sure, kinda, but more like rhythmic chants to accompany you on your third trip back to the liquor store. The male / female vocal trade-offs add to the band’s desperate charm. Marsh and Daphne are backed by chef Paul Artigues from New Orleans’ Die Rotzz, a batterer of both drums and food.

TRACK LISTING

1. City Of Rotten Eyes
2. So Well Read
3. Eyesore
4. Lipstick Burn
5. Dirty Looks
6. Static Scars
7. Shut Up Looking At Me
8. Bad Times
9. Low Road
10. Picked Apart (Left To Rot)
11. Second Guess
12. Last Meal For The Underachiever

Detroit based producer & DJ 2lanes takes his digital label Auto Shop into the physical world with its first release; a new alias called Overton Series. A collaborative project between 2lanes and fellow Detroiter Jonah Baseball, recorded over many sessions during early lockdown.

The "Shuffle Shack EP" has 4 tracks that span psychedelic deep house, dancefloor stomping soul, and rejuvenating sunrise downtempo moments. The record also features performances from Jonah’s father David Gray, Los Angeles based singer Jia Pet and Ji Hoon - who was featured on the B-side “Impish Desires” on 2lanes breakthrough record on Portage Garage Sounds. 

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: New Detroit wonderkid 2lanes continues to turn heads and beguile with his arresting New Sound. Taking the Motor City spirit of invention and experimentation into psychedelic and adventurous new realms.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Shuffle Shack
A2. Standing Waves (featuring David Gray On Clarinet)
B1. Speak For Yourself
B2. Honeycrisp (featuring Jia Pet & Ji Hoon On Saxophone)

The debut album from British singer/songwriter Eve Owen, Don’t Let the Ink Dry, is a work of raw sensitivity and uncontained imagination, brought to life over the course of three transformative years. During that time, the 20-year-old artist spent her summer holidays writing and recording in New York with The National’s Aaron Dessner, immersing herself in a creative exploration that provided welcome refuge from her sometimes-troubled school life. As she discovered an entirely new sense of freedom and belonging, Owen devised a sonic language all her own: frenetic yet delicate, mercurial yet nuanced enough to capture the most ephemeral of feelings. Produced by Dessner at Long Pond Studio (a converted old farmhouse deep in the Hudson Valley), Don’t Let the Ink Dry finds Owen embracing her affinity for folk music while pursuing the endless possibilities in electronic experimentation.

“I’ve often felt a bit uncomfortable in myself, and I love how that came out in the music,” says Owen. “I don’t really care for songs that flow just right or have a perfect cadence—I’d rather there be some sort of unnerving element to them. I think Aaron and I are both attracted to weirdness in music, and we instinctively went after that without really even talking about it.” For his part, Dessner reflects on the first day of their collaboration: “Eve came up to visit the studio for a day a few years ago when she was 16. I thought we would record one song but we ended up working on several in just one day. By the next morning she had written a few more songs based on her experience the previous day. This prolific songwriting continued throughout our work together. Every morning there would be new songs, written sometimes overnight. I’ve been lucky to work with some incredibly talented artists and it was clear to me immediately that Eve was deeply gifted, expressing herself with such force and sincerity on essentially her first proper recording day at Long Pond. I was spellbound.”

TRACK LISTING

1/ Tudor
2/ Lover Not Today
3/ Mother
4/ After The Love
5/ For Redemption
6/ Bluebird
7/ She Says
8/ I Used To Dream In Color
9/ So Still For You
10/ Blue Moon
11/ 29 Daisy Sweetheart
12/ A Lone Swan

After disbanding Girls earlier this year, frontman Christopher Owens returns with his highly anticipated solo album ‘Lysandre’.

Owens describes the record as “A coming of age story, a road trip story, a love story.”

Written almost entirely in one creative outpouring and recorded with former Girls producer Doug Boehm, ‘Lysandre’ follows Owens from San Francisco - where he’s filled with excitement after writing his band’s ‘Album’ - to New York City and on to the French Riviera - where he falls in love with the record’s namesake.

Perfectly framed by intricate instrumentation, gorgeous backing vocals and pristine production, Owens’ enthralling, personal songwriting takes centre stage and delivers a heartbreaking rumination on love, longing, friendship, adventure and the thrill of finding an audience for your art.

TRACK LISTING

Lysandre’s Theme
Here We Go
New York City
A Broken Heart
Here We Go Again
Riviera Rock
Love Is In The Ear Of The Listener
Lysandre
Everywhere You Knew
Closing Theme
Part Of Me (Lysandre’s Epilogue)

Kelly Lee Owens' masterful second album "Inner Song" finds the convention-blurring techno producer and singer/songwriter diving deep into her own psyche—excoriating the struggles she's faced over the last several years and exploring personal pain while embracing the beauty of the natural world. It's a leap in artistry from a musician who burst forth on the scene with a confident, rich sound, and "Inner Song" is endlessly enticing when it comes to what Owens is capable of.

"Inner Song" follows the star-making debut of her 2017 self-titled album, a quixotic blend of body-moving beats and introspective songwriting that garnered numerous accolades from the music press. Owens has indeed come a long way from her background as a nurse, since then she has remixed Bjørk & St Vincent, released an indelibly clubby two-tracker, 2019's "Let It Go" b/w "Omen," and teamed up with likeminded auteur Jon Hopkins on the one-off "Luminous Spaces."

Her latest album also comes off of what Owens describes as "the hardest three years of my life," an emotionally fraught time that, in her words, "Definitely impacted my creative life and everything I'd worked for up to that point. I wasn't sure if I could make anything anymore, and it took quite a lot of courage to get to a point where I could make something again." So while the lovely cover of Radiohead's "Arpeggi" might strike some as an unconventional way to open a sophomore effort, to Owens the winding take on the classic tune—recorded a year before work on "Inner Song" properly kicked off—represents the sort of sonic rebirth that's so essential to Inner Song's aura.

"Inner Song" was largely written and recorded over a month last winter. As with her debut, Owens holed up in the studio with co-producer and collaborator James Greenwood —and letting loose in the studio and being open to whatever sonic whims emerge was essential to Owens' craftwork. The evocative title of the album is borrowed from free-jazz maestro Alan Silva's 1972 opus, which was gifted to Owens by Smalltown Supersound's Joakim Haugland for her 30th birthday: "I'm so grateful for him and his perspectives—he's always thinking outside of the box. Those two words really reflect what it felt like to make this record. I did a lot of inner work in the past few years, and this is a true reflection of that." The hair-raising bass and tickling textures of "Inner Song" drive home that, more so than ever, Owens is locked in to delivering maximal sonic pleasure—as evidenced by the decision to make the album's vinyl release a sesqui album, or triple-sided album: "I'm still obsessed with frequencies that don't do well on vinyl if they don't have the space."

"The power of conceptualizing who you are has really informed this album," Owens states about Inner Song's essence, and her second album is truly a discovery of self— the latest statement from a fascinating artist who continues to surprise, gesturing towards a rich and varied career to come.

STAFF COMMENTS

Patrick says: Three years on from her championship season and KLO returns to the long format with a deeper, more refined distillation of her trademark techno pop style. If her debut album delivered on the promise of those early singles, ‘Inner Song’ offers us a dizzying premonition of just how far she could go.

By her own admission, this album emerged after the hardest three years of her life, and even a cursory scan of the lyrics hints at a little darkness before the dawn. “‘On” and “L.I.N.E.” explore the end of a troubled relationship, “Melt” references the climate crisis and “Wake Up” warns against extended screen time. Rather than wallowing in the melancholy though, Kelly strikes an optimistic tone, serving a resilient reminder that we all have the power to overcome adversity, mirrored in the vital beats and healing frequencies which underpin her emotive songwriting.

Much like Arthur Russell, an early inspiration, Owens revels in the space between genres, providing a fresh perspective on established styles. Crystalline electronics sit beneath a shoegaze shimmer on “Night”, the bastard offspring of the Cocteau’s and Kraftwerk in a fresh pair of dancing shoes. “Re-Wild” splits the difference between futuristic RnB and taut Detroit techno, a new Minimal Nation woozy on lean, while “Jeanette”, a celebration of the life of her nan, renders an organic landscape in precise electronics.

On this complex yet cohesive album, Owens tackles serious subject matter with poetic sensitivity, pop hooks and thunderous beats, all the while retaining the ethereal beauty of her Welsh heritage.

TRACK LISTING

SIDE A:
1. Arpeggi
2. On
3. Melt!
4. Re-wild

Side B:
1. Jeanette
2. L.I.N.E.
3. Corner Of My Sky (ft. John Cale)

Side C:
1. Night
2. Flow
3. Wake-Up

Form an orderly queue! It's another limited edition 12" from Kelly Lee Owens with remixes for the critically acclaimed album “Inner Song”. Part 1 features remixes from Loraine James, Breaka and Coby Sey.

James tackles the stems of "Wake Up" with a gross intensity, utilizing the latest cut-up software to re-mangle, stretch and skew the track into a punctuated, holographic refraction of its former self.

Breaka adds gliding subs, hi-tek breaks and lashings of electricity as he remixes "Re-Wild" into a club-ready future-garage beast destined for the big rooms.

Finally leftfield weirdo Coby Sey adds some black magick to "Corner Of My Sky"; a sonic cauldron of strange sounds seeping over tuned tribal toms and John Cale's haunting vocal part. Another excellent addition to Kelly’s multi-dimensional discography. Top stuff. 

TRACK LISTING

Side A
1. Wake Up (Loraine James Remix)
2. Re-Wild (Breaka Remix)

Side B
1. Corner Of My Sky Ft. John Cale (Coby Sey Remix)

Form an orderly queue! The second part of Kelly Lee Owens' "Inner Song" remix series featuring remixes from Haider, Elkka, Yazzus and Roza Terenzi.

Haider adds gliding Reese bass, a hyped up 'Think' break and pure old school jungle flavour to "Jeanette", creating a darkside banger that'll put hairs on your chest - heavy!

Elkka adds ethereal atmos, a pulsating beat and frenetic arpeggios to "On", transforming it into a peaktime electro-disco epic that'll find favour on electronic leaning dancefloors throughout clubland.

Yassus injects "L.I.N.E" with urgent footwork and rave energy, a galvanized hybrid that's utilizes high speeds and solid production to summon up an large amount of propulsion and energy.

Finally, one of the hottest stars of techno right now, Roza Terenzi fattens up "Night" with her typically chunky, prog house-influenced beats that rattle and thud and send E'd up dancers into a full on ecstasy!

Not only does Kelly Lee Owens make some of the most inventive and pioneering music out there, she's also got her finger firmly on the pulse when it comes to curating her remix EPs; making these two parts essential collectors items. Don't sleep! 

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Unmissable KLO remix package with upfront purveyors of house, techno and jungle given freedom to let loose on some of Owen's delicious new tracks.

TRACK LISTING

Side A
1. Jeanette (Haider Remix)
2. On (Elkka Remix)

Side B
1. L.I.N.E (Yazzus Remix)
2. Night (Roza Terenzi Remix)

THE PICCADILLY RECORDS ALBUM OF THE YEAR 2017.

Without wishing to get too jackanory, I'm gonna start this review with a little anecdote. Way back in April 2015, when I was a little younger and lot lighter, Kelly Lee Owens strolled into our glorious establishment and casually inquired if we'd be interested in stocking her self-released debut 12". Always a sucker for something new, limited and hand labeled I took a cursory ten copies off her hands as she left for the train station. Approximately four minutes later, as the dreamlike shimmer of ghost-pop paean "Lucid" echoed through my headphones I called the number she'd left and asked if she could drop off another thirty copies without missing her train. 

Fast forward two years and three Piccadilly Record Of The Weeks later and the Welsh wonder is back with a majestic full length on the excellent Smalltown Supersound. As she leads us through ten tracks of spectral techno, nebulous synth pop and squelching waveforms, Kelly meditates on anxiety, sadness and darkly-shaded ecstacy, pouring pure emotion into an expansive electronic landscape. Previous 12" tracks "Arthur", "Lucid" and the hypnotic "CBM" sound better than ever next to the brooding synth soul of "S.O." and late night mysticism of Jenny Hval collaboration "Anxi", while the bleep heavy "Evolution" is a sultry, seductive club cut for very late in the session. For me, this LP perfectly captures those moments when you get home from the club with a loved one and settle into that time honoured pre dawn routine. It's intimate, emotional, sexy and slightly blurred - in other words, midnight music at its finest. 

STAFF COMMENTS

Patrick says: An absurdly accomplished debut, this is just about as Piccadilly as it gets, referencing our collective favourites and transforming them into something fresh and exciting. Harnessing the Cocteau’s, MBV and JAMC, as well as the rhythmic thrust of Chicago and Detroit, KLO trades in immersive, psychedelic pop music, as danceable as it is dreamy. Swathes of hazy synthesis eddy and whirl beneath crystalline vocals, lending the music an aquatic depth matched perfectly by the intimate, expressive lyrics. Fusing the outsider musings of Arthur Russell with Bjork’s cryptic poetry, Kelly meditates on anxiety, sadness, identity and ecstasy, pouring pure emotion into an expansive electronic landscape. A dynamic listen from start to finish, the LP ranges from the hypnotic thump of ‘Evolution’, ‘CBM’ and ‘Bird’ to the medicated daze of ‘S.O’, ‘Lucid’ and ‘Keep Walking’, constantly varying tempo and intensity on its way to sprawling closer ‘8’, a wonderfully blurred end to this nocturnal journey.

TRACK LISTING

1. S.O.
2. Arthur
3. Anxi Ft. Jenny Hval
4. Lucid
5. Evolution
6. Bird
7. Throwing Lines
8. CBM
9. Keep Walking
10. 8
(Deluxe CD Extra Tracks)
11. Spaces
12. Pull
13. 1 Out Of 3
 
Piccadilly Records Exclusive CD Bonus Disc:
1. Bird (Prins Thomas Remix)
2. Lucid (Kelly Lee Owens Remix)
3. Uncertain (Ghost Culture Remix)

After releasing her sophomore album Inner Song in the midst of the pandemic, Kelly Lee Owens was faced with the sudden realisation that her world tour could no longer go ahead. Keen to make use of this untapped creative energy, she made the spontaneous decision to go to Oslo instead. There was no overarching plan, it was simply a change of scenery and a chance for some undisturbed studio time. It just so happened that her flight from London was the last before borders were closed once again. The blank page project was underway.

Arriving to snowglobe conditions and sub-zero temperatures, she began spending time in the studio with Lasse Marhaug. An esteemed avant-noise artist, Marhaug envisioned making music that would fall loosely in line with Throbbing Gristle. Kelly, on the other hand, had planned to create something inspired by Enya, an artist who has had an enduring impact on her creative being. They met each other halfway, pairing tough, industrial sounds with ethereal celtic mysticism, and creating music that ebbs and flows between tension and release.

One month later, Kelly called her label to tell them she had created something of an outlier, her ‘eighth album’.

TRACK LISTING

SIDE A
1. Release
2. Voice
3. Anadlu
4. S.O (2)

SIDE B
5. Olga
6. Nana Piano
7. One
8. Quickening
9. Sonic 8 

Kelly Lee Owens returns with LP8.2 - a compendium to her LP.8 album from earlier this year, produced by Kelly herself along with Lasse Marhaug (Jenny Hval).

This mini album contains four tracks and 18 minutes of new Kelly Lee Owens music following the abstract industrial beauty of LP.8.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Rituals
A2. Moebius
B1. The First Song
B2. Find Our Way