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Cover of LSD by The Leonard Simpson Duo.

The Leonard Simpson Duo

LSD

Jakarta Records

The psychedelic sound of this album is heavily drawn from rare acid influenced records from New Zealand's 60's and 70's, carefully selected, picked and sampled by musical multi-talent Charles himself and accompanied by very well placed instrumentals and interludes taking direction from late 60's jazz/rock fusion, fuzzed out African records and compulsory David Axelrod leanings. All of that combined with the lyrics and the beloved attitude of Motor City's finest makes this album a beautiful, inspirational and surpassing Trip.

Active since the mid '90's Guilty Simpson (100k monthly listeners on spotify) has become an institution and earned his spot in Detroit's hip-hop legacy alongside friends, fellows and colleagues such as J Dilla, Slum Village, Eminem, D12, Danny Brown, Big Sean, Phat Kat or Black Milk and receives nothing but love and respect from the hardest street emcees as well as from acclaimed producers wherever he goes. Over the last decade Guilty continued the name he made for himself since his 2008 debut "Ode To The Ghetto" (produced by i.e. Dilla, Madlib and others) and has delivered plenty of features, mixtapes and studio albums ever since.

Leonard Charles has been a music producer since 2001. In his late teens he already played and toured with i.e. Randy Crawford. Charles attended the Red Bull Music Academy in South Africa in 2003 where he performed i.e. with Hugh Masekela and attended lectures with synth pioneer Bob Moog. He has won New Zealand Music Awards for his production and composing work with the Band Opensouls (previously released on Jakarta Records) and singer Hollie Smith. As a session guitarist Jeremy has played on recordings for i.e. Aaradhna, Teeks, David Dallas and many more while as a producer he has worked with i.e. Grandmaster Caz, Kimbra, Mara T.K., Georgia Anne Muldrow, Declaime and others.

The Duo met for the 1st time when Guilty came through Charles' hometown Auckland, NZ, on tour in 2016. Charles reached out to Guilty and the two connected immediately, started working together and what was initially planned as an EP soon turned out to become a full-length album with late 70ies inspired psychedelic and acid influenced beats by Leonard and Simpson's distinctive and uncompromising lyrics.

Artwork and design for this record were contributed by conceptual mastermind Simone Cihlar (Anderson .Paak, Seeed, Habibi Funk, Tom Misch and many more.)

The record will feature at least three singles accompanied by two videos, being released in January 2020. International promotion for this project will be handled by Jonathan Kim, while additional promotion for AUS/NZ will be accompanied by Josie Campbell.

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Cover of The Rigour by Werkha.

Werkha

The Rigour

First Word Records

Werkha hails from Manchester originally and released his debut EP back in 2012. Following early praise from Gilles Peterson and the like, he we went on to release a series of records for Brighton-imprint Tru Thoughts, including an album in 2015, 'Colours Of A Red Brick Raft', and co-writing / producing Bryony Jarman-Pinto's debut album in 2019. He's provided remixes for Quantic, Marcos Valles, Dutch Uncles, Andrew Ashong & J-Felix, toured across Europe with Bonobo, Mr Scruff & Chet Faker and is working with poet / singer Keisha Thompson, additionally to composing music for documentaries.

So to the EP, and we set off with the delectable synth-boogie of 'Generation X', laden with strings from Simran Singh. Next up is the 4/4 low-slung head-nodding funk of 'The Key' featuring the vocal talents of Berry Blacc, before we head into some mid-tempo clavinet-lead hip hop vibes on 'Swing Thru'; lush strings again ably complementing and contrasting the bass-weight within the track. 'In Sunny G' follows next, picking the tempo back up a touch with a soulful vocal hook from Ellen Beth Abdi delivering blissed-out sun-glazed sonics, as the title would suggest. This 5-track opus closes out with 'Favourite Corner'; similarly to the EP opener, this is more playfully groovy breakbeat, laced with strings, a swagged-out guitar lick and assorted arpeggiated keys.

As to the meaning of the title 'The Rigour', Werkha says…

"Music is work. In all its different ways, it's a craft that I apply myself to and exist by. As much as that is about love, it's also about pouring in time, effort, patience & rigour. This record is about reflecting on my process and the identity of Werkha as a part of my life."

"These tracks were selected from a much larger bunch of ideas. The tracks that made this EP are the ones where the process was playful. Play in music is so important and these tracks are the ones that best personify play and curiosity, in both their sound and in their process. They all go through the rigor of being played with, pushed and pulled in different directions…"

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Cover of Son Sur Son by The Venetians.

The Venetians

Son Sur Son

White White

    The Venetians were formed in late 1982 as a studio concept band after Rik Swinn (lead vocalist) arrived in Sydney with master tapes of tracks he recorded in England with engineer / producer Vic Coopersmith-Heaven (Cat Stevens, The Rolling Stones, The Vapours, The Jam). He read a newspaper advert placed by two musicians looking for a lead singer.

    Within weeks Swinn formed a touring band and enlisted David Skeet on guitar, bass guitar, synthesiser and vocals; and Peter Watson (ex-Scandal, Extractors) on guitar, bass guitar, synthesiser and vocals. Drummer Tim Powles (ex-Ward 13) joined next and keyboardist Matthew Hughes (ex-Gotham City) completed the line up of the Venetians. They released their first single, "Sound on Sound", in April 1983 - original copies of which go for upwards of £150 on Discogs.

    This 12" includes the original plus remixes by Andrew Weatherall & Zatua (Music from Memory).

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    Cover of Nightlife by Blair.

    Blair

    Nightlife

    Spaziale

    The first officially licensed, re-mastered reissue of the late ‘70s rare groove classic, ‘Nightlife’ from original Blackbyrds guitarist, Barney "Blair" Perry. Original 12” copies of this New York, soul-crooning, boogie masterpiece trade hands for £225+ and with the likes of DJ Harvey and Mr Scruff putting it on rotation, this reissue is serious news for those in the know.

    Only a member of the Blackbyrds for their first two albums, penning their hit 'Walking in Rhythm’, by 1978 Perry had released this lone solo gem that would go unappreciated until the ‘90s rare groove scene embraced it. The title cut, ‘Nightlife’ is a boogie funk madness, drenched in sleazy synths and dripping with trademark Perry guitar solos, soul-soaked vocals and straight-up, NYC style.

    On the flip - more than 7 minutes of blissful fusion vibes going by the name of ‘Virgo Princess’, heavy on the sweeping strings and kind of eyes closed, lean-back riffs you'd hope for with Barney at the controls!

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    Cover of Knives Out - OST by Nathan Johnson.

    Nathan Johnson

    Knives Out - OST

    Mondo

      Nathan Johnson is Rian's long time collaborator (Brick, The Borthers Bloom, Looper) and a master of genre - able to deftly pivot from the chaotic noise of the future Looper to the classic orchestral strings and stings needed to underscore this New England murder-mystery.


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      Cover of META by MILORD.

      MILORD

      META

      Pinchy & Friends

      P&F Recordings returns with it’s fourth release.

      This time they are coming at you straight outta NAPOLI, ITALY with a four track EP by MILORD (known to many as one half of the duo “The Normalmen” and one-third of “The Mystic Jungle Tribe”).

      M • E • T • A / M • U • S • I • C. is one part vintage library-music studio wizardry another part lowkey house. Imagine a slinky G-funk synth at a new-age retreat, a spacey kraut jam at an eighties video arcade - all at once familiar, yet unglued from any particular moment in time.

      12 Inch Picture Sleeve shrink wrapped with an obi strip.

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      Cover of Marvel's Thor: Ragnarok - OST by Mark Mothersbaugh.

      Mark Mothersbaugh

      Marvel's Thor: Ragnarok - OST

      Mondo

        Former Devo frontman Mark Mothersbaugh (The Royal Tenenbaums, The Lego Movie) is the perfect choice for Taika Waititi's radical third chapter in the THOR series. Skillfully weaving the sonic landscape of the high fantasy genre with otherworldly synth, Mothersbaugh has produced one of the best scores of the entire MCU.

        FORMAT INFORMATION

        2xColoured LP Info: Limited to 300 copies in the UK.

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        Cover of Rough Trade Counter Culture 2019 by Various Artists.

        Various Artists

        Rough Trade Counter Culture 2019

        Rough Trade Shops

          The annual round up of what Rough Trade loved this year is packed with more hidden gems than a Cayman Islands bank account. For those that visit Rough Trade often, you will have heard them playing them on repeat. For those of you who don't, you are in for one hell of a treat. The under-appreciated, the fledglings and the household names feature throughout this double album. This is the quintessential guide to the best new music on the horizon.

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          Cover of Digital Technology by The Chap.

          The Chap

          Digital Technology

          Lo

            A dystopian delight, ‘Digital Technology’ is the seventh long player by The Chap and was recorded and produced by the band in London and Berlin over the past three years. In the near future, when algorithms have feelings, they will write all our music. When they attempt to write pop music that sounds if it was made by talented Europeans in 2018 - it might just sound like ‘Digital Technology’. The Follow up to ‘The Show Must Go’ from 2105 - The Chap’s foray into the world of the political rock song – the new collection features ten tracks and is arguably the band’s most beautiful album to date. Exploring abysses both personal and de-personalised, the record looks inward into a vast open space rather than onto a concrete political arena.

            Opener ‘Bring Your Dolphin’ is a mildly surreal and melancholy pop song about dolphins, romance and world-weariness, yet the band insist it contains a death penalty reference - so beneath it’s lush ambiences lurks darkness and in violent disintegration lies beautiful fun. Lead single ‘Pea Shore’ contains an extended love poem to Mark E. Smith and the wonders of modern cosmetics. ‘I Am The Emotion’ takes to heart The Chap’s early mission statement of seeking to create music that “sounds wrong” and is a kind of wordy world-techno-pop anthem about emotional emancipation, sungby grandad after he just discovered autotune. Classic Chap! as are the nightmare disco anthems like ’Merch’, ’I Recommend You Do The Same’ or ’Toothless Fuckface’.

            Elsewhere, the algorhithm shows a more conciliatory side: ”Help mother/ with her stuff”, it implores on ’Help Mother’ and it truly nails existential futility on ’Hard’. Closing track ‘Don’t Say It Like That’, repeating its title phrase over and over while a techno beat pounds and easy synth arpeggios dissolve into sad ambience, could be viewed from different perspectives: a couple arguing, a parent reprimanding a child, a social media comment on hate speech. It’s impossible not to get sucked into ’Digital Technology’. Like its title, it sounds and feels like an outdated promise, a contemporary anxiety and a really weird future – almost like the outlook of a teenager. You know, back when confusion and sadness were still a lot of fun.


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            Cover of Bobby II by Caserta / Lucky Ry.

            Caserta / Lucky Ry

            Bobby II

            Bridge Boots

            New Year, New Bobby. Caserta and trusty sidekick, Lucky Ry, get back in the saddle to present the sequel to the release that started it all, once again starting with a classic cut from the blue-eyed soul genius and turning it into a dance floor heater.

            Triumphant horns, warm bass, and thumping live drums come together to make up the 70’s mix, while LOUD DRUMS scream 80’s mix. Caserta and Co. once again provide two distinct mixes that are sure to set off any party.

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            Cover of Starting Today by Joe Armon-Jones.

            Joe Armon-Jones

            Starting Today

            Brownswood

            This debut album by prodigious keys player, composer and producer Joe Armon-Jones, is buoyant, celebratory and welcoming. With a background in jazz, he draws from influences in dub, hip-hop and soul. Different traditions are infused and commingled together. Soulful brass arrangements are coloured with carefully-tuned atmospherics; individual flashes of brilliance are bound into the album’s bigger picture. He’s part of London’s young, jazz-influenced music scene. Drawn from that same close-knit circle, the album features the likes of Moses Boyd, Nubya Garcia and Oscar Jerome. It’s playing with those – along with Ezra Collective, which he co-founded, and touring with the likes of Ata Kak and Pharoahe Monch – which has honed his playing and grown his ideas. It’s made for a record with an unmistakable depth. He draws on deep musical understanding, making music which is warm and has a feeling of joy. A document of his vision for bringing together his different influences, it’s also a testament to hard-earned, head-turning musical virtuosity.

            FORMAT INFORMATION

            LP 2 Info: New non-gatefold version.

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            Cover of Terminator: Dark Fate - OST by Tom Holkenborg.

            Tom Holkenborg

            Terminator: Dark Fate - OST

            Mondo

              Similar to Mad Max Fury Road, another film featuring a brilliant Tom Holkenborg score (A.K.A. Junkie XL), Terminator Dark Fate is a movie that starts with a bang and never lets up. Holkenborg's ability to capture the controlled chaos of the chase is masterful, as it manages to weave in a delicate homage to Brad Fiedel's original Terminator score without disrupting his own sonic take on the franchise.


              FORMAT INFORMATION

              2xLP Info: 180g black vinyl.

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              Cover of The Watcher EP by Arjuna Oakes.

              Arjuna Oakes

              The Watcher EP

              Rain & Shine

              21-year-old New Zealand musician Arjuna Oakes's debut EP, The Watcher, is a showcase of his ability as a singer-songwriter, instrumentalist and producer, and a testament to his depth of engagement with music.

              The first two tracks on the EP fit neatly within the jazz-infused soul music landscape he is quickly becoming part of, but the latter half of the EP is far harder to categorise. Featuring instrumentation from some of New Zealand’s most exciting young jazz musicians, The Watcher explores a wide variety of themes and musical ideas, with Arjuna’s charismatic soul vocals and robust sonic palette serving as a connective thread. From big social issues to personal relationships and internal self-discoveries, across The Watcher, Arjuna takes his cue from the title track and exploration of mass surveillance, and it’s relevance within our everyday lives.

              This watcher theme continues throughout the rest of the EP, with the stories told rendered as if being observed by an outside force. Decorated by cinematic soundscapes, hypnotic grooves, creative improvisation and catchy melodies, Arjuna's debut is a test palette for his future projects, one that makes his enthusiasm to develop and explore themes and style in song abundantly clear.

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              Cover of Guidance Is Internal : Part 2 by Callisto.

              Callisto

              Guidance Is Internal : Part 2

              Guidance

                Boston's Dana Kelley aka Callisto is a man whose music has long been the subject of much deserved adulation. A student of the deep and soulful, an explorer of the melodic and galactic, and an artist who manages to capture imaginations with his supremely crafted sonics. He is a much missed artist, someone who departed the physical too early, but the body of work he left behind has spoken to generations of listeners, DJ's and fans in equal measure.

                This, the second instalment of 3 compilations focused on Callisto's golden period of productions for the legendary Chicago label Guidance Recordings, sees even more of Dana's most highly coveted work featured side by side, chock full of rarities and classics. A celebration of the man's music, his vision and the forward looking nature of his music that is still intact today. It's hard to think of someone with a more unique style and with a truer idea of their own sound-world. Callisto takes us deep inside, into other worlds with his own individualistic take on house, techno, ambient and even jungle and D&B.

                These compilations celebrate one of the most idiosyncratic artists from the second wave of US house music producers, a truly essential body of work presented here respectfully, sourced from all audio sources courtesy of Above Board Projects, Guidance Recordings and Dana's family. Mastered by Curved, London and with special artwork by Atelier Superplus featuring a never before seen image of Dana from his family's photo albums.


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                Cover of Guidance Is Internal : Part 1 by Callisto.

                Callisto

                Guidance Is Internal : Part 1

                Guidance

                  Boston's Dana Kelley aka Callisto is a man whose music has long been the subject of much deserved adulation. A student of the deep and soulful, an explorer of the melodic and galactic, and an artist who manages to capture imaginations with his supremely crafted sonics. He is a much missed artist, someone who departed the physical too early, but the body of work he left behind has spoken to generations of listeners, DJ's and fans in equal measure.

                  This, the first of 3 compilations based around his golden period of productions for the legendary Chicago label Guidance Recordings, sees some of Dana's most highly coveted work featured side by side, all together in one place. A celebration of the man's music, his vision and the forward looking nature of his music that is still intact today. It's hard to think of someone with a more unique style and with a truer idea of their own sound-world. Callisto takes us deep inside, into other worlds with his own individualistic take on house, techno, ambient and even jungle and D&B.

                  These compilations celebrate one of the most idiosyncratic artists from the second wave of US house music producers, a truly essential body of work presented here respectfully, sourced from all audio sources courtesy of Above Board Projects, Guidance Recordings and Dana's family. Mastered by Curved, London and with special artwork by Atelier Superplus featuring a never before seen image of Dana from his family's photo albums.


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                  Cover of Nardeydey by Nardeydey.

                  Nardeydey

                  Nardeydey

                  Lucky Number

                    Releasing her first solo singles as Nardeydey at the tail end of 2018 and start of 2019, Shirley Tetteh signaled the emergence of a singular and complex songwriter-artist from a guitarist of renown in London’s new jazz scene. As well as playing in fast-rising collective Nérija (Domino), spiritual jazz ensemble Maisha (Brownswood), and also in the Mercury Music Prize 2019 nominated Seed Ensemble, Shirley now opened up to reveal her deeply personal and remarkable songwriting, pulling together myriad influences from folk, pop, jazz, soul, gospel, electro-pop, afrobeats and beyond. All written and self-produced, the tracks are deeply original, wearing her guitar virtuosity lightly in creating inexplicably perfect trans-genre pop songs.

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                    Cover of Cor Corora by Nyrabakiga.

                    Nyrabakiga

                    Cor Corora

                    Spaziale

                    Officially licensed, remastered reissue of a rare and obscure experimental jam from Rotterdam, 'Cor Corora' by Nyra Bakiga, original copies of which have been selling for upwards of £300 on Discogs

                    Produced by Peter Graute and Martin Van Der Leer, who ran the punk/new wave label and record store Backstreet Backlash Records, 'Cor Corora' is an exploratory journey that sounds light-years ahead of it's 1981 release. Warped, crunched beats, twisted guitars and space echoed delays lay the foundation for Nyra's sublime vocals - who was the wife of an African ambassador in the Netherlands, where her paths crossed with the Backstreet Backlash duo.

                    Unsurprisingly the likes of Daniele Baldelli and Beppe Loda were giving 'Cor Corora' rotations in the early days of the Italian Afro Cosmic scene and the track is still a prized possession in the record bags of some of the best selectors around, including everyone from Peanut Butter Wolf to Manfredas.

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                    Cover of Bad Guy Good Guy (Pacific Dream) by The Oceans.

                    The Oceans

                    Bad Guy Good Guy (Pacific Dream)

                    Record Shack

                    Another rare gem from Record Shack gets its first officially licensed 12” release – the absolutely killer early ‘80s jazz funk tinged, boogie bomb from The Oceans – ‘Bad Guy, Good Guy’, fully remastered for maximum audio pleasure.

                    With the release only ever being a whitelabel there was much confusion over the correct titling due to the stamp simply stating ‘Pacific Dream’, however the actual track titles are those housed on this release - ‘Bad Guy, Good Guy’ and the instrumental ‘Synth Good Guy’. Those original whitelabels command prices of up to £120 and it’s no surprise when you hear those infectious guitar riffs blended with buoyant synth flurries and sensuous vocal harmonies. For those that would rather leave the vocals at bay, the B side houses the instrumental mix in all its glory.

                    A radiant release that still sparkles as bright as it did back in 1980 – an essential buy!

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                    Cover of Myscitismes by Vox Populi!.

                    Vox Populi!

                    Myscitismes

                    Platform 23

                    Vox Populi!'s cult and highly sought after debut LP is finally reissued here after 30 years. Recorded after their first single - Ectoplasmies (1983) - between 1984 and 1985, the original band of Mitra and her (then) 14 year old brother Arash and Axel Kyrou, evolved from 2 early cassettes and the 7"s' rudimentary, idiosyncratic and improvisational structures to more cohesive edges.

                    Living together, but with no formal music education, the nature of the disparate elements led to a sparseness of the recordings. Influenced by his mother, the concrete music pioneer, Mireille Kyrou and her work at GRM (State Institute for Musical Research), Axel challenged his creativity by utilising their Vox Man studio as an instrument.

                    Building on minimal synth, rhythm box, hand percussion and Persian poetry, they experimented with tape manipulation - layering the music with forward, backward and echo simultaneously - creating a leap in the band's development.

                    The dark nature Myscitismes was reflected in their increasing interest in industrial and ethnic music, with a great fascination for the religious traditional music of Tibet. Ceremonial, gothic, drone-folk, the progression is apparent; onward perceptions.

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                    Cover of Blood Moon (Roza Terenzi/Dawl & Sween/Violet Mixes) by Kim Ann Foxman.

                    Kim Ann Foxman

                    Blood Moon (Roza Terenzi/Dawl & Sween/Violet Mixes)

                    (Emotional) Especial

                    Especial welcomes Kim Ann Foxman to debut on the label with an ode to the power of the moon. The sample heavy, acid vocal cuts no slack and shows Foxman confidently developing as a producer and is backed with a stellar set of remixes from Roza Terenzi, Dawl & Sween and Violet.

                    Revered by many as an on point clubber, dancer, singer, DJ and producer, her breakthrough in Hercules & Love Affair was a start, soon carving out her place as a solo artist and global DJ, while fitting in time to run the Firehouse - recently featuring Richard Sen and Kasra V - and SELF-TIMER labels - home to new project, Pleasure Planet.

                    As veteran of the San Francisco 90s heyday, slipping breaks around a 4/4 kick is a blast of past meets acid future, as 303 meets M1, while Foxman's lyrics - written during the Blood Moon over London - extols the power of the tides, nature's internal and external flow.

                    The remixes are a manner of breaks-heaven, as Roza Terenzi rips a steppas dub, Tone Dropout's Dawl and Sween master a latter day M25 anthem, before finally Violet, edits, strips, builds and takes things deep.

                    Make me lust, make me bleed.

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                    Cover of Get My Mind Right by Fiddlehead.

                    Fiddlehead

                    Get My Mind Right

                    Run For Cover

                      Get My Mind Right is a new two song single from Boston MA’s Fiddlehead. It marks the band’s first release since 2018’s Springtime and Blind and continues their emotive hardcore sound. The title track explodes with vocalist Patrick Flynn’s screamed plea “help me,” leading off the song’s themes of helplessness and broken promises with the call and response chorus of “You said you’d help me get my mind right.” B-side track “Stay In the Room” features a songlong dreary guitar lead and pummeling drum beat that channels bands like Rites of Spring and Embrace. Fiddlehead is writing new material and plans to release their second full-length album in 2020.

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                      Cover of Quito by Nicola Cruz / Fe / Quixosis / Ntfl.

                      Nicola Cruz / Fe / Quixosis / Ntfl

                      Quito

                      Calypso Mexico

                      Calypso is back with a new instalment of their world exploration in the search for new sounds. This time and with the help of Nicola Cruz they choose to showcase the city of Quito. In Nicola's own words: "From the highlands of the Equator, an eclectic sound develops in multiples forms: tension, gravity, drums...un-dusted elements from old records, retranslated to tape in order to revive the emotion. All the tracks in this compilation have been assembled through different experimental methods, as this is something that characterizes our creation around here. The work of FE, Quixosis, NTFL (from the city of Ibarra) and my self represent in this record some of the underground fields that this city offers". Indeed an experimental way to experience this city through the sounds of this 4 amazing producers.

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                      Cover of We Are The Mod! (Assembler Code Mix) by London Modular Alliance.

                      London Modular Alliance

                      We Are The Mod! (Assembler Code Mix)

                      Electrix

                      In 2000 Billy Nasty launched Electrix Records as an Electro sub-division of his already successful Techno label, Tortured. Since its first of many releases by Zeta Reticula (the - at that time - brand new Electro pseudonym of Umek), Electrix has gone on to deliver quality releases from the likes of Carl Finlow / Silicon Scally, The Advent, RadioNasty (Billy's collaboration with the mighty Radioactive Man), Transparent Sound, dynArec, Mr Velcro Fastener (a.k.a. Mesak) and many more. Launching its 20th anniversary year is none other than London Modular with the 'We Are The Mod!' EP featuring 3 new original cuts plus a remix by Assembler Code.We are the mods, we are the mods, we are, we are, we are the mods!

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                      Cover of Cong Burn 06 by Lack / Tonto / Chekov / Perfume Advert.

                      Lack / Tonto / Chekov / Perfume Advert

                      Cong Burn 06

                      Cong Burn

                      Salford's Cong Burn drop the latest in their ongoing 12" series feating entries from regulars Chekov, Perfume Advert & Lack, with newcomer Tonto making their debut. At A1 Lack provides a low key roller subtely flashing glimpses of their studio sleight of hand and their ability to craft rhythms with real momentum. Tonto's 'Rust' slows things down with a sub 110bpm DJ tool that pings splashy springs, bird calls and ascending sine tones - made for long blends and layering! Leeds' own Chekov continues to intricately weave interlocking melodies in their most finely sculpted effort to date - with some Idiots Are Winning indications which are more than welcome. Salford/Teeside's Perfume Advert wear their heart on their sleeve for an emotional 130bpm+ closer.

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                      Cover of Universal Funk by The Owl.

                      The Owl

                      Universal Funk

                      Cardiology

                      The sweet and funky side of the Constant Sound empire is back for a third bout. Cardiology deals in the finest disco edits and deep house delights for soul-centric groovers, and so it continues with this sure-footed 12" from The Owl. "Soul on Fire" is an appropriate title for the lead track, which keeps the vibe sizzling throughout with a strictly managed dose of Philly disco magic. "Universal Funk" takes things more upfront, but still those drops hold just enough back to keep the track utterly cool. "Funk Town" gets wild on the filter with the core sample hook before dropping some sassy bass and bongo heat at the track's apex. "Concrete Soul" completes the picture with a wistful choice in samples and the nastiest b-line on the whole record.

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                      Cover of OneTwo (remixes) by Crazy Bank.

                      Crazy Bank

                      OneTwo (remixes)

                      Blahh

                      4 track UKG E.P from Crazy Bank which includes a remix from the 2-step master DJ Perception,fresh from releases on DPR,Moodswing,DR Banana and Rhythm N Vibe.Also features a Garagehouse remix from Beforethebeatsbreak and a Crazy Bank 2-step dub from the former Locked On artist.

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                      Cover of A Love That Never Dies 2 by Various Artists.

                      Various Artists

                      A Love That Never Dies 2

                      A Love That Never Dies

                      A little mystery goes a long way, but it's fair to say the appetite for unearthing those secret tunes and lost classics has rarely been stronger...

                      A LOVE THAT NEVER DIES give us a peek inside their formidable archive with four wonderful pieces of coveted music, in very short supply in their original form

                      One super limited, clear vinyl pressing.

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                      Cover of EP 2 by The Popular People's Front.

                      The Popular People's Front

                      EP 2

                      Hot Peas 'N Butter

                      The HOT PEAS 'N BUTTER crew return with another 4 track delight

                      Certified diverse and dynamite floor-filling jams from the long-serving and mysterious PPF crew

                      Time machine tear-ups from the golden era, as likely to be heard on Mom & Pop's turntable as they were rattling the cones on the home-made block party stacks or basement sound systems.

                      100% DJ material - and available in VERY short supply...you snooze, you lose !

                      Hand stamped vinyl only 12" series

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                      Cover of Tides by Sunda Arc.

                      Sunda Arc

                      Tides

                      Gondwana Records

                      Sunda Arc are brothers Nick Smart and Jordan Smart. Best known as key members of folk and jazz influenced minimalists Mammal Hands, their Sunda Arc project takes inspiration from the likes of Jon Hopkins, Rival Consoles, Moderat and Nils Frahm as well as their own music world. Their debut EP 'Flicker' was released in December 2018 and now the duo are set to release their debut LP, 'Tides' on 7th February 2020.

                      Named for a volcanic arc in the Indian Ocean, created by the process of massive tectonic plates colliding, Sunda Arc strives to mingle electronic and acoustic sounds until they become almost indistinguishable from each other. It's a process where they draw the acoustic properties and quirks out of electronic sounds and find the electronic potential in acoustic sounds.

                      "Finding the ghost in the machine or blending the human elements of playing live is something we are always trying to explore in our work. Experimentation is a large part of our process and we tend to combine carefully composed material with chaotic ideas to find the balance between the two" — Sunda Arc

                      'Tides', their debut album, takes its name from the idea of unseen forces that can affect our lives in myriad ways, being pushed and pulled and at the whim of powerful forces outside of our control as well as offering a nod to things such as the tides on our planet, tectonic plate movements and weather systems. There are often chaotic elements in these systems that function in a way that produce a type of controlled randomness on a large scale.This is something they try to reflect in their music by adopting some of the ways these systems work into musical sequences, and using ideas such as chaos theory to control musical parameters.

                      "Tides is a reference to themes we were thinking a lot about during the making of this album. These include the similarities between macro and micro systems, or the circulatory and nervous systems in the body. Things that produce a type of controlled randomness on a large scale". — Sunda Arc


                      'Hymn', the first single from the album, uses Nick's voice sampled and played back through a keyboard to create a human yet electronic feel. It mixes soft vocals with heavier electronic elements to create a danceable yet human sound world. 'Dawn', is best described as uplifting-techno, its use of repeated phrases building in intensity and variations to put you into a hypnotic state whilst also being industrial and danceable. 'Daemon' is one of the tracks that really resonates live. Drawing on the sound of UK dubstep it's intense but fun and the bass clarinet blends with synths at the end to create a sound almost like a vocal. 'Secret Window' brings forward another side of the band, focusing around a lo-fi recording of felted piano and bass clarinet. These are blended with granularised and processed versions of themselves which emerge like ghosts of the instruments throughout the track. 'Cluster' is another key track. It utilises a small group of notes looped in an unusual way to create a sense of cascading patterns over a solid danceable drum groove. It emphasises soprano sax blended into the sound world half-way through to lift into the final section.



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                      Cover of Glitterbox Jams (Inc. Catz 'n Dogz / Mighty Mouse / Mousse T / Joey Negro Remixes) by Fiorious, Qwestlife & Selace Vs ATFC & Horse Meat Disco.

                      Fiorious, Qwestlife & Selace Vs ATFC & Horse Meat Disco

                      Glitterbox Jams (Inc. Catz 'n Dogz / Mighty Mouse / Mousse T / Joey Negro Remixes)

                      Glitterbox

                      After a year that will go down in the Glitterbox history books, five previously unreleased mixes that have soundtracked the label’s parties in 2019 are given a special vinyl outing, on part one of new series: "Glitterbox Jams". This red-hot 12” delivery opens with the sought-after Catz ‘n Dogz remix of Fiorious' "I’m Not Defeated", where the Polish duo re-work this powerful call-to-resistance anthem into a synth-laden club cut. Up next, Mighty Mouse delivers his gloriously funky remix of Qwestlife’s "Hit It Off", where the powerhouse vocals of Teni Tinks really shine. On the flip disco maestro Mousse T. delivers his magnificent mash-up of Selace’s "So Hooked On Your Lovin" and "Bad Habit", appropriately titled "Hooked On Bad Habits". Finally, Joey Negro’s 'Falling Into Dub Again' mix of Horse Meat Disco & Kathy Sledge’s sublime summer-time hit "Falling Deep In Love" comes through the speaker, a perfect tool for any disco-discerning DJ. This is another delivery from the Glitterbox camp you won’t want to miss.

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                      Cover of Now Is A Timeless Present - A Retrospective by Ulrich Schnauss.

                      Ulrich Schnauss

                      Now Is A Timeless Present - A Retrospective

                      Scripted Realities

                        Highly respected German electronic music composer Ulrich Schnauss releases a career spanning retrospective seven CD boxset. As all the recording rights reverted back to Ulrich he has taken the opportunity to remaster his entire back catalogue to be released on his own Scripted Realities label. The two most recent of the albums, A Long Way To Fall and No Further Ahead Than Today have both been extensively reworked. The set also contains an 18 track compilation of outtakes, demo's & fragments including a cover version of Scott Walker’s ‘It’s Raining Today’ and Ulrich’s version of Bach’s ‘Prelude And Fugue No1 in C Major’. With 14 of the 18 tracks being so far unreleased. Each of the album's artwork have also been refreshed. This release makes Ulrich's music available again after an 18 month period. These seminal electronic albums are sounding contemporary and fresh. Contains the albums “Far Away Trains Passing By” “A Strangely Isolated Place” “Goodbye” “A Long Way To Fall – Rebound” “No Further Ahead Than Tomorrow” & “Now Is A Timeless Present” – (Outtakes ,Demos & Fragments) with a total of 73 tracks on seven CD’s. Similar artists Jon Hopkins, Brian Eno, Tycho.

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                        Cover of Cadence Revolution: Disques Debs International Vol. 2 by Various Artists.

                        Various Artists

                        Cadence Revolution: Disques Debs International Vol. 2

                        Strut Records

                          Strut present the second volume in a series of compilations taken from the archives of Disques Debs International, the longest-running and most prolific label of the French Caribbean. Set up by the late Henri Debs in the late ‘50s, the label has continued for over 50 years, releasing hundreds of records and playing a pivotal role in bringing the creole music of Guadeloupe and Martinique to a wider international audience.

                          Volume 2 of the series focuses on the label’s ‘70s output and the development of the unique Cadence sound, pulling disparate influences into a Pan-Caribbean blend of rhythms, styles and languages that dominated the dancehalls, clubs and concerts of the decade.

                          Based in a small but state-of-the-art studio on the first floor of Henri Debs’ Club 97-1, just outside Pointe-à-Pitre in the town of Gosier, the label hosted sessions from the cream of local and regional talent, hothousing ideas into over 100 LP and 45 releases over the decade that reflected an increasingly confident creole identity.

                          Groups like Les Vikings, Super Combo and Typical Combo along with a host of lesser- known bands were in fierce but friendly competition in the bals, dances and concerts in Guadeloupe, across the region and into Metropolitan France. Haitian Compas, Congolese influences from le Ry-Co Jazz, cadence-lypso and reggae from Dominica and a heavy dose of jazz and Puerto Rican salsa were thrown into the mix alongside local biguine, quadrille and gwo ka to power an unrivalled recorded output.

                          Compiled by Hugo Mendez (Sofrito) and Emile Omar (Roseaux), ‘Cadence Revolution’ is released in conjunction with Henri Debs et Fils and Air Caraibes. The package features previously unseen photos from the Debs archive with both formats featuring extensive liner notes and an interview with singer and trombonist Christian Zora (Les Maxel’s, Energy).


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                          Cover of Love Lives Forever by Dhaima.

                          Dhaima

                          Love Lives Forever

                          Numero Group

                            A heady mix of digi killers, digital roots, dub, electro, and unlikely vocoder magic, Love Lives Forever is the first ever compilation of Miami reggae-notreggae diva Dhaima.

                            The record gathers a collection of the original Natty Queen’s seminal ’80s and ’90s recordings, including her big 1982 chune “Reggae On Sunset,” the Ninakupenda-issued “Don’t Feel No Way,” the previously unreleased “Loving You Is My Thing,” and “Surrender”—the last song recorded before her untimely death in 2000. Pressed loud on vinyl in a long-playing format to mash up your home speakerbox.

                            FORMAT INFORMATION

                            Coloured LP Info: Transparent Purple LP

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                            Cover of Romance Noire by Double Mixte.

                            Double Mixte

                            Romance Noire

                            Italians Do It Better

                              French duo Double Mixte bring their digital thunderstorm of neon lit noire to the Italians Do It Better family on their debut EP. Mixed & produced by label head Johnny Jewel, Romance Noire opens the door to a new wave of Italians Do It Better artists coming in 2019. Fresh Blood. New Tears. The title track arpeggiates & boils as waves of bass flow beneath. Rhythms are carried to the ceiling by a searing cascade of disintegrating color. A heavy backbeat anchors Clara Apolit’s poetry, ready to wear for a night in the face of oblivion. The cinematic “Arlette” is a call for discovery through a darkness lit only by the glare of headlights in digital rain. Through all of this, Thomas Maan’s incantations search for the lonely, lost in the void of electronic fog. “November” finds in Clara an Anglophonic chanteuse, meditating on the cycles of time. A blend of suspended sound & an uncertain melody contracts & expands before dissolving. Romance Noire is art that both contemplates & transcends time’s firm grip. It’s a filmic journey inducing a vague sense of future nostalgia. Happy Valentine’s Day.

                              Double Mixte is Clara Apolit& Thomas Maan. The duo met in Paris & there was an immediate pull to create music together. They pooled their combined interest in powerful narrative & dark 70’s French film music to write lyrically vivid songs. In 2017, Thomas reached out to Johnny Jewel for what soon became a collaboration that expanded their vision into a haunting debut EP, out today on Italians Do It Better.


                              FORMAT INFORMATION

                              Coloured LP Info: Ivory coloured vinyl.

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                              Cover of Dixie Blur by Jonathan Wilson.

                              Jonathan Wilson

                              Dixie Blur

                              Bella Union

                                Where do you go after making an album thatthe Guardian hailed as “a rich, ambitious triumph”, American Songwriter called “a strikingly original, complex and inspired work”, MOJO described as “a record you could lose yourself in for months”, and Billboard as a “most magnificent recording, one that is mandatory listening if you are in search of an immersive album rock experience in the 21st century”? It's a question Jonathan Wilson asked himself after his “maximalist” album Rare Birds was released in 2018 to glowing reviews.Not only did it earn him Album of the Year awards in Rolling Stone, France and Blitz in Portugal, it brought him his first national television appearances in the US, on Conan and CBS Saturday Morning.

                                Rare Birds had been the culmination of three solo albums in seven years that the singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer released to widespread acclaim. His first, 2011's Gentle Spirit, a beautiful California dream of an album, is a classic by now and won him the admiration and friendship of Graham Nash, David Crosby, Elvis Costello and Jackson Browne. His follow-up, Fanfare, was also well-received with Uncut calling it “a lavish musical epic, the work of a dedicated and stone cold studioholic.” But now Wilson was looking for something completely new.

                                In 2019 he appeared on the celebratednationally-syndicated live music radio show eTown. “It was sort of bluegrass-based”, Wilson says, “and on this particular show I was playing with Steve Earle. Next thing you know, I'm talking with Steve about recording.” Earle advised Wilson that, if he had a bunch of songs written, he ought to take them to Nashville and make the record blind, since Nashville's crawling with studios and top-notch session players. “And that's how I got into the idea of going to Nashville and tapping into that sound,” says Wilson. “The sound of my home.”

                                Wilson was born in a small town in North Carolina. As a child he was raised on a mix of Beatles, 60’s and 70’s rock, country, and bluegrass.His uncle played in bluegrass legend Bill Monroe's band. His father had a rock band, but he would often jam with local friends who could “moonlight on banjo and mandolin and do gospel harmonies that would knock you out. I would sit there and strum along,” says Wilson, “There’s this astute southern rhythm and musicality in western NC… Then there’s this crazy three finger banjo style that you have to be really good at it because you’re from the place where Earl Scruggs is from. One of my father’s best pals was the music director at the Caroleean gospel church where my grandfather was a preacher and on the side he could pick the shit out of a mandolin. So, I was exposed to something super-authentic that I was soaking up. In hindsight, it doesn’t get more authentic than that.”

                                A musical prodigy himself, Wilson wrote his first song at three. He was also a musical polymath, playing drums, horns, woodwind, piano and guitar. He joined an R&B band at 14; left high school to study jazz with some old masters, and joined a rock band, Muscadine. He also became a noted luthier and a record producer. Among the artists he has produced albums for are Father John Misty, American band Dawes, British folk legend Roy Harper and ConorOberst.

                                In 2017-18 Rogers Waters asked Wilson to join him on his US+THEM tour on guitar and as musical director. Wilson also sang all the David Gilmour vocal parts. On that two-year tour, Wilson would sometimes find himself thinking about his Southern home. “Stuck out there in a hotel in Latvia, it's a long way from anything that feels like home or family. I felt I was subconsciously being led back to my roots.” In the new song '69 Corvette' he sings, I still think of Carolina sometimes. I miss the family. I miss that feeling. I miss home.

                                Those feelings were still fresh in his mind during that conversation with Steve Earle. Making his next album live in the studio with a Nashville band, instead of building them alone, piece by piece in his L.A studio, seemed like a good way to go back while simultaneously moving forward. An example of that is Wilson's new take on “Korean Tea”, an old song he had done with his ‘90’s band Muscadine. “That is a song about having a shining musical gift to share with the world. My brother says that’s one of the prettiest melodies I’ve written, so I decided to bring it back into the world”. “Heaven Making Love” is a song Wilson wrote for Rare Birds but abandoned; “I tried but I could never really get it, it had that locomotive polka thing sorta so I guess it was waiting for an album like this to join!”

                                With Wilson's longtime friend Pat Sansone of Wilco producing, Wilson and the band recorded in Studio A at the Sound Emporium, the late country maverick Cowboy Jack Clement's studio. The musicians included Nashville’s premier session players including bass player Dennis Crouch, Russ Pahl on pedal steel, multi-instrumentalist Jim Hoke, and world renowned Fiddle master Mark O’Connor.

                                “I was thinking about fiddle as being an integral part of the record, and I needed to find the best. In my mind the best of the best was Mark O'Connor. So I decided to reach out to him. I said, ‘Hey man, I'm doing a session, would you like to come down and play fiddle?’ and he's like, ‘Thank you, but I haven't done a session since 1990.’ So, he didn't say no and he didn't say yes! Over time, he eventually said, ‘Maybe, but my only stipulation is it's got to be with the band, no overdubs. That's what drove me out of the session business.’ That was a big deal to all of us. Mark truly elevates the record and he shines as the most brilliant fiddler on Earth, I thank him for his beautiful melodies on this album.”

                                Working with this Nashville band gave Wilson the same kind of feeling he had as a kid, strumming along with those bluegrass bands. “There's something about this level of musicianship, they've been in so many sessions. It was fun to play some of the more stoner Canyon-ey tunes for this crack session band and watch them write up their special Nashville charts with their numbers, symbols and diamonds… they call it ‘hillbilly arithmetic’ over there….

                                The album was cut in only six days. “It was so fast it was a blur.” Hence the title, Dixie Blur. “And there really is a magic that occurs when musicians play together in a room and create that one consistent thing in time, something is created by the collective energy that is impossible to recreate otherwise,” says Wilson.

                                “It feels like another side, you know? Sort of like a personal, unplugged, just got off the road feeling. I think it's the most down to earth and emotional both musically and lyrically that I've ever been.”


                                FORMAT INFORMATION

                                Coloured LP Info: Mint Green Vinyl

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                                Cover of Darkness Brings The Wonders Home by Smoke Fairies.

                                Smoke Fairies

                                Darkness Brings The Wonders Home

                                Year Seven Records

                                  In the making of their new album Darkness Brings The Wonders Home, Smoke Fairies drew inspiration from mysteries both real and imagined: sea monsters, flocks of crows taking flight in extravagant formation, strange creatures dwelling in the mud near their new South London abode. With their mesmeric vocal presence and starkly poetic lyrics, singer/multi-instrumentalists Katherine Blamire and Jessica Davies embed all that odd magic into songs that speak to the realities of modern times—isolation, insomnia, an overall unease with the state of the world—and ultimately uncover an unlikely sense of hope.

                                  “Times of darkness are when people are often the most imaginative,” says Davies in reflecting on the album’s title. “It helps you to see all the wonders of the world you hadn’t noticed before—the things you’ve been blind to because you’ve been on autopilot for so long.”

                                  Produced by Phil Ek (Fleet Foxes, The Black Angels, The Shins), Darkness Brings The Wonders Home merges Smoke Fairies’ musings and meditations with a decidedly guitar-driven sound, the duo’s unearthly harmonies endlessly floating atop lead-heavy riffs. Over the course of a rigorous month-long session in Seattle, Smoke Fairies adopted a purposely intimate approach to achieving that singular sonic tone.

                                  ‘We spent a long time trying to fathom the direction we wanted to take on this album. At times the options seemed overwhelming, but as new songs started to form we realized we needed to take them back to our core sound – our interplaying guitar parts’ says Davies. “So then we had to really step up and do it ourselves, without relying on a band to fill anything in, which was quite a challenge—physically, mentally, everything.”

                                  While Smoke Fairies initially intended to return to the earthy folk of early work like 2011’s Through Low Light and Trees, the duo soon found themselves assuming a new boldness in their guitar style and, in turn, pushing into much wilder terrain. In doing so, Blamire and Davies spent much of their time perusing the guitar shop near Ek’s chosen studio, experimenting with countless guitars and amps to augment the album’s sonic palette. “It was like being in a sweet shop, getting to try all these guitars we’d normally never be able to afford,” says Blamire. “We ended up making friends with guitars we never thought to use before, like this weird vintage Kay that sounded great but was so hard to play—to the point where there were days when our fingers were bleeding, or we had blisters in places you didn’t even know you could get them.”

                                  Opening with “On the Wing,” Darkness Brings The Wonders Home quickly proves the power of matching that pummeling guitar work with Smoke Fairies’ finespun songwriting. With its woozy intensity and spellbinding rhythms, the song also introduces one of the album’s most prominent themes: the often-futile attempts at true connection at a time when the most impetuous behavior tends to prevail. “When we were little my brother wrote a poem about waking up and finding he’d changed into a swan overnight, with feathers growing out of his arms,” says Blamire of the song’s inspiration. “To me that’s an interesting metaphor for how people can grow into becoming quite flighty, where they’re never really able to settle in one place or with one person.”

                                  An album deeply informed by aberrations of nature, Darkness Brings The Wonders Home delves into a different kind of fascination on “Out of the Woods”—a song sparked from Smoke Fairies’ study of the overgrown pond behind their house. “There’s something magical about all these weird things living out there in the mud,” says Blamire. “We started to project onto that, like the idea of something unexpected and good coming from the mud of your emotions.” Another song attuned to the fear of the unknown, the hypnotically ominous “Chew Your Bones” mines inspiration from the titular beast of Sarah Perry’s novel The Essex Serpent and from a local urban myth involving a character called The Croydon Cat Killer. “For years people thought someone was going around killing cats—they put a proper police force on it and everything, and then realized it’s just foxes,” Davies notes. “I’d also recently read an article about how some people feel uncomfortable with the idea of bringing kids into the world at the moment,” she adds, “We needed to write about the growing feeling that the world is on the verge of real change, there is the sense that there is this scary, unknown future lurking just beyond us ’.

                                  Despite its many wanderings into otherworldly territory, Darkness Brings The Wonders Home remains rooted in real-life anxieties, particularly on tracks like the fluttering and urgent “Don’t You Want to Spiral Out of Control.” “The modern way of interacting around love seems too empty to me—it feels like it makes us into much colder people than we ever were before,” says Blamire. “It’s like we’re missing that spontaneity, the ability to bind together over something more than an image on a screen. That song came from wanting to just shake people and go, ‘don’t you want to spiral out of control again? Don’t you want to just let loose?’”

                                  Throughout Darkness Brings The Wonders Home, Smoke Fairies adorn their observations with so many exquisite flourishes: the swinging melodies and elegant shredding of “Elevator,” the girl-group harmonies and spiky riffs of “Disconnect,” the delicate tension between taut guitar lines and swooning vocals on “Chocolate Rabbit.”

                                  For Smoke Fairies, Darkness Brings The Wonders Home signals a strengthening of the inextricable bond they’ve forged through the years. “So many of the songs are about these feelings of disconnection, but the irony is that Jessica and I have each other, and that means so much more than any of the other relationships that come and go,” says Blamire. And because of that connection, the two found the courage essential for bringing such an emotionally trying album to life. “I think what we’re attempting to show is that, in all this chaos that’s so tumultuous and overwhelming, there are always ways to change your perspective,” says Blamire. “Making this album, we conquered so many worries and doubts and felt so much stronger at the end—we went right into the darkness, and somehow brought something incredibly positive out of it.”


                                  FORMAT INFORMATION

                                  Dinked Edition LP Info: Exclusive Coloured vinyl – Gold & Black Splatter.
                                  Exclusive Sleeve.
                                  Signed & Numbered 12”x12” Print.
                                  Exclusive Lyric Book.
                                  Dinked sticker.

                                  Coloured LP Info: Gold coloured vinyl.

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                                  Cover of Teeth - Anthony Naples Remix - Repress by Working Men's Club.

                                  Working Men's Club

                                  Teeth - Anthony Naples Remix - Repress

                                  Heavenly

                                    The awesome "Teeth" gets the remix treatment from NYC DJ/producer Anthony Naples, taking it straight to the dancefloor. Killer! Get your dancin' shoes on.

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                                    Cover of Under The Sun by Afrodyssey Orchestra.

                                    Afrodyssey Orchestra

                                    Under The Sun

                                    Altercat

                                    Second album by Greece's premiere Afro-jazz band. An Odyssey of sound through West African percussion, jazz, Greek melodies and a tinge of funk.

                                    Greece is maybe not the first country that comes to mind when you think of Afrojazz. Afrodyssey Orchestra unexpectedly hit the scene some time ago after we released In the Land of Aou Tila, their debut album — while that first album was going to the hands of the few lucky ones who managed to discover the band back then, Afrodyssey Orchestra were already booking more studio time in order to start working on further recordings. Three years later, we're proud to present you Under the Sun, with seven new compositions that reflect the logical evolution the band has experienced during this time, including some fine-tuning in their line-up. A melange of African polyrhythms, jazz, a scent of the Balkans and a fling with Afrobeat that holds hands with their beginnings — all this devised through the prism of the vast Greek musical universe.

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                                    Cover of Cocoon by Ever Isles.

                                    Ever Isles

                                    Cocoon

                                    Touchtheplants

                                      Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith is an American composer, performer and producer, originally from Orcas Island and currently based in Los Angeles. After several self-released albums, Smith was signed to independent record label Western Vinyl in 2015, who released her first official album, Euclid , in January 2015. Her latest album, Tides: Music for the Meditation and Yoga , was released in January 2019.

                                      Smith grew up and was home-educated on Orcas Island, Northwestern Washington. She left the island to study composition and sound engineering at Berklee College of Music in Boston, before returning to the island after her graduation.

                                      It was after returning home that Smith discovered synthesizers, when a neighbor introduced her to the Buchla 100 Synthesizer. Having originally intended to use her voice as her primary instrument, and then moving to classical guitar and piano, Smith switched to the use of synthesizer after being lent and experimenting with the Buchla 100 for a year.

                                      Smith formed indie-folk band Ever Isles whilst still at Berklee but left the project after discovering the Buchla 100, explaining, “I got so distracted and enamored with the process of making sounds with [the Buchla’s potential] that I abandoned the next Ever Isles album”.

                                      When developing her composition skills, Smith used visual aid as inspiration for her music. She has said that she is always composing to a visual in her head, explaining, “Sometimes I let the sound create the image for me and then I build off that. Or vice versa: I come up with imagery that is inspiring to me, or I see something that is inspiring, and then create sounds that I feel match it”.

                                      Recorded in 2009, Ever Isles' Cocoon is an experimental folk album made by Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith and Jeremy Harris on Orcas Island in an improvised recording studio built from bed mattresses. Smith and Harris, longtime friends, first met in 2004 while attending Berklee College of Music.

                                      Cocoon is the only remaining document of the Ever Isles project and offers a unique glimpse at the early work of Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith – an era predating her discovery of synthesis when she was still playing classical guitar.

                                      Jeremy Harris, a multi-instrumentalist and neo-classical composer, engineered and co-produced the record with Smith. In 2016 Harris released Ages via Gnome Life Records. 


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                                      Cover of Tides by Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith.

                                      Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith

                                      Tides

                                      Touchtheplants

                                        Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith is an American composer, performer and producer, originally from Orcas Island and currently based in Los Angeles. After several self-released albums, Smith was signed to independent record label Western Vinyl in 2015, who released her first official album, Euclid, in January 2015. Her latest album, T ides: Music for the Meditation and Yoga , was released in January 2019.

                                        Smith grew up and was home-educated on Orcas Island, Northwestern Washington. She left the island to study composition and sound engineering at Berklee College of Music in Boston, before returning to the island after her graduation.

                                        It was after returning home that Smith discovered synthesizers, when a neighbor introduced her to the Buchla 100 Synthesizer. Having originally intended to use her voice as her primary instrument, and then moving to classical guitar and piano, Smith switched to the use of synthesizer after being leant and experimenting with the Buchla 100 for a year.

                                        Smith formed indie-folk band Ever Isles whilst still at Berklee but left the project after discovering the Buchla 100, explaining, “I got so distracted and enamored with the process of making sounds with [the Buchla’s potential] that I abandoned the next Ever Isles album”.

                                        When developing her composition skills, Smith used visual aid as inspiration for her music. She has said that she is always composing to a visual in her head, explaining, “Sometimes I let the sound create the image for me and then I build off that. Or vice versa: I come up with imagery that is inspiring to me, or I see something that is inspiring, and then create sounds that I feel match it”.

                                        Recorded in 2013, Tides is a glimpse into the early phase of what has become Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith’s signature approach to electronic music. Composed and played on a Buchla Music Easel––the modular synthesizer that gives Smith’s music its organic feel––this collection of instrumentals is at once uplifting, transportive and meditational. 


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                                        Cover of A.M Jazz by Jim Noir.

                                        Jim Noir

                                        A.M Jazz

                                        Dook Recordings

                                          A record to be enjoyed to its very last second AM Jazz is set to place this songwriter where he just might, finally, receive the recognition he deserves; from unsung hero to a truly worthy candidate for being called up to join the City of Manchester’s ranks of great musical icons. Whether you prefer to know him as Mr. Roberts or simply call him Al, it’s time to become acquainted with the real Jim Noir.

                                          Tossing his bowler onto the hat stand and sliding on his slippers, AM Jazz sees ‘Jim’ putting his feet up whilst Alan Roberts takes the lead. A creative masterpiece for the record player and the mantlepiece, it’s a multi-layered album that features close friends including those dearly departed, and is his truest record to date, by a songwriter painting his own hypnotic Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.

                                          “I haven’t 'felt' like Jim Noir for a long time. I’m not sure I ever did; it was a construct of other people’s imaginations,” reveals Al. “AM Jazz is definitely the kind of music I make generally. It harks back to when I started making music years ago and didn’t worry about capturing a particular style. It will be nice to show people more of that. It's the best album I've written; real hypnotic minimalism, the good stuff!”

                                          15 years since he recorded the first ever 'Jim Noir' EP, AM Jazz is the record all Noirheads won’t be surprised Al had inside him. Letting the Beatlesesque stylings of his most recent album Finnish Line be (5 years ago no less), AM Jazz suits the Noir repertoire of his catalogue so far and is another homegrown offering which sees the Daveyhulme composer tinkering in his suburban Manchester studio once more, with the magic of his computer work sorcery, analog and tape recordings. “For this I went back to the slightly more haphazard way I wrote my first album, Tower Of Love, wherein I’d use things in front of me, or a bit wrong like headphones for a microphone, to make the most Hi-Fi Lo-fi album ever.”

                                          Whilst a brief disappearance of Jim’s online persona may have provoked bleak theories as to his whereabouts, Al had little time for digital distraction. Whilst writing and creating with friends, he has worked on electronic pet project, FAX with former Alfie guitarist, Ian Smith, and the vintage analogue house meets electro sound of his own solo EP Granada Personnel Recovery, as well as producing local band, Shaking Chainsor, and helping long-time musical colleague, Aidan Smith with his long-awaited 'The Planets' project; “I’ve been writing in dribs and drabs when I feel like it,” Al says. “I used to write all day everyday but it’s a lot harder now I’m (feeling) over 100 years old.” Never not sonically exploring or being inspired by the sounds around him, there was even a red-carpet moment when he appeared as a film premier guest after a couple of his songs were selected for the OST of director Jason Wingard’s film Eaten By Lions.

                                          Performing all AM Jazz’s instrumental parts himself but also, at the right moment, bringing in present and past pals along the way, sexy lounge song, ‘Hexagons’ features 'Phil Anderson' and Mark Williamson singing and playing “legendary OTT guitar solo” respectively. Meanwhile the orchestration of ‘Peppergone’ waltzes like a beautifully romantic ode to Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata – a tribute to dearly departed best friend 'Batfinks' who originally wrote the chords in his song 'Peppercorn.' “I hope he doesn’t think it’s shit,” Al jests. Listen closely and you may even find a few unsuspecting celebrity guest appearances as, perhaps, it could be the very first album to feature soundbites of podcasts sneaking onto the recordings. “I will have a podcast on if I’m recording; Adam Buxton, Athletico Mince, Frank Skinner or Richard Herring… I’m sure some mics will have picked them up, like in the old Tower of Love days,” he says referring to his breakout debut.

                                          Culled from around 50 tunes AM Jazz moves like the time of the day, from dawn to night, stirring from the pop of ‘Good Mood’ and ‘Upside Down’s Beta Band groove. “As the album was playing, I imagined this smoky backstreet with all those neon signs outside clubs at about 4am,” Al says. Mellow ‘TOL Circle’ is like Percy Faith’s Theme From A Summer Place synthesized, capturing the style of TV library music or movie soundtrack obscurity that has always stirred Al’s curiosity, and the album plunges into a vast chasm of instrumental exploration with ‘Mystermoods,’ visiting Japan’s funky synth whiz duo Testpattern and Hakabashi Sakamoto. Darkening and deepening in intensity, ‘Eggshell’ is like an undiscovered gem from Angelo Badalamenti’s cutting room floor, the Panda Bear shimmer of ‘Lander’ is where blissful positivity and sadness meet, about another of his friends who left the world too young. “By the album’s close, its nearly time to let go and enter the ether,” he says of the album’s story. “Like one would do when they take their final sigh on this earth.”


                                          FORMAT INFORMATION

                                          Ltd LP Info: Gatefold sleeve pressing of 200 copies only on black vinyl.

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                                          Cover of Anodyne - Coloured Vinyl Edition by Uncle Tupelo.

                                          Uncle Tupelo

                                          Anodyne - Coloured Vinyl Edition

                                          Rhino

                                            This is the fourth studio album from the alternative country band, originally released in 1993. The album came after the exit of drummer Mike Heidorn and the addition of three new members: John Stirratt, Ken Coomer and Max Johnston. 

                                            FORMAT INFORMATION

                                            Coloured LP Info: 140 gram, clear vinyl - RSD Stores Exclusive.

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                                            Cover of Good - Expanded Edition by Morphine.

                                            Morphine

                                            Good - Expanded Edition

                                            Run Out Groove / Rhino

                                              Morphine are proud to present their debut album ‘Good’ as an expanded edition released by Run Out Groove, including a bonus LP consisting of live and demo tracks. Morphine are considered to be one of the most unique and original rock bands to have graced the alternative scene in the 90’s, blending a mix of genres creating their own distinct sound.

                                              The album marked the start of a stellar career and appealed to a wide audience because of its ability to cross genres and styles so uniquely. 


                                              FORMAT INFORMATION

                                              2xDeluxe LP Info: 2LP 180g Black Vinyl.

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                                              Cover of Kick Out The Jams - Splatter Coloured Vinyl Edition by MC5.

                                              MC5

                                              Kick Out The Jams - Splatter Coloured Vinyl Edition

                                              Rhino

                                                Kick Out The Jams is the debut album from the American punk outfit MC5. Originally released in 1969 the album is revered by rock fans worldwide and contains the world renowned title track which was named the 65th best hard rock song of all time by VH1.

                                                FORMAT INFORMATION

                                                Coloured LP Info: 140g red/white/blue splatter vinyl - RSD Stores Exclusive.

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                                                Cover of American Utopia On Broadway (Original Cast Recording) by David Byrne.

                                                David Byrne

                                                American Utopia On Broadway (Original Cast Recording)

                                                Nonesuch

                                                  Nonesuch releases the cast album for the critically acclaimed Broadway production of David Byrne’s American Utopia, with music and lyrics by David Byrne. American Utopia began as an album, also released by Nonesuch, which received a Grammy nomination and was the first by Byrne to reach #1 on the Album Chart; it was also his first to reach the Top Five on the Billboard 200 chart. The concert tour in support of American Utopia, which inspired the Broadway show, included songs from the new album along with music from Talking Heads and Byrne’s solo career. Byrne and the ensemble performed more than 150 dates in twenty-seven countries over nine months. The NME said it ‘may just be the best live show of all time.’

                                                  David Byrne’s American Utopia features David Byrne with Jacquelene Acevedo, Gustavo Di Dalva, Daniel Freedman, Chris Giarmo, Tim Keiper, Tendayi Kuumba, Karl Mansfield, Mauro Refosco, Stéphane San Juan, Angie Swan, and Bobby Wooten III; Davi Viera also performs on the album. The show’s design team includes Rob Sinclair (lighting) and Pete Keppler (sound). Karl Mansfield and Mauro Refosco are Musical Directors. Choreography and Musical Staging is by Annie-B Parson. Alex Timbers serves as Production Consultant.

                                                  Fresh off a pre-Broadway engagement at Boston’s Emerson Colonial Theatre, David Byrne’s American Utopia began performances on October 4 at the intimate Hudson Theatre on Broadway and celebrated opening night on October 20. Byrne and company perform six times a week through January 19, 2020.

                                                  David Byrne’s American Utopia is the once-in-a-lifetime Broadway event that delivers ‘an experience unlike anything else’ (Billboard) and marks a major cultural milestone in the worlds of music and theatre. Innovative pop/rock icon David Byrne (Talking Heads, Here Lies Love) shares the spotlight with a diverse ensemble of eleven musical artists from around the globe to deliver ‘a marvel of staging and motion’ (Chicago Tribune) that’s a ‘thought-provoking example of the power of live music’ (Forbes).


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                                                  Cover of Pleased To Meet Me - Coloured Vinyl Edition by The Replacements.

                                                  The Replacements

                                                  Pleased To Meet Me - Coloured Vinyl Edition

                                                  Rhino

                                                    This is the only album released by the band as a trio, before Bob ‘Slim’ Dunlap became part of the band. This album portrayed a move through other genres. The album was recorded in Memphis so perhaps injected a soul vibe to the album. Including tracks such as ‘Alex Chilton’ this album was loved by critics. 

                                                    FORMAT INFORMATION

                                                    Coloured LP Info: RSD store exclusive 140 gram blue vinyl.

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                                                    Cover of Don't Tell A Soul - Coloured Vinyl Edition by The Replacements.

                                                    The Replacements

                                                    Don't Tell A Soul - Coloured Vinyl Edition

                                                    Rhino

                                                      Originally released in 1989, this is the sixth studio album from the Replacements, but the first with Bob ‘Slim’ Dunlap on guitar, replacing Bob Stinson in 1987. Featuring their hit single ‘I’ll Be You’, this album received high praise across the board, with Rolling Stone stating that the album was full of Westerberg’s ‘sharp-tongued wordplay and idiosyncratic musical structures’.

                                                      FORMAT INFORMATION

                                                      Coloured LP Info: RSD store exclusive 140 gram clear vinyl.

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                                                      Cover of Don’t Come Back From The Moon (OST) by Johnny Jewel.

                                                      Johnny Jewel

                                                      Don’t Come Back From The Moon (OST)

                                                      Italians Do It Better

                                                        The music of Johnny Jewel, Glass Candy, Chromatics, Mirage, & Symmetry all articulate different visions for different moments — the pure ecstasy of a Saturday night out; unrestrained romantic devotion between vulnerable people; walks on wet streets on foggy nights; isolated twilight meditations. They make music for all moments, all feelings, all stories — in films & in life. Theirs is natural soundtrack music. Bruce Thierry Cheung brings their cinematic music to celluloid to tell the story of a family’s struggles in Don’t Come Back from the Moon, starring James Franco, Rashida Jones, & Jeffrey Wahlberg.

                                                        The soundtrack mixes new & beloved work from the Italians family. Classic cuts such as Chromatics’ revered “Cherry” & “The River” (alongside the newer “Magazine”) & the disco-bliss of Mirage’s “Lady Operator” are alongside cues from Johnny’s instrumental solo album Digital Rain, all remastered to articulate the resonance of the visuals. Joining them is new music from Johnny & Symmetry. “Bicycle” finds Symmetry taking their Tangerine Dream and John Carpenter vibes into a haunting modern R&B space. Cues like “Street Lights” & “Dusk” use twinkling piano keys & glassy, minimal synthesizers to craft ambient electronic bliss. “Death Valley” is a foreboding & atmosphere track, laced with spectres of fading memories. Once you go to the moon with these songs, you’ll never want to come back.


                                                        FORMAT INFORMATION

                                                        Coloured LP Info: LP pressed on Ivory Coloured Vinyl

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                                                        Cover of Dream On by Alice Boman.

                                                        Alice Boman

                                                        Dream On

                                                        Pias

                                                          A deeply textural, atmospheric and immersive sounding record.

                                                          Alice Boman’s fragile yet engulfing ethereal vocals create a vortex that listeners are sucked in by. A world where ambient, dream pop and folk merge into a unique new form.

                                                          Produced by Fabian Prynn (EX:RE, Ghostpoet, Dan Croll) and Patrik Berger (Robyn, Charlie XCX, Icona Pop and Santigold).

                                                          FORMAT INFORMATION

                                                          Coloured LP Info: LP pressed on sun yellow vinyl with printed inner sleeve.

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                                                          Cover of I Lost My Body - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack by Dan Levy.

                                                          Dan Levy

                                                          I Lost My Body - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

                                                          Invada

                                                            Invada Records release Dan Levy’s score to Netflix animated feature ‘I Lost My Body’ on vinyl.

                                                            The score is pressed on ‘One Red Disc, One Blue Disc’ double vinyl and comes housed in a heavyweight gatefold sleeve with each record itself housed in a heavyweight double-sided printed inner bag featuring artwork and credits.

                                                            Levy is one half of the French electro-pop duo The Dø, along with Olivia Merilhati. He also produces for S+C+A+R+R who is featured on the album.

                                                            “Music is a powerful thing; it can be an emotional experience that surfaces new ideas about reality and truth,” says Dan Levy of his experience scoring the film. “Working on ‘I Lost My Body’ was the first time I scored an animated film, and I was seduced by the magic that emanated from the intense and painstaking work that goes into creating a film like this.”

                                                            An unforgettable visual journey from director Jérémy Clapin, ‘I Lost My Body’ follows a severed hand as it escapes a Parisian laboratory and treks across the city in search of the rest of its body. The film won the Nespresso Grand Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, the first animated film ever to do so.

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                                                            Cover of Lightning Bolt by Lightning Bolt.

                                                            Lightning Bolt

                                                            Lightning Bolt

                                                            Thrill Jockey

                                                              “Certain loud guitar rock records serve as brain erasers, a form of shock therapy zapping through aural inputs and (to mix metaphors) cleaning the proverbial clock. Lightning Bolt is one such thing.” - LA Times

                                                              Since their first moment it seems like they’ve been as electric as their name suggests. ‘Lightning Bolt’, their first album, captures that energy in a raw form. Famously lo-fi, this is the album that’s been described as most feeling like being at one of their shows. It’s difficult to listen and not want to jump with the crowd it feels like must be huddled around the amp producing an incredible wave of noise, astonishingly coming from just two musicians. You can hear the threads of their later work; use of repetition, a sense of grinding and building, noise melting to guitar solos. This album is loud and the riffs repeated become mesmerizing as they warp slowly thru the songs.

                                                              ‘Lightning Bolt’ has not been available on vinyl since its original pressing of 740 in 1999.

                                                              First time ever released as a double LP. LP1 is the original release, LP2 was recorded at the same time and has never been issued on vinyl.

                                                              Packaged in a two-sided silkscreen wrap using original designs by Brian Chippendale and printed by Crosshair.

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                                                              Cover of Bait - Original Score by Mark Jenkin.

                                                              Mark Jenkin

                                                              Bait - Original Score

                                                              Invada

                                                                Invada Records announce the release of Mark Jenkin’s drone-heavy score to UK film ‘Bait’.

                                                                Mark Jenkin amazingly directed, edited and composed the score himself for the resolutely DIY yet hugely successful film. ‘Bait’ has since received four British Independent Film Awards nominations for Best Indie Film, Best Director, Breakthrough Producer and Best Editing and is one of the highest grossing and most successful indie films of 2019.

                                                                The score is pressed on blue vinyl and comes housed in an extra thick deluxe spined sleeve with double sided heavyweight card printed insert, featuring stills from the film. There is also a digital download card included.

                                                                Jenkin: “I started playing around with some drone ideas as a distraction from the editing of the film; something to take my mind off the cutting,” he says. “I was experimenting with delays and reverbs and decay and I began to feel that there was a nautical theme to the sounds that I was making.

                                                                “An original drone was created very separate to the film but then I realised it might work as a score. From there I created a set of about 12 drones (eight of which are on the album) which were mostly variations on a theme and I began to place them in the edit to match the score. The drones work very well with the sounds of the sea, which is pretty much omni-present throughout the film and makes it easier to embed a drone without it being a big ‘musical’ statement.”

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                                                                Cover of Nijimusi by OOIOO.

                                                                OOIOO

                                                                Nijimusi

                                                                Thrill Jockey

                                                                  OOIOO is a name that should be familiar to anyone who’s waded into the world of rock - and so should their leader YoshimiO’s. Percussionist and founding member for the Boredoms and Saicobab and a longtime collaborator of Kim Gordon (of Sonic Youth), Susie Ibarra and Robert Lowe, among others.

                                                                  It’s no surprise that each OOIOO record has been as energizing and enthralling as the last, which might be the most consistent thing about their eight records - each focus on and offer listeners something new.

                                                                  ‘Nijimusi’ was mainly recorded using a conventional rock ensemble of two guitars, bass and drums but often feels more than that, the phrasing and rhythms becoming something new slowly and then all at once. It’s rock but hard to pin down exactly; psychedelic, shimmering distortion, shouts and tight instrumentation giving way to a controlled burn of instrumental breakdowns.

                                                                  Founded in 1995, OOIOO continue to wow. After six years without releasing new music internationally they’ve created a new album that goes back to the roots of being a four-piece band.

                                                                  OOIOO’s members came together as musicians who move freely between the audible and inaudible, rhythm and non-rhythm, noise and silence. ‘Nijimusi’ can be considered music but it is also a work of art that stimulates the sense of touch and smell, while being atmospheric and ethereal at the same time.

                                                                  “A monument to the endless possibilities afforded by an improvisational spirit, but more importantly it highlights Yoshimi and her band’s tireless and ever-evolving voice.” - Pitchfork

                                                                  “In the seemingly impenetrable, fantastic murkiness of Japanese experimental psych pop, more often than not, Yoshimi has been a beacon.” - FADER (cover story) 


                                                                  FORMAT INFORMATION

                                                                  2xColoured LP Info: Pressed on crystal clear vinyl in deluxe gatefold package designed by Qotaroo using artwork by Ooido Syoujou.

                                                                  2xColoured LP includes MP3 Download Code.

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                                                                  Cover of Scis by Oval.

                                                                  Oval

                                                                  Scis

                                                                  Thrill Jockey

                                                                    Markus Popp, the man behind Oval, is considered one of the creators of the ‘glitch’ or ‘clicks & cuts’ style within electronic music. “‘94diskont’ [Oval’s first release] was the first sound of a new future... the album always seemed like it was looking ahead to what the world would become, and now the world is here” - Pitchfork

                                                                    ‘Scis’ is an album still pushing technology, still using the computer as an instrument but for the first time it seems you can most clearly hear the musician behind the screen. It’s emotive, there are loops of acoustic instruments composed together in ways that feel more organic and improvised. Popp describes extensive research into “new vintage” and this album reflects that and his history. It employs familiar sounds or motifs in new ways and unfamiliar sounds in old ways and this combo gives it something present. There are prepared pianos, woodwinds, sweeping strings and gritty bass riffs arranged among other styles, using Oval’s signature loop-driven techniques. Moments remind of traditional electronica and reimaginations of a club sound aesthetic and there are moments that feel cinematic and lyrical.

                                                                    “A triumphant return for Oval, both musically and intellectually. This is meta music for the soul.” - FACT

                                                                    Markus Popp collaborators include Jan St. Werner of Mouse on Mars and his work has been sampled by other electronic artists, including Björk.

                                                                    “It’s one mark of genius that the more you try to be different, the more you sound like yourself. It’s wrong to overstate the continuities over the immediately obvious difference, but this music could only have been made by one man.” - The Wire

                                                                    FORMAT INFORMATION

                                                                    Coloured LP Info: Limited edition white vinyl.

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                                                                    Cover of Simple by Sylvain Chauveau.

                                                                    Sylvain Chauveau

                                                                    Simple

                                                                    130701

                                                                      Active since the late 1990s, Brussels-based Frenchman Sylvain Chauuveau is an unsung pioneer of a now burgeoning scene and was making elegant post-classical compositions years ahead of celebrated current peers like Max Richter, Nils Frahm, Olafur Arnalds, Dustin O’Halloran and Hauschka.

                                                                      Now reissued in a remastered, first-ever vinyl edition, ‘Simple’ was originally released in 2012 as a CD collection of Sylvain’s works for cinema - a set of out-of-print, rare, and unreleased tracks composed between 1998-2010 that span stark / minimal electronic drones, processed guitar explorations, chamber pieces, solo piano and two 40-piece string orchestra recordings.

                                                                      Chauveau’s work here sounds as fresh and relevant today as it did back then and its author is long overdue some recognition / reappraisal of his role in helping prepare the ground for today’s scene. His music has been praised by numerous peers - Ryuichi Sakamoto listed ‘Nocturne Impalpable’ as one of his Top 5 records; Hauschka and Peter Broderick have admitted his influence and Jóhann Jóhannsson, Adam Wiltzie (A Winged Victory / Stars Of The Lid) and Fennesz have also praised his work.

                                                                      “Occupies the twilit area where downbeat, muted experimental electronic music melts into downbeat, muted chamber music” - Pitchfork

                                                                      “One of the most brilliant minds of French Music” - Les InRocks

                                                                      For fans of Max Richter, Olafur Arnalds, Nils Frahm, Johann Johannsson, Erik Satie, Arvo Pärt, Labradford, Mogwai, Peter Broderick and Hauschka.

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                                                                      Cover of Jeunes Filles Impudiques by Pierre Raph.

                                                                      Pierre Raph

                                                                      Jeunes Filles Impudiques

                                                                      Finders Keepers

                                                                        Five track EP of previously unreleased drum heavy Gallic hard-bop and risqué acidic folk.

                                                                        The long-lost Parisian skin flick ‘Jeunes Filles Impudiques’ (AKA ‘Schoolgirl Hitchhikers’) marks a particularly vulnerable period in the career of one of the most underrated and misunderstood directors to emerge from the rising smoke of the 1968 Parisian social explosion.

                                                                        From a director with early links with the Paris underground, the letterists, the surrealists, improv theatre and the free-press comes the reclaimed audio tracks from one of his rarest celluloid moments - but let’s not confuse this for high-art. Finders Keepers make no bones, this is Jean Rollin’s maiden voyage into adult entertainment, directed under the pseudonym of Miche Gentil with a flimsy plot, questionable acting skills and an awesome little schizophrenic soundtrack.

                                                                        This long-lost movie has been buried for some 40 odd years, with a musical score bursting to jump out of the can and down your tone arm, now made possible by a recently renovated negative print and new source material. These original Pierre Raph (of ‘Requiem For A Vampire’ infamy) compositions from the publishing Library Of Paris’ Musicale Editions Dellamarre (of Acanthus / Unity fame) come straight from Rollin himself as an introduction to Finders Keepers’ new Rollinade series documenting some of the finest musical moments of the director’s career as an avant-gardener, counter-culture vulture and Gallic vamptramp, all housed in their original hand-painted promotional artwork.

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                                                                        Cover of Psychedelic Dub by Mad Professor.

                                                                        Mad Professor

                                                                        Psychedelic Dub

                                                                        Ariwa Sounds

                                                                          This the 10th album in the Dub Me Crazy series and it reflects current affairs. This time we see the Mad professor taking Dub to the outta limits, Freakydeeky Dubtastic madness. Vocals by Macka B, Sister Audrey and Crucial Robbie add to the fareout experience!

                                                                          ‘Cool Runnings Mandela’’ reflects the mood of 1990 as South Africa decided to free the long imprisoned African leader. ‘In King David’s Style’ reflects the influence of Jay Shaka on the new generation of roots fans that found reggae and Dub in the 90s.

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                                                                          Cover of Taiwan Disco by Various Artists.

                                                                          Various Artists

                                                                          Taiwan Disco

                                                                          Aberrant Records

                                                                            Due to its extremely complex history, Taiwan in the 70's saw the creation of some incredibly special music in which the sounds coming at the moment from the west collided with the special sensitivity of Taiwanese musicians, creating a delicious mixture you'll need to hear to believe.

                                                                            "Taiwan Disco" shines a light on the music created by Taiwanese women during those years (70´s and early 80's) to present a mind-blowing collection of songs with sounds ranging from wild Funk to Space Glam, exotic Disco or fuzzed out Soul. Here's the ticket to some crazy Taiwan nights, get those dancing shoes ready, it's time to shake it!

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                                                                            Cover of Random Desire by Greg Dulli.

                                                                            Greg Dulli

                                                                            Random Desire

                                                                            BMG Rights Management (US) LLC

                                                                              For the last 30 years, Greg Dulli, frontman of The Afghan Whigs and The Twilight Singers, has been the poet laureate of the bizarre whims and cruel tangents of desire. A foremost authority on the sell-your-soul rewards of carnal lust, the high voltage epiphanies of chemical enhancement, and the serotonin lows left in their wake.Therein lies Random Desire, the first solo album under Dulli’s own name.

                                                                              Random Desire started in the aftermath of the last Whigs record, 2017’s In Spades, which Pitchfork named one of the best rock records of the year, hailing it as a “heavy, menacing work of indie rock majesty…thrilling and unsettling.” Drummer Patrick Keeler was about to take a short sabbatical to record and tour with his other band, The Raconteurs. Dulli’s longtime collaborator, bassist John Curley went back to school, and there was the tragic death of the band’s guitarist, Dave Rosser.

                                                                              In response, Dulli returned to his teenage bedroom roots, finding musical inspiration via the model of one-man-band visionaries Prince and Todd Rundgren. The Los Angeles-by-way-of-Hamilton Ohio native wrote nearly every part of the record from piano lines to drums to bass riffs. As always, the music came first and the lyrics were completed later. Recording and writing way stations included his home in Silver Lake, the village of Crestline high up in the mountains above San Bernardino, and New Orleans. But the bulk was finished amidst the arid beauty and stark isolation of Joshua Tree (at the studio of engineer Christopher Thorne). Dulli handled most instrumentation, but an all-star cast of characters appear across the track-listing including The Whigs’ guitarist Jon Skibic and multi-instrumentalist Rick G. Nelson, Mathias Schneeberger (Twilight Singers), pedal steel wizard, upright bassist, and physician Dr. Stephen Patt, and drummer Jon Theodore (Queens of the Stone Age, The Mars Volta).

                                                                              Clocking in at a lean 37 minutes, Random Desire is a clinic put on by a veteran master operating at the height of his powers, offering evidence of the hard-fought and weary wisdom learned from setbacks and victories alike. A lucid, confident and self-assured document of the songs of experience, the perils of existence, and the possibilities that offer themselves anew with each breath. Another death and rebirth from an outlaw who has seen it all and somehow lived to tell.

                                                                              FORMAT INFORMATION

                                                                              Coloured LP Info: RSD stores exclusive coloured vinyl.

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                                                                              Cover of Izem Remixes by IZem.

                                                                              IZem

                                                                              Izem Remixes

                                                                              Heavenly Sweetness

                                                                                Global beats finest producer iZem gives a dancefloor spin to Les Frères Smiths’ afro funk tune “Ekolo” and Guts new song “L’Origine du Mond”. Two killer tracks for the dancefloor. Second EP from the 12inch series launched by Guts and his label Pura Vida Sounds, featuring beautiful artwork by cult artist Mambo.

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                                                                                Cover of Pop Story by Francis Lai.

                                                                                Francis Lai

                                                                                Pop Story

                                                                                FGL

                                                                                  In the wake of A Man and a Woman, whose original soundtrack revealed Francis Lai to the world in 1966, the composer immersed himself with delight in the rhythms of his times, surfing on a psychedelic tsunami of white-hot Jerks and Shakes.

                                                                                  With high-tension brass, diabolical rhythms and snatches of cousins in Carnaby Street, here we have a certain idea of pop à la Française, and the music’s brilliant colours sparkle with the skilled arranging of the great Christian Gaubert.

                                                                                  Do you like listening to Francis Lai? Now you can dance with him.

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                                                                                  Cover of Special Edition Part 1 by Fat Freddy's Drop.

                                                                                  Fat Freddy's Drop

                                                                                  Special Edition Part 1

                                                                                  The Drop

                                                                                    ‘Special Edition Part 1’ is the first release of a long envisaged double album project with separate chapters. The next journey, Part 2 will be released in 2020 after stringent road-testing with audiences over 35 shows across New Zealand, UK and Europe celebrating the release of the Part 1. These upcoming live performances will allow the band to fully explore new song-writing technology and give rise to a slamming Part 2.

                                                                                    The new album follows on from 2015’s ‘BAYS’ LP, which saw support from Financial Times, Resident Advisor, Dummy, the DJ Mag and Clash-acclaimed ‘Blackbird,’ second album ‘Dr Boondigga and the Big BW’ - which gained rave reviews by The Guardian and BBC Music - and the band’s record breaking debut album ‘Based on a True Story’, which went nine times platinum and remained in New Zealand’s top 40 charts for over two years after its release in 2005.

                                                                                    The album cover artwork is by Wellington artist Otis Chamberlain, a continuing evolution from his creation for the its first single ‘Trickle Down’, a work that's morphed from digital cover art to the band’s massive summer tour backdrop and the recently released late-night buttery steppers ‘Kamo Kamo’.

                                                                                    FORMAT INFORMATION

                                                                                    2xColoured LP Info: Indies exclusive coloured vinyl - 1 transparent vinyl and 1 2-tone purple vinyl.

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                                                                                    Cover of Night Drive by Chromatics.

                                                                                    Chromatics

                                                                                    Night Drive

                                                                                    Italians Do It Better

                                                                                    With a West Coast tour looming and problems with the recording (burnt singers, overheated tape reels, the final mix getting lost in the post etc), Chromatics' Johnny Jewel decided to run off a few demo CDs of "Night Drive" to sell at the band's shows anyway. However, as soon as the press and bloggers got hold of copies, the album became in overnight sensation. In need of money to get Italians Do It Better going (this was 2007 remember), and with big demand for copies, Jewel decided to release this demo version as a full album... Which is how it remained - until now! When that lost final mix finally turned up 18 months later (!), it was decided to remaster the whole production, add the tracks missed off the original demo CD copies and press up some vinyl too.

                                                                                    The record opens at the end of a long night with our heroine making a phone call to her lover. In the background through the muffled walls of a sweaty nightclub you can hear music playing. She drives to the coast to clear her head, with "Night Drive" on the car stereo. As the hi-hat attacks your speakers, her hair blows in the breeze. This is the opening of the record that continues to define Chromatics' unique sound. The music is drenched in reverb echoeing the death of hope and the price of nostalgia. The most powerful example of this is Chromatics daring take on the Kate Bush classic, "Running Up That Hill," a favorite amongst fans and critics alike. With ethereal songs like "Tomorrow Is So Far Away", "Tick Of The Clock", & "Let's Make This A Moment To Remember", they give the listener the space to breathe. We get a glimpse of their chequered past with the post punk sheen of Joy Division on "Healer".

                                                                                    The lost side of the album is dark and abstract. Opening with the almost funerial "Shining Violence". Where detuned analog synths collide and struggle to hang onto a fading melody. Followed by the sleeper hit, "Circled Sun", and the Vangelis-inspired reflection of life's duality in "The Gemini". "Night Drive" closes with an arpeggiated musical refrain from the beginning of side one. "Acelerator" reinterprates elements of the chord progression from "Night Drive" while leaning heavily on the gear shift. As painted lines in the road begin to strobe, Chromatics propels full speed ahead into an uncertain future.

                                                                                    FORMAT INFORMATION

                                                                                    2xColoured LP 2 Info: Ivory coloured vinyl repress.

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                                                                                    Cover of Plastic Bag / The Commune by Andy Bell.

                                                                                    Andy Bell

                                                                                    Plastic Bag / The Commune

                                                                                    Sonic Cathedral

                                                                                      The debut solo single from Ride’s Andy Bell. This is totally different from his techno material as GLOK and also his day job. Instead, the two songs are low-key, lo-fi, late-night lullabies. The A-side, ‘Plastic Bag’, fuses fizzing electronics with introspective Big Star ‘Third/Sister Lovers’ feels. Over on the flip, ‘The Commune’ is a meditative mantra that mixes up the Plastic Ono Band and ‘The Perfect Prescription’.

                                                                                      FORMAT INFORMATION

                                                                                      Ltd 7" Info: Limited edition clear vinyl 7”

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                                                                                      Cover of Golden Hair (live)’ (Part I) B/w ‘Golden Hair (live)’ (Part II) by Slowdive.

                                                                                      Slowdive

                                                                                      Golden Hair (live)’ (Part I) B/w ‘Golden Hair (live)’ (Part II)

                                                                                      Sonic Cathedral

                                                                                        This incredible live version of Syd Barrett’s adaptation of a James Joyce poem is quite simply one of the most moving and powerful pieces of music we‘ve ever heard. It’s so long – over nine minutes – that it had to split it into two parts to fit on a 7”. It was recorded soon after the band reformed back in 2014, but has been mixed and mastered this year by Slowdive frontman Neil Halstead and Heba Kadry respectively.

                                                                                        FORMAT INFORMATION

                                                                                        Ltd 7" Info: Limited edition gold vinyl 7”

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                                                                                        Cover of Caraiba / Invocation by Tumblack.

                                                                                        Tumblack

                                                                                        Caraiba / Invocation

                                                                                        Spaziale

                                                                                        A truly special reissue of a fantastic and incredibly rare Afro-disco 12” from 1978, Tumblack - 'Caraiba / Invocation'. Originally released on the seminal French disco label Barclay, you'd be hard pressed to even find an original copy in the UK, let alone for a reasonable price, so it's high time an officially licensed, remastered reissue came around.

                                                                                        Taking the A side of this EP Stefano Ritteri provides a “Spaziale Version” of 'Caraiba' that seamlessly blends elements of African, Afrobeat, Funk and Disco styles, with segments that continually morph and evolve into new tracks. Irresistibly funky and percussive drumming patterns and melodies hypnotise the listener, with only the occasional outbreak of African chanting breaking up the grooves.

                                                                                        The B-side contains the original version of “Invocation” that is effectively one long drum track broken down into 7 segments that never drop a beat alongside the original version of 'Caraiba' in all it's glory.

                                                                                        As EP's go, this really does take the listener on a journey to Africa, via 1978 New York, and is a true one of a kind. And for all those sample-spotters out there, there's no end of complex drum patterns and basslines to dive into.

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                                                                                        Cover of Seek & Find by Paul Rayner & Fevasoul.

                                                                                        Paul Rayner & Fevasoul

                                                                                        Seek & Find

                                                                                        CR2

                                                                                        Hitting the label's 15th year anniversary, Cr2 unleashes it's first of many releases to celebrate the occasion. Paul Rayner & FevaSoul's collab recorded in the 1990's 'Seek & Find' leads the campaign perfectly - 'Seek & Find' is a UK garage track laced with neatly done percussion shuffles, slick bass-lines backed by a leaning house vibe to sweep clubs off their feet.

                                                                                        After 20 years unreleased and stored on DAT, 'Seek & Find' has suddenly surged into a club powerhouse that has so far been championed by the likes of Prospa and the Slapfunk Records crew' Julian Alexander, Samuel Deep, Anril Aras - MC Feva, known for his work with the likes of Jeremy Sylvester and Acetate celebrates the release, saying It's 'Great for this to finally see the light of day. The reactions on the dance floors speaks for itself!'

                                                                                        With a career spanning for more than 25 years, MC Feva is joined by household name Paul Rayner, a veteran electronic music producer known for his remixes of a multitude of artists including Visage, Ysa Ferrer, Mel Merio, Spagna.

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                                                                                        Cover of Distance by Low Key.

                                                                                        Low Key

                                                                                        Distance

                                                                                        Sound Improvement

                                                                                        The long-awaited debut album from Marcin Cichy (Skalpel, Meeting by Chance) and Karol Wroblewski as Low Key.

                                                                                        These are post-electronic soundscapes immersed in modern songwriting with distant echoes of soulful 80's new wave, Peter Gabriel's world music and the inner structure of late Talk Talk.

                                                                                        The first Polish album on the Sound Improvement label – the local home of such acts as Tortoise, Mouse On Mars, The Sea and Cake, Röyksopp, Fever Ray, Toro Y Moi, Múm, Jagga Jazzist, Studio, Amon Tobin and many others.

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                                                                                        Cover of Maggot Brain by Third Man Books Present.

                                                                                        Third Man Books Present

                                                                                        Maggot Brain

                                                                                          Third Man Records is excited to announce Maggot Brain, a new, full-color quarterly edited by noted Detroit music scribe Mike McGonigal. Inside the Premiere Issue - Dec/Jan/Feb 2020:

                                                                                          Alice Coltrane, Swell Maps, Malls Across America, Mia Zapata, Dilla’s ‘Donuts’, Luc Sante, Vibrant Detroit Sign Painting, Mayakovsky, Index, Big Joanie, How To Resist Ice, Daniel Johnston, Les Filles Des Illeghidad, Swampfest, The KLF’s Greatest Pranks + More!

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                                                                                          Cover of Suddenly by Caribou.

                                                                                          Caribou

                                                                                          Suddenly

                                                                                          City Slang

                                                                                            In 2014 Dan Snaith aka Caribou released Our Love to overwhelming critical acclaim and massive fan support. Now Caribou returns with his seventh studio album Suddenly, an album about family and the changes we go though as those relationships evolve.

                                                                                            Suddenly is the most surprising and unpredictable Caribou album to date. Though it retains the trademark Caribou warmth and technicolour, this album is littered with swerves and left turns, and amazes with it’s yet unheard nuances, samples and hooks.

                                                                                            As Snaith puts it, “these albums are like photo albums for me – when I look back at the old ones, they’re a snapshot of my life at that time, full of people who are close to you”. This is the drive to continue to make Caribou albums. Full bodies of work where Snaith is able to evaluate things, look at those around him and celebrate them. As his passion and joy in music making remains as fresh as ever, Suddenly is the purest example of this yet.

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                                                                                            Cover of Change EP by Hercules & Love Affair.

                                                                                            Hercules & Love Affair

                                                                                            Change EP

                                                                                            Skint

                                                                                            After over ten years of Hercules & Love Affair, Andy Butler offers three reimagined versions of classic Hercules tunes and a piece of new music on the ‘Change EP’. Producer with current partner in crime Alec Storey (aka Second Storey), the two have been touring the Hercules catalogue with an approach that incorporates a proper dose of techno while duly engaging Storey’s penchant for breaks and intricate percussion work. Butler decided to put a few of these reworks out for DJs and dancefloors, offering the chance for these great Hercules moments to shine once again.

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                                                                                            Cover of Youth Stand United by Youth Stand Up.

                                                                                            Youth Stand Up

                                                                                            Youth Stand United

                                                                                            Autonomous Africa


                                                                                            In 2015, Optimo’s Autonomous Africa label released Youth Stand Up!, a triangular recording project hatched at Glasgow’s Green Door Studio that brought together young musicians from Belize, Ghana and Glasgow for ten tracks of cross-cultural collaboration. The result was an infectious cocktail of traditional Caribbean and West African rhythms, hip hop, highlife and Glaswegian post-punk, featuring contributions from Optimo Music regulars Golden Teacher and Whilst, among others.

                                                                                            The proceeds from that project went directly back to the youth groups in Ghana and Belize, helping the musicians from Ghana’s Tafi Cultural Institute build a recording studio and performance space in their village.

                                                                                            Two years later, a grant from Creative Scotland’s Open Fund spawned the sequel to Youth Stand Up!: Youth Stand United, recorded both at Green Door and at TCI’s new studio in Ghana (with Golden Teacher’s Laurie Pitt at the controls), and mixed by Green Door’s Stuart and Emily Evans.

                                                                                            Youth Stand United features backing tracks contributed by members of Golden Teacher, Pu$$y Mothers, Whilst, Kaputt, and Sordid Sound System, with vocals provided by the musicians from TCI. Over 6 songs, it oscillates from the left-field disco of Diloeshutubui to the Juju-electro odyssey of Gidi to the Joe-Meek-meets-William Onyeabor space age gospel pop of Nobody Knows.

                                                                                            Proceeds from Youth Stand United will go towards a scholarship fund for musicians from Tafi Atome, Ghana.

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                                                                                            Cover of The Kingdem EP by Kingdem.

                                                                                            Kingdem

                                                                                            The Kingdem EP

                                                                                            Tru Thoughts

                                                                                            Kingdem - Rodney P, Ty and Blak Twang, a brand new supergroup formed of UK hip-hop heavyweights and a trio who need little introducing.

                                                                                            London Posse affiliate and all-round Godfather of British hip-hop: Rodney P links up one of UK Black music’s true innovators and popularisers: Ty, and the original South-London colloquial hip-hop geezer: Blak Twang, to deliver a fresh future bass anthem that is rooted in their artists legacy to the UK hip-hop canon.

                                                                                            Fresh off the back of a powerful Fire In The Booth with Charlie Sloth (Beats 1) Kingdem fill in the missing chapters of UK hip-hop’s history: 'The UK hip-hop scene has gone way underground - so we set up Kingdem to let artists come up from behind us. We want the next generation to know that they don’t need to be chasing that grime sound, that rap sound. I think a lot of young people just don’t know we ever existed and assume that hip-hop in the UK started in the early ‘00s when grime came out', Rodney P explains. 'We made it easier for the grime scene to come out and use their own accents. We paved the way to make people have an understanding and respect of the UK accent, this UK vernacular in the music.'


                                                                                            FORMAT INFORMATION

                                                                                            Ltd 12" Info: Blue Vinyl

                                                                                            Ltd 12" includes MP3 Download Code.

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                                                                                            Cover of Squirrel And G-Man Twenty Four Hour Party People Plastic Face Carnt Smile (White Out) by Happy Mondays.

                                                                                            Happy Mondays

                                                                                            Squirrel And G-Man Twenty Four Hour Party People Plastic Face Carnt Smile (White Out)

                                                                                            London Records

                                                                                              Released in April 1987, the Happy Mondays debut album was a perfect snapshot of a very different kind of pop culture coming from beyond the fringes. It would be an underground album but a game changer. Produced by Velvet Underground legend, John Cale, this was the accidental sound track for the endless housing estates sailing away from Manchester City centre and into Salford-perfectly captured by this gang of misfits

                                                                                              With artwork lovingly replicated by original Manchester designers Central Station Design, this album is on vinyl for the first time since it’s original release.

                                                                                              Featured the singles “Tart Tart” and “24 Hour Party People”

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                                                                                              Cover of Pills 'N' Thrills And Bellyaches by Happy Mondays.

                                                                                              Happy Mondays

                                                                                              Pills 'N' Thrills And Bellyaches

                                                                                              London Records

                                                                                                Happy Mondays formed in 1980 and were signed by Tony Wilson to Factory Records.

                                                                                                While their first album 'Squirrel And G-Man' had been all ramshackle ramblings and jarring grooves, by their second album 'Bummed' they were already showing signs of what was to come on 'Pills and Thrills' with off kilter funky grooves carrying Sean's sneering nonsensicle lyrics. 

                                                                                                By 1990, 'Madchester' was in full swing, this was the time of the indie-dance crossover. Previously there had been a very distinct line drawn between these two genre's which was rarely (if ever) crossed, but rave culture and Ecstacy had erased such rigid barriers and with DJ Paul Oakenfold more dancefloor orientated production, the Mondays embraced this change and added loose (ok, yes, baggy) psychedelic grooves to their uncompromising lyrics and shady tales. This album (along with Primal Scream's 'Screamadelica') came to defined this indie-funk-psych-rave melding of genres and hedonistic scene perfectly. 

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                                                                                                Cover of Bummed by Happy Mondays.

                                                                                                Happy Mondays

                                                                                                Bummed

                                                                                                London Records

                                                                                                  Like many an influential album in rock history, the cultural significance of Happy Monday’ Bummed was apparent to precious few listeners upon its first release on 5 November 1988. Within a decade or two, Bummed would be hailed as one of the best records of the ’80s, often by the self-same publications that had slated it back in the day – a harbinger of the seismic shift about to take place in British popular music, away from the squeaky-clean, corporately ordained pop-radio fodder which had increasingly dominated the charts since punk, and back towards the more aggressive, unruly and experience-hungry urges which had always pulsed through rock ‘n’ roll.

                                                                                                  With artwork lovingly replicated by original Manchester designers Central Station Design, this album is on vinyl for the first time since it’s original release.

                                                                                                  Featured the singles “Wrote For Luck” and “Lazyitis - One Armed Boxer”

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                                                                                                  Cover of ...Yes Please! by Happy Mondays.

                                                                                                  Happy Mondays

                                                                                                  ...Yes Please!

                                                                                                  London Records

                                                                                                    The last Happy Mondays album on Factory Records- reaching no 14 in the UK chart. Produced by Talking Heads’ Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz. Artwork lovingly replicated by original Manchester designers Central Station Design.

                                                                                                    Featured the singles “Stinkin´ Thinkin”, “Sunshine & Love” and “Angel”

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                                                                                                    Cover of We’re New Again – A Re-imagining By Makaya McCraven by Gil Scott-Heron.

                                                                                                    Gil Scott-Heron

                                                                                                    We’re New Again – A Re-imagining By Makaya McCraven

                                                                                                    XL

                                                                                                      To mark the tenth anniversary of the release of I’m New Here, the thirteenth - and last - studio album from the legendary US musician, poet and author Gil Scott-Heron, XL Recordings will release a unique reinterpretation of the album by acclaimed US jazz musician Makaya McCraven. Titled We’re New Again, the album will be released on 7th February 2020; exactly a decade after the release of Scott-Heron’s original Richard Russell-produced recording. It’s set to follow in the footsteps of Jamie xx’s highly acclaimed 2011 remix album We’re New Here and will be McCraven’s first release of 2020, following the huge global acclaim heaped upon his 2018 album Universal Beings. One of the most vital new voices in modern jazz, McCraven is described by the New York Times as a "Chicago-based drummer, producer and beat maker, [who] has quietly become one of the best arguments for jazz’s vitality"

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                                                                                                      Cover of England Is A Garden by Cornershop.

                                                                                                      Cornershop

                                                                                                      England Is A Garden

                                                                                                      Ample Play

                                                                                                        “A Stones-gone-Purple riff forged in up-to-the-minute desperation and an empowering memory of the heavy music that soundtracked Midlands life when Singh and Ayres first connected at college in Preston, Lancashire.” David Fricke, Rolling Stone, USA

                                                                                                        In the latest of a series of albums that have mirrored the exceptional story of the band itself, Cornershop return with a new album ‘England Is A Garden’ on March 6th 2020 on Ample Play Records. It is an album that strides in an upbeat fashion, to deliver a full listening experience, bringing songs of experience, empire, protest and humour, steeped in the way only Tjinder Singh would come with.

                                                                                                        Listen to a first taste of the album now, ‘No Rock: Save In Roll’, that is to say that there is not one without the other, that rock, for all its focus on death is the saviour of life.

                                                                                                        The anvil here is music itself, and a celebration of Tjinder’s birth place - The Black Country, which also gave birth to heavy metal that has gone on to influence the world to dirty rock, whether the streets are lined with pylons or palm trees, the Black Country has allowed us to see things differently.

                                                                                                        So the sound here goes back to Englands’ Midlands with two thumbs up to the feeling of hearing heavy metal from the back of a stage, as we all ride on and await the female backing vocals of our song to come in.

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                                                                                                        Cover of Courtney Barnett MTV Unplugged by Courtney Barnett.

                                                                                                        Courtney Barnett

                                                                                                        Courtney Barnett MTV Unplugged

                                                                                                        Marathon Artists

                                                                                                          On October 22nd 2019 Courtney Barnett performed a unique and special show at the invitation of MTV in her hometown of Melbourne.

                                                                                                          The “Unplugged” performance features Barnett as you’ve never heard her before, warm, vulnerable and emotional, performing a stirring set of eight songs to an intimate audience including “Depreston”, “Avant Gardner” and “Sunday Roast”.

                                                                                                          Joined by her usual band Dave Mudie and Bones Sloane, she also enlisted cellist Lucy Waldron.

                                                                                                          Barnett made the night even more iconic by inviting some of her favourite musicians to collaborate including legendary songwriter Paul Kelly, angelically-voiced New Zealander Marlon Williams and Milk! Records label-mate Evelyn Ida Morris.

                                                                                                          The performances include covers of Leonard Cohen, Archie Roach and Seeker Lover Keeper as well as a never-before-heard original track from Courtney herself titled "Play It On Repeat".



                                                                                                          FORMAT INFORMATION

                                                                                                          Coloured LP Info: Aqua blue vinyl.

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                                                                                                          Cover of Bjørn Torske / Prins Thomas Remix by Yoshinori Hayashi.

                                                                                                          Yoshinori Hayashi

                                                                                                          Bjørn Torske / Prins Thomas Remix

                                                                                                          Smalltown Supersound

                                                                                                            The Tokyo based producer Yoshinori Hayashi releases a new 12inch with remixes from Bjørn Torske and Prins Thomas. These are the first remixes of his debut LP, Ambivalence, from 2018. Hayashi has studied under Japanese avant-classical composer Mica Nozawa. When not DJing, he works in a record store in Tokyo. Thus far, Hayashi has released a string of 12”s on labels including Going Good Records, Jinn Records, Lovers Rock, Gravity Grafitti and Moscoman’s Disco Halal. Previous work by Hayashi has been called “a complex patchwork of studio gear, live instruments, dusty jazz records and smartly cut library sounds, whose textures are soft and inviting. But its arrangements are constantly ruffled, squeezed, brushed and pinched—which is to say, nothing stays still for long” (Resident Advisor).

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                                                                                                            Cover of Shir Khan Presents Black Jukebox 29 by Phonk D.

                                                                                                            Phonk D

                                                                                                            Shir Khan Presents Black Jukebox 29

                                                                                                            Exploited

                                                                                                            Phonk D lands on Exploited with a takeover of their now-legendary Black Jukebox series. Serving up 4 killer dancefloor cuts, he’s got the weapons you need for the months ahead.

                                                                                                            The supremely funky ‘Work Dance’ makes great use of dramatic horn blasts as off-beat bass pumps and stomps all over the place. Twanging guitars licks accentuate the groove further. Chunky drum fills punctuate the rhythms and tumbling congas keep things rolling as vocal cuts command you to ‘dance!’

                                                                                                            Head directly to ‘Facelift’ for some glorious strings, cascading romantically over snappy ‘90s house vibe beats. Undulating bass perfectly complements these cute motifs, making for a track that falls somewhere between ‘sorrowful’ and ‘triumphant’ on the mood board. Throw in some glistening harp scales and you’ve got yourself a winner.

                                                                                                            ‘Never Walked Away’ is a tense stomper that focuses around a filtering soul vocal loop with some sustained strings cooked into it. The shuffling beats and relentless bass are supporting by detuned piano chords, increasing the hypnotically looping feel.

                                                                                                            ‘Get Ready’ teases with more warped piano before unleashing a loose funk b-line and dubby vocal snippets. Sweet guitar licks weave around the slinky bassline, this understated track making a deep and balmy finale for this great EP. 

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                                                                                                            Cover of Parasite (Original Motion Picture) by Jung Jae II.

                                                                                                            Jung Jae II

                                                                                                            Parasite (Original Motion Picture)

                                                                                                            Sacred Bones

                                                                                                              “The script for Parasite begins as follows: “Dark and hopeful music plays.” For a long time, I contemplated whether this piece of music could actually exist. Director Bong (Joon-ho) and I began with a sound that could permeate through the entire film and progress with focus. What is the one singular tone that can accompany emotions ranging from the most trivial humiliation to the extremities of murder, express all sorts of chaos, and embody the exhilaration of speed, or peace, or loneliness, or messy and dirty situations?

                                                                                                              I thought that a string orchestra could express these various narratives with one consistent tone — the elegant and refined sounds of baroque music, grotesque and neurotic sounds of contemporary music reminiscent of Penderecki or Ligeti, sounds used to heighten emotions in many films, and violin and cello sounds that carry the bleakness of wandering nomads. In terms of the melody, it was structured as a repetition of ascension and descent as the Kim family ascends to the rich house only to descend back to their poor home and further below to the dreadful bunker hidden beneath the Park family’s basement.

                                                                                                              The final music that closes the film is “Soju One Glass.” Director Bong said that he wants the audience to crave a shot of soju as they leave the theater after watching the film. Soju, the cheapest Korean liquor, has been with the joys and sorrows of everyday Koreans for decades. I think he wanted the audience to leave the theater feeling bitter after facing the pain and helplessness of reality, woeful from Ki-woo’s impossible dream, and wanting to release the inexplicable frustration and disquiet this movie brings. To paint a picture of Ki-woo drinking soju while mulling over his unattainable dream, sleeping on the streets, and waking up to a lonely morning, the actor Choi Woo-shik sang the song himself and Director Bong wrote the lyrics.

                                                                                                              I haphazardly recorded the song with my guitar after sleeping on my studio floor, and I couldn’t recreate the rough recording’s sense of misery and shabbiness in the actual recording studio, so we ended up just using the demo version. I hope you enjoy the music. Thank you.” — Jung Jae Il

                                                                                                              FORMAT INFORMATION

                                                                                                              Coloured LP Info: Green grass coloured vinyl.

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                                                                                                              Cover of Max Brown – Part 1 by Jeff Parker & The New Breed.

                                                                                                              Jeff Parker & The New Breed

                                                                                                              Max Brown – Part 1

                                                                                                              International Anthem

                                                                                                                On December 2nd, composer and multi-instrumentalist Jeff Parker releases a 7” single featuring parts one and two of his latest, “Max Brown.” The track is a sneak peek of Parker’s new album, a full-length follow-up to his critically lauded 2016 International Anthem LP The New Breed, which will be released in late January of 2020. Further details on the new album to be announced at the top of the year.

                                                                                                                “Max Brown” was produced by Parker alongside Paul Bryan, who also plays bass; additional featured are Josh Johnson (known for work with Kiefer, Leon Bridges) on alto sax, Nate Walcott (Bright Eyes, M. Ward) on trumpet, and Jamire Williams (Moses Sumney, Solange) on drums. A video for the track, directed by interdisciplinary artist Mikel Patrick Avery, also debuts December 2nd.



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                                                                                                                Cover of Sings The Hits Of Moshi Moshi Records by The Social Singing Choir.

                                                                                                                The Social Singing Choir

                                                                                                                Sings The Hits Of Moshi Moshi Records

                                                                                                                Moshi Moshi

                                                                                                                  We first came across the choir in 2017 when we booked them to play Caring Is Creepy in Margate. The choir was a new thing then and a little rough around the edges (I initially wondered if it was a cover for mid-week drinking by some of Margate’s mums, and for that I sincerely apologise). It seemed like a nice idea to ask them to cover some Moshi Moshi songs to mark our 20th birthday celebrations but we never dreamed they would come out sounding as good as they have. Much of the credit for that must go to the expert guidance of choir master Hughie Gavin who arranged and directed the recordings and took these songs in some deeply moving and unexpected directions, with some additional help in the mix from Margate resident Adem Ilan. This has been one of our most joyous releases in recent years and maybe just the start of a wonderful working relationship.

                                                                                                                  Margate's Social Singing Choir was formed in 2017 with a simple idea, no auditions, no need of previous experience, just a place in the community to sing some awesome songs together and have a good time. The choir has performed shows at Dreamland, Margate Pride and the Turner Prize, as well as recording vocals for Swim Deep's album 'Emerald Classics'.

                                                                                                                  A quote from Stephen Bass of Moshi Moshi –

                                                                                                                  “I have a love of weird, perhaps not necessarily cool covers of songs, Acid Brass, Sonic Youth covering the Carpenters, Langley Schools Project doing David Bowie, Howard Marbern's cover of I Want You Back, Trinidad Steel Drummers covering Cissy Strut, Los Angeles Gay Men's Chorus doing Benny and the Jets (if ever you need cheering up please watch this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQvj4dy9pPc). I am not even sure who came up with the idea for this but as soon as you hear the choir covering these songs it works so well... hits the right spots, fun and emotive at the same time”.

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                                                                                                                  Cover of Revel In The Drama by Ren Harvieu.

                                                                                                                  Ren Harvieu

                                                                                                                  Revel In The Drama

                                                                                                                  Bella Union

                                                                                                                    Harvieu’s defiance against the odds and her willingness to lay herself open to make what she believed was within her is baked into every groove of the record, across every stylistic turn: the giddy pop of ‘Strange Thing’, the gothic swoon of ‘Cruel Disguise’, the smokey seductiveness of ‘Yes Please’ through to the stirring torchsong finale ‘My Body She Is Alive’.

                                                                                                                    Harvieu has come a long way from the 17-year-old who was signed to Island Records and who had no intention of becoming a singer-songwriter. Even when she made her debut album “Through The Night”, her confidence was low. “I did help write a few of the songs on that record, which I’m still very fond of, but I felt more of a mouthpiece for someone else’s talent, which eats away at you especially because I had so much to say lyrically I just hadn’t learnt how to as yet.”

                                                                                                                    Her injury - a broken spine following “a freak accident” between recording and releasing her debut album - undermined Harvieu even further. Likewise, Island parted ways with her six months after it’s release, despite a Top 5 chart entry, making the BBC’s Sound Of 2012, a 5-star live review from The Guardian and TV exposure. What followed was what Harvieu describes as “some very dark years” which she addresses in songs like ‘Spirit Me Away’ and the 50’s ballad-evoking ‘You Don’t Know Me.’ A split with her long term partner, her manager and then her beloved Salford. “In one fell swoop everything was gone. I knew I had to get away, start again, rebuild myself.”

                                                                                                                    It wasn’t until 2015 to be exact, when she met Romeo Stodart, the Magic Numbers frontman and songwriter who had emailed after seeing her perform on Later… With Jools Holland, to ask if she’d consider writing together. “When we started, the energy was immediately different to anyone I’d worked with before, there was this insane instant musical connection” she says. “I loved that Romeo really embraced who I was and encouraged it, I was starting to realise that I didn’t have to be anything other than myself.”

                                                                                                                    The pair spent the next two years co-writing: “I wasn’t in a massive hurry, because at last I was having fun” Harvieu says. ‘We’d stay up all night drinking, dancing and playing music, I felt like I was re-discovering a girl who had been hidden, quietened. I’d tell Romeo, I don’t just want to paint pretty pictures I want to revel in the drama of my life, the good and the bad, before I was afraid to say something in my lyrics, but no longer. I felt free.”

                                                                                                                    The album was co-produced by Romeo Stodart and Dave Izumi Lynch, owner of Echo Zoo studio in Eastbourne where recording took place. “It was a truly magical experience working with Dave & Romeo, they are two absolute nurturing musical wizards.” says Harvieu.

                                                                                                                    Harvieu’s lyrical confidence is evident throughout the album and has you leaning in to absorb line after line. Her voice, soaring and caressing in equal measure, is matched in force by her flirtatious personality. From the album’s opening lyric “Let me put my paws on you, strange thing’through to the feminine bite of ‘Curves And Swerves’ “I’ve got some curves and some swerves, what you gonna do about it?” which crackles with sexual tension and an aching vulnerability.

                                                                                                                    Among Harvieu’s new songs are messages of hope to her younger, anxious self. To the teenage goth Ren in ‘Little Raven’, she says: “I want you to know, that I’m starting to feel, but its gonna take time, but I’m ready to heal”. ‘Tomorrow Girl Today’ is to the Ren “who would make bad decisions… we can all be very self-destructive, but will we make it this time?”

                                                                                                                    So what now, Ren Harvieu? “I’ve created a second chance for myself“ she says. “And I will keep creating second chances for myself, because this is my life and I’m not afraid to revel in it anymore.” Revel In the Drama of Ren Harvieu - finally we all can too.

                                                                                                                    FORMAT INFORMATION

                                                                                                                    Coloured LP Info: indies-only clear vinyl

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                                                                                                                    Cover of Nine Emotions by Yorkston / Thorne / Khan.

                                                                                                                    Yorkston / Thorne / Khan

                                                                                                                    Nine Emotions

                                                                                                                    Domino

                                                                                                                      Navarasa : Nine Emotions is the trio’s third record. The first fruits of their fantastic expedition entitled Everything Sacred appeared in 2016. The second, Neuk Wight Delhi All-Stars, followed in 2017. Navarasa : Nine Emotions takes their journey many, many leagues on.

                                                                                                                      At the heart of YTK’s transporting new album is the subcontinent’s navarasa; the nine (nava) emotions or sentiments (rasa) of the arts. This central unifying underpinning is a centuries-old organising principle. The individual artistic emotions range from Shringara (love, beauty) through Hasya (laughter, mirth, comedy), Raudra (anger), Karuna (sorrow, compassion or mercy), Bibhatsya (disgust), Bhayanaka (horror, terror), Veera (heroism, courage), Adbutha (surprise, wonder) to Shanta (peace, tranquillity).

                                                                                                                      Each song on YTK’s new album is connected to one of these emotions, and the first track to be shared from Navarasa : Nine Emotions is “Westlin’ Winds”, paired with Adbutha.

                                                                                                                      “Westlin’ Winds” starts with the life-destroying Act I of Robert Burns’ poem ‘Now Westlin Winds, (And Slaught’ring Guns)’ and deliciously transplants its disjoined, nature-extolling and life-affirming Act II onto Indian soil with a composition “in Purbi, a specific dialect of old Hindi. I learnt the song,” says Suhail, “by listening to various qawwali [Muslim devotional song] singers singing at Hazrat Nizammuddin’s dargah [shrine] in Delhi. Its source is Hazrat Amir Khusrau.” Thus YTK unite one of the key spiritual visionaries and architects of Hindustani art music, the poet-philosopher Hazrat Amir Khusrau with the key literary visionary of Scottish and Scots-language culture, Robert Burns.

                                                                                                                      This bricolage of diverse cross-cultural elements is apparent across Navarasa : Nine Emotions and all of what YTK create. James Yorkston weaves in Scottish folk, sangster and literary strands. Jon Thorne is grounded in jazz and groove. What the New Delhi-based, eighth-generation hereditary musician Suhail Yusuf Khan brings to this feast of pulses and cycles is northern Indian classical, light classical (thumri, for example) and Sufi devotional musical and literary forms. What binds these diverse musical strands together is, in James’ phrase, “a dark happiness”.

                                                                                                                      Yorkston/Thorne/Khan will play a special album launch show at Glasgow’s Celtic Connections before their own UK headline tour in March.

                                                                                                                      FORMAT INFORMATION

                                                                                                                      2xColoured LP Info: 2 x DARK GREEN coloured standard weight vinyl

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                                                                                                                      Cover of Mystic Familiar by Dan Deacon.

                                                                                                                      Dan Deacon

                                                                                                                      Mystic Familiar

                                                                                                                      Domino

                                                                                                                        With Mystic Familiar, Dan gives us the result of years of obsessive work, play, and self-discovery. It’s at once his most emotionally open record and his most transcendent, 11 kaleidoscopic tracks of majestic synth-pop that exponentially expand his sound with unfettered imagination and newfound vulnerability.

                                                                                                                        Since 2015’s Gliss Riffer, Deacon has branched out into an array of collaborative projects including film scores to Rat Film, HBO’sWell Groomed, ESPN’s30 for 30: Subject to Review; collaborating with the NYCBallet’s resident choreographer Justin Peck, LAPhil and Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.

                                                                                                                        While fulfilling, these projects lacked Dan’s singing voice. In the midst of that whirlwind of activity, he returned whenever he could to a personal oasis⁠—the songs that would become Mystic Familiar, informed by all these collaborations but built from within. Deacon’s writing took an exploratory new direction developed with therapeutic practices of self-compassion and mindfulness, daily prompts from Brian Eno’s deck of Oblique Strategies and the use of meditation. These techniques produced songs that paint life as a psychedelic journey brimming with bliss and disruption, darkness and light.

                                                                                                                        It’s a vulnerable shift in a songbook abundant with characters, metaphors, and modulations. This voice-focused album is also the first record in which each song was built around one central concept—the Mystic Familiar, a supernatural other being that we carry with us everywhere in our head, which only we can hear and with whom we live our lives in eternal conversation.

                                                                                                                        Mystic Familiar takes a propulsive leap with the robot-performed drums and soaring melodies of “Sat By a Tree.” Lyrically, the song conjures campfire reflections on key memories with the hard-won clarity of time, a dialogue with an anthropomorphic tree on chilling out, and befores and afters of life and death. The video, directed by Daren Rabinovitch offilm and animation studioEncyclopedia Pictura and starring comedian Aparna Nancherla, uses natural world elements, vivid colors, and a cartoon-like aesthetic to reflect on time and the precious shortness of life (not for those with an aversion to bugs).


                                                                                                                        FORMAT INFORMATION

                                                                                                                        Coloured LP Info: limited edition silver coloured vinyl

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                                                                                                                        Cover of The Night Chancers by Baxter Dury.

                                                                                                                        Baxter Dury

                                                                                                                        The Night Chancers

                                                                                                                        Heavenly Recordings

                                                                                                                          Failed Fashionistas, Instagram voyeurs, jilted Romeos, reeking insecurity, the willingly self deluded, the comically unware, the Night Chancers… “Baxter Loves You” The album was co - produced by long time collaborator Craig Silvey (Arcade Fire, John Grant, Artic Monkeys) and Baxter, and was recorded at Hoxa studios West Hampstead in May 2019.

                                                                                                                          From thrilling affairs that dissolve into sweaty desperation (Night Chancers) to the absurd bloggers, fruitlessly clinging to the fag ends of the fashion set (Sleep People), via soiled real life (Slum Lord) social media – enabled stalkers (I’m not Your Dog) and new day, sleep – deprived optimism (Daylight), the record’s finely drawn vignettes, are all based on the corners of world Dury has visited.

                                                                                                                          Baxter says “Night Chancers is about being caught out in your attempt at being free”, it’s about someone leaving a hotel room at three in the morning. You’re in a posh room with big Roman taps and all that, but after they go suddenly all you can hear is the taps dripping, and all you can see the debris of the night is around you. Then suddenly a massive party erupts, in the room next door. This happened to me and all I  Could hear was the night chancer, the hotel ravers”.



                                                                                                                          FORMAT INFORMATION

                                                                                                                          Coloured LP Info: Crystal clear vinyl.

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                                                                                                                          Cover of The Comforts Of Madness by Pale Saints.

                                                                                                                          Pale Saints

                                                                                                                          The Comforts Of Madness

                                                                                                                          4AD

                                                                                                                            Deluxe double CD & LP formats include unreleased demos & 1989 John Peel Session.

                                                                                                                            On the eve of a post-Thatcherite Britain, the Pale Saints, alongside the likes of Lush, Ride and Slowdive, were ushering in a new wave of British indie. And in 4AD, they found a perfect home for their music - an exciting & undeniable meld of noise and dream-pop.

                                                                                                                            Their debut album, The Comforts of Madness, didn’t disappoint, now standing as one of the best of its era. Pitchfork placed it in their Best 50 Shoegaze Albums Of All Time saying, “There’s a restless urgency, particularly when the volume swells and the rhythms intensify. That energy not only keeps (it) vital, it emphasizes Pale Saints’ inventiveness, how they channelled softness and rage into something distinctive.”

                                                                                                                            Nearly 30 years on and The Comforts of Madness is finally getting the reissue treatment. Having been remastered, a faithful LP repress on black vinyl is being released as well as double CD and double clear vinyl editions, both of which come with a bonus disc of previously unreleased demos and the band’s only John Peel Session, recorded in 1989.

                                                                                                                            FORMAT INFORMATION

                                                                                                                            Coloured LP Info: Clear double vinyl.

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                                                                                                                            Cover of Texas Sun by Khruangbin & Leon Bridges.

                                                                                                                            Khruangbin & Leon Bridges

                                                                                                                            Texas Sun

                                                                                                                            Dead Oceans

                                                                                                                              Driving anywhere in Texas can cost you half a day, easy. For example, it’ll take you over four hours just to get from R&B singer Leon Bridges’ hometown of Fort Worth down to Houston, where the psychedelic wanderers in Khruangbin hail from. The state is vast, crisscrossed with rugged expanses of road flanked by limestone cliffs and granite mountains, forests of pine and mesquite, miles of desert or acres of sprawling grassland, all depending on what part you’re in. And it’s all baking under the Texas Sun that lends its name to Bridges and Khruangbin’s new collaborative EP.

                                                                                                                              “Big sky country, that’s what they call Texas,” Khruangbin bassist Laura Lee says. “The horizon line goes all the way from one side to another without interruption. There’s something really comforting about that.”

                                                                                                                              On Texas Sun, these two members of the state’s musical vanguard meet up somewhere in the middle of that scene, in the mythical nexus of Texas’ past, present, and future—a dreamy badlands where genres blur as seamlessly as the terrain. It calls equally to the cowboys bootscooting at Billy Bob’s in Fort Worth, the chopped-and-screwed hip-hop fans rattling slabs on the southside of Houston, the art-school kids dropping acid in Austin, the cross-cultural progeny who grew up on listening to both mariachi and post-hardcore out on the Mexican borders of El Paso. All of these things, overlapping in a multicolored melange, purple hues as vivid and unpredictable as one of the state’s rightfully celebrated sunsets.

                                                                                                                              A journey through homesick reminiscences, backseat romances, and late-night contemplations, the kind of record made for listening with the windows down and the road humming softly beneath you. Like the highways that inspired it, Texas Sun is guaranteed to get you where you’re going—especially if you’re in no particular hurry to get there.

                                                                                                                              FORMAT INFORMATION

                                                                                                                              Coloured LP Info: First pressing on limited translucent orange vinyl.

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                                                                                                                              Cover of Sheldonian / Live / EP by Gaz Coombes.

                                                                                                                              Gaz Coombes

                                                                                                                              Sheldonian / Live / EP

                                                                                                                              Hot Fruit

                                                                                                                                Gaz Coombes announces the upcoming release of his ‘Sheldonian Live EP’. The EP consists of four songs recorded live at the Oxford Sheldonian earlier this year and is to be released on 20th December on digital and vinyl.

                                                                                                                                The EP comes following his charity concert at the Sheldonian Theatre to mark the 350th anniversary of Christopher Wren’s iconic building. Gaz performed a bespoke set with an orchestral arrangement with Luke Lewis conducting. All proceeds from the concert were donated to two local charities, Yellow Submarine of which supports people with learning difficulties, and the Young Women’s Music Project (YWMP) with Suzy Bowtell of the charity opening the show.

                                                                                                                                Previously, Gaz released his album ‘World’s Strongest Man’ back in 2018 which was the follow up to 2015’s ‘Matador’ – a record conceived, recorded and mixed in the studio equivalent of solitary confinement. It transported Gaz from ‘former Supergrass frontman’ to hugely respected Mercury and Ivor Novello nominated solo artist in the space of ten months. After this came ‘Salamander’, the first release after the highly acclaimed album. The track was written and recorded by Gaz at his Oxford studio, co-produced alongside long-time collaborator Ian Davenport, and featured guest performances from members of his incredible touring band.


                                                                                                                                FORMAT INFORMATION

                                                                                                                                Coloured LP Info: Turquoise (transparent) Vinyl.

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                                                                                                                                Cover of Out Of My Province by Nadia Reid.

                                                                                                                                Nadia Reid

                                                                                                                                Out Of My Province

                                                                                                                                Spacebomb Records

                                                                                                                                  No one ever got anywhere by standing still. As an artist, you must move to grow. It’s a sentiment Nadia Reid knows well. Leaving her beloved New Zealand for America to record her third album with strangers, what she didn’t expect was a family awaiting her; teaming up with Spacebomb, her evocative travel tales push explorations of love, personal growth and deep reflection beyond boundaries she ever thought possible.

                                                                                                                                  Out of My Province further marks Nadia’s wildly expanding trajectory, this time from outside her comfort zone. Nadia packed up for Spacebomb studios in Richmond, Virginia with long-term “musical rock” and guitarist Sam Taylor. They were joined by joined by the Spacebomb house band - Cameron Ralston (electric and upright bass), Brian Wolfe (drums) Daniel Clarke (organ, piano, and keys), and producer Trey Pollard, who would arrange strings, horns, piano and Rhodes to give the album a depth in sound Nadia had always imagined. “As an artist, progression is key. I want to always be changing, pushing boundaries, to feel growth. It’s good for us,” Reid says.

                                                                                                                                  “Out of My Province is definitely a travelling album; they are road songs,” tells Nadia, written during a period of intensive touring following the release of her critically acclaimed LP, Preservation. “I felt inspired while I was moving and playing most nights. Sometimes good. Sometimes hard – there was this term I came up with called ‘digging for gold’ where some nights, you’d need to dig deeper for that feeling. During that time I felt really alive and useful.”

                                                                                                                                  Completed back home in her hometown of Dunedin, first single “Best Thing” is a "song is about relationships, childhood and nostalgia. It is about intimate love and about the love between a mother and a daughter." The video was directed by Charlotte Evans and shot on film in locations around her neighbourhood including Tunnel Beach, the Railway Station and Botanic Gardens, starting at 6 AM in wintertime. "Dunedin is full of places that will flaw you with its natural beauty." reveals Reid, whose new songs act like postcards back to Port Chalmers.

                                                                                                                                  The album takes its title from an interview with one of Nadia’s favourite New Zealand authors, the late Janet Frame, in which the interviewer asks if she has considered the supposition that she is one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century, to which Frame uncomfortably replies, "That question doesn't reach me. It's out of my province." Explains Nadia, “I was so moved by her response for some reason. I am enamoured by her books. I can re-read them at any time and take such comfort from them. So ever since... out of my province. That phrase has never left me.”


                                                                                                                                  FORMAT INFORMATION

                                                                                                                                  Dinked Edition LP Info: Dinked Sticker.
                                                                                                                                  Gold Foil Numbered.
                                                                                                                                  Alternative outer artwork with pink back sleeve.
                                                                                                                                  Pink with white edge splatter vinyl exclusive to Dinked.
                                                                                                                                  Limited to 400.

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                                                                                                                                  Cover of Captive by Lee Perry.

                                                                                                                                  Lee Perry

                                                                                                                                  Captive

                                                                                                                                  Roots Vibration

                                                                                                                                    1978 tune by living reggae legend Lee Perry. Captive revealed the continual enslavement of black people in the West, calling for mental and spiritual liberation. The Upsetters dub it on the B-side. Full colour vinyl sleeve. Licensed from Lee Scratch Perry. Remastered by Equus. Edition of 500. 

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                                                                                                                                    Cover of Strength & Power by The Uplifters.

                                                                                                                                    The Uplifters

                                                                                                                                    Strength & Power

                                                                                                                                    Roots Vibration

                                                                                                                                      Canadian rarity available again on 7". The Uplifter were a duo that consist of vocalists Egbert Dennis and Marcel Williams. Heavy bass on this one & wicked dub. "I beg you don't stop!" Full colour vinyl sleeve. Licensed from King Culture. Remastered by Equus. Edition of 500. 

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                                                                                                                                      Cover of Yellowcake by Lumerians.

                                                                                                                                      Lumerians

                                                                                                                                      Yellowcake

                                                                                                                                      Fuzz Club

                                                                                                                                        Throughout their career, Oakland’s Lumerians have consistently been a shape-shifting psychedelic force, traversing krautrock, drone, dub and jazz in their quest to create truly cosmic music. Hot off the heels of their 2018 album Call Of The Void’, the band’s dizzying space-rock opus, Lumerians have stripped things back to their raw fundamentals with the single ‘Yellowcake’. ‘Yellowcake’ sees the band trim away the fat in favour of a highly-focused psychedelic garage rock jam. Winding, contorted guitars meld with motorik drums and a rumbling bassline that stretches out into eternity. Driven by the axe wizardry of Jason Miller and Tyler Green, atop the track’s skeleton they constantly spin webs of claustrophobic Contortions-esque guitar flourishes. The single is, in the words of the band, “about someone waiting on a train platform before sunrise to go to work, staring at the city and fantasizing about what it would be like if a nuclear bomb went off." The lyrics are ambiguous at best, delivered by a careless Damo Suzuki-esque whisper from deep within the track’s dense soundscape, but the chaotic darkness of the song is on the surface for all to hear. The B-side is ‘C Rock’, an angular, krautrock-inflected cover of the 1977 song of the same name by Italian synth-pop/post-punk combo Chrisma

                                                                                                                                        FORMAT INFORMATION

                                                                                                                                        7" Info: Limited to only 300 copies.

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                                                                                                                                        Cover of Festival Compilation (Fuzz Club Eindhoven 2018) by Various Artists.

                                                                                                                                        Various Artists

                                                                                                                                        Festival Compilation (Fuzz Club Eindhoven 2018)

                                                                                                                                        Fuzz Club

                                                                                                                                          As With all Fuzz Club titles, this is for Indies Only. Fuzz Club Eindhoven 2018 - Festival Compilation. 

                                                                                                                                          Compilation album made especially for the Fuzz Club Eindhoven festival and includes lots of previously unreleased tracks, remixes and cover songs from bands that took part in the festival. Including Kikagaku Moyo, The Warlocks, Whispering Sons, The Telescopes, Snapped Ankles, Teeth Of The Sea and more. Triple record with 180g coloured vinyl in a heavy trifold sleeve and printed inner sleeves. This record is almost a kilo! Limited to 500 copies. 

                                                                                                                                          FORMAT INFORMATION

                                                                                                                                          3xLP Info: Available on 3x180 gram coloured vinyl.

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                                                                                                                                          Cover of The Private Memoirs And Confessions Of The Just Joans by Just Joans.

                                                                                                                                          Just Joans

                                                                                                                                          The Private Memoirs And Confessions Of The Just Joans

                                                                                                                                          Fika Recordings

                                                                                                                                            Acerbic yet winsome Scottish indiepoppers The Just Joans return with the dazzlingly maudlin The Private Memoirs and Confessions of the Just Joans, a deeply personal collection of songs that hazily recall the past and contemplate the futility of the future. A titular twist on the classic gothic horror novel The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner by compatriot James Hogg, the new album is the follow-up to 2017’s You Might Be Smiling Now… and contains the kind of melodies and mockery that led Uncut to class the band as the point at which “Stephin Merritt lies down with The Vaselines.” At the forefront remain the mischievous lyrics and heartfelt vocals of siblings David and Katie Pope, aided and abetted by Chris Elkin on lead guitar, Fraser Ford on bass guitar and Jason Sweeney on drums. Yet it is the recruitment of multi-instrumentalist Arion Xenos and guest appearance of Butcher Boy’s Alison Eales to arrange strings that have helped elevate the band’s music to new heights. Their progression is most noticeable on lead single “Dear Diary, I Died Again today”, a painfully beautiful admission of everyday anxiety and “When Nietzsche Calls”, the triumphant cry of a spurned lover revelling in the misery of their ex to a backdrop of trumpets and violins.

                                                                                                                                            The juxtaposition of the fragility shown in these tracks with the menace of “Wee Guys (Bobby’s Got A Punctured Lung)” – an observation and understanding of the casual violence that once cast a shadow over the band’s hometown – highlights The Just Joans’ ability to seamlessly flip between sensitivity and danger, and sums up why Highway Queens described them as the “perfect Glasgow kiss.” The Private Memoirs and Confessions of the Just Joans is a veritable smorgasbord of misery, longing and unrequited love; stories of small town resentments, half-forgotten school friends, failing relationships and awkward workplace conversations. As David explains: “It’s a collection torn from the pages of the diary I haven’t kept over the past 25 years. There are songs about places and people I vaguely remember, feelings I think that I once may have felt and the onset of middle-aged ennui.” Despite entering new territory with the addition of brass and strings, they have nevertheless maintained the DIY ethos that made them darlings of the underground indie-pop scene, with each song on the album recorded and produced by the band in various gloomy bedrooms around Glasgow. “The Just Joans have documented the romantic pratfalls of a generation of indie kids with a sardonic wit and a shambling musical style where Stephin Merritt lies down with The Vaselines” 

                                                                                                                                            FORMAT INFORMATION

                                                                                                                                            LP includes MP3 Download Code.

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                                                                                                                                            Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith - Tides

                                                                                                                                            Kaitlyn Aurelia SmithTides

                                                                                                                                            Jim Noir - A.M Jazz

                                                                                                                                            Jim NoirA.M Jazz

                                                                                                                                            Uncle Tupelo - Anodyne - Coloured Vinyl Edition

                                                                                                                                            Uncle TupeloAnodyne - Coloured Vinyl Edition

                                                                                                                                            Morphine - Good - Expanded Edition

                                                                                                                                            MorphineGood - Expanded Edition

                                                                                                                                            MC5 - Kick Out The Jams - Splatter Coloured Vinyl Edition

                                                                                                                                            MC5Kick Out The Jams - Splatter Coloured Vinyl Edition

                                                                                                                                            David Byrne - American Utopia On Broadway (Original Cast Recording)

                                                                                                                                            David ByrneAmerican Utopia On Broadway (Original Cast Recording)

                                                                                                                                            The Replacements - Pleased To Meet Me - Coloured Vinyl Edition

                                                                                                                                            The ReplacementsPleased To Meet Me - Coloured Vinyl Edition

                                                                                                                                            The Replacements - Don't Tell A Soul - Coloured Vinyl Edition

                                                                                                                                            The ReplacementsDon't Tell A Soul - Coloured Vinyl Edition

                                                                                                                                            Johnny Jewel - Don’t Come Back From The Moon (OST)

                                                                                                                                            Johnny JewelDon’t Come Back From The Moon (OST)

                                                                                                                                            Alice Boman - Dream On

                                                                                                                                            Alice BomanDream On

                                                                                                                                            Dan Levy - I Lost My Body - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

                                                                                                                                            Dan LevyI Lost My Body - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

                                                                                                                                            It was well deserved and thank you for the support 🙏 https://t.co/WnMbAoPs3z @whlungmusic @MelodicRecords https://t.co/AzSMgbySgI
                                                                                                                                            Sat 14th - 11:32
                                                                                                                                            Open and ready for the second to last Saturday of shopping before Xmas. We have plenty of vinyl, CDs, box sets, bo… https://t.co/DlnMSVH8e4
                                                                                                                                            Sat 14th - 11:04
                                                                                                                                            Calling all @KillingEve fans. We have a brand new banner up today to celebrate the release of season one and two o… https://t.co/dBRC61YrWi
                                                                                                                                            Fri 13th - 1:25
                                                                                                                                            🎁 FESTIVE FRIDAY🎁 Three essential Xmas albums here from @lowtheband - ‘Christmas’ https://t.co/lSsF4k2JeF) Phi… https://t.co/eTYp85NeXK
                                                                                                                                            Fri 13th - 12:57
                                                                                                                                            RT @heymanchester: Night Of The Worm Moon by @laluzers' Shana Cleveland is @PiccadillyRecs' #6 album of the year - 'Recommended if you like…
                                                                                                                                            Fri 13th - 10:28
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