In 2018, Low will turn twenty-five. Since 1993, Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker—the married couple whose heaven-and-earth harmonies have always held the band’s center—have pioneered a subgenre, shrugged off its strictures, recorded a Christmas classic, become a magnetic onstage force, and emerged as one of music’s most steadfast and vital vehicles for pulling light from our darkest emotional recesses. But Low will not commemorate its first quarter-century with mawkish nostalgia or safe runs through songbook favorites. Instead, in faithfully defiant fashion, Low will release its most brazen, abrasive (and, paradoxically, most empowering) album ever: Double Negative, an unflinching eleven-song quest through snarling static and shattering beats that somehow culminates in the brightest pop song of Low’s career.

To make Double Negative, Low reenlisted B.J. Burton, the quietly energetic and adventurous producer who has made records with James Blake, Sylvan Esso, and The Tallest Man on Earth in recent years while working as one of the go-to figures at Bon Iver’s home studio, April Base. Burton recorded Low’s last album, 2015’s Ones and Sixes, at April Base, adding might to many of its beats and squelch and frisson beneath many of its melodies.

This time, though, Sparhawk, Parker, and bassist Steve Garrington knew they wanted to go further with Burton and his palette of sounds, to see what someone who is, as Sparhawk puts it, “a hip-hop guy” could truly do to their music. Rather than obsessively write and rehearse at home in Duluth, Minnesota, they would often head southeast to Eau Claire, Wisconsin, arriving with sketches and ideas that they would work on for days with Burton. Band and producer became collaborative cowriters, building the pieces up and breaking them down and building them again until their purpose and force felt clear. As the world outside seemed to slide deeper into instability, Low repeated this process for the better part of two years, pondering the results during tours and breaks at home. They considered not only how the fragments fit together but also how, in the United States of 2018, they functioned as statements and salves.

Double Negative is, indeed, a record perfectly and painfully suited for our time. Loud and contentious and commanding, Low fights for the world by fighting against it. It begins in pure bedlam, with a beat built from a loop of ruptured noise waging war against the paired voices of Sparhawk and Parker the moment they begin to sing during the massive “Quorum.” For forty minutes, they indulge the battle, trying to be heard amid the noisy grain, sometimes winning and sometimes being tossed toward oblivion. In spite of the mounting noise, Sparhawk and Parker still sing. Or maybe they sing because of the noise. For Low, has there ever really been a difference?

FORMAT INFORMATION

Coloured LP Info: Very limited crystal clear vinyl in an embossed jacket with custom dust sleeve.

Coloured LP includes MP3 Download Code.

LP Info: Gatefold digipak with embossed cover.

CD Info: Embossed jacket with custom dust sleeve.

CD includes MP3 Download Code.

Cassette Info: Four-panel J-card in clear case.

The sleeve tells you so much about the process. It’s a picture of a lone figure. Suited up and immersed in interplanetary protective gear, he walks out across unmapped terrain. In the distance, a mountain range towers over the roughly gridded sand he’s striding. This is very much a solo mission – giant steps into the unknown. Inside the helmet, there’s all the uncertainty and madness that such a pursuit brings.

That sleeve (designed, as ever, with Mark Farrow), comes wrapped around And Nothing Hurt - Spiritualized’s eighth album, the follow up to 2012’s Sweet Heart, Sweet Light. From the opening lullaby of A Perfect Miracle through to the fading Morse Code at the close of Sail on Through, it painstakingly wraps layer upon layer of gloriously transcendent sound together to create a mesmerizing and cinematic collection of songs.

There are points – the thunderous climax of On the Sunshine; the spectral waltz of The Prize; the towering guitar solo on I’m Your Man – where the waves of blissful noise are almost overwhelming, where one can imagine the studio’s speakers vibrating themselves off of the walls. Which is an incredible feat when you discover that the album was conceived and recorded almost entirely by one man – Jason Pierce, AKA J.Spaceman - in an upstairs room in his east London home. Sat in an edit suite in Whitechapel a month or so after finishing recording, Jason talks honestly about the painstaking, frustrating process of creating And Nothing Hurt.

“Making this record on my own sent me more mad than anything I’ve done before. We’d been playing these big shows and I really wanted to capture that sound we were making but, without the funds to do, I had to find a way to work within the constraints of what money I had. So I bought a laptop and made it all in a little room in my house.”

Whereas bedroom recording is commonplace for a generation of musicians who’ve grown up with horizon-expanding tech, Spiritualized have long used the studio as they would an extra member of the band – as a vital building block in the construction of some of the most cherished records of the modern era. This time would be very different. With no grounding in digital recording, Jason had to learn everything from scratch.

“The biggest thing for me was to try to make it sound like a studio session. There are bits that I went to a studio to record – mainly drums and percussion. I mean, there’s no way I’m going to get timpani up my stairs. When I came to terms with how I was going to make the record, I assumed it was going to sound like Lee Perry - all flying in from different angles; all extraordinary and not hi-tech in construction. But I was new to it all, I didn’t have all the short cuts people use when they’re making records – I just sat there for weeks… for months… moving every level up bit by bit just to try to get the sounds right.”

For the listener, the nine tracks on And Nothing Hurt effortlessly replicate the scale and power of Spiritualized’s previous releases, whether it’s the sonic blowback of On the Sunshine, the last dime in the jukebox love letter of Let’s Dance or the swell of an imaginary orchestra that seems to lift Damaged towards the heavens as it plays out.

“With a bit of trial and lot of error, I found ways of doing something that’s quite simple, if you’ve got the resources. I spent two weeks listening to classical records and strumming the chord that I wanted on my guitar. When I found something to match what I wanted, I’d sample that bit and go for the next chord and try to match that. It took weeks, trying to put together and layer convincing string sounds. But, if I’m honest, all I wanted was for someone to come and play the part and bring their own thing to the record.”

One of the biggest influences on the final sound of the record was a series of shows played in 2016 celebrating the (near) 20th anniversary of the band’s peerless 1997 release Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space. Those shows, played with a fifteen-piece orchestra and a gospel choir, forced Jason to revisit songs that he’d already been working on for years.

“Part of the reason for doing those gigs was to inform the songs I’d been working on. Trying to sing convincingly in a little room at home was really difficult. The big shows helped remind myself what it’s like to sing with that kind of backing. I can’t really describe it… when you’re singing with a choir behind you and there’s all this noise coming off the stage, you sing things very differently to how you would A) in a studio or B) sitting on your bed at home recording into a laptop.”

Lyrically, And Nothing Hurt touches on thoughts of passing time and acceptance of one’s age – never more beautifully than on Let’s Dance (‘The hour is getting late, they’re putting all the chairs away / they’ve got Big Star on the radio, they’ll let us stay’).

“I didn’t want to be fighting against my age; it’s very much about acceptance. And not with any dissatisfaction either – I’m not raging against the inevitable. I spent a lot of time thinking about the way that the songs should hold together, trying to make the narratives make sense rather than just throwing together a couple of lines that rhymed. Let’s Dance was very much a ‘last orders’ kind of song, about grasping at the finality of that moment.”

During the making of And Nothing Hurt, Jason kept returning to the thought that this would be the last Spiritualized record – interviews over the last couple of years made it clear that the frustration of trying to replicate the sounds in his head whilst sat on his bed were proving too much. With the record finally finished and a new UK label (Bella Union – Fat Possum continue to release Spiritualized records in the States), does he feel the same way now?

“I was quite sincere about that and I still feel like it might be the case. It was such hard work. I found myself going crazy for so long. It’s not like there’s no coming back, I’m fine now… it’s just such a hard thing to do, to make a record like this on your own. It’s almost as if, if I’m not pushing myself to point of madness, it’s not going to be right. And I know it’s going to be like that every time. What’s the definition of madness? Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. I kind of do that. I think the biggest goal is to make something that’s worthy of all that time and effort. And the more time and effort, the bigger the goal. I knew I had to make something that was good enough that it should be made. And a massive positive about making the record is that we get to play it live. That’s always the most joyous thing; everyone gets to contribute to the sound, this amazing thing that seems to come right through the roof.”

If the last set of Spiritualized gigs helped set the course for how And Nothing Hurt now sounds – alternately intimate, hypnotic, cyclonic and downright spiritual - maybe… just maybe… this next set will encourage Jason to flip open the laptop to press record again. Here’s hoping.

FORMAT INFORMATION

Coloured LP Info: Indies exclusive white vinyl.

2xDeluxe LP Info: Deluxe edition orange vinyl.

Crack the coffers, Oh Sees have spawned another frothy album of head-destroying psych-epics to grok and rock out to. Notice the fresh dollop of organ and keyboard prowess courtesy of Memory Of A Cut Off Head-alum and noted key-stabber Tom Dolas, while the Paul Quattrone / Dan Rincon drum-corps polyrhythmic pulse continues to astound and pound in equal measure, buttressed by the nimble fingered bottom end of Sir Tim Hellman the Brave and the shred-heaven fret frying of John Dwyer, whilst Lady Brigid Dawson again graces the wax with her harmonic gifts.

Aside from the familiar psych-scorch familiar to soggy pit denizens the world over, there’s a fresh heavy-prog vibe that fits like a worn-in jean jacket comfortably among hairpin metal turns and the familiar but no less horns-worthy guitar fireworks Dwyer’s made his calling card. Perhaps the most notable thing about Smote Destroyer is the artistic restlessness underpinning its flights of fancy. Dwyer refuses to repeat himself and for someone with such a hectic release schedule, that stretching of aesthetic borders and omnivorous appetite seems all the more superhuman!

FORMAT INFORMATION

2xColoured LP Info: Indies exclusive coloured vinyl edition.

For a limited period all formats will be signed by the band and there's also a bonus remix disc with all formats including remixes of tracks from the album from Django Django and Richard Norris.

Gulp, formed by Super Furry Animals’ Guto Pryce, Lindsey Leven and their long standing guitarist Gid Goundrey, release their new album 'All Good Wishes', which is set for release August 3rd via E.L.K Records. Gulp are on a journey, a state of perpetual transition. The band make mini Kraut-pop epics, informed equally by the sun flares of the Californian desert and the drizzle of pure, sweet Scottish rain and northern light. Debut album ‘Season Sun’ was a home-grown delight, a ramshackle, endlessly inventive selection of dreamy psychedelic nuggets to watch the world flash past.

New album ‘All Good Wishes’ half-inches its title from a vintage Scottish postcard, and it’s emblematic of the changes the pair have undergone. “I think all through making this record we were looking at relocating,” Guto explains. “Whereas the first record was more of a road trip this is possibly a bit more focussed on home, and focussed on where we’re from and where we’re looking to go to. It’s partly a farewell to Wales, and hello to Scotland.”
The record was largely built in South Wales, a three-year process that saw the band retreat to their basement for endless sonic incisions and revisions. A broader, wider, perhaps bolder experience than their debut, ‘All Good Wishes’ is rooted in fantastic pop songwriting, in creating three minute vignettes that express complex ideas in a simple, accessible, endlessly fascinating way. Endlessly restrained yet infinitely open, each Gulp track is like a world in miniature, ideas borrowed from Krautrock and electronic culture slimmed down into these infinitely enjoyable pop songs.

Minimalist Kraut-pop with a dreamy, Cocteau Twins esque vibe, recent single ‘Morning Velvet Sky’ was a potent introduction to the duo’s ever-shifting realm. Following on from introductory cut ‘Search For Your Love’ - released on Tim Burgess’ esteemed O Genesis label - ‘Morning Velvet Sky’ was mixed by Luke Abbott, and the producer cast his eye over the record as a whole during the final mixdown in his home studio in Norwich

From Cardiff to Norwich and onwards to the Scottish East Coast, Gulp are tracing sonic ley-lines, empowering themselves, plugging into often over-looked artistic communities to fuel their next move. “We spent a lot of time on road trips listening to music, experiencing and enjoying different landscapes” he explains. “It’s especially apt in these times to see the good side of human nature; despite what the media portrays, people are generally sound, and it’s great be reminded of that in day-to-day living.”

FORMAT INFORMATION

Coloured LP Info: Limited white vinyl edition.

LP Info: Black vinyl edition.

Bristol, UK 5-piece Idles (aka “the UK's best punk band" - The Guardian) release their sophomore LP - ‘Joy as an Act of Resistance.’ 

Produced by Space and mixed by Adam Greenspan & Nick Launay (Arcade Fire, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Kate Bush), ‘Joy as an Act of Resistance.’ takes aim at everything from toxic masculinity, nationalism, immigration, and class inequality - all while maintaining a visceral, infectious positivity. Singer Joe Talbot summarizes: “This album is an attempt to be vulnerable to our audience and to encourage vulnerability; a brave naked smile in this shitty new world. We have stripped back the songs and lyrics to our bare flesh to allow each other to breathe, to celebrate our differences, and act as an ode to communities and the individuals that forge them. Because without our community, we’d be nothing.”

FORMAT INFORMATION

Coloured LP Info: Pink vinyl.

Deluxe LP Info: Gold glitter embossed sleeve with 18 different artwork variation inserts.

Mogwai's first venture into the world of the feature film soundtracks is for the upcoming KIN (directed by the producers that bought you Stranger Things and Arrival, Jonathan and Josh Baker and in cinemas 31st August 2018).

Mogwai fans won't be disappointed and it will appeal to lovers of sci fi film soundtracks.

Includes the previously released single 'Donuts'.

FORMAT INFORMATION

Coloured LP Info: Limited red vinyl LP

Coloured LP includes MP3 Download Code.

CD includes MP3 Download Code.

R&S and Apollo Records present an official vinyl repress of this most classic and timeless album.

A lot has been written about this album, so there really is no need to write anymore.

The vinyl uses the 2013 re-masters made from original DAT tapes cut by Matt Colton and presented in original artwork.

"Nestled in these simple, undeniably danceable tracks are the roots of contemporary IDM. And despite its somewhat primitive origins, the final product remains among the most interesting ever created with a keyboard and a computer." – 9.4/10 Pitchfork.

The unbelievably prolific Haruomi Hosono is one of the major architects of modern Japanese pop music. With his encyclopedic knowledge of music and boundless curiosity for new sounds, Hosono is the auteur of his own idiosyncratic musical world, putting his unmistakable stamp on hundreds of recordings as an artist, session player, songwriter and producer. Born and raised in central Tokyo, his adolescent obsession with American pop culture informed his early forays into country music, which he would revisit later in his career. Hosono made his professional debut in 1969 as a member of Apryl Fool, whose heavy psychedelia was somewhat at odds with his influences, which leaned towards the rootsy sounds of Moby Grape and Buffalo Springfield. The latter was one of the main inspirations for his next group, Happy End, whose unique blend of West Coast sounds with Japanese lyrics proved to be highly influential over the course of three albums. After the band’s amicable break up in 1973, Hosono began his solo career with Hosono House, an intimate slice of Japanese Americana recorded inside a rented house with recording gear squeezed into its tiny bedroom. Hosono’s solo career would take many twists and turns from this point forward, with forays into exotica, electronic, ambient, and techno, culminating in the massive success of techno pop group Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO), who made their debut in 1978.

Following YMO’s first wave of success, Hosono took a break from the group and, with help from Alfa Records head Kunihiko Murai, established Yen Records in 1982. The label’s inaugural release was Philharmony, a masterwork recorded almost entirely by Hosono himself at his brand new LDK Studio. With unlimited studio time and freedom to explore, Hosono let himself loose with an array of synthesizers and the latest gadgets, from the Prophet 5 to the E-mu Emulator – all listed as “guest performers” in the album credits. Inspired by the possibilities opened up by these music-making tools, Hosono found new ways to approach his songwriting, resulting in a set of songs that showcase his ability to constantly and consistently innovate and create new standards. With ambient synthscapes like “Luminescent/Hotaru” and the abstract sample-based expressionism of “Birthday Party” sitting perfectly in tune alongside pop favorites like “Sports Men” and “L.D.K.”, Philharmony is one of the most well-loved of Hosono’s albums, and a favorite of the artist himself.

Admired by artists ranging from Van Dyke Parks to Mac DeMarco, Hosono continues to forge ahead as he heads into his fifth decade as a musician. With the re-release of his key albums for the first time outside of Japan, his genius will be discovered by a whole new generation of fans around the world.

FORMAT INFORMATION

LP Info: First ever vinyl reissue and first ever release outside of Japan.
Translated interview with Haruomi Hosono.
LP housed in a deluxe gatefold jacket.
Limited to 1,500 copies worldwide.

The unbelievably prolific Haruomi Hosono is one of the major architects of modern Japanese pop music. With his encyclopedic knowledge of music and boundless curiosity for new sounds, Hosono is the auteur of his own idiosyncratic musical world, putting his unmistakable stamp on hundreds of recordings as an artist, session player, songwriter and producer. Born and raised in central Tokyo, his adolescent obsession with American pop culture informed his early forays into country music, which he would revisit later in his career. Hosono made his professional debut in 1969 as a member of Apryl Fool, whose heavy psychedelia was somewhat at odds with his influences, which leaned towards the rootsy sounds of Moby Grape and Buffalo Springfield. The latter was one of the main inspirations for his next group, Happy End, whose unique blend of West Coast sounds with Japanese lyrics proved to be highly influential over the course of three albums. After the band’s amicable break up in 1973, Hosono began his solo career with Hosono House, an intimate slice of Japanese Americana recorded inside a rented house with recording gear squeezed into its tiny bedroom. Hosono’s solo career would take many twists and turns from this point forward, with forays into exotica, electronic, ambient, and techno, culminating in the massive success of techno pop group Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO), who made their debut in 1978.

Omni Sight Seeing, originally released in 1989 during YMO’s initial hiatus, is an exhilarating musical journey around the world as filtered through Hosono’s kaleidoscopic lens. This work stands as a manifestation of his concept of “Sight Seeing Music,” putting his own tasteful spin on the “world” music encountered during his explorations of global cultures. From Japanese minyo and Algerian rai, to American swing jazz and the self-described, extraterrestrial “Ether music,” his eclectic influences coalesce into a sound that is unmistakably Hosono’s, and many consider this album to be the perfect summation of his mastery of pop music forms. Partly recorded in Paris with assistance from producer Martin Meissonnier (Don Cherry, Fela Kuti) and contributions from French-Tunisian singer Amina, omni Sight Seeing includes the mysterious “Orgone Box” (inspired by Wilhelm Reich and Steve Reich), the acid house “Laugh-Gas” (inspired by Rococo and the French Revolution) and the serene fan favorite “Pleocene” (conveying an “oceanic feeling”).

Admired by artists ranging from Van Dyke Parks to Mac DeMarco, Hosono continues to forge ahead as he heads into his fifth decade as a musician. With the re-release of his key albums for the first time outside of Japan, his genius will be discovered by a whole new generation of fans around the world. 

FORMAT INFORMATION

LP Info: First ever vinyl reissue and first ever release outside of Japan.
Translated interview with Haruomi Hosono.
LP housed in a deluxe gatefold jacket.
Limited to 1,500 copies worldwide.

The unbelievably prolific Haruomi Hosono is one of the major architects of modern Japanese pop music. With his encyclopedic knowledge of music and boundless curiosity for new sounds, Hosono is the auteur of his own idiosyncratic musical world, putting his unmistakable stamp on hundreds of recordings as an artist, session player, songwriter and producer. Born and raised in central Tokyo, his adolescent obsession with American pop culture informed his early forays into country music, which he would revisit later in his career. Hosono made his professional debut in 1969 as a member of Apryl Fool, whose heavy psychedelia was somewhat at odds with his influences, which leaned towards the rootsy sounds of Moby Grape and Buffalo Springfield. The latter was one of the main inspirations for his next group, Happy End, whose unique blend of West Coast sounds with Japanese lyrics proved to be highly influential over the course of three albums. After the band’s amicable break up in 1973, Hosono began his solo career with Hosono House, an intimate slice of Japanese Americana recorded inside a rented house with recording gear squeezed into its tiny bedroom.

Following Tropical Dandy (1975) and Bon Voyage Co. (1976), Paraiso is the concluding saga in his “Tropical Trilogy.” The album can be seen as a turning point in Haruomi Hosono’s career, having been newly signed to Alfa Records by label head Kunihiko Murai. Hosono expands on the Van Dyke Parks-inspired tropical funk styles explored in the previous albums, and arrives at a captivating fusion sound that’s at times equally earthy and exotic. Hinting at the breakthrough sounds he would perfect with Yellow Magic Orchestra, Hosono uses synthesizers to provide otherworldly textures and a spiritual undertone to songs like “Femme Fatale” and the title track. On his Caribbean-style take on the Okinawan folk song “Asatoya Yunta” and the synth/gamelan workout of “Shambhala Signal,” Hosono takes traditional melodies and mixes them into his own inimitable stew. Featuring a host of well-known musicians like Taeko Ohnuki, Hiroshi Sato and his future bandmates Yukihiro Takahashi and Ryuichi Sakamoto, Paraiso perfectly encapsulates Hosono’s eccentric worldview that has shaped his solo career, right before his techno-pop project would blast him into the stratosphere.

Hosono’s solo career would take many twists and turns from this point forward, with forays into exotica, electronic, ambient, and techno. Admired by artists ranging from Devendra Banhart to Mac DeMarco, Hosono continues to forge ahead as he heads into his fifth decade as a musician. With the re-release of his key albums for the first time outside of Japan, his genius will be discovered by a whole new generation of fans around the world. 

FORMAT INFORMATION

LP Info: First ever vinyl reissue and first ever release outside of Japan.
Translated interview with Haruomi Hosono.
LP housed in a deluxe gatefold jacket.
Limited to 1,500 copies worldwide.

Leeds-based Menace Beach return with news of their third album 'Black Rainbow Sound', which is due out August 31st via Memphis Industries.
New album Black Rainbow Sound is the band's first new material since early 2017’s Lemon Memory, and after a self-imposed break from tour duties, the album exhibits a profound shift in their sound, whilst still mainlining the blasts of noise, visceral power, and timeless pop songsmithery of their previous releases.

Unlike the bands previous records, Black Rainbow Sound came to life in the bands studio, where Liza Violet and Ryan Needham built dense late-night orchestrations from drum machines, synthesizers, loops and guitar noise, before being ripped apart and reimagined by the full Menace Beach cast at The Nave studio in Leeds with co-producer Matt Peel (Eagulls).

Never ones to shy away from an intriguing collaboration, Black Rainbow Sound contains songs featuring Brix Smith of The Fall, and Brix and the Extricated. “The synchronicity of the universe just forced us and Brix together. The very day l finished reading her biography she played us on her BBC 6music show along with a wonderfully out-there monologue of how the song made her feel. I said thanks, we got chatting and it went from there. She’s a burning comet of positive energy”.

On Black Rainbow Sound, Menace Beach continue to explore their own unique aesthetic, venturing much further into a colourful world of bizzaro no-wave analogue synths and static drenched electronic euphoria, which they have been circling for some time.

Lustrous, dizzying, and bursting with cacophonous vintage electronics - the sounds on Black Rainbow Sound act as an otherworldly backdrop for the album's enigmatic lyrics to play out. Celestial conversations, night terrors, love, anti-love, good vs evil, light vs dark, friendly crows, death, depression, and teenage tongues and are all here to absorb; the more introspective topics often hidden in plain sight atop celebratory choruses, and melodic hooks.

FORMAT INFORMATION

Coloured LP Info: Limited edition white coloured vinyl.

Coloured LP includes MP3 Download Code.

Indies Exclusive LP Info: Indie exclusive limited edition white coloured vinyl. ALSO INCLUDES A HAND-PRINTED (BY THE BAND) SCREEN PRINT.

LP includes MP3 Download Code.

For the first time since 2007’s Our Love to Admire, Interpol have opened themselves up to the input of a producer. For two-week spells between December of 2017 to April of 2018, they travelled to upstate New York to work with Dave Fridmann – famed for recording with Mercury Rev, Flaming Lips, MGMT, Spoon, Mogwai, and countless more.

In the run up to writing and recording, Sam found himself immersed in soul drummers such as Al Jackson Jr (Otis Redding’s drummer) and 80’s funk producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. “How can I make shit swing?” was the question Sam repeatedly asked himself, and the answer is in the striding gallop of opener “If You Really Love Nothing,” the embellished skip ‘n’ bounce of “Stay in Touch” and the R&B swagger of closer “It Probably Matters.” Interpol have always been world-beaters at creating a feeling, but Marauder is where the feel is just as crucial.

Paul may have stepped out of the shadows as a bassist, but he’s stepping into an even brighter light as a songwriter. During Interpol’s previous albums, the singer largely kept himself out of his own work, preferring to fill his lyrics with detached thoughts, characters, and observations, often phrased in abstract. But more than 20 years on since forming at NYU, the frontman is finally allowing himself to play a role in his own stories.

“This record is where I feel touching on real things that have happened to me are exciting and evocative to write about,” he explains. “I think in the past, I always felt autobiography was too small a thing for me to reference. I feel like now, I’m able to romanticize parts of my own life.”

FORMAT INFORMATION

Coloured LP Info: Indies only cream coloured vinyl.

Debut album from Australian punk band RVG drawing on an array of influences from Echo and the Bunnymen, The Psychedelic Furs, and The Go Betweens. A Quality of Mercy is made up of Eight songs. Classic songs. Songs recorded by the band, live off the floor, at Melbourne’s iconic rock’n’roll pub, The Tote. Songs that leant on the band’s heroes —the Go-Betweens, the Soft Boys, the Smiths— whilst never sounding like homage or pastiche. Songs hitting that sweet spot between light and dark, employing guitars both angular and jangling. Songs passionately sung by Romy Vager, the eponymous leader of a band once called, in full, Romy Vager Group. All of the songs on A Quality Of Mercy find Vager trying to move beyond ego, beyond the simple confessional of the songwriter, hoping to find perspective on both world and self. In such, these songs are at once personal and universal, intimate and grand, timely and timeless. They’re classic songs. And there’s eight of them. Adding up to a perfectly-formed debut that says so much, yet gets out in under half-an-hour.

FORMAT INFORMATION

Coloured LP Info: Indies exclusive coloured vinyl.

Although civilization’s transition into a cyborg world seems inevitable, there are still those who recognize the beauty and power of a human touch to complement the circumvention. Jack Tatum understands this balance, and through a decade making music as Wild Nothing he has learned to embrace both sides of that dynamic—but perhaps never as distinctly as on Indigo, the fourth Wild Nothing album. On one hand, it is a return to the fresh, transcendent sweep of his debut, 2010’s Gemini , and on the other, a culmination of heights reached, paths traveled, and lessons learned while creating the follow-ups, Nocturne and Life of Pause . Indigo finds Tatum at his most efficient, calculated, and confident—resulting in an artful blend of hi-fi humanity and technology that fires on all circuits and synapses.

To make Indigo , Tatum confronted the Man vs. Machine dichotomy by seizing on the surrounding synergy. Finding the right people to work on the album was integral, as was the proper place to record it. So, Tatum booked four days at legendary Sunset Sound’s Studio. Afterwards, producer Jorge Elbrecht (Ariel Pink, Gang Gang Dance, Japanese Breakfast) and Tatum built out the rest of the album’s sound by adding new parts and repurposing sounds from Tatum’s demos. The resulting Indigo is its own cyborg world, utilizing the artful mechanisms of human touch with the precision of technology to create the classic, pristine sound Tatum had been seeking his entire career. From the opening drum beat, chiming guitar, and sweeping synth of “Letting Go” to Tatum’s Bryan Ferry vocal turn on “Oscillation” to the ’80s-heavy blips, clicks, and strut of “Partners in Motion,” it’s clear that Indigo is at once vintage Wild Nothing and a bold, new leap into a bigger arena.

FORMAT INFORMATION

Coloured LP Info: Transparent Blue vinyl.

A brand new studio album from Gorillaz titled The Now Now will be released by Parlophone Records on 29th June.

The Now Now is 11 all-new songs from the World’s Most Successful Virtual Act, produced by Gorillaz, with James Ford and Remi Kabaka, and recorded in London, in February this year.

The album sessions for The Now Now saw the band largely eschewing guest stars, taking it back to the core creative crew: blue-haired, sweet-natured dreamer 2D on vocals; whip-smart Japanese badass Noodle on guitar; not forgetting Brooklyn-born philosopher and the meat–behind-the-beat Russel Hobbs on drums. And with Murdoc Niccals temporarily indisposed, bass duties on the new album have been taken up by erstwhile Gangreen Gang member Ace.

FORMAT INFORMATION

LP Info: Heavyweight black vinyl 12” LP in spined sleeve with printed inner bag and download card.

CD Info: 11-track CD in jewelcase with 12-page booklet on gloss art paper.

LP Box Set Info: Deluxe Vinyl LP Box Set - 12” x 12” rigid board box set, with a lenticular image on lid, containing:
Heavyweight blue vinyl 12” LP, in spined sleeve with printed inner bag. The blue vinyl is exclusive to the box set. 52-page booklet, replicating 2-D’s original studio notebook including album lyrics. 4 x 12” x 12” art prints, 6 x 1” pin badges mounted on card and download card.

It’s a familiar story: fledgling singer does soul-sucking day job in order to fund their real passion during the nocturnal hours. Except Mattiel Brown, Atlanta’s rising star, is a rare exception to this time-honoured tradition: a fulfilled creative by day and night, albeit in different contexts. “It’s like I have two full-time jobs: designer and musician,” she says, humbly hip to her good fortune.

During office hours, Brown works as an ad designer and illustrator at MailChimp, a position she’s enjoyed for four years. “I work with a great video production team, in a great studio. Luckily, they’re a company that encourage side gigs.” Out of office hours, Brown swaps the design studio for the stage, a softly-spoken, chilled-out design nerd turned rock & roll belter, performing bold, vintage soul as Mattiel (pronounced ‘maa-TEEL’).

Brown grew up on a five-acre farm in rural Brooks, Georgia, the only child of a Detroit native. “My mom bought the farm in the early ‘90s. She had – still has – horses, so I learned to ride western-style when I was 6, 7 years-old,” (a skill Brown nods to in her cover art). “We had a vegetable garden and chickens. My mom would sell sheep’s wool and eggs. Before that, she’d been a professional set decorator working on films. She’s a really driven, creative person. I definitely inherited my work ethic from her.”

As an adolescent, Brown delighted in the ‘60s folk and pop of her mother’s limited vinyl collection: Donovan, Peter Paul and Mary, and Joan Baez. As an adult, relocated in neighbouring Atlanta, she’d sing along to the radio on the long drives to work: Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, Andre 3000, Dylan, Marc Bolan, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, and Jack White.

When Brown first began jamming with InCrowd, the Atlanta-based song-writing and production team behind her dynamite eponymous debut, she had no real designs on making a whole album and no game plan beyond the fun of “creating something out of nothing.” She said, “That process is always pretty astounding to me, and doing it with other people is even better.” But her producers, Randy Michael and Jonah Swilley, knew a good thing when they heard it: Brown and InCrowd had chemistry.

InCrowd’s founders, both skilled multi-instrumentalists, met in 2014, as session musicians touring with soul man Curtis Harding. Michael – an experienced player who’d co-written with Harding and racked up impressive session spots with the likes of Bruno Mars, and The Next Day-era Bowie – played guitar, while Swilley ¬(producer, writer and performer since age 9 and younger brother of Black Lips bassist Jared) played drums. On the road, they bonded over a mutual love of vintage R&R and ‘90s rap. “We discovered we both loved The Beatles as much as Jay-Z, Dylan as much as the Arctic Monkeys,” remembers Swilley. Back in Atlanta, once the Harding tour had wrapped, the pair formed a band, Black Linen, writing reverb-washed guitar music inspired by Tarantino soundtracks, by way of ‘60s Cambodian psych. Brown knew Michael from his days in The Booze, a popular local act who’d tour with OK Go before their demise. She’d kept track of him, aware that they shared a musical kinship. “[Randy] was the only person I knew who was into the music I was into.” When she reached out, asking to cut a Donovon cover record at Michael’s garage-turned-studio, Toco Electric, he was dubious. “I thought she'd have this little, whispery voice, you know? But she blew me away! She sounded like ‘60s-era Cher doing Dylan or something. I just knew she’d be perfect for the Black Linen stuff.” “We knew immediately that we wanted to work with her,” Swilley concurs. By then, around 2014, InCrowd were deep on a ’50s Leiber and Stoller bend, says Michael: “The Coasters, The Drifters, all that good stuff.” Bored with Atlanta’s “ultra cool” enclaves, they’d built their own scene, says Michael. They’d put on and promote reviews-style gigs, a 12-man strong house band (“our very own Wrecking Crew”) backing various InCrowd vocalists. “We were just making it happen, doing it ourselves.”

In the studio, Michael cut InCrowd records live, no overdubs, feeding everything through a rare analogue Peavey soundboard. “That’s how InCrowd rolls. What you hear on our records is everyone playing and singing together, in the same room, at the same time. We cut it right there, as it happens, and its either magic or its not.”

Mattiel’s process was just so: InCrowd supplied the instrumental compositions – raucous, swinging medleys frilled with organs and brass – while Brown provided vocals and lyrics, the latter often written freestyle, in situ. “That’s where the parallels between music and design really happen,” says Brown. “Your limitations – time, space, expense – push you to be as creative as you can with what you have.”

The resulting collection of songs, set for a UK release this May via Heavenly following a U.S. release via Burger Records late last year, is a dynamite salvo of retro-inspired rock & soul, from the gun-slinging stomp of “Whites Of Their Eyes,” to the string-laden self-affirmation of “Count Your Blessings,” penned by Brown after a spate of the blues brought on by a period of ill health. “Its a song I wrote for myself to myself, like 'you’re gonna get through this, you’re gonna be okay.'”

Mattiel’s sound might borrow from the past, but their art direction – Brown’s inspiring handiwork, of course – is decidedly forward-thinking, all colour block aesthetics (á la the White Stripes) and artful, design-savvy music videos. “I don’t wanna hit people over the head with like, bell bottoms and long hair and a Jimmy Hendrix outfit,” Brown laughs. “People have seen all that before.”

Mattiel is a “fresh mesh of retro and contemporary,” says Swilley, the latter thanks in large part to Brown’s vision, voice and on-stage energy. “She's very exciting to watch. She doesn't rehearse it or try to emulate anyone; she's just doing own her thing. And she's not fazed by the crowds [as evidenced during their shows to date: a recent, three-date support slot for Portugal The Man]. It’s kind of incredible really, because in person she's pretty chilled and softly spoken, but when she gets on stage...in the last six months, she's really been killing it.”

With a European festival circuit tour scheduled for this summer, Mattiel is no longer Atlanta’s best kept secret. Look out, world.

FORMAT INFORMATION

2xColoured LP Info: Crystal coloured vinyl. Comes with download that includes bonus tracks.

2xColoured LP includes MP3 Download Code.

Formed in Boston, 2014, SHADOWPARTY comprises members of some of the most iconic electronic bands of a generation, New Order and DEVO.

At the pulsing heart of the group are Josh Hager, Jeff Friedl, Tom Chapman and Phil Cunningham. For DEVO, Hager plays guitars and keyboards, whilst Friedl plays drums; in their hitherto day-job with New Order, Chapman and Cunningham play bass and guitars respectively.

“We got on straight away because we had a lot in common, a lot of similar records in our collections – Kraftwerk, early 80s punk bands, electro, Joy Division,” says Tom. “And Josh had one of the DEVO plant pot hats in his studio. That was my first question: what’s that?!”

With the band's debut long-player, they are joined by diverse collaborators that each contribute a distinct twist to the sound; with combined credentials including work with luminaries spanning A Certain Ratio, Electronic, The Verve and Elbow.

Nick McCabe flexes his much-loved guitar sound across two of the album’s tracks, Even So and Marigold. Meanwhile, Denise Johnson lends her soaring vocal presence to no-less-than six of the album’s tracks, including incoming single Celebrate.

Also crashing the party is LA-based DJ Whitney Fierce, who appears on backing vocals, and Joe Duddell, the Manchester-based arranger who has lent his orchestral finesse to the likes of Elbow, Blossoms, and New Order; for whom he created and scored a 12-piece synth orchestra for a run of Manchester International Festival shows.

It's the sound of a blast. SHADOWPARTY burst through your speakers; pulsing electronics get swept away with lush orchestrations, bold 80s-fused beats get carved up by haunting guitars and vocals tower through each moment, whispering sweet harmonies and unspoken despair.

“When you break that mould and you’re open and receptive to each other’s styles, then it kind of opens up an entirely new world.” says Jeff.

Signed to Mute, the band’s debut album is set to drop early in 2018; it was recorded in Boston, LA, Manchester and, of course, Macclesfield. The party will go live shortly afterwards, dates for a tour will follow.

Turn the lights down. Turn the sound up.

77:78, the new project from Aaron Fletcher & Tim Parkin, card carrying members of the musical kaleidoscope that is The Bees.

Set to pick up where the Bees left off, the album was recorded at Studio Humbug on the Isle of Wight and musically picks it way from sublime west coast harmonies that recall the frayed beauty of the Beach Boys Smiley Smile , to the ramshackle dub of King Tubby via the playfulness of early Syd Barret. The album will be available on coloured orange vinyl.

“Some musicians and bands definitely have their sound and stick to it, which is fair enough, but that’s just not us. Whenever we’re in the studio we’re constantly inspired to go down different musical paths, which I suppose is why the record we’ve made sounds so diverse. “

FORMAT INFORMATION

Coloured LP Info: Limited ediiton orange vinyl.

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

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

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

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

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

FORMAT INFORMATION

2xColoured LP 2 Info: Orange and black vinyl. Initial quantities includes 12"x12" art print.

2xDeluxe CD Info: Limited edition signed copies.

Blonde and brunette. Dog and cat. Lemon and onion. Friend and foam. The change has been made! You can scratch your seven-year itch freely now: Ty Segall and White Fence are become one again, regrooving what we once called Hair into what is now Joy.

Hair grew out of a simpler time, man! If, as the dyphrenic duo indeed affi rm on Joy, rock in 2018 is dead, don’t come around here looking for no burial. Instead, fi nd Joy caught up in the commencement of on-beyond rock; music made with the old tools, but emitted from a fresh new, single-celled organism. This time, the old “one and one make one” line does not apply. Hair had the quality of emulsion — drops of Segall suspended in Fence; a compound of White dispersed over sheets of Ty. With Joy, Tim and Ty arrive without travelling from the same place, occupy one single headspace, fi nishing the other’s phrases, pulling licks from each other’s places. Singing and thinking and laughing as one. Calling themselves from inside the house. C-c-c-creepy!

Both these fellows have been known to trifl e with tropic pasts and reactivate vintage visions within their new music. Not now. Now is the only time this time — Joy is their own sound of today, a shared individuality, prisming all possible stances into an unseamly metastasis that FLOWS for 15 ebbcentric tracks. Plus, since it ends at the beginning, it never has to stop. LOOP that shit!

Morrissey is never one to do things the accustomed way, instead throughout his career he’s carved a niche in the musical landscape which only he can occupy. And his decision to curate a brand new compilation at very short notice ahead of his tour dates, with new liner notes and a few surprises in the tracklisting, shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone.

So here it is, This Is Morrissey. A collection of studio classics, live tracks and the alternative Mael mix of the ever-popular ‘Suedehead’, all chosen by the man himself. He explains all on this brand new interview for tremr.com, with this neat little summary of the tracks he’s chosen:
“The album is so full of life, and worthy questions, and great choruses, and quite playful.”

Housed in a standard single CD jewel case, with a four page booklet and brand new liner notes by author Fiona Dodwell, there will be two versions of the CD product, a twelve track version for the world outside of North America and a ten track version for North America, final detail of which will be confirmed on a separate note at a later point. The digital version worldwide will reflect the twelve track CD release.

There is also a thirteen track vinyl edition, with the additional track ‘Angel, Angel, Down We Go Together’, complete with identical liner notes only this time written in French, another of Morrissey’s little curio’s.

FORMAT INFORMATION

LP Info: 1 x 140g 12” black vinyl, spined sleeve, anti-static Japanese bag.

‘Michael Nau & The Mighty Thread’ is the follow-up to last year’s critically acclaimed album ‘Some Twist’ and its extension ‘The Load’ EP (feat. Natalie Prass).

“There was a musical language that we created; something without a guiding pattern that you could really just jump into and see where things could go,” Michael Nau says of the process of recording ‘Michael Nau & The Mighty Thread’. He’s wildly poetic, especially when recounting his dedication to music, and the work that led to this particular collection of delicately passionate songs. “These things became the vehicle by which we traveled, giving us reason to spend most of our lives in a van of uncertainty.”

The sprawling new album was recorded in guitarist Benny Yurco’s one-bedroom apartment in downtown Burlington, Vermont. Nau and his collaborators had a cool little set up going in Yurco’s spot — drums and bass took over the bedroom, the guitar amp in the bathroom, Nau’s vocals and piano in the living room, and a vibraphone in the kitchen. It’s the first time one of Nau’s records happened all in one place, and “it feels most like a band record than ever before”. Nau and this particular group of musicians held it down together as a true team, which is why Nau named the record in their honour.

The songs on this layered record sound sunny and familiar, like sharing stories and worries with a close friend on a late summer day. In a gorgeous and natural way, he contemplates his own process, those feelings of uncertainty. “Making it too hard just comes easier,” Nau croons on ‘Funny In Real Life,’ an exquisite meditation on creation and self. “Truth is such a beautiful force/And every time we find the chorus/There’s no second-guessing the real/I don’t ever know how I feel.”

Nau shines when he’s nestled in that medium between melancholy and carefree. He seems to be thinking about the past, present, and future, all at the same time, and his songs move between pain and joy, fires and rivers, faraway stars, icy Saturdays, clouds of smoke, between shelter and flowers in the rain. “And it just keeps going, if it’s done it’s done/Still flow in the flowing, all around the sun,” he sings on ‘Smudge,’ the record’s finale, which is about love, and memories, and loneliness, and apprehension — “Something coming around some bend/Waiting for something to never end” — all at once. It’s all just part of the waves of life; sometimes you get stuck, or things move slower, and sometimes the pace steps up. And that seems to be the gist of Michael Nau & The Mighty Thread — that there are “different movements” in the self, that constantly figuring yourself out is all part of the journey. “As long as love is the motion,” Nau says, “it might get there.” Wherever ‘there’ is.

FORMAT INFORMATION

Coloured LP Info: Limited edition blue vinyl version available, one time pressing of 500.

Coloured LP includes MP3 Download Code.

Deluxe LP Info: Deluxe edition includes bonus 7". Limited to 200 copies.

Since so many European labels have been reissuing lost and obscure 1980s Japanese ambient albums of late, it was probably inevitable that at least one label would put together a compilation paying tribute to the sound. It turns out that Jazzy Couscous has won the race with Kumo No Moko, a superb double album that does a terrific job in putting Japan's '80s ambient scene in context. As you'd expect, the majority of the tracks feature either dreamy electronic sounds or a mixture of acoustic and electronic instrumentation, with nods to jazz coming thick and fast. There are naturally a couple of fairly well-known names on show, but for the most part the compilers have done a terrific job in highlight lesser-known tracks from unsung heroes.

All the Young People Must Fall in Love (Bob Clearmountain Mix) / Rose Garden (Live at The Grand Ole Opry, Nashville) is the fourth 7" release from Morrissey's album 'Low In High School'. Low in High School is Morrissey’s first studio album since 2014 and was recorded at La Fabrique Studios in France and in Rome at Ennio Morricone’s Forum Studios. The record is produced by Joe Chiccarelli (who has worked with Frank Zappa, The Strokes, Beck and The White Stripes to name a few). Morrissey’s talent for combining political statements and beautiful melodies is more prevalent than ever on Low in High-School, capturing the zeitgeist of an ever-changing world.

London’s Teleman have already set a precedent for 2018 with the release of Submarine Life via label-home Moshi Moshi. Today, the foursome excitedly unveils details of their third studio album; the alluringly named Family of Aliens, set for release in early September. Armed with a freer, more collaborative approach to both writing and recording, their new 11-track album Family of Aliens, is a fluid collection of glorious pop-songs fluent with new electronic textures and united by the sharp lyricism, buoyant guitars and instantaneous melodies that are synonymous with Teleman.

“We want to keep evolving and keep discovering. This band is one long journey for us, and we never want to stop developing and finding new ways of creating music. I'm always wanting to better what we've done before. To go deeper, to find something more beautiful, more catchy, more challenging, more interesting … just more.”

It’s evident the much-loved quartet have evolved, cultivating and honing their sound as a very-welcome and anticipated proposition for 2018. Teleman will also be playing a slew of festival dates this summer including Greenman, The Great Escape and Tramlines amongst others, before embarking on a headline tour across the UK, this Autumn.

To mark the occasion, Teleman offer another insight into their flourishing electronic-inspired sound, with new single Cactus. Flaunting the harmonious marriage of their beguiling pop sensibility accompanied by pulsating electronic undertones, Cactus is anchored by an unrelenting riff that crescendos to a cacophony of thrashing guitars and unbridled synth-sounds, bound by a palpitating, monotonous drum-loop.

Depicting the familiar esoteric ideas nestled amongst lead vocalist-guitarist Tom Sanders’ abstract lyrics; the accompanying video manifests the themes of loneliness, youthful ideals and how materialism can be a pretense to mask solitude.

“[This song is] for people who spend a lot of time, money and thought on looking good but can’t actually let anyone get close to them. In youth, most preoccupations are base and wasteful - what to wear, what party to go to, who said what to whom. If you carry these on into later life you might be deeply unfulfilled” explains Sanders.

FORMAT INFORMATION

Coloured LP Info: Limited red vinyl.

Midnight In Tokyo 2, the second installment to the compilation series that rounds up hidden gems by Japanese artists that's perfect for listening at night in Tokyo, is here. This time the collection brings together some tasty electric jazz fusion from the '80s , compiled by Dubby, the man behind the online record store Ondas.

The compilation begins with "Hikobae," a dark and slow cosmic jazz by saxophonist Genji Sawai, followed by "Danza Lucumi," an odd Caribbean-style jam by Today'sLatin Project, a band fronted by Tadaaki Misago of Tokyo Cuban Boys, with arrangements by Yasuaki Shimizu. "On The Coast" is a soulful and mellow vocal track arranged by Ryuichi Sakamoto, from guitarist Shigeru Suzuki's album White Heat, and fusion boogie cut "In The Hot City" is by Mr. Theodore, which was a one-off project by a mysterious artist.

The melancholic soul jazz number "So Long America" is the title track from the album Yasunori Soryo released in '82, following a stint in America with the band Brown Rice. "Twisty" is a tropical reggae tune from the album Samba Kathy, an underrated classic by Jugando which was released on Trash, a sublabel of one of Japan's finest jazz labels, Trio. "Samarkand" is an electric Latin jazz jam that sounds like something Miles Davis and Santana could have played on, performed by a Latin funk band from Fussa. "Imagery" is a primal African fusion track by Katsutoshi Morizono, a member of the prog rock band Yoninbayashi.

Windmill" is the most acoustic sounding tune on this compilation, a breezy Brazilian affair with a Hermeto Pascoal feel. "Mystery Of Asian Port" is by the band Parachute, which consisted of Japa-nese fusion giants like Akira Inoue, Tatsuo Hayashi and Masaki Matsubara. The cosmic jazz record sounds like something Daniele Baldelli would play in his sets. "Bay Sky Provincetown 1977" is a classic Japanese fusion tune by guitarist Yuji Toriyama.

The set also features the mellow but danceable "Heatwave" by keyboardist Keiichi Oku, featuring a female vocalist (which some have identified as Rie Ida), and last but not least, closing out the 13 track compilation is "Day Dream At The Bob's Beach," a wonderful urban fusion with a beautiful vibraphone melody, from the Japanese fusion classic album that was a one-off project by studio musicians

This is it. The number one. El Numero Uno. The Bomb. The tune that gives you street soul bass up in your face and will destroy your speakers if you're not careful. Quite simply the greatest & most sought after street soul holy grail of them all. The sound of Manchester then and now. Adored the world over and currently (ambitiously) selling on Discogs for £1999.00. Bô'vel - Check 4 U (1996) will finally be available again via Be With in July.

Fully remastered, produced in conjunction with Bô'vel herself and our man RUF DUG and featuring the huge METRODOME remix everyone's been raving about on the flip. Ltd. to 1000. Don't sleep. ENJOY.

Some musical partnerships are so strong, intuitive and natural that they almost can’t be separated due to the natural magnetism present in the relationship. One such tight knit songwriting family are Tunng, and their new album Songs You Make At Night reunites founding members Sam Genders and Mike Lindsay (fresh from his LUMP side project with Laura Marling) and the rest of the Tunng gang for the first time since 2007’s Good Arrows.

“We really wanted to do a Tunng record going back to the original line up,” Lindsay says. “there was a real magic in the early records that we all wanted to capture again in this one.”

Since forming in 2003 and over the course of five albums, Tunng are a group that have explored the boundaries between acoustic and electronic music, becoming synonymous with the folktronica genre before moving into territory that managed to both evade that label and continue to redefine it. Songs You Make At Night finds a group of people reconnecting with a previous collective state to bring out something new and forward-looking. “We're all so different but each bring something essential, something Tunng to the party. Be that to the studio, to the stage, to the van, or to the pub. I think that the new songs Mike and Sam have crafted between them have brought out the best in all of us.” confirms singer Becky Jacobs.

Songs You Make At Night is also Tunng's most electronic-leaning to date. Take lead single ABOP which brings the Moog right to your face, with a heavily swung frazzled 808 pigeon beat whilst sampling a speech from the 1970s pornographic actor Mary Millington that builds into a magical pop feast. 

Songs You Make At Night’s tone, theme, lyrics, mood and characters exist in a fluctuating state between night and day ("I got very much into the idea of a dark underwater world suffused with pockets of light and beauty and some of the songs grew out of that." says Sam Genders), the conscious and unconscious. Crepuscular in its nature, Lindsay explains the all-encompassing title. "I think it’s also important to stress the songs you make at night not, we make at night. Then the word “songs” can mean a multitude of things. It can mean songs, or dreams, pillow talk or actions and decisions, moves, and can be very personal... the thoughts that keep you awake at night."

FORMAT INFORMATION

Coloured LP Info: Deluxe coloured vinyl in a gatefold sleeve with a limited 7".

Indies Exclusive LP Info: Indie exclusive blue vinyl in a gatefold sleeve.

CD Info: Digipack CD.

21 Singles will be available on vinyl for the very first time!!!

The Jesus And Mary Chain are a Scottish alternative rock band formed by brothers Jim and William Reid in their hometown of East Kilbride. Jim and William’s legendary song-writing partnership was first recognised in 1983 by Alan McGee’s highly influential Creation Records, where they released their debut single ‘Upside Down’ in 1984. The Jesus And Mary Chain went on to enjoy an illustrious career signed to Warner Music label Blanco Y Negro, releasing several critically acclaimed albums and cult singles such as ‘Just Like Honey’, ‘April Skies’, ‘Darklands’ and ‘Happy When It Rains’.

Originally released on CD in 2002, ‘21 Singles’ is a career spanning compilation featuring all the band’s singles in chronological order. Beginning with their Creation debut, the album takes us through fifteen years of The Jesus And Mary Chain’s indie and major label discography, travelling through their Blanco Y Negro heyday of the 80s and 90s, to their 1998 return to Creation. The album also includes their late appearance on Seattle’s legendary Sub Pop Records in the States. Many of the versions on ‘21 Singles’ are unique and alternative to their album counterparts.

FORMAT INFORMATION

2xLtd LP Info: Available on vinyl for the very first time, on double 180g heavyweight vinyl.

I’m All Ears is an even greater revelation than Rosa Walton and Jenny Hollingworth’s globally acclaimed debut, I, Gemini. The second act from the British teenage vocalists, multi-instrumentalists and songwriters, is the most startling, infectious, innovative and thrilling record you’ll hear this year. It is alive with furious pop, unapologetic grandeur, intimate ballads; with loops, Logic, outrageous 80s drum solos, as well as production from David Wrench (The xx/Frank Ocean/Caribou), SOPHIE (famed for her own material and work with Madonna, Charli XCX and Vince Staples) and Faris Badwan (The Horrors). It’s an album that cements Let’s Eat Grandma as one of the most creative and exciting bands in the world right now.

FORMAT INFORMATION

2xColoured LP Info: Indies exclusive translucent yellow vinyl.

This summer, James are back with new songs forged in these strangest of days.

The Mancunians returned in May with the ‘Better Than That’ EP and they will follow that in August with their 15th studio album, aptly titled ‘Living In Extraordinary Times’ on infectious Music.

The band’s longevity can be attributed to their constant process of renewal and reinvention. Their most recent album, 2016’s ‘Girl at the End of the World’ debuted at number two in the UK album charts. In total, they have sold more than 25 million albums worldwide, including their 1998 ‘Best Of’ which was a UK number one and went triple platinum. James’ reputation as a uniquely transcendent live act is well-earned, having headlined festivals from Glastonbury in 1992 to Festival No.6 in 2015.

The new recording sessions were overseen by Mercury Prize-winning producer Charlie Andrew and rising star Beni Giles.

‘Hank’, which appears on the EP and opens the new record, is further evidence that James have no inclination to shy away from politics. Booth is an Englishman in America, and that particular perspective on Donald Trump’s American carnage couldn’t help but have an impact on the writing of the record

As well as biting social commentary, ‘Living In Extraordinary Times’ also sees Booth speak frankly about deeply personal issues. On ‘Coming Home (Pt. 2)’, he writes - not for the first time - about the pain of being a father on tour away from a young child.

That song features an appearance from long-time James collaborator Brian Eno.

The new album also features EP title track ‘Better Than That’, in which Booth urges the universe to do its worst, like a man squaring up to life itself.
“You can do better than that,” he sings. “Hit me again and show me where I’m cracked.”

FORMAT INFORMATION

2xColoured LP Info: RSD Stores Exclusive grey gatefold package with majenta coloured vinyl - includes download cardcard.

2xLP Info: 12" Standard Double Vinyl - includes download card.

Deluxe CD Info: Deluxe CD – hard back book edition with 3 extra tracks.

‘Move Through The Dawn’ was recorded at Parr Street Studios in Liverpool and produced by The Coral and Rich Turvey. The album is the influential Hoylake five-piece’s follow-up to 2016’s critically acclaimed ‘Distance Inbetween’, which featured the BBC 6Music playlisted singles ‘Miss Fortune’, Holy Revelation’ and ‘Million Eyes’.

Nick Power, The Coral’s keyboardist, has written a new book, ‘Into The Void’, which will be published by Ebacc concurrently with the new album. Powers’ third book, ‘Into The Void’ is an insightful, amusing and evocative first hand account of the recording, release and touring of ‘Distance Inbetween’, which came after a five-year hiatus for the band.

Since their debut EP release in 2001 The Coral have sold over a million UK albums, with five reaching the Top 10 including 2003’s chart-topping ‘Magic and Medicine’. Their eight Top 40 singles include ‘Dreaming Of You’, ‘In The Morning’, ‘Pass It On’, and ‘Don’t Think You’re The First’.

Originally released in 1983 Stop Bajon (Primavera) became a favourite in Rimini Discotheques, Balearic Islands and even Chicago during the early house days.
It was an anthem on what went on to become the Italo Disco movement. The vocal mix is still revered and played to this day by DJ's such as DJ Harvey at his Mercury Rising night at Pikes, Ibiza. This special limited edition release from Best Record Italy features for the first time the original acapellas (tracked down during tape restoration) plus the song Stadera that was available only on the first italian pressing and of course the original extended club vocal and instrumental.

White Denim are back - regenerated and resolute.

The Austin quartet have long pulled hard at the parameters of rock & roll, admitting garage punk, soul, psychedelia, prog, jazz and blues while holding onto its vital goodtime core.

Their up-tempo drive has produced a body of work defined as much by stellar musicianship as off-the-chain exhilaration.

Energy and adventurism have always been paramount.

Here are nine songs with clarity and renewed purpose as well as a truckload of attitude.

A new studio, new collaborators, and new techniques for writing and recording influenced the elastic possibility and liberation felt throughout.

Theirs is music that aims for the whole body, while equally satisfying the mind. While it has morphed, expanded, and even burst apart, White Denim’s sincere, human drive and ability to spark true exhilaration have been unerring constants of the band’s existence.

Ever progressing, never content to camp out on a plateau of their creative accomplishments, there is no other band quite like White Denim – unique in talent and legendarily potent as a live band, they are quite simply a very special band.

FORMAT INFORMATION

Coloured LP Info: 140g clear vinyl - indies exclusive.

One thing The Vryll Society aren’t short of is admirers, Lauded at just about every turn by press and public alike, the release of their debut LP for Deltasonic Records is hotly anticipated thanks to the promise this band have shown through their live sets and recent single releases.

Discovered and nurtured by the late and much missed Deltasonic founder Alan Wills, they fitted the type for him perfectly. He instantly saw in them similar attributes he’d previously found in the early days of The Coral and The Zutons. The confident swagger, the solid union formed by their band-of-brothers gang mentality, their willingness to stand outside the conventional and often stifling jangly Liverpool scene, and the work ethic. Always the work ethic.

Wills instilled in The Vryll Society something which has become over the ensuing years a key element of what they are, what they’ve become, and of the music they produce. He gave them belief. A belief that hard work and determination will bring them to the place they wanted to reach.

“Alan taught us that all you need to conquer the world is a rehearsal room, your instruments, a good work ethic and a positive attitude and you’ll get there. He kind of taught us the rules and the attributes that you need to have to be successful so we’ve just continued on that path” says frontman Mike Ellis.

Ellis has stated that it was that attitude and that work ethic which got them through the subsequent tragic loss of their friend and manager in 2014, driving them forward through those times, propelling them to harder work, and bonding them even closer together as a unit.

That unit have spent the intervening time creating and honing their own brand new-psych sound, and building up a fanbase with their superlative live shows. Drawing from an eclectic palette of influence from deep funk to Krautrock, electronica and prog, they’ve created a heady, intoxicating, pin sharp, and tightly wound mellifluous groove, washed over with cyclical motifs, acres of effects laden guitar hooks, and shimmering, textural technicolour soundscapes. It is at once blissful, dizzying and madly infectious. It’s that eclecticism, that kaleidoscopic swirl of influences which brings together hip hop flavours, with the prog stylings of names such as Aphrodite’s Child and The Verve - pre Urban Hymns - when the drugs were still working. The dynamic leaps and folds through all these influences is where you find The Vryll Society’s own brand perfect pop. Its all there in the loops, in the hooks, the drive and the vibe of this unique band. But this isn’t frippery, these aren't throwaway cheap thrills for our disposable times. No, this is heavier. This is music too feed your head.

Live too, The Vryll Society are a formidable force. That gang mentality binds them together over the ideas formed by spending long hours together in the rehearsal every day. Hotwiring these ideas into the heads of the crowd through extended psych jams and deep solid grooves gives a different show every time, and with each and every set, the offer gets better. Recent travels have seen them take SXSW 2017 by storm as guests of BBC Introducing as well as major festivals such as Glastonbury and Leeds/Reading.

The songs that fill the delicious grooves of Course Of The Satellite weren’t so much written as devised or developed, brought together organically over months in the band’s underground lair, or over weeks in Liverpool’s Parr Street Studios. Working closely with producers, Wills’ right hand man and Deltasonic brother-in-arms Joe Fearon and Tom Longworth, the album took shape organically, biding its time and finding its way. The result is a work of impressive confidence and stature. It’s a record that believes in itself, and for all the right reasons. This is an effortlessly cool album, the sort of record that makes friends easily. The world is ready, willing and more than able to take The Vryll Society even deeper to their heart. The path Alan Wills showed them awaits. It’s a path that leads to greatness.

FORMAT INFORMATION

Coloured LP Info: Transparent red vinyl. Includes 4 track bonus CD while stocks last.

LP Info: Includes 4 track bonus CD while stocks last.

CD Info: Includes 4 track bonus CD while stocks last.

It was a year ago now that Twin Peaks: The Return arrived like a godsend and defied every plausible expectation. David Lynch and Mark Frost’s sprawling, unprecedented 18-part masterpiece proved unlike anything seen before on television.

Nobody will forget the moment the show’s uncanny two-part premiere drew to an enigmatic close, as Chromatics took the stage at the Roadhouse bathed in cobalt, inaugurating with their hypnotic performance of “Shadow”. This was only the beginning of Johnny Jewel’s sonic presence on the series. His mesmerizing, dreamlike “Windswept” became the bona fide theme song of Kyle MacLachlan’s Lodge-dazed

Dougie Jones — a siren song of melancholic saxophone calling out to him from the beyond.

“I was about a year deep into recording what would become Windswept when I heard that David was making Season 3,” he explains. “It’s been a year since Chromatics performed at the Roadhouse. With disintegrated memory through the haze of television snow, I wanted to share a glimpse behind the red curtain.”

Themes for Television is an epic from the cutting room floor. A nearly hour-long foray into the blurry hours of night. “The project began as a sonic exploration of the sounds I was hearing in my nightmares,” Jewel says. “I wanted to find my way out of the maze by focusing on beauty over fear — like the way the fractured sunrise looks in a dream.”

Themes for Television is in keeping with the unpredictable twilit splendour one expects of Jewel. Working entirely without images, drawing from his own imagined version of what The Return might be, Jewel produced a monumental six hours of material. The 21 tracks that comprise this album have been culled from that prolific streak of inspiration, sequenced and edited last winter in Tokyo.

FORMAT INFORMATION

2xColoured LP Info: Limited edition red vinyl.

First Word Records is very proud to present the debut album by Children of Zeus - 'Travel Light'.

It's been a long road leading to this album for Tyler Daley and Konny Kon.

They first embarked on their expedition into the music game two decades back - Tyler entered the scene as a songwriter, producer and vocalist, originally under the moniker Hoodman, whilst Konny began MCing, DJing and beat-making for hip hop crews The Microdisiacs and Broke'n'£nglish, along with DRS & Strategy.

To date, Children of Zeus have released three sell-out singles on First Word ('Still Standing', 'I Can't Wait' and 'Slow Down') and a compilation EP comprised of tracks made by the duo over the last decade entitled 'The Story So Far…'.

Children of Zeus are finally at the stage where they are releasing their debut album proper; the

over-riding ethos of which is about keeping their eyes on the road ahead, whilst shedding the baggage they've accumulated over the years - 'Travel Light'.

Features mainly come from Manny family; [ K S R ], LayFullStop, Metrodome (Levelz) and former Broke 'n' £nglish spar DRS. Guest production comes in the form of Switzerland's Sebb Bash, Nottingham's Juga-Naut, and London's Beat Butcha, and there's your favourite DJ's favourite DJ,

Mr Thing, slicing up the turntables on two tracks too. There's a few extra special ingredients on this album, along with their trademark sub-heavy, rhodes-laden hip hop soul hybrid. Reggae music has always been an integral piece of the CoZ sound-system ethic, so we see Tyler putting on his lover's rock hat for 'Hard Work', and they invite soul queen Terri Walker to join them on the fierce 'Sling Shot Riddim', while the album closes with the epic K15-produced jazz-bruk opus, 'Vibrations', on which Konny breaks it down quite simply: "high frequency means that you travel light, so get lifted yo, we'll live gifted".

Long as the journey has been, the time for looking back is over. This is about the present and future of Children of Zeus. A shining light in Manchester's now-school, and rightly heralded by many as the best new act to emerge in British soul music in the past decade. Aside from the above features, this project is written, performed and produced entirely by Tyler and Konny. Since the crew first took flight, the end destination has never changed, the aim remains the same - to create timeless music, in their own unique style, without compromise, irrespective of industry and life distractions. The moral being this - travel light.

Benjamin Smith and Paul "Mudd" Murphy are back with a Balearic gem - The Distance. Featuring a vocal and instrumental on the A-side, and a remix on the flip by legend and consummate production ace - Ron Basejam. Lyrics and vocals are by Quinn Lamont, who's captivating earthy tones playfully tease us with emotional yearning, and it's Quinn who provides a stunning jazzy guitar performance that will have you air guitaring all over the dance floor, and which sits splendidly alongside the beautiful layers of rich electric piano and Balearic disco grooves. The remix by Ron Basejam recasts the track as an instantly affable yacht-rock-esque anthem, that will fill your hearts and have you reaching for the Campari. This is a sumptuous summer groover, with layer upon layer of blissed out disco warmth. A sublime masterclass in musicianship and production that will bring joy to the most discerning of ears.

‘The best critique is self-critique’ is the mantra of Brooklyn art rock unit BODEGA. With wild minimalism and sharp wit, they revitalize the rock and roll vocabulary under the influence of post punk, contemporary pop, hip-hop, kraut rock, and folk-derived narrative songwriting.

BODEGA’s debut LP ‘ENDLESS SCROLL’ is a collective dialogue with the machine and the public. Ping-ponging vocals are set to Ben’s deconstructed guitar, Nikki’s samples of old and new technology, the driving minimalism of standing drummer Montana Simone (IDIO Gallery), the angular spasms of lead guitar Madison Velding-Vandam (The Wants) and the tight, hypnotic bass lines of Heather Elle (Please No Radio).

"ENDLESS SCROLL" was recorded and produced by Austin Brown (Parquet Courts) on the same Tascam 388 tape machine used for their LP "Light Up Gold". It was mixed and mastered by Jonathan Schenke (Eaters) at Dr. Wu's. The LP's fourteen songs offer a high-energy, humorous but earnest thirty-four minutes.

FORMAT INFORMATION

Coloured LP Info: Indies exclusive teal coloured vinyl.

For the next Collector's Cuts record; Hamburg is the destination and Basso is the collector.

Basso is the owner of Growing Bin Records, a DJ and a collector of mind blowing music.
Growing Bin Records is a fantastic place to dive deeply into the wonderful but slightly off the wall genres like Krautrock, Balearic, Yacht Rock, Synth, New-Wave and many other styles.
Originally started as a blog it is has grown to become a great online resource and small label where there are no rules or formulas.

Here Basso has delved into his vast record collection to splice together some rather exquisite selections. Dive in to the Bin!
Pressed heavy for late nights, early mornings or afternoons on the yacht.

Velvet Season & The Hearts of Gold present the feel-good blue-eyed Disco anthem of the summer! This official 12"" version of Javaroo's super rare 'Breakin' In', has been seductively reconstructed into a sizzling string-laden magnum opus by Gerry Rooney & Joel Martin. The song's infectious uplifting power is undoubtedly due the high quality of musicianship featured on this vintage Barry Blue production, aided by legendary Quincy Jones collaborator Rod Temperton (Heatwave) and a wealth of top British Jazz session players (John Cameron, Clem Cattini, Mike Moran etc).

'Breakin' In' is a nightclub groover complete with catchy sing-along chorus and luxurious love -unlimited harmonies to keep the dance-floor rocking and the crowd squealing for more! This is the soundtrack to a private erotic soiree at 'Tramp' circa 1980, where vintage prowlers Joan Collins and Sue Lloyd hunt for the stroke of a Stud only a Bitch can handle - Satisfaction guaranteed in the Sanctuary of lust! On the flipside another heavyweight Barry Blue production from 1981, Marti Caine's sublime sleaze-time soul stepper 'Love The Way You Love Me', receives the full VS & the HOG treatment.

Clocking in at over 9 scintillating minutes of extended aural delight, the Velvet Season & The Hearts of Gold version has transformed the original LP track into a lavish, expansive, Bass enriched 12" Dub behemoth via their subtle delay and reverb techniques which enrich the song's hypnotic flow with entrancing synergy towards its euphoric climax!

Originally released on Creation Records, this long out of print classic has been re-mastered for the first time from the original tapes at Abbey Road Studios, London under the guidance of the band, Norman Blake, Gerard Love, and Raymond McGinley. Packaged in a faithful re-production of the original vinyl artwork and available on heavyweight 180g single vinyl.

This is one of a series of five releases, and for each the band have also selected rarities, favourites and tracks previously unavailable on vinyl to include on a 7” with each album. These 7” singles each feature two tracks and are only available with the initial pressing of each album.

FORMAT INFORMATION

Ltd LP Info: Limited edition includes bonus 7".

Originally released on Creation Records, this long out of print classic has been re-mastered for the first time from the original tapes at Abbey Road Studios, London under the guidance of the band, Norman Blake, Gerard Love, and Raymond McGinley. Packaged in a faithful re-production of the original vinyl artwork and available on heavyweight 180g single vinyl.

This is one of a series of five releases, and for each the band have also selected rarities, favourites and tracks previously unavailable on vinyl to include on a 7” with each album. These 7” singles each feature two tracks and are only available with the initial pressing of each album.

FORMAT INFORMATION

Ltd LP Info: Limited edition includes bonus 7".

Originally released on Creation Records, this long out of print classic has been re-mastered for the first time from the original tapes at Abbey Road Studios, London under the guidance of the band, Norman Blake, Gerard Love, and Raymond McGinley. Packaged in a faithful re-production of the original vinyl artwork and available on heavyweight 180g single vinyl. 

This is one of a series of five releases, and for each the band have also selected rarities, favourites and tracks previously unavailable on vinyl to include on a 7” with each album. These 7” singles each feature two tracks and are only available with the initial pressing of each album.

FORMAT INFORMATION

Ltd LP Info: Limited edition includes bonus 7".

Originally released on Creation Records, this long out of print classic has been re-mastered for the first time from the original tapes at Abbey Road Studios, London under the guidance of the band, Norman Blake, Gerard Love, and Raymond McGinley. Packaged in a faithful re-production of the original vinyl artwork and available on heavyweight 180g single vinyl. 

This is one of a series of five releases, and for each the band have also selected rarities, favourites and tracks previously unavailable on vinyl to include on a 7” with each album. These 7” singles each feature two tracks and are only available with the initial pressing of each album.

FORMAT INFORMATION

Ltd LP Info: Limited edition includes bonus 7".

Originally released on Creation Records, this long out of print classic has been re-mastered for the first time from the original tapes at Abbey Road Studios, London under the guidance of the band, Norman Blake, Gerard Love, and Raymond McGinley. Packaged in a faithful re-production of the original vinyl artwork and available on heavyweight 180g single vinyl. 

This is one of a series of five releases, and for each the band have also selected rarities, favourites and tracks previously unavailable on vinyl to include on a 7” with each album. These 7” singles each feature two tracks and are only available with the initial pressing of each album.

FORMAT INFORMATION

Ltd LP Info: Limited edition includes bonus 7".

Bitter End continue to forge a path that's entirely their own, with another in the limited pre-release series...

'Vibrating James' on side A, Makes a funky foundation from the psilocybin soaked bones of the king of soul, and then liberally layers up some chest caving low end. Utterly irresistible and already the cause of many a 'moment' in the worlds finest cathedrals of escape

On the flip we get some buried treasure in the shape of 'The House' a nostalgic romp through a bitter/sweet early 90's style piano anthem that marries Bologna's finest formaggio to some good old fashioned bass from the drop Forgio

Once again Bitter End rips up the rule book, and crafts a whole set of new, better ones in which freedom reigns



Light years ahead ! 

Dais Records is proud to announce the official reissue of "ELpH vs Coil - Worship the Glitch". Remastered by engineer Josh Bonati and supervised by Coil's Drew McDowall, the vinyl release is pressed onto double 12" LP vinyl (from the original 10" release), and is packaged in a gorgeous 24pt stock matte gatefold LP with sticker and vellum track listing insert. . Also available on digipack CD.

"Unexplainable" may well be the best explanation for the members of the UK based electronic outfit COIL. Making a radical shift from intentional accessibility, by means of traditional pop songwriting, to abstract happenstance, Coil had entered into a new phase in their career...uncharted waters utilizing what was then the newest computer technology, digital and analog synthesis and the newly formed ideas that something outside of themselves was steering the ship.

During the studio sessions that developed into what would become “Worship the Glitch”. Coil became aware of random compositions emitting from their gear, and were at odds with constant ͞”accidents” that were perpetually plaguing the recordings. The band called these unintentional emissions "ELpH": a conceptual being that is one part physical equipment, one part celestial being...constantly playing the role of trickster, throwing a wrench into Coil’s methodology. Eventually, these accidents and mistakes were embraced by the band, and the process of misusing audio software to create intentional "errors" was adopted as a musical technique. The acceptance of the "mistake", and the use of discovered mistakes as intentional elements slowly became the drive and concept behind the album, thus birthing the title “Worship the Glitch”.

Originally released in 1995 on Coil’s in-house imprint Eskaton, Worship the Glitch was Coil’s first proper album-length attempt at conceptual ambient composition, with a radical focus on chance. Seamless vignettes of shattered electronics (though ebbing softly and in delicate balance with each other) provide an underlying uncertainty and discomfort to the listener. 

FORMAT INFORMATION

2xColoured LP Info: Limited edition of 500 on TRANSLUCENT YELLOW.

2xLtd LP Info: Limited edition of 500 on BLACK VINYL.

For those who shine darkly......

During the transitional period in which Coil’s primary leadership, Peter “Sleazy” Christopherson and John Balance, reorganized their creative direction by taking on new membership in the group through their inclusion of Drew McDowall, Coil took a drastic turn towards the metaphysical unknown.Employing the subtle handiwork of Coil’s“real life”members, as well as the cleverlyguised aliases and spiritual collaborators, the band chose to filter their identity through a the nome de guerre, Black Light District,setting the precedent of Coil’s future exploration of other worldy influence.

Recorded during the Winter of 1995/96, Black Light District reflects more on their formal avant-garde pursuits and academic interests rather than their industrial pedigree resume. Starting off with an obvious nod to John Cage with their introductory “Unprepared Piano”, the tone is prepared in exactly the same way... unpredictable. Conceptually abstract, Black Light District shows Coil’s old guard disregarding the pop rhythms found on previous albums, such as Love Secret Domain,and fully embracing their experimental electronic trajectory. Subtle patterns of looping melancholy and malaise are placed delicately underneath ghostly electronic timbre. Approaching their creative method as something from the beyond, another realm in which sounds blur and performers seemingly appear from the ether.

Dais Records announces the official reissue of "Coil presents Black Light District -A Thousand Lights in a Darkened Room". Remastered by engineer Josh Bonati and supervised by Coil's Drew McDowall, the double LP vinyl release is packaged in a beautiful matte 24pt stock gatefold jacket Also available on digipack CD with booklet and digital.

FORMAT INFORMATION

2xColoured LP Info: Limited edition of 500 on TRANSLUCENT YELLOW.

2xLtd LP Info: Limited edition of 500 on BLACK VINYL.

In 1982, a group of friends deep into post-punk, jazz and dub got together in Mad Professor's studio and lay down their youthful interpretation of a NYC disco cut. Their unique take included trombone, vibraphone, piano, and an ital dose of tape delay. They called the song Trouble and released two versions (vocal and dub) on their friend Tony McDermott's !Drum! label with artwork inspired by Russian Constructivism. TIP!
.
The group, comprised of Justin Langlands, Chrysta Jones, John Schofield, Tom Dixon, and Dave Killen, decided to call themselves A-Team, having no idea that Mr.T and Co. would make them almost totally ungoogle-able 30 years later. The result of their adolescent studio idealism sounds akin to otherdisco misfits like Arthur Russell, Maximum Joy, Talking Drums and wouldn't sound out of place on legendary NYC label 99 Records. Remastered with an extended Club Dub formaximum dance-floor action.

UK DJ and producer Rohan Walder, a.k.a. Randomer furthers his exploration into deep, spatial techno on Dekmantel’s UFO imprint. Fusing together two-step rhythms, cavernous beats, distortion, layered kicks, and an attentive detail to sound design, Randomer delivers an uncompromising array of abstract and destructive techno tracks.
.
Randomer’s approach to techno has always mantained a bassier, obtuse approach to sound, with polyrhythm beats that have helped set his sonic identity apart from his peers. Having released the Running Dry EP on DKMNTL UFO in 2016, Randomer is firmly establishing himself as one of the label’s favourite artists, with a resounding appearance at the Dekmantel festival in São Paulo, and a prime slot awaiting for him in the UFO tent at this year’s festival in Amsterdam.

The latest EP by the UK producer kicks off with 'Van Pelt', which skips on the off-beat at just over 130bmp, and textured with kicks that sound like two robust, metal dumpsters being hit together. Littered in the background are gongs, random percussive sounds, and something very alien, making it the perfect track for the UFO tent. 'Shadow Harp' is quintessential techno, with yet more thudding, dark-kicks layered against a syncopated plucked and jarring bass. 'Dissolve' drip and oozes with a sunken undercurrent of dystopic-melancholy, driving in ruptured reverb with a tribal percussive foundation. Final track 'Slicing’ dares to take things a little further, as the rounded-hollow kicks punctuate against more metallic, and analogue sounds - like a war of machines, set to a rhythm of abstract, free-flowing gust of techno cuts. Throughout the four-tracks, Randomer showcases his innate ability to excite and surprise with dynamism, and cutting sounds, with a technique that has been well-honed throughout the years. As he stated in an interview with Resident Advisor in 2016; “Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.”

Having launched in 2016, DKMNTL UFO has released critical cuts from Peter Van Hoesen, Anthony Parasole, and Voiski.

The Goon Sax are James Harrison, Louis Forster and Riley Jones from Brisbane, Australia. Still in high school when they made their first album Up To Anything in 2016, their brand of awkwardly transcendent teenage guitar pop took earned them wide-spread critical acclaim.

For album number two, they flew to Melbourne to record with James Cecil and Cameron Bird, respectively former/current members of Architecture In Helsinki, and 'We're Not Talking' shows how much can change between the ages of 17 and 19. It's a record that takes the enthusiasms of youth and twists them into darker, more sophisticated shapes. Relationships are now laced with hesitation, remorse, misunderstanding and ultimately compassion.

Drummer Riley Jones really comes to the fore here, joining Louis and James in singing lead and writing songs for the first time, making the band the musical equivalent of an equilateral triangle (the strongest shape in physics).

Delivering brilliantly human and brutally honest vignettes of adolescent angst, The Goon Sax brim with personality, charm and heart-wrenching honesty. 'We’re Not Talking' is a record made by restless artists, defying expectations as if hardly noticing, and its complexity makes 'We're Not Talking' even more of a marvel.

Black Bones are certainly having something of a purple patch, so what better way to celebrate their regal success than with a purple edition in the best-selling series !

More awe-inspiring archeology afoot here, as we're treated to another invaluable 4-tracker taking in heavyweight Funk, a fired up freestyle beatdown, strobelit, leather-clad Disco and Folky outdoor Balearia

Limited, hand-stamped vinyl 12"

Delicate Wash presents its second fine selection of gentle cuts.

This time it will take you on a 80's electronic funk adventure filled with analog drum machines and sharp synth leads.

All four tracks are fresh, perky, futuristic, and thrilling.

Add this jewel to your collection.

Albion The Return.

Konig cosmic.

Poupeee up up away.

Balearo soft camper.

In Coherence verstand Inkoharenz.

O.V.N.I shows why in Venables we say thank you !!

Tompkins Square is very proud to announce the signing of Welsh multi-instrumentalist, Gwenifer Raymond. Hailing from Cardiff and now residing in Brighton in the South of England, Raymond began playing guitar at the age of eight. Tompkins Square released her debut 7" on Record Store Day. Early praise via The Wire, MOJO, and many more. In her own words : When I was about eight years old a pretty formative thing happened to me ... my mum bought me a cassette tape of Nirvana’s Nevermind. Being so young I'd had no real interest in music prior to that, but I did have a ‘My First Sony’ cassette player that I used to listen to audiobooks. Anyway, I put the tape in, pressed play, and what I heard blew my little 8 year old mind.

I don't know what it was about that wall of sound that so captured me, but I spent many hours hyperactively running around the house with headphones on, volume at full blast, and Nevermind on repeat. It was either for Christmas or my birthday that year, that I asked for a guitar. I spent all my teenage years playing either guitar or drums in various punk and rock outfits around the Welsh valleys, but around that time I was also getting seriously into older stuff, Dylan, The Velvet Underground and the like. Through those cheap compilation CDs you could get then, I found that a common influence amongst these guys was pre-war delta and country blues, as well as Appalachian music. Eventually I stumbled upon Mississippi John Hurt, Skip James and Roscoe Holcomb, and they became the holy trinity of musicians I so wanted to able to play like. Eventually, I tracked down a blues man in Cardiff who could teach me and it was in studying these guys that I was introduced to John Fahey and the whole American Primitive thing. I’ve always loved being in bands and the sonic chemistry it produces, but at the same time it’s always a bit of a compromise that those sounds in my head have to pass through and be translated by someone else’s. Sometimes it can be for the better, but sometimes not so much.

American Primitive was the first time it had occurred to me that you didn’t really need anything more than one solo instrument to fully express yourself, especially when those feelings and moods refuse to be articulated in words, sometimes it's a mystery to yourself what it is you’re expressing. I still play in hard rock and punk bands and love to wail and hit my guitar with a complete lack of any subtlety or nuance, but in the end I think that all these things are really part of a circle, feeding back into itself. It’s all just a lineup of strange mutations.