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Knocked Loose

You Won't Go Before You're Supposed To

    As Knocked Loose chipped away at what would become their third album, they felt the pressure from all sides. Internally, there was the need to challenge themselves as songwriters while retaining the merciless intensity and unflinching honesty that have always been their calling cards. Externally, there was a whole new set of eyes on the hard-touring Louisville quintet, following a banner year in which they’d brought their underground-seasoned sound to some of the world’s biggest stages, finding themselves the unlikely viral darlings of both Coachella and Bonnaroo.

    The creative process was arduous, with the band writing close to 40 songs across a span of four years before locking in the 10 tracks that make up new LP You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To. But in the end, vocalist Bryan Garris, guitarists Isaac Hale and Nicko Calderon, bassist Kevin Otten and drummer Kevin “Pac Sun” Kaine honed a diverse, cohesive and savagely intense album that both sums up the massive strides they’ve taken during their decade as a band, and asserts their boundless potential going forward.

    TRACK LISTING

    1. Thirst
    2. Piece By Piece
    3. Suffocate (ft. Poppy)
    4. Don't Reach For Me
    5. Moss Covers All
    6. Take Me Home
    7. Slaughterhouse 2 (ft. Chris Motionless)
    8. The Calm That Keeps You Awake
    9. Blinding Faith
    10. Sit & Mourn

    Lightning Seeds

    All I Want / Pure (RSD24 EDITION)

      THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2024 EXCLUSIVE AND WILL BE AVAILABLE INSTORE ON SATURDAY APRIL 20TH ON A FIRST COME FIRST SERVED BASIS, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

      IF THERE ARE ANY REMAINING COPIES THEY WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE ONLINE AT 8PM ON MONDAY APRIL 22ND.


      35th anniversary x4 trk EP on Yellow Vinyl.

      Cloud Nothings

      Final Summer

        Cloud Nothings are back! Cleveland's loudest export with their new album, Final Summer via Pure Noise Records. Over the past 15 years Cloud Nothings have become part of the fabric of modern indie rock with a steady run of reliably fantastic records, and this streak continues unabated with Final Summer – an album that’s so assured, so instantly satisfying, that it forces you to pause and realize you’re listening to one of the great American rock bands in their prime.

        TRACK LISTING

        1. Final Summer
        2. Daggers Of Light
        3. I'd Get Along
        4. Mouse Policy
        5. Silence
        6. Running Through The Campus
        7. The Golden Halo
        8. Thank Me For Playing
        9. On The Chain
        10. Common Mistake

        Luce Mawdsley

        Northwest & Nebulous

          Northwest & Nebulous is Liverpool-based musician Luce Mawdsley’s sixth studio release, a lush and accomplished instrumental album suffused with radiant and fluid possibilities, where expansively cinematic instrumentals conjure queer cowboy landscapes via the Northern English coastline. The album is a world-building piece of work, pulling from folk, Americana and soundtrack influences, fusing their romantic and exploratory energies to signal the beginning of a new journey for composer, with an open invitation for listeners to come along for the ride. The album was recorded and mixed by Luce Mawdsley in the Grade II listed Scandinavian Church in Liverpool, with a core chamber trio of Luce on guitar, organ and percussion, Nicholas Branton on clarinets, and Rachel Nicholas on viola. A self-taught musician, Mawdsley has released a host of both solo and collaborative albums (Mésange, Cavalier Song), and in 2023 started Pure O records, an independent record label dedicated to the nurture of queer and curious music based in the Northwest of England.

          TRACK LISTING

          1. Latex Feather
          2. Roosting
          3. Sojourn
          4. Meltwater
          5. All Seasons Swarm
          6. Northwest & Nebulous
          7. The Growing Rooms
          8. Lake Light Sparkles

          Cult Member

          Ethernet

            Pure Life are one of the most consistently interesting, stylistically varied labels out there and their latest outing comes in the way of the remastered synthwave / electronic masterpiece 'Ethernet' from Canadian superproducer, Cult Member.

            There are moments of snapping, AFX-adjacent braindance like the spine-fluid-drainingly energetic '2 Pills' or the bitrushed glitchy maelstrom of the brilliant 'Mall Corp', but for me it's the moments of crystalline mystery and sidechained throbby pad wooze of 'Steroid Dealer' or the otherworldy euphoria of 'Dream Member' that really hit home. 

            A brilliantly immersive, lysergic journey through acid house, techno and synthwave, pushed through a murky filter and beautifully presented as ever, from one of the greatest labels in the biz. Stunner.  




            STAFF COMMENTS

            Barry says: Another perfectly presented, wonderfully immersive collection from Pure Life here, showcasing this sonically reworked edition of 2019's 'Ethernet' from Canadian Liam Hayden. You better get in quick for this one, because i've rarely heard a more perfect modern lo-fi electronica record, and it's not going to last for ever.

            TRACK LISTING

            1. 2080 03:31
            2. 2 Pills 02:32
            3. Acid Jam Mutek 03:24
            4. Steroid Dealer 05:21
            5. Faygo 02:49
            6. Hello Danny Boy 03:52
            7. Mall Corp 03:25
            8. Cinderella 99 02:54
            9. Санкт-Петербург 04:50
            10. Dream Member 03:54
            11. Key West 06:42

            Peter Gutteridge

            Pure - 2023 Reissue

              In the swirl of underground music emerging from Dunedin, New Zealand in the 1980s, Peter Gutteridge stands as one of the era’s most intense and shadowy figures. Despite being a founding member of The Clean and The Chills, Gutteridge would eschew indie-rock fame for the hypnotic and driving sounds of his later bands such as Snapper. Fittingly, it is Pure—Gutteridge’s lone solo album of intimate home recordings—that serves as the most revealing and celebrated release of his career. As Peter Jefferies writes in the liner notes, “That’s what’s so good about Pure. Not only the songs, but the name, the name for the recording. It is as pure as you can get. That’s the real deal, when it goes from nothing to something and he catches it on his machine.”

              Originally released on cassette in 1989 on Xpressway, Pure documents Gutteridge’s stunning use of 4-track as instrument. Featuring lo-fi pop gems and interstitial sketches, the LP combines densely layered keyboards and guitars, distorted drum machines and possessed-sounding vocals to create a truly singular work of undistilled artistic vision. While Gutteridge denied that he was the architect of the “Dunedin Sound,” Pure sits comfortably next to the most revered Flying Nun releases of its time. Shifting exquisitely from churning rattle to an airy ease without losing momentum, these twenty-one songs hold a lasting place in the canon of DIY music. Recommended for fans of Syd Barrett, Jim Shepard and early Fad Gadget. Includes drawing chosen by Peter’s family.

              TRACK LISTING

              Lonely
              Exhibition I
              First Instrumental
              Hang On
              Ocean
              Dead Pony
              Fuck Your Mother To Hell
              Suicide
              Oil
              Pure (No. 1)
              Thumbaline
              Cause Of You
              Rubout
              Planet Phrom
              Sand
              Exhibition II
              Having Fun
              Bomb
              Fifty-Seven Seconds
              Chinese Garden
              Pure (No. 2)

              The Bug Club

              Pure Particles

                'Pure Particles' follows the great sellout success of The Bug Club's debut EP 'Launching Moondream One'. Again released on Bingo Records, it sees the South Wales trio deliver a larger portion of raucous, riffing garage shot through with a sense of humour that reminds you that, while they may be excellent musicians, they're certainly not going to bore you about that.

                TRACK LISTING

                1. The Word Of God 00:35
                2. My Baby Loves Rock & Roll Music 02:37
                3. Vegetable Garden 02:56
                4. The Fixer 02:27
                5. Pure Particles 02:13
                6. Jonathan's Gone 02:07
                7. If My Mother Thinks I'm Happy 04:22
                8. A Love Song 01:14
                9. Pure Particles Theme 01:37

                The Bug Club

                Launching Pure Moondream Particles One

                  The Bug Club’s name does a good job of introducing the band & their music: a tight-knit, collaborative effort focused on telling tales of the everyday that we often take for granted, shot through with humour & riffs-a-plenty.

                  Imagine Jonathan Richman bought a really big amp & a time machine & found himself somewhere on the Nuggets compilation. Or perhaps Ray Davis palled up with Sterling Morrison, got really into The Minutemen & agreed that songs need not be longer than two minutes. Then, maybe, you’re almost where the Welsh three-piece are coming from.

                  The creative trio of Sam Willmett (guitar/vocals), Tilly Harris (bass/vocals) and Dan Matthew (drums) formed The Bug Club in 2016 in the little-known rock n' roll hotbed that is Caldicot, Monmouthshire. Following relentless gigging in their local area, The Bug Club were picked up by Bingo Records & released their first proper single - ‘We Don’t Need Room For Lovin’ - in February 2021. It garnered immediate acclaim, with BBC 6 Music’s resident tastemaker Marc Riley playing it a few times a week ever since & booking them in for a post-lockdown live session right off the bat. The announcement of the EP ‘Launching Moondream One’ followed - as did the release of second single ‘Checkmate’, with which came a similar level of radio airplay. And then the same again for the EP's title track.

                  First and foremost a live band, the band record as a group quickly, capturing the energy & sound of the gigs that make them such a popular fixture on the live circuit. 

                  RIYL: The Modern Lovers, The Wave Pictures, The Vaselines, The Velvet Underground, The Kinks.

                  TRACK LISTING

                  1. Checkmate 02:13
                  2. All Of The Scariest Monsters Live In London 02:04
                  3. We Don't Need Room For Lovin' 02:00
                  4. Launching Moondream One 01:33
                  5. The Word Of God 00:35
                  6. My Baby Loves Rock & Roll Music 02:37
                  7. Vegetable Garden 02:56
                  8. The Fixer 02:27
                  9. Pure Particles 02:13
                  10. Jonathan's Gone 02:07
                  11. If My Mother Thinks I'm Happy 04:22
                  12. A Love Song 01:14
                  13. Pure Particles Theme 01:37

                  Moonshake

                  Eva Luna - 2023 Reissue

                    Moonshake was formed in 1991 by David Callahan (vocals, guitars, samplers), formerly of The Wolfhounds, and New York musician Margaret Fiedler (vocals, guitars, samplers). Callahan and Fiedler recorded a demo for Creation Records, and were joined by John Frenett (bass) and Miguel Morland (“Mig”, drums) to record and release the First EP for Creation in 1991 . They took their name from a 1973 single by Can. Both Fiedler and Callahan wrote songs, and they would (generally) sing on the songs that they wrote. Their output of shared inspiration produced wildly different results - Can, PIL, Kraftwerk, MBV, Erik B & Rakim were a melting pot that made Moonshake somewhat uncategorizable, and as Margaret noted in an interview, “Moonshake was a collision - it was supposed to be a collision.”

                    Their debut album Eva Luna took its name from a novel by Chilean author Isabel Allende and the tracks on it are split evenly between the two songwriters. Callahan’s songs are somewhat

                    angry, dissonant, post-punk affairs, while Fiedler’s are just as angular, but her quieter sometimes near whispered vocals compliment her writing partner’s equally. Producer/engineer Guy Fixsen, fresh from his work on My Bloody Valentine’s Loveless, was instrumental in making the album cohesive.

                    This album has been critically revisited often since its original release, with Tiny Mix Tapes describing their sound as “an updated take on Can and Public Image Limited’s rhythmic propulsion with noisier guitar work and a predilection for sampling influenced by The Young Gods.” Last year, in a wonderfully long piece to celebrate the album’s 30th anniversary, Louder Than War wrote that they were blown away by the album’s “utterly spellbinding, dizzyingly genre-defying approach at articulating explicitly the sound of a city in the throes of urban psychosis and derangement...Eva Luna really is one hell of a ground-breaking record, and it stands resolutely alone among all of the albums released in 1992 as no other band has managed to create anything remotely similar before or since. It really is a unique album with few equals.”

                    In 1993, the original incarnation of the band split up, and Margaret Fiedler and John Frenett went on to form Laika with Guy Fixsen. Callahan and Morland continued on with guest musicians, with Callahan ultimately remaining the band’s sole original member. Moonshake ended in 1997 but their legacy is indisputable.

                    TRACK LISTING

                    1. City Poison
                    2. Sweetheart
                    3. Spaceship Earth
                    4. Beautiful Pigeon
                    5. Mugshot Heroine
                    6. Wanderlust
                    7. Tar Baby
                    8. Seen & Not Heard
                    9. Bleach & Salt Water
                    10. Little Thing
                    11. Secondhand Clothes
                    12. Blister
                    13. Beeside
                    14. Home Survival Kit
                    15. Drop In The Ocean
                    16. Coming (BBC Radio 1 John Peel Session)
                    17. Beautiful Pigeon (BBC Radio 1 John Peel Session)
                    18. Sweetheart (BBC Radio 1 John Peel Session)
                    19. Mugshot Heroine (BBC Radio 1 John Peel Session)

                    Lou Roy

                    Pure Chaos

                      Larger-than-life personality Lou Roy has shared ‘Valkryie’ - a sassy, alt-pop jam that she co-produced alongside Sarah Tudzin of Illuminati Hotties. It marks Lou’s first release for Balloon Machine.

                      From Topanga Canyon, a mountainous LA suburb, Lou lives by the mantra ‘joy is king!’ - a saying that comes from her admiration for the chaotic, adult playground of Las Vegas. ‘Chaos reigns. All is permitted’ she sings on Valkyrie, immediately declaring how the limitlessness of her music matches up with the city she so idolises.

                      ‘Valkyrie’ is a vibrant showcase of the humour, invention and peacock swagger that permeates Lou’s music. Lou calls our attempt to give meaning to the chaos of life “sweet” and life’s unpredictability echoes in her urgent genre shifts which take in rock’s most outlandish moments, the playfulness of pop and the straight-up quality of folk.

                      The new single finds Lou assembling the Valkyrie - “female figures in Norse mythology who ride horses through the sky with big, long swords and are very sick”, Lou’s description - to overcome a particularly brutal trauma.

                      Of the track, she said: “The song began with me tapping my water bottle while listening to my buddies have a conversation around me. It was called “water bottle birthday beat” for months, until one night in July I got high and decided to just put the beat on loop and improvise lyrics. I had a panic attack a few days before, and had recounted that in the opening line, and from there I just decided to go stream of consciousness based on that. Apparently, I was feeling angry and vengeful - the rest of what came out was all about embracing rage.

                      “Then in a sudden shift of perspective, I noticed I wanted peace and quiet and asked myself, “hey man, whatcha doin? Come on back, I need you movin!”. It was a gentle request to please not be so upset, I’m scaring me!”

                      STAFF COMMENTS

                      Barry says: Sitting somewhere between the grooving, shimmering Americana of Lucy Dacus or Fenne Lilly and the punky, angular pop of Claud, 'Pure Chaos' is anything but pure chaos, it's meticulously crafted and eminently enjoyable, an essential addition to any collection.

                      TRACK LISTING

                      1. Valkyrie
                      2. Scroll
                      3. Uppercut
                      4. U.D.I.D
                      5. If We Were Strangers
                      6. Myth
                      7. Down Since ’07
                      8. Bull Ride
                      9. Big Anvil
                      10. Dream
                      11. Talkin’ To Ya 

                      Sangam

                      Dystopian Memory

                        Dystopian Memory hums and crackles like it's imbued with life and electricity. Looping synth throbs weave around scattered ambient pads and glitched demi-spoken vocal snippets. 'Disconnect Me Like A USB' breathes like an organic being, but pulses of machinated synth and echoic saw wave jabs pull you out of the ether and back into the distant groove. 

                        It's pieces like 'Virus Pain' or 'Cabin Rainfall' that give the pieces room to breathe, with slowly shifting envelopes crystallising around affirming sub-bass particles, hinting at cyclic melody but beautifully falling short of any sort of predictable melodic route. It's beguiling and monolithic and astounding, all at once.

                        The choral abstractions of 'Chance For Something' help to lend an air of crescentic beauty, while the flickering electronics and syncopated loops help to stray away from the predictable melodic resolution, confounding traditional and expected routes in favour of the always surprising structural counterpoint.  

                        Beautifully evocative and unfathomably skilled ambient electronics as ever from the hugely talented Sangam. 

                        STAFF COMMENTS

                        Barry says: Stunning release, beautifully presented from one of the greatest labels in the game. a true ambient electronic gem.

                        TRACK LISTING

                        1. Faded Remorse 03:28
                        2. Disconnect Me Like A USB 04:00
                        3. Remain Graceful 04:02
                        4. Virus Pain 03:01
                        5. High In The Shade 04:33
                        6. Cabin Rainfall 03:16
                        7. Bitter Life 04:00
                        8. Chance For Something 03:14
                        9. Zonbrid 03:20
                        10. Forever Dreampunk 07:08

                        CMD094

                        AVA

                          Pure life presnt another visceral, beautiful selection of dreampunk atmpsheres and clattering electronic percussion on the wonderful multimedia expedition that is 'AVA'. From snappy post-industrial machinations to smooth, woozy ambience, it's yet more evidence (as if any were needed) that this talented producer is one of the best in the 'biz. You always know you're in for a superb pressing and and package with Pure Life too, so what are you waiting for? Essential fare. 

                          TRACK LISTING

                          1. Robotic 03:12
                          2. Save You 04:15
                          3. Ava 02:33
                          4. Neuro Interface 03:32
                          5. Fading Light 03:46
                          6. Eastern Break 05:48
                          7. Phoenix 03:33
                          8. Origin 02:41
                          9. Broken Transmission 02:12
                          10. Deton 04:13

                          Wuso

                          You'll Be Ok, I Promise

                            The ever-super Pure Life Tapes bring us another (two) slabs of future-facing dystopic 'tronica from Martin-Schultz aka wuso 命.

                            We kick things off with the thundering bass and cinematic throng of 'Lost In Translation', deftly moving from tense crescentic synth pulls to bursts of neon activity, slipping into 80's synth territory with snappy sidechaines and gated reverbs, nicely ofset by the more introspective twinkling ambience of follower, 'Trapped In The Future'. It's both 'Trapped...' and follower 'The Digital Mine' that really show the depth of expression that can be wrought from relatively unadorned synthesis, with pulses of delay and filter sweeps being the mainstay of both pieces, eventually culminating in a militaristic procession of driving saw stabs and woozy lead lines. 

                            Closing out the a-side, the duo of 'Too Late To Care' and 'A New Found Loss' swim with crystalline echoes, speeding up and slowing down the delays resulting in a chaotic but enchanting soundtrack redux, with the latter especially diving deep into filmic industrial electronics. 

                            We begin the B-Side with the shadowy 'Flawed Desire', both eerily gothic and enduringly mechanised, it takes the established sound and further tears it apart into its constituent parts, resulting in an almost diametrically opposed juxtaposition of spine-tingling modern classical ambience and bolschy rave. 

                            It's the closing tracks that really seal the concept, pulling together the disparate sounds into a rounded and evocative whole. 'Drifting' is probably as heavy as the collection gets, both pummelingly heavy and atmospherically dense. The closing trio skilfully offset the moments of light with intimidating unease, glimmers of light piercing the fog of electronic malaise. 
                             

                            STAFF COMMENTS

                            Barry says: Another absolutely stunning package from super-label Pure Life. The music itself as is evocative as the packaging is beautiful, perfectly conceived and impeccably produced, this is an essential purchase for any of you who like a bit of soundtrack synth (if not, why not?)

                            TRACK LISTING

                            1. Lost In Translation 03:48
                            2. Trapped In The Future 04:14
                            3. The Digital Mine 03:48
                            4. Too Late To Care 03:03
                            5. A New Found Loss 05:58
                            6. Flawed Desire 05:25
                            7. Drifting 04:11
                            8. Something About... 03:35
                            9. Try 04:01
                            10. You'll Be Okay, I Promise 05:26

                            The script for A Pure Place had a dizzying effect on John Gürtler & Jan Miserre; their minds reeling with the possibilities.

                            From Persian sheep bells, Chinese sheng, prepared trombone, quarter-tone piano, a beaten-up cembalo, hand percussion, and a room full of synthesizers, embryonic compositions and experiments came to life early on in the project.

                            An electro-acoustic extravaganza, the soundtrack for A Pure Place takes a deep bow towards the many magnificent composers and scores from the late 60s and 70s where orchestral arrangements met with tape loops, psychedelia, and instruments from across the globe. Listening to that era of film music, anything seems possible. The minimalist tones of ‘Ritual Bells’ set the dial to weird in the opening sequence of the movie, whilst ‘The Island’ makes use of ambient vocals recorded through an oil drum, gently introducing one of the score’s main themes with a distant quarter-tone cembalo.

                            Acclaimed British artist Shackleton’s eerie original version of ‘Fust’s Song’ (also included) was a tonal keystone for the entire soundtrack. Gürtler and Miserre translated his psychedelic electronic blueprint, layering acoustic instruments and bottom-heavy percussion in their ‘Paradox Paradise’ production style. The vocals, written by Chryssos, and sung by the cast on set, capture the sonics of the actual crypt-like space where cult leader Fust addresses with his following.

                            ‘A Glimpse of the Other Side’ speaks of love and death in a 70s-indebted composition reflecting John and Jan’s shared love for melancholic and suspenseful chord progressions. Meanwhile, the sparkling synths of ‘Athens’ - the children discovering neon-lit civilisation after years confined on the island - transplant us to an entirely different era. Greek artist Maroulita del Kol features heavily throughout - her choir of vocals on ‘Erotica’ were recorded late at night in the studio foyer, capturing its unique tiled reflections and concrete reverb.

                            On ‘Purification’ Maroulita’s voice guides us alongside a Moog bass drone, building to an ecstatic climax, whilst she also features in the film’s disco-centric ending credits on ‘Gatoula Mou Mikri’.


                            TRACK LISTING

                            A1. Ritual Bells
                            A2 .The Island
                            A3. Fust’s Song
                            A4 Erotica
                            A5. Purification
                            A6. A Glimpse Of The Other Side
                            B1. Fust’s Song (Shackleton’s Orignal Version)
                            B2. Athens
                            B3. Small Doses
                            B4. Holy Soap
                            B5. Irinia Takes Over
                            B6. Gatoula Mou Mikri (feat. Maroulita Del Kol)

                            HKE / T E L E P A T H

                            Gateway / Ascension

                              Originally released in 2015, Gateway アセンション was the final of 3 split releases from the members of breakaway vapourwave producers known collectively as ‘2814’, HKE and T e l e p a t h. As 2814, the colour scheme of purple was employed as a compromise between artists wanting Red and Blue respectively, and in this release we see these colour schemes fully explored with each artist.

                              The HKE side ‘Gateway’ explores the world of ‘Red’: dust, fire, the desert, death and hell, with a futurist take on tribal techno of ‘From Dust’ before exploding into a kind of electronic post-rock cinematic climax of ‘Spiral’ before the aftermath is considered in Vangelis style synth piece ‘Light Patterns’.

                              The T e l e p a t h side ‘アセンション’ (Ascension) then dives into the concept of ‘Blue’: water, vapour, rebirth and life, building the new world with the soundtrack of ‘つかの間の思い出’ (Fleeting Memories) followed by the achingly beautiful and somber ‘アセンションゲート’ (Ascension Gate) and then the cycle completing with the long form electronic closer ‘超越愛好家’ (Transcending Love).

                              STAFF COMMENTS

                              Barry says: Another absolute stunner from the ever-reliable Pure Life here. It's a stunningly effective and perfectly weighted pairing between some of the most talented voices in modern synth music. Superb.

                              TRACK LISTING

                              1. HKE - From Dust 06:27
                              2. HKE - Spiral 13:34
                              3. HKE - Light Patterns 09:44
                              4. T E L E P A T H Ã

                              Damon Albarn

                              The Nearer The Fountain, More Pure The Stream Flows

                                The Nearer The Fountain, More Pure The Stream Flows, the new studio album from Damon Albarn, is released by his new label home Transgressive Records.

                                The Nearer The Fountain, More Pure The Stream Flows was originally intended as an orchestral piece inspired by the landscapes of Iceland. This last year has seen Albarn return to the music in lockdown and develop the work to 11 tracks which further explore themes of fragility, loss, emergence and rebirth. The result is a panoramic collection of songs with Albarn as storyteller. The album title is taken from a John Clare poem Love and Memory.

                                Albarn says “I have been on my own dark journey while making this record and it led me to believe that a pure source might still exist.”

                                *send an email with Damon NPN in the subject for NPN option.

                                TRACK LISTING

                                The Nearer The Fountain, More Pure The Stream Flows
                                The Cormorant
                                Royal Morning Blue
                                Combustion
                                Daft Wader
                                Darkness To Light
                                Esja
                                The Tower Of Montevideo
                                Giraffe Trumpet Sea
                                Polaris
                                Particles

                                Various Artists

                                Ambient Punk Vol II

                                  "Contains 16 exclusive collaborations from 31 Pure Life artists to celebrate the 2nd anniversary of the label. The first vinyl release from Pure Life records, wanting to show the importance of collaboration and make sure every artist is equally important to the next chapter of the label. For many artists included this was their first vinyl release. Demonstrates the global roster as well as various different styles of electronic that the label showcases"

                                  What better sampler of the increasingly essential Pure Life could there be than this gorgeous double pressing of the second edition of their well recieved 'Ambient Punk' series. There are tracks from a wide variety of Pure Life favourites, including the opening track from Kuroi Ame who caused much furore in the mailorder dept with their 2018 LP, 'Sacred'. 

                                  It's a widescreen collection of some of the most uncompromising genre-breaking synth music of the modern day, drawing influence from soundtrack work (as obvious as it may be, Vangelis' Blade Runner, Carpenter, Mansell) as well as heavier IDM and braindance of the 90's. If any of these tickle your fancy, you will LOVE this collection, and no doubt the label as a whole.  

                                  STAFF COMMENTS

                                  Barry says: It's ALWAYS worth taking a punk on a Pure Life release. One of the hardest working labels out there, and this collection is the perfect way to get initated with the huge variety of talent associated with the label. There never hang around for long (See also Kuroi Ame / Twin Galaxxxies releases in this week) so get on it ASAP!

                                  Spiritualized

                                  Pure Phase - Reissue

                                    Pure Phase is the second album by Spiritualized, released on 28 March 1995. The album was recorded in the Moles Studio in Bath, England and features contributions from The Balanescu Quartet.

                                    At the time of release, Pierce had renamed the band as "Spiritualized Electric Mainline", the name that appears on the album cover, before reverting to the Spiritualized name shortly afterwards.

                                    TRACK LISTING

                                    1. Medication
                                    2. The Slide Song
                                    3. Electric Phase
                                    4. All Of My Tears
                                    5. These Blues
                                    6. Let It Flow
                                    7. Take Good Care Of It
                                    8. Born, Never Asked
                                    9. Electric Mainline
                                    10. Lay Back In The Sun
                                    11. Good Times
                                    12. Pure Phase
                                    13. Spread Your Wings
                                    14. Feel Like Goin' Home

                                    Pure X

                                    Rare Ecstasy 2009 - 2019

                                      Pure X is the last band, has always been the last band. Not that there won’t be future acts, more that Pure X understands that all this pageantry, this civilization is wrapping up. It burned hot and bright like thermite used to bust a safe open, but now is the age of radiating waves, each one buckles the foundation more than the last. Rare Ecstasy 2009-2019 is a collection of recordings and rarities that span the more than a decade career of the Austin underground legends. Referred to by Pitchfork as the ‘druggy, wall-of-sound escapism that put them on the map’. These 12 tracks embody the Pure X sound, breaking it down and offering up a raw emotive portrait that cycle the Band’s expansive output. A must have addition to the collection of any Pure X fan.

                                      TRACK LISTING

                                      Pressure Drop
                                      Alexandria
                                      One Day At A Time
                                      I Don’t Wanna Make Love (With Anyone Else But You)
                                      Make It Look So Easy
                                      Valley Of Tears
                                      Baby
                                      Making History (Instrumental)
                                      Utopia
                                      Streets Are Haunted
                                      Crazy Lust
                                      Please Please Please

                                      PJ Harvey

                                      Dry - Remastered Vinyl Edition

                                        Dry is the debut studio album by English singer-songwriter and musician PJ Harvey, originally released on Too Pure Records on 30 March 1992. The album was recorded at The Icehouse, a local studio in Yeovil. Critically lauded both on release and retrospectively, the album contains the singles “Dress’ and ‘Sheela-Na-Gig’

                                        Back in print for the first time in almost 20 years, Beggars Archive on behalf of Too Pure Records is pleased to announce the re-issue of Dry on vinyl. The album was remastered by the original producer “Head” and has been replicated to the original version as much as possible. 

                                        Pitchfork – “On her debut, Polly Jean Harvey matched Patti Smith’s incandescence with Bessie Smith’s lasciviousness, outplayed everyone on the British indie circuit, and became an instant star - 9.2”

                                        STAFF COMMENTS

                                        Barry says: Available on vinyl for the first time in 20 years, PJ Harvey’s ‘Dry’ was a kick in the spine for indie music of the time, and remains as uncompromisingly raw and sonically hulking as it did back then.

                                        TRACK LISTING

                                        Oh My Lover
                                        Oh Stella
                                        Dress
                                        Victory
                                        Happy And Bleeding
                                        Sheela-na-gig
                                        Hair
                                        Joe
                                        Plants And Rags
                                        Fountain
                                        Water

                                        NZCA LINES

                                        Pure Luxury

                                          NZCA LINES, aka producer and multi-instrumentalist, Michael Lovett, releases his new album Pure Luxury via Memphis Industries. His first album since 2016’s Infinite Summer, it’s funk filled and frenetic, fizzing with electricity and teeming with invention.

                                          Written and produced almost entirely by Lovett, yet featuring a wide range of collaborators, Pure Luxury revels in both the insular – the sound of one man processing anxiety-inducing world events - and the communal. It is a record of diverse styles, voices and textures, expanding the musical universe of Lovett’s previous albums whilst cementing his own playful voice with an inescapable sense of joy and excitement.

                                          Tired of the now over-familiar sound of Big Analog Synths and words like glacial, austere, and wistful, he set out with one clear intention: to be Extra. Extra is the governing musical direction on Pure Luxury, accepting that we live in a world of dwindling attention spans whilst acknowledging that traditional notions of accessible musical form are fast becoming irrelevant in a world of online streaming. Simply put, Lovett says, “I didn’t see the point in pulling punches and restraining myself. We are able to access a near-infinite stream of music that we might like based on what we already listen to; it’s an inspirational cul-de-sac. I couldn’t afford to feel like I was making something that sounded boring”.

                                          The notion of being Extra is perhaps best encapsulated by the frenetic title track. Written in New York during a freak February heatwave, Pure Luxury is a response to the notions of luxury, status, and the insanity of pursuing material wealth in the face of environmental catastrophe. Lovett takes us on a technicolour joyride dripping with sarcasm, a hyped-up version of 21st century excess where gold trim hides rotten plywood facades, muscle cars are bought with credit cards and barbed wire fences separate luxury resorts from the slums beyond their walls.

                                          Indeed, perhaps that’s what we need most when the world seems to be falling apart. Tomorrow might be scaring the hell out of us, but, as Lovett reminds us on the album’s closing track, “Tonight is all that really matters, as long as we keep dancing”.


                                          STAFF COMMENTS

                                          Barry says: NZCA Lines is the music from the scene in the movie where everyone takes loads of drugs and goes crazy, throwing up and fighting and jumping off ill-advised floors into barely-there swimming pools. It's green cocktails spilling onto a flashing dancefloor and bass drums paling in comparison to glittering arps and sidechained throbs.

                                          TRACK LISTING

                                          1. Pure Luxury
                                          2. Real Good Time
                                          3. Prisoner Of Love
                                          4. For Your Love
                                          5. Take This Apart
                                          6. Opening Night
                                          7. Larsen
                                          8. Primp & Shine
                                          9. Tonight Is All That Really Matters 

                                          Pure X

                                          Crawling Up The Stairs - Reissue

                                            Crawling Up The Stairs is the sophomore album from Austin underground luminaries Pure X, re-issued on 180 gram vinyl by Fire Talk.

                                            The anticipated follow-up to debut ‘Pleasure,’ the new record places Nate Grace’s ragged vocals upfront in the mix with more clearcut, refined production choices, while still imbued with the jagged sexual tension and undercurrent of catastrophe that has won them fans across the world.

                                            More accolades from the press followed, notably Pitchfork calling the record ‘sophisticated and self aware,’ lending a further upward trajectory to the band’s steadfast cult status. The duality of vocals from Grace and Jenkins for the first time evoke an even more enthralling immediacy to Pure X’s continued evolution of their nightmarish visions, a spellbinding combination that will find appeal in old fans and new listeners alike.

                                            TRACK LISTING

                                            Crawling Up The Stairs
                                            Someone Else
                                            Written In The Slime
                                            I Fear What I Feel
                                            Things In My Head
                                            Shadows And Lies
                                            I Come From Nowhere
                                            Never Alone
                                            How Did You Find Me
                                            Thousand Year Old Child
                                            Rain At Dawn
                                            All Of The Future (All Of The Past)

                                            Pure X

                                            Pure X

                                              Pure X is the last band, has always been the last band. Not that there won’t be future acts, more that Pure X understands that all this pageantry, this civilization is wrapping up.

                                              It burned hot and bright like thermite used to bust a safe open, but now is the age of radiating waves, each one buckles the foundation more than the last. Recorded live in single takes in the Texas hill country by Danny Reisch (Shearwater), this is their clearest, most focused work to date. The rhythm section is locked in--a night train through the desert. There is more singing, the weary wisdom of the lyrics ringing like Tibetan bowls. In 38 minutes, Pure X weave a culmination, all the delays and distortion, the grinding mortar of touring, the low-tide pulling them out from a cult band, to a legacy band, it’s here, understood and forgiven.

                                              The album’s cover (designed by long time collaborator Christopher Royal King) depicts a coffin necklace set against a wide open blue sky. It’s as if we carry our mortality like a pendant on a chain. Learning to own up and accept ourselves through self reflection. It would be understandable to express such forbidden fatalism in a brittle, harsh nihilism, the stark echo of a stone rattling down an endless well. But on this album, their fourth and first in six years, there is a predawn kindness. It may be funereal, but it is a Viking pyre ablaze in the middle of a river, one of those moments when the water seems to pause and reflect the clouds blooming like smoke from an invisible glass pipe.

                                              STAFF COMMENTS

                                              Barry says: Searing walls of guitar swooning around the heartfelt vocals and slo-mo percussive stomp, Pure X is a cacophony of noise, but shifting quickly enough to form chords above the tuned dirge and heady vocal soar. Melodic shoegazing for the hypnotised.

                                              TRACK LISTING

                                              Middle America
                                              Hollywood
                                              Angels Of Love
                                              Free My Heart
                                              Making History
                                              Fantasy
                                              Man With No Head
                                              How Good Does It Get
                                              Slip Away
                                              Grieving Song
                                              Stayed Too Long
                                              I Can Dream

                                              Ailie Ormston

                                              The Sedate

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

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

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

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


                                              TRACK LISTING

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

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

                                              Stereolab

                                              The Groop Played Space Age Batchelor Pad Music

                                                 ‘The Groop Played Space Age Batchelor Pad Music’ is an 8-track mini album, released in 1993.

                                                Often noted as being one of the most influential and original bands of the 90s, Stereolab were formed by Tim Gane and Laetitia Sadier in London in 1990 and released 13 studio albums, 15 EPs and numerous singles. Simon Reynolds commented in Rolling Stone that the group’s early records form “an endlessly seductive body of work that sounds always the same, always different.”

                                                Theirs is a rich, overflowing palette, readily able to blur the gulf between Os Mutantes and the BBC Radiophonic Orchestra; merge Krzysztof Komeda with the Velvet Underground, Francoise Hardy with Neu! and Burt Bacharach with Esquivel. A deluxe blend, in other words, with ingredients plucked assiduously from pop’s coolest outposts: 50’s lounge, Rive Gauche chanson, Brazilian tropicalia, North American art rock, East European film music, Krautrock. hi-fi test recordings, mood music and more. Somehow they distil these apparently incongruent components into an ageless exotica that is all their own.

                                                TRACK LISTING

                                                Avant Garde M.O.R.
                                                Space Age Bachelor Pad Music (Mellow)
                                                The Groop Play Chord X
                                                Space Age Bachelor Pad Music (Foamy)
                                                Ronco Symphony
                                                We're Not Adult Orientated
                                                U.H.F. - MFP
                                                We're Not Adult Orientated (Neu Wave Live)

                                                Lizzy Farrall

                                                All I Said Was Never Heard

                                                  British singer / songwriter Lizzy Farrall releases her debut mini album, ‘All I Said Was Never Heard’, which will drop just in time for her scheduled UK tour supporting Seaway.

                                                  Lyrically the release is about situations she went through in her teenage years and forms a diary of that time.

                                                  For fans of Julien Baker, Now Now, Dashboard Confessional, Neck Deep, This Wild Life.

                                                  TRACK LISTING

                                                  Broken Toy
                                                  Pack Of Wolves
                                                  Better With
                                                  Better Off
                                                  Hollow Friends

                                                  Thee MVPs

                                                  Sesh

                                                    Thee MVPs are closing out a very solid 2017 with a brand new 45 of two solid gold rippers. Already this year the band have smashed a 36 day world tour across America, SXSW and the UK, opening for notable acts like Meatbodies, Television, Mystery Lights, Night Beats and Pulled Apart By Horses as well as numerous international and national shows.

                                                    In the final months of a year we can all agree has been caked in shredded nerves, it's only fitting that Thee MVPs newest single ‘Sesh’ is a 3 minute stomper of low tuned riffs set against some Weezer-style vocals, which addresses the issue of the ‘session’. It only takes about 10 seconds to realise the lyrics ain’t the happy message that’s being rolled out on the upbeat guitars. A song about dealing with your lot as a millennial and using the drink just a tad too much to see you through the week, it’s the Thursday morning rush of the guilts soundtrack you brought on yourself for already having two benders this week.

                                                    Mastered at Abbey Road and recorded by hard hitting producer Wayne Adams, Thee MVPs know their way around a tune and a riff and a beat in that way only a group with 200+ gigs and countless tours will know, with an upcoming UK tour supporting Together Pangea and some special release shows planned across the UK and mainland EU, dig in deep to these very excellent cuts of classic / punk / garage / pop / whatever rock.

                                                    Blacklisters

                                                    Dart EP

                                                      Blacklisters’ breed of deranged, frenetic noise rock may sound enraged, but as frontman Billy Mason-Wood tells it, this Leeds based quartet are actually a rather buoyant bunch, albeit with a predilection for sardonic humour and wry, irreverent song titles (‘Clubfoot By Kasabian’, ‘I Can Confirm That Ruth Abigail Holmes Is Not Dead and Is Planning To Make a Movie About Her Life’). The Hyde Park-based band’s first official release came in 2009, with 7” single 'Swords', followed up with 2010’s Belt Party EP. After a smashing set at Reading/Leeds festival in 2010, the foursome were asked to officially open the festival in 2011.

                                                      TRACK LISTING

                                                      1. Dart
                                                      2. Disco
                                                      3.Drag

                                                      The Pains of Being Pure at Heart have long set the benchmark for bighearted, idealisti c pop songs. With The Echo of Pleasure, The Pains push beyond their many inspirati ons and embrace their role as indiepop heroes in their own right.

                                                      Showcasing the deft songwriti ng of frontman Kip Berman, The Pains’ fourth album is their most confi dent and accomplished. Aft er three criti cally acclaimed records, 2009’s The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, 2011’s Belong and 2014’s Days of Abandon received praise from The New York Times, Pitchfork, The Guardian and Rolling Stone, they have put together a collecti on of songs that possess a ti meless grandeur, deeper and more sati sfying than anything the band has done since their iconic debut. The record is augmented by guest vocals featuring previous Pains collaborators: Jen Goma on “So True” (A Sunny Day in Glasgow), bass guitar by Jacob Danish Sloan (Dream Diary), and horns by Kelly Pratt (Beirut, David Byrne, St. Vincent). The Pains of Being Pure at Heart live band consists of long-ti me guitarist Christoph Hochheim (Ablebody, ex-Depreciati on Guild), bassist Jacob Danish Sloan, drummer Chris Schackerman (ex-Mercury Girls, ex-Literature) and vocalist/keyboardist Jess Rojas.

                                                      STAFF COMMENTS

                                                      Barry says: Thoroughly melodic songwriting, beautiful harmonies and lush, euphoric chord progressions. Outlandishly pretty but innately listenable, with hooks and jangles abound. A great leap forwards for The Pains...

                                                      TRACK LISTING

                                                      My Only
                                                      Anymore
                                                      The Garret
                                                      When I Dance With You  
                                                      The Echo Of Pleasure
                                                      Falling Apart So Slow
                                                      So True
                                                      The Cure For Death
                                                      Stay

                                                      Pet Crow

                                                      How Are You Wired?

                                                        Derby-based Pet Crow formed nearly two years ago and in that relatively short space of time they’ve caused a stir within the DIY scene and beyond, being featured in publications such as Louder Than War, Upset Mag, New Noise, The Revue and The National Student.

                                                        They’ve been featured on such shows as Radio X (formerly XFM) and Amazing Radio and shared stages with the likes of The Lovely Eggs and Menace Beach.

                                                        Having drawn comparisons to a wide range of artists such as The Julie Ruin, MC5 and The Sonics, their sound is an energetic and groove-laden mix of garage-punk / rock with nods to riot-grrl and surf-rock.

                                                        Seize The Chair

                                                        Knew You'd Never Been There

                                                          Sheffield-based Seize The Chair release ‘Knew You’d Never Been There’ on 7” on the Too Pure Singles Club.

                                                          Warm and melodic with a soft grooving bassline, there’s a great 90s nostalgia to ‘Knew You’d Never Been There’.

                                                          Backed with brand new track ‘Secret Sister’.

                                                          For fans of Ride and The Charlatans.

                                                          TRACK LISTING

                                                          Knew You’d Never Been There
                                                          Secret Sister

                                                          The St Pierre Snake Invasion

                                                          Dick E Mozart

                                                            “Dick E Mozart” is 1:16 of grunge fuelled hardcore brilliance backed with the equally brilliant “Appendages”

                                                            The St Pierre Snake Invasion are a 5-piece rock band based in Bristol, England. They consist of Damien Sayell (Vocals), Sam James (Drums), Szack Notaro (Guitar), Dave Larkin (Bass guitar) and Patrick Daly (Guitar). The band took their name from an historical event from 1902 when the eruption of a volcano on the island of St Pierre, Martinique, sent an army of 6 ft. long snakes to the mulatto quarter of St Pierre in a mad dash to avoid the flowing lava. They killed over 50 people before the town’s street cats fought them off. A tsunami soon followed, killing all in its path, leaving only two survivors.

                                                            Since 2012, Father John Misty, aka Josh Tillman, has unexpectedly emerged as a singular (if not undeniably, um, idiosyncratic) voice. Whether by virtue of his lyrics, which routinely defy the presumed polarities of wit and empathy; his live performances which may perhaps be described best as “intimately berzerk”, or the infuriating line he seems to occupy between canny and total fraud online or in interviews, Father John Misty has cultivated a rare space for himself in the musical landscape - that of a real enigma. Pure Comedy sees Tillman at the height of these powers: as a lyricist, and equally so a cultural observer - at times bordering on freakishly prescient. Tillman’s bent critiques, bared humanity and gently warped classic songwriting are all here in equal measure and - at 75 minutes - there’s a veritable fuck ton of it. The album navigates themes of progress, technology, fame, the environment, politics, aging, social media, human nature, human connection and his own role in it all with his usual candour, and in terms as timely as they are timeless.

                                                            Tillman wrote the majority of Pure Comedy throughout 2015 and recorded all the basic tracking and vocals live to tape (in no more than two takes each) at United Studios (fka the legendary Ocean Way Studios, favored by Frank Sinatra and The Beach Boys) in Los Angeles March 2016.

                                                            Pure Comedy was co-produced once again by Josh Tillman and long-time producer Jonathan Wilson; mixed by Tillman, Wilson and Trevor Spencer, and mastered by Bob Ludwig at Gateway Mastering Studios. The album features string, horn and choral arrangements from classical iconoclast Gavin Bryars (Jesus Blood Never Failed Me Yet, Sinking Of The Titanic), with additional contributions from Nico Muhly and Thomas Bartlett.

                                                            TRACK LISTING

                                                            1. Pure Comedy
                                                            2. Total Entertainment Forever
                                                            3. Things It Would Have Been Helpful To Know Before The Revolution
                                                            4. Ballad Of The Dying Man
                                                            5. Birdie
                                                            6. Leaving LA
                                                            7. A Bigger Paper Bag
                                                            8. When The God Of Love Returns There’ll Be Hell To Pay
                                                            9. Smoochie
                                                            10. Two Wildly Different Perspectives
                                                            11. The Memo
                                                            12. So I’m Growing Old On Magic Mountain
                                                            13. In Twenty Years Or So

                                                            Unqualified Nurse Band

                                                            Death Surf A52 / White Dove

                                                              Too Pure present the third instalment of the 2017 edition of the Singles Club with the awesome Unqualified Nurse band.

                                                              Derby’s Unqualified Nurse Band follow up 2016’s debut album ‘Debasement Tapes’ with the two headed beast that is ‘Death Surf A52’ / ‘White Dove’.

                                                              ‘Death Surf A52’ is a one note juggernaut that opens up into Dream Surf bliss, weaving its way through 50 shades of rock and roll with no intention of slowing down for anybody.

                                                              Significant other ‘White Dove’ staggers and struts and then before you know it you’re howling at the Harvest Moon.

                                                              Both songs recorded by Rich Collins at SNUG Recording CO, Derby and mastered at Abbey Road Studios by Alex Wharton. 

                                                              TRACK LISTING

                                                              Death Surf A52
                                                              White Dove

                                                              Family Scraps

                                                              Mistakes

                                                                The Too Pure Singles Club is proud to announce the first single for 2017 will be by Family Scraps.

                                                                Family Scraps is Matthew Johnson (MJ) of Hookworms and Suburban Home Studio and this Too Pure 7" is his first release under the name.

                                                                Mistakes and It Follows are two songs about loss and were recorded at Suburban Home before and after the Boxing Day floods of 2015.

                                                                A full length album will follow in 2017.

                                                                TRACK LISTING

                                                                Mistakes
                                                                It Follows

                                                                Grief Tourist

                                                                Strigoi

                                                                  Too Pure Singles Club announce ‘Strigoi’, the latest release from Grief Tourist.

                                                                  Grief Tourist were formed by drummer Lee Vincent and inspired by Ceremony’s ‘Rohnert Park’ album. You can tell, too. “I would send GarageBand recordings to Rich [Wells], who lives in Leeds,” says Vincent. “He would scream over the recordings and record them on a dictaphone in his front room, then send them back. The recordings had that gross quality we wanted, so we definitely wanted to replicate that when we recorded properly. He’s upgraded to screaming in his mate’s carpet shop now.” Morgan Sinclair completed the line-up and off the trio went to a Perspex Flesh show, which also influences their bludgeoning punk.




                                                                  TRACK LISTING

                                                                  Strigoi
                                                                  Hung Again
                                                                  Skull
                                                                  Greef
                                                                  Nails In
                                                                  Not Here

                                                                  Compared to 'Much Much More', this is decidedly geared towards the more funk-electronic end of the spectrum. Hazy guitars and drum samples mingle with woozy bass licks  and vocal chops. Sun-drenched ambience and synth snippets, all topped by Spillane's unmistakeable vocal delivery. 

                                                                  TRACK LISTING

                                                                  1. Unusual
                                                                  2. Right Sound
                                                                  3. Hear
                                                                  4. Here
                                                                  5. Instro
                                                                  6. Made In A Highrise
                                                                  7. Outro

                                                                  Paul Draper

                                                                  Feeling My Heart Run Slow

                                                                    This two track vinyl, which includes a stunning collaboration with prog rock musician Steven Wilson, is released on Too Pure records to celebrate their 100th release and is limited to only 500 copies.

                                                                    TRACK LISTING

                                                                    A. Feeling Your Heart Run Slow
                                                                    B. No Ideas

                                                                    Rising from the smoking embers of several leading Merseyside acts, newcomers Pure Joy have now readied their playful, intelligent and refreshingly bold psych-rock to tape in the form of debut LP ‘Bang Flower.’

                                                                    This band of friends stemming from the Wirral (the beautiful, sleepy, wigged-out bank off the Mersey - Liverpool's Brooklyn if you will) serve up hot, psychedelia-heavy filthy garage-rock candy tinged with patches of late-60s American psych, buzzy Motor City riffage, and decades of British pop, ranging from the pastoral pop of Ray Davies to the vivid expansiveness of Kurt Vile and the Antipodean warmth of Tame Impala.

                                                                    From the blissed out cloudburst of ‘Bubblegum Husky’ to the anthemic sun-blasted driving pulse of first single, ‘Katie's Gone Home’, the timeless sleaze of ‘Thunderlooper’, the lick-sodden Morrissey-esque weavings of ‘Theme From…Peach Fuzz’ and the complex dream-weavings of ‘Turner Sky’, Pure Joy guide you through a neo-psych wonderland, gripping your sweaty mitt and lurching you into fantastical scenery (‘Terrorize’) or into sheer bewildering, hippy-infested, hallucinogenic territory.

                                                                    On album closer ‘O’Sullivan On Song’ the band float some creamy synth and trippy guitar interplay before ripping a hole across the chest of the song with a woozy guitar line so big it essentially serves as a chorus.

                                                                    Sampling the 1995 film Billy Madison, the band close their album with the phrase ‘May God have mercy on your soul.’ Standing at 37 minutes, the brevity of the album only makes one yearn for the much-missed ‘repeat’ button.

                                                                    TRACK LISTING

                                                                    1. Bubblegum Husky
                                                                    2. Girl
                                                                    3. Katie’s Gone Home
                                                                    4. Sweet Jesus
                                                                    5. The Sex Beatles
                                                                    6. Eight Fifty
                                                                    7. Theme From…Peach Fuzz
                                                                    8. Terrorize
                                                                    9. Don’t Do It
                                                                    10. Turner Sky
                                                                    11. Thunderlooper
                                                                    12. On And On And On…
                                                                    13. O’sullivan On Song

                                                                    Ringo Deathstarr

                                                                    Pure Mood

                                                                      "Ringo Deathstarr kick f**king ass" VICE "This Texan noise-pop gang make a thrilling racket" NME "Guitars drenched in reverb and effects, Ringo Deathstarr know their way around a catchy pop melody" THE GUARDIAN

                                                                      Texan shoegaze pioneers Ringo Deathstarr return with their fifth studio album. The aptly named opening track 'Dream Again' is sung by bassist G.G Alex, whose delicate voice echoes eerily over the spectral, otherworldly chords that pluck underneath. 'Heavy Metal Suicide' & 'Stare At The Sun' contain the same cathartic droning that has been previously celebrated by genre forefathers, My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive. Tracks like 'Never' and 'Boys In Heat' plunge the band and listener alike deep into the uncharted sonic depths of unadulterated, decadent sound. Elliott Frazer's vocals accentuate the eruption of noise behind his anthemic lyrics, dipping in and out of brief moments of clarity before bursting back into the manic grit of songs like 'Big Bopper' and 'Frisbee'. There's a daring clash of fury and fragility throughout 'Pure Mood' that demonstrates Ringo Deathstarr are not just reliving a scene, they're re-inventing it with their shattering use of chaotic guitars and haunting voices. 'Pure Mood' is a complex thrill-ride that's seeped in fervent shoegaze and lingering lyricism, proving Ringo Deathstarr are the torch-bearers of the movement and continue to contort and mutate into something beautiful.

                                                                      Pure Bathing Culture

                                                                      Pray For Rain

                                                                        The world of Pure Bathing Culture is not the real world. It’s a world filled with characters like Scotty and The Bubble King and a place called The Ivory Coast that’s not the real Ivory Coast. It’s also a world created for its protagonists, Sarah Versprille and Daniel Hindman, to travel to communicate abstract thought and remember all the things they want to remember. It’s a place where the night is magic and it will transform you.

                                                                        In the humdrum everyday world, the corporal version of Pure Bathing Culture has for the last few years been growing naturally and at a steady pace. However new album ‘Pray For Rain’ sees them make an evolutionary leap, taking their finely honed metaphysical pop to a new level.

                                                                        You can hear it in the opening notes of their anthemic title track: in Hindman’s clean yet serpentine guitar lines interacting with the live rhythm section and Versprille’s lucid vocals cutting through it all as she asks: “Is it pleasure? Is it pain? Did you pray for rain?” You can hear it in the sweet pop perfection of ‘Clover’ and the trembling beauty of ‘She Shakes’, a story of two fantasy characters from different worlds being brought to an intense, fragile state through the experience of falling in love.

                                                                        When it came time to write and record the follow-up to last year’s ‘Moon Tides’, the duo knew what they didn’t want. “We didn’t gravitate towards someone making indie dream-pop records,” Dan said. That was when producer John Congleton (St. Vincent, Swans, Angel Olsen, The Walkmen) reached out to the band and invited them to come record with him in his Dallas, TX studio.

                                                                        It was a taxing yet ultimately rewarding experience when the album was completed. “It was shocking to hear what the finished product was,” Sarah said. “It was like being in a vortex and then we came out with this record.” She adds with a laugh something John Congleton told her when all was said and done: “You were very brave.”

                                                                        ‘Pray For Rain’ is the sound of Pure Bathing Culture transforming from who they were to who they will be, of finding their way, ready to take steps both small and momentous on their musical path.

                                                                        STAFF COMMENTS

                                                                        Andy says: Gently persuasive synth'n'guitar pop chimes, prettily topped with Sarah Versprille's engaging vocals. Gorgeous.

                                                                        Hippies Vs Ghosts

                                                                        Wazo

                                                                          Hippies Vs Ghosts are primarily Owain Ginsberg from Masters In France / We Are Animal and ‘Wazo’ will be the band’s debut 7”.

                                                                          Since blasting on to the scene some 18 months ago, under this particular guise, Ginsberg has regularly blown listeners away with his kaleidoscopic, instrumental Morricone meets Krautrock sound, during which time he’s served up a number of quality EPs, one off tracks and a stunning debut album, ‘Mother Tongue’ (one of 2014’s finest).

                                                                          In a parting gesture to a rather productive 2014, Hippies Vs Ghosts sign off with brand new 7″ single ‘Wazo’. ‘Wazo’ captures the very essence of Hippies Vs Ghosts; Krautrock indebted psychedelia of epic proportions. Propelled onward by a chugging bass and persistent percussives, it hurtles along at breakneck speed with menacing intent, bending and contorting through a sea of swirling noise and scorching riffs. Urgent, catchy, and oh so irresistible!

                                                                          B-side companion ‘Hibou Calling’ is a much more tempered affair. A gentle acoustic strum, soft percussion and hushed repeated vocals fuse with some floaty sonic sounding atmospherics to soothe the soul and whisk one’s mind away to a lofty transcendental plain.

                                                                          ‘Wazo’ is released as part of the Too Pure Singles Club.

                                                                          TRACK LISTING

                                                                          Wazo
                                                                          Hibou Calling

                                                                          The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart

                                                                          Days Of Abandon

                                                                            "Days Of Abandon" comes off the back of two critically-acclaimed records – 2009’s self-titled debut and its 2011 follow-up, Belong – that demonstrated the group's ability to shift musical registers from bedroom pop daydreams to Alternative Nation anthems.

                                                                            The album was recorded at new Greenpoint studio House Under Magic which is owned by longtime Pains cohort Danny Taylor (ZaZa). Produced by Andy Savours (My Bloody Valentine, Patrick Wolf, Cloud Boat) and mixed by Charlie Hugall at London's Engine Room (Swim Deep, Florence And the Machine), Abandon departs from the exaggerated roar and clamor that defined the Flood-and-Alan Moulder helmed Belong.

                                                                            "I didn't want to make Belonger," Berman says. "This album was a chance to step back from that universal style of songwriting to something that was far more personal, more in keeping with my original ideals. I wanted the music to be joyful and full of light, even if the subjects were often dark."

                                                                            It's a rare and beautiful thing when a band emerges fully formed, but it makes perfect sense in the case of guitarist Daniel Hindman and keyboardist Sarah Versprille’s Pure Bathing Culture. Having backed folk rock revisionist Andy Cabic in Vetiver, the New Yorkers partnered up and moved west in 2011, settling in Portland, Oregon.

                                                                            In a short time the duo have created a sound that is undeniably their own: soaring synths, chiming keyboards, and shimmering electric guitars move in lockstep with bouncing drum machines, with Sarah’s crystalline voice floating on top of it all with divine purpose. It’s a sound that looks back momentarily for inspiration - Talk Talk, Prefab Sprout, Cocteau Twins - but then fixes its gaze firmly on the present.

                                                                            Further developing the sound of their acclaimed four song, self-titled 2012 EP, at the start of 2013 they set out to record ‘Moon Tides’, their first full length album. Again, they chose to work with producer Richard Swift at his National Freedom studio in rural Cottage Grove, Oregon. Throughout 2012 Swift had called on the duo to help him with other studio projects (Versprille sings on Foxygen’s latest album and Hindman adds his sprawling guitar work to Damien Jurado’s excellent ‘Marqopa’) which only helped to cement the threesome’s musical partnership.

                                                                            Like the earlier sessions for the EP, they worked quickly in the studio and improvised parts around the basic song structures that they’d carefully composed up in Portland. Dan explains, “Pretty much all tracks (vocals and instruments) are all first or very early takes. Richard is kind of a stickler about this and I actually don't go in with a clean, pristine idea of what I'm going to play on guitar or any other instrument for that matter, so there's actually a lot of improvisation as far as performances in the studio go.”

                                                                            It’s this compassion and warmth in Pure Bathing Culture that set them apart. The music is uplifting. It invites self-reflection. It never feels alienating. ‘Pendulum’ is a perfect mid-tempo album opener that pulses and shines. Other standout tracks from the album - ‘Dream The Dare’, ‘Twins’, ‘Scotty’ and ‘Golden Girl’ - are slices of reverb-drenched, soulful, danceable electropop that musically and lyrically tap into an introspective worship of the natural and psychic mysteries that surround us.

                                                                            Pure Bathing Culture’s debut album Moon Tides is optimistic modern music for souls who seek to explore the infinite.

                                                                            STAFF COMMENTS

                                                                            Andy says: Gorgeous dream-pop for fans of Beach House and the like. Perfect for the summer.

                                                                            TRACK LISTING

                                                                            Pendulum
                                                                            Dream The Dare
                                                                            Evergreener
                                                                            Twins
                                                                            Only Lonely Lovers
                                                                            Scotty
                                                                            Seven 2 One
                                                                            Golden Girl
                                                                            Temples Of The Moon

                                                                            Crawling Up The Stairs is the second LP from Austin, Texas' Pure X. Made up of principal members Nate Grace, Jesse Jenkins and Austin Youngblood, they stay true to the dense sound they explored on their last album, Pleasure, but add twinkling atmospherics and a new clarity to their carefully cultivated, emotionally heavy songs.

                                                                            Where Pleasure was built on syrup-slow hooks and a weighty, sexy haze, Crawling Up The Stairs is the sound of Pure X emerging from that humid cocoon to stare all the screwed up parts of life directly in the face and embrace them. When Grace's voice, cracked and worn, breaks through a fog of downtempo drums and misty guitar on "Someone Else," the pain that used to be visible in his face when he was on stage is pushed to the forefront of their sound, his voice growling and moaning with barely contained anger and apocalyptic worry in anguished falsetto. Crawling isn't a record about escape, it's about what you do after you've realized that escaping isn't an option and you just have to face the world you live in head on.

                                                                            Crawling Up The Stairs is an album born from emotional turmoil. For much of 2012, Grace was laid up with a serious leg injury. During the recording period, he had no insurance, no money, and if he ever was going to walk again, he needed to have surgery. Grace had no idea if he'd get the money together, and was consumed with doubt, unable to sleep. After a cathartic but torturous night of insomnia, heavy with world-worry and intermittent nightmares, Grace emerged feeling exhausted and different. Not better or worse, but different. Ready to heal. Crawling is the result of that. Track by track, Grace, Youngblood and Jenkins—who shares vocal and songwriting duties—drag themselves through a bad year.

                                                                            As Grace was wrestling with his own demons, Jenkins' was figuring things out as well. On the gorgeous "Thousand Year Old Child," his falsetto hangs over unusually upbeat drum work from Youngblood and perfectly placed synth wines. It's a tricky song—relaxed and happy on the surface, but lyrically, Jenkins is wrestling with getting older and being uncertain about his future, singing, "there is no reason/ to think about time/ sometimes I feel/ I feel like a thousand year old child." A little later, the kicker comes: "up in the morning/ sleep at night/ there is a question/ what am I doing with my life?" It's a universal feeling rendered personal by Jenkins' heartbreakingly spare lyrics.

                                                                            But Crawling isn't entirely dark. Album closer "All of the Future (All of the Past)" is the record's most optimistic song. As if Grace, Jenkins and Youngblood have finally emerged from an endless parade of bummer moments with newly optimistic perspectives on life. Grace's guitar glistens and glides across Jenkins' thick bass work and Youngblood's expertly controlled drums, but it's Grace's lyrics that end up laying everything out, making clear that there's a redemptive narrative in this record worth coming back to: "I can see the light/just got to stay alive," Grace sings. It might read as desperate, but Grace, for the first time, sounds confident that they'll make it no matter what.

                                                                            TRACK LISTING

                                                                            1. Crawling Up The Stairs
                                                                            2. Someone Else
                                                                            3. Written In The Slime
                                                                            4. I Fear What I Feel
                                                                            5. Things In My Head
                                                                            6. Shadows And Lies
                                                                            7. I Come From Nowhere
                                                                            8. Never Alone
                                                                            9. How Did You Find Me?
                                                                            10. Thousand Year Old Child
                                                                            11. Rain At Dawn
                                                                            12. All Of The Future (All Of The Past)

                                                                            Deaf Club

                                                                            Moving Still

                                                                              Deaf Club, the collective identity of Polly Mackey (Vocals/Guitar), Paul Bates (Bass), Jac Roberts (Guitar), Sian Rosier (Keyboards) and Tom Ryan (Drums), first hit the UK scene in 2011 with their self released, four track EP, ‘Lull’. Instantly receiving critical acclaim, the band followed up with a Kissability sponsored two track cassette ‘Sunday’/’Mirrors’ which sold out in a heart beat.

                                                                              Building on this already remarkable progress, ‘Moving Still’ is yet further evidence of a young, but powerful creative force rapidly gaining momentum as they hone their craft and refine the sound that defines Deaf Club. Bellowing guitars, an urgent, yearning vocal delivery and a driving rhythm section that hammers the point home. ‘Lights’ perfectly compliments ‘Moving Still’ with a catchy chorus and measured mystique.

                                                                              Introducing New York based, alt. favourite Hesta Prynn. If you haven’t heard her brand of post-hipster-art-pop, you’re about to.

                                                                              Having spent the past year touring with the likes of 30 Seconds To Mars, Tegan and Sara and Jay-Z and working in studio with everyone from Chuck Brody (Lykki Li, Ra Ra Riot, Wu Tang Clan) to Bear Hands to Clown from Slipknot and Tim Harrington from Les Savy Fav, this former Northern State MC is now set for her first official UK single release, "Turn It Gold".

                                                                              "Turn It Gold" is an upbeat party track with an indie twist and a hook that just won’t let you be. Hesta (aka Julie Potash) says of the track “I wrote this song about partying in New York with my friends and that song that you just don't want to turn off. The jam that you love. The one you make a gold record in your headphones by playing over and over again”.

                                                                              “Hesta Prynn is the cool funny alt. superstar you wish presented the news every night” – NME.

                                                                              “M.I.A. and Miike Snow’s Lovechild” - NY Post.

                                                                              TRACK LISTING

                                                                              Turn It Gold
                                                                              Turn It Gold (Bright Lights Bright Lights Remix)

                                                                              Electrelane

                                                                              No Shouts No Calls

                                                                                ‘No Shouts No Calls’ is the fourth studio album by Brighton based Electrelane. Originally released on Too Pure back in 2007 it’s widely considered the band’s most accessible work to date and it delivers a set of urgent, romantic epics.

                                                                                Tracks like ‘The Greater Times’ and ‘To The East’ are direct yet complex, with soaring melodies, and the contrast between intimate, almost too-personal words and the swelling sounds around them is exquisite.

                                                                                And while the album is dominated by the intense, impatient joy of ‘At Sea’, which rides glorious swells of keyboards and fuzzy guitars, its lightly heartbroken moments are just as lovely: ‘Saturday’ boasts beautiful call-and-response vocals and lyrics that feel like a nursery rhyme about a breakup; ‘Cut And Run’ pairs a lighthearted melody and ukulele with the painful realization that a relationship is likely over.

                                                                                ‘No Shouts No Calls’ instrumentals are just as strong as the vocal tracks, and they revel in the pure emotional power of sound. ‘Tram 21’s mischievous organ and guitar interplay is jaunty and slightly trippy, while ‘Five’ is the album’s searing, insistent powerhouse.

                                                                                ‘No Shouts No Calls’ might be some of Electrelane’s most accessible work, but it’s far from safe; in fact, its sweet vulnerability is exactly what makes it so special.

                                                                                Finally available again on lavish double vinyl.

                                                                                Electrelane

                                                                                Singles, B-Sides & Live

                                                                                  Electrelane are a band with a relatively long history – three albums and an EP as well as several singles over six years – yet their consistently uncompromising attitude and ability to release outstandingly fresh and unique records has kept them somewhat of an enigma, with each record feeling like a re-birth and the beginning of something very special. "Singles, B-Sides & Live" is not only a celebration of Electrelane's diverse work but also the first time that rare, non-album tracks have been available on one compilation. It includes limited 7" releases from Fierce Panda and Indenial as well as singles released on Electrelane's own label Let's Rock before signing to present label Too Pure in 2003.

                                                                                  The awesome 1992 debut album from one of the most unique and compelling female artists of the past 20 years. A powerful, groundbreaking set, "Dry" serves as an introduction to Harvey's fierce, blues-tinged guitar and highly visual lyrical angle that picks at the scabs of female iconography. On these raw, angry songs she's joined by musicians Stephen Vaughan (bass) and Robert Ellis (drums, vocals, harmonium). Includes classic songs "Sheela-Na-Gig", "Dress" and "Oh My Lover". Essential.

                                                                                  Stereolab

                                                                                  Fab Four Suture

                                                                                    This album compiles tracks from their recent series of limited 7" releases. "Fab Four Suture" handily compiles each track from the 7" releases together on to one album and shows that they've lost none of their magic. It is yet another must-own record from one of the UK's most influential bands of the last decade.

                                                                                    Lions & Tigers

                                                                                    Pure & Applied

                                                                                      Lions & Tigers is five imaginative young chaps with dazzling talents. Their music combines different aesthetics of digital production and a purely feel-based, lo-fi approach. They exude energy and passion and revel in the joy of melody. Each member thrives on having artistic lives outside of the group, and it is these unlikely collisions of diverse interests and talents that make the band sonically noteworthy. The songs, some vocal, some instrumental, take in post-rock with a groove, the prettiest electronica and vivid film soundtracks. With all members able producers and musicians of flair, the results are beautiful and arresting. Their studio sprawl of massed bric-a-brac equipment is mirrored in these 5 musical creations, and if you listen hard you'll hear notes of Girls Vs Boys, The Cure, Radiohead, Can, The Beatles, and who knows what else.

                                                                                      The Vibrators

                                                                                      Pure Mania

                                                                                        It's back to my spotty, spikey youth with The Vibrators' first LP, first released back in hot and heady summer of 1977. Snotty, primitive, vulgar, underproduced and exhilarating, this is old school sleaze at it's finest; and yes, Stiff Little Fingers did take their name from the mp3 track...

                                                                                        Mclusky

                                                                                        The Difference Between Me And You Is That I'm Not On Fire

                                                                                          New drummer, new album, new single, new tour, Mclusky are back and primed to release the follow-up album to 2002's excellent "Mclusky Do Dallas". Life between these two records has seen a world outside of Cardiff fully embrace them. Amongst other things, they've toured virtually everywhere, broken many a guitar, survived a near fatal tour bus smash and seen their original drummer depart the band on their way. Not known for being slouches, they also released two interim EP's last year, from which, only the track "1956 And All That" has made it on to this album. Like its predecessor, this was recorded by Steve Albini in his studio outside Chicago but this time Bob Weston of Shellac fame has got in on the action (playing trumpet on "Forget About Him I'm Mint").

                                                                                          Various Artists

                                                                                          Pure Punk Rock

                                                                                            "Pure Punk Rock", the name says it all. No muss, no fuss, just pure punk rock. 20 track label sampler that includes tracks from the Casualties, the Virus, Defiance, the Varukers, Self Destruct, A Global Threat, the Unseen, the Devotchkas, Lower Class Brats and Clit 45. Cheap too.

                                                                                            Various Artists

                                                                                            Pure Punk

                                                                                              Over 20 tracks from some of today's top street punk bands including Guttersnipe, The Boils, Weekend Bowlers, No Ones Victim, The Randumbs, Bombshell Rocks, Squiggy, The Bruisers, Voice of A Generation and many more... Cheap price!!


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