I kept on visualizing a body, suspended just at the point where gravity took over, and the figure was falling from their feet to the floor. Frozen at this midpoint, there wasn’t much to say which way they were going - suspended between collapse and recovery, they could almost be getting back to their feet. Perhaps I was punch drunk from 2019, however I noticed very soon the zero-gravity feeling of being suspended between these two points was all around me; the impression of a caring democracy hamstrung by 2D visions of old empires; the climate in it’s seemingly terminal demise and the ever emboldened ideas for a functioning future looming from the smog; the suspension between the immortality of my 20s and the strange feeling when everyone starts to get sick more; the feeling that everything is suspended between collapse and recovery, and I am unsure which way it’s heading.

The record was made just before the pandemic started, working closely with the distinct feed-backing Dorophone sounds of Hildur Guðnadóttir, Yair Glotman’s thunderous double-bass, James Ginzburg’s devotion to precise form and muting my reverb stems, the microtonal brass and woodwinds of Hilary Jeffrey and Sam Dunscombe and the infinite intimacy of Icelandic singer-songwriter JFDR. From Berlin, I would flag sounds I loved; some twitching strings, the stolen alto voice from an abandoned English chorale, some words from a climate scientist fleshed into a poem. These email attachments struck up a sort of sonic pen-pal program, with each person sending a sound, some words, some creative parameters and responding in turn. It became an exercise in receptivity, in which openness itself became a creative voice, hushing my tendency to micromanage every detail. These interactions were pulled together in late 2019 into a single piece written for two sides of a single 12” vinyl; one side describing collapse (Darn!) and the other, recovery (Kintsugi). Influenced by the 70s concept prog records of my childhood, the album loops without ending, so you were never really allowed to rest in safety, or wallow in the mess for too long.

Although my 20-year-old self would loathe it, I find myself tired of people believing their own creative voices are the most interesting or that creativity needs another self-aggrandizing voice. I thought of this as a project about restoring balance, the immense power to be found in collaboration, receptivity and the belief that if I am going to contribute to the world in 2022, it should be from a position of openness. It should be kind rather than vulgar. It should be constructive, not destructive. I do not wish to be known as a Vandal.

Working with visual artist Theresa Baumgartner and Dancer / Choreographer Lukas Malkowski the simple visual imagery of a body resisting gravity was realized as an Audio-Visual installation, which will be premiered in May 2022. “I do not wish to be known as a Vandal” uses high speed cameras which compensate for gravity’s pull at 3000 frames per second, suspending an unclothed body in space as it moves from feet to floor and back again. The result is a simple, framed figure of a body moving through space, duelling with inevitably and the cycle of collapse and recovery, set to generative interpretation of the record.

“His music filled me with the urge to connect with the world,” Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith says of Emile Mosseri. She first heard his work while watching the 2019 film The Last Black Man In San Francisco; just minutes in, she paused it to look up who did the score and wrote to him immediately. “I love Emile’s ability to create melodies that feel magically scenic and familiar like they are reminding you of the innocence of loving life.” Those talents saw recognition in 2020 with an Oscar nomination for Mosseri’soriginal score to the film Minari. He was already a fan of Smith’s and became increasingly intrigued by her impressionistic process as they started to talk. “The music feels so spiritual and alive and made from the earth,” Mosseri says. “I think of her as the great conductor, summoning musical poetry from her orchestra of machines.” I Could Be Your Dog / I Could Be Your Moon, their two-part collaborative album, introduces an uncanny fusion of their sonics. Constructed using synthesizer, piano, electronics, and voice, this soft-focus dream world is lush, evocative, and fleeting. It finds two composers tuning their respective styles inward as an ode to mutual inspiration, a celebration of the human spirit and its will to surrender to the currents of life.

Early into their correspondence, Smith and Mosseri realized they were neighbors in Los Angeles and met up for a few hikes. Their conversations led to a musical exchange over email. The exercise became a sketch, the start of their first song together, “Log In Your Fire,” with Mosseri finding flourishes in Smith’s cathartic synth lines to intonate and harmonize alongside. Lyrically, it’s a beautiful, open-ended sentiment. “Being a log in someone’s fire, to me, means letting go, and surrendering to that feeling,” says Mosseri. From there, the pair composed a series of musical foundations, trading files from afar, nurturing the eventual expansion as the remote days of 2020 set in. Smith likens the collaborative experience to the exciting uncertainty of starting a garden, “doing what I can to facilitate growth while enjoying the process of being surprised by what will actually grow.”

In the summer of 2021, the duo finished work on the sequel, I Could Be Your Moon, expanding their musical language as the first part reached its September release. Songs from these more recent exchanges find them even more synced, forging into percussive and harmonic experiments, leaning further into their “unused musical muscles,” as Smith and Mosseri put it. A unified vocal presence emerged. “As the friendship grew I think we both learned how to support each other more and musically that was communicated through singing together,” adds Smith.

Now taken as a full album set, I Could Be Your Dog / I Could Be Your Moon moves fluidly from track to track, panning through textural vi- gnettes. Two roughly 17-minute halves, the set evokes the bittersweet sense of something too bright or rare to last, a short-lived glimpse into a golden hour. There is a dreamy, elemental intention to this music, which Smith and Mosseri say came naturally, as they both embraced intuitive interplay throughout their creative back-and-forth. The stylistic threads of each composer are recognizable yet become more ambiguous as the album progresses, sewn into a singular vision. “I’m so grateful that my musical ideas could dance with hers with some grace and harmony,” says Mosseri. Smith adds that this experience helped her “remember that mu- sic can be a connecting layer of friendship, especially in a time when the usual ways were out of reach.”

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: An absolutely stunning collection of nigh-choral electronic pieces, imbued with Aurelia Smith's mastery of the synthesiser and Mosseri's expertise in the soundtrack field. A collection of unexpected, organic compositions that are from neither one world nor the other but perfectly at home in both.

TRACK LISTING

01. Log In Your Fire
02. Moon In Your Eye
03. Brush
04. I Could Be Your Dog
05. Glendora
06. Blink Twice
07. Moonweed
08. Green To You
09. Amber
10. Standing In Your Light
11. Shim Sham
12. Golden Cow
13. Radio Replacement

Rock Action Records are pleased to present Gentle Sinners, a project by James Graham of The Twilight Sad and....ta dah! Aidan Moffat of Arab Strap! "These Actions Cannot Be Undone" is the brilliant album from two pals who wanted to try something different musically. The outcome being an epic explorative set of songs that stands quite apart from their esteemed work with Arab Strap and The Twilight Sad.

TRACK LISTING

1 Waiting For Nothing
2 Killing This Time
3 Let Them Rot Feat. AKG
4 The Cries
5 Date & Sign
1 Rent Free
2 Shores Of Anhedonia
3 Face To Fire (After Nyman)
4 Don't Say Goodnight
5 Landfill

Keep This Be the Way is Helms Alee’s sixth full-length and first new album in over 3 years. Across the span of their first five studio albums, Seattle trio Helms Alee have consistently refined their signature sound—a blend of lilting siren songs, crushing thunder and sludge, and heady guitar pop filled with lush guitars and elaborate three-part vocal harmonies that reach widely across various subgenres of the heavy music world. On their latest album, Keep This Be the Way, the band expanded their palette by delving into the production possibilities afforded by recording the album themselves, creating their most dynamic and technicoloured work to date.

Guitarist/vocalist Ben Verellen, bassist/vocalist Dana James, and drummer/vocalist Hozoji Matheson-Margullis found refuge during the pandemic in their music and bunkered down in a makeshift studio in Verellen’s amplifier shop, recording songs with the assistance of Ron Harrell as they were writing them, composing the material with the added benefit of hearing them come together from the engineer’s chair. Keep This Be the Way still very much sounds like a Helms Alee record, but it’s their first album that diverts from the faithful recreation of their live sound and delves into a vibrant tapestry of surreal sounds and invented spaces.

This new approach is immediately evident on first single “See Sights Smell Smells,” where reverse cymbal crashes, fragmented piano, layered drums, woozy drones, saxophone freak-outs, and trippy vocal treatments transport the listener to an altered state of exhilarated anticipation. The pendulum swings towards more adventurous and exploratory sounds on songs like “Tripping Up the Stairs”, it’s nightmarish synth glides pitted against distorted barrages steeped in classic Helms Alee timbre. And therein lies the power of the Keep Us Be the Way: it reflects a period of change, ambiguity and perseverance through its fearless curiosity, cathartic rumble, and sublime beauty.

TRACK LISTING

1. See Sights Smell Smells
2. Keep This Be The Way
3. How Party Do You Hard?
4. Tripping Up The Stairs
5. Big Louise
6. Do Not Expose To The Burning Sun
7. The Middle Half 8. Mouth Thinker
9. Three Cheeks To The Wind
10. Guts For Brains 

Be With continue their 12" series by reissuing Anna’s seminal cosmic coldwave bomb “Systems Breaking Down”. Originally released in 1982, it’s undoubtedly one of the most mysterious singles of the period. Remarkably, it was released on a major label - RCA - yet very little is known about the shadowy Anna.

Despite being recorded nearly 35 years ago, it still sounds strikingly vital. Both sonically relevant and lyrically prescient, it’s hard to imagine a more apposite track to soundtrack the dark days we currently occupy. A masterful study in dread, describing the gentle collapse of all structures, it is set against a backdrop of eerie, synth-heavy electronics.

Produced by 80s disco-pop mavericks Geraint Hughes and Ken Leray, side A contains the epic synth-pop original, all heart-wrenching atmosphere and haunting vocals.

Side B wins again, however. The more uptempo “Dance Version” is a dubbed-out dark-disco tour-de-force, with cut-up vocals drifting in and out of a bassline that throbs like Carpenter’s best (think Assault on Precinct 13) and a palette of head-nod minimal wave.

Both sought-after mixes have been remastered for vinyl by Simon Francis and are housed in a replica jacket of the maxi original. Outstanding.

20JazzFunkGreats: “The sound of mascara and tears, a flood streaming black across the pale landscape of a trembling face, lovely music and, oh, so sad.”

TRACK LISTING

A1 : Systems Breaking Down (7:11)
B1 : Systems Breaking Down (Dance Version) (6:55)

The band’s ninth record, Let it Be Blue, takes that feeling of constant, radical transformation to new, untapped zones. It’s a record of sparse dance music. The kind of stuff you want to put on loud, let loose, go to the bar to get a drink only to abandon your plans because the song that just came on was too good not to dance to. Let it Be Blue is a computer record, but it doesn’t feel like it. Featuring production from Patrick Ford, Let it Be Blue is the product of file sharing, trading stems, song particles, little ideas on their way to being fully realized dance tracks. It was conceived during the past two years, with dreams of future dancefloors very much on the brain. The resulting 11 songs are some of the band’s most production focused offerings to date. They’re crystalline, full of sub-bass and drums. It evokes visions of clubs where a concoction of Dembow and acid house play at volumes so loud your ears hurt and you forget what day of the week it is. In other words, it’s a !!! album. It makes you freak out a little bit.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: The distance-working scenario here has clearly helped !!! hone their sound down into perfectly produced micro-segments of rhythm and melody, with their ninth album being easily their most clearly-defined and beautifully realised dancefloor statement. It's bold and full of swagger, as they always are but this feels like the work of a band determined to only get better, and to keep pushing things forards while retaining the sound that made them so distinctive in the first place.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Normal People
A2. A Little Bit (More)
A3. Storm Around The World (feat. Maria Uzor)
A4. Un Puente (feat. Angelica Garcia)
A5. Here's What I Need To Know
A6. Panama Canal (feat. Meah Pace)
B1. Man On The Moon (feat. Meah Pace)
B2. Let It Be Blue
B3. It's Grey, It's Grey (It's Grey)
B4. Crazy Talk
B5. This Is Pop 2

As lead singer of Happy Mondays and Black Grape, Shaun Ryder was the Keith Richards and Mick Jagger of his generation. A true rebel, who formed and led not one but two seminal bands, he's had number-one albums, headlined Glastonbury, toured the world numerous times, taken every drug under the sun, been through rehab - and come out the other side as a national treasure.

Now, for the first time, Shaun lifts the lid on the real inside story of how to be a rock star. With insights from three decades touring the world, which took him from Salford to San Francisco, from playing working men's clubs to headlining Glastonbury and playing in front of the biggest festival crowd the world has ever seen, in Brazil, in the middle of thunderstorm. From recording your first demo tape to having a number-one album, Shaun gives a fly-on-thewall look at the rock 'n' roll lifestyle - warts and all: how to be a rock star - and also how not to be a rock star.

From numerous Top of the Pops appearances to being banned from live TV, from being a figurehead of the acid-house scene to hanging out backstage with the Rolling Stones, Shaun has seen it all. In this book he pulls the curtain back on the debauchery of the tour bus, ridiculous riders, run-ins with record companies, drug dealers and the mafia, and how he forged the most remarkable comeback of all time.

This album is a tribute to Pastor Wylie Champion, who died while we were in the process of releasing this, his first record, and his wife, Mother Champion, who died a few months earlier.

We met Pastor Champion a few years ago while we were putting together another release, The Time for Peace Is Now: Gospel Music About Us. We found him in a collection of YouTube videos from the 37th Street Baptist Church in Oakland, California, put together by the pastor there, Bishop Dr. W.C. McClinton. There was quite a lot of talent in those videos, and among them was Pastor Champion whom we liked so much that we decided to make a record with him.

Pastor Champion wasn’t like any other pastor you’ve ever met. As an itinerant preacher, a carpenter, and a father of five, he made a name for himself traveling up and down the California coast with his electric guitar. He travelled alone and he played alone, well into his seventies. The easiest way to describe him would be as an outsider gospel artist. Other than these bare facts, we never learned much about him—except that he was also the brother of the well-known soul singer Bettye Swann. In fact, most of what we knew about him we got from his sister’s Wikipedia page.

We decided that because we met Champion through the 37th Street Baptist Church, we would record him there too. We recorded him live on a two-track Nagra reel to reel, as we wanted the album to be analog in the style of traditional gospel recordings. Over the course of two evenings (when the workday was done), Champion taught his band—musicians who had never played together before—a handful of songs, a small selection of the nearly 2,000 fragments of songs and sermons that he regularly performed. We listened in as they all got more familiar with the material and each other over time.

At some point, we mentioned to Champion that he would have to be interviewed by someone to write notes for the album. He wasn’t too pleased with this idea, saying he’d had a hard life and he didn’t want to talk about it. Over the next few months, we kept asking Champion to talk to someone about his life. He told us that he didn’t want to talk about growing up in Louisiana, his mother being accosted by the Klan, or that his father was a gambler. He didn’t want to talk about being jailed for 90 days for using a whites only bathroom, being in gangs or having a street name. We told him that was fine—he could talk about what he wanted to talk about. And he told us that he didn’t want to talk about anything.

You know, there are times when you make a record where it’s already made in your mind before you start. But then in the end, the record you thought you were making is not the record you made. We spent years puzzling over this one, trying to figure out what it was saying, who it was for, and how to get people to pay attention to it.

But Champion knew that this record wasn’t going to be for everyone. He didn’t really care. The important part for him was just getting the message out there in the same way that he always had, travelling alone with his electric guitar. “I want to say what I mean,” he said, “be practical, precise, to the point, and, at the same time, diplomatic.” In other words, he just wanted to be a good man.

God bless Pastor Champion and Mother Champion, peace be with them and their family. Love to all

TRACK LISTING

01 / A1. Intro
02 / A2. I Know That You’ve Been Wounded (Church Hurt)
03 / A3. He’ll Make A Way (Trust In The Lord)
04 / A4. Talk To God
05 / A5. In The Name Of Jesus (everytime)
06 / B1. To Be Used By You (I Want To Be A Good Man)
07 / B2. Who Do Men Say I Am?
08 / B3. Storm Of Life (Stand By Me)
09 / B4. In The Service Of The Lord
10 / B5. I Just Want To Be A Good Man (To Be Used By You) 

"During lockdown we delved deep into the Crazy P vaults to see what might be lurking in there. Plenty of buried treasure to be found, but these 2 little beauties grabbed our attention and seemed to fit well together. The lead track, If Life Could Be This Way, was a jam we had between the 3 of us, the vocal's a bit of a one take wonder from Dani, and we didn't touch it! It featured in our set and was the title of our last tour Nov 2021".

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Most Mancs with an ear to the streams will be aware of this highly adorable record dropping this week. Already championed by James Holroyd, Ron Basejam and Neil Diablo - one of the most poignant, heart-fluttering, down-right-beautiful songs this shining gemstone of a band have ever created.

TRACK LISTING

A: If Life Could Be This Way
B: How Could I Know?

Brand new 7” from Leeds' finest! A taster from their next full-length LP due out later in the year Ever been interrogated by the punk rock police? Are you manufactured by a company? Is your band real or plastic? Have you ever paid a thousand quid for a poster? Can the kids be trusted with rock n roll? Answers on side A.

The Sheffield duo have always explored feminist issues through the telling of personal stories – fusing their classical knowledge and rich arrangements with raw expression. Their debut album is no exception to this, exploring themes that will resonate with many women in their 30s who are experiencing the shift in perspectives that this decade can bring. On new single ‘Wreck’ singer Gina Walters mourns the abrupt end of a relationship and a vanishing future that she once counted on. “I thought that relationship was it: we were going to have babies, and when that ended it wasn’t really about losing my partner. It was about losing this whole future I thought lay ahead of me, this whole family I would lose, my house, my cat… it was an absolute bombshell, and it still gets me over a year later.”

On ‘Stand’, the most direct and plain-speaking track on the album, Gina sings, “A house or a heavy womb,” agonising over the idea of having to choose either financial security or motherhood. Speaking with her trademark brutal honesty, Gina says, “As a teenager, I genuinely thought that I would be married with two kids by now. We’ve been conditioned to think that’s what we should be achieving by a certain number. I turned thirty-two a few weeks ago, and I’m dating furiously because I want a baby and I only have a certain amount of years left before it starts to get really really hard.”

Before Breakfast released their debut EP ‘Open Ears’ in 2019. It is a spell-binding collection of songs knitting together Lucy Revis’ intricate cello with Gina’s expressively haunting vocals. “Our music has always been very beautiful with this discomfort,” Gina says, “which I view as very feminine.” Stand-alone single ‘Buddleia’ would become Before Breakfast’s signature, and best known song to date – opening the door to where they would go next. “When Gina played it to me I remember being in love with it immediately,” Lucy recalls. The band soon caught the ears of BBC Introducing, as well as C Duncan. That year, they supported the Mercury-nominated Scottish composer and musician on tour, which, Lucy says, was, “an absolute dream”.

Lucy wrote the lyrics and made her lyrical debut on former single ‘Brush My Hair’ after that very tour while coming down from a giddy three-week crush on a bassist. “It was like I was sixteen years old again,” she remembers. “We had this weird little friendship and the song is just about him: it’s lovely and special and I hold him in the highest regard.” For Gina, the themes that inform the debut as a whole also tie into trying to break out as a new band while holding weighty questions of security and stability versus pursuing your dreams. It’s pretty shocking, yet sadly not at all surprising, that in 2021 she feels the need to say, “I really get caught up in the idea that the industry doesn’t want women in their thirties coming through.” Lucy agrees, adding, “There have been so many barriers for us to even do this by our age. I have exclusively played for men since I was 15 years old. I can count the number of female artists I’ve worked for on one hand.”

Outside of the band, Gina is a singing teacher, and Lucy runs a music school. Over the last eighteen months, the group have been juggling their day-jobs with gradually recording their debut album: a reality they feel it’s important to speak out about. “We couldn’t just go away to a studio for three weeks,” says Gina, “we don’t have the money or time. It was here, there and everywhere.” Whenever they got a chance, the band would lay down parts with their producer Chris Wilkinson – who began his career working in Nashville with Vance Powell (Jack White, Arctic Monkeys) before relocating to his hometown – at Sheffield’s Fox Den studios. “We’d say: Chris, can we come in for a few hours this afternoon to do the vocals? It was a bit haphazard, and a long process.”

Before Breakfast are telling their story on their own terms, and backed by two new live band members as gig venues gradually open up again, the Sheffield band are going for it, with a debut that speaks to the stagnation, malaise, and static of the last “wasted” year. And as the world opens up again, ‘I Could Be Asleep If It Weren't For You’ is a fitting soundtrack. “We’ve got the momentum” says Gina, “and we just want to do it.”

TRACK LISTING

1. Inner Wisdom
2. Wreck
3. Brush My Hair (And Tell Me That You Love Me)
4. Stand
5. I
6. She
7. Voices
8. Sticky Sweet
9. I'm A Good Friend
10. Ii (feat. The Howl & The Hum)
11. Journey

When Alex Stephens (A.K.A. Strawberry Guy) self-released his debut single last year, he was merely doing it out of a love for songwriting. What he wasn't expecting was a million Youtube streams and an avid fanbase. Now, the South-Wales born, Liverpool-based songwriter is ready to release a full EP of his compelling, lushly produced dream-pop.

Born outside Cardiff, Strawberry Guy moved to Liverpool to study music and grow as a writer. 'I knew that it was a very artistic city with all it’s creative history, it seemed like the perfect place to move to.' he says. Whether it's playing keyboards in The Orielles or just being part of the city's growing musical scene, Alex plays music for the love of music, something that heavily translates into his adept songwriting.

The intense emotional feel of the tracks he writes is down to Alex's songwriting process, recording the entire EP in his bedroom & producing it himself. 'I feel that it’s important to me to only write/record when you’re channeling some kind of emotion, so I would only work on it when I was in the right mood to do so.' He answers when asked about the isolated environment into which he put himself for the recording process.

Much of the inspiration for Alex's work comes from experience rather than other artists. 'When something significant happens to me, all I want to do is make music.' In terms of musical touchstones however, there's the obvious dream-pop contemporaries such as Beach House and Weyes Blood, coupled with great songwriters of old like Nat King Cole or Harry Nillson. Sonically, a blend of orchestral & synthesized melodies layer together to act as a platform for his heartfelt lyrics.

Opener 'Without You' is a fine example of this, a break-up song of sorts, with an infectious keyboard melody and swirling synths over which Alex contemplates whether it's even possible to find lasting love. The lyrics 'Do you really have to talk about the things you do with him? Do you really have to talk about your love?' hit particularly heavily.

Contrast this with the final track, the titular 'Taking My Time To Be', a powerful song of self-discovery. Beginning with downtempo piano and drums, the song breaks out into a saxophone and synth solo that wouldn't go amiss on a Badalamenti soundtrack. 'The song is about me learning to be comfortable with myself, but then wondering if I'll be accepted for being myself' Alex imparts. It's a fitting closer to a EP driven by emotion and experience.

TRACK LISTING

1. Without You
2. Mrs. Magic
3. Intermission
4. What Would I Do?
5. Birch Tree
6. Taking My Time To Be

Soul singer Gloria Ann Taylor released only a small amount of music during her brief career. Although she never achieved the commercial success or stardom of many of her contemporaries at the time, she has now become a cult sensation. With a voice that emoted love, agony, and haunting spirituality, she became a pioneer of genre-bending sound that laid the groundwork for what would become disco, R&B, and modern soul music. In 2015, Ubiquity’s Luv ‘n Haight label issued the “Love is a Hurtin’ Thing” album that made her otherwise highly scarce music widely available to a worldwide audience (and also superceded the dodgy bootlegs that were doing the round at the time...)

In turn, a whole new generation discovered GAT, and her music surged, finding its way into DJ sets, along with garnering numerous exemplary reviews on sites such as Pitchfork and NPR. GAT, though happy with the success of the reissue of “Love is a Hurtin’ Thing” remained private and out of the spotlight and the music industry. In 2016, with some coaxing, GAT returned to the studio to record three new songs she had written. With only two instruments, her piano, and her voice, GAT gave over what would be her final contribution to the world of music. “Be Worthy,” “Rich or Poor,” and “Tough Suzanne” were born from that same love, heartache and spirituality that GAT had always tapped into as an artist, but now with the maturity of a life long-lived. GAT never made it back to the studio to hear the result of her vision; she passed away in 2018 without the backing band or vocals ever recorded. It took several more years and the genius of technology and engineering to bring GAT’s final tracks back to life. The “Be Worthy” 7-inch is a magnificent ending to the legacy of the soul singer that knew love is a thing we could never live without, even if it is a hurtin’ thing

TRACK LISTING

1. Be Worthy
2. Rich Or Poor
3. Tough Suzanne 

Deptford Northern Soul Club continue their retrograde mission with two colossal floorfillers from the late 1960s Northern scene.

‘I’ll Be On My Way’ is not only a staggeringly beautiful song, it’s also a super rare side filled with those strings that recall the echoey ceiling of Wigan Casino. A supremely soulful cut with a sturdy beat from 1966, with a classic vocal to fall in love with. Originally on Big Mack and going for over two grand, even the re-issue on Goldmine fetches 75 quid, it’s such an invigorating vocal and storming instrumental.

On side B, The Volumes’ funky floor surfer ‘I’ve Never Been So In Love’. Filled with horn slurps over a crazed organ anchor, it chugs into a singalong chorus that’s impossible to forget. From 1969 and originally on the obscure Garu label, it goes for between £40 and £140 pounds if you're lucky enough to find a copy.

Nicely pressed in sturdy 7" disco bag. Northern never sounded so crisp and fresh! 

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Shark-slaying re-issues to keep Kevin Lewandowski crying into his dipping stock value. If you're a fan of Northern on a budget (and sounded nice n crisp to boot!) you need these floor-fillers!

TRACK LISTING

Bob & Fred - I’ll Be On My Way
The Volumes - I’ve Never Been So In Love

Following on from the global success of ‘Abbey Road’, Apple Corps and USM are proud to present the next multi-format Beatles album reissue of ‘Let It Be’.

January 1969 – The Beatles planned to return to live performance, setting up in Twickenham Film Studios, London, for 21 days of rehearsals. They then decamped to their new studio in their Apple office building in Saville Row and on January 30th performed their last ever live group performance on the rooftop. All of this was filmed for a proposed documentary (eventually released in 1970). During the rehearsal process, they asked Glyn Johns, who had been hired to help with the live sound, to attempt a mix to create an album. This was never released, becoming known as one of the great ‘lost’ albums in rock history and is now included in this Super Deluxe Set. The album was delayed further and in fact became their 12th and final official album release on 8th May 1970 following additional production by American producer Phil Spector.

THE VELVET UNDERGROUND: AN OVERVIEW

• The Velvet Underground is regarded as one of the most influential bands in rock history.

• Their first 4 albums were included in Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

• Ranked 19th greatest artist by the same magazine and the 24th greatest artist in a poll by VH1.

• Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996.

• Critic Robert Christgau considers them "the number three band of the '60s, after the Beatles and James Brown and His Famous Flames".

• AllMusic wrote that "Few rock groups can claim to have broken so much new territory, and maintain such consistent brilliance on record, as the Velvet Underground during their brief lifespan [...] the Velvets' innovations – which blended the energy of rock with the sonic adventurism of the avant-garde, and introduced a new degree of social realism and sexual kinkiness into rock lyrics – were too abrasive for the mainstream to handle."

TRACK LISTING

1. Sunday Morning – Michael Stipe (3:50)
2. I’m Waiting For The Man – Matt Berninger (3:44)
3. Femme Fatale – Sharon Van Etten (w/ Angel Olsen On Backing Vocals) (4:43)
4. Venus In Furs – Andrew Bird & Lucius (6:55)
5. Run Run Run – Kurt Vile (6:59)
6. All Tomorrow’s Parties – St. Vincent & Thomas Bartlett (4:52)
7. Heroin Feat. Bobby Gillespie– Thurston Moore Feat. Bobby Gillespie (7:24)
8. There She Goes Again – King Princess (3:29)
9. I’ll Be Your Mirror – Courtney Barnett (2:27)
10. The Black Angel’s Death Song – Fontaines D.C. (3:12)
11. European Sun – Iggy Pop & Matt Sweeney (7:45)

This is a memoir as wry, funny, moving and vivid as its inimitable subject himself. This book will be a joy for both lifelong fans and for a whole new generation. John Cooper Clarke is a phenomenon: Poet Laureate of Punk, rock star, fashion icon, TV and radio presenter, social and cultural commentator.

At 5 feet 11 inches (32in chest, 27in waist), in trademark dark suit, dark glasses, with dark messed-up hair and a mouth full of gold teeth, he is instantly recognizable. As a writer his voice is equally unmistakable and his own brand of slightly sick humour is never far from the surface. I Wanna Be Yours covers an extraordinary life, filled with remarkable personalities: from Nico to Chuck Berry, from Bernard Manning to Linton Kwesi Johnson, Elvis Costello to Gregory Corso, Gil Scott Heron, Mark E. Smith and Joe Strummer, and on to more recent fans and collaborators Alex Turner, Plan B and Guy Garvey.

Interspersed with stories of his rock and roll and performing career, John also reveals his boggling encyclopaedic take on popular culture over the centuries: from Baudelaire and Edgar Allan Poe to Pop Art, pop music, the movies, fashion, football and showbusiness - and much, much more, plus a few laughs along the way.

STAFF COMMENTS

Javi says: Yes! THE poet of punk finally gives us a peek into his brilliant and back-combed head - and it's every bit as entertaining as you'd expect

How Beautiful Life Can Be, recorded at Parr Street Studios, Liverpool. In the company of producers, James Skelly and Chris Taylor, pushes The Lathums’ remarkable story into the next, even more exciting phase. The Great Escape, having been previously self-released by the young band, emerges from the album sessions in sparkling, new form, whilst retaining the melodic stardust that caused the first rumblings of the social-media led stampede to their early gigs.

Kick-started by growing pains and life’s unlucky twists, fuelled by the simple salvation of six guitar strings and supercharged by the fans that found them slogging their gear into the north of England’s pubs and small venues, The Lathums story may turn out to be the perfect not-all-nice-guys-finish-last tale.

It was only in the summer 2019 that the band’s fuse was lit by Tim Burgess, who offering them a late slot at Kendal Calling where, inside 24 hours, social media chatter caused their audience to spill into the field beyond their tent. A year later they had achieved their first UK Album Chart Top 20 for vinyl-only EP compilation, The Memories We Make, recorded their debut appearance for Later… With Jools Holland and joined the BBC Sound Poll 2021 list of tipped acts at the end of a year that skidded on the black ice of a global pandemic but, somehow, left the band on their feet.

For a band whose singing songwriter had never been to a gig before playing his own, yet incomprehensibly carried a trunk load of sensitively-crafted, empathetic, sing-a-long anthems straight into their first rehearsal, The Lathums have flown at nosebleed speed to where they are now.

Hailing from Wigan on the overlooked fringes of Greater Manchester, The Lathums are Alex Moore, casting a new outline of the modern frontman, singing alongside student of the Marr-esque jangle guitar, Scott Concepcion, rapid-fire, wise-cracking bassist, Jonny Cunliffe (aka: Bass Mon Jon) and the steady, rhythmic, wise head, Ryan Durrans on drums. Pithily described by those closest as ‘like The Inbetweeners in a Shane Meadows film’, they are four bright, wild flowers growing between grey paving stones. 

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: This new LP is sure to continue the meteoric upwards trajectory of The Lathums, swimming with influences from The Smiths, The Coral and 90's Britpop into a wonderfully upbeat and undeniably melodic full-length. This Wigan quartet are definitely going places.

TRACK LISTING

1. Circles Of Faith
2. I’ll Get By
3. Fight On
4. How Beautiful Life Can Be
5. The Great Escape
6. I Won't Lie Side B
7. I See Your Ghost
8. Oh My Love
9. I’ll Never Forget The Time I Spent With You
10. I Know That Much
11. Artificial Screens
12. The Redemption Of Sonic Beauty

After several singles were dropped in the lead up to this album it’s safe to say this was my most anticipated release of the year. Little Simz has really come through with her most raw and personal album to date. The opening track “Introvert” is a theatrical masterpiece which gives you goosebumps within the first ten seconds, from the cinematic brass accompanying the rolling snare drum. It feels like an anthem of a generation, fearless and vulnerable, “Introvert” bares all in its strength, openness and fluidity.

Little Simz’ ability to perform and put into words personal pain is so emotive and taps into something powerful to make you feel every word in the track, particularly in “I Love You, I Hate You”. Her immaculate flow paired with orchestral strings and beats highlights her incredible songwriting and fire.

Don’t be under the misconception that this is only a hip-hop album. Soulful energy in “I See You”, Nigerian and cultural influences in “Point And Kill'' and a hint of trap and incredible change of flow in “Rollin Stone” set her apart in this cohesive masterpiece of an album.

The intertwining of interludes frame the album to create an otherworldly and cathartic experience, like in the track “Gems”. The combination of orchestra, children’s choir and the actress Emma Corrin’s spoken word are just magic. The end of the album holds just as many jewels like “How Did You Get Here” and “Miss Understood”; lyrically the most poignant piece which powerfully bookends the album with reconciliation and a self-awareness of how far she’s come.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Little Simz returns for the much anticipated follow-up to the superb 2019 LP 'Grey Area', this time clearly showing the meteoric trajectory of her songwriting and lyricism. There's vital, fiery rap and deep instrumentation that quickly switch into rich soulful R&B, flawlessly and seamlessly. An undeniable force in the future of hip-hop.

TRACK LISTING

Introvert
Woman (feat. Cleo Sol)
Two Worlds Apart
I Love You I Hate You
Little Q Part 1
Little Q Part 2
Gems
Speed
Standing Ovation
I See You
The Rapper That Came To Tea
Rollin Stone
Protect My Energy
Make Promises
Point And Kill (feat. Obongjayar)
Fear No Man
The Garden Interlude
How Did You Get Here
Miss Understood

‘Be a Rebel Remixed’ collects all the official versions of this track on physical formats for the first time and includes brand new remixes from Arthur Baker, JakoJako, Mark Reeder and Melawati. Also includes mixes from the band’s own Bernard Sumner and Stephen Morris plus club mixes from Maceo Plex and Paul Woolford.

New Order’s single ‘Be a Rebel’ was the first brand new music from the band since the release of the critically acclaimed album ‘Music Complete’ In 2015. ‘Be a Rebel Remixed’ is available on double clear vinyl and on CD. 

TRACK LISTING

VINYL TRACKLIST
Be A Rebel (Paul Woolford Remix New Order Edit)
Be A Rebel (JakoJako Remix)
Be A Rebel (Maceo Plex Remix)
Be A Rebel (Melawati Remix)
Be A Rebel (Bernard's Outlaw Mix)
Be A Rebel (Renegade Spezial Edit)
Be A Rebel (Arthur Baker Remix)
Be A Rebel (Mark Reeder's Dirty Devil Remix)

CD TRACKLIST
Be A Rebel
Be A Rebel (Bernard’s Renegade Mix)
Be A Rebel (Stephen’s T34 Mix)
Be A Rebel (Bernard’s Renegade Instrumental Mix)
Be A Rebel (Paul Woolford Remix New Order Edit)
Be A Rebel (JakoJako Remix)
Be A Rebel (Maceo Plex Remix)
Be A Rebel (Melawati Remix)
Be A Rebel (Bernard's Outlaw Mix)
Be A Rebel (Arthur Baker Remix)
Be A Rebel (Mark Reeder's Dirty Devil Remix)
Be A Rebel (Edit)
Be A Rebel (Renegade Spezial Edit)

Inhaler’s debut album ‘It Won’t Always Be Like This’ a record that sees Elijah Hewson, Josh Jenkinson, Robert Keating and Ryan McMahon turn their early promise into something special, an album teeming with expansive indie-rock grooves and soaring anthems.

Includes the single Cheer Up Baby, a swooping, epic singalong alongside newly recorded versions of early fan favourites My Honest Face and title track It Won’t Always Be Like This.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: It's pretty clear these lot are going to be big. Huge melodies and stadium rock progressions are met with athletic vocal performances and classic songwriting. What more could you want?

TRACK LISTING

1. It Won't Always Be Like This
2. My Honest Face
3. Slide Out The Window
4. Cheer Up Baby
5. A Night On The Floor
6. My King Will Be Kind
7. When It Breaks
8. Who's Your Money On? (Plastic House)
9. Totally
10. Strange Time To Be Alive
11. In My Sleep 

As well the vinyl reissue of Endemic, we've also received CD copies of this new No Cure release. Wu Tang Clan affiliate Emcee Darkim Be Allah teams up with producer Endemic Emerald to bring the “Antediluvian King” long player. Darkim Be Allah - renowned since the late 90's for his work with the Wu Tang family - educates with the 5% teachings of the Nation of Gods & Earths, which flow seamlessly over the melodic backdrops provided by Endemic Emerald. Features come from Planet Asia, Tragedy Khadafi & Kasim Allah - “Antediluvian King” is gritty, raw, NYC hip hop at its finest - check! 

TRACK LISTING

The Lockdown
BX-QB Ft. Tragedy Khadafi
God’s Wrath Ft. Kasim Allah
Doing It
Real Black
Original Light
The Black Gene
Knowledge & Wisdom
You Know The Gravity Ft. Tragedy Khadafi
God Of The Universe Ft. Planet Asia

Jorja Smith returns to announce a new 8-track project, the first body of work from Jorja since her 2019 critically-acclaimed, Mercury Prize nominated debut album 'Lost & Found', for which she won her second BRIT Award for 'Best Female' and earned herself a nomination for 'New Artist' at the GRAMMY Awards.

The project finds Jorja delivering some of the most emotive and imaginative songs of her career. Over string-heavy production, she unveils a collection of songs that are diverse in their range but still extremely cohesive as a body of work - "It's called be right back because it's just something I want my fans to have right now, this isn't an album and these songs wouldn't have made it. If I needed to make these songs, then someone needs to hear them too." - Jorja says of the project.

To coincide with the announcement, Jorja is sharing new single 'Gone.' Highly anticipated, Smith states that "There's something about being able to write about one thing and for it to mean so many different things to others. I love that this song, well any of my songs really, will be interpreted in different ways, depending on the experiences of the people listening. This one is just me asking why people have to be taken from us."

'Gone' follows in the footsteps of Jorja's stunning March release 'Addicted', which also appears on 'Be Right Back', alongside 6 additional unheard tracks including a feature from rising South London rapper, Shaybo on track 3, 'Bussdown'.

Over the past three years, Smith has been celebrated unanimously across the world for her evocative song-writing, powerful delivery, pure emotion and unbridled talent as a young woman navigating her way through the world. Smith has graced multiple magazine covers, performed at awards ceremonies and on late night TV, and sold out shows across the globe, now surpassing over one billion global streams. Her 2019 hit single 'Be Honest' featuring Burna Boy has become her biggest song to date at almost 250M streams worldwide.

TRACK LISTING

1. Addicted
2. Gone
3. Bussdown (feat. Shaybo)
4. Time
5. Home
6. Burn
7. Digging
8. Weekend

Deep amidst San Francisco’s Richmond neighborhood misty air and washed-out pastel blocks, Glenn Donaldson has been diligently creating minor masterpieces with rudimentary home technology for some time now. With The Reds, Pinks & Purples, Donaldson has finally created a vivid reflection of this dreary scene. You Might be Happy Someday is an oblique strand of SF outer-avenue cloud cover that stretches across the Atlantic to the grey docks of Bristol as captured in Sarah Records’ fetishized insert photos. Despite the deceptively congenial presentation, Happy is often a heavy record. After a litany of Donaldson’s past iterations (from experimental abstraction to post-punk and pop), The Reds, Pinks & Purples is Glenn D’s most personal project.

Balanced awkwardly atop almost ironically upbeat jangles and rhythms Mitch Easter might have captured on his reel-to-reel are prime cuts of bummer pop. Almost every track is written in second person, creating a feeling of overheard private inner conversations-on-repeat: soft-lob criticisms, supportive friend advice and embarrassing confessions, You Might be Happy Someday is a smeared window into the (kindly) cynical thoughts of a romantic misanthrope. Like the work of other U.S. depresso-pop purveyors East River Pipe, The Reds, Pinks & Purples’ mini-album is the kind of record that is both unsettling and comforting. When you’re four drinks deep and you’ve worn your Smiths records out, You Might Be Happy Someday is on deck to have wine spilled on it while you dance alone in the kitchen. 

TRACK LISTING

1 Last Summer In A Rented Room
2 Forgotten Names
3 Worst Side Of Town
4 Your Parents Were Wrong About You
5 Desperate Parties
6 Half-a-Shadow
7 Sex, Lies & Therapy
8 You Might Be Happy Someday

Previously Unreleased Disco-Soul-Funk Album With Mixes By Kenny Dope. The Gatefold LP Includes Extensive Liner Notes And A Download Card to WAV Files Of The Full Album. CD Contains Instrumentals And Kenny Dope Extended Remixes. Tucked in the back corner of a linen closet in Macon, Georgia since 1979 sat a box that very few people knew existed. Lost and presumed forgotten, this box contained reel-to-reel tapes of the lost album by the band that issued the lauded Black Gold as The Mighty Chevelles in 1977. By 1979, while transitioning to the name Music Makers Band, the band entered Capricorn Studios and recorded this previously-unreleased disco funk opus, finally issued as You Can Be as part of the Now-Again Reserve series. Nearly all songs have been remixed from the original multi-track masters by Kenny “Dope” Gonzalez. Georgia funk and soul historian Brian Poust details the band and album’s story in detailed liner notes in an oversized booklet.

TRACK LISTING

A1. That Look In Your Eyes
A2. You Can Be
A3. Lady In My Dream
A4. Let Me Start Lovin’ You

B1. That’s The Way
B2. Shake Your Booty
B3. That True Love Of Mine
B4. We’re The Band…. 

“When a close friend took an in-advance listen to Hachiku’s debut album, I’ll Probably Be Asleep, she had one question for bandleader Anika Ostendorf: “’why are you so angry?’”

It’s not the first reaction that most people would have to the Melbourne-based outfit, whose dream-pop jams all dewy guitars, rickety drum-machines, and layered ambience, topped off with Ostendorf’s oft-breathy voice would seem to contain no sharp edges. But, following Hachiku’s self-titled 2017 debut EP, Ostendorf found herself dealing with darker themes; which reflected the 25-year-old growing up, changing, and feeling mounting frustrations.”

TRACK LISTING

I’ll Probably Be Asleep
Busy Being Boring
You’ll Probably Think This Song Is About You
Bridging Visa B
Dreams Of Galapagos
A Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Woman
Shark Attack
Murray’s Lullaby

The songs mark Anohni’s first new music since the 2019 charity single ‘Karma’, a collaboration with Jade Bell and J. Ralph.

A viscous embrace, a pulsating pouring out, Anohni’s voice is above all else a vessel for political armament. On 2016’s Hopelessness, her voice bombarded with explicit illustration of Obama-era atrocities -- of war crimes, of apocalyptic climate change, of patriarchal violence. Now sharing a dual cover set, she casts a subtler, but no less powerful incantation towards change.

The original tracks dating to 1965, a year marked by the Selma marches, the Watts Rebellion, and the landmark Voting Rights Act, illuminate the eerily parallel struggles of this year. Anohni’s rendition of ‘It’s All Over Now…’ reads as a hopeful, future goodbye to times dominated by oppression. With ‘Be My Husband,” textually woven with marital submission and want for acceptance, she examines our reliance on the very systems that fail us.

In borrowing these songs, Anohni adopts their history along with her contemporary interpretations, respecting the lineage of the people’s movement while calling for its continuance today. “When Biden said ‘Americans don’t want revolution, they want a return to decency,’ he was wrong,” she explained. “We all know deep down that the continuation of our civilizations for much longer will require seismic change.”

TRACK LISTING

1. It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue
2. Be My Husband

Picking up where the band left off with their critically acclaimed ‘Love in Shadow’, the trio of Aaron Turner (ISIS, Old Man Gloom), Brian Cook (Russian Circles) and Nick Yacyshyn (Baptists) push further into the polarity of their sound with longform composition and freeform exploration.

Meticulously detailed and complex one moment, rudimentary and repetitive the next and completely untethered and unscripted at seemingly random, ‘May You Be Held’ is an album that fluctuates between extreme discipline and control and an almost feral energy. “As an artist in this time of significant upheaval, society seemingly having reached the end of its current iteration, it’s of critical importance to absorb and interpret this process of dissolution - and of the transformation that hopefully follows it” says Turner, “While I don’t believe we’re on the brink of collective destruction precisely now, this is clearly a pivotal stage in the story of humankind - and there is something that feels right about this music at this exact and very uncertain moment.”

Available on tan with black splatter vinyl, black vinyl and CD, packaged in wide spine jacket with high gloss slipcase. Vinyl formats include digital download cards.

“Exacting, weapons-grade, military-trained, merciless” - Rolling Stone

“One of this year’s most audacious metal statements” - Pitchfork

“For over two decades, Aaron Turner has been on the front lines of intelligent forward-thinking heavy music” - Revolver

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Aaron Turner has seen some action hasn't he? Lotus Eaters, Old Man Gloom, Mammifer and of course, Isis. All of them are uncompromising in their own way but Sumac is possibly his most scathing outlet yet. Brutal, beautiful and surprising.

TRACK LISTING

A Prayer For Your Path
May You Be Held
The Iron Chair
Consumed
Laughter And Silence

Summer 2020, and No Age are back out on the street! 

Effortlessly raw and extravagant in one practiced swoop, they set their live/bedroom internal clock and get out early into a glorious windtunnel of naked beats and sunbaked guitars, forming a wave from which they hang eleven tunes. 

A perfectly balanced set, ranging from their classic punk and indie to ever-evolving soundscapes, in maybe their most direct statement yet.

TRACK LISTING

Sandalwood 02:31
Feeler 02:40
Smoothie 03:53
Working Stiff Takes A Break 01:01
War Dance 02:33
Toes In The Water 03:11
Turned To String 03:41
A Sigh Clicks 02:26
Puzzled 03:59
Head Sport Full Face 03:55
Agitating Moss 03:05

On her third album U kin B the Sun, Vancouver-based singer/songwriter FrazeyFord inhabits an entire world of shapeshifting rhythm, elevating every beat and groove with the subtle magnetism of her mesmerizing voice. At turns ecstatic and heavy-hearted, gloriously shambolic and deeply purifying, U kin B the Sun is the outcome of a certain personal transformation that Ford has experienced in recent years. With its graceful collision of soul and psychedelia and sometimes ’70s funk, it’s a body of work that invites both self-reflection and wildly joyful movement, and ultimately sparks a quiet transcendence.

A departure from the guitar-driven and largely solitary songwriting that’s defined Ford’s previous work, both in her folk bluegrass trio The Be Good Tanyas and her solo albums Obadiah (2011) and Indian Ocean (2014), much of U kin B the Sun took shape from spontaneous collaboration with her longtime bassist Darren Parris and drummer Leon Power. Over the course of several late-night sessions in the thick of summer 2019, the three musicians joined producer John Raham (Destroyer, Stars, Dan Mangan, Said The Whale) in dreaming up a brilliantly untethered sound, recording as they improvised and continually tapping into their potent camaraderie.

TRACK LISTING

1. Azad
2. U And Me
3. Money Can’t Buy
4. Let’s Start Again
5. Holding It Down
6. Purple And Brown
7. The Kids Are Having None Of It
8. Motherfucker
9. Golden
10. Everywhere
11. U Kin B The Sun

The first Be With foray into the archives of revered German library institution Selected Sound is one of our favourites on the label - the super in-demand "Japan" from Victor Cavini, originally released in 1983.

Rare and sought-after for many years now, this is one of those cult library LPs that never turn up. With Daibutsu the giant Buddha of Kamakura’s presence gracing the hefty front cover, this is a record bursting with dope samples for adventurous producers: it’s koto-funk madness!

Victor Cavini was the library music pseudonym of prolific German composer and musician Gerhard Trede. He was known for exploring instruments and styles from around the world (he played over 50 different instruments himself) and Japan is
his collection of 14 musical sketches painted with traditional Japanese wind and string instruments. These are the sounds of traditional Japanese folk music re-interpreted through Western ears, with the occassional contemporary twist. Contemporary for 1983, of course.

These “Pictures of Japan” are hypnotic, sometimes frantic, but always beautiful. The first twelve tracks offer airy explorations of koto and flute, with other strings and percussion being added and then given their own space. Indeed “Pictures of Japan XII” is just drums.

And then “Pictures of Japan XIII” seems to come out of nowhere. But the subtle sleaze of its full band sound still doesn’t quite prepare you for the towering climax of “Pictures of Japan XIV”.

This is Japan’s undoubted standout piece, completely and wonderfully at odds with the rest of the album. It’s the reason this has become such a must-have record. It keeps the traditional Japanese instruments but combines them with shuffling funk breaks, electric bass high in the mix and a Godzilla-sized psychedelic fuzz guitar sound that might actually be a traditional reed flute pushed to its limits. Whatever it is, it sounds awesome.
Recalling both Rino de Filippi’s "Oriente Oggi" and Giancarlo Barigozzi’s "Oriente", the track’s a real head-nod groove for b-boys and b-girls alike that sounds straight out of a late 70s Yakuza film. Indeed, if you were told The RZA or Onra had cooked this up in the lab this century, you’d be convinced. It’s crazy that this dates from 1983.

The audio for Japan has been sensitively remastered for vinyl by Be With regular Simon Francis to keep all the character of the original recordings. Richard Robinson has handled the careful restoration of the original Selected Sound sleeve. Essential.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Pictures Of Japan
A2. Pictures Of Japan II
A3. Pictures Of Japan III
A4. Pictures Of Japan IV
A5. Pictures Of Japan V
A6. Pictures Of Japan VI
A7. Pictures Of Japan VII
B1. Pictures Of Japan VIII
B2. Pictures Of Japan IX
B3. Pictures Of Japan X
B4. Pictures Of Japan XI
B5. Pictures Of Japan XII
B6. Pictures Of Japan XIII
B7. Pictures Of Japan XIV

The cult skater from San Francisco is globally renowned as one of the original members of the legendary 'Bones Brigade' team. And as an accomplished multi-instrumentalist, his laid-back soul is beloved by all who’ve basked in its blissful glow. There’s something elemental about this music that really stirs the soul. Strikingly beautiful and instantly addictive, it’s a kind of funk-fuelled, melody-driven, groove-based magic. There's a serenity and heart in the playing that radiates warmth and splendour, as if crafted for endless sunsets. His albums that surfaced on Mo Wax at the turn of the century have been treasured since their release and it’s two of his most vital LPs that we're honoured to reintroduce.

"A Little Bit Of Somethin" is a quietly majestic gem. Brimming with Guerrero’s horizontal 'loose grooves', these brief but innovative instrumentals demonstrate a rich variety and, as such, comprise an LP that is aptly titled. An enchanting start-to-finish listen, it was instantly regarded as essential upon release via Mo Wax in 2000. It has aged remarkably well.

Throughout this inspired collection, simplicity is key. In deploying it, Guerrero presents a beautifully crafted melodic soundscape. The distinctive, mellifluous approach of his guitar style, blending Brazilian, Cuban, Mexican, soul and jazz motifs, is at once startlingly new and tantalisingly familiar. Set against unrushed percussion, the music releases a crystal clear stream of healing frequencies to create a fragile, hypnotic atmosphere.

Each track clocks in at around three minutes and, with a lack of studio polish or commitment to traditional song structure, it’s a wonder how this enigmatic record demands your attention. However, through its gentle dynamism and impressive playing, it does just that. Whilst resolutely low-key, this lo-fi aesthetic feels genuinely organic and remarkably personal; its powerful intimacy truly connects. It’s what makes this album so beloved of those lucky enough to be already familiar with it. From Margaret Kilgallen's truly iconic cover artwork to the music contained within, it's all brilliantly effortless.

Guerrero’s musical ideas are consistently compelling throughout, making it impossible to select highlights. The album’s laconic drift touches upon jazz-fusion workouts and slow-mo hip-hop drums, Tortoise-style experimental post-rock and cinematic sound textures. It’s at once hazy, light and bouncy yet sombre and bluesy. The Latin soul of El Chicano blends with the breezy jazz of Grant Green. By employing guitars and drum machines to create a stripped down rhythmic tapestry of spellbinding, addictive songs, there are even traces of The Durutti Column. A little bit of country, a little bit of rock & roll. "A Little Bit Of Somethin’", indeed.

TRACK LISTING

A1 : Blue Masses
A2 : Four Trk Samba
A3 : Tiny
A4 : Numb Millenium
B1 : 100 Years
B2 : Pescadito
B3 : Azucar
C1 : Flux And Meter
C2 : It’s Raining Again
C3 : Today Like Everyday
C4 : Soul Miner
D1 : As The Sea Holds Creatures Vast And True
D2 : So Blue It’s Black
D3 : Little Chin

Foals’ creative ambition for ‘Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost – Part 1’ resulted in a striking state-of-the-world-address of an album in which apocalyptic lyrical themes were equalled by the sheer impact of the music.

Now Foals complete that artistic statement with the release of ‘Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost – Part 2’.

“Part two is a heavier listen, the guitars are more emphasised and there’s some big riffs on it,” explained Philippakis in an interview with NME. “It’s a rock record and it definitely carries on the narrative from part one. Part one ended with a lot of fire and destructive imagery, part two is trying to respond to that: how you can continue in the wreckage and through the scorched earth? We’re just excited for people to hear it because it completes the journey of what we’ve made over the last year-and-a-half.”

Whereas ‘Part 1’ melded Foals’ disparate influences into a thrilling melting pot of sounds, much of ‘Part 2’ simmers with pure visceral intensity. ‘The Runner’ and ‘Black Bull’ are streamlined attacks, with vehement rhythmic onslaughts the foundation for even bigger riffs. It’s an approach that also informs ‘10,000 Feet’, as it lurches ominously from dreamy soundscapes into a heavyweight collision of post-punk and psychedelia.

Yet ‘Part 2’ also echoes the opening chapter’s eclectic nature. The cinematic instrumentals ‘Red Desert’ and ‘Ikaria’ underline that ‘Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost’ is a journey rather than a mere collection of songs, while ‘Wash Off’ marries manic world music-tinged grooves with a punk-like intensity.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: The foals return with the second part of their superb 'Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost..' series, and this one's possibly even better than the first. Smooth synths, soaring melodies and percussive, nigh-dancefloor arm-wavers. Classic foals +.

TRACK LISTING

1. Red Desert
2. The Runner
3. Wash Off
4. Black Bull
5. Like Lightning
6. Dreaming Of
7. Ikaria
8. 10,000 Feet
9. Into The Surf
10. Neptune

A timely reissue of this ultra rare LP that is fetching prices upwards of £600 online. Originally released in 1978 on the obscure label out of Mississippi Commercial, Let Me Be Your Lover is now reissued and available again in the UK/Europe for this first time.

The album includes the absolute monster album version of the modern soul/crossover classic Gonna Find A True Love, which was reissued on Miles Away earlier this year. The album version of this track gives the 7” a run for it’s money.

Let Me Be Your Lover is an album is undeniably deep, soulful and passionate and now fully licensed from Estus and Lester Patterson.

TRACK LISTING

1. Let Me Be Your Lover
2. He’s A Loser
3. How Long Must The Show Go On
4. A Good Thing
5. Gonna Find A True Love
6. Funk Machine
7. You Give Me Someone To Love
8. Disco Dream

Following 2017’s Infinite Avenue and 2013’s Sleeper, Both Lines Will Be Blue is Carmen’s first full instrumental album. A 7 track collection of cosmic excursions and dubby ambient-jams, the album is written, recorded, played, produced and mixed by Carmen in her Oslo studio. The soothing atmospherics are made up of tapestries of field recordings, synths, piano, drum-programming, zither and modular sounds. Throughout, Carmen’s music is colored by experimenting with different sounds and learning new techniques or by adding new instruments to the mix

"I’ve been playing around with instrumentals for a long time, and it was something I wanted to do more with after I finished Infinite Avenue,” says Carmen. “Leaving out my voice and lyrics got me out of my own head a bit, which I needed. Working with sound is to me the ultimate meditation and is a more unconscious way of expressing whatever is going on inside.”

The flute, played by Chilenean-Norwegian Johanna Scheie Orellana (formerly of Sassy 009), is a central part of this new album. Carmen got her in to the studio to both record melodies that she had written, as well as making plenty of room for impro/freeform. Prins Thomas also appears on the record, playing percussion on “I Could Sit Here All Day.”

“I made this track based on a Roland SH-101 sequence run through various processing,” says Villain. “The whole thing came together kind of like a jam, I wrote the flute in one take, and it just felt right. I wanted real flute on this, so asked Johanna if she'd like to come in, and we've been collaborating ever since.”

TRACK LISTING

1.Observable Future
2. Are You For Real
3. Type
4. I Trust You
5. I Could Sit Here All Day
6. Sometimes I Love You Forever
7. Impossible Color

Beauty Sleep have earned a stellar reputation for crafting vibrant synth-driven pop music thanks to previous single releases like ‘Until We See The Sun’ and ‘All In’. Their debut LP Be Kind is released on Quiet Arch records.

The captivating record showcases a young group clearly in love with the process of creating music together. Flush with golden vocal harmonies, dazzling synths and earworm hooks, Be Kind is a huge step in Beauty Sleep’s blossoming career. Beauty Sleep’s music is born of the friendship its three members share. The Belfast natives met first by chance at a mutual friend’s party. While chatting, Cheylene, Ryan and Aimee discovered a powerful shared creative bond. Overcome with the rush of inspiration only the prospect of a new project instils, the group decided to seize the moment and focus their energy into forming a new band. Enter the lush dream-pop Beauty Sleep makes today. Their strong releases have been bolstered by the band’s high energy live performances, which the group view as another avenue for communal celebration of music and dance. 

TRACK LISTING

1 The Dark
2 On Repeat
3 Rainbow Ballroom
4 The Feeling Back
5 Lies
6 Synthetic Debris
7 Woman
8 All We See
9 Nature Will Eat Me
10 Be Kind

Even this far into the 21st century, the recent social media furore surrounding US congresswoman and free-style dancer Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez illustrated that the spectacle of someone dancing without compunction can still ruffle the right (and alt-right) feathers. In which case, all hail the third album from Toronto’s ardent, art-dance sibling trio Doomsquad. Let Yourself Be Seen is the most assertive, ambitious, groove-sodden declaration of intent yet from Trevor, Jaclyn and Allie Blumas: the sound of dancefloor believers and thinkers firing on all personal and political fronts, at a time when we need it most.

Even if Doomsquad never lacked the courage of their convictions, Let Yourself Be Seen ups the stakes. On 2016’s Total Time, the trio issued invitations to free your mind, body and spirit over dirty bass-lines and hypnotic disco jams. And yet, their reliance on unspoken sibling intuition left them fearing that much of its “message and meaning” had gone unheard. Thus, the trio took a more forthright approach for their third album, aiming to “crystallise what Doomsquad is and what it means to us. What we always knew but put at the forefront of this record is that Doomsquad is a project of protest, catharsis and emotional and spiritual reconnection through music and, especially, through dance-music culture. It’s about activating the body on the most fundamental level, into states of change, release and reunion.”

Richly steeped in the influences of acid house, West African disco, spiritual jazz, NYC no-wave and new-age ambient music, Let Yourself Be Seen hums with a sense of vigorous, invigorating purpose. After the overture of ‘Spandrel’, ‘The General Hum’ sends out a buoyant new-wave rallying cry for maximised engagement just when the world seems intent on stifling it. “Is there a place for spirit anymore?” it asks. Kicking in with a percussive bustle that all but defies you to try and stand still, ‘Aimless’ answers in the affirmative.

Elsewhere on the album, Doomsquad’s own dynamic thematic engagement alights on subjects ranging from formative influences to modern societal struggles and eco-crises. ‘Let It Go’ grapples with the challenges of social change at 140BPM, climaxing with a scalding guitar solo to match the heat of its questioning thrust. The mellifluous ‘Emma’ reflects on early-20th-century anarchist and activist Emma Goldman; ‘Dorian’s Closet’, meanwhile, honours New York drag queen Dorian Corey. “Let Yourself Be Seen was fuelled by the inspiration of outsider artists and thinkers before us,” say the band. “Through these songs, we get to glorify some of our heroes.”

Doomsquad's intent to carry their heroes’ “messages of empowerment, release and spiritual self-determination” to new audiences peaks on the title-track, where the album’s disparate parts build to a disco inferno with a call to “Let yourself be seen!” ‘The Last Two Palm Trees in LA’ offers an empathetic take on a similar theme, based on the acceptance of ageing, before ‘Weather Patterns’ steers a reflection on unity in the face of global crisis to a buffeting crescendo with a thrilling urgency.

The result is an album for fraught political times, charged by the impetus to bring “music back to the body”. Close-to-home influences on that score include Tanya Tagaq and Peaches, both of whom Doomsquad have toured with; further afield, Peter Gabriel, Diamanda Galás, Genesis P-Orridge and Underworld numbered among inspirations. Meanwhile, as the trio’s creative process took them from a lakeside cabin to a studio in Toronto, they benefited from the input of kindred spirits such as Ejji Smith, whose virtuoso guitar-shredding propels ‘Let It Go’. Israeli jazz composer Itamar Erez adds watery synths to ‘Emma’, while a key studio collaborator was producer/artist Sandro Perri, whose credits include Barzin.

TRACK LISTING

1 Spandrel
2 General Hum
3 Aimless
4 Let It Go
5 Emma
6 Spandrel II
7 Dorian's Closet
8 Let Yourself Be Seen
9 The Last Two Palm Trees In L.A.
10 Weather Patterns

Inclusivity is at the heart of Barrie, the Brooklyn five-piece made of Barrie Lindsay, Dominic Apa, Spurge Carter, Sabine Holler and Noah Prebish. And on their debut LP Happy To Be Here, their multidimensional take on classic pop sounds awake and present, like a group that’s daydreaming but firmly there with one another. Lindsay largely wrote these songs late into the night, alone in her apartment, and her voice feels appropriately full of possibility throughout. Barrie, the band, is primarily her project; on the record, which she co-produced with Jake Aron (Snail Mail, Solange, Grizzly Bear), Lindsay plays guitar, piano, synth and bass. But still, Barrie is distinctly not a solo project, and Happy To Be Here is very much a full band record. Dominic’s drums fill the entire album, while Noah added synths and Spurge sang on nearly every track; the three also contributed production. And Sabine, though stuck in Germany with visa issues, remotely recorded vocals. Engineered and mixed by Aron at his Brooklyn studio in August 2018, the album is a softly explosive document of Barrie’s collective vision: “a well-crafted pop song that’s a little bit fucked up,” they explain. The album’s singles speak to its scope: the analog synths that burst from piano pointillism on “Clovers”, the lush electric guitar grooves on opener “Darjeeling”, the minimal arrangement and modular programmed drums of “Saturated”. The album’s energetic but unhurried movement is a testament to the wide-ranging backgrounds of Barrie’s membership: Spurge and Noah met at the Lot Radio through a shared love of house and techno, Dom plays and tours with the electronic rock band Is Tropical, Sabine is a performance artist and solo musician. 

TRACK LISTING

1 Darjeeling
2 Dark Tropical
3 Clovers
4 Habits
5 Saturated
6 Chinatown
7 Teenager
8 Geology
9 Casino Run
10 Hutch 

Having taken a break from the music industry to teach in 2015, Tom was offered a week-long artist residency in the music department of Leeds Beckett University, and on the condition the university provided him with a band, Tom accepted the post and entered into one of the most creatively inspiring periods of his career, and resulted in the critically acclaimed album ‘All Change’. The new album ‘What Did You Want to Be?’ was recorded in January 2018 in East Sussex at Tim Rice-Oxley’s (Keane) home studio. Written under a year since ‘All Change’ came out, the album came from a series of intense, ‘20 song days’ that Rice-Oxley encouraged Tom to throw himself into.

TRACK LISTING

Run Down
Rock & Roll
Dawned On Me
Graveyard
Stay Afloat
Keeping It In
Early Morning Rain
Some Time
It’s Dark Now
Crying At The TV
Real Slow

For his feelgood third solo album We Wanna BeHyp-No-Tized, Pavement co-founder Scott Kannberg best known to the musical world as Spiral Stairs concocted some of the most fun and accessible music of his storied career by expanding his musical repertoire.

We Wanna Be Hyp-No-Tized is fun, infectious and musically compelling, while still managing to cover some hefty topics like the current rambunctious political climate. Reuniting the bulk of the dream team who assisted him on Doris & The Daggers album, bassist Matthew Harris (Oranger, The Posies), multi instrumentalist Tim Regan and good friend Kelley Stoltz, as well as former touring Preston School Of Industry drummer Jim Lindsay, We Wanna Be Hyp-No-Tized is the most fully rendered encapsulation to date of Spiral Stairs nimitable aesthetic.

“To me We Wanna Be Hyp-No-Tized feels like the records I’ve been listening to and the records I’ve been digging and aspire to sound like,” Spiral offers. “In my early-twenties I felt like I knew everything – I always knew about new bands before everyone else – but that kind of closed off a lot of bands that I didn’t give much credence to, and now I’m a bit older and it’s, like, ‘Wow, how did I miss that?’

“I’m talking things like the first two Nick Lowe records – I’m obsessed by that shit, they’re beautiful, beautiful songs on those records. Then he led me to this guy Jim Ford who’s like a weird country-soul singer, he’s so good. And I’ve really got into Van Morrison way deeper than I’ve ever got into Van Morrison before.

“So I got into that 1973 album Veedon Fleece, and then of course Roxy Music stuff and Brian Ferry. But I think the influences on this are definitely Nick Lowe and Van Morrison – I even tried to sing like Van Morrison on a lot of the songs, like how he repeats himself a lot. Those are the kind of bands I would never have liked in 1984… or 1994… or 2004 really.

TRACK LISTING

Hyp-No-Tized
The Fool
Diario
Them Cold Eyes
Hold On (Til I Figure It Out)
Fingerprintz
BTG
Dear Husband
Swampland
Borderline

From playing chaotic house parties in their home city of Oxford to becoming major festival headliners across Europe, Foals’ trajectory has been remarkable. They’ve earned critical acclaim (NME and Q Award wins, plus Mercury Prize, Ivor Novello and BRIT Award nominations) and fan devotion (1.7 million sales of their four Gold-certified albums) in equal measure. And while the majority of contemporaries have fallen by the wayside, Foals continue to hit new peaks.

After more than a decade in the game, Foals again embrace that love for the unconventional with the bravest and most ambitious project of their career: not one, but two astonishing new albums: ‘Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost’. A pair of releases, separate but related, they share a title, themes and artwork. ‘Part 1’ is released on March 8th, with ‘Part 2’ following later in the year.

“They’re two halves of the same locket,” frontman Yannis Philippakis explains. “They can be listened to and appreciated individually, but fundamentally, they are companion pieces.”

Fundamentally tethered but possessing their own personalities, the two bodies capture the most compelling, ambitious and cohesive creations they’ve ever produced. Eager to break the traditional pop song structure which they felt they were becoming increasingly tapered to, the 20 tracks defy expectation. There are exploratory, progressive-tinged tracks alongside atmospheric segues which make the music an experience rather than a mere collection of songs. Yet the band’s renowned ability to wield relentless grooves with striking power and skyscraper hooks also reaches new heights.

The album’s lead single ‘Exits’ is a case in point, featuring Philippakis conjuring the image of a disorienting world via a contagious vocal melody. It’s a fresh anthem for Foals’ formidable arsenal, but also an ominous forecast.

“There's a definite idea about the world being no longer habitable in the way that it was,” says Yannis. “A kind of perilousness lack of predictability and a feeling of being overwhelmed by the magnitudes of the problems we face. What's the response? And what’s the purpose of any response that one individual can have?”

‘Exits’ signposts what to expect thematically from both instalments of ‘Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost’. The title is a warning that anything – from the tiniest fleeting moment of inspiration through to the planet’s own biological diversity – can be under threat of being irrevocably erased.

It’s a theme that permeates throughout the album’s material, as Foal mirror the public neuroses that have been provoked by our current cultural climate. Paranoia of state surveillance? Fear of environmental collapse? Anxiety over Trump’s next potentially cataclysmic move? It’s all there in these apocalyptic songs.

“Lyrically, there are resonances with what's going on in the world at the moment,” summarises Yannis. “I just feel like, what’s the utility of being a musician these days, if you can’t engage with at least some of this stuff? These songs are white flags, or they’re SOSs, or they’re cries for help… each in a different way.”
The new albums’ journeys began as the ‘What Went Down’ era ended. Founding bassist Walter Gervers departed on amicable terms after playing the Festival Paredes de Coura in Portugal in August 2017. Foals felt that he couldn’t be replaced – a decision that ushered in a period of recalibration, reorganisation and, ultimately, rejuvenation.

After taking a little time out, Foals – completed by Jimmy Smith (guitar), Jack Bevan (drums) and Edwin Congreave (keys) reconvened – with Yannis on production duties, who, together with Edwin, also covered the bass parts. They began by writing in a rehearsal space before exporting those sketches into the recording phase at 123 Studios, Peckham, with the assistance of engineer Brett Shaw. They’d repeat the cycle between the two spaces, effectively creating an ongoing feedback loop as they sought to push every new idea to the finish line.

TRACK LISTING

1. Moonlight
2. Exits
3. White Onions
4. In Degrees
5. Syrups
6. On The Luna
7. Cafe D'Athens
8. Surf Pt.1
9. Sunday
10. I'm Done With The World (& It’s Done With Me)

Indoor Pets (formerly known as Get Inuit) formed straight after leaving school in Sittingbourne, Kent, it wasn’t long before their effortless songs were attracting attention, with one of them making Record Of The Week on BBC Introducing and within two weeks Huw Stephens had picked up on the track.

For the next few years Indoor Pets wrote and gigged incessantly, building up a batch of killer tunes and a devoted fanbase across the country. They did, and still do, everything themselves. From making the artwork to organising their own tours on the road, producing music, building their own stage monitoring system and even running their own finances (Simpson: “if anyone wants to spend any money they have to ask me,”). It’s a fiercely DIY ethic born less from punk principle as it was from necessity. “It was either do it yourself or don’t have it done,” notes Glass, “and we decided to do it ourselves.”

Signing to Wichita Recordings, the band set about recording their debut album, a record seemingly full of a bottomless pool of great tunes. Familiar feelings of not fitting in or wanting to play the hand life’s dealt you are delivered with self-deprecating wit and Glass’ trademark use of double-bluffing word play. Think Rivers Cuomo and a pre-sandpit Brian Wilson bunking off school to play records and snigger at the cool kids. They’re smart, life-affirming and all contained within a thumping primary-coloured pop wallop.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Brilliantly encompassing the lo-fi aesthetic that's become so popular nowadays, Indoor Pets have a penchant for snappy percussion and mid-heavy fuzzy guitars, all topped with the snarling vocals of Jamie Glass. It's an intoxicating combination, and one sure to have you bobbing your head with the best of 'em. Awesome.

TRACK LISTING

1. Hi
2. Teriyaki
3. Thick
4. Spill (My Guts)
5. Pro Procrastinator
6. Couch
7. Heavy Thoughts
8. The Mapping Of Dandruff
9. Being Strange
10. Mean Heart
11. Good Enough
12. Barbiturates
13. Cutie Pie, I’m Bloated
14. My Amnesiac

From their unassuming origins as a group of school friends drawn together by a shared passion for music to the global touring force (supporting The Cure and Editors at arenas and stadiums), they have quietly become, The Twilight Sad’s ascent has been forged the old way with grit, graft and four exceptional studio albums. Now signed to Mogwai’s Rock Action Records, the bands fifth album does not disappoint and will certainly not disappoint fans of their previous works. It will also appeal to fans of The Cure, Frighten Rabbits, The National, Interpol and Editors.

TRACK LISTING

1 [10 Good Reasons For Modern Drugs]
2 Shooting Dennis Hopper Shooting
3 The Arbor
4 VTr
5 Sunday Day13
6 I/m Not Here [missing Face]
7 Auge/Maschine
8 Keep It All To Myself
9 Girl Chewing Gum
10 Let/s Get Lost
11 Videograms

The Moments’ On Top is a perfect example of symphonic soul. Amongst true heads, this is considered the most valuable of all their albums; an original copy of this LP, if you can find one, starts at around $75. Alongside contemporaneous acts from the early 70s - The Chi-lites, The Stylistics, The Delfonics, The Futures, Blue Magic and The Main Ingredient - The Moments exuded all that was compelling about deep, harmony-drenched, string-laden soul.

The standout here is undoubtedly "To You with Love", a floating, tender ballad sung by Harry Ray that features the group’s patented handclap-tambourine combo, sweetly repetitive strings, serene guitar and gentle piano. It was famously sampled by J Dilla for “Last Donut Of The Night” - the gut-wrenching finale to his seminal Donuts. Concentrating solely on its sampled history would do The Moments a huge disservice, but its crucial appearance at the climax of Donuts directed fresh generations of pre-disposed soul fans to the absolute canon. Judged entirely on its merit, it’s one of the most heart-breaking songs of any decade and worth the price of admission alone. It’s the sweetest, most goose-bump inducing 3 minutes of aural bliss you’re ever likely to be exposed to.

If that wasn’t enough, On Top spawned two minor R&B hits: "All I Have" and "Lucky Me", each featuring Billy Brown's ice-melting falsetto. Opener “All I Have” is a sumptuous introduction to the album. With melancholic, understated guitar licks, twinkling keys and heartbeat drums, it’s a gem. The triumphant “Lucky Me” is simply gorgeous; all gentle chimes, swirling strings and, again, scarcely believable falsetto soaring atop proud horns.

Also included are two singles that are different from anything the group had ever done; "I Can't Help It" and "That's How It Feels." The former features thundering kicks and crashing cymbals underneath floating flutes, progressively stabbing strings and horns. The yearning vocals embody an almost Temptations-like delivery at times. "That's How It Feels” is a two-parter wherein Brown's voice bestrides a bed of rhythms on a tune more aptly defined as a love suite than a song. Dripping in breakbeats, piano and strings, Brown describes the devastation of losing the one you love before the track brilliantly switches up with a sweeping string-led chorus and heavenly harmonies.

The only genuine uptempo number, where anomalous happiness reigns, is "Sweeter As The Days Go By," led by Brown in his natural, gospel-inspired tenor. A charming but sorrow-filled "I Lost One Bird In The Hand" is an impressive, slow lamenter crooned by Ray, with horns and strings dominating the lushly arranged backdrop. Appropriately, we end on that down-lifting note that we've all come for: "Candy Shack."

The audio for On Top comes from the original analogue tapes and has been remastered for vinyl by Be With regular Simon Francis. We’ve taken the same care with the memorable cover art, handling the reproduction duties with the utmost attention to detail.

TRACK LISTING

All I Have
I Can't Help It
To You With Love
That's How It Feels
Lucky Me
I Lost One Bird In The Hand (While Reaching For Two In The Bush)
Sweeter As The Day Goes By
The Ice Is Melting
Candy Shack

2018 Reissue – Remastered From Original Tapes, Carefully Reproduced Original Art.

Released in 1976, Distinctive Themes / Race To Achievement is legendary arranger Nick Ingman exploring the two distinct ideas of “impressive themes varying in style from ‘Basie to Elgar’” and “a study in the pressure and rewards of achievement”.

Distinctive Themes is a veritable indulgence of variously-tempoed, full orchestra, big band workouts, from relaxed swing to more propulsive themes. The progressively building “Expanding Markets” is a true highlight, with its rolling pianos, contemplative electric guitar solos and moody horns over skipping beats. The dramatic “Against The Odds” is another stand-out.

Race To Achievement is all rugged funk with stabbing chords and strutting horns and it’s probably our favourite side. Of course we have to acknowledge the fantastic “Tense Preparation”, sampled by Prince Paul and Dan The Automator for Handsome Boy Modeling School’s seminal “Magnetizing” with Del Tha Funky Homosapien. But the whole side’s range from tense underscores to fast and punchy chase themes makes this is a gem of the KPM catalogue.

As with all ten re-issues, the audio for Distinctive Themes / Race To Achievement comes from the original analogue tapes and has been remastered for vinyl by Be With regular Simon Francis. We’ve taken the same care with the sleeves, handing the reproduction duties over to Richard Robinson, the current custodian of KPM’s brand identity.

TRACK LISTING

Happy To Be Alive
Basie 77
It's Easy
Expanding Markets
Land Of Opportunity
Against The Odds
Ooops!
Pride In Purpose
Winner Takes All – Opening
Winner Takes All – Closing
The Road Forward – Opening
The Road Forward – Closing
Trademark, Tense Preparation
Light Preparation
Under Pressure
Speedway
Double Quick
Made It
Pick Up
Accolade

Their NEW album, in full, iconic KPM cover is a return to the laidback jazz-funk that helped Alan and Brian demonstrate their library chops. The album is classic Hawkshaw/Bennett. It swings, it grooves, moves and thrills with a flair these two have perfected over years.

Alan Hawkshaw (piano/Hammond) and Shadow’s drummer Brian Bennett are responsible for some of the slickest, funkiest and most sought-after library records ever made in the UK, particularly ones recorded on the legendary KPM label. Their work has now become the go-to place for sampling in music today. Artists such as Dilla, Nas, and the xx, right through to the billion selling Kanye & Drake have taken Hawkshaw’s and Bennett’s immaculate beat-driven soundscapes for their own usage.

Their new album, in full, iconic KPM cover is a return to the laidback jazz-funk that helped Alan and Brian demonstrate their library chops. The album is classic Hawkshaw/Bennett. It swings, it grooves, moves and thrills with a flair these two have perfected over years.

Standout tracks such as "Hole In One", "In The Clouds", "Interchange", "Oasis", "On The Nile" and "Corcovado" are no mere excursions in nostalgia, for they carry lots of deft studio work that many a producer would give their right arm for. Hawkshaw’s arrangements allow the drums, guitar, bass, strings, Hammond, flute and brass to swirl elegantly around the 12 original tracks; a masterclass in recording.

Cut by Pete Norman, housed in a beautifully designed Richard Robinson sleeve and pressed at 180g by Record Industry in Holland, this release has been afforded the care and attention it rightly deserves. Essential.

STAFF COMMENTS

Patrick says: The kings of the KPM library scene, groove barons Alan Hawkshaw and Brian Bennett hit the studio together for the first time in years and treat us to an eagerly anticipated LP of new material. As you'd expect from this pair of heroes, it's a far out and funky affair. KPM x BeWith for the win!!!

TRACK LISTING

Flying
Hole In One
Reignited
Straight Up
Serengeti
Open Road
In The Clouds
Corcovado
On The Nile
Marrakech
Oasis
Midnight Jazz

2018 Reissue – Remastered From Original Tapes, Carefully Reproduced Original Art.

James Clarke’s Mystery Movie was released in 1974 as “modern, small group compositions in various moods. Ideally suited to the new Americanised style of T.V. and cinema film where music is used to create the mood and carry the action”. So this collection covers a lot of bases, but it does so brilliantly and has absolutely no right to be such a fantastic listen from start to finish. Mystery Movie is best known for the slick drum breaks underpinning the top-notch jazz-funk chase theme “Car Patrol”, the fuzz riffing and ARP soloing of “The Heavies” and the slow-mo strut of “Mystery Moll”. “Study In Fear” and “Empty Streets” are horror soundtrack fodder of the finest sort. However, it’s the understated, plaintive pieces that we find the most rewarding. Ambient feels and strung-out fried-folk treats, full of cyclical naïve melodies. Music that evokes the ‘downlifting’ Ronnie Lane and Ron Wood instrumentals from their great Mahoney’s Last Stand LP, as well as the beautiful soundtrack work of Jack Nitzsche and Ry Cooder. You might also recognise “Waiting Game” from being sampled by melodic downbeat masters Express Rising. Check “Relaxed Theme”, “Quiet Girl”, “Routine Procedure” and “Quietness Sustained” for a melodic, melancholic set, with the last three performed on just acoustic guitar and harp. Gorgeous work. As with all ten re-issues, the audio for Mystery Movie comes from the original analogue tapes and has been remastered for vinyl by Be With regular Simon Francis. We’ve taken the same care with the sleeves, handing the reproduction duties over to Richard Robinson, the current custodian of KPM’s brand identity.

TRACK LISTING

Mystery Prelude
Car Patrol - Title Sequence
Breathless
Breathless - Short Version
Waiting Game
Mystery Moll
Mystery Movement
The Heavies
Dirty Scene
Study In Fear
Empty Streets
Night Watch
Foot Patrol
Quiet Girl
Relaxed Scene
Routine Procedure
Quietness Sustained

2018 Reissue – Remastered From Original Tapes, Carefully Reproduced Original Art.

Piano Viberations’ “small group jazz featuring piano and vibes with rhythm” makes for a gorgeous Francis Coppieters showcase, surely one of Belgium’s best-kept musical secrets. Released in 1975, and arguably the most low-key of the KPM and Themes records we’re re-issuing, this is easily our current favourite.

“The Open Highway” is the appropriately-named opener, and immediately demonstrates Coppieters’ dexterous interplay between piano and vibes in assured, joyous fashion. The shuffling bossa of “Sales Notes” is a jaw-dropper, well-mined by samplers with impeccable taste. The mellow head-nod drum-break that is “Funky Chimes” brilliantly demonstrates Coppieters’ quiet majestic side with its slow-motion funk rhythm with beautifully reflective notes throughout.

The upbeat and joyful “Cross Talk” closes out side A. Vibes and piano are definitely at the heart of the arrangement here. The quick cut movement of “Piano In Transit” is another gem, driven principally by piano but those vibes along for more than just the ride. On a more gentle, elegiac note, “To Shearing With Love” is a warm, slow, romantic piece in the style of George Shearing. It’s plaintive and sublime.

Piano Viberations is one of those rare library records the original description of which makes as much sense now as it did when it was first released. Piano and vibes with rhythm indeed.
As with all ten re-issues, the audio for Piano Viberations comes from the original analogue tapes and has been remastered for vinyl by Be With regular Simon Francis. We’ve taken the same care with the sleeves, handing the reproduction duties over to Richard Robinson, the current custodian of KPM’s brand identity.

TRACK LISTING

The Open Highway
Funky Chimes
Bright Blue Note
To Shearing With Love
Cross Talk
Waltz On The Off Beat
Blues In The Basement
Piano In Transit
Sales Talk
Kings Road Chelsea
Samba De Negra

Marti Caine's infamous Point Of View is a groovy blend of slow-mo funk, dark disco and precise pop. Originally released on BBC Records in 1981, it has attracted a considerable cult following this century. The odd charity shop score aside, it has been impossible to find a copy for less than eye-watering sums (often selling for over £200) and, as such, it's an honour to present the first officially licensed vinyl reissue of this sublime record. Featuring expert liner notes written by Bill Brewster - perhaps the record's most notable champion - this lovingly curated release is limited to just 500 copies.

Marti Caine was a popular UK TV entertainer in the late 1970s onwards and Point Of View presented her with an opportunity to proceed in a hip direction by working with British R&B heavyweight Barry Blue. His legendary reputation was secured with a string of great records, among them the first three Heatwave albums, the Balearic hit "Afro Dizzi Act" by Cry Cisco and the cult smash "Breakin' In" by Javaroo. However, despite the array of talent working on the album, Point Of View sank without trace at the time. It's something that Blue attributes to the bizarre way BBC Records worked, and he entertainingly expands upon this within the liner notes.

Musically, the highlights are many and memorable. Its most notorious track is the sublime soul stepper "Love The Way You Love Me", the reason most people covet this album so profoundly. However, from the dark dubby disco of "Snowbird City" to the moody ballad "Love Is Running Through Me", the lesser heralded tracks are nothing short of exquisite. Indeed, the chugging elegance of sleazy disco opener "Can I Speak To The World Please?" showcases a string-drenched strutting-funk that would've been enviable the world over. It's that good.

The outlandish artwork - presenting a striking, green-eyed Marti treating a tiger to a headlock - has been faithfully restored and is arguably worth the price of admission alone. With access to the original tape transfers, Simon Francis' sensitive mastering elevates the sound throughout and, as ever, it has been pressed at a reassuringly weighty 180g. Sadly, Marti died of lymphatic cancer at the tragically early age of 50 in 1995, so is not here to experience what we hope will be a long overdue reappraisal of the hitherto underheard genius of Marti Caine, the singer.

STAFF COMMENTS

Millie says: Marti Caine slaying it with this groovy disco and funk-filled reissue of Point of View. Featuring the legendary track ‘Love The Way You Love Me’ which is an anthem in itself. This Be With release is super limited so don’t hesitate.

TRACK LISTING

1 Can I Speak To The World Please?
2 I'll Never See You Again
3 Bitch Is Love
4 Love Is Running Through Me
5 Who
6 Love The Way You Love Me
7 You Pick Me Up (And Put Me Down)
8 Snowbird City
9 Tin Heart And The Rebel
10 Too Much Between Us 

As a delightful taster for his upcoming debut album called “Between A Smile And A Tear” on Music For Dreams, Danish artist Be Svendsen launches his new vocal driven - the weird and wonderful deep disco single ‘Drop The Gun’ World premiered by Pete Tong on BBC1, and already harnessing great momentum in Ibiza and the summer festivals, this crossover track is very likely to stick in your head. Produced, arranged, mixed, played and sung by Be Svendsen.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Drop The Gun (Extended Mix) - 06.23
B1. Drop The Gun (Extended Instrumental) - 06.22
B2. Accapella - 04.27

A certified UK boogie bomb, originally released in 1982, and coming hot on the heels of the Be With Records Pink Rhythm reissue campaign. Original copies are incredibly hard to come by so grab a copy of this officially licensed, fully remastered, reissue before the 500 copies (for the world) find their forever homes.

Side On were a one-off UK soul dream team, consisting of Peter Maas (Freeez/Pink Rhythm bassist), Everton McCalla (Freeez/Light Of The World/Potion) and the legendary Rick Clarke (Potion). 

Originally released on Beggars Banquet, it's a huge, feel good, Brit Funk classic and a massive record with everybody's favourite boogie aficionado, Dam-Funk.

Unmissable.

STAFF COMMENTS

David says: Hoowee it's getting hot in here, did someone put the heating on? No? Then it must be the fire that is Side On's 'Magic'playing in the shop. The ace, Beggars, Brit Funk classic, lovingly restored just for you, you lucky LUCKY people.

TRACK LISTING

1. Magic
2. A Magic Version 

Hailed as the new vanguard of indie rock following the breakout success of 2016’s Puberty 2, Mitski returns with Be The Cowboy, via Dead Oceans.

Mitski’s carefully crafted songs have often been portrayed as emotionally raw, overflowing confessionals from a fevered chosen girl, but in her fifth album, Mitski introduces a persona who has been teased before but never so fully present until now—a woman in control.

“For this new record, I experimented in narrative and fiction,” comments Mitski. Though she hesitates to go so far as to say she created full-on characters, she reveals she had in mind “a very controlled icy repressed woman who is starting to unravel. Because women have so little power and showing emotion is seen as weakness, this ‘character’ clings to any amount of control she can get. Still, there is something very primordial in her that is trying to find a way to get out.”

In Be The Cowboy, Mitski delves into the loneliness of being a symbol and the loneliness of being someone, how it can feel so much like being no one. Lead single “Geyser” introduces us to a woman who can’t hold it all in any more. She’s about to burst and unleash a torrent of desire and passion that has been building up inside. While recording the album with her long-time producer Patrick Hyland, the pair kept returning to “the image of someone alone on a stage, singing solo with a single spotlight trained on them in an otherwise dark room. For most of the tracks, we didn’t layer the vocals with doubles or harmonies, to achieve that campy ‘person singing alone on stage’ atmosphere.”

There is plenty of buoyant swagger on Be The Cowboy, but just as much interrogation into self-mythology. Throughout these 14 songs, the music swerves from the cheerful to the plaintive. Mournful piano ballads lead into deceptively uptempo songs. “I had been on the road for a long time, which is so isolating, and had to run my own business at the same time. A lot of this record was me not having any feelings, being completely spent but then trying to rally myself and wake up and get back to Mitski.”

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: We aren't the only ones who've been eagerly awaiting a new Mitski album, with the news on this outing being VERY warmly received online, and listening to it, it's no surprise. Forward thinking synth-pop progressions, beautifully balanced song structures and Mitski's unmistakeable vocals. Superb stuff.

TRACK LISTING

SIDE A
1. Geyser
2. Why Didn't You Stop Me?
3. Old Friend
4. A Pearl
5. Lonesome Love
6. Remember My Name
7. Me And My Husband

SIDE B
8. Come Into The Water
9. Nobody
10. Pink In The Night
11. A Horse Named Cold Air
12. Washing Machine Heart
13. Blue Light
14. Two Slow Dancers

Spiby is probably most well known for being the leader of Black Spiders - renowned for the face melting rock n roll and unmatchable swagger. Groop Dogdrill were pure, uncut, weapons grade alt.rock napalm and Future eX Wife lovingly crushed anyone and anything in their path. In April 2017, Black Spiders gave their fans one final chance to raise their middle fingers aloft and yell ‘fuck you’ at their five, grizzled faces before hanging up their riding capes for good. In the months leading up to their final shows, Spiby was undergoing rehabilitation. Not in the cliched rock n’ roll sense, dear reader, but for an operation on his left hand, which learned physicians say is an important part of the human anatomy when you’re doling out sweet riffs left, right and centre. “When we did the farewell shows, it gave me such a confidence boost that I was even able to play guitar without the pain and medication that I’d had for the last 3 years,” says Spiby. “I decided that it was time to do the only thing I've been doing since I was at school.” Please welcome, ladies and gentlemen, Failed Magician. It's the title of Spiby’s new solo release; it's not a concept album about sleight of hand tricks gone awry, accidentally sawing an assistant in half or drowning before a horrified studio audience. 


For his next trick, he assembled a crack team of ne’er do wells to help bring his ideas to life in the studio with Matt Ellis at the production console. “It’s quite a mixed bunch of losers really,” he says. “All solid musicians and amazing people : Luke Athiko (The Defiled, guitar), Simon Bismark (Daken guitarist, bass) and James Maiden (Future ex Wife, guitar). Then there were three drummers : Simon Smith (Wedding Present/ChaCha Cohen), Tony Arthy (The Wonder Stuff) and Richie Mills (Cable/ Imogen Heap). Danni Maibaum (Double NoNo/ Dirty Blood) recorded some vocals. Adam Thistlewaite (Massive Wagons) and Lee Storrar (Servers) guitars. And his kids too. “If it’s the last thing I ever get to do, recording wise, I’ll die a very happy man,” says Spiby of his solo debut. “The greatest success is just even getting it done in the first place. There will be live shows later this year - “It’ll be a chance exorcise those demons in the live arena,” says Spiby. “The songs have already started to take on a different meaning already and band rehearsals are going very well. World submission awaits.” 

TRACK LISTING

Disc A

1. Lightning Bolt.
2. Bible Studies.
3. Friday Night (just Died In Saturday Morning's Arms)
4. We Used To Be Friends.
5. Why Not Let Them Come.
6. Wrap You Round My Little Finger.
7. Guiding Light.
8. Mary Lou's Dawg
9. Working For Mary Jane.
10. Thrown To The Wolves.

Disc B

1. Guiding Lite Blues
2. Mary Lou's Dawg (came Back).
3. Why Not Let Them Come Again.
4. We Used To Be Friends (slight Return).
5. Thrown To The Blues.
6. Lightning Bolt Blues.
7. Mary Jane Blues.
8. Bible Study Blues.
9. Mary Jane Blues.
10. Friday Night Blues.

Follow-up to 1984’s highly influential "Right On Time", a holy grail among boogie / funk vinyl collectors (we've had both a boot and an official repress over the years, PPU handling the legit one...). Produced by Mndsgn and featuring Los Angeles songstress Nite Jewel this is specialist tackle for sure. Galvanized slap bass, intricate drum programming, on classic rhythm boxes; a Prince-esque vocal delivery and delightfully languid, highly sensuous delivery throughout. Un-hurried and relaxed, let Prophet be your man for the night or the day.

For fans of Mndsgn, Thundercat, Doug Hream Blunt, Dam-Funk & Full Beam!FM 

TRACK LISTING

Insanity
Wanna Be Your Man
Ooo Wee Yeah
Party
I Do Love
Tonight (ft Nite Jewel)
Really Turn Me On
Right On Time
Dream
I Do

Great compilation, featuring classic Marilyn songs including “I Wann Be Loved By You”, “Some Like It Hot” and “Diamonds Are A Girls Best Friend”.

TRACK LISTING

A1. I Wanna Be Loved By You
A2. My Heart Belongs To Daddy
A3. There's No Business Like Show Business (Live)
A4. Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend
A5. Some Like It Hot
A6. That Old Black Magic
B1. Incurably Romantic
B2. River Of No Return
B3. Two Little Girls From Little Rock
B4. Bye Bye Baby
B5. Specialization
B6. Heat Wave

Swedish singer, songwriter, producer and filmmaker, ionnalee (Jonna Lee), brings the evolution of her ten-year creative career to a new peak with the release of her new self-produced solo album EVERYONE AFRAID TO BE FORGOTTEN on 23rd February 2018 on To whom it may concern.

Even considering Lee's past endeavors as the creator and frontperson of iamamiwhoami, who have captured the internet's attention since 2009, this is the most ambitious project which the Stockholm-based master of audiovisual artistry has embarked on.

EVERYONE AFRAID TO BE FORGOTTEN is a studio album and standalone filmic counterpart directed by ionnalee and cinematographer John Strandh, made in visual alliance with fashion and art trail-blazers, COMME des GARÇONS.

Breaking from tradition, the feature is not a sequential track-by-track visualization of EVERYONE AFRAID TO BE FORGOTTEN, rather its own separate organism, combining a dramatic plotline, music and art house cinematography with an avant-garde fashion slant.

“John Strandh and I were discussing the format of what we do and how the online distribution arena affects that format”, ionnalee says. “Our work is predominantly regarded as a form of music video because there is music and movement in it. But, in reality, we have been at the very forefront of the audiovisual format and, in the past couple of years, a lot of other works have patently drawn inspiration from ours, so that the term “visual album” is now part of common parlance and practice.” Consequently, ionnalee and Strandh wanted to try an alternative configuration, rather than treading the same old ground and to go closer to the feature film format”.

The official album cover is shot by John Strandh and features a sculpture made by ionnalee.

TRACK LISTING

1. Watches Watches
2. Joy
3. Work
4. Like Hell
5. Not Human
6. Temple
7. Samaritan
8. Dunes Of Sand - With Jamie Irrepressible
9. Blazing
10. Simmer Down
11. Here Is A Warning
12. Gone
13. Memento - With Barbelle
14. Harvest - With Tr/St
15. Fold

The Decemberists explore a new sound with a new producer on their inspired eighth studio album I’ll Be Your Girl, which will be released March 17 on Rough Trade Records. The acclaimed Portland, Oregon-based band worked with producer John Congleton (St. Vincent, Lana del Ray) and embraced influences such as Roxy Music and New Order to spark a new creative path, as can be heard on the synth-driven lead single “Severed”

I’ll Be Your Girl is the sound of a veteran band finding new inspiration, a unit unafraid of challenging itself to re-connect with its creativity. “Making music is an infinite choose-your-own-adventure,” says Colin Meloy, “and when you go down one path, the other paths get sealed off. So every time we could, we said, ‘If this is what our impulses would tell us to do, let’s try to imagine it in a different way.’”

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: A more direct affair than their previous outing, 'I'll Be Your Girl' flits between the full-sounding AOR melodicism of War On Drugs and the pseudo-country psychedelia of their previous iterations, 'I'll Be Your Girl' takes all the elements we love about The Decemberists and distills them into a cohesive and hugely satisfying whole.

TRACK LISTING

Once In My Life
Cutting Stone
Severed
Starwatcher
Tripping Along
Your Ghost
Everything Is Awful
Sucker’s Prayer
We All Die Young
Rusalka, Rusalka / The Wild Rushes
I’ll Be Your Girl

Double Six and Domino Records present ‘All That Must Be’, the second full length album from George FitzGerald. It features collaborations with Lil Silva, Hudson Scott, Bonobo and Tracey Thorne.

‘All That Must Be’ is a record with its psychological roots in two cities - Berlin and London. It documents a period of time when FitzGerald’s decade-long stint in the German capital came to an abrupt end, seeing him back in his hometown of London and becoming a father for the first time. It was against this backdrop that ‘All That Must Be’ started to form and the result is a record that deals with the processes of upheaval, change, acceptance and renewal that affect us all.

TRACK LISTING

Two Moons Under
Frieda
Burns
Roll Back (+ Lil Silva)
Siren Calls
Nobody But You (+ Hudson Scott)
Outgrown (+ Bonobo)
Half-Light (Night Version) (+ Tracey Thorn)
The Echo Forgets
Passing Trains

If a debut LP is an artist’s introduction to the world and their sophomore release is their now-or-never moment, their third is their most cathartic: they’ve made it out, they’re here.

Glasgow, Scotland’s indiepop optimists The Spook School, despite personal and political obstacle, made it out, and their latest full-length Could It Be Different? is here. It’s been a journey of self-discovery and feel-good realism; modern, dance-friendly indiepop fueling the fun. They made a name for themselves for their exultant and empowering pop, and now, they’ve shown real growth in nuance. Even at their most beaten down, The Spook School manage to find hope free of naivety. That’s clear the second the album opens with “Still Alive,” and its ascending chorus (and soon-to- be crowd favorite) of “Fuck You, I’m Still Alive,” written by Nye after surviving an emotionally abusive relationship. The song avoids villainizing the past, instead, it celebrates the present and welcomes the unknown future.

The energy of working through the wicked exists all over Could It Be Different? “Bad Year” makes personal connections with universal ennui, the debilitating feeling of an atrocious political climate and the desire to do better. Could It Be Different? is a human release a record full of the insecurities and anxiety that arrive after self-awareness, in learning something new and potentially frightening about yourself. But at it’s heart is joy there’s no desolation on the LP, because The Spook School manage to find light in moments of darkness. All things glum must pass even if hope comes only in the form of acceptance.

“A theatrical indie pop band that embrace’s life’s misinterpretations and messiness...their noise-pop jams remain as joyful as ever” - Pitchfork “The Spook School are that rare and beautiful thing: a band with something to say.” - The Guardian

“Societal norms and gender stereotypes are in the crosshairs of these threadbare tunes...trans love songs that hit home no matter your orientation.” - NPR

“Dance music for introverts, love songs for people who are too shy to be in love” - Stereogum

Comprising Bert’s seminal 1960s output (alongside his only album as a duet with Pentangle bandmate John Renbourn) this four disc set covers an era that forged creative paths for everyone from Neil Young to Johnny Marr. New listening notes from Bill Leader, as well as unseen photographs from Brian Shuel complete this special collection. Where to start with a career as prolific as that of Bert Jansch? Why, the beginning of course. Bert’s first studio (though as Bill Leader rightly points out, that’s a bit of a stretch) albums capture a man whose star is truly on the rise. It also marks his most prolific period - these four LPs were written, recorded and issued in just two years; a testament to not only Bert’s abundant musicality but to a time for music that was changing - excitedly - from minute to minute.

From Bert’s masterclass in elegant, melodic, one-man-and-his-guitar fingerpicking on his self-titled LP, to the beginnings of something altogether more exotic on ‘Bert and John’, these records are nothing if not a remarkable insight into the changing face of folk music at the time. For those unfamiliar with Jansch’s oeuvre, this is a real treat; you won’t find a more comprehensively produced collection. ‘A Man I’d Rather Be’ includes all the original liner notes (from both Keith De Groot and Bert himself) as well as new ruminations from Bill Leader (who recorded much of Jansch’s nascent work) as well as never-before seen photographs by the illustrious Brian Shuel.

For those in the know, this is a chance to revisit these extraordinary albums, revel in new insights and add some - perhaps more listenable LPs - to sit alongside their love-worn originals. “The Jimi Hendrix of the acoustic guitar” - Neil Young // "At one point, I was absolutely obsessed with Bert Jansch. When I first heard that LP, I couldn’t believe it. It was so far ahead of what everyone else was doing. No one in America could touch that.” - Jimmy Page // "I particularly like his second record. The album before it [1965's Bert Jansch] is more revered and held up by most journalists as being the seminal one, but I think the songs are better on It Don't Bother Me, particularly the title track. The fact that they were both recorded in a kitchen at his mate's house is another reason why it has never dated.” 

TRACK LISTING

DISC ONE –

Bert Jansch:

1 Strolling Down The Highway
2 Smokey River
3 Oh How Your Love Is Strong
4 I Have No Time
5 Finches
6 Ramblings Going To Be The Death Of Me
7 Veronica
8 Needle Of Death
9 Do You Hear Me Now?
10 Alice's Wonderland
11 Running From Home
12 Courting Blues
13 Casbah
14 Dreams Of Love
15 Angie

DISC TWO – It Don’t Bother Me:

1 Oh My Babe
2 Ring-A-Ding Bird
3 Tinker's Blues
4 Anti Apartheid
5 The Wheel
6 A Man I'd Rather Be
7 My Lover
8 It Don't Bother Me
9 Harvest Your Thoughts Of Love
10 Lucky Thirteen
11 As The Day Grows Longer Now
12 So Long (Been On The Road So Long)
13 Want My Daddy Now
14 900 Miles.

DISC THREE – Jack Orion:

1 The Waggoner's Lad
2 The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
3 Jack Orion
4 The Gardener
5 Nottamun Town
6 Henry Martin
7 Black Water Side
8 Pretty Polly.

DISC 4 – Bert And John:

1 East Wind
2 Piano Tune
3 Goodbye Pork Pie Hat
4 Soho
5 Tic-Tocative
6 Orlando
7 Red's Favorite
8 No Exit
9 Along The Way
10 The Time Has Come
11 Stepping Stones
12 After The Dance.

The album title seems to refer to the contrast between what our elders tell us and the perspectives we form out of our own experiences. There's a vacillation between idealism and realism, and it expresses itself musically in the hairpin turns from gentle folk into brazen experimental flourishes, like on “Funeral Potatoes.” The track opens with lilting, somber, Satie-esque piano, but at the halfway point, typical choices of song structure and transition are discarded in favor of a screeching, static-washed loop of violin and feedback that transcends the formality of songcraft, becoming something altogether more daring and collage-like.

The more band-driven songs on 50 Million recall an early-1990’s style of production in the way chorus-twinged electric guitars and tight, papery drumbeats point our mind’s eye to the West Coast sunset, like on the mid-album standout “Gravy Days.” Sallee decorates the background of most songs with hushed humming that could stand alone as a minimalist-ambient choral album, and when employed on her songs, elevates the ¬final product to an astral level. Sallee’s gift lies in pitting the familiar against the unexpected with a delicate assuredness, never compromising the one for the other. These kinds of debuts can sometimes feel like an over-promise of what is to come, but in the case of Caroline Says there's clearly plenty more thread to be unraveled. It'll be a pleasure to see where the next bus ride takes us. 

TRACK LISTING

1 Winter Is Cold
2 I Think I'm Alone Now
3 Funeral Potatoes
4 Streetlights
5 My Fiance's Pets
6 Gravy Dayz
7 Ghost Pokes
8 God Knows
9 Lost Feeling 

New limited 7" single from the enigmatic production duo St Francis Hotel.

Their recent track 'Modello' debuted by The Line Of Best Fit, who described it as "a classic pop track that hints at raw talent".

TRACK LISTING

Stay As You Are
You'd Gotta Be Alive

Our favorite Italian trio picked up their bluesy inspirations from the delta of Mississippi, mixed it with more modern sounds and genres and found their own style of raw and dirty blues. Imagine Robert Johnson jamming with a young Jack White and the guys from The Black Keys.

The story of There Will Be Blood started back in 2009, and in the seven years passed they have made 3 albums and 2 EPs, playing live around Italy in festivals and rock clubs, gaining excellent reviews from press and audience. Their third album “Horns” is the end of a trilogy of concept albums that tell the story of a lone wandering man looking for a way to redeem his soul and finally find his vengeance, crossing his path with all kinds of freaks and prodigies, miracles and disasters.

Compared with the previous albums, “Horns” is a more articulated work; the band has put a lot of effort into these 12 tracks, challenging themselves with new styles and new influences. Through their collaboration with professional musicians, “Horns” has become their biggest project so far: choir, harps, trumpets, saxophones, trombones, pianos and keyboards add layers and volume to There Will Be Blood’s fantastic blues-rock sound.

With elements from classic blues, rock and roll, soul, gospel, stoner and country the band stretches their signature sound to new frontiers, without losing their focus on strong riffs, powerful drums and the catchy lyrics that we love.

Bossa Nova = Nouvelle Vague = New Wave.
This transliteration was the starting point for Marc Collin and Olivier Libaux’s unique project, which, by appropriating the punk and post-punk cannon and running it through the Bossa Nova filter, reinvented the cover band genre, revealing new and brilliant talents along the way: Camille, Phoebe Killdeer (whose Fade Out Lines was remixed by The Avener,) Nadeah, Mélanie Pain, and, soon, Liset Alea.

The gambit paid off, with sales of over one million records over four albums released between 2004 and 2010, and world tours that included stops at venues such as London’s Royal Albert Hall, L.A.’s Hollywood Bowl and Paris’ Olympia. Since 2011, Nouvelle Vague had stopped recording, focusing on an innovative live show created in collaboration with the mythical Jean-Charles de Castelbajac (Ceremony and Dawn of innocence,) and branching out into different projects: Olivier’s Uncovered Queen of the Stone Age, and Marc’s Bristol, along with his Kwaidan label. The time seems right to write a new chapter in the Nouvelle Vague saga: with a new album “I Could Be Happy” and live show, the band and its coterie of female vocalists continue their time travels with a renewed alegria.

Nouvelle vague by Nouvelle Vague and Some Friends is thus more of a nexus of forthcoming projects: a new album comprised of punk and post punk standards imbued with the inimitable Nouvelle Vague touch, and, for the first time, a bevy of surprising Collin/Libaux which prove that the two producers are more than prodigious arrangers. This album is also the opportunity to gather again the pioneer singers of Nouvelle Vague: Élodie Frégé, Mélanie Pain, Liset Alea, Nadeah and to find other guests as Camille or Clara Luciani.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: A euphoric and heady mix of electronica, indie, downbeat and everything inbetween. Nouvelle vague have always been masters of constructing many disparate elements into a cohesive and bracing whole, and this is no exception. Brimming with groove, and filled with eminently satisfying melodic flourishes.

TRACK LISTING

1. Athol-Brose
2. Love Comes In Spurts
3. I Wanna Be Sedated
4. I Could Be Happy
5. All Cats Are Grey
6. No One Is Receiving
7. Maladroit
8. Algo Familiar
9. Loneliness
10. La Pluie Et Le Beau Temps

A true collaboration from studio to stage, from two artists well known for their ability to effortlessly cross musical genres. A deeply soulful artist Joan has famously worked with Antony (Anohni), Rufus Wainwright, Lou Reed and David Sylvian and Benjamin is talented multi-instrumentalist who currently performs with Okkervil River, Cuddle Magic and Bridget Kearney.

The album will be preceded by a single on September 30th - 'Broke Me In Two' -with a video featuring not only Joan and Benjamin but also Fred Armisen famous for his comedy roles in Saturday Night Live, Portlandia and Anchorman, The Legend of Ron Burgundy, amongst many others.

Joan and Ben met each other after separate trips to Africa. Ethiopia for Joan as part of Damon Albarn's Africa Express, and West Africa for Lazar to study traditional music. They initially bonded over Central African Republic Pygmy musical patterns and ended up writing this album together loosely inspired by this music. In Broke Me In Two you can hear this influence in the staccato bit-crushed guitar line that plays throughout. But ultimately it's a joyous, love-soaked pop song.

‘Be Here Now’ is the third release in the Oasis series ‘Chasing The Sun: 1993-1997’, released on Big Brother Recordings on the 20th anniversary of the first day of the ‘Be Here Now’ recording sessions at Abbey Road Studios.

Arguably the most anticipated British album release of all time, ‘Be Here Now’ was recorded with producer Owen Morris at Abbey Road Studios, Ridge Farm Studios, and Air Studios between October 1996 and May 1997.

Originally released at midnight on Thursday August 21st 1997, ‘Be Here Now’ sold 700,000 copies in just 3 days and remains, to this day, the fastest selling UK album on release. To date it has sold over 8 million copies worldwide. Oasis released three singles from the album, two of which - ‘D’You Know What I Mean?’ and ‘All Around The World’ – charted at No.1, with ‘Stand By Me’ reaching No.2.

The album has now been re-mastered from the original tapes.

TRACK LISTING

1 D'You Know What I Mean? 
2 My Big Mouth
3 Magic Pie 
4 Stand By Me 
5 I Hope, I Think, I Know 
6 The Girl In The Dirty Shirt 
7 Fade In-Out 
8 Don't Go Away 
9 Be Here Now 
10 All Around The World 
11 It's Gettin' Better (Man!!) 
12 All Around The World (Reprise) 

Join and listen to the incredible Dr Shama Rahman as she weaves stories that start life as poems and take flight as songs.Dr Shama Rahman is an award-winning sitarist, composer and singer. On the 24th of May she will be launching and performing her new multidisciplinary musical storytelling album 'Truth BeTold', a bilingual hybrid of elements from opera, theatre, cabaret and sitar performance with visual art, science, Sufi poetry and the manifold sounds of water mixed in.Truth BeTold’ is a 16-track album of songs and poetic interludes and it is the world’s first full live album recorded with the pioneering mi.mu gloves technology. Mi.Mu Gloves, is a wearable technology that enables a musician to control music with gestures while interacting with the accompanying performance. As a mi.mu glove artist-in-residence, Dr Shama Rahman has been inspired to bring new impulses to the way she approaches composition and improvisation which allows for an unprecedented new form of performance as she is able to electronically manipulate the Sitar and her voice live.

TRACK LISTING

1. Choto Meye (Little Girl)
2. Storm So New (Interlude)
3. Liquid Blue
4. Please (Interlude)
5. Truth Be Told
6. Memory Of Dreams Of Memory (Interlude)
7. In My Line Of Sight
8. Freedom (Interlude)
9. Deshlai Kati (Matchstick)
10. Exalt (Interlude)
11. Personal Grey
12. Terror'd Night (Interlude)
13. City In The West
14. Hands (Interlude)
15. Ships In The Night
16. Love Was Not Enough

Third helping from ‘One-man art-pop prankster’ Alvin Spetz. Alvin Spetz is also the maverick singer-songwiter responsible for two of the most eccentric and original albums of the last 6 or 7 years. Released under the moniker of Full English Breakfast, his self-titled debut and follow up ‘Candy In Weightlessness’ earned rave reviews from broadsheets to blogs. Now album No.3 ‘The Mixtape of Things’ is ready and Spetz likewise is moving on up through the daily nutritional cycle and this time will be known as ‘That Will Be Lunch’. Alvin’s new mixtape is full of songs, some only just scraping past 30 seconds, that one moment remind you of children’s TV theme tunes and the next sound like they might be playing in an industrial discotheque from the future. In this unsettling but always playful landscape you’re almost half-expecting the whimsical paen to the snacks marketing division at Waitrose when it arrives in the shape of ‘The Campaign for Plain Nuts’. Nestled amongst all the strangeness is an inspired cover of Talking Heads classic ‘One in a Lifetime’. Spetz has delved deep into the DNA of this ground-breaking track and extracted what can only be described as ‘previously unseen footage’. Like an inquisitive kid he’s taken the engine apart without a hope in hell of ever putting it back together again in the correct order. But this hasn’t stopped him re-assembling it. Spetz discovered music while studying at Aberdeen university in the 80s. Inspired by the fledgling indie sounds of Edwyn Collins, The Fall, Josef K and The Pop Group, he embarked on a journey that’s included nascent recordings with members of The Shamen, dabbling with Sufism and the tabloids hounding him as a result, burning everything he’s ever recorded (several times) and playing one gig. Ever. In Belgium. 

‘One’ by Be is the first album released by Caught By The River’s record label Rivertones.

This four-track album imagines the sound of British summertime as heard by one of the most important members of the animal kingdom - the bee. A hypnotic picture of the life, work and living environment of the bee, ‘One’ is a truly transcendental record - think Spacemen 3 recording a series of 21st Century outdoor ragas for Touch Records and you’re somewhere in the right direction.

‘One’ is the soundtrack to artist Wolfgang Butress multiple award-winning UK Pavilion at the 2015 Milan Expo, an installation that highlighted the plight of the honeybee, focusing on the importance of pollination. The music on the record is a constantly changing and evolving symphony - the sound of a dialogue between bee and human.

The album was recorded by musicians Kev Bales and Tony Foster, a duo known for working with Spiritualized, Julian Cope, Dave Gahan and Mark Lanegan (among many others). Other musicians featured on the record include Jason Pierce, Youth, cellist Deidre Bencsik, vocalist Camille Buttress and Amiina (the string section regularly used by Sigur Ros).

The recording sessions saw musicians improvising in the key of D along to a live audio feed of beehive sounds. Piano, Mellotron and lap steel were overdubbed later. The result is a unique piece of truly meditative music.

TRACK LISTING

The Journey
Into
The Hive
Uplift

Now Joe McAlinden is back with Rest and be Thankful, another elegantly soulful and emotional record. Having travelled to West Heath Yard in 2012 to work with Edwyn Collins and Sebastian Lewsley on Bleached Highlights, Joe decided this time he needed a rural approach and it quickly became apparent that it would be easier to make a new record at home in Argyll with the _LINDEN live band; Stuart Kidd, Eric Lindsay and Marco Rea. Joe built a makeshift studio in an old fisherman’s croft on the shores of Loch Fyne, threw some logs on the fire and set about recording Rest and be Thankful which he then sent to Edwyn and Seb via courier pigeon to mix at WHY in London. The boys reckon you can hear Argyll in the music, you can feel where Joe lives… a sonic snapshot of rural life!

Rest and be Thankful are the words inscribed on a stone near the junction of the A83 and the B828, placed there by soldiers who built the original military road in 1753. The section is so named as the climb out of Glen Croe is so long and steep at the end that it was traditional for travellers to rest at the top, and be thankful for having reached the highest point. RABT features on the album sleeve with striking artwork by Jim Lambie.

TRACK LISTING

A 
1. I See
2. Window Pane
3. Rest And Be Thankful
4. Short Worm
5. Pull Me Round Again.

B  
1. Dream Dream
2. Lost And Found
3. Take My Hand
4. Yesterday Rewind
5. Broken Glass

7” single, heavyweight vinyl with ‘etched’ b-side featuring ‘Who Hits 50’ logo.
All stock numbered.

In the mystical cycles of the sonic universe, every so often Manchester conjures up, seemingly from nowhere, an absolutely mind blowing LP; up there with anyone else the world over. Following in the footsteps of Moodymann's "Black Mahogany", Trus'me's "Working Nights", Floating Points' "Shadows" and more recently, Kyle Hall's "Boat Party" and llum Sphere's "Ghost's Of Them And Now", we have this expansive, full-vision of sound presented by our fair city's very own Garth Be. I don't make these comparisons lightly, but it's rare that something quite so perfect reaches our shop - and it's with great honour that I write these notes. "Marquis" opens with delightfully radiant pads and glowing licks that wrap around a bouncy, disjointed groove which Kyle Hall would be proud of. "Dreamline" retains that jazzy bounce and bright, optimistic keyboard work; joining the esteemed ranks of Vakula and all the aforementioned cats when it comes to sophisticated organic sound palettes. Then he flips the script. "Don't Want" is a PERFECTLY constructed MPC jam which should have Andres wetting his pants and Theo scratching his head. So onto the B-side and "Housekeysonbrandy" moves towards a 2AM dancefloor, rolling a tough mechanical train wreck across deep aquatic pads. The perfect pairing of hard edged tension coupled with blissful release. Smoothly inserting another smoky sample from the archives of Afro-American heritage. "Monday Club / Tuesday Nite" is possibly the elevated 'top ring of the pyramid', and aptly titled "On and On" - you won't want this beauty to end. Simple but ridiculously infectious, think "JB's Edit" on Theo’s SS001 - it really is that good. "GYB3" is the celestial workout you've been waiting for, and oh so perfectly timed! It's like Garth's some cosmic shaman, guiding us through our trip like a seasoned galactic explorer. In his own words - 'find your place in the cosmos and unwind your mind!' I felt like I'd been on a 250mics acid trip by the end of this track. Finally we have the most delectable of outro's with "Teakayo" - again working the MPC like Shane Warne works the reverse swing. Leaving you desperate for more, BE keeps things painfully tight and succinct, not a single groove on the record is wasted, and at least three of the tracks could well be extended across a whole side of a twelve inch. It's that Madlib-styled intensity which cuts each track at its very peak, keeping you riding the wave till the very end, with absolutely no room for boredom. Unrivalled.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: In the beginning there was Moodymann’s ‘Black Mahogany’, then came Trus'me and ‘Working Nights’, and the world of soul-infused crate-dug house music was good. Carrying on in the tradition of such luminaries we have our city's very own Garth Be, instantly making me draw comparisons to the aforementioned 'classics' of the genre, alongside more recent titles - Floating Points ‘Shadows’ and Kyle Hall's ‘Boat Party’. Distinctly informed by North England's rich dance music heritage, ‘The Seven Movements’ goes everywhere it's possible to go in seven tracks, from jazz-inflected house jams, celestial, meditative states and MPC grooves executed with all the style and finesse of a Shane Warne leg break. Garth Be is a cosmic shaman, guiding us through our trip with ease.
In his own words: "Find your place in the cosmos, and unwind your mind!" When the needle reaches the end of the record, you feel like you've been on one hell of a hallucinatory journey. A glorious story which ends perfectly with him securing Piccadilly’s coveted number two spot. Garth privately pressed the album himself at the start of the year, having no idea of the Earth-shaking, bar-raising potential hidden deep within the wax. It’s been an absolute pleasure both seeing the album gather momentum, writing the first set of sleeve notes and, most importantly, inflicting its mesmerising tones on our customers! Leaving you desperate for more, BE keeps things painfully tight and succinct, not a single groove on the record is wasted and it's that Madlib-styled intensity which cuts each track at its peak, leaving you riding the wave till the very end, with absolutely no room for boredom. Unrivalled.

Patrick says: We've been waiting for this to drop ever since we heard "Monday Club / Tuesday Nite" on the TP. Incredible, organic and soulful, this is the one.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Marquis
A2. Dreamline
A3. Don't Want

B1. Housekeysonbrandy
B2. Monday Club / Tuesday Nite
B3. GYB3
B4. Teakayo

Led by Robbie Stern (guitar) and Stephanie Davin (vocals), the debut EP from Post Louis was mastered at the famed Abbey Road Studios and comes brimming with promise.

Stern built a name for himself early, playing guitar in Cajun Dance Party, but with Post Louis he has traded rollicking, rough edges for a more classic indie rock sound. Sweeping solos and blazing riffs are joined by Davin’s magnificent vocals, which manage to be both devastatingly fragile and calmly tranquil; her lyrics are thoughtful and act as a gorgeous counter to the subtle electronic elements and swirls of feedback that surround the EP’s four tracks.

“Post Louis is, in many ways, a completely fresh project. Taking a more classic sound in new directions, the duo fuse traditional songwriting with subtle glimpses of electronica” - Clash

“Post Louis have succeeded in creating a thrilling revivalism of their own” - Fake DIY

“A debut EP that makes for essential listening” - The Quietus

“‘This Could Be A Bridge’ is a slack rock epic, building to buzzy crescendos with rubbery riffs… melodramatic lyrics, and quick flashes of guitar god soloing from Stern” - Pitchfork

Nathan Salsburg’s 2011 debut was a beautiful ode to racehorses (a point of pride for any resident of Kentucky). Comprised of seven acoustic guitar instrumentals and one vocal track, ‘Affirmed’ caused Popmatters to declare the record “one that others like it will soon be measured against.”

His second album, ‘Hard For To Win And Can’t Be Won’, is a grander effort. Although still primarily composed of acoustic guitar, the songs sound bigger. They bounce along, weaving through unexpected twists and turns, with the occasional piano melody or fiddle line.

TRACK LISTING

First Field Path
Mrs Gristles Reel
Paraffin Turpentine
Coll Mackensie
Concessions
Dog At Bay
Chief Wants
To Welcome The Travelers Home
What Can’t Be Won

Following on from the blown out psychedelic infused 'Rapture' released earlier this year, Exit Calm return with 'The Future Isn't What It Used To Be' out on Club AC30. The Barnsley based quartet return bringing with them an evolution of their sound that reaffirms their position at the forefront of British guitar bands. Immersing the listener straight into the tripped out mesmerising world of Exit Calm, 'Rapture' opens the proceedings with pulsating bass and blissed-out drums that set the tone for the rest of the album. From the cavalcade of musicianship throughout and on the breakbeat-tinged fury of 'Albion' to the Bunnymen guitars and groove of 'Fiction' the songs illustrate their passion for emotive song writing that invokes the spirit of their influences. 'The Promise' arrives with a swirl of 60s meets shoegaze that sits immaculately alongside stadium rock amidst post-rock and psychedelic tendencies. The cacophonous guitar and bass lines are set perfectly against the pounding percussion of 'When They Rise', 'Rapture' and 'Holy War'.

‘Son Be Wise’ is the follow-up album to Ralfe Band’s acclaimed album, and soundtrack to the Warp film, ‘Bunny And The Bull’.

‘Son Be Wise’ features guest vocals from Alessi’s Ark and Piney Gir.

The album was recorded with Rob Ellis (PJ Harvey, Anna Calvi) and Andy Ramsay (Stereolab).

Blending euphoric folk pop, whispering ballads and inspired instrumentation, this album will appeal to fans of Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, Beirut, Villagers, Andrew Bird, M. Ward and Sufjan Stevens.

TRACK LISTING

Ox
Barricades
England My Darling
Oh My Father
Magdalena
Come On Go Wild
Kings And Queens
Dead Souls
Hidden Place
Ladder
Cold Chicago Morning
Boy With An Old Tin
Drum

‘The quirky alt.pop duo are currently enjoying a hipster-led popularity resurgence’ – Time Out‘.
They Might Be Giants helped write the manual for American geek-rock’ – Q.
‘The geek-rock likes of Weezer and Death Cab for Cutie owe a debt to this multimillion-selling Brooklyn duo, purveyors or smark-alecky pop tunes.’ – The Times.
‘New York duo John Flansburgh and John Linnell have been making irreverent ironic alt-rock for nearly three decades, spawning imitators like Weezer and Ben Folds Five… it’s clear they have lost none of their playful individuality.’ – Daily Telegraph.

They Might Be Giants have perfected their deliriously catchy, original sound over the past three decades. The two-time GRAMMY winning Brooklyn originals return with charming wit, electrifying pop melodies and just enough bass clarinet on their 16th studio album "Nanobots". Created at the private studio of their long time collaborator and producer Patrick Dillett (David Byrne, Mary J. Blige, Tegan and Sara), Nanobots will be released 11th March 2013 on Lojinx.

Nanobots finds the band in fine form. Blending the band’s signature storytelling, some dueling horns and sly humor, "Call You Mom" is a caffeinated pop gem. Title track "Nanobots" puts a dark cartoonish spin on the world of technology while the call and response chorus and percussive guitar line of "You’re On Fire" dares even the grumpiest wallflower not to dance.

They Might Be Giants’ innovative Dial-A-Song service and imaginative high concept, low budget music videos stood the band apart early in their career quickly rocketing thealternative rockers to mainstream success. Known for recording numerous themes most notably The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and the GRAMMY-winning Malcolm In the Middle theme, the band has 2 platinum albums, 2 gold albums, and have been nominated for 3 GRAMMYs, winning two.

Hard to believe a full decade has passed since the release of Yanqui U.X.O., the last album by GYBE. Never a band to care for conventional industry wisdom, Yanqui was released shortly before Xmas 2003 with little publicity and no press availability, no marketing plans or cross-promotions or brand synergies, with back cover artwork tracing the inextricable links between major music labels and the military-industrial complex. Driven by word-of-mouth from a passionate and committed fanbase galvanized by the group's sonic vision and its dedication to unmediated, unsullied musical communication, the album found its rightful audience.

To suggest that such simple principles and goals have become harder to maintain and enact a decade later is an understatement. For all the contents and discontents – for all the "content" – of our present cultural moment, the idea of circumventing the glare of exposure, the massaging of media cycles and the calculus of identity management appears quaint, if not futile.

But Godspeed is looking to try all the same. The band wants people to care about this new album, without telling people they should or talking about themselves. They want to hold on to some part of that energy that comes with the thrill of anonymous discovery and unmediated transmission, knowing full well that these days, anti-strategy risks being tagged as a strategy, non-marketing framed as its opposite, and deeply held principles they consider fundamental to health as likely to be interpreted as just another form of stealth.

The band has been carving its own path again since 2010, regrouping as the same self-managed collective entity it has been from the outset, making appearances at a tiny clutch of music festivals, and otherwise just touring its own shows. It's been a disorienting time to resurface, but it has felt overwhelmingly right, honest and good. We think Godspeed has made a new record that maintains if not exceeds the standards of their previous work – a high bar, many would agree.

GYBE picked up right where they left off, and after almost two years of practicing, playing and touring, ‘Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend! Delivers two mighty sides of music (bookended by two new drones) that the band had been working up prior to their 2003 hiatus, which they have now shaped into something definitively stunning, immersive and utterly true to their legacy. The future looks dark indeed, but on the evidence of this new recording, Godspeed appears wholly committed to staring it down, channeling it, and fighting for some rays of sound (and flickers of light) that feel righteous, unflinching, hopeful and pure.

STAFF COMMENTS

Darryl says: A full decade on from their previous release, Montreal’s instrumental alchemists GY!BE bring us their astonishing new masterpiece "’Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend!" Having taken a hiatus in 2003 the band reformed as a touring entity in 2010 honing their craft again before unexpectedly offering us this new apocalyptic vision. "’Allelujah!" brings us two 20 minute sprawling epics in the form of "Mladic" and "We Drift Like Worried Fire" and two shorter drone pieces. "Mladic" begins proceedings with an Eastern hypnotic vibe which gradually transforms into a raging torrent of intense and menacing guitar noisecapes dipping and soaring to a thrilling crescendo. "We Drift Like Worried Fire" builds from a simple repetitive three note sequence into a monumental storm of euphoric guitars, strings and pounding rhythm section before falling back and rising again to a brutal and majestic peak of cinematic noise euphoria, it’s like Morricone gone punk. These tracks are bookended by two shorter drone pieces that menace with dynamic intensity, the calm after the storm! ‘Allelujah indeed!

TRACK LISTING

1. Mladic
2. Their Helicopters’ Sing
3. We Drift Like Worried Fire
4. Strung Like Lights At Thee Printemps Erable

‘(I Should Be A) Communist’ is the new single by Leeds indie poppers This Many Boyfriends, released on Angular Records and produced by Ryan Jarman from The Cribs.

Following the 6Music playlisted ‘Young Lovers Go Pop!’, and the subsequent success of fanzine single ‘Starling’, This Many Boyfriends recently completed sellout tours with Allo Darlin’ and The Cribs, also finding time for a Huw Stephens Radio 1 session along the way.

STAFF COMMENTS

Laura says: Another winner from these Leeds popsters! It reminds me of a time (around 1987 to be precise) when bands whacked out great jangly pop singles with wit, charm and killer hooks. Two bands immediately sprung to mind (even though TMB don't actually sound like either of them!) - The Wedding Present and Age Of Change - coincidentally they're both from Leeds. Must be something in the water...

TRACK LISTING

(I Should Be A) Communist
How Is This Even A Job?

Former Arab Strapper Malcolm Middleton returns to Glasgow’s seminal alternative label Chemikal Underground with his self-titled debut album as Human Don’t Be Angry.

Named in honour of the German version of board game ‘Frustration’ (‘Mensch ärgere Dich nicht’), the album was recorded at Chem19 studios during October 2011 alongside producer and drum programmer Paul Savage, with live drum parts from Middleton’s old Arab Strap partner Aidan Moffat.

The album is influenced by Malcolm’s childhood in the 1980s. The album features melodious guitar hooks juxtaposed with programmed beats, beeps and, of course, the influence of Jan Hammer and Iron Maiden.

"On record, they have one of the most exciting styles on today’s music scene" - The Independent.

Chicago’s Maps & Atlases return with their eagerly awaited sophomore album, which sees the band blend their math rock roots with a more accessible direction.

For fans of Paul Simon, Vampire Weekend, The Beach Boys, The Maccabees.

Following releases from the likes of These Arms Are Snakes, Lords and Tropics, We Be Records are proud to announce the release of ‘Providence’, the debut full-length album from UK band Caretaker. After a lengthy absence, Hampshire’s Caretaker return with their most expansive and ambitious offering to date.

Boasting a heavier, more progressive sound than on previous excursions, ‘Providence’ captures the intensity of the band’s visceral live performances whilst also offering brooding, fragile guitar pieces which provide brief respite amongst the chaos. Drawing on the raw aggression of acts such as Converge and Neurosis, whilst still accommodating the slow-burning intent of previous post-rock influences like Slint and Mogwai, Caretaker have produced a record that truly represents the full scope of their sound

TRACK LISTING

1. Thousand Yard Stare
2. Martinet
3. Hellion
4. Impasse
5. Providence
6. Rook
7. What We Have We Hold
8. The Outpost
9. Pariah
10. The Upper Air

"Wake And Be Fine" is the first single from the forthcoming "I Am Very Far" album from Okkervil River.

Work on "I Am Very Far" started after a year spent on other projects. Band member Will Sheff contributed vocals to The New Pornographers’ album "Together", wrote a song for Norah Jones' "The Fall", produced an upcoming album for the Brooklyn-based band Bird Of Youth, and helmed Roky Erickson's acclaimed "True Love Cast Out All Evil" with Okkervil River. (Sheff’s liner notes for said album earned him a 2011 Grammy nomination.)

TRACK LISTING

Wake And Be Fine
Weave Room Blues

Debut release from Laissez Faire Club Records is the second single from Brighton based Ice Black Birds, "As Birds We’d Be Fine". It’s a slice of blues fueled, anthemic indie rock fit for the summer festival season, and has already been championed by Huw Stephens on Radio 1 as well as Steve Lamacq and Tom Robinson on 6Music.

The flip side is live favourite "Doors", a highly charged rock ‘n’ roll riot all over in two-and-a-half minutes – like they used to make in the good old days.

Fans of CCR, Kings Of Leon, White Denim and The Black Keys will love this.

TRACK LISTING

Side A:
As Birds We’d Be Fine

Side B:
Doors

"Inter-Be" is the debut album by Peter Wolf Crier, the Minneapolis-based duo of Peter Pisano and Brian Moen. The album was born on a single summer night when Pisano felt a torrent of creativity after what had felt, to him, like an interminably long dry spell. He shared the songs with Moen, and over the months that followed, at Moen's home, these rough-hewed tunes became what they are now: a confident collection of songs, but deceptive in that their very guts still reflect the thoughts of a man in transition.

Pisano's is not a new songwriting voice. He is best known for being part of the Wars of 1812, an ascendant Wisconsin-bred quartet. Their first album together, Status Quo Ante Bellum, was more than just an album. It was relocation and aspiration and Pisano's lyrical Eden. As the Wars went on hiatus, Pisano continued to hone his craft, keeping his days full as a teacher at a small private school while fine-tuning, at night, the songs that would soon become Inter-Be. Feeling confident in the songs, Pisano approached Moen, a seasoned drummer and engineer best known for his involvement in Laarks and Amateur Love. After being asked to add some percussive elements, Moen added his thundering drum rolls and perfectly timed fills, but he also added something much more: a melodic soundscape that would complete the evolution of the songs. So was born the partnership that is called Peter Wolf Crier.

Little Johnny Jones leads the way on these two piano-driven blues rollers featuring Elmore James' backing band The Chicago Hound Dogs.

Dum Dum Girls churn out blissful pop that falls somewhere between The Ramones and The Ronettes.

Their debut album ‘I Will Be’ was recorded at home by Dee Dee and mixed with the help of Richard Gottehrer (Strangeloves, Voidoids, Blondie, The Go-Gos, The Raveonettes).

A decidedly medium-fi record, at just under thirty minutes and with eleven songs, it’s a concise tribute to love, fun and the classic pop form of the ‘60s girl groups and early punk rockers.

Mika Miko is an underground youth punk/noise band formed in 2003 in Los Angeles, California. They got chased by vampires, played in a free mason temple, used to be crusty (but are still crusty at heart) and 4 out of 5 still live with their parents. They rather play at some kids house for a birthday party in the valley and not get paid than play some rock club!

Jangling indiepop tussling with rip-roaring rock'n'roll, ornate REM-esque melodies squaring up to exuberant dancefloor smashes. Imagine growing up in Finland anything other than a hard rock fan. From the glammed up rock of Hanoi Rocks to the globe-conquering metal of HIM and The Rasmus, Finland's contribution to music has tended to be loud, brash and rocking. It's safe to say that Cats On Fire singer Mattias Bjorkas isn't a heavy metal fan. Just look at him: with cheekbones you could hang a Rembrandt on and a perfect, almost arrogantly-styled quiff, this cravat-wearing hybrid of the young David Bowie and James Dean seems a world apart from scuffed denim and greasy hair. And his band's music inhabits a different universe as well – jangling indie pop tussling with rip-roaring rock'n'roll, ornate REM-esque melodies squaring up to exuberant indie dancefloor smashes. The foursome released their debut album, "The Province Complains", in 2007, to widespread acclaim. "Our Temperance Movement" is the band's first domestic release in the UK. Kicking off with the infectious, hand-clapping, energy rush of the single "Tears In Your Cup", the album showcases Mattias' singular style and worldview – he's sardonic, poetic, funny, political, eccentric, and a true star in the old-fashioned sense, a flamboyant misfit to rank alongside Edwyn Collins and John Lydon. You can't imagine how he grew up in Finland. And we can't wait to see what happens now he's finally turned his attention to the UK.

This latest Kotchy EP features an eye-wideningly expansive five tracks of new and remixed material from the multi-faceted genius songwriter-producer. Harnessing the more sinister side of "Superstar", Hrdvsion's jacking techno monster morphs Kotchy's sleazy vocals and killer drum breaks into a dark twisted club stinger. "Holla" is Kotchy's call to arms; a track for the everyman, its heavy beats, synth stabs and screamed vocals add up to a raw and experimental strain of wonky hip hop, with a lyrical mixture of struggle, pressure, humour ridicule and revolt. London and Berlin outfit The Chap turn their dial to smooth on their mix of "Check Out My Keychain", delivering a version that's clean and crisp and as strange and enchanting as it is stunning. Parisian wonky-hop master Debruit gets his KeeClac alter ego out on another take on the same track for more of a fidget house sounding party version. Rounding off the EP, "Party Your Blues Away" features Philly rapper Benni E, with her slick flows backed by Kotchy's hushed vocals. This cut is a lyrical drugstore built on spooky Mo' Wax-esque skewed dope downbeats, awash with strings and horns.

"To Be Still" is the follow-up to Alela Diane's critically-acclaimed 2006 debut "The Pirate's Gospel" which brought the Nevada City, CA reared musician a passionate following across the Globe especially in Europe where Alela has a huge fan base. Recorded in Nevada City and Portland, Ore, it's a gorgeous sonic expansion of her sparse debut, featuring pedal steel, violin and rustic percussion, with lyrics tangled up in brambles and foxtails and wind-whipped sea cliffs. From the woozy folk flourishes of opener "Dry Grass & Shadows" to the heart-shattering final track, "Lady Divine".

TRACK LISTING

1. Dry Grass And Shadows 
2. White As Diamonds 
3. Age Old Blue 
4. To Be Still 
5. Take Us Back 
6. The Alder Trees 
7. My Brambles 
8. The Ocean 
9. Every Path 
10. Tatted Lace 
11. Lady Divine

The latest release from the Regal Singles Club, comes from Brighton four piece Turncoat. "Wasted On You" kicks off as a sort of doomy pop song, along the lines of The Editors, but as it progresses it morphs into an almost Brit-pop-esque number as it bounces along nicely with heavy chugging guitars and yearning vocals, before winding down to and eventual stop. Once again Regal seem to have unearthed a pop gem.

After the critical acclaim of their first two singles, Sheffield's Fury of the Headteachers return with a new single taken from their forthcoming debut album "You Took A Scythe Home". Fury of the Headteachers continue to do what they do best – "Not What It Used To Be" is a brazen racket of noisy guitars with a rapid spew of lyrics over a backdrop of pounding drums. The single is backed by the impressive "Seams Are For Splitting" which is an exclusive non album track.

Fresh from conquering all sides of the globe, ¡Forward, Russia! return with an epic song that seems to completely distill their output so far and also push them into new directions all in the space of a sprawling seven minute plus song. Distributed to us directly from the band, this is going to be ebay gold in a few months time.

Six By Seven's main man Chris Olley releases the second album in his 'Twelve' electro/analogue side project. Originally started in 2000, it was intended to be a concept involving 12 songs released as six singles. "Be Careful What You Don't Wish For" sees the project taken a step further and features 15 tracks of neo krautrock and post rock comedown. This album sees Chris getting in touch with his German roots and has everything from beautiful melodic Eno-esque cello and piano instrumentals, through to Georgio Moroder's electronic repetition, krautrock inspired by 70s German bands Harmonia and Cluster, whilst also featuring some of the songwriting Chris was known for in Six By Seven.

Francesca Beard adds her breathy, spoken lines of poetry over the folk hop, hip pop and flamenco flourish of the band Charley Marlowe. It's an engaging sound, the sensual world rhythms and bluesy roots mixing with her imaginative and soulful lyrics.

This is not perhaps as immediate as "Tell All Your Friends", it's genre defining predecessor, but it more than compensates for that with a maturity and cleverness that will reel you in with just a little persistence. The trademark blazing guitars are still there anyway, Adam Lazarra doesn't sound any different and the background vocals, provided by Fred Mascherino, if anything, are better than ever.

The second single to be taken from the eagerly anticipated second album by Brighton's finest.

Brilliant and innovative Swedish hardcore whose intricate, frustrated, raging sound is lent unaffected subtlety by acoustic guitars, sax and piano lines - giving it overtones of Drive Like Jehu, Trail Of Dead and At The Drive In.

Explosive, angst ridden, melodic, mass-appeal punk. Think Magazine, Joy Division, Pixies, Cramps, Ramones...