Porches, a.k.a. Aaron Maine, is back with a new album, Ricky Music. With contributions from Mitski, Zsela, and Dev Hynes, and with co-production by Jacob Portrait, Ricky Music expands on the Porches discography (The House, 2018; Pool, 2016; Slow Dance In The Cosmos, 2013) by delivering 11 emotionally open, cracked-glass pop songs.

About the album, Maine says: “My new album, Ricky Music, was written and recorded between Dec 2017 and the spring of 2019. Mostly in New York at my apartment, but some of it in Chicago, Los Angeles, and various cities while touring around Europe. This record is an account of the beauty, confusion, anger, joy and sadness I experienced during that time. I think I was as lost as I was madly in love. In these songs I hear myself sometimes desperate for clarity, and other times, having enough perspective to laugh at myself in some of my darkest moments. That’s sort of what this album is about, I hope you enjoy it.”

With the album announcement comes a new song – “Do U Wanna” – and a video for the song directed by prior Porches collaborator Nick Harwood. ““Do U Wanna” is a song about looking at yourself and realizing the disparity between how you’d like to act and how you actually act. The fun you vs. the isolated you. I feel like with the refrain I’m almost taunting myself to get up and do something.”

TRACK LISTING

Patience
Do U Wanna
Lipstick Song
PFB
I Wanna Ride
Madonna
I Can’t Even Think
Hair
Fuck_3
Wrote Some Songs
Rangerover (7" Bonus Track)

Traditional Techniques, Malkmus’ third solo LP without the Jicks (or Pavement), is new phase folk music for new phase folks, with Malkmus as attuned as ever to the rhythms of the ever-evolving lingual slipstream. It’s packed with handmade arrangements, modern folklore, and 10 songs written and performed in his singular voice. An adventurous new album in an instantly familiar mode, Traditional Techniques creates a serendipitous trilogy with the loose fuzz of the Jicks’ Sparkle Hard (2018) and the solo bedroom experiments of Groove Denied (2019). Taken together, these three very different full-lengths in three years highlight an ever-curious songwriter committed to finding untouched territory.

Malkmus took on Traditional Techniques as a kind of self-dare. Conceived while recording Sparkle Hard at Portland’s Halfling Studio, Malkmus had observed the variety of acoustic instruments available for use. The idea escalated within a matter of weeks into a full set of songs, and shortly thereafter into a realized and fully committed album. When he returned to Halfling, Malkmus drew from a whole new musical palette--including a variety of Afghani instruments - to support an ache both quizzical and contemporary. The resulting Traditional Techniques is expansive and thrilling. Alongside gorgeous folk music, there are also occasional bursts of flute-laced swagger, straight-up commune rock (“Xian Man”), and mind-bending fuzz.

Centred around the songwriter’s 12-string acoustic guitar, and informed by a half-century of folk-rock reference points, Traditional Techniques is the product of Malkmus and Halfling engineer/arranger-in-residence Chris Funk (The Decemberists). Additionally, Matt Sweeney (Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Chavez) plays guitar throughout.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Malkmus returns, bringing with him a healthy line-up of shimmering folky ballads and swooning angular acoustic guitar work. Ranging from hypnotic drones and soul-affirming melodicism to jaunty, swaggering grooves and all topped with Malkmus' unmistakeable vocals. Superb.

TRACK LISTING

1. ACC Kirtan
2. Xian Man
3. The Greatest Own In Legal History
4. Cash Up
5. Shadowbanned
6. What Kind Of Person
7. Flowin’ Robes
8. Brainwashed
9. Signal Western
10. Amberjack

In the summer of 2018, Anna Calvi released her third album Hunter. On the album, she explored sexuality and breaking the laws of gender conformity. Following a stellar 18 months, which saw Calvi write her first television score (for Peaky Blinders) and receive her third consecutive Mercury Prize nomination (the first solo artist to achieve this feat), Calvi has now crafted a stunning reworking of Hunter into Hunted. Revisiting her first recordings for Hunter, Calvi found they offered an intimate and private view of the songs’ initial intentions. Distilled to their bare essence on Hunted: her masterful guitar playing and formidable vocals, Calvi then asked Courtney Barnett, Joe Talbot (IDLES), Charlotte Gainsbourg and Julia Holter to collaborate with her and further transform the songs.

On Hunted, Calvi said, “During a break from touring I went back and listened to the first recordings I ever made of ‘Hunter’. These recordings capture the very moment I first wrote these songs, and recorded them on my own, in my attic studio. I find something especially intimate about sharing these most private recordings with my favourite singers and asking them to lend their voices and artistic sensibility. Courtney Barnett is an amazing artist. Her voice and guitar playing together are mind blowing. Her ability to connect the profound to the smallest moments of human experience is the unique talent of a true artist.”

On working together, Barnett said, “Anna is a completely awe-inspiring performer, it’s impossible to take your eyes off her onstage. I love her songwriting for its beautiful and perfect balance between aggression and tenderness.” More raw-sounding than their original incarnations, the tracks on Hunted shine under the light of a different lens, one that brings the innate fragility of the compositions to the forefront and exquisitely melds together the dichotomy of the hunter and the hunted, the primal and the beautiful, the vulnerable and the strong.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: The superb turnaround of Anna Calvi's 2018 LP 'Hunter' into 'Hunted' sees Calvi collaborating with a selection of some of the greatest names in modern indie music, and adds futher gravitas to the stunningly written and brilliantly performed pieces on show. Deep and soulful, swimming with gothcic drive and singularly enchanting, this is a perfect companion or a wonderful listen on it's own.

TRACK LISTING

Swimming Pool (feat. Julia Holter)
Hunter
Eden (feat. Charlotte Gainsbourg)
Away
Don’t Beat The Girl Out Of My Boy (feat. Courtney Barnett)
Wish (feat. Joe Talbot/IDLES)
Indies Or Paradise

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

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

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

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

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

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: 2015's 'Glass Riffer' didn't some off my turntable for quite some time, and i'm pretty sure this will meet the same fate. Huge swathes of synth and bright percussives shine through below the off-piste vocals and chaotic bitcrushed scree. It's marvellous, and completely insane.

TRACK LISTING

1. Become A Mountain
2. Hypnagogic
3. Sat By A Tree
4. Arp I: Wide Eyed
5. Arp II: Float Away
6. Arp III: Far From Shore
7. Arp IV: Any Moment
8. Weeping Birch
9. Fell Into The Ocean
10. My Friend
11. Bumble Bee Crown King

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

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

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

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

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

TRACK LISTING

Sukhe Phool
The Shearing’s Not For You
Thumri Bhairavi
Westlin’ Winds
Song For Oddur
The North Carr
Twa Brothers
Waliyan Da Raja
Darbari

Bonus Tracks Exclusive To Vinyl:
All Saved But One
Jon's Poem
Skinfast Haven Blues

Richard Dawson, the black-humoured bard of Newcastle, returns to release his sixth solo album 2020, his first since the critically acclaimed, Peasant. 2020  is an utterly contemporary state-of-the-nation study, that uncovers a tumultuous and bleak time. Here is an island country in a state of flux; a society on the edge of mental meltdown.

On 2020, Dawson introduces us to grand themes through small lives. His are portraits of human beings struggling with recognisable (and dare we say it, relatable) concerns, conflicts and desires, each reminding us that tragedy and gallows humour are not mutually exclusive, and that the magical can sit next to the mundane. Lyrically it is by far Dawson’s hardest-hitting and unflinchingly honest album to date. It is his poetic masterwork.

Within, we find disgruntled civil servants dreaming of better days, anxiety-addled joggers listlessly searching Zoopla for houses they cannot afford in their spare time, amateur footballers who think they’re Lionel Messi and beleaguered pub landlords battling rising floodwaters.

Here is life, in all its strange and wonderful ways.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Massive stadium rock choruses and strolling folk meet headfirst in this decidedly odd but absolutely on-brand distillation from Richard Dawson. Fiercely political but with a wry humour and unmissable melodic drive (an often overlooked aspect of the more 'humorous' releases) coupled with Dawson's flawless delivery and brilliant ear for a progression make this his most direct and essential release yet.

Blood Orange’s latest critically acclaimed mixtape, ‘Angel’s Pulse’. Released on the heels of Negro Swan, this album is the overflowing aftermath of that incredible album – the more Dev Hynes the better in my opinion.

‘Dark and Handsome’ encapsulates everything I love about Hynes’ music, those drops of recognizable Blood Orange trademarks which are so prominent throughout all his albums. Something that sets the album apart for me is the heartbreaking track ‘Birmingham’ which is referencing the church bombing in Alabama by white nationalists in 1963. Kelsey Lu and Ian Isiah vocals are incredibly emotive and cut through the soul.

The album includes collaborations with Toro Y Moi, Kelsey Lu, Arca, Porches, Ian Isiah, Justine Skye and many more. The tracks are short in quick succession, it’s easy to glide through the album and want to hear it all over again for the parts you missed the first time around.

STAFF COMMENTS

Millie says: Dev Hynes bringing us this incredible mixtape, Angel’s Pulse filled with emotional, raw material. Blood Oranges distinct sound flows throughout with glimpses of his trademark echoes, the album flows seamlessly from start to finish but holds his most diverse mixture of songs to date. Absolutely love this and can’t wait for the next.

TRACK LISTING

I Wanna C U
Something To Do
Dark & Handsome Ft Toro Y Moi
Benzo
Birmingham Ft Kelsey Lu & Ian Isiah
Good For You Ft Justine Skye
Baby Florence (Figure)
Gold Teeth Ft Project Pat, Gangsta Boo & Tinashe
Berlin Ft Porches & Ian Isiah
Tuesday Feeling (Choose To Stay) Ft Tinashe
Seven Hours Part 1 Ft BennY RevivaL
Take It Back Ft Arca, Joba & Justine Skye
Happiness
Today

The musical touchstones of Tom Fleming, former Wild Beasts songwriter, vocalist and multi-instrumentalis, were Bruce Springsteen, Don Henley, Tom Petty alongside Depeche Mode and Swans. He wrote and played everything himself and then brought in Ben Hillier (Nadine Shah, Graham Coxon) on mixing and production duties.

One True Pairing is an album shaped by class frustration and self-despair and there is a continuation of the exploration of masculinity that made Wild Beasts so unique. As well as being deeply personal, OTP has a wider political resonance. "This country is going through a terrible moment and if you listen to the art nobody seems to give a shit,” Fleming says emphatically. He believes that class is entirely discounted from the current conversation about inclusivity and privilege. In its 11 songs of discordant guitar and aggressive synth Fleming channels his discontent with Britain in 2019 and a “feeling of directionless rage and cheatedness which hasn't gone away."

TRACK LISTING

Zero Summer
I’m Not Afraid
One True Pairing
Weapons
Dawn At The Factory
Blank Walls
Reaper Of Souls
Elite Companion
Alive In The Resplendent Flames
King Of The Rats
Only God Can Judge Me

(Sandy) Alex G, aka singer, songwriter and musician Alex Giannascoli, announces new album ‘House of Sugar’. The album is the Philadelphian’s ninth overall and third for Domino.

Giannascoli worked closely with Jacob Portrait, who mixed both ‘Rocket’ and 2015’s ‘Beach Music’ and helped to balance each of ‘House of Sugar’s dense, multi-faceted tracks. As the product of extended focus and planning, ‘House of Sugar’ emerges as Giannascoli’s most meticulous, cohesive album yet: a statement of artistic purpose, showing off his ear for both persistent earworms and shifting textures and the out-there sonic adventurism that’s made previous (Sandy) Alex G records so singular.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: From twisted, Beck-y ballads to euphoric synth-led stormers, Alex G has always had an uncanny knack for writing a tune and these richly orchestrated, beautifully constructed off-piste tunes show more and more ability in every passing album. This stuff is properly gorgeous ; heartfelt, soaring and emotive works of genius. Spellbinding from the outset.

TRACK LISTING

Walk Away
Hope
Southern Sky
Gretel
Taking
Near
Project 2
Bad Man
Sugar
In My Arms
Cow
Crime
SugarHouse (Live)

Glasgow’s Spinning Coin are back with their first new music since their debut album ‘Permo’ was released in 2017. The quartet release new 7” single ‘Visions At The Stars’ via The Pastels’ Geographic Music imprint. ‘Visions At The Stars’ was produced by Gregor Reid and Stephen Pastel at Castle of Doom Studios, Glasgow.

TRACK LISTING

Visions At The Stars
Not A Dream

‘Started Out’ is an upbeat and euphoric track infused with hedonism and influences from the Chicago house scene of the 80s. Using the same original 909 drum machines and sequential analogue synths used by dance legends of the 80s and 90s, ‘Started Out’ is another shining example of Georgia’s flair in the studio; melting her thrilling pop lyricism, with her rich wealth of experience in the studio. Includes a remix by Tuff City Kids.

TRACK LISTING

Started Out
Started Out (Tuff City Kids Remix)

‘About Work The Dancefloor’ is a defiant slice of electro-pop, exploring love, passion, melancholy and the thrill of finding yourself on the dancefloor. Synth-pop extraordinaire, Georgia mixes electronica vibes and indie to create these stunning twelves. Showcasing her upbeat pop brilliance, the track is a reflection of the rich influences of Georgia’s personal experience with club culture. Includes a remix by the renowned The Black Madonna.

TRACK LISTING

About Work The Dancefloor
About Work The Dancefloor (The Black Madonna Remix)

Nérija are the septet of contemporary jazz luminaries, Nubya Garcia (tenor saxophone), Sheila Maurice-Grey (trumpet), Cassie Kinoshi (alto saxophone), Rosie Turton (trombone), Shirley Tetteh (guitar), Lizy Exell (drums) and Rio Kai (bass). Rooted in friendship, Nérija is a collective whose breakneck shifts in tempo and style rely on a deep understanding of mood, temperament and expression, a solid show of trust that extends beyond the usual bonds between musicians.

Recorded in the boat-shaped confines of London’s legendary Soup Studios and produced by Kwes, the overarching goal with Blume was to simply capture the rawness, warmth, joy and the spirit of their relationship and performance. One of the recording aims was to channel the feel of Teo Macero and Stanley Tonkel’s records with Miles Davis during his Columbia years, thinking “forward” as they did but for this band, capturing the controlled chaos and frame it with a timeless elegance.

"Blume" is a truly breath-taking collection of compositions that perfectly encapsulates everything Nérija; vibrant, engaging, infectious and truly current. For just over an hour, they take us on a sprawling wonderful journey, arriving at what is a majestic body of work; their personal and collective experiences and inspirations over the last half decade or so.

STAFF COMMENTS

Emily says: New London jazz supergroup Nérija have debuted their radiant, horn driven sound in 2019 to great acclaim. ‘Blume’ expands on the foundations they established earlier this year with their self titled EP. Teeming with lush harmonies, syncopated riffs and plenty of afrobeat shuffle, it is sure to impress fans of Kokoroko, Ezra Collective and Maisha.

TRACK LISTING

1.Nascence - Composed By Nérija
Solos From Sheila Maurice-Grey, Rosie Turton And Lizy Exell
2. Riverfest - Composed By Nérija
Solos From Shirley Tetteh And Rio Kai
3. Last Straw - Composed By Sheila Maurice-Grey
Solos From Nubya Garcia And Sheila Maurice-Grey
4. Partner Girlfriend Lover - Composed By Shirley Tetteh
Solo From Shirley Tetteh
5. EU (Emotionally Unavailable) - Composed By Cassie Kinoshi
Solos From Cassie Kinoshi And Nubya Garcia
6. Blume - Composed By Nubya Garcia
Lead Line From Sheila Maurice-Grey And Nérija On Vocals
7. Equanimous - Composed By Rio Kai
Solos From Rosie Turton And Shirley Tetteh
8. Swift - Composed By Lizy Exell
Solos From Lizy Exell And Cassie Kinoshi
9. Unbound - Composed By Rosie Turton
Solos From Rosie Turton And Nubya Garcia
10. Blume Ii - Composed By Nubya Garcia
Lead Line From Sheila Maurice-Grey And Nérija On Vocals

Hunter, the third album from Anna Calvi, is the embodiment of the feeling of truly letting go. For the art-rock singer-songwriter it was a catharsis, and an opportunity to be more truthful than she ever had been been before. Revered in the British music industry since she emerged in 2011 (BRIT Award and twice Mercury Prize nominated), she has teamed up with esteemed producer Nick Launay (Nick Cave, Grinderman), Adrian Utley (Portishead) and Martyn Casey (The Bad Seeds) to bring this galvanising record to life.

Hunter is an album of visceral guitars and vocals, exploring sexualityand breaking the laws of gender conformity. Passionate subject matter calls for passionate delivery, and on Hunter, Calvi pushes the limits of her guitar and her voice beyond anything she’s recorded before. It was important to Calvi that the record was as vulnerable as it is strong; as beautiful as it is ugly. To be the hunter and the hunted.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Calvi is at once arresting and mesmerising, mixing evocative gothic symphonics and soaring melodic waves with a brittle undercurrent, flipping from shimmering synth pop to dark bubbling ambient in the blink of an eye. As immediately appreciable musically as it is conceptually exceptional.

TRACK LISTING

01. As A Man
02. Hunter
03. Don’t Beat The Girl Out Of My Boy
04. Indies Or Paradise
05. Swimming Pool
06. Alpha
07. Chain
08. Wish
09. Away
10. Eden 

Night Moves’ new album, ‘Can You Really Find Me’, pulsates and glows with the same sublime energy that radiated from breakout single ‘Carl Sagan’ in 2016, however in the intervening years, John Pelant and Micky Alfano have grown up.

The songwriting, while still steeped in super-catchy, velvety riffs and pure pop glaze, feels more sophisticated and modern. Since the pair met in high school, awestruck by such ear-candy wizards as Brian Wilson, Todd Rundgren, Stevie Nicks and Lindsay Buckingham, they set off to craft their version of what sophisticated, emotional modern pop music can and should sound like.

2016’s ‘Pennied Days’ was a breakthrough and set a new bar for the members of Night Moves. After spending the subsequent two years on ‘Can You Really Find Me’, they’ve scaled new heights, where the sounds are still just as sweet but now smarter, more evocative and perfectly designed for a summer release.

‘Can You Really Find Me’ was produced by Jim Eno (founding member and drummer of Spoon) out of Public Hi-Fi Studios in Austin, TX and recorded with live band members Mark Hanson and Chuck Murlowski.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Night Moves expertly craft a brilliantly emotive and drippingly filmic selection of 80's inspired ballads and rhythmically fluid disco-tinged pop anthems on 'Can You Really Find Me'. Any of these pieces could easily be a slow-motion montage soundtrack, dynamic but with a hint of latent morosity, these are modern and eminently enjoyable anthems, and another reason to pay attention to Night Moves.

TRACK LISTING

Mexico
Recollections
Keep Me In Mind
Strands Align
Waiting For The
Symphony
Ribboned Skies
Coconut Grove
Saving The Dark
Angelina
Can You Really Find Me

It's conceivable that internal friction helped inspire the title of the third Buzzcocks longplayer, 'A Different Kind Of Tension'; the group would splinter shortly after the album's 1979 release. But the U.K. pop punk band went out with a bang, marshaling one of their most diverse and exciting sets of songs under the guidance of producer Martin Rushent. The breakneck pace of their first recordings is well represented by such tracks as opener “Paradise,” though by the closing sound collage “Radio Nine,” chief songwriter Pete Shelley has managed to indulge his more experimental side as well – without ever abandoning the trademark Buzzcocks wit and emphasis on melody.

TRACK LISTING

01. Paradise
02. Sitting 'round At Home
03. You Say You Don't Love Me
04. You Know You Can't Help It
05. Mad, Mad Judy
06. Raison D'Etre
07. I Don't Know What To Do With My Life
08. Money
09. Hollow Inside
10. A Different Kind Of Tension
11. I Believe
12. Radio Nine 

One of the recent past’s most unexpected come-back stories, Peter Perrett - former frontman of The Only Ones - resurfaced in 2017 with ‘How The West Was Won’, an album that saw him chart in the UK, star on BBC Newsnight, sell out rooms at Electric Ballroom and Islington Assembly Hall and collect accolades across the board.

In this new chapter, Peter continues to dissect romance and politics with his trademark sense of sardonic wit and wry humour, if not with more vigour even and a palpable sense of immediacy. He is not unshackled from his past, however. ‘Humanworld’ features a production credit for Peter’s son Jamie who also contributes a song to the album (‘Master Of Destruction’) and the story of knitting a family back together, following a history of chaos and addiction, now takes a step closer to centre.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Peter Perrett, lead singer of the Only Ones presents his newest outing, 'Humanworld'. With big crunchy guitars and a modern take on the soaring 80's jangle we all know and love, Perrett efforlessly and effectively swaggers through a varied but engrossing suite of melodic heft and massive stadium fuzz.

TRACK LISTING

I Want Your Dreams
Once Is Enough
Heavenly Day
Love Comes On Silent
Feet
The Power Is In You
Believe In Nothing
War Plan Red
48 Crash
Walking In Berlin
Love’s Inferno
Master Of Destruction
Carousel

Arlo Day is the moniker of Alice Barlow, a young songwriter and guitarist from South-East London whose unique ear for melody, haunting vocals and rumbling guitar tones have gained a quiet reputation as one of the capital’s best kept secrets. Self-produced and recorded at home, the ‘Bad Timing’ EP is a trio of tracks that showcase her deft ability to write songs that are at once personal vignettes and brooding canvases for introspection. ‘Bad Timing’ introduces Arlo Day as a singular and exciting new songwriting talent.

TRACK LISTING

1. Bad Timing
2. This Love
3. Broke

"Diviner" is a deeply emotional album: lyrically generous in its candid tone and self-awareness, the melodies resonant with sense memory. The album feels like a startling departure from Thorpe’s previous work with Wild Beast. Story-telling, imaginative dynamics and arrangements coincide with a deft and unique vocal prowess. Comparisons could be drawn with Manchester's Dutch Uncles, or even the quirky & eccentric delivery of Calvin Johnson but really, Hayden's conveying emotions and feels all of his own.

TRACK LISTING

Diviner
Straight Lines
Earthly Needs
Love Crimes
Stop Motion
In My Name
Anywhen
Human Knot
Spherical Time
Impossible Object

Wheeltappers and Shunters was recorded in 2018 in founding band member Hartley's Liverpool studio, before they brought in Dilip Harris (King Krule, Sons Of Kemet, Mount Kimbie) to mix it. “We thought it felt right to make a fun, dancefloor album in these dark and conservative times,” Blackburn continues. Fun, sure, but this is Clinic – their brand of fun oozes with menace.

The Great Britain that Clinic are evoking is not that ancient, bucolic past of village green cricket, half a mild and hanky-waving Morris Dancers that many seem so determined that the country should return to, but a rather more sleazy past. Clinic’s reverie is for a time when Blackpool was the pleasure capital of the kingdom and the public was kept entertained by travelling circuses and the dirty glamour of the funfair; tacky end of the pier merriment and enforced fun at Butlins; when bell-ringing town criers bellowed their nonsensical broadsides into the ether.

For most bands about to enter their third decade as an entity the well would be running dry, but eight albums in and Clinic still retain the ability to surprise. Clocking in at just over 28 minutes, Wheeltappers and Shunters is an absolute blast, rich in detail and sonic intrigue, those precious minutes stuffed with ideas. “We’d released albums like clockwork every two years, so it seemed natural to have a break,” Blackburn reveals. “It allowed everyone to do some quite oddball stuff, away from Clinic. I think we all wanted a bit more freedom.”

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Comfortingly warm and brilliantly varied, 'Wheeltappers and Shunters' perfectly treads the line between jagged, unpredictable psychedelia and smoothly redolent rock music, with enough of an edge to remain interesting and the perfect amount of sweetness to keep the listener fully on-board. Lovely.

TRACK LISTING

1. Laughing Cavalier
2. Complex
3. Rubber Bullets
4. Tiger
5. Ferryboat Of The Mind
6. Mirage
7. D.I.S.C.I.P.L.E
8. Flying Fish
9. Be Yourself/Year Of The Sadist
10. Congratulations
11. Rejoice!
12. New Equations At The Copacabana 

Protomartyr can finally answer what is probably their most frequently asked question: “When are you going to reissue your first album?” ‘No Passion All Technique’ has long been something of a mystery. Not available on streaming services; long out of print (and going for ridiculous prices on auction sites), why was this album so elusive?

When Protomartyr - vocalist Joe Casey, guitarist Greg Ahee, bassist Scott Davidson, drummer Alex Leonard - stepped into a studio together for the first time, in November of 2011, they didn’t know they were about to record an album. With only four hours of studio time booked and one case of beer between them, their plan was to walk out with enough songs for a seven-inch single. Instead, at the suggestion of engineer Chris Koltay, the newly formed Detroit outfit recorded as much as they possibly could, in what little time they had.

Sold out and out of print shortly after its original release on Urinal Cake Records in October 2012, ‘No Passion All Technique’ is a sometimes-messy look at one of rock’s most magnetic bands - and lyricists - just as they were coming to life. Primal, cerebral, heartbreaking, funny - it’s an accidental tour de force that’s also become an unlikely collector’s item. “My memory is shot,” Casey says, “but I appreciate now, looking back, how raw and off-the-cuff it was. There’s tons of mistakes in it and that wasn’t because we planned on it. We still can’t really admit that it’s as good as it is. You never want to say that your first is the best, but I’m happy that the first ended up not being terrible. It gave us doorway to what we’d want to do later.”

TRACK LISTING

In My Sphere
Machinist Man
Hot Wheel City
3 Swallows
Free Supper
Jumbo’s
Ypsilanti
Too Many Jewels
(Don’t You) Call Me Out My Name
How He Lived After He Died
Feral Cats
Wine Of Ape
Principalities

The Clang group return with a one off 7” wonder and re-version of 60’s cult legends The Monks’ ‘We Do Wie Du’.

Domino is extremely proud to present Henryk Górecki: Symphony No. 3 (Symphony of Sorrowful Songs) performed by Beth Gibbons and the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Krzysztof Penderecki. 

The performance took place at The National Opera Grand Theatre in Warsaw on November 29th 2014, and was part of an evening of programming that also featured Jonny Greenwood's (Radiohead) 48 Responses To Polymorphia and the world premiere of Bryce Dessner's (The National) Réponse Lutosławski.

Following an invitation to collaborate at the concert, Beth Gibbons undertook an intense preparation process, including tackling the challenge of learning the original text (and the emotional weight it carries) without speaking the mother language. Typical to Beth though - the elusive yet iconic frontwoman of one of the most important British bands of the last two decades - the challenge was met and exceeded. Her performance alongside the maestro Penderecki has been hailed as triumphant, as you can see and hear on this release.

The film, was produced by the National Audiovisual Institute, Poland and directed by Michał Merczyński.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: There's no denying that Beth Gibbons is one of the most cherished and highly recognisable vocal talents of the past several decades, but hearing her in this context is nothing less than astounding. The latent sadness inherent in Gorecki's 3rd symphony is only enhanced by Gibbons' stunning vocal range and perfect delivery. Astounding.

TRACK LISTING

I. Lento - Sostenuto Tranquillo Ma Cantabile
II. Lento E Largo - Tranquillissimo
III. Lento - Cantabile-semplice

Avey Tare, aka Dave Portner of Animal Collective, announces the new album ‘Cows On Hourglass Pond’, which was recorded between January - March 2018 by Dave Portner at Laughing Gas in Asheville, NC on a Tascam 48 half-inch reelto-reel tape machine and mixed by Adam McDaniel and Dave Portner at Drop Of Sun Studios in Asheville, NC. The album follows the 2017 release of Avey Tare’s ‘Eucalyptus’ and 2018’s audiovisual album ‘Tangerine Reef’, a collaboration between Animal Collective and avant-garde coral macro- videographers Coral Morphologic.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Frenetic melodies and cavernous vocal reverb work their way around the slo-mo funk and psychedelic melodies, leading the listener on a stylistically varied and fascinating journey.

TRACK LISTING

What’s The Goodside?
Eyes On Eyes
Nostalgia In Lemonade
Saturdays (Again)
Chilly Blue
K.C. Yours
Our Little Chapter
Taken Boy
Remember Mayan
HORS_

Domino present Nérija; the septet of Nubya Garcia (tenor saxophone), Sheila Maurice-Grey (trumpet), Cassie Kinoshi (alto saxophone), Rosie Turton (trombone), Shirley Tetteh (guitar), Lizy Exell (drums) and Rio Kai (bass).

Their debut ‘Nérija EP’ - originally composed, recorded and self-released following their meetings and collaborations via London’s Tomorrow’s Warriors - is re-released, having been remixed by kwes and remastered by Chris Potter at Electric.

STAFF COMMENTS

Millie says: It’s been a while since I’ve listened to anything this warm and soulful, the seven-piece all female collective have breathed new life into jazz. With a mixture of horns, beautiful arrangement and upbeat, bold rhythm they really have owned their sound. Hopefully lots more to come from Nérija…

TRACK LISTING

Pinkham V
Redamancy
The Fisherman
For You
Valleys

The rumours are true: the secret electronic album that Stephen Malkmus has been telling everyone about sees the light of day through Domino. But Groove Denied is not a full-blown plunge into EDM or hiptronica. In fact, there aren’t any purely instrumental tracks on the album. Every song is precisely that: a song, featuring Malkmus staples like an artfully askew melody and an oblique lyric. Groove Denied is Stephen playing hooky from his customary way of going about things, jolting himself out of a routine. As Malkmus commented, “It’s fun to mess with things that you’re not supposed to.”

The first taste of Stephen’s new groove can be sampled today, with the release of single ‘Viktor Borgia’, and its accompanying video starring Stephen alone in a dance club. The title playfully merges the name of the comedian-pianist and the ruthless dynasty of Italo-Spanish nobles. With its stately melody and the almost-English-accented vocal, the coordinates here are early Human League or even Men Without Hats. “I was thinking things like Pete Shelley’s ‘Homosapien’, the Human League, and DIY synth music circa 1982,” says Stephen, adding “and also about how in the New Wave Eighties, these suburban 18-and-over dance clubs were where all the freaks would meet – a sanctuary.”

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: It's bloody brilliant this, with hints of post-punk garage and most of all 80's synth, Malkmus clearly shows his wealth of influence on 'Groove Denied', swinging from snappy grunge to 70's psychedelia without batting an eyelid. Though the diversity in sound shines through, it's not without the Malkmus charm, with his vocal prowess shining through the stylistic patchwork.

TRACK LISTING

Eins
01. Belziger Faceplant
02. A Bit Wilder
03. Viktor Borgia
04. Come Get Me
05. Forget Your Place

Zwei
06. Rushing The Acid Frat
07. Love The Door
08. Bossviscerate
09. Ocean Of Revenge

Los Angeles-based artist SASAMI announces her self-titled debut album.

If you’ve ever drafted an overly long text to someone and decided against sending it, then you'll probably hear something of yourself in SASAMI. Los Angeles based songwriter and multiinstrumentalist Sasami Ashworth wrote the album’s ten tautly melodic rock tracks over the course of a year on tour, playing keys and guitar with Cherry Glazerr, tracking the thrills, disappointments and non-starters of a year spent newly single and on the road.

With featured artists Dustin Payseur (Beach Fossils), Devendra Banhart and Soko, this is a slice of 90s distorted guitar pop wonderment you won’t want to miss.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Wonderfully wonky at points, rhythmically diverse and musically immersive, Sasami's debut LP is an absolute storm of inventive poly-rhythms ('In Hollywood' is a prime example) presenting themselves without getting in the way of the listeners enjoyment. From tender, almost whispered vocals to huge distorted scree, this debut LP is an absolute rollercoaster, and unlike a rollercoaster, enjoyable throughout.

TRACK LISTING

I Was A Window (feat. Dustin Payseur)
Not The Time
Morning Comes
Free (feat. Devendra Banhart)
Pacify My Heart
At Hollywood
Jealousy
Callous
Adult Contemporary (feat. Soko)
Turned Out I Was Everyone

Produced by Yorkston and David Wrench, The Route to the Harmonium is James’ first solo record since 2014’s Cellardyke Recording and Wassailing Society (CRAWS) and follows the two collaborative albums he made as one third of Yorkston/Thorne/Khan as well as the release of his debut novel Three Craws in 2016.

The album was almost entirely recorded by James himself, in the small Scottish fishing village of Cellardyke, where he lives. Yorkston’s studio is a ramshackle old loft space, originally used to repair fisherman’s nets, and now stuffed full the antique instruments James has collected throughout his life as a musician. Having created hours of recordings, James called up his old collaborator David Wrench - the mixer and producer who has worked with the likes of Caribou, Four Tet, Frank Ocean, FKA Twigs and David Byrne - and someone who has worked on James’ albums since 2003 – to help make sense of the sessions.

The Route to the Harmonium (or, ‘the search for peace’) is intensely personal; it’s the sound of home, of undisturbed craftmanship. Listen closely and you can imagine him putting it together. Overlaying vocal and guitar tracks, adding further with Dulcitones, harmoniums and autoharps, with nyckelharpa, the distinctive Swedish stringed instrument given to him by a friend. And friends and family, past and present swim all over his songs. Remembering them, and those you’ve shared life with, those who leave and those who remain, is the strongest thread running through these affecting, extraordinary songs. This is Yorkston’s world and could be nowhere else in music.

James adds: “I guess, as a musician and writer, I find myself reacting to what goes on around. So, this album is about life, the life that carries on around me. There’s family, place, and the being away from family that the life of a touring musician brings… But there’s also reference to friends departed – the hows, the whys – When a friend jumps ship it’s always a haymaker to the gut, you know? And this album is about them, but it’s more about us, us who are left behind...”

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Tender ballads and brittle songmaship on this stunning outing from the great James Yorkston. Reminiscent of some of the country-folk offerings from Constellation / Alien8 recordings in the early 90's, Yorkston manages to convey a heartbreaking morose air whilst keeping the melodicism intact. A beautifully written collection, as expected.

TRACK LISTING

01 Your Beauty Could Not Save You
02 The Irish Wars Of Independence 
03 Like Bees To Foxglove
04 Shallow
05 The Blue Of The Thistle
06 Brittle
07 My Mouth Ain't No Bible
08 Solitary Islands All
09 The Villages I Have Known My Entire Life
10 Oh Me, Oh My
11 Yorkston Athletic
12 A Footnote To An Epitaph 

Noah Lennox's sixth solo album as Panda Bear is Buoys. The first song to be released from Buoys is “Dolphin”: Lennox’s bright, sincere voice front and center, with miles of space surrounding it, a guitar and some textured samples fleshing out the dubby sparseness and undercurrent of speaker-limit-pushing sub-bass low-end. Buoys was co-produced and co-mixed by collaborator Rusty Santos in Lennox’s adopted home of Lisbon, Portugal. Lennox and Santos last collaborated on the landmark Panda Bear album Person Pitch, which had its 10-year anniversary last year.

Animated by their ongoing interest in contemporary music production techniques, Lennox and Santos envisioned something that would “feel familiar to a young person’s ears.” However, Buoys retains a deep layer of experimentation coursing through the hyper-modern production – a hallmark of Panda Bear releases that will feel intimately familiar to fans of Lennox’s decade-plus body of work.

Alongside Santos, Buoys also features collaborators in Chilean DJ/vocalist Lizz and Portuguese musician Dino D'Santiago, both artists who came to Lennox via Santos’ recent trap and reggaeton production work; the former contributes arrangements throughout the album including “Dolphin,” and both lend their vocals to “Inner Monologue."

Buoys is the first Panda Bear release since 2018's vinyl-only EP A Day With the Homies, and the follow-up to 2015's kaleidoscopic full-length Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper. "The last three records felt like a chapter to me, and this feels like the beginning of something new," says Lennox whilst surveying how Buoys relates to the estimable Panda Bear catalogue. Indeed, the forthcoming Buoys is full of fresh ideas from one of modern music's most fascinating, innovative, and emotionally generous artists.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Having always been the more electronic side of the musical monolith that is Animal Collective, Panda Bear clearly brings the off-kilter melodies and syncopated Books-esque loop manipulation, with 'Buoys' proving to be every bit the staggered and echo-laden monolith we'd expect. Comfortingly avant-garde without stepping too far into art-rock or ostracising the listener, buoys takes a while to reel you in but when it does, you're stuck for good.

TRACK LISTING

01. Dolphin
02. Cranked
03. Token
04. I Know I Don’t Know
05. Master
06. Buoys
07. Inner Monologue
08. Crescendo
09. Home Free 

Like many first albums, Another Music In A Different Kitchen collected material written by the group - in particular Pete Shelley and Steve Diggle - that had been amassed during the previous years, going back to 1974 and 1975. According to Tony McGartland in his Buzzcocks: The Complete History, the songs were sequenced in the order that they were written. The play through seems to bear this out: the album begins in fast protest punk and ends in the seven minute, definitely non punk length Krautrock of ‘Moving Away From The Pulsebeat.’

Most of Shelley’s songs on the first side concern the vicissitudes of romance, but the opener Fast Cars name drops US campaigner Ralph Nader in an ecological diatribe: “They're so depressing going 'round and 'round/Ooh, they make me dizzy, oh fast cars they run me down.” ‘No Reply’, ‘You Tear Me Up’, ‘Get On Our Own’ and ‘Love Battery’ are sharp, short (all under two and a half minutes), speedy disquisitions on the tortures of interpersonal communication, love and lust played with a perfect balance between pace, abrasion and melody.

Side closer ‘Sixteen’ is something else. It’s longer and contains an avant-garde breakdown around two minutes in, recorded with each group member isolated and unable to hear each other. “It started off as a false ending,” Shelley told me in 1977: “All sloppy, and then it carries on longer so that people are thinking, “Oh I’ve just clapped but they’re not thinking — what’s up?” and then it comes back in again.” It was, as John Maher added, “A remnant of our chaos days.”

Would Shelley like to be sixteen again? “In some ways yes, in some ways no. The words go: “And I wish I was sixteen again/Then things would be such fun/All the things I'd do would be the same/But they're much more fun/ Than when you're twenty one.” Things like going for a drink — now the novelty’s worn off but the enjoyment’s still there. There’s no difference between doing something when you’re 16 and 22, except there is a difference if you’re doing it for the first time.”

Perhaps the most remarkable thing about the song is its rapid fire, venomous ending:
“And I hate modern music/Disco boogie and pop/They go on and on and on and on and on/HOW I WISH THEY WOULD STOP!” Never has a truer sentence been written about the true impetus behind Punk: not just boredom with progressive rock or dinosaur sixties acts but an intense disgust with mainstream pop music, which in 1976, the year of number one singles by Elton and Kiki, Abba, the Brotherhood of Man, Adge Cutler & the Wurzels, seemed not to have anything to do with teenage life and certainly nothing to do with excitement or the true teenage news.

The five songs on side two reflected the group moving away from simple love tropes into something more complex: as Shelley sang on ‘I Don’t Mind’, “Reality’s a dream.” Unlike the increasing militarism and violent posturing of the Clash, Buzzcocks aimed to explore male sensitivity and frailty (‘This pathetic clown’) - which in pop terms was still new, exactly what punk had set out to be. They began to use love songs as a conduit through which they could talk about other things: the nature of human relationships in a capitalistic society, the nature of reality itself.

Onstage Buzzcocks did not present as macho. Sometimes they’d try a group uniform, like the Mondrian shirts of early 1977, but mostly they just dressed as themselves: Diggle and Maher in various permutations of Mod wear, Paddy Garvey in leather jacket and skinny tie, and Shelley in a bewildering variety of styles. “It’s no good me wearing anything like that (bondage pants),” Shelley told me; “I’m just not the fashionable shape.” “You put those clothes on and you become a different character,” Diggle added: “I don’t feel myself, I feel like somebody else.”

‘Fiction Romance’ continues the themes of ‘I Don’t Mind’: male frailty, the commodification of emotions, the difference between reality and fantasy. Steve Diggle’s powerful ‘Autonomy’ spells out the true theme behind Punk: self determination. “It’s a discussion between two sides of your personality,” he told me; “It’s about discipline in yourself, like when you say you’d like to do something and you haven’t got control, you’re not autonomous. Like giving up smoking, which I’m trying to do now and it’s very difficult. I haven’t got control of myself.”

Shelley’s pell-mell ‘I Need’ tackles the capitalist perplex head on: “I used to only want but now I need/To get by with what I got but now I need.” After a fine bass led instrumental break, Shelley lays it out again: “I need sex/I need love/I need drink/I need drugs/I need food/I need cash/I need you to love me back.” ‘Moving Away From The Pulsebeat’ continues the breakneck pace: lasting at least three times the standard punk rock single, it features some stinging psychedelic solos and some rapid fire classic break beats from John Maher.

There’s a pause, then the riff of ‘Boredom’ returns: back to the beginning. Another Music in a Different Kitchen is a perfect circle: thirty five and a half minutes of tuneful, exciting and thoughtful music that stretched the boundaries of guitar pop music at the same time as it delivered on the group’s promise. It was a critical and a commercial success, reaching the UK album top twenty in March 1978 and staying there for nearly three months. But Buzzcocks had no time to rest on their laurels.

Behind the chocolate box cover, Love Bites is an album of paradoxes if not clashing opposites: real/imaginary, past/future, love/lust, connection/alienation, commerciality/experimentation. It’s to the group’s credit that they walk the high wire with ease: the attack is less punk, more measured and on occasion psychedelic, as befits the perceptual and philosophical nature of Shelley’s lyrics. The glossy pop star photo on the sleeve is matched by stranger photo realist portraits on the inner, by Robin Utracik of the Worst: Shelley in particular looks dishevelled, having just vomited when the source photo was taken.

Love Bites hit its moment. The reviews were good, and so were sales: it reached number 13 in the album charts, Buzzcocks’ best showing. They immediately went out on their fourth tour, Beating Hearts - supported by Subway Sect - which was marked in this year of Sham 69 by skinhead violence and stage invasions, definitely not what Buzzcocks were about. The fifth single of that year had already been recorded: ‘Promises’ and ‘Lipstick’, the latter of which used the same riff as Magazine’s debut ‘Shot by Both Sides’. Buzzcocks had reached their commercial peak, but Pete Shelley was deeply troubled.

Late 1978 was a harsh place, with competing styles and fads and the relentless pressure of rapid fire novelty that punk had set up. The pace was killing and on top of that the impetus of 1976 punk had faded. Shelley also felt that the original sense of community had gone: “Once we were in the music industry, people had become more diversified, there was nothing really to pull people together again.” More importantly, the constant touring was driving him mad: “It was a bit unnerving. When we did the Love Bites tour I was convinced by Richard not to leave the band. It was all getting too much for me.”

‘Rocket D.I.Y.’ is the home-recorded follow up to 2003’s ‘Kenny and Beth’s Musakal Boat Rides’. Instead of a collection of songs spanning several years, ‘Rocket D.I.Y.’ contains 12 songs, all written and recorded over a period of weeks. Acoustic guitar and piano based songs have been embellished with accordion, banjo, electronics and a smattering of samples. Collective drummers OnTheFly and Captain Geeko deliver an altogether new punch, with Pip Dylan’s pedal steel adding that final twang. ‘Rocket D.I.Y.’ can best be described as a recollection of a hectic year. From the cosmic highs to the lunar lows come world weary themes of age consciousness and humdrum household chores sitting alongside wideeyed travel adventures and far-fetched yarns. With its scratchy sentiments, anthemic yearnings and downright nonsense, ‘Rocket D.I.Y.’, like ‘Kenny and Beth’s Musakal Boat Rides’ before it, takes you on a Neukian journey possibly not as far as the stars but one you’ll want to take again.

TRACK LISTING

Twin Tub Twin
Saffy Nool
Klutz
Cor’ws Feet
Spooned Out On Tick
PH 6.5
Circle My Demise
King Bubbles In Sand
The Things, Things, Things
A Month Of Firsts
Thrills & Spills
The Someone Else

Kenny Anderson, aka King Creosote's debut album (if you don't include all his Fence Collective CDRs), which was originally release in 2003, finally gets a vinyl release.

TRACK LISTING

Lonepigeon’s Wineglass Finale
Homeboy
Pulling Up Creels
Turps
Spokes
Missionary
Harper’s Dough
Space
Meantime
Counselling
A Friday’s Night In New York
Kenny & Beth’s Musakal Boat Rides

Yawn is a buckle-up and knuckle-down listen that rewards the listeners’ attention with motifs and melodies that play hide and seek but never fail to deliver on those between-the-lines verities. This musical belief of delayed gratification is something Bill learnt from classical music as a child, from Elgar and Debussy in particular – and over the long hall of his short life, you can hear these riches being polished on Yawn. Most of the 10 songs clock-in over the 5 minute mark and this wide-angle lens affords us time to interpret and translate meaning – or just to revel in it.

Multi-instrumentalist, producer, string-arranger and composer Bill Ryder-Jones has had a career spanning 15 years, a rarity in a world that so often looks to the new. From his musical interpretation of Italo Calvino’s ‘If On A Winters Night A Traveller' (If… in 2011), 2013’s A Bad Wind Blows In My Heart, the acclaimed West Kirby County Primary (2015) and now to Yawn, Bill has constantly widened his scope, weaving in an overarching sense of authenticity, intimacy and wryness as he goes.

Yawn was recorded and produced entirely by Bill himself, with a little help from friends including guest vocals from The Orielles and Our Girl, cello by Rod Skip and mixing by Craig Silvey (Portishead, The Horrors, Arcade Fire). Bill has also been steadily building up a list of album production credits for other musicians including Our Girl, Hooton Tennis Club, Brooke Bentham and Holly Macve, who he records at his own place in West Kirby, aptly titled Yawn Studios.

TRACK LISTING

1. There’s Something On Your Mind
2. Time Will Be The Only Saviour
3. Recover
4. Mither
5. And Then There’s You
6. There Are Worse Things I Could Do
7. Don’t Be Scared, I Love You
8. John
9. No One’s Trying To Kill You
10. Happy Song

Aviary is an epic journey through what Julia Holter describes as “the cacophony of the mind in a melting world.” It’s the Los Angeles composer’s most breathtakingly expansive album yet, full of startling turns and dazzling instrumental arrangements. The follow-up to her critically acclaimed 2015 record, Have You in My Wilderness, it takes as its starting point a line from a 2009 short story by writer Etel Adnan: "I found myself in an aviary full of shrieking birds." It’s a scenario that sounds straight out of a horror movie, but it’s also a pretty good metaphor for life in 2018, with its endless onslaught of political scandals, freakish natural disasters, and voices shouting their desires and resentments into the void.

“Amidst all the internal and external babble we experience daily, it's hard to find one's foundation,” says Holter. “I think this album is reflecting that feeling of cacophony and how one responds to it as a person - how one behaves, how one looks for love, for solace. Maybe it’s a matter of listening to and gathering the seeming madness, of forming something out of it and envisioning a future.”

“In a lot of the songs, when I mention love, it’s about a seeking for compassion and humility in a world where it feels like empathy is always being tested,” Holter says. In Aviary’s case, that search for sweetness - that bridging of the gulf - becomes a metaphor for the creative process itself, cutting through the hierarchies of history, language, and musical form to offer something more fluid, more inclusive, more idiosyncratic.

Aviary combines Holter’s slyly theatrical vocals and Blade Runner-inspired synth work with an enveloping palette of strings and percussion that reveals itself, and the boundless scope of her vision, over the course of fifteen songs.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Since her 2015 album, 'Have You In My Wilderness' (voted our #1 album of 2015) Holter has gone from strength to strength. Treading a similar path to her more recent forays into arty ambience and brittle electronics, 'Aviary' is an epic of Holter's mesmerising vocal talent, backed with an absorbing and progressive instrumental backdrop.

TRACK LISTING

1. Turn The Light On
2. Whether
3. Chaitius
4. Voce Simul
5. Everyday Is An Emergency
6. Another Dream
7. I Shall Love 2
8. Underneath The Moon
9. Colligere
10. In Gardens’ Muteness
11. I Would Rather See
12. Les Jeux To You
13. Words I Heard
14. I Shall Love 1
15. Why Sad Song

Co-produced by Joel Ford (Ford & Lopatin, Airbird), this record plays as a single continuous piece of 21st century psychedelic music and features Krell’s most bewitching sound experimentation to date. Moreover, the stories Krell sings on this record – some biographical, many from the most knotted corners of human life – are deeply personal and human(e). The Anteroom - with its blizzardous electronic noise, fragile melodies and poignant poetry - reclaims the experimental core of the HTDW project.

TRACK LISTING

1. Humans Disguised As Animals | Nonkilling 1
2. Body Fat
3. False Skull 7
4. Nonkilling 3 | The Anteroom | False Skull 1
5. Vacant Boat
6. Nonkilling 13 | Ceiling For The Sky
7. A Memory, The Spinning Of A Body | Nonkilling 2
8. Nonkilling 6 | Hunger
9. July 13 No Hope No Pain
10. Love Means Taking Action
11. Brutal (feat. Ocean Vuong) | False Skull 5
12. False Skull 12
13. Nothing 

The songs of Will Oldham have been written most often for the aliases of Palace or Bonny. Their identities, kept necessarily separate from Will's, the songs were written to create a singular encounter, to be shared among those who choose to listen. Songs of Love and Horror is a rare entry in this ouvre: a Will Oldham album, with the writer taking a turn as singer. As befits the nature of this project, the songs are sung and played by Will alone, in a setting enjoyed by fans of his music - that of one voice and one guitar, the better to savor the spare changes and starkly-cut lyrics, operating in quiet tension and ultimate collaboration. Will brings to the songs all that he has learned from his stage-crafting fellows over the years, singing new versions that quiver like fresh young things in the air of today.

Autumn 2018 sees the release of a celebrated lyrics archive that has been growing for over 25 years in the form of a book- the words to the songs sung by Bonnie 'Prince' Billy and Palace Music, written by Will Oldham. The book, to be released by W.W. Norton, is titled Songs of Love and Horror, the same as this album and can be seen as a companion piece. Both celebrate not one legacy, but rather a confluence of them, flowing in the stream towards an unknown and often unknowing future, with the hope that these notes in a bottle ever pass on through.

TRACK LISTING

1. I See A Darkness
2. Ohio River Boat Song
3. So Far And Here We Are
4. The Way
5. Wai
6. The Glory Goes
7. Only Someone Running
8. Big Friday
9. Most People
10. Strange Affair
11. New Partner
12. Party With Marty (Abstract Blues)

Produced in its entirety by Marshall, Wanderer includes appearances by long-time friends and compatriots, as well as guest vocals courtesy of friend and recent tour-mate Lana Del Rey. Written and recorded in Miami and Los Angeles over the course of the last few years, the new album Wanderer is a remarkable return from an iconic American voice.

Wanderer’s 11 tracks encompass “my journey so far,” says Marshall. “The course my life has taken in this journey - going from town to town, with my guitar, telling my tale; with reverence to the people who did this generations before me. Folk singers, blues singers, and everything in between. They were all wanderers, and I am lucky to be among them.”

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: A beautifully produced, bittersweet collection of twinkling guitars, acoustic percussives and Marshall's unmistakable vocal stylings. Brimming with low-key country influences, rhythmic momentum and enchanting, hypnotic drive. Quintessentially Cat Power, superb.

TRACK LISTING

Wanderer
In Your Face
You Get
Woman (feat. Lana Del Rey)
Horizon
Stay
Black
Robbin Hood
Nothing Really Matters
Me Voy
Wanderer / Exit

Always restless and inventive while always true to the power and glory of song-writing and melody, Conor O’Brien has made another great leap forward with Villagers’ fourth studio album, The Art Of Pretending To Swim, released by Domino on Friday 21st September.

Following the exquisitely sparse, intimate aura of 2015’s Darling Arithmetic, O’Brien’s new record reconnects with the multi-faceted approach of Villagers’ 2010 album debut Becoming A Jackal and 2013’s {Awayland} while adding a new-found soulfulness, rhythmic nous and dazzling panoply of sonic detail, both analogue and digital, creating feverish moods while writing effortlessly accessible tunes. Balanced with subtle aspects and lyrical themes that embrace existential fears and hopes in this desperate, technologically-centred dystopian age, The Art Of Pretending To Swim is the most brilliantly realised Villagers album to date.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Beautifully played acoustic guitars, bolstered with tender electronic flourishes and a driving percussive backline, Villagers perfectly mix the appeal of melodic indie with the silken, shimmering swagger of synth pop to great effect. Beautiful stuff.

TRACK LISTING

1. Again
2. A Trick Of The Light
3. Sweet Saviour
4. Long Time Waiting
5. Fool
6. Love Came With All That It Brings
7. Real Go-Getter
8. Hold Me Down
9. Ada

‘Battle Lines’, the new album from Grammywinning duo Bob Moses, is set for release on Domino.

‘Battle Lines’ follows the band’s acclaimed debut album, ‘Days Gone By’, which featured their worldwide hit ‘Tearing Me Up’. The band recorded the new album in Los Angeles’ Laurel Canyon, after writing and testing out new material on the road. Inspired by their time playing raves and rock clubs all over the globe since the release of ‘Days Gone By’, Battle Lines takes a harder look at the world in which they find themselves.

TRACK LISTING

Heaven Only Knows
Battle Lines
Back Down
Eye For An Eye
The Only Thing We Know
Nothing But You
Enough To Believe
Listen To Me
Selling Me Sympathy
Don’t Hold Back
Fallen From Your Arms

Tangerine Reef is a full-length audio-visual album by Animal Collective (Avey Tare, Deakin and Geologist), in collaboration with Coral Morphologic, to commemorate the 2018 International Year of the Reef. Tangerine Reef is a visual tone poem consisting of time-lapse and slow pans across surreal aqua-scapes of naturally fluorescent coral and cameos by alien-like reef creatures (note: no CGI or artificial enhancement was used in this film). Tangerine Reef is the sight and sound of a literal underwater collective of animals.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Another brilliantly off-piste outing from Animal Collective. Scattered percussion, haunting shadowy vocals and that effervescent duality of low-fi production values and hi-fi songwriting make this yet another stormer from the AC camp.

TRACK LISTING

1. Hair Cutter
2. Buffalo Tomato
3. Inspector Gadget
4. Buxom
5. Coral Understanding
6. Airpipe (To A New Transition)
7. Jake And Me
8. Coral By Numbers
9. Hip Sponge
10. Coral Realization
11. Lundsten Coral
12. Palythoa
13. Best Of Times (Worst Of All)

Following her acclaimed EPs released on Greco-Roman, new album Devotion positions Londonbased Tirzah as a unique contemporary soul voice on an innovative modern British RnB record. Delivering what feels like a landmark debut LP, the 11-songs across Devotion are an intimate collection of downtempo love-songs laced with romance and lust, melancholy and desire.

The album was conceived and written with long-term collaborator, Mica Levi who handles the music and production across the whole album, Tirzah providing vocals, melody & lyrics. Additional vocals & lyrics are provided by Coby Sey on stand out track, ‘Devotion’. The album was mixed by Mica & Kwes.

TRACK LISTING

1. Fine Again
2. Do You Know
3. Gladly
4. Holding On
5. Affection
6. Basic Need
7. Guilty
8. Devotion
9. Go Now
10. Say When
11. Reach

As with their previous albums, Across the Meridian mixes instrumentals and songs, weaving a gleeful path through the musical territory of film scores, 30s jazz, sun-drenched pop, electronica, and post-punk experimentation. Haunting and wistful vocals are set to a variety of soundscapes, sometimes appearing as a snatched fragment of the subconscious and dreamlike, at others crafting a story of longing or regret, drawing the listener into Pram’s uncanny world through the mirror. Newcomers to Pram will find a richly detailed collage of influences ranging from exotica, Krautrock and the forgotten film soundtracks that went on to inspire contemporaries Stereolab & Broadcast.

The band convened at the remote Foel studios in Wales to improvise on ideas and record some bases for tracks, before finishing them in their studio in Birmingham. Pram have a working process that has developed over many years and reflects shifts in band personnel and technological advancements. Across The Meridian is a testament to the band embracing these new approaches without losing any of their original allure.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Haunting, dusty melodies and slowly pulled strings mix with echoed vocals, simmering horns and clicking electronic percussion in this multi-faceted and smooth juxtaposition of post-rock, electronic and psychedelic instrumentation. Perfectly balanced and fully immersive.

TRACK LISTING

1. Shimmer And Disappear
2. Thistledown
3. Electra
4. Wave Of Translation
5. Shadow In Twilight
6. Ladder To The Moon
7. The Midnight Room
8. Footprints Towards Zero
9. Mayfly
10. Sailing Stones
11. Where The Sea Stops Moving
12. Doll’s Eyes

Dirty Projectors’ new album ‘Lamp Lit Prose’ is produced by Dave Longstreth at his studio Ivo Shandor in Los Angeles.

The album features guest appearances from Syd, Empress Of, Amber Mark, Haim, Rostam, Robin Pecknold and Dear Nora, as well as longtime Dirty Projectors rhythm section Nat Baldwin and Mike Johnson.

‘Lamp Lit Prose’ arrives just over a year after 2017’s self-titled ‘Dirty Projectors’. Here Longstreth’s band returns with a new album that is the yang to the yin of the 2017 effort. The songs signal a page turned for Longstreth: hope instead of heartbreak, a restorative balance. Guitars have returned to the Dirty Projectors’ world, intricate vocal harmony too. ‘Lamp Lit Prose’ is a recommitment to the sounds and ideals of Dirty Projectors, embracing the band’s trademarks while pushing forward the sonic envelope.

STAFF COMMENTS

Andy says: Luminous, dislocated, lushly produced warm vibes pervade on this gorgeous new record. Ace!

TRACK LISTING

Right Now (ft Syd)
Break-Thru
That’s A Lifestyle
I Feel Energy (ft Amber Mark)
Zombie Conqueror (ft Empress Of)
Blue Bird
I Found It In U
What Is The Time
You’re The One (Ft Robin Pecknold & Rostam)
(I Wanna) Feel It All (ft Dear Nora)

Protomartyr's ‘Consolation EP’, was recorded in part with friend Kelley Deal of The Breeders.

The release features four brand new tracks, delivered in their usual brusque uncompromising style, and follows last year’s superb ‘Relatives In Descent’ album.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Protomartyr are one of those bands that elicit a chorus of head-nods and a flurry of 'Who is this?' from anyone near enough to hear, and this EP will surely be no different. A Galloping and driven EP, led by Joe Casey's unmistakeable snarl, and buoyed by the perfectly precise and ferocious instrumental backing. A great vision for the future.

TRACK LISTING

Wait
Same Face In A Different Mirror
Wheel Of Fortune (ft Kelley Deal)
You Always Win (ft Kelley Deal)

Melody’s Echo Chamber’s second album finally arrives more than five years after Melody Prochet’s debut, and it’s certainly been worth the wait. Bon Voyage is a mind-blowing mini-opus full to the gunwales with surprises. It’s a capricious trip that builds majestically upon what Pitchfork in 2012 called “enchanting, psychedelic-tinged pop with just the right amount of thematic darkness”. Made up of seven expansive new tracks, it marries Melody’s breathless soprano to the wildest sonic excursions, always pinned to an emphatic, clattering groove.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Brilliantly effervescent indie-pop from MEC, sporting chunky melodic riffage, bright soaring solos and stunningly perfect production. Amazing stuff.

TRACK LISTING

1. Cross My Heart
2. Breathe In, Breathe Out
3. Desert Horse
4. Var Har Du Vart
5. Quand Les Larmes D’Un Ange Font Danser La Neige
6. Visions Of Someone Special On A Wall Of Reflections
7. Shirim

Washington, DC trio Flasher release their debut album, ‘Constant Image’, via Domino.

Recorded in 2017 at Rare Book Room in Brooklyn, NY, ‘Constant Image’ was produced by Nicolas Vernhes (Animal Collective, Deerhunter, The War On Drugs) and crackles with invention. This isn’t the sound of a band finding their feet, it’s the rare sound of three people - Taylor Mulitz on guitar, bassist Daniel Saperstein and drummer Emma Baker - who know exactly what they want to achieve from the start.

TRACK LISTING

Go
Pressure
Sun Come And Golden
Material
XYZ
Who’s Got Time?
Skim Milk
Harsh Light
Punching Up
Business Unusual

In 2017 Joe Goddard released his second solo album Electric Lines, after spending the past 15 years as a member of Hot Chip, production and DJ duo The 2 Bears and founder of tastemaker dance record label Greco Roman.

This summer Goddard returns with two standalone singles, a double A-side 12”, in his own words: “I just want these next few 12"s to be simple club tools really... musically one is meant to be a deep house belter and the other is meant to be dark electro with a romantic touch- like the Boards of Canada mix of 'Midas Touch’”.

TRACK LISTING

So Much
Human Touch (Dub)

Their first release since 2013’s ‘AM’ finds the band intent on continuing to explore new musical terrain with each album. ‘Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino’ ups the ante in a big way; it is a bold and brilliant album reflecting Turner’s ever more comprehensive creative vision. 

Produced by James Ford and Alex Turner, the album was recorded in Los Angeles, Paris and London. 

STAFF COMMENTS

Andy says: Wow! After their biggest hit yet and looming world domination, t'Monkeys swerve left, then up, out and onto the astral plane! This blows up their template in style, and opens new possibilities for this inspirational band.

TRACK LISTING

Star Treatment
One Point Perspective
American Sports
Tranquility Base Hotel + Casino
Golden Trunks
Four Out Of Five
The World’s First Ever Monster Truck Front Flip
Science Fiction
She Looks Like Fun
Batphone
The Ultracheese

Bonny sings Susanna, to simply try and save the world. Sonata Dwarf Mix Cosmos is an old companion of his and with the Chijimi house band +1 they bring it all back home again, this time to the space in Bonny’s place.

“As other practitioners are leaving the room in favor of novel forms of recording and distro and consumption, we are left with a virtual PALACE, fantastical and real structures and practices. Like we are allowed into the museum at night. We can make a great essentially live record with great songs and great players because nobody else is? ‘Wolf Of The Cosmos’... is about, as much as anything, direct engagement with recorded music. So step right up to the replicant.” - Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy

Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy is joined by musicians Emmet Kelly (bass guitar, voice, acoustic guitar), Cheyenne Mize (violin, slide ukulele, voice), Chris Rodahaffer (banjo, voice, acoustic guitar) and Elsa Madeline Oldham (juice harp).

“‘Wolf Of The Cosmos’ is a wonderful obsessive trip into the mind of one of the most important living singers” - Country Music

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Beautifully emotive country-tinged plucks, BPB's unmistakable voice and softly pulled strings make for an enchanting an absorbing journey. Yet more evidence of the unwavering excellence of one of today's most successful singer-songwriters. Brilliantly fresh, but comfortable and familiar.

TRACK LISTING

Intruder
Born In The Desert
Hangout
People Living
Stay
For You
Better Days
Traveling
Demon Dance
Home Recording
We Offer
Lily

Alexis Taylor releases a new album on Domino. It is a very new, very individualist and – yes – very beautiful reflection of a life that's changed immeasurably since Alexis first started out in music. This is a musician, writer and singer who has carved his own unique path through the music of the 21st century, completely avoiding getting trapped along the way in dumb oppositions of pop vs avant-garde, dancefloor vs intellect, retro vs modernist and so on. He has worked with living legends from major pop stars to free improvisors in the furthest left field, played huge arenas and tiny clubs without ever privileging one over the other, and through all of it, never stopped listening and learning. All of this accumulated experience is put to work on Beautiful Thing in pursuit of something subtle and elusive but ultimately quite profound and beautifully human. Taylor’s fourth album also represents the first time Alexis has made a solo album with a producer, that producer being Tim Goldsworthy, co-founder of Mo Wax and DFA Recordings and member of UNKLE.

The record is a bold and confident step forward for Alexis both sonically and in terms of his songwriting abilities. It has electronic thrills, dark spaces, memories of dancefloors, heartfelt writing; it's composed, it's improvised, it's accidental, it's strange, but it's also very immediate. It is a beautiful thing itself: a moving, modern and unique sounding long-player, to get lost in on repeated deep listens.

Self-produced, written and recorded in the east London house-stroke-studio-stroke band HQ they all share together (imagine a squat version of the Brill Building, or a lo-fi, DIY take on Max Martin’s Cheiron studio), Superorganism is a spectacularly confident debut record that beams with a sense of wonky fun, a kaleidoscopic riot of sound and visuals. Influenced by the world-building depth of artists like Devo, Beck and The Avalanches, Superoganism soundtracks the band’s rapid trajectory from shared house side project to global audiovisual powerhouse and features previous singles ‘Something For Your M.I.N.D.’ and ‘It’s All Good / Nobody Cares’ as well as their brand single ‘Everybody Wants To Be Famous’.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Brilliantly quirky oddball pop, twee synthy pads and glitched indie come together into this flourescent explosion of melodic power. Unforgettable and a truly exciting concept for the future.

TRACK LISTING

01 It’s All Good
02 Everybody Wants To Be Famous
03 Nobody Cares
04 Reflections On The Screen
05 SPRORGNSM
06 Something For Your M.I.N.D.
07 Nai’s March
08 The Prawn Song
09 Relax
10 Night Time

‘Last Night All My Dreams Came True’ is a career-spanning collection and features songs from each of Wild Beasts’ studio albums, with an emphasis on ‘Boy King’, their most direct record yet.

Looking back on Wild Beasts’ back catalogue and the themes they tackled, there is a sense of prescience - toxic masculinity, gender fluidity, the conflicts surrounding class, politics and art were no bandwagon jumps, often becoming hot topics in the media several years after they’d been eloquently dealt with on record.

Recorded in two days over the Summer at RAK Studios, ‘Last Night All My Dreams Came True’ is the second official Domino Documents release and has more than fulfilled the Domino Documents aim to capture a band at the height of their powers, recording a selection of their finest songs.

TRACK LISTING

Wanderlust
Big Cat
A Simple Beautiful Truth
2BU
Bed Of Nails
Hooting & Howling
This Is Our Lot
He The Colossus
The Devil’s Palace
Alpha Female
Get My Bang
All The King’s Men
Celestial Creatures

Nothing short of a rebirth, the album’s 10 songs are a triumphant recasting of the group, bursting with fresh ideas and vigorous sonic experimentation. 

‘Always Ascending’ was recorded at RAK Studios, London and Motorbass in Paris, with the help of French producer extraordinaire Philippe Zdar (Cassius, Phoenix, The Beastie Boys), the mutual affection between band and producer seeping into every dazzling groove. ‘Always Ascending’ shows Franz Ferdinand broadening their palate, as exuberant as it is euphoric, creating a sound that singer, Alex Kapranos, refers to as “simultaneously futuristic and naturalistic.”

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Franz Ferdinand always stood out from the considerable crowd of potential soundalikes with their jagged brand of majestic indie-pop, relying heavily on split-second key changes and snappy, fuzzy riffage. You'll be delighted to know that this one is no less outstanding, a thoroughly excellent return.

TRACK LISTING

1. Always Ascending
2. Lazy Boy
3. Paper Cages
4. Finally
5. The Academy Award
6. Lois Lane
7. Huck And Jim
8. Glimpse Of Love
9. Feel The Love Go
10. Slow Don’t Kill Me Slow

Microshift is the Leeds band's first new work in over 3 years and marks a seismic shift in their sound, dynamic, songwriting and production, whilst still bearing all the ferocious energy, intricate musicianship and bruised but beautiful song-craft of the previous releases which have quietly made them one of the UK's most revered young bands.

This is the band's third studio album technically but arguably the first in which the studio has been central to its creation. Pearl Mystic and second LP, The Hum were heavily informed by the band's live sound, Microshift on the other hand came to life in the studio, formed out of loops, modular synthesizer sequences, drum machines, homemade samples etc. which were jammed around and layered until the songs began to emerge. The band have also opened their writing to include collaborations with artists such as Richard Formby (on Opener), Christopher Duffin (on Boxing Day) and Alice Merida Richards (on Each Time We Pass).

Radiant, immersive and teeming with light, but still heavy and forceful - the music on Microshift acts as a very deliberate counter to some of the difficult topics the album's lyrics address. Death, disease, heartbreak, body image and even natural disaster are all present here but the overall effect these songs achieve is euphoric catharsis.

The album was written and recorded in full following a complete rebuild of the band’s Suburban Home Studio after the River Aire floods in Leeds in the winter of 2015 which devastated the studio. The band had an incredible response to a GoFundMe campaign and the subsequent help of volunteers over several months to rebuild the studio from nothing is a huge part of the band’s continued existence. Striving through the toughness, it is perhaps no surprise that the record is one of both defiance and darkness. “All of our records are to an extent about mental health,” comments MJ. “Largely this is an album about loss but also about maturing, accepting your flaws and the transience of intimacy”.

Hookworms are MJ, MB, JW, JN & EO.

STAFF COMMENTS

Darryl says: A brilliantly dynamic mix of psychedelic guitars, determined vocal swathes and soaring cosmic synth swells. As fascinating and direct an outing as The Hum, but refined through a good few years of working on their sound. Superb.

TRACK LISTING

Negative Space
Static Resistance
Ullswater
The Soft Season
Opener
Each Time We Pass
Boxing Day
Reunion
Shortcomings

‘The House’ is the third full-length album from New York musician Porches (aka Aaron Maine).

The 14-song affair features contributions from (Sandy) Alex G, Dev Hynes, Okay Kaya, Maya Laner (True Blue), Bryndon Cook (Starchild & The New Romantic), Cameron Wisch (Cende) and Maine’s own father Peter Maine.

‘The House’ was written and recorded over an 18- month stretch, immediately following the completion of Porches’ breakthrough record ‘Pool’. Taking a diary-like approach, Aaron documents a period of time through the 14 gorgeous songs on this record.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Like an introspective mix of the synth-heavy downbeat vibes of James Blake, mixed with grand, room-filling layers of vocals and melody. Brimming with euphoria, but tinged with a covert despair. Stunning.

The Kills’ eponymous debut mini album ‘Black Rooster’, originally released in 2002, has been reissued for the first time.

The mini album was recorded on an 8-track at Toe Rag Studios by Liam Watson, except ‘Dropout Boogie’ which was recorded during a live performance at Paint It Black.

TRACK LISTING

Cat Claw
Black Rooster
Wait
Dropout Boogie
Gum

Domino Soundtracks are proud to present their first release, an original soundtrack recording from Dan Deacon of the provocative essay-film ‘Rat Film’, to be released in October 2017.

‘Rat Film’ marks Deacon’s first full record devoted to modern composition. In between his four ecstatic electronic-pop albums, Deacon has frequently flexed the 21st Century classical muscles he first developed studying at SUNY Purchase’s Conservatory Of Music.

‘Rat Film’ offers the first recorded document of this parallel career - and both as a self-contained album and a companion piece to an equally potent film, it astounds.

“The aesthetic audacity alone is intriguing; combined with Maureen Jones’s icily robotic narration and Dan Deacon’s eerie electronic score, the effect is somewhere between confounding and mesmerizing.” - New York Times

“‘Rat Film’, in other words, is not your typical documentary, and its mesmerizing electronica score by Dan Deacon - full of whirring, bleeping and blipping, cacophonous noise, and ominous tonal swells - only enhances its eccentricity.” - The Daily Beast

TRACK LISTING

Redlining
Horn Phase
Pelican
OCME
Harold
Reed Clouds
Seagull
Calhoun
Rat Poison
Video Game
Harold’s Lament
Map Overlays

Anxiety about the precarious nature of reality is a recurring thread on Protomartyr's 4th full-length and Domino debut, Relatives In Descent. Though not a concept album, it presents twelve variations on a theme: the unknowable nature of truth, and the existential dread that often accompanies that unknowing. It's no coincidence this missive comes to us at a moment when disinformation and garbled newspeak have become a daily reality. “I used to think that truth was something that existed, that there were certain shared truths, like beauty,” says Protomartyr singer Joe Casey. “Now that’s being eroded. People have never been more skeptical, and there’s no shared reality. Maybe there never was.”

Relatives In Descent offers new layers and new insights, without sanding any of the edges born from their days as a Detroit bar band. Greg Ahee’s guitar still crackles and spits electricity. Casey's voice continues to shift naturally between dead-eyed croon and fevered bark. Drummer Alex Leonard and bassist Scott Davidson remain sharp and propulsive, a rhythm section that’s as agile as it is adventurous. But this is also Protomartyr at their most impressive. After months of rehearsal, the band decamped to Los Angeles for two weeks in March of 2017, to record with Sonny DiPerri (Animal Collective, Dirty Projectors), who co-produced the record and helped capture the band’s long-simmering vision for something more complex, but no less visceral.

It all begins with ‘A Private Understanding,’ pegged as the album's opening statement the second it was finished, and a wellspring from which the following eleven songs flow. At once beautiful and brutal, it mutates from drum-led oddity to unlikely anthem, with some of Casey’s most potent lyrical work at its centre: “Sorrow's the wind blowing through/Truth is hiding in the wire.”

TRACK LISTING

1. A Private Understanding
2. Here Is The Thing
3. My Children
4. Caitriona
5. The Chuckler
6.Windsor Hum
7. Don't Go To Anacita
8. Up The Tower
9. Night-Blooming Cereus
10. Male Plague
11. Corpses In Regalia
12. Half Sister

‘Eucalyptus’ is the new studio album written and produced by Animal Collective’s Avey Tare.

Recommended listening for dawn or dusk. An electroacoustic movement through leaves, rocks and dust. Written on sunlit bedroom afternoons in Los Angeles, practiced in the dark early hours of the California twilight and slept on under Big Sur skies.

Recorded by Animal Collective’s Deakin (Josh Dibb), featuring chamber orchestration arranged by Eyvind Kang, musicians Angel Deradoorian and Jessika Kenney.

TRACK LISTING

Season High
Melody Unfair
Ms. Secret
Lunch Out Of Order Pt. 1
Lunch Out Of Order Pt. 2
Jackson 5
DR Aw One For J
PJ
In Pieces
Selection Of A Place
Boat Race
Roamer
Coral Lords
Sports In July
When You Left Me

Peter Perrett, whose incisive songcraft and sardonic drawl made him one of the most distinctive voices of the Seventies, hasn’t released any music for 20 years. Bearing in mind his most famous song began “I always flirt with death” (‘Another Girl, Another Planet’), this is one comeback that nobody saw coming.

Backed by his sons - Jamie and Peter Jr. on lead guitar and bass respectively - and produced by Chris Kimsey (The Rolling Stones), Peter’s intuitive feel for words; his flair for idiosyncratic metaphors and his deadpan wit are all still as sharp as ever.

TRACK LISTING

How The West Was Won
An Epic Story
Hard To Say No
Troika
Living In My Head
Man Of Extremes
Sweet Endeavour
C Voyeurger
Something In My Brain
Take Me Home

‘Platinum Tips + Ice Cream’ is new from Royal Trux.

The songs were written over a span of time as wide as eagle’s wings but the recordings are new, live, unrehearsed and were presented in real time to a few thousand people in California and NYC.

Performance art? Yes! But only because, unlike so many other aural ‘content providers’, Neil Hagerty and Jennifer Herrema are true artists writing their own futures into the present. This was, and will always be, Royal Trux.

TRACK LISTING

Junkie Nurse
Sewers Of Mars
Red Tiger
Sometimes
Mercury
Esso Dame
Deafer Than Blind
Waterpark
Platinum Tips
The Banana Question
Blue Is The Frequency
Ice Cream

Rocket is (Sandy) Alex G’s eighth full-length release—an assured statement that follows a slate of humble masterpieces, many of them self-recorded and self-released, stretching from 2010’s RACE to his 2015 Domino debut, Beach Music.

Rocket’s sessions began shortly after Beach Music’s ended, with Alex tracking songs at home, by himself and with friends, in the gaps between a hectic 2015 and 2016 touring schedule (including working with Frank Ocean on Blonde).

Rocket was mixed by Jacob Portrait (Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Bass Drum of Death), who also lent his hand to Beach Music, giving the album a fine-tuning that retains the homespun personality of earlier efforts.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Uplifting folky plucking, heart-wrenching fiddle work and those heart-melting vocals. It's not all smooth sailing though, with pieces like 'Brick' coming way out of leftfield, you have to hear it to believe it, but the range of talents on display here is mindblowing. Well worth your time.

TRACK LISTING

Poison Root
Proud
County
Bobby
Witch
Horse
Brick
Sportstar
Judge
Rocket
Powerful Man
Alina
Big Fish
Guilty 

With ‘Best Troubador’, Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy pays homage to a longtime and forever hero, the late Merle Haggard.

A singer who, some 25 years previously, first performed in public by playing a Merle Haggard song, Bonny has often cited Merle’s work in performance, on records and in conversation with anyone who was around, even talking to Merle himself for Filter magazine in 2009.

‘Best Troubador’ flips through his song book, landing on pages unmoored from their time and located anew. Moving from 1978 to 1969 to 2003 to 1981 allows the album to circle Haggard’s music in a simulation of thought and memory, slipping around from spot to spot as if they were discrete impressions, unknown but knowable yet.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Superbly uplifting plucked guitars, swooning woodwind and Mr. Billy's sweet but serious vocal delivery. It's a wonder that there could be any more gold flowing from this supremely talented songwriter, yet it continues. Touching, beautiful and sublime.

TRACK LISTING

The Fugitive
I’m Always On A Mountain When I Fall
The Day The Rains Came
Haggard (Like I’ve Never Been Before)
I Always Get Lucky With You
Leonard
My Old Pal
Roses In The Winter
Some Of Us Fly
Wouldn’t That Be Something
Pray
That’s The Way Love Goes
Nobody’s Darling
What I Hate (Excerpt)
I Am What I Am
If I Could Only Fly

South London trio Little Cub release their debut album, ‘Still Life’, on Domino Recordings.

Marrying a wry, worldly and subversive form of diarist lyricism with sumptuously evocative electronic production, ‘Still Life’ announces the arrival of a band at once deeply in tune with the greatest traditions of progressive, homespun British pop music and at odds with the increasingly vacuous pop culture they are born into.

TRACK LISTING

Too Much Love
My Nature
Breathing Space
Mulberry
Death Of A Football Manager
Hypnotise
Closing Time
October
Loveless
Snow
Television

‘Electric Lines’, the new album from producer Joe Goddard, is all about connections. The title refers to the colourful cables that link the modules in his Eurorack synthesizer and to the invisible wires that run between all the different kinds of electronic music that he loves. An apt title for a record which brilliantly unites the strands of his prolific career: member of Hot Chip and The 2 Bears, songwriter, producer, DJ, Grammy award winning remixer and co-founder of the Greco-Roman label. Like Four Tet, Caribou and Jamie xx, Joe combines a thirst for experimentation, an instinctive understanding of the dancefloor and a love of left-of-centre pop music. ‘Electric Lines’ confirms his place in the front rank of British producers.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Goddard superbly mixes the off-key rotating chord electronica of his day-job at Hot Chip with post-dubstep atmospherics and the warm vintage hum and twisted modulations of analogue synths. An epic journey (even more so in the extended CD version), and one worth undertaking. Brilliantly varied but resolutely enthralling synth 'tronica.

TRACK LISTING

‘Electric Lines’
Ordinary Madness
Lose Your Love
Home
Lasers
Human Heart
Children
Truth Is Light
Nothing Moves
Electric Lines
Music Is The Answer

Bonus 12” (With Indies Exclusive LP Only)
Bumps
Funk You Up
Lose Your Love (Full
Length Version)

Following the chilled-out acoustic draughts blowing through both ‘Further’ and ‘Chorus’, to say nothing of the folkundertones in the 1996 EP release ‘Sally Free And Easy’, it seemed that the direction for future Flying Saucer Attack musics was clear: increased melodicism with more roots exposed in ever-cleaner productions. Apparently not - 1997’s ‘New Lands’ brought a return to the starkness and shadowplay of extreme noise and FSA’s Dave Pearce’s sonombulent vocalizing, along with the introduction of an unanticipated new development - a rubbery, almost dance-rhythmic bottom end that only increased the atmosphere of dread hanging above the fray. This set the stage for ‘Mirror’, which followed ‘New Lands’ over two years later, with only a cover version of Skip Spence’s ‘Goodbye World’ opus, ‘Grey/Afro’ coming between.

‘Mirror’ arrived wrapped in a vibrant, multicolored cover designed by Savage Pencil but the opening sequence of songs offered some of the quietest, most refined Flying Saucer Attack songs committed to tape. The violent spells of ‘New Lands’ had given way to a flattened drone on the electric pieces ‘Space (1999)’, ‘Islands’ and ‘Dark Wind’, while the glittering acoustics of ‘Suncatcher’ and ‘Tides’ highlighted an incredible fragility within the songs. Dave Pearce seemed to be further away in space than ever, a wispy presence over streamlined hard beats and loops of ‘Chemicals’, which create the direction of ‘Mirror’’s second side.

Particularly when considering the silence that followed, this impression makes ‘Mirror’ a distressing encounter at times, though certainly one of the most enervating listens of the FSA catalogue - quite an achievement, when the blinding airs of previous phases are recalled. 

TRACK LISTING

Space (1999)
Suncatcher
Islands
Tides
Chemicals
Dark Wind
Winter Song
Rivers
Dust
Rise
Star City

Likely titled New Lands due to Flying Saucer Attack being lauched upon "phase two" (as the liner notes put it), this release finds FSA down to Pearce and Pearce only, as before with a bit of help here and there from Rocker and, on "Present," the co-writing skills of two members of Amp. That the first two tracks are called "Past" and "Present" and that the first has more of a "classic" FSA sound with a steady rhythm and huge solo while the second revolves around a buried, near inaudible series of loops, seems to be part of the album's plan, such as it is. New Lands in general showcases Pearce in testing mode, seeming to see what works and what doesn't, looking backward as much as forward. Indeed, the lengthy, majestic steady build of "Whole Day Song" reappears from the Goodbye/and Goodbye EP, this time with vocals and a low-key, softly intoxicating piano line. While the more experimental parts of New Lands aren't really Pearce completely trashing his general aesthetic and trying something new, they do show him attempting and often succeeding at introducing further variety to his murky, intriguing field. Thus, "Up in Her Eyes" has a very familiar vocal and guitar style, but the obsessive, upfront yet still shadowy percussion -- sounding more like a chugging train engine than anything else -- dominates the track, at least up until its slightly more ambient, free-flowing end. Other curious rhythms, reminiscent of past comparisons to the work of Main, crop up more than once -- the near arrhythmic, squealing loop that introduces "Respect" or the blunt, brusque punch of "The Sea." Through it all, the combination of Pearce's tender, dark folk vocals and skybursting guitar provides the central point of the experience, making for some fascinating, entrancing results. - Allmusic

Seemingly emerging out of nowhere following an initial single or two, Flying Saucer Attack's debut album crystallized an incipient 1990s underground as in thrall to folk music as to feedback blasts and Krautrock influences. The description the band members themselves used, also considered by some as an alternate title to this album, was "rural psychedelia," and rarely has form so readily followed function. The original duo of Pearce and Brook, with some help from friend/Third Eye Foundation mainman Matt Elliott on percussion and clarinet (thus creating an even more alien atmosphere on "Moonset"), created a thick, evocatively haunting collection of modern mind-blowers. If any one thing could be singled out about the album, it's the continual contrast between Pearce's soft, reflective singing, often sunk deep into the overall mix and treated with heavy-duty echo, and his often tremendous guitar work, electric squalls, and drones piled atop one another. Songs like the exultant "Wish" and "A Silent Tide" are the breathtaking results. Initial comparisons were made to My Bloody Valentine and the shoegazing crowd, but they're misplaced -- it's a consciously different style employing some similar elements, but with notably varying results. Two astonishing drone/tribal instrumentals are named "Popol Vuh 2" and "Popol Vuh 1," both open tips of the hat to the long-lived German experimental group. The completely out-of-left-field number, though, is the cover of Suede's "The Drowners" -- changing nothing about the pace but overdriving the feedback and relentlessly toning down the vocals, FSA turn the neo-glam piece into a noisefest beyond description. Compared to later albums, Flying Saucer Attack sets more of an immediately consistent mood -- some numbers aside, the dreamy singing, the seemingly straightforward guitar parts that get more involved the more one listens, and more continue from track to track, generally speaking. The end results, though, are more than worth it. - Allmusic

Yorkston/Thorne/Khan release their new album Neuk Wight Delhi All-Stars, the follow up to the band’s debut album, 2016’s critically acclaimed Everything Sacred, and presents a confluence of currents, among them the north Indian sarangi; jazz-tinged bass, reminiscent in places of Danny Thompson; acoustic guitar that owes a debt to Elizabeth Cotton, Dick Gaughan and Mississippi John Hurt; and three very different vocalists - James Yorkston (East Neuk of Fife), Jon Thorne (Isle of Wight) and Suhail Yusuf Khan (New Delhi).

“Piya is a word in the Hindi language, meaning beloved,” explains Khan. “The Hindi lyrics of the song were composed and written by me. They talk about a lover who is longing for a beloved, devastated by pain. A point comes when the lover starts hallucinating that the beloved has arrived and starts having conversations with this hallucination. There is a strange feeling of dark happiness: the beloved is there, but only as a hallucination.” “When Suhail explained the Hindi lyric to me,” Yorkston continues, “it reminded me of the great old song The Daemon Lover, also known as The House Carpenter, so I sang a fragment of Annie Watson’s version to introduce the piece.”

This harmonious and singular collaboration can be found across all of Neuk Wight Delhi All-Stars, and in fact, YTK’s Everything Sacred may be the only precedent. “The combination of a singer-songwriter, a jazz bassist and an Indian classical sarangi player is totally unheard off,” says Khan.

A collection of traditional Indian and UK folk songs, beautiful originals and idiosyncratic covers, Neuk Wight Delhi All-Stars does not only bring together Indian classical music and jazz, then, but kosmische too; Yorkston also cites dub reggae, Uilleann pipes and the Madagascan guitarist D’Gary as influences. That breadth, says Thorne, is critical: “I think YTK is a fine example of how music operates without boundaries as a common international language and a source of cross-cultural unity. It’s an important message in the times that we live in.”

Produced by YTK and recorded entirely onto 24 track 2” tape at Analogue Cat studios in Northern Ireland by Julie McLarnon, Neuk Wight Delhi All-Stars comes after a period of steady touring for the band (including incredible main stage performances at Green Man, Celtic Connections and Edinburgh International Festival, and tours in India, Spain and Ireland) and reflects the confidence and increasingly fluid interplay between Yorkston, Thorne and Khan.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: From the warming droning fiddles and chanting of 'Chori, Chori' and the soaring emotive twists of 'Bales' to the more ambient excursions and traditionalism of 'Jaldhar Kedara', this is a fascinating and riveting glimpse at one of the most enjoyable and unique collaborations out there today. Brilliant.

TRACK LISTING

1. Chori, Chori (Vocals: Suhail)
2. Samant Saarang / Just A Bloke (Vocals: Jon, Suhail)
3. Bales (Vocals: James, Suhail)
4. Jaldhar Kedara (Wedding Song) (Vocals: Suhail)
5. False True Piya (Vocals: James, Suhail)
6. The Blue Of The Thistle (Vocals: Jon)
7. Recruited Collier (Vocals: James, Suhail)
8. The Blues You Sang (Vocals: James, Suhail, Jon)
9. Halleluwah (Vocals: Suhail)
10. One More Day (Jon’s Song) (Vocals: Jon)

On In Mind, the fourth full-length record from Real Estate, the band fine-tunes the winsome songwriting and profound earnestness that made previous albums - 2009’s Real Estate, 2011’s Days, and 2014’s Atlas - so beloved. Recorded in Los Angeles with producer Cole M. Greif-Neill (Julia Holter, Beck), In Mind delivers the same kind of warmth and soft-focus narratives that one has come to expect from the band - pastoral guitars, elegantly deployed arrangements, a sort of mindful melancholy - but there is also a newly adventurous sonic edge to the proceedings.

It offers a mild shifting of the gears, positing a band engaged in the push/pull of burgeoning adulthood. Reflecting a change in lineup, changes in geography, and a general desire to move forward without looking back, the record casts the band in a new light - one that replaces the wistful ennui of teenage suburbia with an equally complicated adult version.

STAFF COMMENTS

Andy says: One of Piccadilly Records' favourite janglers return with another swooningly resigned ache-a-thon, this time with added quirk and expanded dynamism thanks to the addition of the splendid Julian Lynch on lead guitar.

TRACK LISTING

1. Darling
2. Serve The Song
3. Stained Glass
4. After The Moon
5. Two Arrows
6. White Light
7. Holding Pattern
8. Time
9. Diamond Eyes
10. Same Sun
11. Saturday

Featuring the original line-up of Howard Devoto (vocals & songwriter), Pete Shelley (guitar & songwriter), Steve Diggle (bass guitar) and John Maher (drums), ‘Time’s Up’ was recorded at Revolution Studios, Bramhall Lane Stockport on the 18th of October 1976. The session, recording Buzzcocks’ live set at the time and was engineered by Andy MacPherson.

TRACK LISTING

You Tear Me Up
Breakdown
Friends Of Mine
Orgasm Addict
Boredom
Time’s Up
Lester Sands (Drop In The Ocean)
Love Battery
I Can’t Control Myself
I Love You, You Big Dummy
Don’t Mess Me Around

‘Solide Mirage’, the follow up to the 2014 album, ‘Piano Ombre’, offers a glimpse of coherence in a distorted world. The album was recorded in the chaotic-yet-calm environment of Brussels - the capital of Europe - a city where the future of a million ‘others’ is being decided.

Fránçois Marry and his shape-shifting band The Atlas Mountains recorded with Ash Workman (Christine & The Queens, Metronomy) before Owen Pallett added violins from his home in LA.

‘Solide Mirage’ - like an imperceptible dream, a fantasy where reality shifts as one approaches it - is a perfect definition for this protean, changeable-yet-direct album which reveals new facets and new territories in every listen. Sometimes soft (on ‘1982’, ‘Apocalypse à Ipsos’, ‘Pepétuel été’, ‘100.000.000’), sometimes tough (‘Bête Morcelée’ and its rush of pure grunge, ‘Grand Dérèglement’ and the roughness and splinters of ‘Jamais Deux Pareils’), sometimes crazy (the digitized trance of ‘Âpres Après’) but always highly political, whether direct or reading between the lines.

TRACK LISTING

Grande Dérèglement
Tendre Est L'Âme
Apocalypse à Lpsos
1982
100.000.000
Âpres Après
Bête Morcelée
Jamais Deux Pareils
Perpétuel Été
Rentes Écloses

The new Dirty Projectors song ‘Up In Hudson’ is an elegy — to the Obama years, to a generation of indie rock, and to a relationship. Over the course of nine verses and almost eight minutes, the lyrics situate David Longstreth & his band in the vivid textures of the recent past like a millennial Blood On The Tracks. It is a piece of epic storytelling unlike anything else in Dirty Projectors’ discography. 

To arrive where we began and know the place for the first time: ‘Up In Hudson’ is an origin story for a new chapter of Dirty Projectors. 

And with it, Dirty Projectors announce their long-awaited 7th LP. 

The new album does everything we want and expect from Dirty Projectors — but in a way we never could have imagined or anticipated. In a career of surprising conceptual gambits, unexpected stylistic evolutions, and continually changing lineups — this is, as DJ Khaled says, “ANOTHER ONE”!

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Soulful beats, driven choruses and synthy breakdowns clash headfirst with soaring melodies, rapidly flicking from glitchy meltdowns into beautifully formed jazzy flourishes and silken harmonies. Brilliantly written and constantly evolving, a true gem.

TRACK LISTING

01. Keep Your Name
02. Death Spiral
03. Up In Hudson
04. Work Together
05. Little Bubble
06. Winner Take Nothing
07. Ascent Through Clouds
08. Cool Your Heart
09. I See You

Proceeding ‘Feel It’ (2011) and ‘Olympia’ (2013), ‘Future Politics’ is the third studio album from Canadian electronic pop outfit Austra, fronted by Katie Stelmanis.

The album was written, produced, and engineered by Stelmanis with mixing by Alice Wilder at Transmitter Park Studio in New York and Union Sound Company in Toronto.

The project concerns the concept of projecting innovation and creativity through individualism and the injustice of an, at times, closed minded or stunted world. A matured message, ‘Future Politics; is for fans of iconic sounds resonating from The Knife, Fever Ray and Bjork to Grimes and Anohni.

Their most visually compelling record to date, ‘Future Politics’ sees transcendent, modernist artwork shot at Luis Barragán’s famed Cuadra San Cristóbal in Mexico City.

TRACK LISTING

We Were Alive
Future Politics
Utopia
I’m A Monster
I Love You More Than
You Love Yourself
Angel In Your Eye
Freepower
Gaia
Beyond A Mortal
Deep Thought
43

Domino Records reissue John Cale’s classic live album ‘Fragments Of A Rainy Season’, featuring his revered interpretation of Leonard Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah’ amongst many solo versions from his enduring catalogue and previously unreleased outtakes.

‘Fragments Of A Rainy Season’ was the first live John Cale album to feature him performing solo and ‘unplugged’ - before that term became a mid 1990s buzzword.

In contrast to the jaundiced punk truculence of ‘Sabotage/Live’ (1979) or ‘Even Cowgirls Get The Blues’ (1986), ‘Fragments Of A Rainy Season’ gives us Cale at his most melodic and moving, a mellowed and certainly a soberer man in a Yamamoto jacket and a lopsided haircut running through a selection of his prettiest songs. It’s a Cale many love deeply, a man alone at a concert-hall Steinway revisiting the pop-rock of ‘Paris 1919’ and ‘A Child’s Christmas In Wales’, as wistful and whimsical as any 70s singer songwriter holding court at LA’s Troubadour club. It’s the Cale who disavowed the spiky nihilism and decadence of the Velvets, inspired instead by melodicism of Paul McCartney and Brian Wilson (to whom he’d paid haunting homage on ‘Slow Dazzle’s brilliant Beach Boys pastiche ‘Mr. Wilson’). It’s the Cale who improbably took a staff job at Warner-Reprise in LA and - for an all-too-brief moment - became part of the Burbank producers’ mafia alongside Lenny Waronker and his laidback chums. (Lest we forget, 1973’s ‘Paris 1919’ featured members of Little Feat and The Crusaders among the backing musicians.)

Cale being Cale, ‘Fragments Of A Rainy Season’ isn’t all rueful tenderness. The deceptively jaunty ‘Darling I Need You’ is flippantly introduced as a song about “religious awakening in the southern part of the United States,” while Elvis’ ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ is no less gothic in the solo version here than it is in the Grand Guignol horror show of the original on ‘Slow Dazzle’. ‘Guts’ is as close as Cale ever came to Lou Reed at his most withering.

It’s easy to forget that - years before Jeff Buckley and The X-Factor - he was the first artist to recognize the hymnal majesty of Leonard Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah’, or that it was his original 1991 reading of the song that popped up on the soundtrack of ‘Shrek’.

TRACK LISTING

On A Wedding Anniversary
Lie Still, Sleep Becalmed
Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night
Cordoba
Buffalo Ballet
A Child’s Christmas In Wales
Darling I Need You
Guts
Ship Of Fools
Leaving It Up To You
The Ballad Of Cable Hogue
Chinese Envoy
Dying On The Vine
Fear (Is A Man’s Best Friend)
Heartbreak Hotel
Style It Takes
Paris 1919
(I Keep A) Close Watch
Thoughtless Kind
Hallelujah
Fear (Is A Man’s Best Friend) (Outtake)*
Amsterdam (Outtake) *
Broken Hearts (Outtake) *
I’m Waiting For The Man (Outtake) *
Heartbreak Hotel (Outtake - Strings) *
Fear (Is A Man’s Best Friend) (Outtake - Strings) *
Paris 1919 (Outtake - Strings) *
Antarctica Starts Here (Outtake - Strings) *

* = Bonus Track (REWIGCD107X & REWIGLP107X [& REWIGLP107 As
Digital Download] Only)

The return of Shirley Collins after a 38 year silence. ‘Lodestar’ is a collection of English, American and Cajun songs dating from the 16th Century to the 1950s, recorded at Shirley’s home in Lewes by Stephen Thrower and Ossian Brown of Cyclobe and produced and musically directed by Ian Kearey.

Though Shirley Collins (MBE) has been absent from the music scene for many years, her impact has not diminished. The likes of Graham Coxon, Jonny Greenwood, Stewart Lee and Angel Olsen laud her and a documentary, ‘The Ballad Of Shirley Collins’, is currently in progress. Additionally, she was given the Good Tradition award at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards in 2008, elected President of the English Folk Dance & Song Society in the same year and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Music from Sussex University this year. Shirley released her first memoir, ‘America Over The Water’, in 2004 and is currently working on her second book.

“Shirley is a time traveller, a conduit for essential human aches, one of the greatest artists who ever lived, and yet utterly humble” - Stewart Lee.

TRACK LISTING

Awake Awake / The Split Ash Tree / May Carol / Southover
The Banks Of Green Willow
Cruel Lincoln
Washed Ashore
Death And The Lady
Pretty Polly
Old Johnny Buckle
Sur Le Borde De L’Eau
The Rich Irish Lady / Jeff Sturgeon
The Silver Swan

On turning 60, legendary producer Clive Langer decided it was time to get a band together.

Recorded at Iguana Studio in Brixton with musician mates and long-time cohorts (including Suggs and Roxy Music’s Andy Mackay), ‘Practice’ is jagged, melodious, ingenious, impulsive and exhilarating.

Driven by a frantic and restless energy, ‘Practice’ is exactly the kind of record you’d hope someone would make if they woke up aged 60 thinking, “Sod it, I’m going to start a rock & roll band.”

TRACK LISTING

Concertina
Acre Lane
Amsterdam
I’m Sorry
Bike
Had A Nice Night
Heaven Calls Another Name
Picture Postcard Paradise
Knock Me Off
Out Of Time

Written and produced by Devonté Hynes, Blood Orange’s highly anticipated new album, ‘Freetown Sound’ features musical contributions from Nelly Furtado, Carly Rae Jepsen, BEA1991, Debbie Harry, Adam Bainbridge (AKA Kindness), Empress Of, Ian Isiah, Kelsey Lu, Jason Arce, Ava Raiin, Aaron Maine (AKA Porches), Bryndon Cook (AKA Starchild) and Patrick Wimberly.

‘Freetown Sound’ is a tour de force, a confluence of Hynes’ past, present and future that melds his influences with his own established musical voice.

STAFF COMMENTS

Patrick says: I saw Test Icicles in 2005 and thought they were a right load of bollocks (wahey!). I've flirted with Devonté's output since without taking it past first base, before finally calling it a day after 'Cupid Deluxe'. When 'Freetown Sound' hit the shelves I avoided eye contact and kept walking, almost missing out on one of my records of the year. Politicised, soulful and culturally aware songwriting expressed through the most forward thinking synthwave sounds.

Barry says: A soulful mix of ultra-silky synthwave textures, Hynes' trademark vocal delivery (as well as a who's who of guests) and silky hip-hop percussion. Though the production throughout is impeccable, it manages to retain an element of surprise, ranging from heartfelt soul to a percussive instrumental breakdown in a few short minutes. Brilliantly innovative, but eminently listenable, this is another tour-de-force from Hynes et al and sure to become a favourite for lovers of (almost) any genre. As exceptional as it is revolutionary.

Millie says: Freetown Sound is such a prominent album for me, resounding politically and emotionally charged, it holds a lot of important messages. The album seems more progressive from his previous albums, it is confident and distinct. The songs Chance, Love Ya and Hadron Collider are a handful of my favourites off the album.

TRACK LISTING

By Ourselves
Augustine
Chance
Best To You
With Him
EVP
Love Ya
But You
Desirée
Hands Up
Hadron Collider
Squash Squash
Juicy 1-4
Better Than Me
Thank You
I Know
Better Numb

PICCADILLY EXCLUSIVE: PRE-ORDER THE ALBUM AND ENTER A DRAW TO WIN A 100cmx100cm PROMOTIONAL FABRIC DISPLAY BANNER – ONLY 1 IN THE WORLD!!!

Where 2014's Present Tense album found Wild Beasts in reflective mood, absorbing a fascination with online culture and electronic music, Boy King has them, as Tom Fleming puts it, "back to being pissed off". The quartet’s ever-present knack for sensual melody via Hayden Thorpe and Fleming's dueting vocals, Ben Little's sinuous guitar groove and Chris Talbot's potent rhythm section carries in Boy King an aggressive, snarling and priapic beast that delves into the darker side of masculinity and Thorpe's own psyche. As Hayden himself says, "After five records there had to be an element of 'what the fuck?'".

A newfound creative friction between Thorpe and Fleming proved key to unleashing the unique pop sensibility of Boy King - Fleming’s more visceral experimentation unlocking new dimensions in Thorpe’s own writing. After spending a whole year finessing this new found impetus in East London, the band emerged with a collection of songs ready to take to Dallas and producer John Congleton (St. Vincent, Swans, The War on Drugs). Both Thorpe and Fleming credit that trip to Dallas with teasing out the raw power of Boy King. In the studio, the band kept up the intensity of the office hour routine they'd employed during writing sessions and, they say, responded well to Congleton's sober discipline. "He made us get in there, get on and do it," Fleming says. "English politeness never featured."

The raw pop of Boy King's songs are the perfect foil to Thorpe's libidinous lyricism: "it became apparent that that guitar almost became the character within the songs, that phallic character, the all-conquering male," he says. "I'm letting my inner Byron fully out, I thought I'd tucked him away, but he came screaming back like the Incredible Hulk." Here lies Boy King's greatest success. Between the slide of prowling aggression and interior darkness, there are glorious, gorgeous moments. It’s yet another incomparable Wild Beasts record; a visceral, sensual and jolting body of work that acts as a remarkable soundtrack to the early 21st century male malaise. Or as Thorpe puts it: "I think Boy King is an apocalyptic record. It's about swimming in the abyss. When you think about sex, you've got to think about death, they're one and the same.”

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Wild beasts come back to the fore with this funky slab of wistful electronic indie, drenched in 90's reverb and synth stabs. This outing sees their minimal instrumental input accentuated by crystal-clear production values and thumping sub-bass drones. Indie for the dancefloor, satisfying and ethereally rousing. Top stuff.

TRACK LISTING

Big Cat
Tough Guy
Alpha Female
Get My Bang
Celestial Creatures
2BU
He The Colossus
Ponytail
Eat Your Heart Out Adonis
Dreamliner

Over their almost decade-and-a-half career, The Kills have released four records. Each one a restless, reckless enigmatic art statement that bristled with tension, anxiety, sex, unstudied cool and winking ennui, yet not one of them sounded like the previous one. Ash & Ice is the follow up to 2011’s critically lauded Blood Pressures and was five years in the making in part due to Jamie Hince’s five hand surgeries, which resulted in him having to re-learn how to play guitar with a permanently damaged finger.

Unlike earlier albums, which have largely been written and recorded at Key Club Studio in Benton Harbor, Michigan, the bulk of the recording for Ash & Ice took place in a rented house in LA and at the world famous Electric Lady Studios in NYC. The album was produced by Jamie Hince and co-produced by John O’Mahony (Metric, The Cribs), and mixed by Tom Elmhirst (Adele, Arcade Fire, Amy Winehouse) and Tchad Blake (Black Keys, Arctic Monkeys).

It was during Hince’s recuperation from surgery that he first started sketching out what would become the songs for the album. To shake up the writing process, Hince booked a solo trip on the infamous Trans-Siberian Express for inspiration while Alison Mosshart, now residing in Nashville, TN, wrote some of the most affecting, poetically candid lyrics that she ever has, painting word pictures that mine the dangerous terrain between romantic obsession, prophecy and tough love. Where previous albums had an air of detachment and emotional austerity, underpinned by an uneasy self-awareness and unexpressed anger, the 13 songs on Ash & Ice are more understated, less tempestuous and more affecting because of that, exposing the kind of push-pull you feel when you find yourself in a complicated but all-consuming relationship. Ash & Ice is The Kills at their emotionally charged, arresting best. Prepare to be slayed.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: The Kills return with their newest album since 2011's 'Blood Pressures' and this might just be their most intricate and emotive offering yet. Further emphasising their innate ability to pluck at the heartstrings whilst soothing the soul. Mossheart's vocals are as sultry and emotive as ever, and the instrumentation is just as you'd expect : raw, honest and beautiful.

TRACK LISTING

1. Doing It To Death
2. Heart Of A Dog
3. Hard Habit To Break
4. Bitter Fruit
5. Days Of Why And How
6. Let It Drop
7. Hum For Your Buzz
8. Siberian Nights
9. That Love
10. Impossible Tracks
11. Black Tar
12. Echo Home
13. Whirling Eye

For the making of ‘Paradise’, vocalist Mish Barber- Way, guitarist Kenneth William and drummer Anne- Marie Vassiliou reconnected in Los Angeles to work with producer Lars Stalfors (HEALTH, Cold War Kids, Alice Glass) and also sat down with Annie Clark aka St. Vincent to discuss the making of the album.

Bringing all the energy, unique guitar work and lyrical prowess the band are known for to the studio, White Lung curated their songs with a new pop sensibility, focusing on making a record for the present.

TRACK LISTING

Dead Weight
Narcoleptic
Below
Kiss Me When I Bleed
Demented
Sister
Hungry
I Beg You
Vegas
Paradise

The most beautiful and stark of Cass McComb’s albums, ‘Wit’s End’ is a classic in a cannon of superlative songwriting.

Respected by everyone from Vampire Weekend to Band Of Horses it’s time for you find out what all the fuss is about.

STAFF COMMENTS

Andy says: Sad songs say so much!

TRACK LISTING

1. County Line
2. The Lonely Doll
3. Buried Alive
4. Saturday Song
5. Memory’s Stain
6. Hermit’s Cave
7. Pleasant Shadow Song
8. A Knock Upon The Door

‘Pennied Days’ is the second album from Minneapolisbased band Night Moves.

Written and recorded by principle band members John Pelant and Micky Alfano and produced by John Agnello (Kurt Vile, Sonic Youth, The Walkmen), the album follows 2012’s ‘Colored Emotions’.

The album feels warm with feeling, tinged with a deep appreciation for rock & roll’s most storied songwriters. Ranging from traditionalist heroes like Leon Russell and The Band to R&B originators Curtis Mayfield and Sly Stone to pre-punk experimentalists Suicide. It’s distinctly modern and a great leap forward from ‘Colored Emotions’.

‘Pennied Days’ was recorded following tours with Father John Misty, Lord Huron, Django Django and Polica.

TRACK LISTING

The album finds Alex Turner and Miles Kane reunited with James Ford (production and drums) and Owen Pallett (string arrangements) and joined by Zachary Dawes (Mini Mansions) on bass, recording the follow up to 2008’s ‘The Age Of The Understatement’ at Shangri La Studio in Malibu.

Featuring current single ‘Bad Habits’, ‘Everything You’ve Come To Expect’ is a more open and expansive work than its predecessor, wearing its influences less obviously on its sleeve – by turns the album is soaring, snarling and breathlessly seductive.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Once again, Alex Turner and Miles Kane deliver a minor-key slice of melancholic yet melodic indie-rock. Dark reverbed vocals, snappy snare hits and oy-like shouting appears completely naturally, the sound not suffering at all from a change of pace. The strings on show here further emphasising the crescendo of both tone and density, and exacerbating the lifting tension present. Low-fi but meticulously crafted, and yet another reason (as if you needed one) that Turner and co. deserve your attention.

TRACK LISTING

1. Aviation
2. Miracle Aligner
3. Dracula Teeth
4. Everything You’ve Come To Expect
5. The Element Of Surprise
6. Bad Habits
7. Sweet Dreams, TN
8. Used To Be My Girl
9. She Does The Woods
10. Pattern
11. The Dream Synopsis

7"  Bonus Tracks (Indies Exclusive Vinyl Only)
1. Bad Habits
2. The Bourne Identity

Following last year’s re-emergence with ‘Instrumentals 2015’, three of Flying Saucer Attack’s most revered albums - ‘Chorus’ (1995), ‘Distance’ (1994) and ‘Further’ (1995) - are now reissued on Domino.

All three albums are essential listening for those who are still capable of dreaming even as our dreams are co-opted and second guessed in a digital era which is revealing itself to be monstrously voracious and venal. ‘Chorus’, ‘Distance’ and ‘Further’ open up spaces in the mind where one may wander at will, with main man Dave Pearce’s excoriating feedback serving as a dream weapon designed to cleanse the grit from the mind’s eye. The melodies beyond the noise reassure us that it’s okay to take this route away from the superhighway and explore paths trodden only by a few, Pearce and collaborators included. This may be derided by some as escapism; rather it is parallelism. The search for alternatives, when the very term ‘alternative’ has been devalued beyond all recognition.

TRACK LISTING

Oceans
Standing Stone
Crystal Shade
Instrumental Wish
Distance
November Mist
Soaring High
Oceans 2

‘Potential’ is the new album from Brooklyn, NYbased musician James Hinton, aka The Range.

‘Potential’ uses as its backbone a series of vocal samples that Hinton has found in the forgotten corners of YouTube, introducing us to unknown artists expressing themselves unfettered by the constraints of industry, lost in the infinite potential of an audience unknown.

A documentary about the people he has sampled, entitled ‘Superimpose’ and directed by Daniel Kauffman, will be released this spring.

TRACK LISTING

‘Potential’
Regular
Copper Wire
Florida
Superimpose
Five Four
Falling Out Of Phase
No Loss
Skeptical
Retune
So
1804

‘Strings EP’ (comes With Indies Exclusive Vinyl Only)
The Magic
True Value
Flag
Naught

Following last year’s re-emergence with ‘Instrumentals 2015’, three of Flying Saucer Attack’s most revered albums - ‘Chorus’ (1995), ‘Distance’ (1994) and ‘Further’ (1995) - are now reissued on Domino.

All three albums are essential listening for those who are still capable of dreaming even as our dreams are co-opted and second guessed in a digital era which is revealing itself to be monstrously voracious and venal. ‘Chorus’, ‘Distance’ and ‘Further’ open up spaces in the mind where one may wander at will, with main man Dave Pearce’s excoriating feedback serving as a dream weapon designed to cleanse the grit from the mind’s eye. The melodies beyond the noise reassure us that it’s okay to take this route away from the superhighway and explore paths trodden only by a few, Pearce and collaborators included. This may be derided by some as escapism; rather it is parallelism. The search for alternatives, when the very term ‘alternative’ has been devalued beyond all recognition.

TRACK LISTING

Feedback Song
Light In The Evening
Always
Feedback Song Demo
Second Hour
Popol VUH III
Beach Red Lullaby
There But Not There
February 8th
There Dub

For fifteen years Animal Collective has been rewriting the musical map, their line-up and aesthetic shifting with each astonishing release as they continue their pursuit of a new psychedelia. Their wild path has taken them from cramped concrete basement shows and forest floor singalongs to immersive installations at the Guggenheim and performances to millions on national television. So where to from here?

Dizzyingly upbeat and gloriously realized, their new LP bounces and pops with an urgent, ecstatic energy, propelled by polyrhythmic beats and gurgling modular synth, with Noah Lennox and Dave Portner’s vocals gleefully falling in and out of syncopation and off-kilter harmony.

Working as a trio, Portner (Avey Tare), Lennox (Panda Bear) and Brian Weitz (Geologist) began trading demos in early 2015, pursuing a goal of what Portner calls “really short songs: no B.S, get in, get out material…” The three met up in Asheville during that Spring and began exploring the songs together. Recording took place in the legendary EastWest Studios in Hollywood, home to sessions by The Beach Boys and Marvin Gaye. The album features contributions from John Cale and Colin Stetson, and was engineered by Sonny DiPerri.

The result: Painting With. Warm and personal, kaleidoscopic and high definition, concerned with art (cubism, Dadaism, and the distorted way those artists viewed the world) and the human experience, and the meeting of both - creating something elemental, joyous, and unmistakably Animal Collective.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: From the very first moment, 'Painting With' grabs your attention through a mix of exuberant lyricism and vocal delivery, underpinned by frenetic psychedelic instrumentation. Part surf-psych, part art-pop, this is undoubtedly an Animal Collective record, and quite possibly the best one yet.

TRACK LISTING

01. FloriDada
02. Hocus Pocus
03. Vertical
04. Lying In The Grass
05. The Burglars
06. Natural Selection
07. Bagels In Kiev
08. On Delay
09. Spilling Guts
10. Summing The Wretch
11. Golden Gal
12. Recycling

Porches is the project of Aaron Maine, who resides in New York City. ‘Pool’ is Porches’ second full length album and their debut on Domino.

Written and recorded almost entirely in the Manhattan apartment he shares with his partner and frequent collaborator Greta Kline (aka Frankie Cosmos), ‘Pool’ is an elegantly drawn set of gorgeous, synth-driven pop songs that were influenced, in part, by settling down.

‘Pool’ was written, recorded and produced by Aaron Maine and mixed in Los Angeles by Chris Coady (Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Grizzly Bear, Beach House, Tobias Jesso Jr).

TRACK LISTING

Underwater
Braid
Be Apart
Mood
Hour
Even The Shadow
Pool
Glow
Car
Shaver
Shape
Security

Your Friend is Taryn Miller, who plays guitar, writes, sings the vocals and crafts loops. Taryn recorded ‘Gumption’ in New York with Nicolas Vernhes (Deerhunter, War On Drugs) at his Rare Book Room studio.

The album builds on the ideas of Your Friend’s previous EP, ‘Jekyll/Hyde’ and since Taryn has toured with Courtney Barnett and play her first SXSW.

TRACK LISTING

Heathering
Come Back From It
To Live With
Desired Things
Nothing Moved
Gumption
I Turned In
Who Will I Be In The Morning?

There are no Peel sessions anymore - that tradition was buried in the pyramids with John Peel himself upon the great man's passing. Of the thousands left in the wake, six are ascribed to Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - and of those six, three have been combined to form the deeply congruous experience of Pond Scum.

A span of eight years is covered, in reverse, and many chestnuts are rolled out, freed of former contexts with sparse arrangements. "(I Was Drunk at the) Pulpit" feels, ten years from inception, more vividly worn; "Death to Everyone" is loosed from its frame, the bones decoupled and spread out, giving the song a re?ective air (as opposed the biting declamation of the original); "Arise, Therefore" adapts its metronomic base, the evangelic twist of its roots made palpable. With the centre of the performance in stark relief, the gnomic qualities of two "Get On Jolly" pieces are intensi?ed. Further accenting the devoted spirit of this collection is the inclusion of Bonnie's take on Prince's "The Cross", as well as the previously-unreleased original "Beezle."

Bonnie's lone shadow casts over this lot, accompanied on the ?rst four tracks by David Heumann, but otherwise playing solo through a set of original songs (and two covers) representing a decade of progress in the almost unbearably intimate-yet-unknowable manner that was so often the vibe of those strange and wondrous days.

Layers peel to reveal the subtle artistry and refinement contained within these sessions, so begin to dig deep into the vault on January 22nd, 2016! But wait, there's more! You can download a new arrangement of "Rich Wife Full of Happiness", (which is similar in tone, but not found on Pond Scum!)!

‘Where Have You Been All My Life?’ is a collection of songs that distils five years and three albums of Villagers’ songwriting into one flowing narrative.

Recorded in one day at London’s RAK Studio with Richard Woodcraft (Radiohead, The Last Shadow Puppets) and Villagers live engineer Ber Quinn, the album is a re-imagining of older material seamlessly woven with present glories from Villagers’ most recent studio album, ‘Darling Arithmetic’.

Released in April 2015, Conor O’Brien’s third album under the guise of Villagers was a more pared-back, intimate journey compared to the multi-faceted arrangements of ‘Becoming A Jackal’ (2010) and ‘{Awayland}’ (2013). This fresh approach was extended on subsequent Villagers tours, where old songs were reinvented to match the new. Then for one day in July 2015, 18 songs were quickly captured and 12 songs chosen for the final album, making it Villagers’ most intense but satisfying session to date. These recordings are all first or second takes and the immediacy of the occasion was part of the magic that day, live and unadorned by overdubs or studio trickery.

The unique nature of these arrangements is due in no small part to the musicians in the room at the time of recording: Cormac Curran on grand piano and analogue synthesizer, Danny Snow on double bass, Mali Llywelyn on harp, mellotron and vocals and Gwion Llewelyn on drums, flugelhorn and vocals. The result is a lush, harmony-laden and vibrant document of a time and a place.

Included in the album is a new recording of ‘Memoir’, which O’Brien wrote for Charlotte Gainsbourg; it can be found on her 2011 album ‘Stage Whisper’ but has never before been recorded by Villagers until now.

TRACK LISTING

Set The Tigers Free
Everything I Am Is Yours
My Lighthouse
Courage
That Day
The Soul Serene
Memoir
Hot Scary Summer
The Waves
Darling Arithmetic
So Naive
Wichita Lineman

Cass McCombs’ new anthology, ‘A Folk Set Apart’, is subtitled ‘Rarities, B-Sides & Space Junk, Etc.’ and showcases McCombs’ thematic and emotional diversity.

Comprising songs from 2003-2014, this release will both satiate and perplex those already familiar with McCombs, while compelling and rewarding new listeners, pointing a way towards his back catalogue.

‘A Folk Set Apart’ includes 19 songs (19 on CD, 11 on LP plus 8 digital bonus tracks) all remastered for this release.

“The biggest thing ever to happen to indie pop in America... Most of what's written about this band is all about that sweet pop and those childish affectations, but that misses the substance at the core: Their music was dark, damaged, full of fright and sex and death and vulnerability-- just like any real childhood...their hopscotch stories felt punker than Black Flag tattoos ever could.” - Nitsuh Abebe, Pitchfork

Exploding the teenage underground into passionate revolt against the corporate ogre since 1983, Beat Happening formed at Evergreen College in Olympia, Washington by Calvin Johnson, Heather Lewis and Bret Lunsford. The band combined a modern primitive pop sound with the D.I.Y. ethos of ‘anyone can do it’ and inspired countless bands and labels along the way. The music community that arose around the band and their label, K, may have seemed the sonic antithesis of their Seattle neighbors (and friends) but was no less influential.

The legend of Beat Happening, and of K, the label that Calvin Johnson founded, is full of big names they worked with before they were stars (Beck! Modest Mouse! The Gossip!), and big names they influenced (Kurt Cobain! Sleater-Kinney!) Less acknowledged, however, is that Bret Lunsford, Heather Lewis, and Calvin Johnson created some of the most original and surprising music to come out of the often deliberately weird American punk rock tradition. Working from a sonic template of the Cramps, Trouble Funk, Young Marble Giants, and messianic blues, Beat Happening confounded and often incited violence from audiences weaned on hardcore punk. In the place of macho aggression, Beat Happening confronted the all-ages scene with Heather’s low-key delivery and Calvin’s fey theatrics, topped off by his trademark dance move: rubbing his tummy. For a supposedly cutesy band, Beat Happening was adamant about asserting its right to exist, carrying itself with a punk as fuck attitude that would become a key inspirational lodestone for the generation of D.I.Y. bands that followed, including Bikini Kill and the Nation of Ulysses.

30 years since the release of their self-titled debut album, Look Around is a remastered, career-spanning double album anthology, handpicked by the band and a great starting point for the uninitiated as well a refreshing reminder to those who caught the wave the first time around. The 23 tracks range from their 1984 debut single, “Our Secret” b/w “What’s Important” (originally sold directly for $2.50 to individuals, but $4 to institutions) to “Angel Gone,” a single released in 2000 after eight years of inactivity.

TRACK LISTING

Side A:
Our Secret
Foggy Eyes
Bad Seeds
What’s Important
Look Around
Bewitched
In Between

Side B:
Indian Summer
Other Side
Black Candy
Cast A Shadow
Nancy Sin
Knock On Any Door
Left Behind

Side C:
Red Head Walking
Fortune Cookie Prize
Hot Chocolate Boy
Pine Box Derby
Tiger Trap

Side D:
Godsend
Teenage Caveman
Noise
Angel Gone

On his ‘Crosswords’ EP, Noah Lennox bequeaths five fresh and finely observed body-pop wonders.

Three new songs: ‘No Mans Land’, ‘Jabberwocky’ and ‘Cosplay’ and two re-castings of previous ore -‘The Preakness’ (previously heard in spirited demo form on 2012’s ‘Tomboy’ boxset) and the whole shebang treasure-topped with a fresh take on his ‘PBVSGR’ soul tour de force ‘Crosswords’.

Aided on studio production duties by Sonic Boom.

Eye-popping artwork by Swiss artist Marco Papiro with custom typefaces by Black Dice’s Bjorn Copeland.

TRACK LISTING

Crosswords (EP Mix)
No Mans Land
Jabberwocky
The Preakness
Cosplay

There has been an issue with barcode on the limited vinyl version and so it has been pulled until this is resolved. We should have it back in stock again later in the week. Sorry! 

‘West Kirby County Primary’ - written and recorded by Bill Ryder-Jones in his childhood bedroom at his mother’s house in West Kirby before being filtered through Liverpool’s legendary Parr Street Studios - is the third full length album from Bill Ryder-Jones and finds him fronting a classic band set-up.

Each of ‘West Kirby County Primary’s ten tracks offers a sneaked glance into his private world; they eavesdrop on a set of encounters that go about “turning stories into beautiful truth” set to glorious molten melody that explodes like fireworks over water.

It all adds up to a remarkable record by one of Domino’s most cherished musicians - a musical polymath as at ease on stage with the Manchester Camerata (where he performed as part of the Manchester Literature Festival last Autumn) or on live guitar duties with Arctic Monkeys as he is on production duties with Hooton Tennis Club and The Wytches.

The follow-up to ‘A Bad Wind Blows In My Heart’ was produced by Ryder-Jones and mixed by James Ford.

TRACK LISTING

Tell Me You Don’t Love
Me Watching
Two To Birkenhead
Let's Get Away From
Here
Daniel
Put It Down Before You
Break It
Catharine And Huskisson
Wild Roses
You Can’t Hide A Light
With The Dark
Satellites
Seabirds

Bonus 7” (with Indies Exclusive Vinyl Only)
Out Of The Dark
Even Good Things

Philadelphia’s Alex Giannascoli aka Alex G releases ‘Beach Music’, his forthcoming new album and his first for Domino.

The album, his seventh full-length, follows on from previous beloved albums ‘DSU’ (Orchid Tapes), ‘Trick’ and’ Rules’, all which have led to a fervent cult fanbase and a number of Artist To Watch designations from publications such as Fader and Rolling Stone.

The album was mixed by Jacob Portrait of Unknown Mortal Orchestra.

TRACK LISTING

‘Beach Music’
Intro
Bug
Thorns
Kicker
Salt
Look Out
Brite Boy
In Love
Walk
Mud
Ready
Station
Snot

Alex G Live At The Headroom
(Bonus LP - With Deluxe Vinyl Edition Only)
Look Out
Black Hair
Bug
Kicker
Wicked Boy
Mary
Ice Head
Boy
Snot
Rules
Soak
Mis
After Ur Gone

THE PICCADILLY RECORDS ALBUM OF THE YEAR 2015.

'Have You In My Wilderness' is the fourth full length album by Los Angeles artist Julia Holter and her most intimate album yet. Recorded in her hometown over the last year and once again crafted with Grammy-winning producer and engineer Cole Greif-Neill, the album follows 2013's 'Loud City Song' and two much-lauded previous titles - 'Ekstasis' (2012) and 'Tragedy' (2011).

'Have You in My Wilderness' was written from the heart - warm, dark and raw - and explores love, trust, and power in human relationships. While love songs are familiar in pop music, Holter manages to stay fascinatingly oblique and enigmatic, with some of the most sublime and transcendent music she has ever written. Like Holter's previous albums, 'Have You in My Wilderness' is multi-layered and texturally rich, featuring an array of electronic and acoustic instruments played by an ensemble of gifted Los Angeles musicians.

'Have You in My Wilderness' is also Holter's most sonically intimate album, with her vocals front and centre in the mix, lifted out of the layers of smeared, hazy effects. The result is striking: clear and vivid, but disarmingly personal.

STAFF COMMENTS

David says: 'Have You In My Wilderness’ is Julia Holter’s fourth and most accessible album to date, but given that previous records have looked to Greek Philosophers and French novelists for their inspiration, this perhaps isn’t the boldest of statements.
Holter, a music and composition graduate, approaches her craft in a cerebral, conceptual way that is still very much apparent on the album’s arrangements and time signatures. However, on ‘Have You In My Wilderness’, her more exotic tendencies have been tamed by producer M Cole Grief-Neill. He’s convinced Holter to shake off the shackles of reverb in which her otherworldly voice has always been chained and let it take centre stage on the record. It’s a master stroke that’s culminated in a sonically direct, shimmering, leftfield pop classic that everyone at Piccadilly Records has been willing her to make since first hearing 2013’s ‘Loud City Song’.
Dark and lovely, exploring pop’s universalities of love and relationships, ‘Have You In My Wilderness’ is the perfect soundtrack to winter’s long nights. Where previously Holter could be accused of being cold and aloof, she now revels in a new found warmth and intimacy. It’s like the girl on the bus that’s been ignoring you for months suddenly walking over and saying “hi, fancy going for a drink later?” - Completely unexpected and all the more wonderful for it.
But wait, don’t go! I know what you’re thinking. ‘Love and relationships? Surely ballads are the end credit to a thousand, desperate Saturday nights; certainly nothing new in pop music?’ BUT, and it’s a big but, Holter’s take on this, the most clichéd of pop clichés, is brilliantly oblique. Flitting from orchestral chamber music to Laurel Canyon introspection, it’s a schizophrenic record, whose many competing voices have combined to make ‘Have You In My Wilderness’ Piccadilly’s favourite album of 2015.

Andy says: Finally Julia Holter does what she's been threatening to do for ages: combines all her arty, classical, jazzy, ehtereal, avanty otherness into one near-pop masterpiece! Definitely one of the best records this year.

TRACK LISTING

1. Feel You
2. Silhouette
3. How Long?
4. Lucette Stranded On The Island
5. Sea Calls Me Home
6. Night Song
7. Everytime Boots
8. Betsy On The Roof
9. Vasquez
10. Have You In My Wilderness

‘The Making Of’ lands blow after blow. Featuring early singles XXX and Swarm, alongside Radio 1 playlisted To Die For and Where You At, the album is two barrels' worth of electrifying tunes and crackling 21st Century rock and roll.

The Bohicas are rock and roll painted in vivid primary colours. Hi def, loud, fast, shiny and above all fun. A barrage of killer hooks, razor blade riffs and choruses that slap you in the face, grab your hand and lead you onto the dance floor. All shot through with pulp imagery torn from the pages of a graphic novel.

‘The Making Of’ was produced by Mark Rankin (Queens Of The Stone Age, Bombay Bicycle Club), Chris ‘Merrick’ Hughes (Tears For Fears, Adam And The Ants) and Oli Bayston (Toy, Boxed In).

The Bohicas are Dominic McGuinness, drummer Brendan Heaney, guitarist Dominic John and bassist Adrian Acolatse. The Bohicas’ story began in Essex where, as schoolmates, McGuinness, Heaney and John first came together over a love of The Beatles, The Kinks, Ray Charles and the new wave of guitar bands who emerged at the start of the century after the scrag ends of Britpop had finally limped off.

TRACK LISTING

1. I Do It For Your Love
2. To Die For
3. Only You
4. Girlfriend
5. The Making Of
6. Where You At
7. XXX
8. Swarm
9. Red Raw
10. Upside Down And Inside Out
11. Somehow You Know What I Mean