Following on 2021’s massive reboot of Midnight Magic’s seminal classic Beam Me Up, Razor-N-Tape have now unearthed a bit of NYC indie disco history with 'I Found Love.'

Although recorded over 10 years ago in Midnight Magic’s nascent early period that produced many of their legendary hits, the song never received an official release; until now it has been heard only by select ears and lucky concert-goers. The package comes with a grip of luminous remixes by Dimitri From Paris & DJ Rocca, Sophie Lloyd, Perel, some solicited at the time of recording and some brand new, but all exceptionally fresh!


“'I Found Love' was recorded in a fever on the heels of releasing 'Beam Me Up' New York dance music wizard Tommie Sunshine approached us about a co-write saying we should go as big as possible. So we did, it is one of our all time favorite vocal performances from our singer, Tiffany Roth. We had big plans, too, for a release but nothing quite felt right until meeting the Razor N Tape crew almost a decade later. Finally the stage is set, the lights are on, and we're ready. This song is very special to us because it is the last unreleased recording of our original lineup. We dedicate its release to our late bandmates Andrew Frawley and Jason Disu.”

TRACK LISTING

A1.  Perel Remix
A2.  Original Version
B1.  Dimitri From Paris & DJ Rocca Erodiscotique Remix
B2.  Sophie Lloyd Remix

Berlin-based modular synthesist and Berghain resident JakoJako returns with her Mute debut, Verve EP.

Although newly-signed, JakoJako is not a new name within the Mute catalogue with appearances on both Martin Gore’s The Third Chimpanzee Remixed and New Order’s Be a Rebel Remix 12”. This release follows her immersive debut album Metamorphose, and presents four brilliant new songs including the icy techno track ‘Auris’, released exclusively on Beatport in November 2022. 

TRACK LISTING

A1 Impetus
A2 Opak
B1 Auris
B2 Nexus

“Fight Test” was the third single released from The Flaming Lips hugely popular and successful album Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots. Released in June 2003, the single entered the US Billboard Top 100 and peaked at #28 in the UK singles chart. The 7-track EP was included in the 6 CD Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots 20th Anniversary box set released in November 2022, and it is now being released on vinyl for the first time. In addition to the title track, it features a remix of “Do You Realize??”, “Thank You Jack White”, and 3 covers including a live version of the Kyle Minogue hit “Can’t Get You Out Of My Head”, and Radiohead’s “Knives Out”. This limited-edition version is pressed on Ruby Red Vinyl.

TRACK LISTING

Side A
1. Fight Test
2. Can't Get You Out Of My Head (Live)
3. The Golden Age (Live)
4. Knives Out (Live)
Side B
1. Do You Realize??
2. The Strange Design Of Conscience
3. Thank You Jack White

Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell includes 7 “Yoshimi”-era tracks that were included in the 6 CD Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots 20th Anniversary Box Set released in November 2022. Originally released as CD EP in 2003, it is now being released on vinyl for the first time on vinyl. It features two versions of the title track (one remixed by Jason Bentley), a remix by The Postal Service of “Do You Realize??”, and 4 non-album tracks. This limited-edition version is pressed on “Glow In The Dark” green vinyl.

TRACK LISTING

Side A
1. Assassination Of The Sun
2. I'm A Fly In A Sunbeam (Following The Funeral Procession Of A Stranger)
3. Sunship Balloons
4. Do You Realize
Side B
1. Ego Tripping (Ego In Acceleration)
2. Ego Tripping (Self Admiration With Blow-up Mix)
3. A Change At Christmas

Hit-writing anti-icons, Das Koolies emerge to explode three decades of digression as Super Furry Animals with their electronic depth-charge debut EP: The Condemned. Huw Bunford, Cian Ciarán, Dafydd Ieuan and Guto Pryce restore original Furry vision with techno-inspired, heavy-tech sound inspired by illegal rave roots.

A past fades out for a future to begin as the long-running, secretive DAS KOOLIES ‘dream project’’, emanating from Cardiff’s post-industrial docklands, delivers its first consignment of complex, wired euphoria: The Condemned. Chains of decayed connection and shackles of genre-expectation are audibly broken as Huw Bunford, Cian Ciarán, Dafydd Ieuan and Guto Pryce re-route their paths as notorious scientists of sound, taking the outside lane to arrive close to where it all began for Super Furry Animals.

Soldering human touch to synths and samplers, Das Koolies come through on their manifesto pledge of incinerating acoustic guitars while unsafely loading as much noise- making machinery onto their studio mains supply as possible. The Condemned, a confrontational, synth-driven outsider anti-anthem comes through as a warm-blood-on-cold- steel rope act of strict automation and humanity, commanding computers and code to find compromise with Ieuan and Bunford’s vocals.

All tracks from the forthcoming EP were produced by Das Koolies and mixed in collaboration with Chris Shaw (Public Enemy, A Tribe Called Quest, Run-DMC). In a brief statement, Das Koolies say: “Everything for a reason and a reason for everything. A beginning catalysed by the past. Of machines and of man. Let the beat now lead the way.”

TRACK LISTING

01. The Condemned
02. Dim Byd Mawr
03. You Killed My Robot
04. Grab A Slice

Mdou Moctar has announced details of part two of the Niger EP series – featuring live and alternate versions of songs spanning the band’s discography recorded in their native Niger.

“Ibitlan is a love song,” says producer and bassist Mikey Coltun. “Mdou sings about his love for a woman, comparing her to a beautiful valley with a stream running through it, how her skin is a yellow flower and her smile is like lightning. This particular recording was done in Agadez in 2017 at a wedding. Mdou and I had played three weddings a day for about a month and a half on that trip. It was like bootcamp. I loved it. Ibitlan is one of Mdou's oldest songs and is covered by pretty much every Tuareg guitarist. We've played versions of this song lasting over 20 minutes. It's definitely one of my favorites to play!”

An innovative alchemy of Tuareg folk, blues and rock, electric guitar pyrotechnics, field recordings and electronics with poetic call-to-arms lyrics about the plight of his homeland of Niger, Moctar’s 2021 album Afrique Victime swept end of year lists, achieving high placements in The Economist, The Guardian, The New York Times, Uncut, MOJO, Pitchfork, The New Yorker, NPR, Rolling Stone, Dazed & Confused, DJ, Crack and many others.

TRACK LISTING

1. Iblis Amghar
2. Ibitilan
3. Nakane Dish
4. Chimoumounim
5. Asdikte Akal
6. Azawad

Niger EP Vol. 1 features recordings captured in Moctar’s native country, including previously unreleased 13-minute drum machine & electric guitar epic ‘Imouhar’, four live versions of songs from across Moctar’s albums Afrique Victime, Afelan and Akounak Tedalat Taha Tazoughai (translating to “Rain the Color of Blue with A Little Red In It”, the soundtrack to Moctar’s Tuareg-language film remake of Prince’s Purple Rain), as well as a drum machine version of Afrique Victime opening track ‘Chismiten”. Watch a visualiser for ‘Chismiten’ (Drum Machine Version) HERE.

Producer and bass player Mikey Coltun says: “In 2021, we started the Mdou Moctar mixtape series. These releases compiled field recordings, cellphone voice memos, interview clips, conversations captured in the tour van, and blown-out board recordings from shows all over the world. As a continuation of those mixtapes, we present the Niger EPs, which examine the roots of the Mdou Moctar band. Early Mdou recordings were contained on cassettes, though the humble tape was soon replaced by the quick and easy facility of cellphone technology. Long bus rides are common in West Africa. On one of these rides, you might be seated next to a stranger and ask, "What are you listening to?" Then a song exchange would begin over Bluetooth. This is a very real way artists found their music distributed far from home. In that vein, the Niger EP series features solely recordings taped in Mdou Moctar's home country of Niger. Volume 1 begin the series with a mix of recordings from 2017-2020, documenting the band at weddings, picnics, rehearsals, and even impromptu house concerts. A must have for any Mdou Moctar fan!”

An innovative alchemy of Tuareg folk, blues and rock, electric guitar pyrotechnics, field recordings and electronics with poetic call-to-arms lyrics about the plight of his homeland of Niger, Moctar’s 2021 album Afrique Victime swept end of year lists, achieving high placements in The Economist, The Guardian, The New York Times, Uncut, MOJO, Pitchfork, The New Yorker, NPR, Rolling Stone, Dazed & Confused, DJ, Crack and many others.

TRACK LISTING

1. Imouhar (Drum Machine Version)
2. Chismiten (Drum Machine Version)
3. Sibidoul (Live)
4. Afelan (Live)
5. Layla (Live)
6. Afrique Victime (Live)

Kerri Chandler delivers ‘Lost & Found Vol.2’ this March, marking the second instalment of the series which focuses on tracks from his archives.

Kerri Chandler’s Kaoz Theory unveiled the label bosses ‘Spaces & Places’ LP in 2022, showcasing Kerri’s globetrotting career of the past few decades and featuring recordings produced on the dance floors of many leading clubs such as DC10, Sub Club, Rex, Printworks and more.

Here the label kicks off 2023 with a glimpse into Chandler’s archived material, offering up four cuts in his inimitable, iconic style.

‘Fluff Rehab’ leads the way and see Kerri offering up crisp drums, spiralling dub stabs and fluttering low-end pulsations throughout.

‘What If’ follows and tips the focus over to a more soulful feel, fusing a wandering bass line and airy textures with vocal chants, choppy keys, and a gritty drum groove.

‘Who Are You (Main Vox)’ then opens the B-side, retaining a similarly soul drenched feel, bringing Kerri’s own harmonious vocals into the mix alongside a crunchy, swinging rhythm and jazzy elements.

‘Dem Joy Ride’ rounds out the EP next, flipping the switch to a funk-infused, organic feel as brass lines, hypnotic keys, dynamic drums, and guitar licks collide across an ever unfolding five and a half minutes.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Fluff Rehab
A2. What If
B1. Who Are You
B2. Dem Joy Ride

Musical legends from opposite sides of the world come together on Hell Yeah's next EP as Japan's Calm and Finnish musician Jimi Tenor collaborate on big city takes. It features two new singles as well as remixes from the celebrated tapes and Belfast's best-kept secret, The Vendetta Suite.

This most satisfying of eps came together when the psychedelic space-jazz-funk king and noted musician, composer and producer Jimi Tenor was in tour in Japan. Label head Marco arranged for him to head into Calm's studio in Kawasaki, Tokyo, and real magic happened.

'Big city takes' is gloriously lush, with serene chords, delicate flutes and organic percussion. Tenor's airy vocal brings the soul as an intimate and late-night groove emerges to melt your heart.

Then come two remixes from tapes. The first is powered by dusty old-school drum breaks. They're doused in subtle euphoria with a nimble bassline down low, while the second one is stripped right back to a pulsing rhythm and killer phased bass. Spread chords bring sunrise feelings to this most colourful of grooves.

On the flip side, Calm offers a version of 'Time & Space' that is nearly eight minutes of exquisitely blissed-out downtempo. Chords ripple like waves, flutes flutter like birds and the whole thing is filled with the joys of a new spring day. The remix comes from The Vendetta Suite, a label regular and under-the-radar talent who is defining his native Northern Irish scene with his fresh fusion sounds. His version brings a new age ambiance to post-rave Balearic comedown. It's one that douses you in life-affirming synths as drums gently persuade you to sway along.

TRACK LISTING

A1.  Big City Takes (Original Mix)
A2.  Big City Takes (Tapes Remix 1)
A3.  Big City Takes (Tapes Remix 5)
B1.  Time & Space (Calm's Version)
B2.  Time & Space (Vendetta Suite Remix)

Feast or famine, Springtime will continue to sow their garden of auditory delights. Despite the global unrest and strict lockdowns that have come to define the past three years, Gareth Liddiard (Tropical Fuck Storm, The Drones), Jim White (Dirty Three, Xylouris White), and Chris Abrahams (The Necks) have continually convened to weave narratives of death, destruction, desire, and devotion. Pulling the threads cast by their eponymous debut, Night Raver offers three character studies rife with the trio's trademark urgency and poetics. To belatedly commemorate the creation of this tour de force trio, Springtime will be embarking on an Australian tour in the coming months. This is a three track EP but album length with over 40 mins of music.

TRACK LISTING

1. The Names Of The Plague
2. Penumbra
3. The Radicalisation Of D

In recent years, there has been a resurgence of interest in the incomparable 90’s band known as Brainiac. This is in part due to a 2019 full feature documentary about the band (Transmissions After Zero) plus the re-emergence of surviving band members to celebrate their music in the last several years. In addition, a substantial pair of archival releases (Attic Tapes 2xLP, From Dayton Ohio 2xLP) were unearthed for release on Record Store Day 2021 by Touch and Go Records.

Now, in 2023, comes the latest missive of the archive, harkening back to the band’s latter era - and their most prolific and confident period. The Predator Nominate EP is a celebration of what was to come before the tragic exit of ringleader/singer Timmy Taylor. Listen to these realized demos and imagine what only could have been the confident seed of what the group might be capable of in this future century versus the last one. The world will never truly know.

BIO: Brainiac began in 1992 as the basement experiments of Dayton, OH natives Tim Taylor (vocals, synth), and Juan Monasterio (bass), who first met playing cello in fifth grade. Upon completing the lineup with Michelle Bodine (guitar) and Tyler Trent (drums), they released two full-lengths and toured vigorously, establishing

themselves as the latest peg in Ohio’s diverse musical timeline. In 1994, Michelle left the band and was replaced by John Schmersal.

In 1996, the band made their full-length debut on Touch and Go Records with the album Hissing Prigs in Static Couture.

On May 23, 1997, only weeks after the release of Electroshock for President EP and the band’s return from a European tour supporting Beck, Tim lost his life in a car accident. He was 28.

TRACK LISTING

Side A

1. Predator Nominate
2. Kiss Of The Dog
3. Smothered Inside
4. The Game

Side B

5. Going Wrong
6. Didn’t Feel
7. Gone Away
8. Pyramid Theme
9. Come With Me

Following the raft of "Best of 2021" plaudits for 'The Art Of Losing', Welsh songwriter & producer The Anchoress announces the vinyl EP release of acoustic versions of tracks from her critically- acclaimed record. 'The Art Of Losing - Acoustic EP' is out on January 20th 2023 via Kscope & features a stripped back piano version of 'Show Your Face', 'Let It Hurt (String Quartet Version)' & acoustic versions of 'All Farewells Should Be Sudden' & 'The Art Of Losing' plus a solo piano take on 'The Exchange' & a special French language version of 'Let It Hurt'. Catherine Anne Davies aka The Anchoress says: "As an album that was designed to be listened to on headphones as an intimate journey into the physical & psychological landscape of grief, it's been fascinating to tackle these acoustic reworkings & explore new textures & arrangements that strip back the songs to their essential skeletons. I hope fans will find a new connection to the core of the songs within these acoustic versions & be excited to own them on vinyl for the first time."

TRACK LISTING

1. Show Your Face ( Piano Version )
2. Let It Hurt ( String Quartet Version )
3. All Farewells Should Be Sudden ( Acoustic Version )
4. The Art Of Losing ( Acoustic Lounge Version )
5. The Exchange ( Solo Piano Version )
6. Let It Hurt ( French Version ) ( Bonus Track )

Lag & X-Coast drop collaborative project XL Traxx.

Lag is a DJ / producer who has previously released on MORD, THEM, Elements, and Don’t since his first 12” in 2013. X-Coast has released on Steel City Dance Discs, Unknown To The Unknown and his own Riviera Records following his smash debut with the 90s-tinged "Mango Bay" in 2016. Teaming up for the first time, the Serbian duo unleash their new project XL Traxx with a fierce three-track EP on Radio Slave’s Rekids.

Leading the release is the energetic "M-Bomb", bringing heaving kicks, rave stabs, and a classic house vocal snippet together for a rowdy affair. On the flip, "E-Dancer" sees clever sampling and atmospheric pads meet over pounding drums before the propulsive "D-Edge" rounds out the vinyl with slick synthesis and shuffling percussion. All tracks possess that clearly defined air and sophistication of Proper Techno. Harking back to the tribal era, they playing with energy and dynamics in the way that only the best moments of the genre have always done. Like I said - Proper. 

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Devastating main room techno from Serbia. Rocking that classic high octane vibe (a la DJ Rush / Sims / early Hawtin) perfectly. Guaranteed to make you feel feral for at least 15 minutes.

TRACK LISTING

A1. M-Bomb
B1. E-Dancer
B2. D-Edge

Another piano house classic from the early 90s is excavated from the vaults for our dancing delectation by the good folks at Salford City Records!

Originally released under the DJ Roy Silver moniker, the track is actually credited to one Nick Hussey - half of Awesome 3 who penned the bona fide hardcore classic - "Don't Go". The record was released on Rhythm Of Life and regular fetches over £50 2nd hand.

"Emotion" takes an eternity to drop; utilizing the first few minutes to create a shuddering proggy soundbed that really ratchets up the tension ahead of that huge piano line - which doesn't actually occur until halfway through the track. This has early Sasha written all over it. Hard electric dance music with that rushing euphoria tailor made for going right at it after a couple of garies.

"We're On The Move" is a tougher number, led by speaker-busting sub bass and plenty of hardcore tropes as it conjures up its frenetic electric groove. When the pianos start circling overhead it's the perfect moment of tension release; allowing serotonin to flow richly through our bodies and into the collective consciousness of the dancefloor..

Side B contains two mixes of a really nice downbeat number - perfect for keeping the vibe alive at the after party when energy levels have resided slightly. The original mix of "Promised Land" utilizes more of a hefty breakbeat while the ambient mix just hints at it - allowing the bass, vox, and twinkly synths to really hit home.

Killer reissue from the label - one of the best so far I reckon! 

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: A lesser known alias of Awesome 3's Nick Hussey. Salford City Records continue to excavate choice moments of Northern 90s naughtiness.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Emotion
A2.We’re On The Move
AA1. Promised Land Original Mix
AA2. Promised Land Ambient Mix

"Sztossingery EP" (which means 'BANGERSSS' in English) is the fruit of a creative agreement between Belmondawg (one of the most brilliant polish hip-hop artists of the young generation) and The Very Polish Cut Outs.

The result are 6 remixes from Belmondawg's highly acclaimed "Hustle As Usual" mini LP that came out in 2020, created by some of the best Polish producers that are often associated with the label.

The EP starts with a massive remix from Schmoltz of "Pappardelle Al'arrabbiata" - the Belarusian producer transforms the original into a bright-eyed smooth 90's house anthem. Next is the chuggy, rugged, heavy-hitting remix of the cult track "Te Tereny" which has almost kwaito vibes to its mid-tempo stomp. The side A closes with Speek's deep, swirling, broken beat take on 'Wte i Wewte'.

On the flip we get another house shirt-lifter from Polotronic (1/2 of the duo Holiday80), a crazy re-interpretation by Tamten who transforms one of the skits on the album "Agnihotra" into a crazy and psychedelic 135bpm dancefloor affair and last but not least the record ends with the mighty Pejzaz transforming "Te Tereny" into a breezy jungle jam. Tons of variety across the EP - it's another winner for TVPC. Recommended. 

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Jam packed full of Polish house heat. A smattering of remixers tackle the stems of Belmondawg's ""Hustle As Usual" LP with staggering success.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Pappardelle Alla Arrabbiata (Viva Italia Schmoltz Wersja)
A2. Te Tereny (Niemoc Remix)
A3. Wte I Wewte (Speek Remix)

B1. Poppyn Universe (Polotronic Remix)
B2. Warszawa Plonie (Belmondawg Tribute)
B3. Te Tereny (Pejzaz Remix)

After previous releases with Chicago heavyweights like Rahaan and Darryn Jones, Dublin based disco messers Fatty Fatty return to Chi-Town once again.

This time they have Sadar Bahar on board, who expertly applies the scalpel to two heavyweight tracks along with Marc Davis.

The A-side is a thumping slice of mid 70's Philly gospel disco, with the famous Baker/Harris/Young rhythm section present and very correct. Splicing sections of the album cut and the 45 to create a driving extended mix for the floor, this is one for the peak-time dancers.

On the flip is a wild barrio jam for the more adventurous DJ, hitting hard with Latino rhythms and a mesmeric piano line that builds and builds in the background before taking over completely towards the end and knocking you for six. It's been getting rapturous receptions from Sadar's dancers during his summertime festival sets, and no doubt it'll still be doing the do all the way through the 2023 season...

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Phwoooarr that "Disco" track's a bit tasty ain't it?! Rough, raw & riotous. Meanwhile on side B, the ultimate psilocybin-induced perc and piano swirl for the secret mushroom parties of the city's underground...

TRACK LISTING

A. Disco
B. Beat Down 

Pre-order the EP and you could be in with a change of winning a limited edition test pressing, hand painted by Joy - there are only four of these in existence!
*NPN

Joyeria’s FIM (EP) is what happens when a Canadian spends his adult life patiently crafting his own path as a songwriter in London instead of following his heroes and peers in search of an assumed authenticity in Austin or Nashville. It’s what happens when a stubbornly solo artist finds a true collaborator in a producer like Speedy Wunderground’s Dan Carey. It’s what happens after a songwriter has worked hard for a long time in the dark, looking for lighting in a bottle — and finds it.

So far, Joyeria has charted his career in invisible ink. Always a shape shifter, never a genre chaser. He’s quit bands when their buzz was the buzziest, he’s released music under names even devotees could never remember how to spell and has insisted on building his backstory entirely with gaps in the narrative. He’s a maths-wiz, a crack chess player, a painter and Dad who smokes on the sly. Built like a hockey player, with a frame carved out by late nights and tour life - he is an imposing figure until you step into the presence of his gently voracious enthusiasm.

Joyeria's FIM (‘fuck, I missed!’) is a collection of songs about depression, society and a celebration of songwriting in a world that looks a lot less encouraging to be a songwriter in than it did when Joyeria fell in love with the independent bands of the late 90’s. Which might be why it sounds fresh in the way a gem from an older sibling’s record collection does.

One is reminded of a certain breed of accomplished songwriters in the lyrical wit and natural baritone of Joyeria. But Dan Carey’s exuberant production recaptures and reinvigorates the essential weirdness of what united the early phases of fellow off-beat masters — a buoyant taste for the strange. It’s the sound of two collaborators working fast, wild and free with years of experience under their belts and exacting standards.

Instead of conceiving middle-age as a personal apocalypse, instead of contriving a barbed authority and pointing fingers — Joyeria breaks ground in the calm devastation of the present he perceives. This is what makes the FIM (EP) a record of the moment, by a songwriter who has plied his craft for a long time to get here.

Over the course of six songs, a listener has room to luxuriate in electric confessions of fatigue, “Just let the dog eat from the table/ I lay in its spot catching some sleep.” And while the FIM (EP) never pretends to be positive and uplifting, it’s hard to shake the ecstatic thrill of Joyeria declaring: “There’s a wild joy I remember” — as if his voice is about to break its vessel. It’s too necessary a cry to be nostalgic. And if it sounds slightly insane, it is because it’s inspired.

*NPN - send an email to mail@piccadillyrecords with "Joyeria TP" in the subject.

STAFF COMMENTS

Laura says: Absolutely loving this! Speedy Wunderground kick off the new year with this superb 6 track EP from Joyeria. With nods to everything from Bill Callahan to Pavement it's a gloriously off kilter collection of songs. My favourite new thing ATM.

TRACK LISTING

1 Wild Joy
2 Death
3 Colour Film
4 Performance Review
5 Decisions
6 9 To 5

A re-mastered version of The Chameleons ultra rare ‘Tony Fletcher Walked on Water” EP is available now on ltd edition coloured vinyl and cd.

The 4 tracks were recorded in 1987 shortly before the band split and were originally intended as a follow-up to the Geffen album Strange Times. Considered by many to be among The Chameleons’ finest songs, the EP was originally released (and then quickly withdrawn from sale) more than thirty years ago. The new version is released with the full co-operation of the band. 

TRACK LISTING

Side A: Is It Any Wonder / Free For All
Side B: The Healer / Denim And Curls

After a four year pause, Taken By Trees return to take you on a musical journey – and after a little wait, this one is as magical ever. The first step down an enchanted sonic path with Victoria Bergsman is Say You Don't Mind, a deceptively simple lullaby-like cover of the track first recorded by The Moody Blues' Denny Laine. Simultaneously both haunting and soothing with its gently euphoric atmospherics and Bergsman's own distinctly affecting vocals, which demonstrate why off the back of her own releases the former Concretes singer has been sought out by everyone from John Lewis (who had her cover Guns N Roses) to Peter Bjorn & John, who made her singing the centrepiece of their whistled classic, Young Folks. Say You Don't Mind, of course, was also a solo hit in 1972 for Colin Blunstone, and Bergsman's new version heralds a whole EP's worth of songs written or recorded by The Zombies frontman which she has been inspired to make her own.

TRACK LISTING

Time’s Running Out
Say You Don’t Mind
I Don’t Believe In Miracles
Caroline Good Bye
She Loves The Way They Love Her

THIS IS A BLACK FRIDAY 2022 EXCLUSIVE AND WILL BE AVAILABLE INSTORE ON FRIDAY NOVEMBER 25TH ON A FIRST COME FIRST SERVED BASIS, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

IF THERE ARE ANY REMAINING COPIES THEY WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE ONLINE AT 8AM ON SATURDAY NOVEMBER 26TH).

Contains album outtakes and remixes from David Bowie’s The Next Day album. In the summer of 2013, unreleased songs – “Atomica,” “The Informer,” “Like A Rocket Man,” and “Born In A UFO” – were finally completed after remaining unfinished during the main album sessions. Two remixes, “Love Is Lost” (Hello Steve Reich Mix by James Murphy for the DFA), a ten-minute opus by LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy, and the Venetian Mix of “I’d Rather Be High” were added, plus the Japanese bonus track “The Informer.”

Chicago legend Rahaan provides two very special productions for his first release on UK label “Hot Biscuit Recordings”.

“More” is a non-stop foot-stomping disco anthem; a wooden floor jobbie with wicky-wick, gnarly grooves, tribal chanting and rambunctious rhythm section. Set to cause havoc at the barn and the glitterball dances respectively. Meanwhile "Morning Starz" gazes towards the stars ina 80s jazz-funk fashion with digital keys, frenetic bass and tight boogie drum machine sequences. What a way to kick off the label! There's another Hot Biscuit out this week n'all - gotta catch em all! 

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Chicago legend Rahaan launches new label Hot Biscuit with two killer 12s of disco joy.

TRACK LISTING

More
Morning Starz

Crackly, bright and distorted - stories of violence, love, and a new, un-glamorous, New York City. Hailing from the suburbs of Detroit, the beaches of Los Angeles, and Brazil by way of Sydney, Nando Dale (guitar), Laila Wayans (drums), Sam Slocum (vocals), Nico Brunstein (bass) and Skyler St. Marks (guitar) have positioned themselves at the glimmering rotten center of tonight's rock and roll. Each member so distinctly themselves, it must be assumed that such a diverse and unlikely gang were drawn tight together in their first year of university by nothing short of serendipitous fortune and a shared, waggish sense of humor.

They are a band of friends - sharing, crying, fighting, and kissing - wreaking havoc together and laughing like how only the jaunty youth can afford to. Been Stellar's arrangements come textured, swooping - pushing past you at a downtown pace and off to find a better night. The songs are of their own time and space, offering a New York City - Been Stellar's New York City - the sounds of growing up young.

TRACK LISTING

Arthur
Manhattan Youth
My Honesty
Kids 1995
Ohm

Four song Extended Play 7” by Thee Headcoats Sect! “Absolutely fantastic, cracking rhythm 'n' blues, best thing I've heard for years!” - Rob Symmons (The Fallen Leaves) After 23 years off Thee Headcoats (Billy, Bruce and Tub) have again teamed up with Keith Evans of Downliners Sect, to record a top notch Extended Play as Thee Headcoat Sect. 'The Backer Street Irregulars' features Keith on lead vocals, still equipped with all the power, fun and attitude that put him at the top of the tree of British R'n'B vocalists back in the heyday of rhythm and beat. The EP was recorded in honour of their dear friend Don Craine (the leader of the Sect), who passed over in February 2022. 

TRACK LISTING

A1 – The Baker Street Irregulars
A2 – Oh Leader, We Do Dig Thee
B1 – One Ugly Child
B2 – The Ballad Of Malcolm Laphroaig (Alt Version)

Ellie Bleach releases her debut EP No Elegant Way To Sell Out via the London based tastemaker label Sad Club Records (Clara Mann/John Myrtle). Raised in the seaside commuter town of Southend, Ellie Bleach draws from the rotating cast of bizarre, lonely characters that exist within suburbia — crafting an indie-meets-baroque-pop sound that melds witty lyricism with the strangeness of modern life. Hotly tipped by the likes of The Line Of Best Fit & So Young Magazine, and handpicked by Black Country New Road for their own personally curated festival this autumn.

Taught piano by a pet healer at an early age, a wry, humorous vein runs through Ellie Bleach's music; weaving confessional songwriting with an old school showmanship that spans light whimsy to grandiose theatricality. Inspired by leading female songwriters of the 90s, from Fiona Apple and PJ Harvey to Alanis Morrissette, Ellie Bleach’s charming facade and razor-sharp satire harbours a biting cynicism that lingers restlessly in the wings.

The EP title, No Elegant Way To Sell Out, refers to a lyric from the first verse of 'Precious Feelings' and is emblematic of the whole EP. "I see 'selling out’ as abandoning oneself in pursuit of success, in whatever form that may be. Whether it’s romantic love or industry acclaim, all of the characters in the EP are desperate to be understood and appreciated." says Bleach. The production on the EP was inspired by soft rock and easy listening of the 70s and early 80s. The production on 'Tupperware Party' and 'Precious Feelings' lean towards pastiche, Bleach describes wanting to "paint a vivid picture of the stories told in the lyrics." 'Tupperware Party' features big 80s drums and guitar solos in accordance with the song's story set in 1985, 'Precious Feelings' features Bossa-nova rhythms and smooth Rhodes, as if on a cruise ship with the narrator. 

TRACK LISTING

Tupperware Party
Precious Feelings
Doing Really Well Thanks
Something Wrong
Big Strong Man

Pacific Rhythm returns with a heady new offering entitled the “Deep Hows EP" from NYC based Producer and DJ, Arsenii under his Bliss Street Queens moniker. The EP effortlessly trips through the cosmic and psychedelic sounds of the hazy and hopeful 1990's in a refreshing and modern style, all while shining a light on Arsenii’s undeniable ear for rhythm, energy, and feeling on the dance floor.

This one can carry you from the chill-out room to the main stage and is an essential pick-up for all of the Interesting Audio enthusiasts out there looking for machine funk of the highest caliber!

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Though NYC based, this EP brings back all the scents and feels of the Vancouver Riviera. Multi-dimensional analogue house that recalls Pender Street Steppers, Andras Fox and Moon B.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Celestial Frogs
A2. Find Me
B1. Enjoy The Sirens
B2. Spiritus Sanctus

Orange Tree bossman Jimmy Rouge gets his shears out for another round of evergreen edits from deep in the depths. Soundsystem crunchin new wave and synth pop sounds, sit side by side with mind expanding downtempo melters for this all hitters, no critters four tracker.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Bay Leaf
A2. Rounders
B1. Night Train
B2. Fever Dream

"Black Market EP" is DJ Bone’s first output after a long production hiatus. A widely-respected DJ, producer, and  turntablist of the 90’s and 00’s; not to mention an early pioneer of the podcast format with his legendary 'DJ Bone Attacks' informing a whole generation of techno lovers which would become devote DJ Bone fans. Like Jeff Mills, Carl Cox and DJ Rush, he pioneered the use of three decks mixing techno and full throttle.

Drawing on the full 4/4 force of Detroit techno, ‘Rising’, ‘Fulmination’ and ‘In Solution’ charge with his renewed passion - bursting with heavenly strings, rippling synths, moody pads and energetic vocal stabs. ‘Power Of The Three’ is a rolling DnB workout, proving Bone’s skills reach all corners of the dancefloor. 

A true pioneer dedicated to the art of techno, he’s the perfect fit for a new label from a legendary club like fabric, pointing both to the birthplace of the genre and ahead to its future. Recommended. 

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Stone cold Detroit legend DJ Bone back with four brand new tracks after a seemingly endless hiatus. Exactly what you want from Bone - high tech, machine code rhythms, expansive techno that urges you to both dream and dance. There's even a cheeky DnB number thrown in. You know what to do!

TRACK LISTING

A1. Rising
A2. Fulmination
B1. In Solution
B2. Power Of The Free

Super limited edition pressed on heavyweight 180g vinyl housed in a picture sleeve and clear plastic outer sleeve – never to be repressed. Only 175 units.

Tokyo-based DJ, producer and sound artist Yuu Udagawa inaugurates the freshly launched Cyphon Recordings with her debut EP, ‘Forever’.

Growing up on a cocktail of everything from rock, hip-hop and Latin jazz to techno and house, Yuu’s immersive musical output draws inspiration from this diverse pool of influences to create ‘uplifting and healing’ music for the mind and body. There’s an elegance and sophistication to her productions, which stems from her desire to make music guided by the Golden Mean philosophy of finding a middle ground between two extremes: excess and deficiency.

Active as a DJ since the millennium, which saw her playing at clubs, festivals and fashion shows across the country, she soon turned her attention to music production and has since self-released a handful of singles and contributed audio commissions for Sony Playstation3, museums, theatres and apparel brands. Yuu’s meditative pallet of sounds instantly grabbed Cyphon’s third ear which led to the tracks that make up ‘Forever’: a collection of analog slo-mo electronica and leftfield minimal house that strike a perfect balance between warmth and depth.

The release opens with the titular track: a deep, emotive electro cut punctuated by a twinkling synthline and blissful vocals. ‘Mojito’ continues the EP’s voyage into the deep, matching softly spoken word with jazz-tinged chords and meandering melodies, before ’Hug Close’ strips things back, guided by a crunchy minimal groove, warm, resolute keys and reflective synths.

The B-Side steers things on a soulful course. The dark, enveloping atmosphere of ‘Illuminated Night' is lifted by bright synth stabs and harmonic R&B-flavoured vocals. These influences continue on closer ‘Stay With Us’. Slowing down the pace, the track is a wash of shimmering funk-inspired chords and shuffling rhythms, laced once again with effortless, soaring vocal tones.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Luminous, futuristic R&B hybrids with the odd dip into propulsive house music. Japenese producer Yuu Udagawa knows what's up! An adventurous start to this new label.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Forever
A2. Mojito
A3. Hug Close
B1. Illuminated Night
B2. Stay With Us

Glasgow’s Cloth announce their return with new music by way of a 4 track EP and their first release for their new label Rock Action Records. “Lucid” is resplendent yet brooding, offering airy dream-like, haunting vocals over dark guitar riffs and resonating percussion - a perfect moment of minimal alternative rock. Guitarist Paul Swinton says ”It was the first song we wrote for the EP and it felt like it set a tone for where we should go with the other songs - somewhere darker and bigger. The song is about being wrapped up in a situation you feel you have no control over then realising you do have the ability and agency to change things for the better.”

This physical EP is a limited pressing and is available on ice blue coloured 12" vinyl and includes download code.

It will appeal to fans of The XX, Cocteau Twins, Beachhouse and Warpaint.

TRACK LISTING

1. Old Stories
2. Lucid
3. Low Sun
4. Sidecar

Barry Adamson’s Steal Away EP released for the first time on vinyl via Mute. The EP was written and recorded at the time Adamson was writing his memoir ‘Up Above the City, Down Beneath the Stars’. The record ended up becoming an intrinsic part of the book writing process with Barry explaining, “The book is the past, the record is the past present. I needed to write it to get through the book, to stay present.” Sitting amongst Barry’s diverse catalogue, Steal Away EP presents a refreshing vibrancy and western-like feel that further demonstrates Adamson’s multifaceted ability in songwriting. 

TRACK LISTING

A1 Let’s Steal Away
A2 Broken Moments
B1 The Climber
B2 Sundown County Ft. Big Walt Daniels

Laundromat (AKA Toby Hayes) announces En Bloc - 3 EP Collection - a vinyl release encompassing the three Laundromat EPs released to date.

Laundromat has built a reputation over the previous twelve months as an innovative and profoundly skilled songwriter, his languid style and deftly created songs earned him support from the likes Steve Lamacq, Lauren Laverne, Marc Riley, DIY, Dork, Loud & Quiet among others. Red, Blue and Green - the 3 EPs - all released to critical acclaim, were mixed and co-produced by Tom Andrews (alongside Hayes). Recent single Combo was recently added to the playlist at BBC 6Music after extensive support at the station. Laundromat is currently writing his debut album.

On the new collection, Laundromat says "These nine tracks were written (really slowly) over a number of years, and although they’ve been out a while now, it's massively cathartic to release them as this 3 EP collection. Mainly because despite the fact that this isn’t an ‘album’ release, it was certainly written as one. So to finally deliver these tunes in the order that they were meant to be listened to feels real good I have to admit. ‘En Bloc’ - 3 EP Collection also includes a number of segue pieces that link the songs together - the idea being that this slice of work would be released as two continuous chunks of sound, i.e - side 1 and side 2. A nice big feast for the ears." Inspired by a broad range of influences including Kim Deal, Broadcast, Jaki Liebezeit, Jason Albertini, Madlib and Gonjasufi, Hayes also cites film as a huge source of intrigue: "I find a lot of inspiration in film - Repo Man (1984), Deep End (1970), Punch-drunk Love (2002), and Alice in the Cities (1974) in particular."

Lyrically, the project explores the end of the world, binge drinking, social anhedonia, nostalgia, as well as the time Hayes got ‘catfished’ - for nearly 7 years.

TRACK LISTING

1. Flat Planet
2. Off
3. Slow Clap
4. Humans
5. En Bloc
6. Nein
7. Bug Eyed
8. Bureau De Fatigue
9. Milky

Bonus Dinked Edition 7” Tracklisting:
A. Laundromat - Flat Planet (Bothelbows X MIIIKE Remix)
B. Laundromat – Bureau De Fatigue (Marcus Hamblett Remix)

Mr Jukes is the solo moniker of Bombay Bicycle Club frontman Jack Steadman, who released his first solo album, God First, in 2017. The album featured contributions from legends such as Charles Bradley, De La Soul and Horace Andy, alongside a collaboration with Barney Artist, who Jack had quite simply stumbled upon on a Spotify playlist and never forgotten. The track was a standout and planted the seed for The Locket, a full length Jukes & Barney collaborative project released in 2021.

Barney’s music takes the vibrance of jazz infused hip-hop but with a London feel. Growing up in Forest Gate, East London, Barney balances conscious themes with old school grooves to create something instantly likeable, like the artist. He’s a larger than life presence, fun to be around and a searing, peerless talent too. A collaborator by nature, Barney grew up around Tiana Major9 and Jay Prince and has made music with Tom Misch, Loyle Carner, Alfa Mist and Jordan Rakei. 

TRACK LISTING

Side A:
1. Eternal
2. Air To Your Hidden Long
Side B:
3. 93
4. Run Away
5. Sacred Symphony 

A Certain Ratio presents ‘EP:ACR’, the unity of their EP trilogy series on CD. This includes ‘ACR:EPA’, ‘ACR:EPC’ and ‘ACR:EPR’, and will be the first time that these 2021 titles are made available on CD.

The first part is ‘EPA’, dedicated to Denise Johnson. It features the band’s final recordings with Denise and came about when they used up some remaining time booked in the studio for a day jam with no fixed agenda, and the result is something very special.

Next up is ‘EPC’, a collaboration EP with Andy Meecham (Emperor Machine), Maria Uzor from Sink Ya Teeth, Jacknife Lee, and Chris Massey (who remixed their song ‘Dirty Boy’ back in 2019). The whole EP is dedicated to longtime ACR friend Andrew Weatherall, the inspiration for the song ‘Guv’nor’, which the band describe as “a collaboration in spirit.”

The final piece of the trilogy is ‘EPR’, which was recorded with the internal brief that ‘anything goes’. EPR includes Part 2 and Part 1 (in that order!) of the mesmerising ‘$ouls In The City’, followed by the insanely catchy ‘Night People’, ‘Big Boy Pants’ and the final track ‘Downtime Vibes’, a hypnotic piece of repetitive rhythms built up around a set of chimes that Jez found in the back of his car.

TRACK LISTING

Wonderland (Jam 6)
Keep It Together (Jam 5)
Down And Dirty (Jam 2)
Feel No Fear (Jam 1)
Emperor Machine (ACR Vs
The Emperor Machine)
The Guv’nor
YOYOGRIP (Long)
Musik Kontrol (ACR Vs
Massey)
$ouls In The City Part 2 & 1
Night People
Big Boy Pants
Downtime Vibes

We know now that Smugglers Way is a new project by Alain and Stéphane Quême, or Alan Braxe and DJFalcon - the indisputable architects of the French Touch - the emotive house music conjured from looped samples with an inimitable Gallic flare that emerged from Paris in the mid-90s. Behind those two names you'll find the legendary acts of Stardust and Together - responsible for tracks like "Music Sounds Better With You", "So Much Love To Give" & "Together".

Now, as the pair mature into middle age, they've slowed down the tempo on their inimitable formular. The release represents a sublime distillation of their shared musical essence, a revelatory realization and a compelling expansion only conceivable for them at this point in time.

It opens with ‘Step By Step’, featuring Animal Collective's Panda Bear, an ecstatic celebration of Balearic joy, met with a French Touch production aesthetic; as if Braxe’s "In Love With You" had been baking on the playa for a quarter of a century. The track transcends anything in the catalogues of all three artists to something completely majestic, resplendent in its glowing, lush simplicity.

"Love Me" gallops to a satisfactory mid-session pace; loopy vox and fat synths filtered to perfection keeping us in that French state of mind. "Creative Source" deploys a tasty soul hook across the sampler pads for an almost Andres-esque beatdown jam before we settle into the cosy and intimate Balearic-pop of "Elevation", featuring modern R&B star Sunni Colon. What a trip! 

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Brought to you by the same French Touch innovators behind Stardust and Together; it sees the formula applied to more downbeat and Balearic moods that are simply divine. Perfect for the hammock or the beach!

TRACK LISTING

Step By Step (feat. Panda Bear)
Love Me
Creative Source
Elevation (feat. Sunni Colon)
Step By Step (Bonus Beat)

Making her stage debut in April 2019 and selling out her first headline show at London’s prestigious Southbank Centre less than a year later, A.A. Williams hit the ground running. Similarly, the acclaim for her performances and her music has been unanimous from the start. After one self-titled EP and a collaboration with Japanese post-rockers MONO, the London-based singer-songwriter signed to Bella Union and released her stunning debut album, Forever Blue, in July 2020. That Southbank show would prove to be the last time she would take to the stage for a long while as the world struggled to cope with unforeseen and extreme challenges. Never a musician to sit still, the classically trained multi-instrumentalist focused her creativity on arranging - firstly, by stripping back to the most delicate bones on her Songs from Isolation covers record, and now with a complete reimagining of her own material as the four songs from her debut EP become Arco.

Not many musicians have the ability - or indeed bravery - to rework a collection of their own full band 'rock' songs into a string-and-voice arrangement. A.A. Williams, however, is not like many musicians and the minimalism of Arvo Pärt and Gorecki has long since sat beside Vaughan Williams' folk-inspired classical work as important influences on her music. Indeed, the intention with the EP was for Williams to challenge herself by not retaining guitars and drums, meaning arco had to be truly reimagined with a full string ensemble. As Williams describes it: "The main focus of the arrangements is trying to maintain the authenticity of the original songs that, whilst embodying some of the more familiar elements of the full-band settings, draws focus on the voice." Conducting the ensemble of string musicians in the studio, A.A. Williams has evolved her own compositions with new instrumentation and arrangements, encapsulating the singular vision of a unique artist.

TRACK LISTING

1 Control
2 Cold
3 Terrible Friends
4 Belong

London's Moreish Idols arrived fully formed a couple of months back with the frenetic "Speedboat", their debut single for tastemakers Speedy Wunderground. Following widespread support on that track, the band return today with news of their debut EP for the label "Float" set for release on August 12th, and a brand-new single in the insistent "Hangar".

Born from humble beginnings in a Cornish coastal town, the band recently relocated to the capital, expanding scope in the process to create something that not only stands apart from their peers, but also manages that aural diversity song to song within the same set.

Created with a strictly implemented manifesto: writing solely as a group so as to allow the blending of each member's widely divergent personalities and influences. This melded a sound that combines jazz, funk, krautrock, dub and punk into something decidedly... moreish.

In January 2022, Moreish Idols laid down the four songs that would make up "Float" over an intense five-day studio session spurred on by Dan Carey. The opener, "Hangar", started life as a mistake, a chord strummed on a detuned guitar. This happy accident gradually morphed and grew into a song about feelings of disenfranchisement and boredom that comes with the inescapable nature of late capitalism.

Beginning with an intro steeped in orange-sunshine psychedelia and led by a Swarmatron chordal drone, you’re lulled by the rhythmic arpeggiating melody before the revving Scalextric guitars kick in and the song takes off. It's an eclectic, thrilling cut that shifts sounds and shape several times across its duration, even switching vocalist between Lilley's verse and Kellett's chorus, it's a genuine highlight of an EP that is full of them.

The band's own Jude Lilley had the following to say about "Float" as a whole:

"The most exciting thing for us as a band is capturing our performances live, which something Speedy is renowned for. Everything you hear in the EP is us in the room working together as unit - apart from Dylan (sax) who recorded his take across the whole EP in one! There’s something really cool about listening back to the takes and realising ‘this is what the room sounded like 5 minutes ago… and that’s us making the noise’. To us "Float" is a collage, and a demonstration of the band putting everything in the mixer and seeing what comes out (lyrics included) and it’s exactly what Dan heard before getting us involved with the label."

Produced, as ever, by the label's own aforementioned Carey, "Hangar" and "Float" showcase more of the mercurial magic that is ever-present across the Speedy Wunderground catalogue.

Carey's most recent credits include Wet Leg, Kae Tempest and Fontaines DC while Speedy Wunderground have worked with the likes of Black Country, New Road, Sinead O'Brien, black midi, Jane Weaver, Squid and more.

STAFF COMMENTS

Laura says: Speedy Wunderground are on a real roll atm, with their recent compilation LP and The Queen's Head 7" flying out and a couple of superb forthcoming releases from Lounge Society and Joyeria due soon. Sandwiched in between these is this cracking 4 track EP from Moreish Idols. Frenetic jazz-infused art-rock, with rattling drums and chugging guitar riffs. RIYL Squid, Parquet Courts, Folly Group.

TRACK LISTING

1 Hangar
2 W.A.M.
3 When The River Runs Dry
4 Speedboat

Top dog at Exotic Robotics (alongside fellow sports-wear aficionado Sports Casual), Patrick Conway finally makes his debut on the label. Now gaining a fierce reputation in the studio, the international man of mystery delivers an absolute heater for his homegrown imprint - showcasing his gift for crafting crisp futurist techno, underpinned with heavy UK rave influences.

This is the 6th release on the label after their 5 previous sell-outs from the likes of Flora FM, DJ Guy, Fettburger, Textasy and Cofaxx.

DJ Python delivers a masterful remix on the flip.

TRACK LISTING

1. Spring Sonnet
2. Early Assembly
3. Vertical Society
4. Vertical Society (DJ Python Remix)

Nomadic, London-born MC Slim Papi follow up to his ‘Châteauneuf-du-Papi Vol. 1’ EP - which saw support from Clash, COLORSXSTUDIOS, BBC6 Music, Iggy Pop, Huey Morgan, Jyoty (Rinse FM), Shy One (NTS Radio) BBC Introducing, Amazon ++ - with Vol. 2 in his ‘Châteauneuf-du-Papi’ EP series.

This time he once again brings along Westside Gunn/Madlib collaborator Sonnyjim along for the ride, as well as his New Jersey rap twin Crimeapple (fresh off the back of appearance on Rosnerberg's 'Real Late' comp alongside Ghostface Killah & Jim Jones) and Lunch Money Life/Touching Bass’ Poison Zcora, for a 4-track travel-rap opus.

Slim Papi (Noonian Soong) levels up his bars celebrating lifes wins and luxuries. Rolls out some of his most high grade references of cuisine ("Steamed bream with creamed beans in a limousine, I'm eating langoustines and tangerine's in Aberdeen"), travel ("I back flip off a catamaran in Kazakhstan, the man with the plan is stuck in Milan in a traffic jam) and cultural touchstones ("iridocycltis”) over largely self produced cuts. The result is a confident, mature and unique offering for rap music from British shores, bridging the worlds of funk, electornica and rap and packaged as some of the best London music has to offer.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Second, BUY ON SIGHT 7" from my favourite up-and-coming UK wordsmith Slim Papi. Seriously, big T I P on this - still proper unknown. These 7"s are gonna be well collectable when he breaks big. Really strong video game and personality to boot; this anti-gansta who prefers the finer things in life to slinging mediocre street drugs and knife fights is destined to become a household name.

TRACK LISTING

A1: David Lynch Ft. Crimeapple
A2: Rod Serling (produced By Poison Zcora)
AA1: Harry Dean Stanton (produced By Sonnyjim)
AA2: Steve Buscemi

Emerging out of the fog, Hill 88 lands its second chapter with Bay Area's Surkul delivering the “Shush EP”. Raw and primitive, a diverse body of heavy bass and bouncing rhythms. Ambient bare bones stripped and spaced out. This EP pulls you out of the net and into the primordial.

Following Surkul's 2019 cassette mixtape “Northern Audacity”,he continues to play leftfield with the “Shush EP”. Straying from his 20 year run as a drum and bass DJ, some may be surprised how the “Shush EP” delivers. During a test run of this EP, some described the material falling in line with the Hyperdub catalogue and similar rawness to the African Head Charge releases by Adrian Sherwood (On-U Sound).

Against the grain was the direction taken to create this EP. Once the needle drops you'll notice the target over heavy bass and lush electric synths attacking with arpeggiation. The soundtrack to an industrial desert.

RIYL: Andy Stott, Demdike Stare, LIES, AD 93, Power Vacuum etc.

'I constantly hear everyone else recreating a similar sound that already exists and having thoroughly explored the art form I wanted to build something new. The pressure to conform made it that much more important, I felt, for me to create something unique that eventually made perfect sense. The more I stripped back and tried new approaches, the more the tracks came to shape. Escaping stock genres helped open the path to create without boundaries. With this project, the focus was on absence rather than content. Other musicians I know always encouraged me to do something different, so when I started this project, their words were a great inspiration. The tracks are moody and kind of nostalgic.'

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: There's nothing quite like this one our shelves at the moment! Completely non-linear sonic experiments by an old school veteran producer and DJ looking to sculpt new sonic lifeforms and evolve the cannon of bass / noise music into fresh territories. You've gotta admire his ambition, taking us on aural adventure of which you can't even predict how the next 4 bars will develop. Comparisons could be drawn to Demdike and Andy Stott but really Surkul lives in his own unique bubble.

TRACK LISTING

A. Rude Introduction
B. 30/30 Rule
C. Extoller's Flash
D. Meeting Again

Since this was originally released, Yard Act have gone on to be one of 2022’s defining artists with the release of their debut album ‘The Overload’, and their rise has been as entertaining as it has been meteoric. And as well as touring the world and smashing sales records, they’ve still found time to continue Zen FC, releasing acclaimed 7”s from Baba Ali and Benefits.

Being the budding record industry moguls that they are, they couldn’t bear to see the Dark Days EP languishing out of print. So they commandeered a Danish pressing plant and rudely shoved their way to the front of the queue, picked a new colour (silver in honour of the Overload finishing second in the album charts) and rushed through a repress in time for the summer. And while they were at it, they sorted out a run on the format of the future, cassette.

So there you have it: while you’re thinking about putting ‘The Overload’ at the top of your albums of 2022, you can enjoy the EP of 2021 all over again.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Dark Days
A2. Peanuts
B1. Fixer Upper
B2. The Trapper's Pelts

Formed in Reading in 1987, Chapterhouse took the unusual step of rehearsing and gigging for well over a year before recording even a demotape. Initially, the band got lumped in with the British acid rock scene of the time, a mistake hardly rectified by the band's early performances supporting the rather laidback Spacemen 3. Chapterhouse eventually escaped from one genre only to find themselves amongst the infamous shoegaze groups of 1991 such as Lush, Moose and Slowdive.

Freefall was their 1990 debut EP and includes the popular track “Falling Down”, which was also included in their debut full-length album Whirlpool. The other three tracks, “Need (Somebody)”, “Inside Of Me” and “Sixteen Years”, were never included on their albums on vinyl and only appeared on this EP.

TRACK LISTING

1. Falling Down
2. Need (Somebody)
3. Inside Of Me
4. Sixteen Years

Lined up next on Cosmocities is this trance-indebted EP from Prism, the collaborative endeavour of French producer Pascal Eloy and UK-based Grant Wilkinson. The three-track EP “CMSR006” mixes unreleased music (“Refraction”), a 1996-issued goodie (“Rain”) and an exclusive remix from SYO, better known for his ambitiously retro-futuristic output under the S.O.N.S moniker.

Originally released as part of Planet Dog’s 1996 compilation “Feed Your Head”, “Rain” retains all of its original mystique and soulful use of modern production tools - letting a cascading flow of arpeggiated synths, stealth bass onslaughts and 303-borne trippiness pour down as a fully immersive digital shower for the senses.

An unheard gem from the vault, initially written and recorded in 1995, “Refraction” pulls further dynamic traction from a bubbling drum programming and damp, urban jungle-y atmosphere - beaming us straight back in the rave’s most compelling heyday with its feverish maelstrom of fluttering bleeps, spiraling tribal motifs and faux-organic, Neo-Easternmost harmonics.

Adding his ever innovative spin to the table, SYO cuts into the flesh of the original to deliver a further syncopated and spacious version, flush with complex rhythmic sleights of hand and subtle melodic trickery throughout, bound to keep you on the edge with every bar. 25 years on since it was first designed, Prism’s lasting relevancy shines bright on this all-road, bold-to-the-full trance epic that’s lost nothing of its flair.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Early trance blueprints reimagined here whilst also catering to the kind of free party hedonism that swept through the country in the mid 90s. If you dug the Earth Leakage Trip 12" and the DJ Athome compilation - this ones for you!

TRACK LISTING

A1. Refraction
B1. Refraction (SYO Remix)
B2. Rain

Eduardo De La Calle and crew return with 4 tracks of deep off kilter electro and idm; proper circuit fried head twisters for late night club sessions, after party freakouts and studio wizardry obsession.

Big tip if you're into Bitstream, Gosub and Silicon; Eduardo De La Calle is himself a bit of a sorceror at the controls; at ease both churning out both skeletal braindance and full frequency audio trips. These four sketches find him in masterful control of his machines, achieving a bilatteral conversion between hardware and human interaction few knob twiddlers achieve in the present day. Recommended! 

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Unsurpassable braindance flavoured EP from Eduardo De La Calle that shows off the producer's highly skilled technical abilities whilst conjuring up some intricate machine language. Big one for the circuit benders!

TRACK LISTING

A1. Arithmetical 1
A2. Arithmetical 2
B1. Arithmetical 3
B2. Arithmetical 4

Rising transatlantic duo PVBLIC XCESS are preparing for a heavy summer season in Ibiza as they drop their debut EP Wale Wale. The track is a roof-raising single tailor-made for Pacha, Ushuaïa, Amnesia or any other superclub packed to the rafters with mesmerised revellers.

Made up of French-American dance honcho Chloé Caillet and emerging London artist Josh Ludlow, PVBLIC XCESS’ debut EP features Beninese-Nigerian afrobeat veteran Kaleta and revered French-Cameroonian afro-disco and soul musician Pat Kalla.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Pvblic Xcess Featuring Kaleta - Wale Wale
A2. Pvblic Xcess Featuring Pat Kalla - Dont Wanna (Get Down)
B1. Pvblic Xcess Feat Pat Kalla - Dont Wanna (Get Down) (Josh Ludlow Remix)
B2. Pvblic Xcess – C’est CaB3Pvblic Xcess Feat Pat Kalla - Don't Wanna (Get Down) (Club Dub)

THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2022 EXCLUSIVE, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

Prior to their new album "Small World" (February 18th, 2022), Metronomy surprise released a 5 track collaborative EP on digital only. Each song featured a rising artist of the next generation including Biig Piig and Spill Tab. This very first vinyl Edition of the EP, pressed exclusively for RSD on purple vinyl also includes bonus instrumental version of all songs. 

TRACK LISTING

A Side / Main Mix - Original Songs
1. Metronomy X Pinty - "Half An Inch "
2. Metronomy X Biig Piig - "405"
3. Metronomy X Spill Tab - "Uneasy"
4. Metronomy X Sorry - "Out Of Touch"
5. Metronomy X Brian Nasty X Folly Group - "Monday"
B Side / Instrumentals
1. Metronomy X - "Half An Inch [Instrumental] "
2. Metronomy X Biig Piig - "405 [Instrumental] "
3. Metronomy X Spill Tab - "Uneasy [Instrumental]"
4. Metronomy X Sorry - "Out Of Touch [Instrumental] "
5. Metronomy X Brian Nasty X Folly Group - "Monday" 

Richmond, VA-based artist Kate Bollinger has signed to Ghostly International and released a video for her new single “Yards / Gardens.” Bollinger is currently on tour with Real Estate and will support Faye Webster on tour next year. She has also announced a 2022 European tour and a special hometown headline show in Richmond. 

“Yards / Gardens” finds Bollinger in full swing, skipping verses of uncertainty above a bright and nimble bassline and kick. Guitarist Chris Lewis weaves throughout, his riffs unravel across the bridge, trailing her lines like ellipses. Written with Trainum and Lewis, “Yards / Gardens” reflects “feeling resistant to change, during a time when it felt like everything was changing,” says Bollinger. Growing up has become a motif in her work, but she’s never sidestepped the concept in quite this way. Here, self-assured and surrounded by vivid production, she leans back in the grass, letting expectations breeze by, reminding herself she’ll tend to things in good time.

"For ‘Yards / Gardens,’ Kate and I wanted to take the sonic spirit of the track and translate its feeling into the video instead of using the direct lyrical meaning,” says the video’s director Mitch deQuilettes. “We wanted to give homage to 60's & 70's films such as Godard's ‘Pierrot Le Fou,’ Melville's ‘Le Circle Rouge’ and Altman's ‘The Long Goodbye.’ It was important to us to keep the piece campy and light, while keeping it grounded in realism."

TRACK LISTING

1. I Found Out
2. Who Am I But Someone
3. Look At It In The Light
4. Yards / Gardens
5. Lady In The Darkest Hour
6. Connecting Dots

Cryovac Recordings is allowed to exist by artists and craftsmen that take up the cause and come together to share their skillset. A Cryovac artist is a master of their own style. They are heros that represent the best of Detroit’s spirit. From Dietrich to Desmond to the house of Archer, Cryovac is a product that is crafted at each step by years of know-how. The Cryovac machine continues its course through an ever changing technosphere.

James ‘jit’ Pennington aka The Suburban Knight has the honor of techno nobility; with a warrior ethos he loyally defends Detroit around the world. The Knights tracks are legendary and his service to the underground code compels him to come to the aid of Cryovac. "Lectrasonic” activates a hypersensitive conga rattling the night air and through swelling synth predatory melody becomes prey to a breaking kick.

Mike Petrack is a cool customer with an easy style and his tracks are the same. Petrack’s Info Lines record label is the latest concoction from this ever innovating techno collaborator. “Holy Redeemer” rises with an infectious melody through bossa nova rhythm to a point of spiritual awareness inside a natural funk.

A.garcia & M. Kretsch are a team that have learned to work in unison to develop all parts of a space with sound. Their construction and deconstruction of the techno sound is a reflection of a spartan Detroit ethos. “Invasion” is a 4/4 minimal rocker that rings to life with an eerie synth attacking with waves of effect bringing a tone of other worldly dread.

Mollison Folson a.k.a. Body Mechanic brings his gregarious personality to all genres he delves into. He is a musician of instrument and computer with a focus on freeky love music. “Everything” is a smooth and jazzy minimal mover that harmonizes synth over a funky bass line. 

TRACK LISTING

A1. Suburban Knight - Lectrasonic
A2. Mike Petrack - Holy Redeemer
B1. A.Garcia & M.Kresch - Invasion
B2. Body Mechanic - Everything

bdrmm release a new EP, featuring their acclaimed recent single ‘Port’, alongside remixes by Daniel Avery, Working Men’s Club, A Place To Bury Strangers and more. The seven-track Port EP will be released digitally and on CD on April 8, with a limited-edition orange vinyl 12” version following later in the year. The EP is the Hull and Leeds-based band’s first major release since their debut album, Bedroom, which was hailed as a latter-day shoegaze classic when it came out in July 2020.

‘Port’, which was originally released as a single last October, marked a major step forward for the band. Sounding not unlike the Low of Double Negative or Hey What deconstructing The Temptations’ ‘I Know I’m Losing You’, it’s a much darker sounding song; its distorted drones and beats burst into life with frenzied guitar and howls of anguish. "It helped us consider the band in a much more fluid perspective,” says bassist and synth player Jordan Smith of the pivotal track. “Swapping instruments and redefining roles gave us time to spend working on new and more intriguing sonic ideas.”

This new experimental and more electronic approach was expanded as the standalone single release grew, almost accidentally, into a full EP, which features radical reworkings by Daniel Avery (a fearless, all guns blazing techno stomper); Working Men’s Club (New Order’s ‘Sub-Culture’ meets a long-lost early Warp Records classic); A Place To Bury Strangers (a feedback frenzy of total sonic annihilation); Tom Sharkett from Manchester krautpoppers W.H. Lung (DFA Records goes down to the death disco); Jonathan Snipes from LA-based experimental hip-hop trio Clipping (glitchy beats imploding into a wall of white noise); and Jordan himself, as Mouth Company, who brings proceedings to a close with a slow-mo trip-hop treatment.

“The idea originally stemmed from us joking about Daniel Avery remixing one of our tracks one day and we just kind of went from there,” explains singer Ryan Smith of the EP’s unusual genesis. “We’d arranged a remix swap with A Place To Bury Strangers and then somehow managed to gather all these other incredible remixes over the space of a few months, and it seemed ridiculous not to release them as one piece of work. It’s a real journey listening to them individually, but back-to-back it really is something.” He’s right, the seven tracks hang together perfectly, like the best kind of mixtape, despite each one being so different from the next. “I think the sparseness of the original mix gave a fair amount of versatility to whoever wanted to mess around with the stems,” adds Jordan. “I think that shows in the final EP – six completely idiosyncratic mixes that we all fell in love with.” “To have so many influential artists to us putting their own piece of DNA on what has become such an important track to us is so humbling,” gushes Ryan. “It’s brand new territory for us, and we just feel so lucky to have everybody involved.” The EP is being released ahead of bdrmm’s dates supporting shoegaze legends Ride in April and will be followed by their eagerly-awaited second album, which they are currently working on. “I am so excited to embrace the next chapter of bdrmm,” concludes Ryan. “It’s been a fucking tough ride, but one I never want to get off.”

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Superb band, brilliant song and LOOK at that list of remixers! Every single one is a wonderfully different take on the source material. The winner for me has to be the W.H. Lung remix by the superbly talented (and monolithically barnetted) Tom 'Sharky' Sharkett. Brilliant.

TRACK LISTING

1. Port
2. Port (Working Men’s Club Remix)
3. Port (W.H. Lung - Tom Sharkett Remix)
4. Port (Daniel Avery Remix)
5. Port (A Place To Bury Strangers Remix)
6. Port (Jonathan Snipes Remix)
7. Port (Mouth Company Remix)

The Lovely Eggs will release for the first time on vinyl a rare self-released collection of songs and live recordings. Originally produced as a “fried egg” CDR in 2007 and sold by the band at gigs, the translucent vinyl record will be released in custom replica packaging to emulate the original. Hand designed by the band, the fifteenth anniversary 9-track E.P. includes early songs “I Like Birds But I Like Other Animal Too”, “Jon Carling” and “In Watermelon Sugar” as well as unreleased tracks “Devil in Me” and a number of live recordings. This is a true collector’s edition and a perfect example of The Lovely Eggs commitment to make interesting and imaginative cover art to complement their unique sound

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: It's ALWAYS worth buying on sight any Lovely Eggs material you don't have, and this wonderful early EP collects some of their greatest and their rarest audio treats. Storming, heavy af and super catchy. Classic 'Eggs.

TRACK LISTING

1. Jon Carling
2. I Like Birds (But I Like Other Animals Too)
3. Devil In Me
4. In Watermelon Sugar
5. Last Train To Ballard
6. I’m Having A Party And We’re Killing Ourselves
7. Frankie Oh My!
8. Does It Hurt To Lose The Will To Live?
9. I Spy With My Little Eye A Lot Of Really Nice Things A Lot Of Things That Are Nice In This Life. 

Following the October release of the EP Mockingbird Love and the November release of the album Pearldiving comes another unique release by Robin Guthrie, the 4 track EP, Riviera, a collection of tunes completed earlier this year. Riviera stands on its own, as a release apart from the album, featuring Guthrie’s ever present signature sound and atmosphere, displaying a refinement and maturity only found in the work of an artist working largely unfettered from the constraints of the music industry. His approach to music is perhaps more akin to that of a painter or a photographer. The adept use of light and shade, melody and counter melody, the carefully and precisely arranged instrumentation, musical textures and colorings gives his music a depth and level of detail which marks a master craftsman.

It’s tough to keep up with garage rock’s wunderkind Ty Segall. Between his steady release schedule of LPs, raucous side projects like Fuzz and GØGGS, and collaborations with fellow songwriters Mikal Cronin and Tim Presley, it’s as if a season can’t pass without Segall dropping a new record. And that’s not even taking his cassettes, splits, and EPs into consideration. Fortunately, Segall’s bottomless well of creativity, production savvy, and boundless fascination with the various niches of the rock world makes every new release an occasion to celebrate. Suicide Squeeze Records is proud to offer the latest entry in Ty’s impressive canon with the Sentimental Goblin 7”. Side A features “Pan”, a fuzz-soaked proto-metal jam that links Beatles’ pioneering guitar dirge “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” to later lurch classics by Sir Lord Baltimore and Pentagram. In true Segall fashion, he switches gears on side B and conjures the erudite pop appeal of T. Rex and Bowie with the lush glam rocker “Black Magick”. Suicide Squeeze Records is proud to release Sentimental Goblin to the world on March 17, 2017. 

Vlure defy the rules, they rip up trends and create new ones. With a certain honesty and a vulnerability, they confront you and get under your skin. They make you feel things, the way music should.

"One of the most buzzy young bands Scotland has to offer." - Line Of Best Fit

"With their hard-hitting blend of electro-noir-glam, industrial-rave and post-punk - a sound that's simply designed

TRACK LISTING

Show Me How To Live Again
Heartbeat
The Storm
I Won't Run (From Love)
Euphoria

Transmission two from Hypno Disco Records. In this edition Sam Kin takes us downtown with four cuts of retroactive house music. Deep bleep acid house, dystopian machine groove, street-lit dance tracks and live techno jams! Highly recommended if you've ever buzzed off records on Warp, B12, Tribal, Peacefrog, Trax, Champion etc.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Totally feelin' this tribal and proggy leaning 12" from Sam Kin. Moody, electronic dance tracks for the laser lovers.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Balearia (Behold!)
A2. Something Lurks
B1. Downtown
B2. Give Me More (Blue Analogue Live Mix)

After the collaboration with DJ Durbin on 'Can't You Tell' Manu is back as MNL to release his first solo EP. He mangles the sounds and rhythms of his surroundings without limits and builds his own bittersweet world from them – full of glitched and saturated fractals and sonic holographs.

Hodge's remix turns the track 'I Don't Know What I Want' into a hi-tek UKG-esque dancefloor killer which’ll please fans of Four Tet, Overmono, Floating Points etc.

Recommended!

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Really intriguing record which skirts between intricate electronix, fuzzy hardwired techno and a hi-tek garage glider. Well good.

TRACK LISTING

A1. I Don't Know What I Want
A2. Longing For Distance
B1. When I Think Of The Barrier
B2. I Don't Know What I Want (Hodge Remix)

Steve E. Nix and The Famous Lizards are a new four-piece group led by guitarist/singer Steve E. Nix (from legendary Seattle punk band The Briefs). Accompanying him as The Famous Lizards are bassist Kicks (also from The Briefs), guitarist Emi Pop and drummer Miles Freeborn. The Motorcade EP is the band’s debut release. Available on a limited edition black vinyl 7”, it features four killer pop-punk tracks, just what you’d expect from the prolific pen of Steve E. Nix. “I’m a punk rocker who loves guitars and interesting songs. I really like The Godfathers” says Steve. Steve has been putting out quality underground music since 2000 when The Briefs released their first single ‘Poor And Weird’. After four albums, a slew of singles and relentless touring, The Briefs took a well-earned hiatus. Never one to stay still for long Steve almost immediately formed and fronted The Cute Lepers. With Briefs’ bassist Kicks on board and a rotating cast of drummers, guitarists and back-up singers The Cute Lepers continued to tour across the US and Europe and released three albums, all on Damaged Goods Records, along with a bunch of 7” singles. In 2014 The Briefs started touring again and also began work on an album, Platinum Rats, which was eventually released by Damaged Goods Records in 2019.

Birds’ second Höga Nord offering is a 4 track EP created entirely during the first UK Coronavirus lockdown in spring / summer 2020. The themes throughout the record are inspired by various thoughts, feelings and coping mechanisms adapted by herself and her peers; from live streams to micro-dosing, to exercising patience and trying to feel comfort in the fact that there will be other opportunities and we’ve just got to wait this thing out whilst trying to stick together for emotional support. Sonically it moves around a lot from gurgling 303 bass lines, to breakbeats, to dubby guitar breakdowns, to heavy club inspired 909 kick drums, whilst always maintaining a droney undertone.

It's another wonderfully sincere and individual crafted document from this incredibly singular label - one of our 'best label's of 2021' infact! 

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Warehouse mutants and nightclub goths have yet another instalment of freakishness from our good friends at Höga Nord Rekords. Black eye-liner not included.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Solitary Dancers
A2. Night Time Life
B1. Dont Drink The Acid Water
B2. Young Blood

Tremulant From the very beginning, The Mars Volta was conceived as more than simply a new vehicle for Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and Cedric Bixler-Zavala. The group was to be a rebirth, a redrawing of their creative frontiers, a repudiation of the stylistic provincialism that had ultimately spelled the end of their previous band, At The Drive-In, a year earlier. So, as The Mars Volta’s debut release, 2002’s Tremulant EP had much to accomplish within its three tracks and 19 minutes: to define the group’s ambitions and their possibilities, to sketch out a limitless horizon for their future adventures, and to shake loose the macho following they’d accrued with At The Drive-In’s final, breakthrough LP Relationship Of Command, the dudes in the moshpit who just wanted to slam-dance to post-hardcore riffs.

Tremulant put this uncompromising ethos into play from the very off, first track Cut That City opening with two minutes of amplifier hum, synthesiser scree and drum-machine pulse. “That introduction was immediately going to weed out all the posers,” says Cedric. The music that followed, meanwhile, announced The Mars Volta’s visionary new sound, an embryonic version of everything that would follow. The fearless rhythms drew from the traditional Caribbean and Latin music Omar was raised on, its staccato guitar riffs accompanied by Ikey Owens’ infernal organ stabs, Eva Gardner’s canny bass-lines and Jeremy Michael Ward’s inventive sound manipulations, its frenetic, restless panic-rock given to exultant breakdowns, like Omar’s beloved salsa. Cedric, meanwhile, was stretching beyond the fiery bark he’d established with At The Drive-In, singing more than screaming, and singing often in Spanish

TRACK LISTING

Cut That City
Concertina
Eunuch Provocateur

Following the release of their self-titled debut album in December 2020, Flying Moon In Space – a Leipzig-based group that deal in an experimental melting pot of psychedelic pop, krautrock, techno and math-rock – are now releasing a new EP made up of remixes of tracks from the debut album by the likes of Xiu Xiu, Suuns, A Place To Bury Strangers, Minami Deutsch, Camera and Warm Graves.

On the new EP, which is released digitally and on 12" vinyl by London-based label Fuzz Club, Jamie Stewart of prolific American experimental group Xiu Xiu pushes the industrial 4/4 psych of 'Faces' to IDM extremes, Brooklyn noise-rock heavyweights A Place To Bury Strangers give 'The Observer' a feedback-blasted redux and Montreal art-rockers Suuns turn 'Steam Water Solid' into an 81-second assault on the senses. Elsewhere, German group Camera transform 'Where Lovers Meet' into a piece of hedonistic synthesised krautrock and Japanese band Minami Deutsch inject the sinister 'Ardor' with a motorik dark disco groove. Closing the EP is a beautifully slow-burning and atmospheric reworking of 'Baustelle' courtesy of fellow Leipzig experimentalists and Fuzz Club label-mates Warm Graves.

TRACK LISTING

1) Flying Moon In Space - Where Lovers Meet (Camera Remix)
2) Flying Moon In Space - Faces (Xiu Xiu Remix)
3) Flying Moon In Space - The Observer (A Place To Bury Strangers Remix)
4) Flying Moon In Space - Ardor (Minami Deutsch Remix)
5) Flying Moon In Space - Steam Water Solid (Suuns Remix)
6) Flying Moon In Space - Baustelle (Warm Graves Remix)

The new EP by Bosquemar and Fuyen is a celebration of the spirits of Altacura, the high stone of Concepcion (Chile), where the Musique Concrete approach and electronic productions by Bosquemar join the Latin American vocals and instruments by Fuyen aka Rayen Garcia and Eduardo Aedo.
Using mostly sounds recorded at Altacura itself, the EP transforms the energies of its spirits into three psychedelic downbeat tableaus featuring rich sound design, driving percussions, conjuring vocals, and hypnotic grooves.

"Allkun", which means 'hear' in Mapudungun language, is a tribute to the voices of the birds that inhabit this area. In "Tierra Santa" guest vocalist Natalia Clavier joins the trio for a psychedelic dance around the rock.

On the flipside, Argentinian producer Uji increases the tempo of "Allkun", and turns the original into a dry and percussive club version. "Cirros" is the perfect tune for a beach club sunset, taking us up to the most recondite skies where we dance the day away with the Altacura spirits.

RIYL: A Mountain Of One, Soft Rocks, Psychemagik, Talking Drums etc. 

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: There's nothing quite like music that instantly transports you to a time or a place. I've never been to Altacura, but Bosquemar & Fuyen have given my mind's eye a pretty good idea of the place with this deep cosmic and psychedelic EP which seems to detail the flora and fauna of this mysterious place in a unique sonic language.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Allkun
A2. Bosquemar, Fuyen, Natalia Clavier - Tierra Santa (feat. Natalia Clavier)
B1. Allkun (Uji Remix)
B2. Cirros

Fulu Mizikiroughly translates as “music from the garbage”, which in a literal sense is an accurate description of the thrillingly chaotic eco-friendly Afro-Futurist collective. The instruments they design, build and play are masterclasses in upcycling.

From guembris built out of computer casing, to jerry-can drum-kits, keyboard inventions from wood, springs and aluminium pipes, and old flip-flops used as pads by plastic tube-wielding percussion players, the Democratic Republic of Congo-formed group’s ethos lies in the respect of nature, the celebration of its gifts and the importance of its preservation through environmentalism.

Their new EP, entitled Ngbaka, finds Fulu Miziki embracing electronica textures and production styles, in a departure from their traditional sound. This shift in style was prompted by the Coronavirus lockdown in Kampala, Uganda (their current base): with rehearsal rooms and public spaces shut, the collective were forced inside and encouraged to conduct sonic experiments. Lead single "OK Seke Bien" is inspired by the church choir singing from the group members' childhoods,.

Fulu Miziki draw from the roots of their native Congolese rumba and soukous, incorporating its driving percussion and tightly rhythmic instrumentation alongside group vocals that move between repetitious chanting refrains and effortlessly interloping harmonies. The hyperactive nature of these dizzyingly psychedelic jams is married with Westward-looking touchstones: American R’n’B and hip-hop, pop music and – increasingly – a diaspora of club culture from both at home and abroad.

The combination forms something of a mutated new strain of dance music: steeped in the heritage of their native Kinshasa but pulsating with the frantic BPM, synthetic processing and manipulated frequencies of modern pop. Lyrically meanwhile, the group are inspired by their environment, with songs centred around climate change – although social issues of police brutality and more conventional love songs find their way in too.

Fulu Miziki’s message is simple and clear: love the earth you live on. It’s environmental activism meant for the dancefloor, love and devotion to Mother Nature fed through a refraction of Congolese rhythms and western pop; but most of all its about humanity, and asking how we’re going to turn around the damage we’ve done to a planet that we’ve for so long taken for granted.

TRACK LISTING

01. OK Seke Bien (ft. Sekelembele)
02. Lokito (ft. DJ Final)
03. Bivada (ft. Sekelembele)
04. Mokili Makambo (ft. Sekelembele)
05. Toko Yambana (ft. DJ Final And Deboul)
06. Beta Ndule (ft. DJ Final And Deboul)

"Antidawn" marks the return of Burial - our nation's beloved shadow dweller, emo-garage innovator and cultishly adored bass producer. After nearly 2 decades unravelling the mystery - with countless breakdowns, assessments and even dissertations written about how the artist composes and records his music - William Bevan had decided it's time for a further redux.

Reducing the sound to just vapours, the record 'explores an interzone between dislocated, patchwork songwriting and eerie, open-world game-space ambience', which perfectly puts into context what you have in front of you. Like walking through Skyrim's metaverse loaded up on dissociatives  and ketamine, there's no real linear structure to the album. As usual, snips, sounds and textures take precedent, but it's the silences and the spaces BETWEEN the snips that Burial has really emphasized on "Antidawn". There's a movement created with sparseness - a change of feeling; a beckoning towards the light through tense and dark realms.

Encapsulated in a frozen, urban Winter; there's movements of painful sadness, juxtaposed between bursts of radioactive warmth as whispers of forgotten angels drift in on FM radio interference. It's quintessential Burial - crackles n static n all - but occupying a space that couldn't be further from the dancefloor. If his more recent 12"s have hinted at this wandering, non-linear, long-walk-home approach then on "Antidawn" we're lost & abandoned in the multidimensional realities of the present; with little reassurance that 'everything’s going to be ok'...

It's as breathtaking and awe-inspiring as you'd expect from the UK demigod yet brittle, fragile, constricted and smothered in darkness. It's really nice to see him explore these realms and while thousands of his online bloggers and trolls will no doubt have countless critiques on his development; I for one am well on board.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Burial heads even further down the cold, long & lonely road into almost pure isolation. Like walking through Skyrim's metaverse loaded up on dissociatives it's a completely transportive, if fragile and desolate listen.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Strange Neighbourhood [11:04]
A2. Antidawn [08:43]

B1. Shadow Paradise [10:20]
B2. New Love [07:13]
B3. Upstairs Flat [06:07]

Jozef K continues with part 2 of this stunning project on Takeout under his Eternal Blood moniker, showcasing his stunning take on post-rave tinged House & techno.

These tracks will tick so many boxes for those who love the atmospherics of Jamie XX to the rawness of 808 State as both EP's take you on a fascinating journey with the vibe of the magnificent North West's free party legacy its central focus.

Jozef's material is regularly supported by the likes of Dixon, Mano le Tough, The Blessed Madonna and Sasha but these smiley bangerz are gonna get rinsed around the holy boroughs of Blackburn, Shropshire, Wales, Manchester and anywhere with a young population of free spirited hedonists eager to surrender to the rave. Most recommended. 

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: As the rave and breakbeat resurgence tightens its grip, Jozef K unleashes another update to the classic formula with some futuristic adaptations on the sound. If you liked A Guy Called Gerald's recent slammer, this is 4 U!

TRACK LISTING

A1. Horizons
A2. XXIX
B1. Barcelona Fire Soundsystem
B2. Hecate

London's Slim Papi follows up his critically acclaimed 'Excellent Adventure' EP with the first drop from his forthcoming 'Châteauneuf-du-Papi' project. Described as 'somewhere between Anthony Bourdain and Action Bronson...’

The 4-track project sees the orator trade lyrics, recipes and wine recommendations alongside Westside Gunn collaborator Sonnyjim and Blah! Records stand out Jam Baxter over production from Goya Gumbani collaborator, Kiina & Tru Thoughts producer Forest DLG.

Ridiculously limited copies – think there’s about 40 for Europe, 100 in total! Move quick! 

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Seriously, seriously good. With all the flamboyant swagger of Action Bronson, the wordsmithery of Your Old Droog and the playful experimentation of Ratking. Remember Jesse From SE – similar London centric flow on this cat. You might not know Slim Papi yet, but it's certainly this UK-based rapper's time.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Emidio Pepe Ft. Sonnyjim
A2. Le Corbusier Ft. Kiina
AA: Cosmo Kramer Ft. Jam Baxter

Following Lucy Gooch’s acclaimed ‘Rain’s Break’, her first release on Fire Records earlier this year, the artist’s acclaimed debut EP ‘Rushing’ is revisited with new artwork and a brand new track, ‘Orthione’.

“Lucy’s sound marries the etheral qualities of ambient music with buoyant, effortless pop” Crack

‘Rushing’ in its original shorter five-track incarnation was heralded as a touchstone beneath the cascading torrent of modern times and an oasis for turbulent times. An intimate collection of songs built around Lucy’s emotive vocals and unique ambient dream pop, the newly added stand-out track ‘Orthione’ trips into the esoteric world of Laurie Anderson and Philip Glass; here her voice is the grounding force that travels to a space that heals and grows.

TRACK LISTING

Side A
1. My Lights Kiss Your Thoughts Every Moment
2. Rushing
3. Stalagmites & Helicitites

Side B
4. Sun
5. There Is A Space In Between
6. Orthione

Sennen follow the expanded 15th anniversary reissue of their debut album Widows with a brand new live EP recorded earlier this year when the band were invited to play a live Transmissions session for Rough Trade, which also gave it its title. The four-piece decamped to Goldsmiths Music Studios in London back in June, and four tracks were broadcast via Rough Trade’s Instagram TV channel at the time. It was the first time the band had played together in almost five years, and they worked through a set of tracks from the reissued debut, plus a beautifully affecting cover of Big Star’s ‘Nightime’. The overwhelmingly positive reaction to the reissue (Under The Radar said it fused “post-rock time signatures with the ethereal beauty of early Ride or Chapterhouse”, while Resident Music simply called it “one of the best shoegaze records of all time”) has seemingly given the band a new lease of life, and they head out on the road for a series of live dates later this month.

“We were thrilled with the reaction to the Widows reissue,” says guitarist and singer Richard Kelleway. “It looks and sounds better than the original and seems to have hit the right note with a lot of people. We’ve seen plenty of photos of the record on people’s turntables, which means they like it, right?” The return to live performances was perhaps more unexpected. “When Rough Trade invited us to record a few of the songs for a live broadcast I’m pretty sure we hadn’t all been in the same room together since we met in the pub at the start of 2020 to discuss the reissue. That was pre-pandemic and it had been a lot longer since we’d played some of the songs. “We booked the studio and once we started playing, it’s a cliché but it was a bit like riding a bike. Those songs are forever lodged somewhere in my brain. Apart from ‘Opened Up My Arms’, I must have banged my head where that one was stored. “We used to do a version of ‘Nightime’ in rehearsals, but very occasionally we’d do it live. The last time we did it was just after Alex Chilton died. It turned out so nice we wanted to include it. “It was really fun to play the songs again so we can’t wait to do a few gigs in front of real-life people at the end of October.”

TRACK LISTING

1. I Couldn’t Tell You
2. Opened Up My Arms
3. Laid Out
4. Forty Years
5. Nightime
6. Widows 

Raw, speedy punk songs with the edges softened out by bright melodic sensibilities.

4 SONG EP of female fronted crash-pop. Raw, speedy punk songs with the edges softened out by bright melodic sensibilities and faint hints of jangle hiding just beneath the surface RIYL The Shop Assistants, The Primitives, C86 fuzz pop, etc.

TRACK LISTING

1. Go Away
2. It's Dead
3. Violent Days
4. Really Stupid

Lee Gamble completes his ‘Flush Real Pharynx 2019-2021’ album cycle with ‘A Million Pieces Of You’, the third EP of a triptych written in a time when the subjective experience of overload came to a halt, giving way to an overbearing sense of loss, burnout and a desperate need for hope. These seven tracks feel more reflective, more human than the two preceeding EPs; the serpentine dopplers and seductive supercar engines of ‘In A Paraventral Scale’, and imploding motion sculptures of ‘Exhaust’. A deepfake of Lee’s voice appears from the chaotic slow-mo crash of ‘Balloon Lossy’, timidly telling of “[garbled]… good news”. The uncanny spectre of deep fakes, AI and deep learning models give way to the melancholic loneliness of the solo piano in ‘Empty Middle Seat’. Then glimmering, golden pads on ‘Hyperpassive’ slowly crawl into the hopeful, bright arpeggiations of ‘Balloon Copy’. ‘A Million Pieces Of You’ is a ride through a part-synthetic, part-modelled, part-imitation, part-taught, part-human, part[1]hopeful, part-reflective and paradoxically affirmative space – an involuntarily fitting finale to an album originally conceived in a world different to the one we now inhabit.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Lee Gamble continues to lead the way in terms of experimental electronics and post-everything nightclub deconstructions. A bit mellower in parts than some of his recent outings, it's nonetheless an arresting and encompassing listen throughout.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Balloon Lossy
A2. Newtown Got Folded
A3. Obsession Model
A4. Empty Middle Seat
B1. You Left A Space
B2. Hyperpassive
B3. Balloon Cop

Concocting a potent sonic assault that recalls the foreboding darkness of Black Sabbath, Savages’ monochrome post-punk and the dirty breathlessness of Bleach-era Nirvana, the Manchester quartet create a confrontational racket that takes no prisoners. The band’s name is inspired by the hysteria which accompanied the witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts, and Europe, which the band have long considered were a means to belittle, suppress and diminish women.

“There’s a big emphasis on female empowerment and female anger,” says bassist Alex of the message raging behind the band’s music. “It’s about celebrating yourself and self-expression. Not being stifled and held back.”

Reincarnate, which was recorded at Orgone Studios in Woburn, with producer Jaime Gomez Arellano, explores those incendiary topics. Lead single Reincarnate is an anthem of post-breakup independence, set to Sabbath-esque graveyard doom. In The Resurrect is a visceral squall about celebrating identity and being a “bad ass bitch”. Abject tackles sexism the band have encountered during live shows, while Bully Boy is a steel toe-capped boot to abuse of male power, which considers the concept of God within a patriarchal system.

“Growing up I went to a church and it was orthodox, shitty and a bit of a weird place,” explains Amy. “When I was 16, I left and then my family left after me. Some of my lyrics are about that, it’s about coming away from a trauma and knowing that you’re powerful despite that.”

“She takes biblical sayings and turns them on their heads,” says Alex of her bandmate’s lyrical approach.” It’s playing around with power constructs in society, religion and life and flipping it on its head.”

TRACK LISTING

Reincarnate
In The Resurrect
Abject
In Birth
Initiation
Bully Boy

Auntie Vegetable were one of Medway's best supergroups, with members/ex- members of The Prisoners, Ye Ascoyne d'Ascoynes, The Milkshakes, The Gruffmen, The Dentists and some others, the world was their plate and they was ready for the goodness to spurt.

With Jamie Taylor (Dan Stardust), Ian Smith (Kid Aphrodite), Allan Crockford (Rock Action), Bruce Brand (Stoop Solo ||) and Sexton Ming (Jive Phazer) gathering together to form an 'Acid Garage' group, their task was to destroy everything they could, but with much failure, they fully entertained a pub full of listeners way back in 1986, doing the same in other outlets after, including the legendary performance at The Bandstand, Chatham in 1986 (footage of which can be found on YouTube). With no particular 'break-up', the Auntie Vegetable parts went on to much success in formations such as The Headcoats/Thee Headcoatees, Phaze, The Prime Movers, The Solarflares, and each are still active in many formations, notably The Galileo 7, The Dirty Contacts, The James Taylor Quartet, The Masonics, The Mindreaders, Armitage Shanks, The Voo-Dooms, Sounds Incarcerated, Sexton Ming and many more!

Some 35 years later, 2021 sees the Auntie Vegetable re-grouping for a one-off show in Medway, with this EP allowing us to remember the goodness that the edible plant matter provides. Here we have four of the five recorded covers from the 1986 Woolly Studios recording, the fifth to feature elsewhere. These tracks have previously been featured on the Medway Powerhouse albums, and Hangman Sampler from Hangman Records between '87-88, now with added mastering to fill your needed appetite. Side A's glorious take on Ray Stanley's 'Glendora' (in Downliners Sect take) sets the pace, with The Yardbirds' 'Stroll On' following up. Side B burns into action with the Crazy World Of Arthur Brown's 'Fire', with a finale of Screaming Lord Sutch's 'Jack The Ripper'.

TRACK LISTING

Side A

1. Glendora
2. Stroll On


Side B

1. Fire
2. Jack The Ripper

"We can already see that this band has a lot to offer the world and we haven’t seen the half of yet” MTV.

"Watch this lot because they're going all the way" Spindle Magazine.

This new material marks an expansion of the duo’s dynamics, which represents another musical leap forward for the band, adding new textures and further honing a sound that has been theirs since their inception. In the process of embracing this evolution, the band enlisted the help of award-winning songwriter and producer, Tarek Musa (of Spring King / Dead Nature) as well as bringing in Claudius Mittendorf (Weezer, Parquet Courts, LIFE) for mixing duties. From the hook-heavy lead single “Rita”, a song about “a hard-working woman who defies the negative surroundings that try to stop her from doing what she is truly passionate about.” Through to alt-pop anthem “Let Me Go”, and darker, psych-inflected “Change Your Mind”, the band’s new material is simultaneously more cutting, energetic and melodically encapsulating than anything else they have released to-date.

Tracks from ‘Tell Me Now’ have been heavily supported by BBC Introducing and have received plays on Radio 1 and BBC 6 Music including support from Steve Lamacq and Tom Robinson. About their EP, VALERAS say: ‘This EP is the proudest VALERAS moment for the both of us. It’s made up of the first songs we wrote together as a duo in which we explored a dynamic we hadn’t before due to having a different line-up of members of the band in the past. This body of work marks a moment of growth for us as a musicians and individuals, and represents our ability to be able to co-write music that came so naturally that means so much to us. The songs were also co-written and produced by Tarek Musa, a musical hero of ours and great friend who we are so proud to say we worked beside.’

TRACK LISTING

Side A

1. Rita
2. The Other Side

Side B

3. Let Me Go
4. Change Your Mind 

An escape into the cosmos, out of this world of the grey and the shallow into deep space, light and legend. ‘Absence of Light’ is the new EP from Polly Scattergood, a writing and production collaboration with Jim Sclavunos (Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Grinderman) and producer Glenn Kerrigan.

Written during last year’s lockdowns in ‘virtual’ writing sessions with Jim Sclavunos (Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds / Sonic Youth / Grinderman) and long-time collaborator Glenn Kerrigan, the EP evokes sounds from outer edges of the universe, celebrating the scientific wonder and mythological splendour of worlds and realms beyond our own. The EP characterised by a delight in science’s answers to the infinite questions of space, and the ancient Roman and Greek attempts to know the unknowable and explain the inexplicable.

The nightmare continues. Last summer, Pozi’s 176 EP came out just as the coronavirus pandemic was offering us its first false dawn. Fast forward twelve months and another devastating wave later, we’re still a disorientated, shell-shocked mess; moving once again towards normality, but with the energy-sapping tension of continued restrictions. A grimly perfect time then for the south London three-piece to return with new EP ‘Typing’ on PRAH Recordings.

The five tracks here reflect another stage in Pozi’s evolution. Since coming out of the gate they’ve been a bristling, frenetic presence, toeing the line between dissonance and pop sensibility. As the 176 EP was a refinement of what they did on PZ1, Typing sees the trio becoming yet more comfortable in their relationship as a band and increasingly confident in how far they can push their sound.

Typing isn’t a lockdown record, but it has been informed by it. More importantly, though, it’s yet another significant step forward from a band who’ve so far felt like something of an underground secret, despite being championed by BBC Radio 6 Music and in various places by contemporaries such as Sleaford Mods, Squid and Sports Team. Once restrictions do finally lift, that may no longer be the case.

TRACK LISTING

1. Detainer Man
2. Free Day
3. Typing
4. Sea Song
5. Cover It Up
6. First Thing

Following the release of his "Marasi" EP with sir Was last year, Falle Nioke returns with his second collaboration with Ghost Culture in the form of "Badiare EP". Falle Nioke is a singer and percussionist from Guinea Conakry, West Africa. He sings in Coniagui, French, English, Susu, Fulani and Malinke, and plays a range of cultural African instruments to accompany his voice (gongoma, Bolon, Cassi). Since arriving in the UK three years ago, after a period travelling around West Africa, singing with a troupe of musicians and learning different cultural rhythms, the 34 year old has been making music with a number of producers, including Johan Hugo, Congo Natty, Sir Was and Ghost Culture. Collaborator Ghost Culture (James Greenwood)’s masterful use of electronics portray a beguiling musical landscape, one inspired equally by Arthur Russell and Elliot Smith as much as LFO or Aphex Twin. Nearly five years since its release via Errol Alkan’s Phantasy Sound label, his debut LP still proves to be a hugely satisfying and charismatic trip. Celebrated as Critic’s Choice in The Guardian Guide, it earned similar plaudits from outlets including The Observer, The Times, Mixmag and The Quietus, who hailed it as 'one of the best and most confident debuts in years.' He continues to have a wide impact on the culture of UK electronic music, owing to his ongoing production work with artists such as Daniel Avery and Kelly Lee Owens.

TRACK LISTING

1. Leywole
2. Jaarama
3. Spiritually
4. Ayekouma

For the tenth release, Ko-ta joins DJ Nobu's Bitta label. The legendary Japanese producer, known for his releases on Stratosphere Records where he showed a unique take on tribal and off-beat techno tools, now returns with two fresh and fast paced rhythm work outs. After blown away by a tune he heard in a friend's Instagram Stories, Nobu asked the friend about the track which turned out to be a work of Ko-ta's. Nobu immediately suggested Ko-ta to release his material on Bitta, and the result is this outstanding and singular EP for which Ko-ta contributed two amazing originals. Remixed by Don't DJ who flips 'Shiya' into an energetic stripped down drum and bass swinger and DJ Nobu who re-works 'Shiza' with his powerful broken techno touch.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Conjuring a cauldron of bass, rhythm and shamanic energy, two far out cats cast spells onto Ko-Ta's "Shiya".

TRACK LISTING

A1. Shiya
A2. Shiya (Dont DJ Remix)
B1. Shiza
B2. Shiza (DJ Nobu Remix)

Ground-breaking artist Yves Tumor continues to unlock the perception of reality with a psychedelically bent off-kilter rock offering, "The Asymptotical World EP" out now on WARP. The boundary smashing 6 song EP is the next era from the pop auteur and first release from Yves Tumor following the critically acclaimed 2020 album "Heaven To a Tortured Mind". Yves Tumor continues to manipulate the genre terrain by challenging mainstream music constraints further and shifting the boundaries of contemporary art and culture in a boundlessly visceral and authentic sonic signature.

The "Asymptotical World EP" (co-produced and engineered by longstanding collaborator Yves Rothman) includes the massive single, “Jackie”, also co-written/produced by Chris Greatti (Yungblud, Poppy). The single arrived with the radical electrifying DeepFake visualizer directed and produced by Actual Objects. “Jackie” is a punctuated tale of connection in a fever dream realm featuring emotive guitars over an upbeat drum pattern, evoking the volatile magnetism between lovers that has garnered millions of streams across platforms and has received a multitude of praise. 

STAFF COMMENTS

Patrick says: Barry and I were only discussing the challenging genius of Yves Tumor the other day, and now we're in possession of an EP of brand new material. The shapeshifting, genre shredding artist is in chart conquering rock mode here, serving superbly psychedelic, surprisingly catchy indie. Highest recommendations all round I think!

TRACK LISTING

Jackie
Crushed Velvet
Secrecy Is Incredibly Important To The Both Of Them
Tuck Feat. NAKED
...And Loyalty Is A Nuisance Child
Katrina

The Lonely Hunter EP is the debut EP from Hemi Hemingway - the project of London based New Zealander Shaun Blackwell as well as the latest single from Stockholm, Sweden indie label PNKSLM Recordings (Yung, ShitKid, Les Big Byrd etc).

After tip-toeing around the idea of a solo project like this one for a while, last year he finally set to recording a glittering ode to sixties pop, taking his cues from both classic and contemporary influences.

Embracing the timeless lovesickness of The Ronettes, The Shirelles and The Shangri-Las - subtly subverting it to focus on modern relationships, masculinity, and his own roots as a New Zealander - while contemporary acts like Sheer Mag, Angel Olsen, Aldous Harding and Shannon and the Clams provided inspiration as he penned his lyrics.

TRACK LISTING

Burnin’ Blue
/ It’s So Hard To Say Goodbye
/ The Lonely Hunter
/ Hemi’s Lament
/ Move Over Darling
/ My Lover, A Strange Her

‘Burning Your Light’ is a new six-track EP of covers from the remarkable Brigid Mae Power, it follows ‘Head Above the Water’ (2020) which saw her unique vocal style and music heralded in all corners. Power’s ability to interpret songs is unquestionable, as is her love of the art of songwriting. She skilfully brings joy from pain which is perfectly illustrated on this new EP.

Ranging from the brittle collapse of ‘Didn’t It Rain’ (Songs: Ohia) through to the slings and blows of Aretha Franklin, Bob Dylan and Patsy Cline, she brings hope and reverence to these classic songs.

The EP features ‘I’ll Be Here In The Morning’ from the late great pioneer of alt-country Townes Van Zandt’s essential album ‘For The Sake Of The Song’ (1968), ‘One More Cup Of Coffee’ hails from Bob Dylan’s ‘Desire’, Aretha Franklin’s ‘It Ain’t Fair’ from her 1970 album ‘This Girl’s In Love With You’, Songs: Ohia’s ‘Didn’t It Rain’ to ‘Leavin’ On Your Mind’, a country standard by Patsy Cline from 1963, that’s now taken to new depths of despair.

Also reworked is ‘May Morning Dew’ an Irish ballad that allows Brigid’s voice to ululate in the best tradition of the genre; the traditional sound is brought into a new decade with its chilling ambience.

"A remarkable Irish singer emerges from filigree and shadow" Mojo.

“The magic is in the folk singer’s extraordinary voice” Sunday Times.

"A remarkable Irish singer emerges from filigree and shadow" Mojo.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Well, it's certainly a week for the cover versions isn't it? First Angel Olsen and now the folk stylings of Brigid Mae Power with her wonderful collection of folky covers of classics. It's Powers' voice that really tie together the songs here, filled with unrivalled emotion and brittle folky charm.

TRACK LISTING

A1. I’ll Be Here In The Morning
A2. One More Cup Of Coffee
A3. It Ain't Fair
B1. Didn't It Rain
B2. May Morning Dew
B3. Leavin' On Your Mind

The new EP from Brighton four-piece ĠENN .

"Six tracks across a little over 20 minutes means ‘Liminal’ is a record that gallops rather than canters. Not so much bridging the gap between psych and post-punk, as occupying the murky waters beneath said bridge, each track on offer differs aesthetically somewhat from the next, something that maintains the record’s pace, even with some tracks getting caught in their own distinct hypnotic grooves." - Dave Beech, DIY

TRACK LISTING

1. Feel
2. Mackerel's Funky Mission
3. 23rd March
4. Catalyst
5. Just Another Sad Song
6. Falling Out

Love Record Stores Edition available instore from 10am on Saturday September 4th, any remaining copies will be available on online from 9pm on the same day.
Limited to one per person.

‘Life Flows In Endless Song / The Body Is A Tide’ EP is released on vinyl for this year’s Love Record Stores on 4th September 2021.
Following the release of ‘The Weight Of The Sun’ LP, Modern Studies shift from light to dark over two new EPs brought together as six track 12-inch ‘Life Flows In Endless Song / The Body Is A Tide’, a record that further cements their reputation for innovative craftsmanship. ‘Life Flows In Endless Song’ showcases the band’s increasingly expansive sound, swelling with orchestrated drama behind the rich vocal pairing of Emily Scott and Rob St John, before their otherworldly dreaminess is pin-pricked at its height by Emily’s beautiful alto on ‘The Failing Light’. ‘The Body Is A Tide’ hails from ominous darker terrains, scratching further into their own psyche; it’s heady and baroque, ornate and super-detailed, an opus that climaxes with ‘High Hymn Summers’ and its slowly-rolling drone, created by processing all the songs from ‘The Weight of the Sun’ played at once. "The EP nods at the idea of our collective bodies weathering rough times, played out with massed strings, prepared guitars, slow bass grooves, hypnotic drums, wobbling saw, xaphoon and mellotron. We shook off our usual song structures in favour of something repetitive, slow and heavy; life flows in endless song." 

The success of S. Fidelity's sophomore LP "Fidelity Radio Club" (April, 2021) is still culminating. Widely recognized as a highlight for instrumental beat music this year, with recent track placements on Spotify's Editorial Jazz Vibes and Butter Playlists, each with over 1.9M Followers. Now, S. Fidelity teams up with the unmistakable sound of Berlin's Toy Tonics to rework four of FRC's track to perfectly fit dance floors worldwide as they slowly reopen.

Toy Tonics label head Kapote as well as TT label artists Cody Currie, Rhode & Brown and Sam Ruffillo deliver four high quality club renditions from FRC. The EP, only 500 copies pressed, is to be released via Jakarta Records on September 3rd. Musically, the EP combines the feel-good, beat factor of "Fidelity Radio Club" with the dancefloor ready house, disco and funk grooves that Toy Tonics are known for. The EP will be a perfect follow-up to S. Fidelity's previous Jakarta releases, which have gained more than 3.3M cumulative streams on Spotify alone.

The 1st single, "Me At The Zoo feat. Àbáse (Cody Currie Remix) is to be released on August 13th along with announcement of the pre-order for the Limited 12" EP. The upbeat collaboration with Cody Currie – who has more than 2M cumulative streams on Spotify – takes the swinging groove of the original and gives it a Balearic, percussive, dance-ready vibe. Currie, a London-born DJ and producer has been on the rise since moving to Berlin and teaming up with talent from the city's jazz and house scenes. He's released two EP's with Grammy nominated pianist Joel Holmes on Toy Tonics as well as the mini album "Atlantic Exchanges, Vol. 1" with Felipe Gordon on DJ Haus' Shall Not Fade in 2021. This year Currie also shared his first solo 12" on Toy Tonics, "Moves EP", which showcases his sublime ability as a producer to blend elements of feel-good house, disco, jazz and UK garage into each other.

The three other tracks are set to be released as digital singles on the physical release day, September 3rd, in order to maximize playlist reach and hit each of the artists release radars. Toy Tonics head honcho Kapote, a.k.a. Mathias Modica, takes S. Fidelity's boogie tune "Something Good" and spices it with a catchy piano lead line, infectious drum programming and several synth solos. Kapote, with more than 3.5M cumulative Spotify streams and over 97K Monthly Listeners, ran Gomma Records for more than 15 years, where he produced and released the likes of WhoMadeWho and Rammellzee.

Rhode & Brown remix "Presumably Broccoli", a straightforward hip-hop instrumental, which they flipped and "reverso-ed" into a just as straightforward high energy dancefloor gem. The duo from Munich have been delighting house music fans with rock solid productions on such labels as Toy Tonics, Permanent Vacation, Public Possession, Shall Not Fade and their own Slam City Jams imprint, establishing themselves as one of the most consistent house producers groups. Most recently they released their debut album "Everything Is In Motion" on Permanent Vacation. Bologna-based Sam Ruffillo rounds out the EP with a deep and meditative house rendition of S. Fidelity's "Higher" featuring Àbáse on keys and a prolific vocal recording of Steve Arrington. The Italian DJ and producer debuted on Toy Tonics just a year ago with the pandemic inspired EP "Sport House", offering jazzy-house alternatives to dancing while clubs remained closed. Sam Ruffillo received co-signs and spins by the likes of Romare, Folamour and Spotify's Fresh Finds: Basement playlist.

The release will primarily be promoted by the artist's and label's social media accounts and profiles.

TRACK LISTING

1. Me At The Zoo (Cody Currie Remix) [feat. Abase]
2. Something Good (Kapote Remix)
3. Presumably Broccoli (Rhode & Brown Reverso Mix) [feat. Suff Daddy]
4. Higher (Sam Ruffillo Remix) [feat. Àbáse & Saint Ezekiel]

Braindance mentalism from Mause on Massage Brain Cult! I fuckin' love this label! Never heard of Mause before but I'm really digging this: melodious and velvety, which sets it apart from the more robust and aggressive side of the label. If you liked RX-101 on Sunction, D. Ball on Ourtime and the harmonic side of AFK then you need this in your life!  

There's absolutely shed loads to go at across the double vinyl packa.ge Has remixes from D'Arcangelo, Bot1500 & UF0 whilst Mause's own compositions range hyper-serene futurescapes, dual-sequenced drum chaos (think AFX's "Drukqs") and glitched up neon-rave beauties. There's nods to electro in there too, with all the classic (and not so well known) drum boxes working overtime alongside a vertible array of soft and hard synths. 

Honestly, if you're into the multi-dimensional evolution of electronic music that's taken place over the last 30 years or so, then this is gonna proper melt ya mind. Buy the ticket, take the trip - you will not be disappointed! Incredible. 

TRACK LISTING

A1.DMX Acidheim
A2.Evas Bounce
A3.Errire
B1.Dolpin Funk1
B2. Baecon3
B3.Thorn(r8)

C1. Dolpin Funk1-Utopia Cloak's "search For Atlantis Re-edit"
C2. DMX AcidHeim - Anitta Rmx
C3.Thorn(r8) - D'Arcangelo's "whispering Edit"
D1. Evas Bounce - Bot1500
D2.Erirre - Uf0 Rmx
D3.Baeco

More top drawer new garage as Alfredo Romero returns Dansu Discs with his "Bottle Job" EP.

4 originals heavily inspired by all things UKG and dubwise. MCR's Interplanetary Criminal also slides in on the action with his remix of "Raspect" - this really isn’t one to sleep on.

Reminds be a bit of El-B's classic double pack on Tempa with its intricate, trickski drum programming, sounds sytem rasta idents and beautifully balanced bass. Serious, this one of those records that makes everyone twist their head and / or rush up to the decks to see what's up. 

TRACK LISTING

A1. Wan More
A2. Man Man
A3. Raspect
B1. Raspect (Interplanetary Criminal Remix)
B2. Pet Nat

After spending most of 2020 putting music out on respected labels like Far Out Recordings, Sonar Kollektiv and Oye Black Label, Croatian producer Jan Kincl is kick starting 2021 with a 4-track EP featuring a remix from Atlanta-based house don Kai Alcé. The EP is titled "It's Been A While" and consists of three original pieces; "Love's So Far Away" is a direct peak time club track drawing a lot of its influences from the raw and dirty side of Detroit house music. "Day By Day" sits somewhere on the cross section between deep house, broken beat and jazz, with Regis Kattie's beautiful Rhodes melody woven throughout the track. "Just Stay (Kai Alcé Remix)" is a masterful reinterpretation of "Just Stay", which transforms the otherwise more laidback original into a driving 3am house tune. "Just Stay (Dub)" is best described as a connecting point between A1 and A2. Jan's raw house groove juxtaposed with a deep and subtle jazz feel coming from the hands of Regis Kattie.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Love's So Far Away
A2. Day By Day
B1. Just Stay (Kai Alcé Remix)
B2. Just Stay (Dub)

Barefoot Beats dig deep and deliver a well-balanced package of Brazilian delights via two rising stars of the scene Elado and Bernardo Pinhiero. 

Elado kicks things off with a highly infectious sing-a-long boogie affair that is guaranteed to get those hands in the air. Mouth watering and head spinning, this Brazilian cocktail is packed to the gills with monkey drums, sumptuous string arrangements and plenty of mid tempo disco brilliance.

While on the flip, Pinheiro's more wonky, heads down disco beast is perfect for when you really want to feel the heat. Filters set to stun, chopped vocals chucked into the rhythm section and plenty of additional electronic weirdness, this one is a proper disco bumper.

Tudo magia.

TRACK LISTING

A. Elado - Tudo Magia
B. Bernardo Pinheiro - Pitangamanguearaca

THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2021 EXCLUSIVE.

Double A sided, x4 trk 12" single. This 12" features two reggae remixes each of Jokerman and I And I by Doctor Dread. The original versions of both tracks appeared on Dylan's Infidels album with Sly & Robbie as the rhythm section. The two I And I remixes were previously released on Is It Rolling Bob: A Reggae Tribute To Bob Dylan (2003) while the Jokerman remixes are newly commissioned and previously unreleased. Doctor Dread has worked with Bob Marley, Black Uhuru, Jimmy Cliff, Inner Circle, Gregory Isaacs, Luciano, Mad Cobra, Freddy Mcgregor, Sly and Robbie, Steel Pulse, The Wailers and many others.

THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2021 EXCLUSIVE AND WILL BE AVAILABLE INSTORE ON SATURDAY JULY 17TH ON A FIRST COME FIRST SERVED BASIS, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

IF THERE ARE ANY REMAINING COPIES THEY WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE ONLINE AT 6PM ON THE SAME DAY (SATURDAY JULY 17TH).

Released in 1980 on Beverly Glenn-Copeland's own label and featuring his long-time collaborator Doug Riley At Last! took it's name because it took so long for Glenn to get back in the studio and release new music (his previous recordings were in 1970)! The ultra-rare EP reveals Glenn in deep funk, soul and rock modes. Part of an ongoing reissue campaign celebrating the diverse output of this legendary musician and transgender activist. Pressed on black vinyl. Beverly Glenn-Copeland -At Last! 

TRACK LISTING

1. Montreal Main (The Buddha In The Palm) 2. Onward And Upward 3. Where There's Love 4. Journeyman

THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2021 EXCLUSIVE AND WILL BE AVAILABLE INSTORE ON SATURDAY JULY 17TH ON A FIRST COME FIRST SERVED BASIS, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

IF THERE ARE ANY REMAINING COPIES THEY WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE ONLINE AT 6PM ON THE SAME DAY (SATURDAY JULY 17TH).

Mayer Hawthorne is an R&B / soul singer who debuted on Stones Throw in 2009 with A Strange Arrangement - The Impressions EP, a collection of covers, was released in 2011 for free online. This RSD exclusive edition brings these covers to vinyl for the first time - Exclusive art for the vinyl by Alvaro Ilizarbe / Freegums - Includes covers of tracks by Chromeo, Average White Band, ELO, and more Tracklisting Side A 1. Mr. Blue Sky 2. Donít Turn The Lights On 3. Youíve Got The Makings Of A Lover Side B 4. Fantasy Girl 5. Little Person 6. Work To Do

Presented as the sister record to 2014’s “Asleep Versions”, “Piano Versions” is a collection of ambient piano cover versions. The songs on the EP, originally by Roger & Brian Eno, Thom Yorke, Luke Abbott and James Yorkston, are presented in a completely new context to their initial form. On these versions, Hopkins used his upright piano as the centrepiece of the EP, whilst recording the ambient, environmental elements around it.

TRACK LISTING

Dawn Chorus
Heron
Modern Driveway
Wintergreen 

An exploration of repression, longing and ‘otherness’ amidst illusory landscapes, ‘Rain’s Break’ EP is inspired by the early technicolour films of Powell and Pressburger. Lucy Gooch uses synthesisers and vocal layering to concentrate elements of each film’s score and narrative into songs which move through different moods of yearning and renewal:
“I first experienced their strange cinematic worlds in childhood, and they stayed with me, like waking dreams – their vibrancy seemed to capture the hidden emotional lives of everyday people. The films’ fantastical sets were often met with the complexities of the inner female experience, as portrayed by each heroine. People wrestling with post-war isolation, changing attitudes to women and sexual repression alongside their struggle to establish equality and autonomy of their own lives.”

So, it is amidst 1940’s austerity that these films were an escape, an over-rich backdrop of possibilities. A snatched piece of dialogue, the film’s score, the crackle of uncertainty all succumbs to the layered ambience of Lucy’s music as she traces moods of yearning and renewal on ‘Rain’s Break’ EP.

Originally from Norfolk, Lucy studied Fine Art and later moved to Bristol to join the emerging ambient scene there - gradually developing her writing and finally releasing her debut ‘Rushing’ EP in early 2020. Over the past year, she’s dipped into a wealth of long gone celluloid as the basis for a filmic journey, a five song EP that relives formative movies in her unique take on ecclesiastical pop.

‘Ash and Orange’ emerged after listening to old recordings of women’s choirs from the 1930’s, their stoic sopranos circling churches and halls. In two parts, it touches on an everyday person’s hidden life that leads to an emotional breaking-down. A change from Lucy’s trademarked looping style it takes its inspiration from choral composition.

‘Chained To A Woman’ by contrast, is more playful, nodding to ‘80s synth pop, a homage to some degree to Blue Nile, pop music tinged with melancholy.

“I sought to stick to that tradition of talk-singing the verses, and it seemed to fit in with the feeling of the song, which is more ambiguous. I wanted the words to be about being devoted to something, like family, a person or religion and all the things that come with that kind of devotion.”

Inspired by the monsoon scene at the end of Black Narcissus (1947), the title track ‘Rain’s Break’ takes its lead from the weather to reflect an emotional journey.

“That amazing tradition in early film of using weather to reflect the character’s emotional journey - it seems cliched now but at the time it was revolutionary. This is my attempt at trying to recreate the feeling of total surrender to drama, of something totally sensual.”

This is music that takes you places, shifts focus, paints large canvases.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: There are all sorts of musical touchstones flying out of the player for this one. It's essentially widescreen ambient music but with a focus on the walls of echo and reverb-effected synths more akin to shoegaze. Slowly building into crescentic waves of layered tones, brilliantly warm but undeniably massive.

TRACK LISTING

Side A
1 Rain's Break
2 It Brings Me Back To You
3 Chained To A Woman

Side B
4 6AM
5 Ash And Orange

Released in 2020, Rheinzand’s self-titled debut LP heralded an authentic vibe of retro-futuristic disco-pop, distinguishing themselves in the current climate of dance music. The album was met with acclaim, picked by Piccadilly Records as their nr. 1 album of the year. Since, the material on that album have proven fertile ground for practitioners in the art of the remix. On this EP, we release a selection of those efforts.

On the first slot, we have Running Back label owner and longstanding DJ heavyweight Gerd Janson polishing off his house music fluency with a gleaming take on ‘Blind’. The swerving vocals of Charlotte Caluwaerts’ reverberate through space ray arpeggiators and burnished drum gates.
Belgian compatriot Blitzzega, the neon-drenched moniker of composer Bjorn Eriksson, features with a dizzyingly switched-on version of ‘Mi Mundo’, sporting gnawing synths and hijacked funk licks.

Next, dub-pop wizards Peaking Lights serve up a heady brew of plugged-up melodies braided around Reinhard and Charlotte’s shuffling vocals. This remix blends the magenta glow of synthwave with the deep grooves of maybe late Theo Parrish. We round off the EP with a treat form Dennis ‘Citizen’ Kane, the iconic dance music figure who emerged in mid-90s NYC downtown scene. A veteran DJ and disco-head, Kane applies a luminous hand to Rheinzand’s ’14 Again’, deepening the vibe of kittenish mystery through carefully layered work of phasing drones, wandering synths, and mushrooming rhythm section (think T-Connection). 

STAFF COMMENTS

Mine says: After the success of the first remix EP we'll again be stocking an exclusive 12" by our album of the year winners Rheinzand, this time featuring remixes by Running Back mastermind Gerd Janson and shop favourites Peaking Lights. LUSH!

TRACK LISTING

A1. Blind (Gerd Janson Dance Mix)
A2. Mi Mundo (Blitzzega Mix)
B1. Synti (Peaking Lights Disco Dub Mix)
B2. 14 Again (Dennis Kane Remix)

Pre-order this EP to be in with a chance of winning an exclusive signed test-pressing.

With their first two singles under their belts – "Generation Game", the fastest selling 7" for the award-winning label, and "Burn The Heather" – plus a raft of Ones To Watch accolades for 2021, there is much anticipation for what lies next for the band.

In early 2020, "Generation Game" announced the band as artists shaping powerful narratives around a fast-fragmenting society. With the lyric “what will the US do?” they served up a painfully prescient prediction of American unrest.

Follow-up single "Burn The Heather" made a left-hand turn for the more punk-funk, sneering at culture wars and the damaging impact of a class divide.

New single "Cain’s Heresy" shakes with the propulsion of a nimble rhythm section, full of bite and scorn, simultaneously swinging angrily at a negligent political class ("The death of four souls is less than a kick in the teeth, for them"), the threat of misinformation ("Poisonous ideals on the screen breed a vicious way of thinking, off the screen") and the noxious follow-the-leader march of celebrity culture ("They’re servants to fame"). The EP title “Silk For The Starving” in itself probes at a society that routinely neglects the needs of the have-nots.

The Lounge Society sing about what they know then. Make no mistake, this is the sound of young England: articulate, enraged and energised. And – perhaps crucially - highly danceable too. It should give hope to anyone who has lost faith in the future, because here the future is in safe hands.

TRACK LISTING

Burn The Heather
Television
Cain’s Heresy
Valley Bottom Fever

THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2021 EXCLUSIVE AND WILL BE AVAILABLE INSTORE ON SATURDAY JUNE 12TH ON A FIRST COME FIRST SERVED BASIS, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

IF THERE ARE ANY REMAINING COPIES THEY WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE ONLINE AT 6PM ON THE SAME DAY (SATURDAY JUNE 12TH).

A hidden but much loved  gem from the band's early 90s output, the Dixie-Narco EP was released in 1992. Recorded at Ardent Studios, Memphis, it marked a continuation of the experimentation explored on the preceding Screamadelica album, taking in acid house, country blues and a rare Dennis Wilson cover across its four tracks. Long out of print, the 2021 RSD edition is the first official reissue since 1992. Artwork and packaging replicates that of the original EP

Four tracks recorded by Ride guitarist and singer Andy Bell for radio sessions, including a cover of 1990 Mancunian cult classic ‘Perfume’ by Paris Angels.

TRACK LISTING

1. Love Comes In Waves (Acoustic Version)
2. Cherry Cola (Acoustic Version)
3. Skywalker (Acoustic Version)
4. Perfume (Acoustic Version)

EPs 1988-1991 And Rare Tracks compiles the group’s four EPs, wherein many of their devoted fans’ favourite music lies. You Made Me Realise and Feed Me With Your Kiss both preceded the band’s debut album in 1988 in quick succession. In the gap between Isn’t Anything and loveless, the band released two further EPs; Glider (1990) and Tremolo (1991).

TRACK LISTING

CD1
1. You Made Me Realise
2. Slow
3. Thorn
4. Cigarette In Your Bed
5. Drive It All Over Me
6. Feed Me With Your Kiss
7. I Believe
8. Emptiness Inside
9. I Need No Trust
10. Soon
11. Glider
12. Don’t Ask Why
13. Off Your Face

CD2
1. To Here Knows When
2. Swallow
3. Honey Power
4. Moon Song
5. Instrumental No. 2
6. Instrumental No. 1
7. Glider (full Length Version)
8. Sugar
9. Angel
10. Good For You
11. How Do You Do It

Recommended If You Like: Regina Spektor, Dolly Parton, Fleet Foxes (or something like Fleet Foxes), Jeff Tweedy, Dougie Poole, The idea of Kishi Bashi going Americana.

Over the last several years, the critically acclaimed composer and adventurous multi-instrumentalist Kishi Bashi has travelled frequently to Montana and Wyoming to work on Omoiyari, a “song film” about Japanese internment during WWII. The experience was potent for Kishi Bashi, who conducted research for the film (and 2019 album of the same name) by speaking to internment camp incarcerees and descendents. These conversations led to him reflecting on his own identity as a Japanese-American while laying the foundation of his forthcoming Emigrant EP.

Along with the brutal history and harsh climate of the American West, Kishi Bashi also sensed a hope and potential, compassion, and resilience. In Emigrant EP, he celebrates these qualities. Arranged and recorded over the last year, the six tracks serve as a time capsule of the 2020 condition and a continuation of the concepts explored in Omoiyari. What’s more, they find Kishi Bashi rewriting musical tradition in the image of his own experience, further embracing his love for roots music and violin fiddling. Meditating on the anxieties of the COVID-19 pandemic, the comforts of nature, the pains of resource-fueled conflicts, and the resiliency that emerges from struggle, Emigrant EP is steeped in the past while it looks to the future. “I want to understand the history, but also dive in and really try to humanize it,” he says. “I’m trying to show how we’re all the same type of human being. We have the same desires and needs, to protect our loved ones and also to celebrate the everyday.”

TRACK LISTING

1 Cascades
2 Wait For Springtime
3 Laughing With
4 Early Morning Breeze
5 Those Days Are Gone
6 Town Of Pray

The two tracks from Andy Bell’s debut solo single reworked by Pye Corner Audio, with the original tracks remastered by Heba Kadry.

TRACK LISTING

1.The Commune (Pye Corner Audio Remix)
2.Plastic Bag (Pye Corner Audio Remix)
3.The Commune
4.Plastic Bag

Originally released as one side of a split E.P on Firewire Recordings back in 2002 “Venting Steam” and “Solid Gear” get a fresh remaster on Varial Records.

Featuring alongside are two additional unreleased tracks created and recorded at The Cube in the same time period, "Muted Point" and "Tallon Drive" provide a more lo-fi 4/4 techno workout. Inspired by the other worlds we escape into through sci-fi and video game culture. Both original tracks have become sought artefacts amongst devote techno and electro collectors whilst the new ones on offer here have plenty of kinetic energy nestled within their grooves to power a dancefloor when the doors reopen in June. 

TRACK LISTING

A1. Venting Steam
A2. Solid Gear
B1. Muted Point
B2. Tallon Drive

The Red EP is the third and final Laundromat (AKA Toby Hayes) EP in the current set, concluding a triology completed with the prebiously released Blue and Green EPs. Laundromat has previously received support from Steve Lamacq, Marc Riley, DIY, Dork among others.

On the EP opener ‘Flat Planet’, Laundromat says "I don’t ever remember setting out to write a tune like this, but here it is anyways. I kinda hear it like a St. Vincent song or something like that. Some tongue in cheek (but not) apocalyptic-pop. An eye-roll pointed right back at us dumb humans. You know how when you’re reading the news, and it’s facepalm after facepalm? This was a response to that feeling. The drop at the end is a Big Muff driving a Harmonic Percolator - a lot of fun through headphones."

Laundromat, the new project from Toby Hayes has been a long time in the making. Hayes admits as much, recalling a process that has taken "years" to bear fruition. The resulting EPs showcase a musician who has earned his stripes in the DIY scene.

Elsewhere on Red, En Bloc is an ode to friendship, Hayes describing how he "grew up a bit awkward, socially. So now I get really romantic about my pals". While Milky is a more sombre affair that recalls Beck at his most tender.

Lyrically the project explores the end of the world, panic attacks, political figures that don’t represent the people that elected them, the preciousness of friendship, binge drinking, mental health and the time Hayes got ‘catfished’ - for nearly 7 years.

Influences are broad, ranging from Broadcast, Jaki Liebezeit, Jason Albertini, Madlib to Gonjasufi. Kim Deal stands out as major inspiration. Film is also a huge source of intrigue for Hayes "I find a lot of inspiration in film. Repo Man (1984), Deep End (1970), Punch-drunk Love (2002), and Alice in the Cities (1974) in particular" he says.

Hayes finds salvation in the intimacy of bedrooms recordings, " I love the sound of them. There’s something special there that I will always love, the sound of someone exploring their imagination, performing to themselves." Lo-fi may be the guiding force, but after an eventful and painful few years Laundromat is ready to embrace positive change and seek catharsis with these new recordings.

TRACK LISTING

1. Flat Planet
2. En Bloc
3. Milky

Phwwwwooar! This is a bit of alright! Blackdown and Burial, joined by Heatmap for a four (count em!) track EP of unfathomable fresh, future musica!

Keysound label head Blackdown gets us underway with a wild barrage of drum machines, strings, phazed atmos and ghosted vox with his track "This Journey VIP". London's cloaked, emo-garage antihero hits next, dropping two tracks of his iconic, smudged, two step hybrid he's singularly promoted over his near-20 year dominance of the UK underground. I guess calling this megastar 'underground' in 2021 is pushing it a bit, but no one can deny Mr. Bevan has stuck firmly to his remit without ever compromising his truly original style. Anyway, lovers of his pioneering sound won't be disappointed, "Dark Gethsemane" sticks to his classic formular of coke-can drums, skitty rhythms and pitch-bent angel vox. Much like "Clausto", it has an interlude bit in the middle which drops into an even more euphoric climax towards the end, united the global optimistis with a message of love. 

Side B sees Heatmap remixed by Blackdown; "Arklight" transformed into a laser-guided beast destined for the big stages with its big wobbly bass, incessant hand claps and space-age arps. Finally, Burial completes proceedings with "Space Cadet" - a skeletal and moody number filled with hushed whispers, enchanted harps and crackles of static - again morphing into a rush of endorphins and good vibes towards the end.

Full marks all around. Limited copies - be quick! 

TRACK LISTING

1. Blackdown - This Journey VIP
2. Burial - Dark Gethsemane
3. Heatmap - Arklight (Blackdown Remix)
4. Burial - Space Cadet

Yoshi is a small but sincere label; shunning a busy release schedule for something sporadic - ensuring a high quality control and creativity for each one of their seven releases so far. Making imaginative club records that still make people dance rather than scream can be somewhat of a task in the modern landscape.

Nino Šebelić has an uncanny knack of crafting headturning sounds with easily absorbed dynamics; challenging sounds presented in a highly enjoyable framework which works best when two pills in at your favourite all nite dance party.

Across 5 tracks we get elements of techno, electro and house; but all produced with a kinda squashed, bit-reduced aesthetic - a little bit like DJ Qu in places, a bit like Frak in others; but with a nod to Detroit in the process. Anyway, it all sounds MEGA, and I for one will be certainly packing this record as part of my next night club barrage, whenever that might be...

TRACK LISTING

A1. Mehanizm
A2. Geto Bejs
A3. Press Enter
B1. Reversed Blame
B2. Waveformist