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“It's a new lineup,” landlord of the avant-garage Kid Congo Powers exclaims of the Pink Monkey Birds edition responsible for the fifth studio full-length of their 19 year recording career, That Delicious Vice.
“We've gone from a four piece to a three piece,” continues Kid, whose unique guitar style has been at the center of some of the most forward-thinking bands in punk and garage: The Gun Club, The Cramps, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, and Knoxville Girls, to name a handful.
“I'm not sure if living in the desert is making me want more space in music or not,” laughs Kid, a Tucson resident for a few years now. “Maybe I’m turning into a desert stoner rocker. But I'm not a stoner, so that's not happening.”
No, the former Brian Tristan is most decidedly not unleashing a Kyuss tribute album. But you hear the desert all over That Delicious Vice, beginning with opening instrumental “East Of East,” its Duane Eddy/Rowland S. Howard guitar twanging through some malicious reverb. You feel it in the slide guitar-drenched theme from an imaginary western, “Silver For My Sister,” which echoes the pioneering Los Angeles blues punk band Kid formed with Jeffrey Lee Pierce, The Gun Club. There’s also such unique pieces as the acid/garage cumbia title track, translated into Spanish at least for its name, “Ese Vicio Delicioso.” As he tells the tale of his musical journey over the Pink Monkey Birds’ cowbell-thumping Latinate rhythms, Kid’s thickly distorted guitar groans and screams with feedback, likely a conscious sonic homage to Jimi Hendrix, name checked in the lyrics.
But the album’s major hallmark has to be its extended collaboration with Alice Bag, the face of and voice of early LA punk titans The Bags. How and why these two took this long to unite creatively is a dense mystery, considering both graduated with honors from early Hollywood punk palace The Masque, and their photos had to have stared at one another from opposite pages of a few issues of Slash or fLiPSiDe.
This led to “Wicked World,” a full-on Kid Congo/Alice Bag duet that’s That Delicious Vice’s second track and major fulcrum. Over rat-a-tat “Big Bad John” drums, a blast of fuzz bass, and Kid’s siren-like slide guitar, the co-composers recount in tandem the tale of a child “born into trouble from a devil seed/Every fork in the road led her here.” It’s a short drive from there through a poor childhood and bad decisions to turning tricks and seeking kicks, amid an atmosphere heady with the scent of sex. The action stops, and Alice chants, “One two three four five six seven — you’re going to Hell, and I’M GOING TO HEAVEN!!” It’s a pulp paperback reincarnated as primal rock ‘n’ roll.
That Delicious Vice is produced by Kid Congo & The Pink Monkey Birds, recorded and mixed by Jim Waters [Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Sonic Youth] at his Waterworks Studios facility in Tucson. It features nine new original tracks that are the band’s strongest to date. The band will be touring Australia in April with more touring to follow.
“We've gone from a four piece to a three piece,” continues Kid, whose unique guitar style has been at the center of some of the most forward-thinking bands in punk and garage: The Gun Club, The Cramps, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, and Knoxville Girls, to name a handful.
“I'm not sure if living in the desert is making me want more space in music or not,” laughs Kid, a Tucson resident for a few years now. “Maybe I’m turning into a desert stoner rocker. But I'm not a stoner, so that's not happening.”
No, the former Brian Tristan is most decidedly not unleashing a Kyuss tribute album. But you hear the desert all over That Delicious Vice, beginning with opening instrumental “East Of East,” its Duane Eddy/Rowland S. Howard guitar twanging through some malicious reverb. You feel it in the slide guitar-drenched theme from an imaginary western, “Silver For My Sister,” which echoes the pioneering Los Angeles blues punk band Kid formed with Jeffrey Lee Pierce, The Gun Club. There’s also such unique pieces as the acid/garage cumbia title track, translated into Spanish at least for its name, “Ese Vicio Delicioso.” As he tells the tale of his musical journey over the Pink Monkey Birds’ cowbell-thumping Latinate rhythms, Kid’s thickly distorted guitar groans and screams with feedback, likely a conscious sonic homage to Jimi Hendrix, name checked in the lyrics.
But the album’s major hallmark has to be its extended collaboration with Alice Bag, the face of and voice of early LA punk titans The Bags. How and why these two took this long to unite creatively is a dense mystery, considering both graduated with honors from early Hollywood punk palace The Masque, and their photos had to have stared at one another from opposite pages of a few issues of Slash or fLiPSiDe.
This led to “Wicked World,” a full-on Kid Congo/Alice Bag duet that’s That Delicious Vice’s second track and major fulcrum. Over rat-a-tat “Big Bad John” drums, a blast of fuzz bass, and Kid’s siren-like slide guitar, the co-composers recount in tandem the tale of a child “born into trouble from a devil seed/Every fork in the road led her here.” It’s a short drive from there through a poor childhood and bad decisions to turning tricks and seeking kicks, amid an atmosphere heady with the scent of sex. The action stops, and Alice chants, “One two three four five six seven — you’re going to Hell, and I’M GOING TO HEAVEN!!” It’s a pulp paperback reincarnated as primal rock ‘n’ roll.
That Delicious Vice is produced by Kid Congo & The Pink Monkey Birds, recorded and mixed by Jim Waters [Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Sonic Youth] at his Waterworks Studios facility in Tucson. It features nine new original tracks that are the band’s strongest to date. The band will be touring Australia in April with more touring to follow.
STAFF COMMENTS
Barry says: Fuzzed-out breakdowns and soaring psychedelic freakouts are the bedrock of Kind Congo's sound, but on 'that Delicious Vice' the band are on peak form, effortlessly moving between walls of sound freakout drone and tender slide-guitar balladry. There 's groove and rhythm too, never eschewing the feel for needless heft, it's a beatifully balanced maelstrom.
Shabazz Palaces is masterminded by Ishmael Butler (Digable Planets), whose relentless drive to reimagine hip-hop – even as he enjoys his fifth decade on Earth – remains undiminished.
Exotic Birds of Prey furthers the modus operandi of Robed in Rareness: a respectful eye on the past, an embrace of an ever-evolving present, with its feet firmly planted in the future. Where Robed warped sounds like shoegaze and ambient music into the Shabazz Palaces multiverse, Exotic cross-pollinates these elements with twisted electro and funk vibes.
Exotic Birds of Prey furthers the modus operandi of Robed in Rareness: a respectful eye on the past, an embrace of an ever-evolving present, with its feet firmly planted in the future. Where Robed warped sounds like shoegaze and ambient music into the Shabazz Palaces multiverse, Exotic cross-pollinates these elements with twisted electro and funk vibes.
TRACK LISTING
1. Exotic BOP (feat. Purple Tape Nate)
2. Angela (feat. Stas THEE Boss & Irene Barber)
3. Myths Of The Occult (feat. Japreme Magnetic)
4. Goat Me (feat. Cobra Coil)
5. Well Known Nobody (feat. OCnotes)
6. Synth Dirt
7. Take Me To Your Leader (feat. Lavarr The Starr)
The Bug Club cap off 2023 with their second full-length album - an hour-and-a-bit long double LP called 'Rare Birds: Hour of Song'.
Now then, what could you possibly have to say that takes two records to spit out? Pay attention to this and learn. It's The Bug Club's Hex Enduction Hour. South Wales' Double Nickels On The Dime. It's The Faust Cycle for people with shorter attention spans. Listen to me, why don't you. I'm from the label. I'm relevant. I have a huuuuge record collection, I love name-dropping, and I don't have many friends.
Their eighth release since joining forces with Bingo Records in summer 2020, 'Rare Birds...' is a culmination of a year spent relentlessly touring. But it's not one of those hackneyed road records. It's about birds, to an extent. Well, it is, and it isn't.
Spare us an hour and four minutes. That's what we're asking of you here. It's a big ask, these days.
But if you do, you'll find yourself entrenched in an immersive world of The Bug Club. The other records - with the sardonic and surreal, the riffs and the obsession with outer space - were a run up. With 'Rare Birds...' Sam, Tilly and Dan have created an expansive environment in which we can all bask in a cocktail of garage rock, poetry, nonsense, wordplay, sentimentality and fuck-offs. Ivor Cutler's come round to play with Gordon Gano and Kimya Dawson in a semi-detached in Caldicot. They've made something you're going to really like.
Now then, what could you possibly have to say that takes two records to spit out? Pay attention to this and learn. It's The Bug Club's Hex Enduction Hour. South Wales' Double Nickels On The Dime. It's The Faust Cycle for people with shorter attention spans. Listen to me, why don't you. I'm from the label. I'm relevant. I have a huuuuge record collection, I love name-dropping, and I don't have many friends.
Their eighth release since joining forces with Bingo Records in summer 2020, 'Rare Birds...' is a culmination of a year spent relentlessly touring. But it's not one of those hackneyed road records. It's about birds, to an extent. Well, it is, and it isn't.
Spare us an hour and four minutes. That's what we're asking of you here. It's a big ask, these days.
But if you do, you'll find yourself entrenched in an immersive world of The Bug Club. The other records - with the sardonic and surreal, the riffs and the obsession with outer space - were a run up. With 'Rare Birds...' Sam, Tilly and Dan have created an expansive environment in which we can all bask in a cocktail of garage rock, poetry, nonsense, wordplay, sentimentality and fuck-offs. Ivor Cutler's come round to play with Gordon Gano and Kimya Dawson in a semi-detached in Caldicot. They've made something you're going to really like.
STAFF COMMENTS
Barry says: Snapping percussion and raucous guitar lines, swimming in post-punk waters but with a wry and keen humour to go along with the impeccable jagged garage-rock instrumentation. Another killer outing from Bingo records.TRACK LISTING
1. burds Wurds - My First Lie
2. Samuel Was Beautiful Tonight
3. burds Wurds - For Feeling
4. I Will Feel The Same
5. burds Wurds - Tomorrow's Triangle
6. Undone
7. burds Wurds - I Think We'll Go With This
8. Fully Clothed
9. burds Wurds - The Key
10. Marriage 03:36
11. burds Wurds - Shut My Beak
12. Four Sisters
13. burds Wurds - What's Your Sweet Cereal?
14. Is This The Music You Like?
15. Can Ya Change A Thing Like This?
16. burds Wurds - Hot Emptiness
17. We Can't All Play Saxophones
18. burds Wurds - Big Gold Medallion
19. Short And Round 02:40
20. burds Wurds - Louder Than Normal Ha Ha Ha
21. Passionflower, Paperbacks And Woodlice
22. burds Wurds - The Pantry Flap
23. Blues Magicians
24. burds Wurds - The Big Frog
25. Strawberry Season
26. burds Wurds - It's Lovely
27. Do It All Again
28. burds Wurds - Really Nice
29. Drown Me Out
30. burds Wurds - Twelve Surnames
31. One Big Heavy Person
32. burds Wurds - More Of A Pretty Turkish Bookmark
33. Mister Do You Have The Time For Sittin'?
34. burds Wurds - Fish Tongue
35. In My Hour Of Song
36. The Loudest Violin
37. burds Wurds - Now We Can Move On
38. Antique Heirlooms
39. burds Wurds - Cubed Up!
40. Cheap Linen
41. Burds Wurds - Something Small
42. Rare Birds
43. burds Wurds - Ready For Living
44. Three Brians
45. burds Wurds - From One Rare Bird
46. Wide Awake Forever
47. Burds Wurds - This Story's End
Celebrating the interconnected strands of head-tripping electronica she holds dear, Nadia Struiwigh arrives on Dekmantel with her fourth album of widescreen machine soul. "Birds Of Paradise" joins the dots between electro, techno, ambient and jungle as a reflection of the symbiotic relationship between the contrasting elements which drive all life on earth - the inescapable and chaotic forces of cause and effect. Echoing the free-spirited approach of electronic music in the mid-90s, it’s an album which rejects absolutes in favour of emotionally honest expression, true to Struiwigh’s deeply felt passion for the sounds and styles which defined her own journey into music. Since first emerging in the wider scene, Struiwigh has ably demonstrated her instinct for different sonic approaches across her accomplished career, whether exploring expansive ambience on album projects or holding down the physical intensity of a residency at Berlin techno temple Tresor. Her 2017 debut album Lenticular on Central Processing Unit most closely resembles the approach on Birds Of Paradise, where introspective beat constructions and nuanced sound design folded into a natural, flowing whole unbound by perceived rules around genre. The narrative flow uses contrasting energies to glide though distinctive spaces, unfolding with the considered pace of a truly immersive listening experience.
From the rich, undulating beatless pastures of ‘JSF48’ to the intricate mechanics of ‘02nd’, the dubby downtempo of ‘cmmn cmmn’ to the crunchy beatdown of ‘Dreamsynth’, the spaces Struiwigh defines on Birds Of Paradise are brilliantly vivid and bound together by an affinity for emotionally-charged ambience. At times the effect is nostalgic, calling to mind the exotic ecosystems of Future Sound Of London or Higher Intelligence Agency, but even these passages are charged with a restless futurism informed by the imagined vistas of science fiction as a comment on the realities of the here and now.
Widely recognised for her expertise in a multitude of production processes (not least her extensive knowledge of outboard gear), Birds Of Paradise pools Struiwigh’s devotion to her craft into an exquisite instant-classic to be savoured and absorbed in the same fashion as so many iconic electronica albums which have come before.
From the rich, undulating beatless pastures of ‘JSF48’ to the intricate mechanics of ‘02nd’, the dubby downtempo of ‘cmmn cmmn’ to the crunchy beatdown of ‘Dreamsynth’, the spaces Struiwigh defines on Birds Of Paradise are brilliantly vivid and bound together by an affinity for emotionally-charged ambience. At times the effect is nostalgic, calling to mind the exotic ecosystems of Future Sound Of London or Higher Intelligence Agency, but even these passages are charged with a restless futurism informed by the imagined vistas of science fiction as a comment on the realities of the here and now.
Widely recognised for her expertise in a multitude of production processes (not least her extensive knowledge of outboard gear), Birds Of Paradise pools Struiwigh’s devotion to her craft into an exquisite instant-classic to be savoured and absorbed in the same fashion as so many iconic electronica albums which have come before.
STAFF COMMENTS
Matt says: High sheen advanced electronica from this new Dekmantel signing. Moving between ambient drift and hyper kinetics and heavenly frequency flux. Very nice.TRACK LISTING
Shadow On The Left
Rainbrain
Jsf48
Hlow
02nd
Grown Trancy
Endofthe Tunnel
Cmmn Cmmn
Dreamsynth204
Parcel 33
Yep Beavers
Birds Of Paradise
As part of our Suede30 campaign, alongside the newly-remastered editions of the #1 debut album, Demon Records will be issuing Suede’s first four singles as highly collectable 7” picture discs, reproducing the original arresting cover images on the discs.
The first release is the absolute classic “The Drowners”, originally released on Nude Records on 11th May 1992, and to this day one of the many highlights of a Suede concert. It reached number 49 in the UK charts, paving the way for the next three singles. The NME and Melody Maker both voted it Single Of The Year.
The first release is the absolute classic “The Drowners”, originally released on Nude Records on 11th May 1992, and to this day one of the many highlights of a Suede concert. It reached number 49 in the UK charts, paving the way for the next three singles. The NME and Melody Maker both voted it Single Of The Year.
While Duster went into hibernation in the year 2000, Clay Parton’s four-track never stopped rolling. Recorded alone at home over several years, Birds In The Ground is an album of 30-something, post-9/11 malaise. Under his Eiafuawn (Everything Is All Fucked Up And What Not) acronym, Parton hides beneath layers of fuzzy and clean guitars, his hesitant, cottony vocal disappear into noise.
TRACK LISTING
Side A
1. Bunny
2. No More Like That
3. Birds
4. The Voice Of Music
5. Bees
6. The Coffin Was So Light I Thought It Might Float Away
Side B
7. Good God Y’all
8. Secret Gypsy Language
9. On A Peoplemover
10. Two Thousand Twelve
11. The Drunk Pilot And The Romantic Passenger
12. Modulator Hustle
'Council Skies' is the highly anticipated fourth studio album from Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds. This 10 track album includes the new singles 'Pretty Boy' and 'Easy Now'.
STAFF COMMENTS
Barry says: There's no arguing that while the Gallagher popularity preference has shifted a little more recently towards Liam, it was older brother Noel's post-Oasis work that was the most refined, with the High Flying Birds hitting the perfect balance of melody and thoughtful songwriting. 'Council Skies' is the perfect illustration of Noel's sound, beautifully produced and nicely presented INCLUDING bonus 7".TRACK LISTING
Vinyl Tracklisting
Side 1
1. I'm Not Giving Up Tonight
2. Pretty Boy
3. Dead To The World
4. Open The Door, See What You Find
5. Trying To Find A World That's Been And Gone Pt. 1
Side 2
1. Easy Now
2. Council Skies
3. There She Blows!
4. Love Is A Rich Man
5. Think Of A Number
Bonus 7”
1. We're Gonna Get There In The End
2. Pretty Boy (Acoustic)
CD Tracklisting
1. I'm Not Giving Up Tonight
2. Pretty Boy
3. Dead To The World
4. Open The Door, See What You Find
5. Trying To Find A World That's Been And Gone Pt. 1
6. Easy Now
7. Council Skies
8. There She Blows!
9. Love Is A Rich Man
10. Think Of A Number
11. We're Gonna Get There In The End
Deluxe CD + Extra Disc Tracklisting
Disc 1
1. I'm Not Giving Up Tonight
2. Pretty Boy
3. Dead To The World
4. Open The Door, See What You Find
5. Trying To Find A World That's Been And Gone Pt. 1
6. Easy Now
7. Council Skies
8. There She Blows!
9. Love Is A Rich Man
10. Think Of A Number
Disc 2
1. Don't Stop...
2. We're Gonna Get There In The End
3. Mind Games
4. Pretty Boy (Instrumental)
5. Dead To The World (Instrumental)
6. Council Skies (Instrumental)
7. Think Of A Number (Instrumental)
8. I'm Not Giving Up Tonight (David Holmes Remix)
9. Think Of A Number (Pet Shop Boys Magic Eye 12" Remix)
10. Pretty Boy (Robert Smith Remix)
11. Council Skies (The Reflex Revision)
12. Flying On The Ground (Radio 2 Session, 08.09.21)
13. You Ain't Goin' Nowhere (Radio 2 Session, 08.09.21)
14. Live Forever (Radio 2 Session, 08.09.21)
Tartelet Records present the debut album from Doc Sleep – 10 tracks of exquisitely rendered melodies and rhythms shaped with grit and beauty in equal measure. “Birds (in my mind anyway)” is a widescreen vision of electronica as a medium to express your personal situation and respond to your environment – a rave adjacent art form free from the perceived rules of the dancefloor. To date, Melissa Maristuen known as Doc Sleep has established herself in the context of the club – first engaging with the culture in San Francisco before moving to Berlin. She helps run the Room 4 Resistance party, DJs on Refuge Worldwide, co- owns the Jacktone label and has released on Detour, Dark Entries and her own label. But in making “Birds (in my mind anyway)” she set herself an ultimatum.
‘At the time of recording this album, my life, all my routines and priorities had to change – music was no exception. I decided if I couldn't be happy making an album free of the dancefloor, I was finally going to be done with music. Instead, I found a musical voice free of tempo and textural restriction. Eventually, I had a sound, and once I had the sound, the album came pretty quickly. It was a very different process writing music for no one...except myself.’
If the impression given is one of a consistent style across the album, think again. Doc Sleep moves freely between tempos and themes, even if there are some recurring qualities binding the music together. She weaves fluttering arps with poise, lending them an almost choral quality which gives the album a very human touch. But they’re equally emotionally ambiguous or pockmarked with sonic interference – reflections of the collisions and conflicts that typify the human experience.
Every inch of the album is a personal touch – the title was pulled from Doc Sleep’s mother’s response to hearing the album, while her friend Kiernan Laveaux offered a beautiful text which appears on the back. Those closest to her all fed into the artwork process, which captures the curious dichotomy between urban brutalism and botanical finery often found in the parks of Berlin – a vital place of respite when she was making the album.
‘At the time of recording this album, my life, all my routines and priorities had to change – music was no exception. I decided if I couldn't be happy making an album free of the dancefloor, I was finally going to be done with music. Instead, I found a musical voice free of tempo and textural restriction. Eventually, I had a sound, and once I had the sound, the album came pretty quickly. It was a very different process writing music for no one...except myself.’
If the impression given is one of a consistent style across the album, think again. Doc Sleep moves freely between tempos and themes, even if there are some recurring qualities binding the music together. She weaves fluttering arps with poise, lending them an almost choral quality which gives the album a very human touch. But they’re equally emotionally ambiguous or pockmarked with sonic interference – reflections of the collisions and conflicts that typify the human experience.
Every inch of the album is a personal touch – the title was pulled from Doc Sleep’s mother’s response to hearing the album, while her friend Kiernan Laveaux offered a beautiful text which appears on the back. Those closest to her all fed into the artwork process, which captures the curious dichotomy between urban brutalism and botanical finery often found in the parks of Berlin – a vital place of respite when she was making the album.
TRACK LISTING
A1 Fall Into Flowers (intro)
A2 Tomorrow Is Beautiful! (ft. Glenn Astro)
A3 Flooding Meadow
A4 C&l At The Sea
A5 Orange Grove Nap
B1 Wiped Memory
B2 Fog Vs Moon (ft. M Marie)
B3 Strange Sun
B4 Secret Spells
B5 Under High Branches
THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2022 EXCLUSIVE, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.
Before her critically acclaimed album The Return (Ninja Tune), equal parts songwriter, poet, singer and lyricist Sampa The Great made her mixtape debut on Big Dada with Birds And The BEE9. The mixtape won the Australian equivalent of The Mercury Prize (The Australian Music Prize) and features production from Slowthai producer Kwes Darko and Silentjay (who produced the lionís share of The Return).
5 years on it's been repressed on yellow and orange splatter vinyl and a liner note from Sampa The Great.
Before her critically acclaimed album The Return (Ninja Tune), equal parts songwriter, poet, singer and lyricist Sampa The Great made her mixtape debut on Big Dada with Birds And The BEE9. The mixtape won the Australian equivalent of The Mercury Prize (The Australian Music Prize) and features production from Slowthai producer Kwes Darko and Silentjay (who produced the lionís share of The Return).
5 years on it's been repressed on yellow and orange splatter vinyl and a liner note from Sampa The Great.
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!
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
The textbook American cult band of the ‘80s, Violent Femmes captured the essence of teen angst with remarkable precision; raw and jittery, the trio’s music found little commercial success but nonetheless emerged as the soundtrack for the lives of troubled adolescents the world over. Their self-titled 1983 debut was a blueprint for legions of sardonic alternative rockers that would follow, and they continued their blend of searing, darkly humorous lyrics and sharp-edged folk-rock on other standout albums like 1991’s Why Do Birds Sing.
Violent Femmes formed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in the early ‘80s, made up of singer/guitarist Gordon Gano, bassist Brian Ritchie, and percussionist Victor DeLorenzo. After being discovered by the Pretenders’ James Honeyman-Scott while they were busking on the street, the band signed to Slash and issued their self-titled debut, a melodic folk-punk collection which struck an obvious chord with young listeners who felt a strong connection to bitter, frustrated songs like “Blister in the Sun,” “Kiss Off” and “Add It Up.” Though never a chart hit, the album remained a rite of passage for succeeding generations of teen outsiders, and after close to a decade after release, it finally achieved platinum status.
40 years on, Violent Femmes’ legacy remains strong, while their influence can be heard across multiple genres—from the anti-folk movement of the early 2000s to the chart-topping hits of Barenaked Ladies, and the indie-pop of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. In 2014, Popmatters declared that the folk-punk pioneers “may have very quietly been one of the most important rock bands of the 1980s, if not the past quarter-century…[They] celebrated the simplicity of pop music from the fringes, attacking convention with a mix of humour and violence.” Pitchfork argued that “The Femmes don’t signify an era so much as a time of life,” adding that “for young people growing up in the internet age” their music “is part of a shared language.”
Why Do Birds Sing? is the fifth studio album and their last studio album with original drummer, Victor DeLorenzo. Featuring the fan favourite “American Music,” which reached No. 2 in the Billboard Modern Rock Chart, as well as a cover of Culture Club’s “Do You Really Want To Hurt Me.”
Violent Femmes formed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in the early ‘80s, made up of singer/guitarist Gordon Gano, bassist Brian Ritchie, and percussionist Victor DeLorenzo. After being discovered by the Pretenders’ James Honeyman-Scott while they were busking on the street, the band signed to Slash and issued their self-titled debut, a melodic folk-punk collection which struck an obvious chord with young listeners who felt a strong connection to bitter, frustrated songs like “Blister in the Sun,” “Kiss Off” and “Add It Up.” Though never a chart hit, the album remained a rite of passage for succeeding generations of teen outsiders, and after close to a decade after release, it finally achieved platinum status.
40 years on, Violent Femmes’ legacy remains strong, while their influence can be heard across multiple genres—from the anti-folk movement of the early 2000s to the chart-topping hits of Barenaked Ladies, and the indie-pop of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. In 2014, Popmatters declared that the folk-punk pioneers “may have very quietly been one of the most important rock bands of the 1980s, if not the past quarter-century…[They] celebrated the simplicity of pop music from the fringes, attacking convention with a mix of humour and violence.” Pitchfork argued that “The Femmes don’t signify an era so much as a time of life,” adding that “for young people growing up in the internet age” their music “is part of a shared language.”
Why Do Birds Sing? is the fifth studio album and their last studio album with original drummer, Victor DeLorenzo. Featuring the fan favourite “American Music,” which reached No. 2 in the Billboard Modern Rock Chart, as well as a cover of Culture Club’s “Do You Really Want To Hurt Me.”
TRACK LISTING
1LP
Side A
American Music
Out The Window
Look Like That
Do You Really Want To Hurt Me
Hey Nonny Nonny
Used To Be
Side B
Girl Trouble
He Likes Me
Life Is A Scream
Flamingo Baby
Lack Of Knowledge
More Money Tonight
I'm Free
2CD
Disc 1
1. American Music
2. Out The Window
3. Look Like That
4. Do You Really Want To Hurt Me
5. Hey Nonny Nonny
6. Used To Be
7. Girl Trouble
8. He Likes Me
9. Life Is A Scream
10. Flamingo Baby
11. Lack Of Knowledge
12. More Money Tonight
13. I'm Free
14. Me And You*
15. Color Me Once (Early Version)*
16. 4 Seasons (Early Version)*
17. Breaking Up (Early Version)*
18. American Music (Alternate Mix)*
19. Dance, M.F., Dance!
Disc 2
1. Look Like That (Live At The Boathouse, Norfolk, VA / 1991)
2. Out The Window (Live At The Boathouse, Norfolk, VA / 1991)
3. Fat (Live At The Boathouse, Norfolk, VA / 1991)
4. Blister In The Sun (Live At The Boathouse, Norfolk, VA / 1991)
5. Prove My Love (Live At The Boathouse, Norfolk, VA / 1991)
6. Country Death Song (Live At The Boathouse, Norfolk, VA / 1991)
7. Old Mother Reagan (Live At The Boathouse, Norfolk, VA / 1991)
8. Confessions (Live At The Boathouse, Norfolk, VA / 1991)
9. Girl Trouble (Live At The Boathouse, Norfolk, VA / 1991)
10. Add It Up (Live At The Boathouse, Norfolk, VA / 1991)
11. Good Feeling (Live At The Boathouse, Norfolk, VA / 1991)
12. More Money Tonight (Live At The Boathouse, Norfolk, VA / 1991)
The Body and BIG|BRAVE are both bands possessed with an unequalled ability to convey overwhelming weight with simplicity, repetition and detailed sonic atmospheres; artists who continue to alter the definition of what it means to be a heavy band.
The Body are consistently prolific while increasingly ambitious as untethered producers and collaborators. BIG|BRAVE shape sound with dense waves of guitar and feedback, minimalist and hypnotic crashes and emotionally exacting vocal melodies. In collaboration, The Body and BIG|BRAVE shift the gravity of their compositions to woven layers of percussion and unspooling guitars that sprawl through stark frameworks of earthy folk.
Their debut collaborative album, ‘Leaving None But Small Birds’ distils the two ensembles’ pioneering approach to heavy music into psalms for the forgotten, threnodies of lost love and odes to vengeance.
Recorded, mixed and produced by Seth Manchester at Machines With Magnets (Liturgy, Battles, Mdou Moctar) and mastered by Heba Kadry (Björk, David Bowie).
“Emotionally coherent but tricky to categorize. BIG|BRAVE are the sound of the raw unconscious, turned up loud.” - Pitchfork
“The Body have become one of the most interesting and difficult to pin down groups in extreme music.” - Rolling Stone
The Body are consistently prolific while increasingly ambitious as untethered producers and collaborators. BIG|BRAVE shape sound with dense waves of guitar and feedback, minimalist and hypnotic crashes and emotionally exacting vocal melodies. In collaboration, The Body and BIG|BRAVE shift the gravity of their compositions to woven layers of percussion and unspooling guitars that sprawl through stark frameworks of earthy folk.
Their debut collaborative album, ‘Leaving None But Small Birds’ distils the two ensembles’ pioneering approach to heavy music into psalms for the forgotten, threnodies of lost love and odes to vengeance.
Recorded, mixed and produced by Seth Manchester at Machines With Magnets (Liturgy, Battles, Mdou Moctar) and mastered by Heba Kadry (Björk, David Bowie).
“Emotionally coherent but tricky to categorize. BIG|BRAVE are the sound of the raw unconscious, turned up loud.” - Pitchfork
“The Body have become one of the most interesting and difficult to pin down groups in extreme music.” - Rolling Stone
TRACK LISTING
Blackest Crow
Oh Sinner
Hard Times
Once I Had A Sweetheart
Black Is The Colour
Polly Gosford
Babes In The Woods
Eight years passes like nothing for Birds of Maya. Their fourth album kicks out the Philly jams with every bit as much fervour as their earlier releases - in fact, as it was recorded in 2014, it kind of is one of their earlier releases.
A long era of dull ringing and nothing else in our ears is over. Once again, winds of warm guitar and humid thunderheads of bass and toms rumble all around. With ‘Valdez’, Birds of Maya are back in flight. And like the first song title explicitly states, this latest is a soaring blast of riffers, rife with punk rock abandon, sludge, treble, distortion, neck-throttling rock ‘n’ roll solos, pummelling drums and bass and half-shouted/half-gargled vocals, all of it half on and half off the mic.
‘Valdez’ was recorded in 2014 at Black Dirt Studios in otherstate New York. After a Purling Hiss session there, Birds of Maya got a bunch of tunes they liked into shape - that is, different shapes on different days. But nice shapes. Once they got to the studio, they loaded in and set up, curious to see how they felt playing in a different room. Pretty good as it turned out - running through the songs that first night, they accidentally recorded the whole album. Then they finished up the next day, mostly. Trading the crushed harmonics of their basement tapes for studio-grade mics, overdubs in the mix and only slightly lessbruised harmonics, their roiling essence not only survives but thrives, non-stop, on ‘Valdez’, stuttering, screaming and stomping through six circuitous numbers.
At the time this was recorded, Birds of Maya were standing on the other side of ten years kicking around town, suddenly far away from the primordial ooze they’d flopped forth from. The streets where all this had happened on were changing, with new money rolling in, but they were the same old Birds, content with their libations and ear-splitting variations on old favourite Stooges chords. The cover art of Valdez is a couple of images from those days, glimpses at the old grass roots before they were ripped up by developers to build condos. But nothing ever really goes away. ‘Valdez’ is a totem of the wildness that refuses be tamed.
A long era of dull ringing and nothing else in our ears is over. Once again, winds of warm guitar and humid thunderheads of bass and toms rumble all around. With ‘Valdez’, Birds of Maya are back in flight. And like the first song title explicitly states, this latest is a soaring blast of riffers, rife with punk rock abandon, sludge, treble, distortion, neck-throttling rock ‘n’ roll solos, pummelling drums and bass and half-shouted/half-gargled vocals, all of it half on and half off the mic.
‘Valdez’ was recorded in 2014 at Black Dirt Studios in otherstate New York. After a Purling Hiss session there, Birds of Maya got a bunch of tunes they liked into shape - that is, different shapes on different days. But nice shapes. Once they got to the studio, they loaded in and set up, curious to see how they felt playing in a different room. Pretty good as it turned out - running through the songs that first night, they accidentally recorded the whole album. Then they finished up the next day, mostly. Trading the crushed harmonics of their basement tapes for studio-grade mics, overdubs in the mix and only slightly lessbruised harmonics, their roiling essence not only survives but thrives, non-stop, on ‘Valdez’, stuttering, screaming and stomping through six circuitous numbers.
At the time this was recorded, Birds of Maya were standing on the other side of ten years kicking around town, suddenly far away from the primordial ooze they’d flopped forth from. The streets where all this had happened on were changing, with new money rolling in, but they were the same old Birds, content with their libations and ear-splitting variations on old favourite Stooges chords. The cover art of Valdez is a couple of images from those days, glimpses at the old grass roots before they were ripped up by developers to build condos. But nothing ever really goes away. ‘Valdez’ is a totem of the wildness that refuses be tamed.
TRACK LISTING
High Fly
BFIOU?
Busted Room
Recessinater
Front Street
Please Come In
Back The Way We Came: Vol 1 (2011-2021) is a Best Of celebrating the first decade of Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds.
This double album, curated and compiled entirely by Noel, includes tracks from the three Number One albums (‘Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds’, ‘Chasing Yesterday’ and ‘Who Built The Moon?’) and the three acclaimed EPs (‘Black Star Dancing’, ‘This Is The Place’ and ‘Blue Moon Rising’) - plus 2 previously unreleased tracks including the brand new single ‘We’re On Our Way Now’.
The album is available on limited edition deluxe formats featuring a bonus disc including previously unreleased acoustic versions, remixes, instrumentals and an unheard demo.
This double album, curated and compiled entirely by Noel, includes tracks from the three Number One albums (‘Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds’, ‘Chasing Yesterday’ and ‘Who Built The Moon?’) and the three acclaimed EPs (‘Black Star Dancing’, ‘This Is The Place’ and ‘Blue Moon Rising’) - plus 2 previously unreleased tracks including the brand new single ‘We’re On Our Way Now’.
The album is available on limited edition deluxe formats featuring a bonus disc including previously unreleased acoustic versions, remixes, instrumentals and an unheard demo.
STAFF COMMENTS
Barry says: Though the RSD version of this one follows one day later, you can have the chance to grab this retrospective / summary of the first ten years of Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds project on a variety of formats NOW. Including all of the releases thus far and providing a great overview for new fans and old hands alike.TRACK LISTING
Double Vinyl Tracklisting
Disc 1
Side A
1. Everybody’s On The Run
2. The Death Of You And Me
3. AKA … What A Life!
4. If I Had A Gun …
5. In The Heat Of The Moment
Side B
1. Riverman
2. Lock All The Doors
3. The Dying Of The Light
4. Ballad Of The Mighty I
Disc 2
Side A
1. We're On Our Way Now
2. Black Star Dancing
3. Holy Mountain (Remastered)
4. A Dream Is All I Need To Get By
5. This Is The Place
Side B
1. It's A Beautiful World
2. Blue Moon Rising
3. Dead In The Water (Live At RTÉ 2FM Studios, Dublin)
4. Flying On The Ground
Double CD Tracklisting
Disc 1
1. Everybody’s On The Run
2. The Death Of You And Me
3. AKA … What A Life!
4. If I Had A Gun …
5. In The Heat Of The Moment
6. Riverman
7. Lock All The Doors
8. The Dying Of The Light
9. Ballad Of The Mighty I
10. We're On Our Way Now
Disc 2
1. Black Star Dancing
2. Holy Mountain (Remastered)
3. A Dream Is All I Need To Get By
4. This Is The Place
5. It's A Beautiful World
6. Blue Moon Rising
7. Dead In The Water (Live At RTÉ 2FM Studios, Dublin)
8. Flying On The Ground
Deluxe 3CD Tracklisting
Disc 1
1. Everybody’s On The Run
2. The Death Of You And Me
3. AKA … What A Life!
4. If I Had A Gun …
5. In The Heat Of The Moment
6. Riverman
7. Lock All The Doors
8. The Dying Of The Light
9. Ballad Of The Mighty I
10. We're On Our Way Now
Disc 2
1. Black Star Dancing
2. Holy Mountain (Remastered)
3. A Dream Is All I Need To Get By
4. This Is The Place
5. It's A Beautiful World
6. Blue Moon Rising
7. Dead In The Water (Live At RTÉ 2FM Studios, Dublin)
8. Flying On The Ground
Disc 3
1. It's A Beautiful World (Instrumental)
2. If I Had A Gun … (Acoustic Version)
3. Black Star Dancing (Skeleton Key Remix)
4. Black Star Dancing (12" Mix Instrumental)
5. The Man Who Built The Moon (Acoustic Version)
6. International Magic (Demo)
7. Blue Moon Rising (Sons Of The Desert Remix)
8. The Dying Of The Light (Acoustic Version)
9. This Is The Place (Skeleton Key Remix)
10. This Is The Place (Instrumental)
11. Black Star Dancing (The Reflex Revision)
12. Be Careful What You Wish For (Instrumental)
Deluxe Box Set Tracklisting
Standard LP
Disc 1
Side A
1. Everybody’s On The Run
2. The Death Of You And Me
3. AKA … What A Life!
4. If I Had A Gun …
5. In The Heat Of The Moment
Side B
1. Riverman
2. Lock All The Doors
3. The Dying Of The Light
4. Ballad Of The Mighty I
Disc 2
Side A
1. We're On Our Way Now
2. Black Star Dancing
3. Holy Mountain (Remastered)
4. A Dream Is All I Need To Get By
5. This Is The Place
Side B
1. It's A Beautiful World
2. Blue Moon Rising
3. Dead In The Water (Live At RTÉ 2FM Studios, Dublin)
4. Flying On The Ground
Bonus LP
Disc 1
Side A
1. It's A Beautiful World (instrumental)
2. If I Had A Gun ... (acoustic Version)
3. Black Star Dancing (skeleton Key Remix)
Side B
1. Black Star Dancing (12" Mix Instrumental)
2. The Man Who Built The Moon (acoustic Version)
3. International Magic (demo)
Disc 2
Side A
1. Blue Moon Rising (sons Of The Desert Remix)
2. The Dying Of The Light (acoustic Version)
3. This Is The Place (skeleton Key Remix)
Side B
1. This Is The Place (instrumental)
2. Black Star Dancing (the Reflex Revision)
3. Be Careful What You Wish For (instrumental)
Etched 7"
1. She Taught Me How To Fly
Deluxe 3CD
Disc 1
1. Everybody’s On The Run
2. The Death Of You And Me
3. AKA … What A Life!
4. If I Had A Gun …
5. In The Heat Of The Moment
6. Riverman
7. Lock All The Doors
8. The Dying Of The Light
9. Ballad Of The Mighty I
10. We're On Our Way Now
Disc 2
1. Black Star Dancing
2. Holy Mountain (Remastered)
3. A Dream Is All I Need To Get By
4. This Is The Place
5. It's A Beautiful World
6. Blue Moon Rising
7. Dead In The Water (Live At RTÉ 2FM Studios, Dublin)
8. Flying On The Ground
Disc 3
1. It's A Beautiful World (Instrumental)
2. If I Had A Gun … (Acoustic Version)
3. Black Star Dancing (Skeleton Key Remix)
4. Black Star Dancing (12" Mix Instrumental)
5. The Man Who Built The Moon (Acoustic Version)
6. International Magic (Demo)
7. Blue Moon Rising (Sons Of The Desert Remix)
8. The Dying Of The Light (Acoustic Version)
9. This Is The Place (Skeleton Key Remix)
10. This Is The Place (Instrumental)
11. Black Star Dancing (The Reflex Revision)
12. Be Careful What You Wish For (Instrumental)
'Language Of The Birds' LP was recorded solo shortly after completing 'Galaxies Like Grains Of Sand' and 'The Honey Bear' with jazz pianist Greg Foat. 'Language Of The Birds' is noticeably influenced by Warrens love of walking the countryside and woodlands on the Isle of Wight. It's also influenced by his interest in Catastrophism/ Extinction events and the use of Symbolism employed in the Art, Architecture and Writings used to communicate knowledge of such events to subsequent civilizations.
Warrens personal folk musings hint at 60s Psychedelic Folk but with a deeper connection to nature and the part we all play within it, it's impossible not to be drawn into his music and artwork which provokes memories of old children's books, Fairy tales, and the transportive paintings associated with them.
Warrens personal folk musings hint at 60s Psychedelic Folk but with a deeper connection to nature and the part we all play within it, it's impossible not to be drawn into his music and artwork which provokes memories of old children's books, Fairy tales, and the transportive paintings associated with them.
TRACK LISTING
1. Eve Of The Deluge
2. The Falling Rain
3. Zep Tepi
4. Then It Was Gone
5. From Lonely Hours
6. I Just Didn't Think You'd Care
7. Autumn's Draw
8. They Glide The Hills
9. Only A Moment
10. Wu Wei
BAFTA Award-winning actor Matt Berry has been the star of a number of high profile TV series including Toast Of London, The IT Crowd and most recently What We Do In The Shadows. Concurrently he has cultivated a career as a musician that has seen him release six solo albums and collaborate with the likes of Bond composer David Arnold, Jean-Michel Jarre and most recently Josh Homme, who invited him to perform on the Desert Sessions.
His most recent album ‘TV Themes’ was a UK Top 40 hit and was awarded four stars by Will Hodgkinson writing for The Times. His reinterpretation of British TV themes of the past was no mere wallow in nostalgia but an exploration of recording techniques and a joyous celebration of the music.
‘Phantom Birds’ was inspired by a fascination with Bob Dylan’s ‘John Wesley Harding’, the way it was recorded with the minimum of musicians to draw attention to the songs. For the recording Matt worked with drummer Craig Blundell - known for his work with Steven Wilson and Steve Hackett - and legendary pedal steel player BJ Cole, yet the tinges of Americana are never allowed to overwhelm Matt’s own distinctive style.
His most recent album ‘TV Themes’ was a UK Top 40 hit and was awarded four stars by Will Hodgkinson writing for The Times. His reinterpretation of British TV themes of the past was no mere wallow in nostalgia but an exploration of recording techniques and a joyous celebration of the music.
‘Phantom Birds’ was inspired by a fascination with Bob Dylan’s ‘John Wesley Harding’, the way it was recorded with the minimum of musicians to draw attention to the songs. For the recording Matt worked with drummer Craig Blundell - known for his work with Steven Wilson and Steve Hackett - and legendary pedal steel player BJ Cole, yet the tinges of Americana are never allowed to overwhelm Matt’s own distinctive style.
TRACK LISTING
Something In My Eye
You Danced All Night
Phantom Birds
Moonlight Flit
Man Of Doom
Where’s My Love?
Take A Bow
Intermission
Hail To The King
In My Mind
That Yellow Bird
Waving Goodbye
Covered In Clowns
Kristian Matsson is a singer-songwriter from Dalarna, Sweden, who performs under the stage name of The Tallest Man on Earth. Matsson grew up in Leksand, and began his solo career in 2006, having previously been the lead singer of the indie band Montezumas. His music has often drawn comparisons to the music of Bob Dylan.
“Last summer, Kristian Matsson lamented that steady touring had slowed the arrival of I Love You. It’s a Fever Dream., his fifth album as the Tallest Man on Earth. “I can’t write good stuff on tour,” he complained. “I can’t write about life on a tour bus.” Ironically, Fever Dream arrives as a focused and frequently lovely rumination on life lived on a tour bus. Songs unfold in hotel bars, on open roads, beneath vast blue bowls of rural sky. The rhythms of perpetual travel pulse beneath acoustic melodies that lie somewhere between Dylan and Sufjan—a few gentle, a few forceful. With depth and delicacy, Matsson explores the banalities and oddities of tour, like the phenomenon of performing for an adoring audience to whom you are a stranger.
Matsson’s music mirrors his lyrical themes. Though he remains devoted to sparse arrangements of guitar, banjo, and harmonica, these songs begin to veer into more adventurous territory. “Hotel Bar” introduces a horn section, and “The Running Styles of New York” is bookended by momentary blips of electronics. These new elements are deployed sparingly and selectively, a sprinkle of salt to draw new flavor from familiar sound. Tempos vary, too, from raucous stomping to slow, plaintive fingerpicking—as if he’s stretching, sprinting, growing fatigued, slowing down. As in his words, he wrestles with the question of where to go, and how quickly.” - Pitchfork
“Last summer, Kristian Matsson lamented that steady touring had slowed the arrival of I Love You. It’s a Fever Dream., his fifth album as the Tallest Man on Earth. “I can’t write good stuff on tour,” he complained. “I can’t write about life on a tour bus.” Ironically, Fever Dream arrives as a focused and frequently lovely rumination on life lived on a tour bus. Songs unfold in hotel bars, on open roads, beneath vast blue bowls of rural sky. The rhythms of perpetual travel pulse beneath acoustic melodies that lie somewhere between Dylan and Sufjan—a few gentle, a few forceful. With depth and delicacy, Matsson explores the banalities and oddities of tour, like the phenomenon of performing for an adoring audience to whom you are a stranger.
Matsson’s music mirrors his lyrical themes. Though he remains devoted to sparse arrangements of guitar, banjo, and harmonica, these songs begin to veer into more adventurous territory. “Hotel Bar” introduces a horn section, and “The Running Styles of New York” is bookended by momentary blips of electronics. These new elements are deployed sparingly and selectively, a sprinkle of salt to draw new flavor from familiar sound. Tempos vary, too, from raucous stomping to slow, plaintive fingerpicking—as if he’s stretching, sprinting, growing fatigued, slowing down. As in his words, he wrestles with the question of where to go, and how quickly.” - Pitchfork
STAFF COMMENTS
Barry says: It might be slightly misleading to call him the tallest man on earth (at 5'5, i've even been taller than him myself), but the comparisons to Dylan are thankfully, completely accurate. Beautiful plucked guitar, honestly written heartfelt lyrics and a stunning ear for melody make this an essential for all of you that like a nice soft strum and a beautiful hushed vocal.TRACK LISTING
The Running Styles Of New York
Theres A Girl
My Dear
What Ive Been Kicking Around
Im A Stranger Now
Waiting For My Ghost
Ill Be A Sky
All I Can Keep Is Now
I Love You Its A Fever Dream
Comprised of two songs that build on Om's use of cyclical rhythm, riff and vocal intonation, the duo's new album "Conference Of The Birds" blends metal, doom, chant, drone, dub and psychedelia. The band's lyrics expound upon the structure of the universe, potentiality and freedom from the physical body. Engineered by Billy Anderson and produced by the band, "Conference Of The Birds" progresses beyond their debut, "Variations On A Theme", with more fully realized songwriting and production. Om is Al Cisneros and Chris Hakius, rhythm section of legendary sludge and stoner rock pioneers, Sleep.
RIYL: Twin Peaks, Teenage Fanclub, dBs, Game Theory, R.E.M., Replacements. Mastered by Norman Blake (Teenage Fanclub). San Francisco’s The Love-Birds have been tearing up their local scene, breaking hearts and making fans across the city ’s disappearing DIY spaces and proper venues alike since 2016. After releasing a 7-inch EP in early 2017 via local label Empty Cellar Records, they ’re ready to unveil In The Lover ’s Corner, their debut album & first release on their new home, Trouble In Mind.
The album eases into view with the first track, “Again”; it ’s gentle acoustic strum augmented by guitarist Eli Wald’s chiming electric twelve-string. From there the listener is treated to dynamic, life-affirming power-pop; bell-ringing, fuzz stompers (”River Jordan”), warm, carefully crafted fragile pop (”Clear The Air ”, “Failure and Disgrace”), and urgent, cr ystalline rockers (”Hit My Head”, “Weak Riff ”). The Love-Birds approach their craft with a classicist ’s ear; with nods to their Seventies originators as well as Nineties torchbearers, composing near-perfect future classics that ooze with subtle, interesting melodic twists and hummable, finger-pricking hooks that are instantly memorable.
Aside from mastering by Norman Blake (Teenage Fanclub), In The Lover ’s Corner is a decidedly local affair, with album art by Shayde Sartin (Fresh & Onlys, Sonny and the Sunsets) and recorded in two sessions, one with engineer Glenn Donaldson (Art Museums, Skygreen Leopards) and another with Kelley Stoltz. “ In The Lover ’s Corner ” is issued on CD and Black vinyl (and a limited, yellow vinyl version for direct accounts) and will be available via all digital retailers and streaming services.
The album eases into view with the first track, “Again”; it ’s gentle acoustic strum augmented by guitarist Eli Wald’s chiming electric twelve-string. From there the listener is treated to dynamic, life-affirming power-pop; bell-ringing, fuzz stompers (”River Jordan”), warm, carefully crafted fragile pop (”Clear The Air ”, “Failure and Disgrace”), and urgent, cr ystalline rockers (”Hit My Head”, “Weak Riff ”). The Love-Birds approach their craft with a classicist ’s ear; with nods to their Seventies originators as well as Nineties torchbearers, composing near-perfect future classics that ooze with subtle, interesting melodic twists and hummable, finger-pricking hooks that are instantly memorable.
Aside from mastering by Norman Blake (Teenage Fanclub), In The Lover ’s Corner is a decidedly local affair, with album art by Shayde Sartin (Fresh & Onlys, Sonny and the Sunsets) and recorded in two sessions, one with engineer Glenn Donaldson (Art Museums, Skygreen Leopards) and another with Kelley Stoltz. “ In The Lover ’s Corner ” is issued on CD and Black vinyl (and a limited, yellow vinyl version for direct accounts) and will be available via all digital retailers and streaming services.
TRACK LISTING
1. Again
2. Hit My Head
3. Angela
4. Clear The Air
5. December (Get To You)
6. Kiss And Tell
7. Gerrit
8. Weak Riff
9. River Jordan
10. Tommy’s Theme
11. Failure And Disgrace
Jonathan Wilson had a busy 2017, producing Father John Misty's grammy nominated Pure Comedy and touring arenas around the globe as a guitarist and vocalist for Pink Floyd legend Roger Waters (for whom he also contributed to the lauded Is This The Life We Really Want? album.) Wilson also saw widespread acclaim heaped on Karen Elson’s sophomore LP Double Roses, which he recorded with her in Los Angeles in 2016.
But it's not looking like Wilson is going to get much of a rest in 2018 either, as he'll be continuing on with the worldwide Waters tour and is set to release his own new solo album Rare Birds in the spring. The highly anticipated long player - which features backing vocals from Lana Del Rey, Josh Tillman, fellow Roger Waters bandmates Lucius and an extraordinary musical gift from otherworldly Brian Eno collaborator Laraaji - will be released through Bella Union worldwide.
Although much of the album is comprised lyrically of meditations on a failed relationship and its aftermath, Wilson insists that Rare Birds is not really a concept album. "It's meant more as a healing affair, a rejuvenation, a reconciliation, for others, and for me. I wanted to balance personal narrative with the need I feel for calming healing music. I think we need journeys in sound, psychedelic gossamer-winged music that includes elements consciously and purposefully to incite hope, positivity, longing, reckless abandon and regret. It's all in there."
And, for this one, music critics will need to retire the comparisons to heritage rockers and Laurel Canyon troubadours as they’re hardly useful anymore. Wilson's new sound takes a synthetic/acoustic, best-of-both-worlds analog/digital hybrid approach to achieve the complexity, sonic density and glossy hi-fi coating of Rare Birds. Heard for the first time on a Jonathan Wilson album are the sounds of synthesizers and drum machines.
But it's not looking like Wilson is going to get much of a rest in 2018 either, as he'll be continuing on with the worldwide Waters tour and is set to release his own new solo album Rare Birds in the spring. The highly anticipated long player - which features backing vocals from Lana Del Rey, Josh Tillman, fellow Roger Waters bandmates Lucius and an extraordinary musical gift from otherworldly Brian Eno collaborator Laraaji - will be released through Bella Union worldwide.
Although much of the album is comprised lyrically of meditations on a failed relationship and its aftermath, Wilson insists that Rare Birds is not really a concept album. "It's meant more as a healing affair, a rejuvenation, a reconciliation, for others, and for me. I wanted to balance personal narrative with the need I feel for calming healing music. I think we need journeys in sound, psychedelic gossamer-winged music that includes elements consciously and purposefully to incite hope, positivity, longing, reckless abandon and regret. It's all in there."
And, for this one, music critics will need to retire the comparisons to heritage rockers and Laurel Canyon troubadours as they’re hardly useful anymore. Wilson's new sound takes a synthetic/acoustic, best-of-both-worlds analog/digital hybrid approach to achieve the complexity, sonic density and glossy hi-fi coating of Rare Birds. Heard for the first time on a Jonathan Wilson album are the sounds of synthesizers and drum machines.
STAFF COMMENTS
Andy says: Jonathan has eschewed the obvious Laurel Canyon trappings this time out, and the result is his best record yet. Still blissed-out, otherworldly, multi-layered and lonnnnng, but the sound is beautifully streamlined with even synths and drum machines gliding by. A headphone masterpiece.
Noel Gallagher takes some time out from feuding with shirty brother, Liam to put together a brand new full-length album with his High-Flying Bird cohorts. We kick things off with the decidedly 'D'You Know What I Mean'-y percussive scree, backed with distant shouting, thundering bass and growing shadowy reverbs on 'Fort Knox', obviously setting up a grand and extended entrance piece. From there we move into the stabbing horns and distorted bass of 'Holy Mountain', perfectly displaying his keen ear for melody, and almost irritating ability for penning a ruthless earworm. From there we move into the sleazy rock and roll of 'Keep On Reaching', owing as much to classic rock as it does disco with the harmonising backing vox and effervescent synth-brass.
'She Taught Me How To Fly' presents a truly diverse set of influences, from dreamy synths to the airy ducked bass and dusty snappy percussives, providing a perfect balance between Noel's brilliantly robust compositional techniques and the more avant construction of mesmeric Krautrock or psychedelia. 'Black & White Sunshine' couldn't possibly be any more geared towards Oasis' fans, with that legendary vocal harmony NG does so well making an appearance, as well as the three-chord progressive lift we've heard once or twice before.
What is most impressive is that the High Flying Birds have managed to step away from the considerable shadow that Oasis cast, whilst still retaining the melodic elements that made it resonate with so many people.
'She Taught Me How To Fly' presents a truly diverse set of influences, from dreamy synths to the airy ducked bass and dusty snappy percussives, providing a perfect balance between Noel's brilliantly robust compositional techniques and the more avant construction of mesmeric Krautrock or psychedelia. 'Black & White Sunshine' couldn't possibly be any more geared towards Oasis' fans, with that legendary vocal harmony NG does so well making an appearance, as well as the three-chord progressive lift we've heard once or twice before.
What is most impressive is that the High Flying Birds have managed to step away from the considerable shadow that Oasis cast, whilst still retaining the melodic elements that made it resonate with so many people.
TRACK LISTING
CD TRACK LISTING (STANDARD & DELUXE)
1. Fort Knox
2. Holy Mountain
3. Keep On Reaching
4. It’s A Beautiful World
5. She Taught Me How To Fly
6. Be Careful What You Wish For
7. Black & White Sunshine
8. Interlude (Wednesday Part 1)
9. If Love Is The Law
10. The Man Who Built The Moon
11. End Credits (Wednesday Part 2)
(Bonus Track) Dead In The Water (Live At RTÉ 2FM Studios, Dublin)
LP TRACK LISTING
A SIDE
1. Fort Knox
2. Holy Mountain
3. Keep On Reaching
4. It’s A Beautiful World
5. She Taught Me How To Fly
B SIDE
6. Be Careful What You Wish For
7. Black & White Sunshine
8. Interlude (Wednesday Part 1)
9. If Love Is The Law
10.The Man Who Built The Moon
11.End Credits (Wednesday Part 2)
Noel's second studio album finds his song-writing in supremely fine fettle, but then you'd expect that from the master-craftsman. This time he has self-produced and included a song which actually pre-dates Oasis, and one from the aborted Amorphous Androgynous sessions. There' a slightly funky vibe left-over from said collaboration and whilst most of the album is choc-full of Noel's classic sounding melodies (albeit with some fairly obvious cribbing) "The Right Stuff"and opener "Riverman" are the most unusual cuts here, one a spacejazz freakout , the other a seventies acoustic groover inspired by a night out with Morrissey (namecheckin' fact fans!) The remainder of the LP isn't too dissimilar to Noel's debut, but perhaps with a more discernable bottom-end as gloriously displayed on Noel-by-Numbers (and therefore superb!) lead single "In The Heat Of The Moment", and the one-of-the-best-things-he's-ever-done follow-up "Ballad Of The Mighty I". All in all, a splendid record.
STAFF COMMENTS
Martin says: He's still got it!TRACK LISTING
1. Riverman
2. In The Heat Of The Moment
3. The Girl With X-Ray Eyes
4. Lock All The Doors
5. The Dying Of The Light
6. The Right Stuff
7. While The Song Remains The Same
8. The Mexican
9. You Know We Can't Go Back
10. Ballad Of The Mighty I
Amped up super guitar overload from the coolest of combos..Philly’s Birds Of Maya…comprised Purling Hiss / Spacin members, this three piece released their debut on Holy Mountain, their double album epic “Ready To Howl” on Richie (re-released on CD by Agitated) and now, this on Little Big Chief records. Though the game mighta changed round em, the three years since Ready to Howl ain't diminished Birds of Maya one ounce (or do they measure in...grams?). You can tell right away on Celebration, cuz it's just as stupefying to describe as every other moment they've put down. Why is that? Seems so simple! But ya get near pronouncements like "Free or The Groundhogs as seen in the busted mirror mosaic of Japanese underground psych" and a lil balloon of acid anxiety busts in yer gut. Insufficient. This ain't just about shred and dread; this is about sweat and spit and busted bottles. This is about volume--meaning both quantity AND decibels. It takes a lot for many of us to sit still for side-long live tracks, so I suggest you dethrone that ass and break some valuables when the evil busts start rollin' out like smoke from Sleep's van; it's only natural. And don't fear the "TV Eye" cover, neither, cuz it surely made me forget the last 67 beef-witted versions I'd heard. Course, there's so much snarl all over this thing, I'm surprised the mic ain't slumped in the corner, nursing an ulcer, by the end. Another fetid feather in Philly's cap. Dressed in hand-painted sleeves, it'll make all the records you file it next to cooler via osmotic paint flakes. - Sebastian Morris-White, Buffet of Loathsome.
Agitated is super chuffed to be handling the CD reissue of this monster... Over the past few months and years, dropouts all over the world have been nodding out to the amped up riffing of PURLING HISS & the economical chuga- lug zen of SPACIN'. But only the most committed seekers have been privy to the roaring big bang that started it all: BIRDS OF MAYA.
They're a locked-in dynamo that gets real, real gone at the strike of the first note that needs to be seen to be believed. But as the Birds rarely (very, very rarely) perform outside of their North Philadelphia neighborhood, Ready To Howl will have to suffice. Formed in 2002, BIRDS OF MAYA is the finest meat n' potatoes neanderthal rock group operating in the world today, and they're undoubtedly the outfit most committed to creating throbbing, thoroughly relentless, blues-based hard rock.
On Ready To Howl, astute listeners will note nods to the fried power-rock of Split-era Groundhogs or the relentless garage mayhem of High Rise recorded under claustrophobic sub-Funhouse decadence. Anyone with ears will hear fried-Hendrixisms all over this thing. It was the most ambitious TestosterTunes release to date: a 3-song, double-LP by the three men of Philadelphia's BIRDS OF MAYA. Called Ready To Howl and it's the soundtrack to an upcoming feature length film of the same name. Ready To Howl, the film, deals with one dude's struggles in-and outside of polite society.
According to the producer, "the order of events is something like... getting off of work, partying, a parking lot bottle fight with a marine, driving drunk, the purchase of a deadly snake for purposes of revenge, hitchhiking, off road driving, car accident, the folly of vindictiveness, and finally a physical and metaphorical ascent to the highest point of the mountain." The soundtrack follows the same line, with album sides tracking Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
The CD version features the 3 tracks of the 2LP in unedited for vinyl length, no splits in the songs for you to get up and turn the record over...turn it UP!!!
They're a locked-in dynamo that gets real, real gone at the strike of the first note that needs to be seen to be believed. But as the Birds rarely (very, very rarely) perform outside of their North Philadelphia neighborhood, Ready To Howl will have to suffice. Formed in 2002, BIRDS OF MAYA is the finest meat n' potatoes neanderthal rock group operating in the world today, and they're undoubtedly the outfit most committed to creating throbbing, thoroughly relentless, blues-based hard rock.
On Ready To Howl, astute listeners will note nods to the fried power-rock of Split-era Groundhogs or the relentless garage mayhem of High Rise recorded under claustrophobic sub-Funhouse decadence. Anyone with ears will hear fried-Hendrixisms all over this thing. It was the most ambitious TestosterTunes release to date: a 3-song, double-LP by the three men of Philadelphia's BIRDS OF MAYA. Called Ready To Howl and it's the soundtrack to an upcoming feature length film of the same name. Ready To Howl, the film, deals with one dude's struggles in-and outside of polite society.
According to the producer, "the order of events is something like... getting off of work, partying, a parking lot bottle fight with a marine, driving drunk, the purchase of a deadly snake for purposes of revenge, hitchhiking, off road driving, car accident, the folly of vindictiveness, and finally a physical and metaphorical ascent to the highest point of the mountain." The soundtrack follows the same line, with album sides tracking Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
The CD version features the 3 tracks of the 2LP in unedited for vinyl length, no splits in the songs for you to get up and turn the record over...turn it UP!!!
A masterwork of minimalism, 'Winter Lady' - Alicia Merz's sophomore solo effort as Birds Of Passage sees an return to the desolate and melancholic soundcscapes of her highly acclaimed debut, 'Without The World'. With 'Winter Lady', Alicia presents us with an endearing invitation into her fragile world, a captivating through the landscapes of her emotional euphoria and agony, a further commitment to musical experimentation, a worthy addition to the oeuvre of Birds Of Passage. The cold minimalist-drones, distorted field recordings, and sparse instrumentation, illustrate an icy, desolate and dark. It's as if we are listening to the sound of winter itself; an audio exposure to the unforgiving elements of winter. With allusions to dark-pop and classic broken-folk, the reverb drenched instrumentation, metaphorical fairytale lyrics, and anti-climactic compositionsi remind us that Alicia Merz is a singer songwriter for people who don't like singer songwriters. With 'Winter Lady', Alicia re-establishes herself as a true musical maverick - who is able to capture the imaginations of audiences as diverse as those of Sigur Ros, Grouper and Zola Jesus. In short, Birds Of Passage's ''Winter Lady' is an album of authentic experimentation, masterful minimalism, immense tragedy, and glacial beauty. It is not surprising that already after the first album Nils Frahm and Peter Broderick (Efterklang) belonged to the fanbase of Birds Of Passage.
TRACK LISTING
1. Fatal Melody
2. Highwaymen In Midnight Masks
3. Away With The Night
4. Disaster Of Dreams
5. Hollow
6. The Monster Inside You
7. Waltz While We Sleep
'Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds' is the eponymous release from the solo project of the former Oasis legend, and the first after his acrimonious split from the aforementioned band. Working in both London and Los Angeles between 2010 and 2011, with frequent collaborator Dave Sardy serving as co-producer, Gallagher utilized the talents of now bandmates Jeremy Stacey (drums), Lenny Castro (percussion) and Mike Rowe (keyboards) for the album.
STAFF COMMENTS
Andy says: Oasis for grown-up people! Excellent songs, none of the baggage.TRACK LISTING
1. Everybody’s On The Run
2. Dream On
3. If I Had A Gun…
4. The Death Of You And Me
5. (I Wanna Live In A Dream In My) Record Machine
6. AKA... What A Life!
7. Soldier Boys And Jesus Freaks
8. AKA... Broken Arrow
9. (Stranded On) The Wrong Beach
10. Stop The Clocks
Debut release from Laissez Faire Club Records is the second single from Brighton based Ice Black Birds, "As Birds We’d Be Fine". It’s a slice of blues fueled, anthemic indie rock fit for the summer festival season, and has already been championed by Huw Stephens on Radio 1 as well as Steve Lamacq and Tom Robinson on 6Music.
The flip side is live favourite "Doors", a highly charged rock ‘n’ roll riot all over in two-and-a-half minutes – like they used to make in the good old days.
Fans of CCR, Kings Of Leon, White Denim and The Black Keys will love this.
The flip side is live favourite "Doors", a highly charged rock ‘n’ roll riot all over in two-and-a-half minutes – like they used to make in the good old days.
Fans of CCR, Kings Of Leon, White Denim and The Black Keys will love this.
TRACK LISTING
Side A:
As Birds We’d Be Fine
Side B:
Doors
What started out as a solo project under the moniker Neight (a portmanteau of 'Nate' and 'eight') has evolved into the trio now known as Mimicking Birds. Originally from Portland, school. Shortly after graduating, he moved south to Eugene, OR for two years and began writing music. Once he became acquainted with a Yamaha 16-track digital recorder, Nate began recording his songs while playing all of the instruments himself. Recently, Nate was joined by his childhood friends, drummer Aaron Hanson, whose talent is constructing spacious, purposeful beats while Tim Skellenger, being the least structured musician in the band brings a lighthearted and buoyant sound on guitar. With a quiet but consistently growing fan base, Mimicking Birds began performing for audiences in the Pacific Northwest and are currently on tour with Modest Mouse.
Think ethereal melodies by way of cosmic folk. Nate masters the use of reverb to create ambient sounds. Accompanied by a voice so delicate and seraphic, Mimicking Birds play lachrymose songs that synchronously evoke warm-heartedness and an overall compassion for life without coming off dilettante or sending you an invitation to a pity party. It's the band you find out about, listen to incessantly, want so much to keep a secret, but can't resist the urge to play for everyone you know.
Think ethereal melodies by way of cosmic folk. Nate masters the use of reverb to create ambient sounds. Accompanied by a voice so delicate and seraphic, Mimicking Birds play lachrymose songs that synchronously evoke warm-heartedness and an overall compassion for life without coming off dilettante or sending you an invitation to a pity party. It's the band you find out about, listen to incessantly, want so much to keep a secret, but can't resist the urge to play for everyone you know.
TRACK LISTING
1. Home And Somewhere Else
2. The Loop
3. Burning Stars
4. New Doomsdays
5. Subsonic Words
6. Pixels
7. Remnants And Pictures
8. Them
9. Cabin Fever
10. 10 Percent
11. Under And In Rocks