The Greatest Love follows the British trio’s critically acclaimed #1 selling album Californian Soil, which was released in 2021 and earned the band their second BRIT nomination for Best British Group. Arriving over a decade since the trio first entered our consciousness, the new album is a celebration; the sound of a band laying to rest the past and realising a newfound sense of freedom.

First single House embodies London Grammar’s new trajectory as frontwoman Hannah Reid delivers the uncompromising lyric: This is my place, my house, my rules. Speaking about the single Hannah said, “House is about drawing boundaries around yourself. When I hit my thirties, my mindset shifted, and I no longer felt like a victim of anything – it all felt within my power. I thought, making music should be fun, and we're gonna make that happen.”

Having first formed as teenagers at University, their seminal double-platinum selling debut If You Wait paved the way for what was to become a hugely successful career for the band, the rare longevity of which has firmly rooted London Grammar in British pop culture. Now over 10 years later, the band have sold more than 3 million albums world-wide, with two #1 selling records, 1 billion streams, an Ivor Novello and numerous BRIT Award nominations under their belts.

Kiiōtō is the love-child of Lou Rhodes, Mercury-nominated singer/songwriter and founder member of Lamb, and multi-platinum songwriter and keyboardist Rohan Heath. Together, they have recorded an album that is both richly instinctive and inquisitive: drawing on the roads the pair have taken to reach this point, As Dust We Rise arrives infused with a transporting spirit of ongoing exploration and discovery.

Written and partially recorded in Lou and Rohan’s home studios in London and Wiltshire, the songs were then taken to producer Simon Byrt’s studio. Contributors included Valerie Etienne of acid-jazz outfit Galliano. Byrt’s advocacy of analogue recording and vintage equipment proved instrumental to the record’s warm air and organic sound, nurtured lovingly into being with the help of guest musicians on live drums, strings, bass, guitar and horns: collaborative processes, say Lou and Rohan, that they intend to develop on their next album.

“It’s a record that doesn’t shy away from the big themes of life,” Lou says, “we kinda rolled up our sleeves on this one.”

TRACK LISTING

1. Hem
2. Josephine Street
3. Here Comes The Flood
4. The Sea
5. Ammonite
6. Song For Bill
7. Pain Killer
8. Jeanerette
9. Spanish Moss
10. Wild Geese
11. Quilt

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4 years in the making, this surprise collaboration between Drop and Ashong fuses soul and psychedelia with downtempo beats.

Ashong’s continuing mission to subvert expectations manifests greatly here, but the album is full of melodic hooks, layered to infinity alongside his acoustic guitar. Meanwhile Jonny Drop quietly flips samples unrecognisable from his extensive vinyl collections and once again makes a leap forward in his production identity.

Stand out single Puzzle Dust is a perfect slice of UK soul and jazz that sets everyone up for a unique sonic experience.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: A beautifully laid-back fusion of mid-tempo Baleraric percussion and rich hazy reverbs. Dreamy, scattered soulful vocal snippets and swooming, opening pads. A perfectly paced, summery party piece.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Lightgeist
A2. Ephemera
A3. One To Free
A4. Blood
B1. We Are Here
B2. Puzzle Dust
B3. Sun Sailing
B4. Outsighed

Chaos In The CBD return with two more tracks on their In Dust We Trust imprint. 

Keeping with their tried-n-tested formula - inspired by Ron Trent and classic deep house - "Sirena Deep" has a warm and deep rolling bass line and beautifully layered keys. Washed over with a stunning flute accompaniment from long-term collaborator and legendary jazz musician Nathan Haines which adds the extra magic to this outstanding production.

On the B-side the boys deliver a slightly darker, mischievous and moody roller with "Outdoor Limit" - an 8 minute journey through minimal grooves, in what feels like the perfect soundscape for getting lost in a dark room in the small hours.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: London-via-New Zealand duo Chaos In The CBD return with more of their smooth, deep house stylings.

TRACK LISTING

A. Sirena Deep (Ft Nathan Haines)
B. Outdoor Limit

My Brutal Life delves into the profound aspects of our artistic endeavours encompassing brutalism, the environment, and humanity. Throughout our ongoing creative journey, we consistently gravitate towards these themes, documenting and exploring the human experience within these environments. Our unwavering fixation on Symmetry, Synchronisation, and Repetition are the driving force in our artistic expression. Moreover, we strive to peel away superficial layers to expose the underlying emotional strata of the human aspect, unearthing the often overlooked beauty within the ordinary. Although frequently disregarded, the human aspect resonates with echoes from the past, enlightening and guiding our artistic process. Even the failures encountered serve as poignant reminders of the delicate structures we construct. My Brutal Life constitutes a pivotal component within an enduring exhibition, meticulously crafted to delve into the aesthetic and human facets of brutalism.

TRACK LISTING

A1 It´s Not Enough 00:03:16
A2 My Brutal Life 00:03:36
A3 The Mundane 00:04:45
A4 Beyond The Estate Agents Window 00:03:38
A5 Unité D´HabitaIon 00:02:26
A6 Asymmetrical Living 00:03:01
A7 Postcards For Comfort 00:02:36
B1 Hey Serry 00:02:20
B2 Droppingwell Futures 00:04:40
B3 Concrete Slit 00:03:54
B4 Future Townscapes 00:02:40
B5 Minimal ReconstrucIon 00:02:31
B6 Villa Göth Calling 00:04:11
B7 Béton-Brut 00:03:40
B8 Kahn 00:00:51

Following their fourth consecutive #1 album, the double Grammy winning "Push The Button", 2007 saw The Chemical Brothers return with their sixth long player "We Are The Night"; twelve tracks that cover psychedelic warehouse party acid music, electro-breakers, dreamy Balearica, 80s inspired alt-dance sounds and even a bit of new rave, euphorically melodic and as uncompromising as their retina scorching live shows. Trailed by the madcapped, cartoony future funk of "The Salmon Dance", "We Are The Night" set its psychedelic stall out from the off, sweeping through krautrock killers "A Modern Midnight Conversation". As ever Tom and Ed gathered together a stellar list of contemporary vocalists to add depth to their tracks. This time round guest appearances come from Klaxons, Willy Mason, Fat Lip, Spank Rock, Ali Love and Midlake's Tim Smith. Grooves, bleeps and beats that sound like robots brawling - plenty of fuel for your salmon dancing party!

TRACK LISTING

No Path To Follow 
We Are The Night 
All Rights Reversed 
Saturate
Do It Again
Das Spiegel
The Salmon Dance
Burst Generator
A Modern Midnight Conversation
Battle Scars
Harpoons
The Pills Won't Help You Now

On "Further" The Chemical Brothers explore new grounds. From the first squeezed-out notes, those analogue dots and dashes that flash and spark from the speakers, "Further" sounds like a record that is trying to break out of its confines. Like an alien Morse code transmission, it pulses like an Earth bound signal that’s been bounced off the side of orbiting space debris. Snatches of voices found out in the ether cut through the machine fog, drifting across burbling analogue equipment lovingly kept working long after supposed sell-by date. By the time the click and thump of snare and bass drum arrive, the sounds are all encompassing, swirling around you with dizzying, disorientating effect. Noise is untethered by constraints of volume, seemingly leaping from left to right to middle with a life of its own. This was The Chemical Brothers' most psychedelic album to date, almost referencing Spiritualized's opus "Ladies And Gentlemen...." It shows Tom and Ed developing as they mature, veering away from the club and into the living rooms and coffee tables of the rave generation; music to lose your mind to, in the comfort of your own home! "Further" is the culmination of nearly two decades of psychedelic exploration, an immersive collection that sees The Chemical Brothers at their least-restrained and most free spirited, melodic best.

The undisputed masters of brain-altering, transcendent electronics return with their first studio album since 2010’s "Further". Released to coincide with headline slots at Glastonbury, Sonar and Bestival, The Chemical Brothers’ eighth studio album - "Born In The Echoes" - is a magnificent 11-track collection of lean, propulsive machine driven music. From juddering robotic funk to unhinged futurist freakbeat; icy spectral psych to rhapsodic analogue synthetics; from euphoric spiritual acid to harmonic ambient distortion, the album is the sound of a reinvigorated Chemical Brothers creating some of the most mind-expanding music of their career to date. "Born In The Echoes" features a stellar cast of collaborators including previous guests Q-Tip, Ali Love (EML Ritual) as well as first time visitors to the studio - St. Vincent, Cate Le Bon and Beck (his first new music since his Grammy winning album "Morning Phase").

Dust-e-1 & Priori are back with a 4 track EP of dreamy, atmospheric electronica via their ANF alias. "Passive Massive" opens with a skippy, light breakbeat combined with dreamy electronics, a hooky synth lead and plenty of cerebral sfx squiggles n niggles to keep the mind's eye active!

"Images" deploys the familiar, comforting partnership of 303 and pitched-down breakbeat. Wrapped in heavenly strings and occasional echoed out vox - a proper comedown paradise at the magic 99BPM sway.

"Technique" quickly picks up the pace for side B's excursion into sonic star clusters. A beautifully constructed soundscape that sounds like your cruising through some futuristic and highly advanced galaxy with neon blues and clean lines marking the warp speed transition.

"CBOTEOC" concludes with a liminal ambient number that'll nurse partied-out souls and frazzled e-heads with its undulated, gently unfolding beauty. Top stuff from this pair, most recommended.

Matt Says: Acid-flecked house, techno, downbeat and ambient; all coalesced into a vibrant, spirit-lifting EP of post-XTC-laden bliss. Perfecto!

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Acid-flecked house, techno, downbeat and ambient; all coalesced into a vibrant, spirit-lifting EP of post-XTC-laden bliss. Perfecto!

TRACK LISTING

01 Passive Massive
02 Images
03 Technique
04 C.b.o.t.e.o.c.

Newcastle, Australia post-punk quintet dust are fast cementing their status as one of the country’s most singular and essential bands. Urgent, mesmeric, and arresting both on and off the stage, the collective has wasted no time in ensuring that their music and message reaches as far as it possibly can. Offering a contemporary take on Australian post-punk, along with elements of experimental jazz and electronic music, dust has curated a sound that is as dark, introspective, and angular as it is powerful and progressive. Their debut mini album “et cetera, etc” is available on green vinyl July 14, 2023 via Kanine Records

TRACK LISTING

1. Intro
2. The Gutter
3. Alternator
4. Interlude
5. False Narrative
6. Joy (Guilt)
7. Outro

In 2019, Lightning Dust broke up. Not the band, but Amber Webber and Joshua Wells the couple at the core of it ended their longtime relationship. In the wake of the split, the two musicians realized that Lightning Dust was still important to them and decided to stay together as an artistic partnership. The experience made them think about nostalgia as a concept and how this sort of longing for the past can be destructive, cancerous, useless. Webber and Wells reconvened virtually in mid-2020 to work together again as creative comrades, sharing some new ideas by correspondence, stitching together their song fragments into the dramatic arrangements now heard across Lightning Dust’s forthcoming new album, Nostalgia Killer.

The album title couldn’t set a more perfect expectation for what the album holds.

Hearing those words together, one might anticipate something harder, more chilly and severe. But what happens is quite the opposite: listeners find themselves wandering into someplace warm, guided by familiar sounds and voices.

Little do they know they’ll soon be flung into a climate unknown. Throw away the old coat–these songs signal a new season. This is a winding and moving album. Sensual, confessional, and free of fences. Each song builds with inexorable force, often pulling back to a whisper before washing over the listener completely. With their wealth of new imagery and the most incandescent flights, Lightning Dust sweeps you away from wherever you happen to be.

Across Nostalgia Killer, Lighting Dust introduces a sound that feels vaguely familiar while forming a mythology all of their own. Although this exact work may not have been created if it wasn’t for the duo’s separation, it would be wrong to simply call it a break-up album. The songs here don’t merely travel that well-trod landscape, they reinvent the scene altogether; after all, sometimes love needs reinventing. Nostalgia Killer is about something that affects us all, which is how we make sense of the world and each other over time and across borders. And far out as always, Lightning Dust is reinvented here magnificently.

Kerala Dust was formed in London in 2016. Growing up on the sounds of CAN, The Velvet Underground and Tom Waits while spending blurry mornings in nightclubs, the band combines those disparate influences of psychedelic rock, blues and techno into one.

Kerala Dust are Edmund Kenny on vocals/electronics Harvey Grant on keys Lawrence Howarth on guitar. Their live performances are a constant conversation around the sounds from the studio. Pieces are re-interpreted, looped, dismantled, and put back together again.

Since first touring in 2017, Kerala Dust have played over 150 international shows in the USA, Europe, Mexico, Russia, Turkey, Dom. Republic and many more countries. Events such as DGTL (Tel Aviv), Dockville (Hamburg), Lightning in a Bottle (California), Kater Blau (Berlin), Tropico (Mexico), Sonar (Barcelona) are but a few in a long list of festivals and nightclubs that Kerala Dust have played in only a couple of years.

TRACK LISTING

1. Moonbeam, Midnight, Howl
2. Violet Drive
3. Shake
4. Red Light
5. Pulse VI
6. Jacob' Gun
7. Salt
8. Still There
9. Nuove Variazionidi Una Stanza
10. Future Visions
11. Engel's Machine
12. Fine Della Scena

Released on gold vinyl, ‘The Coincidentalist’ and ‘Dust Bowl’ are two discs of Howe Gelb filled with randomness and happenstance, a typical treasure trove spanning all genres from alt country to Cohen-esque grandeur. They traverse, unflinchingly, his chameleon-like repertoire. This deluxe re-issue includes ‘Dust Bowl’ on vinyl for the very first time, with the records housed in a gatefold sleeve featuring updated artwork and liner notes.

‘The Coincidentalist’, originally released in 2013, features a raft of friends and collaborators including Bonnie Prince Billy, Andrew Bird, M. Ward, Steve Shelley, and Jason Lytle of Grandaddy with John Parrish on mixing duties. Ever the focal point of Giant Sand and Gelb releases, the Arizona Desert serves as a key inspiration for the record, animating the baron landscape with stories of those that have navigated them. Praise for the release was not short, with AllMusic proclaiming that it’s “one of Gelb's most realized efforts; despite its relaxed, airy presentation, it's musically and lyrically provocative, as poetic, strange, and mysterious as the desert itself."

The accompanying collection ‘Dust Bowl’ is a personal sketchbook of songs, a more stripped back set than it’s counterpart. Featuring everything from the country blues of ‘Porch Banjo’ and ‘John Deere’, to off-kilter piano ballads like ‘The Old Overrated’ and ‘Reality Or Not’ and the deconstructed desert pop on ‘Forever And A Day’ and the fragile ‘Man On A String’. ‘Dust Bowl’ is an insider’s view of Howe’s songwriting craft, a unique insight into the man himself.

“‘Dust Bowl’ was primarily for fans that have followed me for a while. ‘The Coincidentalist’ is for the friends of the fans.” Howe told Under The Radar. While Nightlife magazine reported that; “Without warning, the Giant Sand frontman and polymorphous countryman dropped this compilation of house recordings via Bandcamp… At a time when so much harmless, soulless folk resonates, Howe Gelb is a mandatory point of reference for any fan of the genre.”

TRACK LISTING

A1 Vortexas (feat Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy)
A2 Left Of Center
A3 Running Behind
A4 The 3 Deaths Of Lucky (feat. KT Tunstall)
A5 Unforgivable
A6 Instigated Chimes
B1 The Coincidentalist (feat. Andrew Bird)
B2 Triangulate
B3 Picacho Peak
B4 An Extended Plane Of Existence
B5 Looking That Way
C1 Dust Bowl
C2 Porch Banjo
C3 Lost Love
C4 Man On A String
C5 Reality Or Not
C6 John Deere
C7 Windblown Waltz
D1 Redelivery Blues
D2 Forever And A Day
D3 Plane Of Existence
D4 A Coffee Song
D5 The Old Overrated
D6 Mystery Spot
D7 Blink Of An Eye

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

Gold Vinyl 12" first time this Multi Plainum selling single will be available on vinyl.

Brian Borcherdt (aka Dusted) is the founding member of Holy Fuck as well as LIDS which includes members of Metz and Constantines, and has a single due out this year on Sub Pop.

The new album is the follow up to the acclaimed 2018 release BlackOut Summer and will provide a welcome musical shot in the arm for fans who have anxiously waited three years for new music from Dusted.
‘The album's process began with Borcherdt finding a long forgotten favourite song, coming back to him in a dream. ‘’That same morning, I found a demo of it, along with countless others, on an old laptop,’’ said Borcherdt. ‘’It was a joyful moment, hearing long lost songs as if I was never part of them. I was a third-party listener thus allowing them to be innocent and unjudged. I added a handful of the favourites to a current set list, which became the inspiration to go into the studio, to lay everything down, live off the floor, simply to preserve them, to keep them from being forgotten again.'

Dusted’s 2012 album ‘’Total Dust’’ was selected for the Polaris Prize Long List in 2013. The support from filmmaker Jean-Marc Vallee earned Dusted two songs in his most recent film Demolition and a cameo role in Wild. With Holy Fuck, Borcherdt has been making music for 15 years and has released 5 albums. Holy Fuck has seen their music played on major TV shows like Breaking Bad and Mr Robot as well as ranking over 200K monthly listeners on Spotify and accumulating over 5 million career streams to date. Borcherdt has been releasing solo music since 2002. Previously to Holy Fuck, he was part of By Divine Right whose past band members count Feist and Broken Social Scene’s Brendan Canning. 

TRACK LISTING

1) Not Offering
2) Baseball
3) Cedar Tree
4) The Don’t Know You
5) Little More Time
6) Mountain Top
7) Bide My Time
8) Wash My Hands Away
9) Erik
10) Recovery Cone
11) Clouds
12) Palmer

Newly formed archival label Fresh Hold presents one of Australia’s most mysterious jazz long players - Singing Dust, in collaboration with Efficient Space. Almost bound for obscurity from its inception, the eponymous creation of Queensland-based jazz pianist Robert Welsh was originally issued in 1986 on Melbourne independent label Cleopatra Records. Rich in compositional sophistication and expressive performance, Singing Dust resembles a unique fusion of Indian devotional song, the jazz piano styles of Bill Evans and Keith Jarrett, English folk and Debussey’s tonal impressions, bearing little similarity to the dominant commercial and subcultural music of its time. Representing a culmination of Welsh’s influences in and outside of music, the dynamic collection of seven compositions accompany the Ghazal devotional poems translated by Australian poet Francis Brabazon. While Singing Dust sits loosely within the spheres of exploration that many jazz players took into world fusion in the ’80s, it stands alone in its bright searing light of truth, love and austerity. A true work of dedication and posterity that will appeal to many serious music lovers, the album has finally been transferred and remastered from original tapes by Dan Elleson, superseding the imperfect 1986 pressing and fully realising Welsh’s expansive vision.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Involution
A2. Let Me Take Your Name
A3. Song Of The Reed
A4. Sweet Agony
B1. Love Flower
B2. Love Is Lovely & Lowly
B3. Desert Chant

Songwriter and fingerstyle guitarist, Jason McNiff releases his 7th full length album, Dust Of Yesterday. Produced and engineered by Roger Askew (Joe Strummer, Wilko Johnson, Christy Moore) the album was recorded throughout the summer and autumn of 2020 in Roger's home studio in Eastbourne, UK. It features McNiff's signature acoustic guitar work throughout with significant contributions from Beth Porter (of Eliza Carthy's band) on cello and Basia Bartz (most London based folk bands) on violin.

His first album since leaving London - McNiff is now based in Hastings - Dust of Yesterday is an elegy on moving away from a beloved place and a lament for lost youth. We are treated to a musical tour of McNiff's life to date, from his 8-year residency as a Flamenco guitarist in a Spanish bar in Waterloo (Damaged Woman) to hopping the northbound train from King's Cross, hiding in the lavatory up to Nottingham (A Load Along). All the songs on Dust of Yesterday, in one way or another, speak of the past. But it is not bleary-eyed nostalgia.

"I read somewhere that it is possible to literally change the past and I became very interested in this idea. It so happened around the same time that I discovered the Greek/Egyptian poet, Cavafy. In his poems he would talk about the past, but the memory is not a thing of the past, but something that is still part of him in the present. I could relate to that. "

Musically, Jason is influenced by the British acoustic guitarists (Jansch, Graham, Wizz Jones) and the great folk/rock troubadours of the 60s and 70s. He loves Mark Knopfler in the early days; the English teacher turned reluctant rock star, singing about Leeds and Newcastle and sounding like JJ Cale. For McNiff, the lyrics are central, and he has been especially captivated by those considered poets and writers as well as musicians. He loves literature and cites Hemingway, Chekhov and the aforementioned Cavafy, as major influences in his work. ( He has 'translated' Hemingway's 'For Whom the Bell Tolls' into a song on a previous album, 'Nobody's Son')

Jason McNiff was born in Bradford, Yorkshire in 1974 to an Irish father and Polish mother. Academically gifted, he did well at school and went to the University of Nottingham to study French and Russian. He fell in with the Folk & Blues scene in that city before moving to London in the mid-nineties to do another degree in English Lit. He was just in time to catch the Bert Jansch residency at the 12 Bar club. For 6 months, every Wednesday night, McNiff would be in the front row of Soho's tiny club learning fingerstyle from the master. He would later sign his first record deal with Snowstorm Records, a label run by Bert's brother-in-law and found himself opening for Bert on numerous occasions. 

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: This wonderful collection shines with the sort of understated beauty and accomplished but uncomplicated melodic phrasing you'd hear in a Jansch record, but brought to the modern day with unhurried production and brittle, tender vocals. Beautiful.

TRACK LISTING

1) For The First Time
2) Try For The Sky
3) Wherever I Choose
4) Mary Jane
5) Dust Of Yesterday
6) Tom
7) If You Could See Me Now
8) Damaged Woman
9) A Load Along

Having worked for years as side-woman for the likes of Sufjan Stevens, The National and My Brightest Diamond, Marla Hansen returns with her first solo album in twelve years. "Dust" has the weight and wisdom of hand-me-down folk songs, but also sparkles with the confidence and the excitement of an artist with new colours on her palette. The slow-burn of "Dust's" inception can be felt as the album plays. The tracks have weight and wisdom like hand-me-down folk songs, but also sparkle with the confidence and the excitement of an artist with new colours on her palette. Taylor Savvy (Peaches), Knox Chandler (R.E.M.) and Christian Biegai (Antony and the Johnsons) are all present at this banquet - a transatlantic tapestry sewn together by producer Robbie Moore at his Berlin studio complex Impression Recordings.

While the two years between Dots and Loops and Cobra resulted in stagnation, the two years separating Cobra and Sound-Dust find Stereolab deliberately recharging their creative juices, delving deeper into avant-garde composition and '60s swing pop in equal measures. As the album opens with the minimal "Black Ants in Sound-Dust," it's evident that the group has restructured and pushed forward, even if it means that they're adhering to their time-honored tradition of expanding their trademark sound with new arrangements and influences.

Remastered from original tapes with bonus disc of out-of-print tracks from the album sessions. Co-released by band’s own label Duophonic UHF Disks and Warp Records.

TRACK LISTING

Vinyl
A1. Black Ants In Sound-Dust
A2. Space Moth
A3. Captain Easychord
B1. Baby Lulu
B2. The Black Arts
B3. Hallucinex
C1. Double Rocker
C2. Gus The Mynah Bird
C3. Naught More Terrific Than Man
D1. Nothing To Do With Me
D2. Suggestion Diabolique
D3. Les Bons Bons Des Raisons
E1. Black Ants Demo
E2. Spacemoth Intro Demo
E3. Spacemoth Demo
E4. Baby Lulu Demo
E5. Hallucinex Pt 1 Demo
E6. Hallucinex Pt 2 Demo
E7. Long Live Love Demo
E8. Les Bon Bons Des Raisons Demo

Side F Has Is Etched With The Album Artwork And Contains No Audio

CD
Disc 1
01. Black Ants In Sound-Dust
02. Space Moth
03. Captain Easychord
04. Baby Lulu
05. The Black Arts
06. Hallucinex
07. Double Rocker
08. Gus The Mynah Bird
09. Naught More Terrific Than Man
10. Nothing To Do With Me
11. Suggestion Diabolique
12. Les Bons Bons Des Raisons

Disc 2
01. Black Ants Demo
02. Spacemoth Intro Demo
03. Spacemoth Demo
04. Baby Lulu Demo
05. Hallucinex Pt 1 Demo
06. Hallucinex Pt 2 Demo
07. Long Live Love Demo
08. Les Bon Bons Des Raisons Demo

On Spectre, their 4th album as Lightning Dust, Amber Webber and Josh Wells embrace as their sole-focus what was once a side-project, thus crafting their most refined and powerful album to date. After co-founding and touring with Black Mountain for over a decade, the duo departed from the band to further their own longterm creative partnership. Lightning Dust has evolved noticeably with each release, from the spare, dark folk of their self-titled debut, to the synth and drum machine-heavy 2013 album Fantasy. However, the through-line of their discography has been Wells' deft production tailored perfectly around Webber's modestly iconic voice which stirred Pitchfork write of their 2009 LP Infinite Light that Webber's was "one of the fiercest, most stirring vocal performances of any release this year." In this sense the tracks on Spectre echo the spirits of quintessential rock vocalists like Grace Slick and Beth Gibbons, throughout a collection of songs that range from expertly sculpted folk-rock ear candy, to sparse Judee Sill-esque ballads consisting of little more than piano and voice.

Written during the devastating forest fires that filled her hometown of Vancouver with smoke and a sense of apocalyptic doom, album opener "Devoted To" captures Webber's resilience and determination to reestablish her creative independence as she sings "I will find my way back in even if I never sleep...Gotta find my way back in, it's all that I believe." Propulsive rocker "Run Away" is an observation of the human need for change. Amber explains, "It was written in response to friends leaving their soul crushing jobs. I wanted to write a song that flip-flopped between the glorious freedom they felt upon leaving, and moments of despair that came afterward." Shining an optimistic light on her departure from Black Mountain on the anthemic "When It Rains" Webber sings "Let's celebrate what we've done so far instead of what comes next always ripping at our hearts - it ruins." Wells' impeccable drumming and tastefully restrained synths on the soaring and cinematic "Joanna" offer the perfect backdrop for Webber, as she sings about the demons of her past "I prefer not to see - You shook me inside my memory."

The assuring shuffle of "Pretty Picture", on which Stephen Malkmus shreds, is followed by the booming slacker anthem "Competitive Depression" which features vocals by Destroyer's Dan Bejar. Spectre's dramatic two-part closer "3AM/100 Degrees" brings the album full-circle with a final statement about delusions that manifest in strife, exemplified by the song's final lines "replaying what's behind, made us all scared when nothing was there." 2018 was a whirlwind of new beginning for Webber - going back to school and even trying out a new career. In the end these detours gave her the chance to step back and explore what parts of music were important to protect. "It made me realize that art and music are still my light." She goes on to explain, "Spectre is my journey. It's for all the women warriors that have been battling throughout life looking for a place to express themselves that feels inclusive and inspiring. It's about finding yourself when no one is paying attention and inventing a new way of creating that feels honest and sincere. I truly feel that women, especially as we get older are underrepresented. That was truly the driving force to creating this album." 

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Even from opener 'Devoted To', there are a huge amount of influences seeping through the fabric of Lightning Dust's rhythmic psychedelic synth sounds. Dancefloor arpeggios, haunting gothic vocals and synth-pop throbs burst into a soaring jazzy breakdown. The album continues in much the same way, always astounding but rarely disjointed, this is the sound of a band on their finest form.

TRACK LISTING

01 Devoted To
02 Run Away
03 Led Astray
04 Inglorius Flu
05 When It Rains
06 Joanna
07 More
08 A Pretty Picture
09 Competitive Depresison
10 3AM/100 Degrees

Godzilla’s/Eatin’ Dust is the most popular release in Fu Manchu’s 29 year recorded history. It is the combination of what were originally 2 distinct 10” releases: Godzilla (1997) and Eatin’ Dust (1999). Last year, Scott Hill (vocals/guitar) found the original tapes from the Godzilla recording sessions produced by Josh Homme (Queens Of The Stone Age/Kyuss) and unearthed a secret that had been in his garage since 1996...The band had recorded 4 songs that had never been released. These extra songs are early versions of "Grendel, Snowman," "Strolling Astronomer" and "Urethane” (whose final versions appeared on 1997’s The Action Is Go) and a cover of Thin Lizzy's "Jailbreak" (which is a different version than the one which was released on 7” in 1998).

The songs line up perfectly with the original tracklist, which includes the band’s crowd pleasing cover of Blue Oyster Cult’s “Godzilla” and fan favorites “Eatin’ Dust” and “Mongoose” (which was featured in a Super Bowl commercial for Toyota and included in the TV series “Sons Of Anarchy” and the films “Boondock Saints II” and “The Hot Chick”).

The vinyl packaging is comprised of 3 10” records (in a nod to the original 10” releases) with each of the three pressed on a different custom color in a limited run of 2,000. The vinyl is housed in a triple gatefold package with never before seen photos of the band. The CD version of the album has also been remastered for maximum fidelity. 

TRACK LISTING

1.Eatin’ Dust
2.Shift Kicker
3.Orbiter
4.Mongoose
5.Pigeon Toe
6.Module Overload
7.Living Legend
8.Godzilla
9.Grendel, Snowman
10.Strolling Astronomer
11.Urethane
12.Jailbreak

"Future Dust" is an album that retools rock’s dark past for the present day while having an absolute blast. Loose blues grooves, religious references and falsetto backing vocals abound on songs that explore issues including social media witch hunts, eating disorders and depression, but never lose sight of a singalong. The Amazons were the most hotly tipped band of 2017 and followed through with their debut album reaching #8 in the official chart.

STAFF COMMENTS

Mine says: Big melodies, big vocals, The Amazons are bound for big things... 'Future Dust' is stadium rock in the making.

TRACK LISTING

Side 1
1. Mother
2. Fuzzy Tree
3. 25
4. The Mire
5. Doubt It
6. All Over Town

Side 2
1. End Of Wonder
2. Dark Visions
3. 25 (reprise)
4. Warning Sign
5. Georgia

A highly personalised sociopathic gem delivered as a futuristic rewriting of how music works, a melodious breeze with a tail wind of venomous din. A ten-track album, her tenth studio set.

Enveloping the juxtaposition of the concept of ‘dark sunshine’, a brooding solo record creating with friends to expand her off-kilter sonic vision; a squally, squeaky mix of discordant beauty.

Feedback and phasing gyrate from simply strummed normality, imagine Dinosaur Jr and My Bloody Valentine cranking up a Dylan couplet. Messing with both extremes of the sonic spectrum: atonal and arrhythmic, a unique sound and a glorious return to form for one of alternative rock’s true innovators.

“Sometimes the most subversive thing I can do musically is adhere to standard song structure, sometimes the creepiest chords are the ones we’ve heard before, twisted into different shapes, and sometimes a story is lived a thousand times before we can ride it like a roller coaster. Nothing wholly unfamiliar is gonna make you look twice. When you can describe a record as being “deceptively” anything, you’re hinting at the sociopathic nature of music. Something I love. Imagine truly buying your own sunshine and charm, but also your darkness and violence; the two sides of your psychology showing each other off in relief. Songs can do that...we can’t, really. Darkness we’ve seen.” Kristin Hersh, July 2018.

“She's still as powerful a presence as she ever was.” Pitchfork

“The prodigious output and commitment to quality is pretty staggering, but then Kristin Hersh is a very, very special musician.” The Quietus.

TRACK LISTING

1. LAX
2. No Shade In Shadow
3. Halfway Home
4. Fox Point
5. Lethe
6. Loudmouth
7. Gin
8. Tulum
9. Breathe In
10. Lady Godiva

Laurel Halo returns to Hyperdub for her third LP with a fresh approach and a new sound. Routed out of the electronic abstraction of 2015’s In Situ - but with clear reference to 2012's sleeper-hit Quarantine - Dust is an album revolving around loose and languid songs; warped, sun-filled, melted and at times, heavy-hearted and obscure. Recorded over a period of two years, the writing process began at EMPAC in upstate New York in January 2015. With access to microphones, percussion, keys and a wide range of routings, Laurel spent days alone in the cavernous space, later inviting musicians Eli Keszler and Lafawndah to join her there. Those sessions would eventually become this album: a collection of breezy, broken songs, based on woody instrumentation, sub bass and restless, intricate electronics.

Earnest songwriting meets with modal cut-up strategies, improvisational playing with higrade digital dust. Tactile and fibrous throughout the record, the vocals and percussion coalesce and breathe life into each other. Swung grooves eddy and collapse; acoustic drums are warped into sensual, febrile melodies. The lyrics are themselves bricolage, without a specific narrator or place in time. They slip in and out of view, something that is visualised in the album’s inner panel. Extending the influence, the album opener ‘Sun To Solar’ is an adaptation of 'Servidão de Passagem' by Brazilian concrete poet Haroldo de Campos. In line with the album’s sound, Dust is 'Laurel Halo' as a flexible cast of characters. Filled with dialogue, the album helms an interchangeable ensemble of vocalists and musicians, featuring vocals from Klein, Lafawndah, and Michael Salu, as well as musicians such as Eli Keszler, Craig Clouse ($hit and $hine), Julia Holter, Max D, Michael Beharie and Diamond Terrifier. Laurel’s omnivorous influences play out in mutated fashion - coalesced, unfettered and inclusive - a broad musical palette free from entrenched modes, catalysed by digital production that could only happen in 2017

TRACK LISTING

A1.Sun To Solar
A2.Jelly
A3.Koinos
A4.Arschkriecher
A5.Moontalk
A6.Nicht Ohne Risiko

B1.Who Won?
B2.Like An L
B3.Syzygy
B4.Do U Ever Happen
B5. Buh-bye

Cast are an English rock band from Liverpool, formed in 1992 by John Power (vocals, guitar) and Peter Wilkinson (backing vocals, bass) after Power left The La's and Wilkinson's former band Shack had split. Following early line-ups with different guitarists and drummers, Liam "Skin" Tyson (guitar) and Keith O'Neill (drums) joined Cast in 1993.

The band are back with their 6th studio album ‘Kicking Up The Dust’ on 14th April 2017.

TRACK LISTING

Side 1
1. Kicking Up The Dust
2. Roar
3. Do That
4. Further Down The Road
5. Paper Chains
6. Birdcage

Side 2
1. Every Little Thing You Do
2. Baby Blue Eyes
3. How Can We Lose
4. Clear Blue Water
5. Out Of My Hands 

Wooah there! Let's start at the beginning then. One of many CLASSIC (and I really do mean that) Chemical Brothers LPs to be reissued this week. I actually discovered "Exit Planet Dust" AFTER the critically acclaimed, much lauded, "Dig Your Own Hole" (also in this week). Once "Dig..." had its clawed its way into a young 14 year old's psyche, one had to feverishly acquire everything that was released by these kings of breakbeat. I remember a CD shop in Aflecks selling me the CD of this record, originally released in 1995 (I think I got mine in '98) along with a load of 'live', 'B-side' and 'unreleased' CD-rs (cough cough). Anyway, they could do no wrong! This was their breathtaking debut - with a title hinting at the historical law suit which meant Tom and Ed went from being called The Dust Brothers to the Chemical Brothers. Meeting at Manchester university, the pair became synonymous with that late nineties breakbeat sound - along with people like Utah Saints, Fatboy Slim, Midfield General and Freddy Fresh. However, they also adapted and collaborated, with this record featuring the Charlatans' Tim Burgess alongside the (then relatively unknown) Beth Orton - both of whom would work with the dastardly duo again over their incredibly long and fruitful career. Although later veering into lots of different styles, for me the first three albums, this along with "Dig Your Own Hole" and "Surrender" could never be topped! Like Fatboy Slim's "Better Living Through Chemistry", or Leftfield's "Rhythm And Stealth" - undeniably British and essential pieces of our rich dance music legacy. Every home needs one!

Ok, onto the second release of the Chemical Brothers life changing discography and it was this one that really set the world on fire. "Dig Your Own Hole" saw the pair hit the mainstream - mainly due to the extensive licensing for advertising the album saw - forcing the pair to address the issue in interviews at the time (underground dance music doesn't belong on adverts - said the critics...). But for the less elitist this didn't bother us, it actually shone a light on this incredible act OUTSIDE of the club (remember, I was only 13 years old at the time!) meaning a whole generation of teenagers suddenly started listening to dance music and reading Ministry / Mixmag - even though we were too young to go to any of the clubs! Such was the mystic power of the Chems. Tracks off this album need little introduction. "Block Rockin' Beats" - you know that one. "Where Do I Begin" - saw the return of the fragile, Elf-like beauty that is Beth Orton on vocals and became a comedown anthem of the times. "The Private Psychedelic Reel" showed that they could do epic, festival pleasing songs - earning them regular appearance at Glastonbury and the multitude of outdoor raves up and down the country. Then there's fuckin NOEL GALLAGHER (!!!) on "Setting Sun" - instantly aligning the baggy, floppy haired duo with the massive, fledging Brit Pop scene. The rest, as they say, is history - the Chems became a global act; they headlined the Pyramid Stage about 5 years on the trot, James Holroyd (Piccadilly customer and Bugged Out! resident) became their tour DJ, again, cementing their credentials with the dance music aficionados of the day. Nine more albums were to emanate from the pair, with countless remixes and singles to boot. But to me, the first trilogy of albums, with "Surrender" following in 2001, where the absolute zenith for me, and iconic slices of UK dance music heritage that should be displayed with pride at any instance. A classic.

The Chems bring us another collision of breaks and 4/4 beats, with influences taken from acid house, electro, rock and funk. Their fourth album proper, it saw Tom and Ed deploy their tough but funky brand of breakbeat driven electronics alongside more radio friendly, dare I say it, poppier moments. Chemical Bro. favourite Beth Orton makes another welcome appearance on "The State We're In", while a newly formed relationship with the Verve's Richard Ashcroft results in album closer "The Test" seeing Brothers Chem conjure up a fiery broth of rumbling breaks and epic chord changes, with Ashcroft throwing down a very "Loaded"-era vocal. "Come With Us", "It Began In Afrika" and "Star Guitar" all ensured this would be getting maximum radio play, while tracks like "Denmark" and "Pioneer Skies" ensured those headlining festival slots would have fresh material to blow the roof off with. "Hoops" and "My Elastic Eye" sealing the deal with classic Chemical Brother breaks. Another wonderful set from the duo.

As we move through the millennial years, so to The Chemical Brothers accompanied us on our musical journey. Onto album number five, and it's another winner, jam packed with breaks, hybrids, crossovers and collaborations. Opening with the monster new cut "Galvanize", featuring a killer rap by Q-Tip (and reaching no. 3 in the charts - their highest since "Hey Boy, Hey Girl"). Next came "The Boxer", featuring Tim Burgess again, but this time ditching the 'weedy' (his words) approach, for a more ballsy, anthemic chorus. "Push The Button" positioned itself at the top of the pile of heavyweight breaks-crossover LPs. While Fatboy Slim floundered and The Prodigy got all electroclash on us, The Chems stuck to what they did best; making block-rocking, chunky tracks (which have hooks!), either on a breakbeat tip, mellower moments or 4/4 electronic drivers (techno had, of course, began to take over breakbeat as the nightclub sound of choice), all of which create a proper, cohesive LP rather than a collection of singles and fillers. Other headlining colabs crop up: Kele Okereke (Bloc Party), Anna-Lynne Williams (Trespassers William), The Magic Numbers, Anwar Superstar (Mos Def's bro') all stepping up to the mic to contribute. By now they were global superstars, but they still had a foot in the underground club scene, and were still a formidable force live. One of the truly great British bands. 

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says:

Shinkansen No.1 / New Ways is the second release from CC DUST, a new duo from Olympia, Washington featuring Maryjane Dunphe and David Jaques. Shinkansen No.1 introduces the record with a more industrial, harder edge than much of the group’s debut 12” (CC DUST – S/T), a fast paced, urgent song powered by by fast kick drums and Jaques’ bassline acrobatics.

CC Dust opened every show on their recent European tour with this salvo, a dark energy that spirals upwards, with Dunphe’s vocal giving the production space to build into a crescendo. New Ways on the other hand, is perhaps Dunphe’s finest moment yet set to disc. Dunphe is a performer who battles restraint, her every vocal performance a tour de force and New Ways is one of the most emotional and transcendent performacnes imaginable. With a terse retraint in the verses, the chorus here erupts into an anthem for doomed youth, with every crack in Dunphe’s voice hitting the listener square in the chest.

A light that casts shadow, CC Dust is doomed, romantic music anchored by Jaques’ live bass and the powerful performance values Dunphe has honed both in her punk group Vexx and in various film and performance projects. Musically, CC Dust’s precedents might be considered the European synth pop originators of the early 80s, there’s also an abundance of low-end hooks played on baritone and bass guitars that teases the ear like early New Order productions, but in Dunphe’s passionate vocal performances there’s a close-to-thebone reality that bypasses cool detachment.

CC Dust play and write real songs lived. A desire for desire. What is it? How does it manifest? Is it all worth the tumult? CC Dust offer no answers as there are none, but they ask the right questions in a life-affirming way. Doomed, romantic, unanswerable and vital.

TRACK LISTING

SIDE A: Shinkansen No.1
SIDE AA: New Ways

We live in dangerous times. We are blinded by control vectors that separate us from reality. And The Black Dog returns with a viral antidote: an album of de-programming material which they’ve called "Nether/Neither".

This record continues the work they started with "Further Vexations" and "Radio Scarecrow". Burroughs was right: we are now living in a world that is nothing short of a total information war. We are neither one thing nor another, endlessly on the fence in the face of an onslaught of disinformation. Non-linear hypermedia systems are openly used to control us, their operation being totally exposed, mocking our impotence, yet complete in their power. We are all proles now; all are expected to maintain a mental state of "Neither/Neither", of uncertainty and inaction. Even in a world where anyone can be an instant expert on any subject in a single click, we find that all our knowledge is a mere replay of someone else’s script.

We are surrounded and occupied by systems of platitude generation that are empty and self-referential. All is surface and all is hollow. From the Tories’ election propaganda to David Icke, they’re all the same, all meaning filtered to nothing by a lack of substance, science and humanity. Falsehood becomes reason, no matter how ridiculous the proposition. They stand for nothing so they can have no questions to answer.

False prophets and the modern day snake oil salesmen parade their viral vampirism, grasping for our time, money and headspace. Even our ridicule becomes fuel for their trade as they turn ignorance and psychopathic exploitation into received wisdom and public opinion. Ask any sideshow psychic; repeat, pure Barnum bunkum enough times and you can seize the psychology of the masses. Rumours become truth then they become action and policy that in the cold light of the day make no-sense at all. No one’s sure where they heard it but they have. The spectral offer of change, which actually sustains the stasis of confusion. They spin us on a ball of confusion we live on continues to turn and as long as they have us in a state of "Neither/Neither" they will always maintain control. Fight Back! 

TRACK LISTING

01. Non Linear Information Life
02. Phil 3 To 5 To 3
03. Neither/Neither
04. Phil 0114
05. Control Needs Time
06. Them (Everyone Is A Liar But)
07. Shut Eye 08. The Frequency Ov Thee Truthers
09. BOOKS
10. Self Organising Sealed Systems
11. Commodification
12. Phil Vs David
13. Platform Lvl 6
14. Hollow Stories, Hollow Head
15. MK Ultrabrite

In 1992, after an extensive period of touring, San Franciscan rockers Faith No More released Angel Dust. The album swings between extremes—aggressive and disturbing, but also beautiful and soothing—showing off every facet of the band’s quirky eloquence on such diverse tracks as “Midlife Crisis,” “Jizzlobber,” “R.V.” and “Small Victory.”

Celebrating the classic albums that helped establish the band’s vital and visceral musical legacy Rhino Records releases a fantastic 2LP Deluxe Edition of Angel Dust. Featuring the original album and an additional disc packed full of rarities related to the album.

Among the tracks featured on the bonus disc is a mix of “Midlife Crisis” by the band’s longtime producer Matt Wallace, a trio of live recordings from a concert in Munich, Germany, as well as covers of the Dead Kennedys’ “Let’s Lynch The Landlord” and the band’s unforgettable take on the Commodores’ “Easy.”

40 years ago: April 17, 1975, Phnom Penh fell to the Khmer Rouge and Cambodian rock and roll was no more. Its star musicians were targeted and killed, record collections were destroyed, clubs were closed, and Western-style music-making, dancing, and clothes were outlawed. The deaths of approximately 2 million Cambodians and the horrors of the Killing Fields have been well-documented; add to this John Pirozzi’s fascinating tale of Cambodia’s vibrant pop music scene, beginning in the 1950s and ‘60s, influenced by France’s Johnny Hallyday and Britain’s Cliff Richard and the Shadows. The filmmaker has assembled rare archival footage, punctuating it with telling interviews with the few surviving musicians. Cambodian culture has long been synonymous with a love for the arts.

DON’T THINK I’VE FORGOTTEN pays homage to the country’s rock legends who paid for their creativity with their lives. Through the eyes, words and songs of its popular music stars of the 50s, 60s, and 70s, Don’t Think I’ve Forgotten: Cambodia’s Lost Rock and Roll examines and unravels Cambodia's recent tragic past. Dust-to-Digital is excited to release the soundtrack to such an important film. Compiled by the film’s director, the album is very cinematic in nature. The sequencing and newly-remastered audio transport the listener through the rock and roll history of Cambodia in a similar fashion as John Pirozzi’s documentary film. It is both entertaining and essential to hear so many tracks that are available outside of Cambodia for the very first time.

What happens when a 78 collector marries a collector of antique photographs? Lead Kindly Light. Recordings of Rural Southern Music: Old Time, String Band Music from Appalachia, extremely rare Country Blues and African American gospel singing from 1924-1939.

159 Photographs from the Collection of Sarah Bryan reproduced in full color. 46 Audio Recordings from the 78RPM Record Collection of Peter Honig. 176-page hardcover book with 2 CDs. 8.5 inches x 6.5 inches. A portrait of the rural American South between the dawn of the twentieth century and World War II, Lead Kindly Light brings together two CDs of traditional music from early phonograph records and a fine hardcover book of never-before-published vernacular photography.

North Carolina collectors Peter Honig and Sarah Bryan have spent years combing backroads, from deep in the Appalachian mountains to the cotton and tobacco lowlands, in search of the evocative music and images of the pre-War South. The music of Lead Kindly Light presents outstanding lesser-known recordings by early stars of recorded country music, as well as rarely- and never-reissued treasures by obscure country, blues, and gospel artists. The photographs, mainly images of the rural and small-town South, are richly textured depictions of family life, work, and fun, and the often accidental beauty of the vernacular snapshot.

TRACK LISTING

DISC 1
1. Buster Carter And Preston Young – “I’ll Roll In My Sweet Baby’s Arms”
2. Georgia Yellow Hammers – “Mary Don’t You Weep”
3. Narmour & Smith – “Jake Leg Rag”
4. Prince Moore – “Church Bells”
5. Roane County Ramblers – “Callahan Rag”
6. Banjo Joe – “Engineer Joe”
7. Ernest Phipps And His Holiness Quartet – “I Want To Go Where Jesus Is”
8. Amos Baker – “I Wish I Were A Mole In The Ground”
9. Lewis Brothers – “When Summer Comes Again”
10. Dykes’ Magic City Trio – “Frankie”
11. Leake County Revelers – “Johnson Gal”
12. Gid Tanner, Clayton McMichen, Riley Puckett, Lowe Stokes, Fate Norris – “Possum Hunt On Stump House Mountain, Part 1”
13. Gid Tanner, Clayton McMichen, Riley Puckett, Lowe Stokes, Fate Norris – “Possum Hunt On Stump House Mountain, Part 2”
14. Mississippi Bracey– “Stered Gal”
15. Jilson Setters – “Little Boy Working On The Road”
16. Loveless Twins Quartet – “Lead Kindly Light”
17. Al Hopkins And His Buckle Busters – “Roll On The Ground”
18. J. E. Mainer’s Mountaineers – “Concord Rag”
19. Uncle Eck Dunford And Ernest Stoneman – “Barney McCoy”
20. Blue Ridge Highballers – “Round Town Girls”
21. Carter Family – “Motherless Children”
22. Rev. W. M. Mosley And His Congregation – “Labor For The Lord”
23. Home Folk Fiddlers – “Arkansas Hoedown”

Disc 2
1. Allen Brothers – “Skipping And Flying”
2. Fiddlin’ Sam Long Of The Ozarks – “Sandy Land”
3. Rev. J. C. Burnett – “True Friendship”
4. Narmour And Smith – “Tequila Hop Blues”
5. Orville Reed – “The Telephone Girl”
6. Burnett And Ruttledge – “Blackberry Blossoms”
7. Kid Williams And Bill Morgan – “When He Died He Got A Home In Hell”
8. Buster Carter And Preston Young – “It’s Hard To Love And Can’t Be Loved”
9. Carter Family – “Kitty Waltz”
10. Birmingham Entertainers – “Johnny Bring The Jug ‘Round The Hill”
11. Blue Ridge Corn Shuckers – “Old Time Corn Shuckin’, Part 1”
12. Blue Ridge Corn Shuckers – “Old Time Corn Shuckin’, Part 2”
13. Mainer’s Mountaineers – “Train Carry My Girl Back Home”
14. Miller’s Merrymakers – “Old Time Breakdown”
15. Riley Puckett – “Railroad Bill”
16. Leake County Revelers – “Been To The East, Been To The West”
17. Charlie Bowman And His Brothers – “Gonna Raise The Ruckus Tonight” 18. Charlie Parker And Mack Woolbright – “Man Who Wrote The Home Sweet Home Never Was A Married Man”
19. Dykes’ Magic City Trio – “Cotton Eyed Joe”
20. Joe Smith – “Kidnapping Is A Terrible Crime”
21. Rev. W. M. Mosley – “The Comforter Has Come”
22. Roane County Ramblers – “Johnson City Rag”
23. Jilson Setters – “Way Up On Clinch Mountain”

The sessions for this album came about by coincidence. In April 2013 The Dust were on tour in Europe. We had an unusual show scheduled at a small festival out in the desert near Marrakech, Morocco, which fell in the middle of our tour, and which fell through, as these things often do, at the very last minute, just days before the gig was to take place. It left a big hole right in the middle of our tour.

To the rescue came our Spanish tour promoters, Carles and Jordi, who secured for us an apartment in Barcelona for the week, and suggested that we use our downtime to do some recording in a small studio there.

The band had a small handful of acoustic shows under our belt by this time, and we were keen for the opportunity to try some recordings in an acoustic setting. Acoustic Dust!

We hooked up with Raül Fernandez Refree, our engineer for the sessions. Raul was great in the studio and we all immediately became fast friends. Another friend from Portugal, João Paulo Feliciano was also in Barcelona at the time, and we invited him in to add some Hammond Organ.

In four or five days we tracked 14 or 15 songs, choosing some from my album ‘Between The Times And The Tides’, plus a few from the record we were still working on at the time, ‘Last Night On Earth’, and some cover songs too.

After the sessions we hit the road again with our electric instruments to finish our tour, and slowly over the following months plans were made for Raul to mix the music for release. You hold in your hands the fruits of those acoustic days in Barcelona, I hope you enjoy them” - Lee Ranaldo (New York City, August 2014).

Calgary, Alberta’s Chad VanGaalen’s blood flows by unrestrained creative impulses. He has never worked in a commercial recording studio. By his hands alone, one line, sound, shape or word leads organically to the next. Over the last ten to fifteen years, Chad has been producing living maps in songs, drawings, modified instruments, animations and performances - shifting forms pointing to another world, infinitely more liveable, maybe hidden just under the surface of our own ever-disintegrating reality.

In ‘Shrink Dust’, Chad’s fifth full-length album under his own name, we have a new window into his world. The album is, in Chad’s view, a country record. It is also partially a score to Chad’s soon-to-be released animated sci-fi feature, ‘Translated Log Of Inhabitants’ (“It’s like Bob and Doug McKenzie in space,” says Chad).

Always a fan of esoteric instruments, Chad taught himself to play an aluminium pedal steel guitar. His experiments with this instrument unify the album, along with themes of death, transformation, fear, benign evil and the eccentricity of love. A newfound affection for The Flying Burrito Brothers, and the scifi mysticism of the 1980s graphic novel ‘The Incal’ by Alejandro Jodorowsky and Moebius, also drove the album.

Somehow, with all of its disparate influences and components, ‘Shrink Dust’ might be one of the most accessible moments in Chad VanGaalen’s creative life, simply because it is more apparent than ever how much fun he is having blurring the lines between the vivid worlds of his creation and the world his audience inhabits. For those who are open to it, Chad’s adventures in music and art illuminate a path that is more colourful, playful and sustainable than those commonly available to us. A path that is, most importantly, always changeable.

“A solo record works best when you feel like you’re opening a window into somebody’s life, experiencing the things they’re going through or thinking about, places they’re seeing, through their eyes. At its best, you find a universality in it.” - Lee Ranaldo

Lee Ranaldo and his family were among the lucky Manhattanites left relatively unscathed by Hurrican Sandy in 2012, but for a week, they had no electricity, running water or heat. He did, however, have an acoustic guitar and, as has been the case of late, some new songs began spilling out of it, reflecting a prolific period imbued with eerie uncertainty. · Ranaldo had finished work on his last album, Between The Times And The Tides’, before Sonic Youth went on hiatus in the Autumn of 2011. The record followed an informal period of songwriting, borne of acoustic guitar fiddling and more direct lyrics from a poet known for emotive abstraction. His plans to record a low-key acoustic album soon evolved and many friends (Steve Shelley, Alan Licht, Nels Cline, Jim O’Rourke, Bob Bert, John Medeski, wife / artist Leah Singer) dropped by to conjure a vaguely psychedelic pop-rock sound that served Ranaldo and SY fans well.

A core unit came together, getting tighter after some roadwork, and soon Steve Shelley (Sonic Youth), Alan Licht, and bassist Tim Lüntzel became The Dust. The band dug in at Echo Canyon West through the winter, evolving a new set of songs with a decidedly more group dynamic. Yet even though he was tracking new songs with the band (plus the always-welcome Medeski), Ranaldo wanted to present songs that were even more personal and adaptable to various live contexts.

The songs on this album are darker, longer, and more intense than those of its predecessor, which was comparably upbeat. Despair and rage ripple through its atmosphere, but are held at bay, never quite able to touchdown. Ranaldo lives near Zucotti Park, which was HQ for NYC’s Occupy Wall Street movement. He has visited Occupy encampments in Toronto, São Paulo, and wherever else he can, often bringing his kids with him so they can witness left wing, non-violent democracy in action. Unlike his last record’s ‘Shouts’, there is no specific tribute to OWS, but there is a yearning for some real, societal shift. “Every time I wait for the revolution to come,” Ranaldo sings on ‘Home Chds.’ “Every night I think it?s here and then it?s gone.”

At the same time the songs on ‘Last Night On Earth’ reveal a guarded optimism. The term ‘hope’ has been politically co-opted and devalued but it’s a key element on ‘Last Night On Earth’. Ranaldo sings of land and water and love and certainty - external life forces that can turn on us at any second - from an exploratory, inviting place of coexistence.

Lee Ranaldo is a founding member of Sonic Youth, now in 32nd year. Although songwriting and performing with his band The Dust (Steve Shelley, Alan Licht, Tim Lüntzel) is his current focus, Lee also premiered a new work, ‘Hurricane Sandy Transcriptions’, for Berlin-based string ensemble Kaleidoskop (with Lee on guitar) at the Holland Festival in June 2013, with more performances to follow in spring 2014. Lee continues to perform experimental events with partner Leah Singer as well. Their recent live performances have been large scale, multi projection quadraphonic sound & cinema events, with Lee performing suspended electric guitar phenomena.

STAFF COMMENTS

Andy says: Lee Ranaldo surprised with the classicist nature of his debut album in 2012. Here he stretches out, getting darker and deeper, with some inspired guitar playing and moodier songs. It's excellent.

Lightning Dust - the duo comprised of Amber Webber and Josh Wells (both of Black Mountain) - tend to thrive in the spirit of change.

2007’s self-titled debut was a hushed, intricate folk affair, while 2009’s ‘Infinite Light’ found a middle ground between Suicide and Fleetwood Mac-era pop. So when they geared up to make the music that would become ‘Fantasy’, the pair were looking for a new sonic stamp.

Lightning Dust’s third proper full length finds its inspiration in skeletal synth pop, modern R&B beats, the films of John Carpenter and - in accordance with Lightning Dust’s only longstanding rule - absolute minimalism.

Lightning Dust have delivered an album that informs their sound in remarkable new ways. ‘Fantasy’ is a hypnotic, exciting record, recklessly new without sacrificing the rich atmosphere that makes Lightning Dust who they are.

‘Loaded Gun’ is a robotic riot grrrl anthem, while ‘Agatha’ stands tall as an ominous lullaby. ‘Fire, Flesh And Bone’ recalls the best cinematic new wave ballads, while acoustic heartbreaker ‘Moon’ makes the rest of the world disappear.

TRACK LISTING

Diamond
Reckless And Wild
Mirror
Moon
Fire Me Up
Loaded Gun
In The City Tonight
Fire Flesh And Bone
Agatha
Never Again

"An album of real musical weight, a slap in the face to the vapid music that washes over us ceaselessly. it is a thing of deep beauty, dexterously combining the gravitas of something very old with the excitement of something very new." - Dan Snaith (Caribou) in Music Week July 2011.

'In Dust' is Roll The Dice’s stunning first full-length album for The Leaf Label, following the limited edition Live In Gothenburg – August 7 2010 12” EP, released for this year’s Record Store Day.

Influenced by Steve Reich and the Kosmische music of the 70s, there are also parallels to be drawn with contemporary artists such as Emeralds, Oneohtrix Point Never and Gavin Russom & Delia Gonzalez.

“Palpably unsequenced and semi-improvised, this set stylishly updates the analogue minimalism of Manuel Gottsching, Tangerine Dream and Conrad Schnitzler with a very 21st century grasp of dub-space and machine-swing. Recommended” Boomkat on Live In Gothenburg.

Roll The Dice are Peder Mannerfelt (who produces and performs live with Fever Ray and records as The Subliminal Kid) and Malcolm Pardon (who writes and records music for film and TV) . Their emotive and slightly unsettling compositions summon the ghosts in the machine, resonating with pure analogue depth. The album was recorded in their own studio, mixed at the remote Ocean Sound studio in Norway, and mastered and cut by Stefan Betke (Pole) in Berlin.

STAFF COMMENTS

Darryl says: Roll The Dice push the kosmische buttons here with their evocative and emotive analogue grooves. Reminiscent of Tangerine Dream, and Manuel Gottsching in their 70s Krautrock pomp, as well as latter day soundscapers like Emeralds and Oneohtrix Point Never. Superb!

Few artists can combine uncomfortable with catchy; paranoiac with head-nodding; morbid with springy. It's hard to scare the sh!t out of you while simultaneously keeping your foot moving. Rapper, producer and Def Jux founder El-P knows how to get to parts of the brain others can't. As a solo artist and frontman for seminal hip-hop group Company Flow or producer of Cannibal Ox, Cage, Mr. Lif, Aesop Rock, NIN, Beck, The Mars Volta (and many, many more), an El-P production can drive you to hide underneath the bed, punch a wall and nod your head all at the same time. Which brings us to Weareallgointoburninhellmegamixxx3 (Gold Dust, August 3rd 2010), the sort of, kind of but not really follow-up to his past two mixes of the same name previously released at live shows.

It's another unique release in the artist's catalog. In the tradition of Company Flow's Little Johnny From The Hospitul (1998), El's own Collecting The Kid (2005), and more recently "Weareallgoingtoburninhellmeggamixx2" (2007), Hell3 is a fully realized suite of instrumentals that continues to exemplify the producer's versatile, otherworldly, futuristic and wholly original sonic worldview.

Given this format, Hell3 both sounds similar to and nothing like anything you've heard before. "Drunk With a Loaded Pistol" starts off woozy and deranged before evolving into a warning alarm/drum attack. "Time Won't Tell" opens as a soundtrack for the apocalypse followed by the layering of guitar-driven pop over boom-bap drums. As the album title implies, El-P creates a dark, dystopian sonic universe filled with ominous basslines and thumping, punishing drums.

TRACK LISTING

01. Take You Out At The Ball Game
02. Whores:The Movie
03. Meanstreak (In 3 Parts)
04. DMSC
05. Drunk With A Loaded Pistol
06. Time Won’t Tell
07. Secret Police Man’s Ball
08. I Got This (El-P Remix) Redux
09. Jump Fence, Run, Live
10. He Hit Her So She Left
11. Driving Down The Block (El-P Remix) Redux
12. Honda Redux
13. How To Serve Man (Stripped)
14. Contagious Snippet (Wilder Zoby Feat. El-P)
15. Eat My Garbage 2

Lightning Dust are Amber Webber and Josh Wells, two fifths of critically acclaimed prog and spiritual pioneers, Black Mountain. "Infinite Light", Lightning Dust's sophomore album for Jagjaguwar, finds the duo calling upon the powers of classic pop arrangements and making the most of five days with a Steinway Grand piano, Lightning Dust have delivered a cosmic record about the adventure in finding love and the journey in losing and rediscovering 'the light'. While "Infinite Light" is definitely more layered and lush than previous efforts, Lightning Dust's minimal aesthetic works well in the economy of musical theatre, an influence for the record, wherein each song's movements aim to be more inspiring than the one before it. And this is suiting in that the album is a nod to 'the light of inspiration' that inspires us to keep dancing, creating and loving in spite of an encroaching darkness. It's a reminder that what makes the mountains so very, very black is a distant light somewhere on the other side.

One of the more unexpected - if worthwhile - by products of the 21st-century underground American folk revival is a renewed interest in solo acoustic guitar music. Spare, haunting, pastoral sounds have struck a new chord, and the names John Fahey and Takoma are hip again. Matt Baldwin, raised in California's rustic Pacific Grove, educated in the alternative mecca of Berkeley, sits in the center of this quiet, swirling scene. He is the visionary wildcard of today's solo guitar music, the ambitious fever dreamer, the serpent in the grass. Unlike many of his peers, he looks beyond the traditions of Fahey (whom he calls 'a teacher', not a god), bringing portentous and progressive elements into his music, alongside a dreamy country lilt. He covers krautrock legends Neu! ("Weissensee") and metal Vikings Judas Priest ("Winter"), and culls inspiration from prog heroes yes on the closing epic "Rainbow". His music comes on like a creeping moss, verdant but threatening, comforting yet unsettling.

Daniel Rachel's second album "A Taste Of Money" has a glorious upbeat feel, with captivating, luscious string arrangements, fantastically catchy pop chorus' and beautiful, bitter-sweet ballads.