Overcoming life-threatening illness and finding fresh perspective on true priorities, English alt. rock supremos Dinosaur Pile-Up roar back from the brink with defiant fifth album 'I've Felt Better'.

Struggle. Vulnerability. Pain. Resilience. Love. It's been a hell of a journey. In many ways, brilliant, shapeshifting opener - and lead single - ''Bout To Lose It' begins at the end, dropping us into the shoes of a frontman chomping at the bit to get back to business but low on confidence, unsure if fans still give a damn after so much time away: 'I guess I'm back on the edge / Maybe I never left! / Would have been nice if you cared / But what did I expect?!' He needn't worry. Bursting with attitude, 'I've Felt Better's hook-laden title-track is both confirmation that DPU haven't lost a step and subtle expansion of the broader themes of strength in the face of adversity, transforming from lament for lost momentum to damning critique of a pop-cultural landscape gone mad.

TRACK LISTING

1. 'Bout To Lose It
2. I've Felt Better
3. Punk Kiss
4. Sick Of Being Down
5. My Way / Big Dogs
6. Big You And Me
7. Love's The Worst
8. Quasimodo Melonheart
9. Sunflower
10. Unfamiliar
11. I Don't Love Nothing And Nothing Loves Me

His first solo album in nine years, 'Felt Better Alive' is Peter Doherty’s most confident solo collection yet - sprinkled with radiant playfulness, almost innocence at times, shot through with Peter Doherty’s signature melodic nous, quirky poetic realism and visual story-telling gifts.

TRACK LISTING

1. Calvados
2. Pot Of Gold
3. The Day The Baron Died
4. Stade Océan
5. Out Of Tune Ballon
6. Felt Better Alive
7. Ed Belly
8. Poca Mahoney’s
9. Fingee
10. Prêtre De La Mer
11. Empty Room

Felt welcomes back Civilistjävel! with "Följd", the follow up to last year’s "Brödföda". 7 tracks further chronicling his melancholic murk, ever drifting towards that faint dub glow. Features a collaboration with Thomas Bush (Jolly Discs).

Uncanny are the nocturnal sounds that ebb patiently from Tomas Bodén and his machines. His music continues to uncover equal parts beauty and dread from isolation, a purposeful slow pace guiding those gentle noises through the arctic air surrounding its author. No matter the weather, these expressions as Civilistjävel! continue to find a loving home on Fergus Jones’s Felt imprint.

On "Följd", he naturally develops on the inclinations found on "Brödföda". "XIII"’s unsettling warble melts into the dusky spurts of "XIV". Further on, the dew-glowed ambience of "XV" precedes "XVI"’s dub trudge which casts a hypnotic grey shadow. "XVII"’s wind-swept acid redux then quietly transitions into the stunning introspective drone of "XVIII" before closer "XIX" comes into view, its positive dawn enacted through Thomas Bush’s croons lilting amongst organs, guitars and tempered sound design.

Civilistjävel! continues to emote a great deal with very little, a reliable abstract practitioner that posits Följd as an arresting audio tale within his celebrated oeuvre.

TRACK LISTING

A1. XIII
A2. XIV
A3. XV
A4. XVI
B1. XVII
B2. XVIII
B3. XIX (ft. Thomas Bush)

Anyone who’s been living on the grapevine these past few years must have heard the rumours about the coming of the FELT reissues – well they’re here.

During the ‘80s Felt made ten albums and ten singles for the Cherry Red and Creation labels. This beautifully produced series examines the work of one of the greatest underground groups of modern times. These records, unavailable for many years, have been remastered and revisited by Lawrence, and he has fashioned the ultimate definitive collections.

Produced by Robin Guthrie of Cocteau Twins and featuring the skyscraping vocal of Elizabeth Fraser on the mighty Primitive Painters. Felt found themselves at the top of the independent charts. Unhappy with the overall sound though – it was as if some of Lawrence’s best songs were lost in an “ethereal swirl.” John A. Rivers has been given access to the original master tapes and six songs have been remixed. Also – side 2 has been focused, edited and “made symmetrical.” Finally these songs can be heard as intended by Felt. It has become at long last a cohesive whole.

TRACK LISTING

Disc 1
1. My Darkest Light Will Shine (Remixed)
2. The Day The Rain Came Down (Remixed)
3. Scarlet Servants (Remixed)
4. I Don’t Know Which Way To Turn (Remixed)
5. Primitive Painters
6. Textile Ranch
7. Black Ship In The Harbour (Remixed)
8. Elegance In D
9. Caspian See (Remixed)
10. Southern State Tapestry

Bonus 7" (Comes With Deluxe CD)
1. Mexican Bandits
2. The World Is As Soft As Lace

Lawrence Hayward knew that he wanted to be a pop star as a teen, and he devised a plan to release ten albums and ten singles over ten years to make that dream come true. A particular and determined individual, he would only be known as Lawrence from that day forward. His hopes for stardom would be pinned on his newly formed band, the succinctly named Felt. Soon signed to Cherry Red Records, Lawrence’s achingly cool vocals and the group’s way with walking melodies were evident on their debut for the label, “Something Sends Me To Sleep.” This compilation collects material from Felt’s Cherry Red period of 1981 to 1985, kicking off with that confident start, assembling numerous high points, and closing with their biggest hit, “Primitive Painters.” This phase of the band is defined by the songwriting partnership and unique interplay of Lawrence and guitarist Maurice Deebank, with Deebank’s stylish and confident playing the envy of many of their counterparts. He delivers a constant string of shimmering hooks that wrap themselves around and over top of Lawrence’s more traditional beat combo song structures, as if trying to fit four songs worth of ideas into a pre-set radio friendly cutoff time. It works wonderfully as Lawrence always counters with a solid bedrock. In one of many brushes with the brass ring, in 1984 Felt recorded versions of “Dismantled King Is Off The Throne” and “Sunlight Bathed The Golden Glow,” for the newly formed and Warners-backed label Blanco y Negro, in hopes that the band would follow their A+R man Mike Alway to the executive suite. Despite putting forward two of their finest songs, it was not to be. While major label dreams had to remain on the shelf, fans were delighted to be able to hear these beautifully stripped down and more direct versions when this compilation was released a few years later. By 1985 the Felt roller coaster was something Maurice Deebank was constantly getting on and off of. As Gary Ainge always kept the beat, and Lawrence never lost focus, they were joined by local teen prodigy Martin Duffy on keyboards, filling out the arrangements, and following Deebank’s racing six-string cascades in “The Day The Rain Came Down” you can even hear a tiny hint of the next phase of the band in Duffy’s organ before Maurice swoops to the finish. The newly expanded Felt would then put everything they had into making one of the defining releases of the 80s: “Primitive Painters.”

TRACK LISTING

1. Something Sends Me To Sleep
2. Trails Of Colour Dissolve
3. Dismantled King Is Off The Throne
4. Penelope Tree
5. Sunlight Bathed The Golden Glow
6. Crystal Ball
7. The Day The Rain Came Down
8. Fortune
9. Vasco Da Gama
10. Primitive Painters

Swell Maps / Television Personalities affiliated C86-era indie pop rescued from sheer obscurity and thrust into semi-obscurity by FELT. The Catburgers were a short-lived Scottish group, this recording initially primed for release on Dan Treacy’s Dreamworld imprint yet placed on the perennial backburner as so many creative projects inevitably are.

Soundcloud uploads dating back over a decade ago and the odd blog/twitter post aside, the group seemingly lived on only in the memories of those who happened to catch them on the Edinburgh scene back in the day. Until now! With the help of the National Sound Archives, the original master tape containing these three tracks has been rebaked, cut and mastered for seven-inch.

‘Holiday House’ sounds immediately at home in the Postcard Records nexus, the influence of 1980 particularly tangible. Slower paced and with a touch more melancholy than its companions, the song sounds both in and out of time, as if some young teens raised on a hand-me-down diet of Pastels CDs might have laid it down yesterday.

Jowe Head of Swell Maps joins the group for ‘The Acid Tree’, whilst EP closer ‘Diving For The Brick’ sees the band ruminating on weak knees, sore lungs and stinging eyes down at the local swimming pool.

Accompanying the release is the original demo tape predating this record, recorded at The Rocking Horse Studios in Bathgate in Autumn 1986. The demo is restored from a tape copy owned by journalist Simon Reynolds and contains some of the tracks that made it onto the 7".

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Seriously obscure lo-fi indie here which is an absolute treasure to behold. If you liked (equally obscure) Indifferent Dance Centre, or anything on Postcard Records you seriously need to check this quaint little number. "Diving For The Brick" wins genius lyrics of the month award by a long shot.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Holiday House
B1. The Acid Tree (ft. Jowe Head)
B2. Diving For The Brick

“‘The Strange Idols Pattern and Other Short Stories’ may not have the cachet or reputation of albums by the "big-name" bands of the era, but it has the songs and that's what counts the most. This is Lawrence and Felt at their absolute classic best, not to be overlooked or missed for any reason.” AllMUSIC

One of the first five album re-issues from February 2018.These vinyl records, unavailable for many years, have been remastered and revisited by Lawrence, and he has fashioned the ultimate definitive collections.

During the ‘80s Felt made ten albums and ten singles for the Cherry Red and Creation labels. This beautifully produced series examines the work of one of the greatest underground groups of modern times.

Before the Stone Roses and after Be-Bop Deluxe and Plastic Ono Band, John Leckie worked with Felt. Booked into a metal/reggae studio in Birmingham’s industrial wasteland he sculpted a Michelangelo slice of new rock – exquisite and beautiful guitar odysseys – quite unlike anything the city had experienced before. Merging pop with a classical nuance Felt stood alone as the forerunners of a brand new style.

TRACK LISTING

Side One
1 Roman Litter
2 Sempiternal Darkness
3 Spanish House
4 Imprint
5 Sunlight Bathed The Golden Glow
Side Two
1 Vasco Da Gama
2 Crucifix Heaven
3 Dismantled King Is Off The Throne
4 Crystal Ball
5 Whirlpool Vision Of Shame

The latest example of Knekelhuis' expert curation comes via this killer compilation of all new productions from a wealth of international talent. Featuring label mainstays alongside new friends, this sonic journey explores the spaces between ambient and experimental electronica rendered in tape manipulation and spectral synthesis.

Label Text "This is a story of friendship, about how it grows stronger through the years. But it’s just as much about fledgling togetherness and shared art in times of crisis. The result is an introspective document of contemporary music, in spirit of Eno and Hassell. A space where we embrace our differences and speak the language of collectivity together, where we reflect, adapt and value each artist's contribution equally. To witness a multitude of cultural backgrounds that speak one like-minded language. Soothing and illuminating. And felt like..."

TRACK LISTING

XIII - L’Abete Al Contrario
Ike Zwanikken - Bianca
Treasury Of Puppies - Himlen Den Vackraste
Avsluta - Mono No Aware
Troth - Calm Of The Shadow
Philipp Otterbach - When The Fish Travels..
Michel Banabila - E.T
Ayaz - Yuma
Bashar Suleiman - T7KINI Feat. Olan Monk & Lil Asaf

Love Record Stores Edition available from 9am on Saturday June 20th.
Limited to one per person.

Two-tone vinyl.

Following the release of FELT’s first five albums in February, the band’s reissue campaign continues with the second half of their discography. During the ‘80s Felt recorded ten albums and ten singles for the Cherry Red and Creation labels. This gorgeously-produced series explores the work of one of the greatest indie groups in recent memory. 

TRACK LISTING

1. Declaration
2. Silver Plane
3. She Lives By The Castle
4. Stained-Glass Windows In The Sky
5. Riding On The Equator
6. Dark Red Birds

7”
1. Ballad Of The Band
2. I Didn’t Mean To Hurt You

Following the release of FELT’s first five albums in February, the band’s reissue campaign continues with the second half of their discography. During the ‘80s Felt recorded ten albums and ten singles for the Cherry Red and Creation labels. This gorgeously-produced series explores the work of one of the greatest indie groups in recent memory. 

TRACK LISTING

1. Apple Boutique
2. Ivory Past
3. Until The Fools Get Wise
4. How Spook Got Her Man
5. Bitter End
6. Tuesday’s Secret
7. Christopher Street
8. Jewels Are Set In Crowns
9. Under A Pale Light
10. Don’t Die On My Doorstep

7"
1. Rain Of Crystal Spires
2. I Will Die With My Head In Flames

Following the release of FELT’s first five albums in February, the band’s reissue campaign continues with the second half of their discography. During the ‘80s Felt recorded ten albums and ten singles for the Cherry Red and Creation labels. This gorgeously-produced series explores the work of one of the greatest indie groups in recent memory. 

TRACK LISTING

1. Rain Of Crystal Spires
2. Down But Not Yet Out
3. September Lady
4. Grey Streets
5. All The People I Like Are Those That Are Dead
6. Gather Up Your Wings And Fly
7. A Wave Crashed On Rocks
8. Hours Of Darkness Have Changed My Mind

7"
1. Primitive Painters
2. Cathedral

Following the release of FELT’s first five albums in February, the band’s reissue campaign continues with the second half of their discography. During the ‘80s Felt recorded ten albums and ten singles for the Cherry Red and Creation labels. This gorgeously-produced series explores the work of one of the greatest indie groups in recent memory.

TRACK LISTING

Disc: 1
1. Train Above The City
2. On Weegee’s Sidewalk
3. Run Chico Run
4. Press Softly On The Brakes Holly
5. Spectral Morning
6. Teargardens
7. Book Of Swords
8. Seahorses On Broadway

Disc: 2 (7”)
1. The Final Resting Of The Ark
2. There’s No Such Thing As Victory

Following the release of FELT’s first five albums in February, the band’s reissue campaign continues with the second half of their discography. During the ‘80s Felt recorded ten albums and ten singles for the Cherry Red and Creation labels. This gorgeously-produced series explores the work of one of the greatest indie groups in recent memory.

TRACK LISTING

Disc: 1
1. I Can’t Make Love To You Anymore
2. Mobile Shack
3. Free
4. Budgie Jacket
5. Cartoon Sky
6. New Day Dawning
7. Down An August Path
8. Never Let You Go
9. She Deals In Crosses
10. Get Out Of My Mirror

Disc: 2 (7”)
1. Space Blues
2. Tuesday’s Secret

Suuns are pleased to announced their new album, Felt, coming out March 2nd on Secretly Canadian. Singer/guitarist Ben Shemie says, “This record is definitely looser than our last one [2016’s Hold/Still]. It’s not as clinical. There’s more swagger.” You can hear this freedom flowing through the 11 tracks on Felt. It’s both a continuation and rebirth, the Montreal quartet returning to beloved local facility Breakglass Studios (where they cut their first two albums [Zeroes QC and Images Du Futur] with Jace Lasek of The Besnard Lakes) but this time recording themselves at their own pace, over five fertile sessions spanning several months. A simultaneous stretching out and honing in, mixed to audiophile perfection by St Vincent producer John Congleton (helmer of Hold/Still), who flew up especially from Dallas to deploy his award-winning skills in situ.

Complementing O’Neill are the ecstatic, Harmonia-meets-Game Boy patterns unleashed by electronics mastermind Max Henry. Eschewing presets, Henry devised fresh sounds for each song on Felt while also becoming a default musical director, orchestrating patches and oscillations. Quietly enthusing about “freaky post-techno” and Frank Ocean’s use of space, he’s among your more modest studio desk jockeys: “Yeah, I sat in the control room while the others played – hitting ‘record’ and ‘stop’. It also gave me the flexibility to move parts around and play with effects. I do have a sweet tooth for pop music.”

TRACK LISTING

1. Look No Further
2. X-ALT
3. Watch You, Watch Me
4. Baseline
5. After The Fall
6. Control
7. Make It Real
8. Daydream
9. Peace And Love
10. Moonbeams
11. Materials

Anyone who’s been living on the grapevine these past few years must have heard the rumours about the coming of the FELT reissues – well they’re here.

During the ‘80s Felt made ten albums and ten singles for the Cherry Red and Creation labels. This beautifully produced series examines the work of one of the greatest underground groups of modern times. These records, unavailable for many years, have been remastered and revisited by Lawrence, and he has fashioned the ultimate definitive collections.

Before the Stone Roses and after Be-Bop Deluxe and Plastic Ono Band, John Leckie worked with Felt. Booked into a metal/reggae studio in Birmingham’s industrial wasteland he sculpted a Michelangelo slice of new rock – exquisite and beautiful guitar odysseys – quite unlike anything the city had experienced before. Merging pop with a classical nuance Felt stood alone as the forerunners of a brand new style. And Gary Ainge was finally allowed to use his high-hat!

TRACK LISTING

Disc 1
1. Roman Litter
2. Sempiternal Darkness
3. Spanish House
4. Imprint
5. Sunlight Bathed The Golden Glow
6. Vasco Da Gama
7. Crucifix Heaven
8. Dismantled King Is Off The Throne
9. Crystal Ball
10. Whirlpool Vision Of Shame 

Bonus 7" (Comes With Deluxe CD)
1. Penelope Tree
2. A Preacher In New England 

Anyone who’s been living on the grapevine these past few years must have heard the rumours about the coming of the FELT reissues – well they’re here.

During the ‘80s Felt made ten albums and ten singles for the Cherry Red and Creation labels. This beautifully produced series examines the work of one of the greatest underground groups of modern times. These records, unavailable for many years, have been remastered and revisited by Lawrence, and he has fashioned the ultimate definitive collections.

Lawrence’s ambition was to release the best debut English album ever! Adrian Borland offered his services, then commitments with his band The Sound prevented this from happening. So Felt began a relationship with Swell Maps producer John A. Rivers. Recorded and mixed in six days the band got a taste of how bitter reality fares compared to the “mellow fruitfulness” of blind ambition.

TRACK LISTING

Disc 1
1. Evergreen Dazed - Felt
2. Fortune - Felt
3. Birdmen - Felt
4. Cathedral - Felt
5. I Worship The Sun - Felt
6. Templeroy – Felt

Bonus 7" (With CD Format)
1. Something Sends Me To Sleep - Felt
2. Something Sends Me To Sleep (Alternate Version) - Felt

Anyone who’s been living on the grapevine these past few years must have heard the rumours about the coming of the FELT reissues – well they’re here.

During the ‘80s Felt made ten albums and ten singles for the Cherry Red and Creation labels. This beautifully produced series examines the work of one of the greatest underground groups of modern times. These records, unavailable for many years, have been remastered and revisited by Lawrence, and he has fashioned the ultimate definitive collections.

Previously named Let the Snakes Crinkle Their Heads to Death, this album is now retitled The Seventeenth Century – the original name for the album was changed late in the day. This reversal of misfortune was classed as an awful mistake and Lawrence’s biggest regret. Flash forward to now and this situation can finally be rectified. “You can’t change the title of an album” - they told him – so he said; “if Kraftwerk can and Bowie can then I can too!!”

TRACK LISTING

Disc 1
1. Song For William S. Harvey
2. Ancient City Where I Lived
3. Seventeenth Century
4. The Palace
5. Indian Scriptures
6. The Nazca Plain
7. Jewel Sky
8. Viking Dress
9. Voyage To Illumination
10. Sapphire Mansions

Bonus 7" (Comes With Deluxe CD)
1. Sunlight Bathed The Golden Glow
2. Sunlight Strings

Anyone who’s been living on the grapevine these past few years must have heard the rumours about the coming of the FELT reissues – well they’re here.

During the ‘80s Felt made ten albums and ten singles for the Cherry Red and Creation labels. This beautifully produced series examines the work of one of the greatest underground groups of modern times. These records, unavailable for many years, have been remastered and revisited by Lawrence, and he has fashioned the ultimate definitive collections.

Lawrence escapes the contours of a bland city and retreats into his mind. Felt had risen from the underworld searching for a new horizon but only managed to slip into a desolate obscurity! Dark black slabs of creosote guitar – vast swathes of epic interplay – casting futuristic Shadows – an idiosyncratic and unobtrusively brilliant band, the music Felt made on this album is unlike anything attempted before. This really is a template for an age yet to come. And it pays to know that Maurice Deebank now resides in a monastery in Birmingham!

TRACK LISTING

Disc 1
1. Red Indians - Felt
2. The World Is As Soft As Lace - Felt
3. The Optimist And The Poet - Felt
4. Mexican Bandits - Felt
5. The Stagnant Pool - Felt
6. A Preacher In New England - Felt

Bonus 7" (With Deluxe CD Format)
1. Trails Of Colour Dissolve - Felt
2. My Face Is On Fire - Felt

Having recorded his last album live in a large, reverberant church, Nils Frahm now invites you to put on your headphones and dive into a world of microscopic and delicate sounds - so intimate that you could be sitting beside him. Recorded late at night in the reflective solitude and silence of his studio in Berlin, Frahm uncovers a new sound and source of inspiration within these peaceful moments: 'Originally I wanted to do my neighbours a favour by damping the sound of my piano. If I want to play piano during the quiet of the night, the only respectful way is by layering thick felt in front of the strings and using very gentle fingers. It was then that I discovered that my piano sounds beautiful with the damper.' Captivated by this sonic exposition, he placed the microphones so deep inside the piano that they were almost touching the strings. This brought a host of external sounds to the recordings which most producers would try their hardest to hide: 'I hear myself breathing and panting, the scraping sound of the piano's action and the creaking of my wooden floorboards - all equally as loud as the music. The music becomes a contingency, a chance, an accident within all this rustling. My heart opens and I wonder what exactly it is that makes me feel so happy.'

Berlin-based pianist Nils Frahm is already a firebrand in the modern classical world, collaborating with contemporaries such as Peter Broderick, Ólafur Arnalds and Anne Müller. His unconventional approach to an age-old instrument, played contemplatively and intimately, has won him many fans around the world. As announced by Drowned In Sound, he finally returns on October 10th 2011 with the successor to his highly acclaimed solo piano works Wintermusik and The Bells. Released on Erased Tapes Records and entitled 'Felt', the album will coincide with a European tour in November 2011 - a truly memorable and magical live experience.

Complex polyrhythmic insrumentals for the acoustic guitar, accordian, upright bass and drum kit. The instrumentation lends itself to be a quieter album, but the subtle dynamic shifts and loud drumming makes for an incredible rock-out. Will appeal to fans of Papa M, Rex, Directions In Music etc.