Dando’s first steps towards the mainstream. The major label debut for Evan Dando’s Lemonheads from 1990, following three “ramshackle punk” (©Select magazine) albums for Taang! Pivoted on a more approachable set of sweet melodies still rife with punky spirit. A light and dark album, polished in the arrangements, nodding to the excess of American culture (Manson and Gummi Bears), hectoring Reagan’s drug laws (‘Lil’ Seed’), riffing on everyday life. Remastered single LP. “Like Hüsker Dü when they were at their most ferocious or REM when they were at their most Byrdsian hypnotic.” NME

TRACK LISTING

Side A
A1: Ballarat
A2: Half The Time
A3: Year Of The Cat
A4: Ride With Me
A5: Lil Seed

Side B
B6: Stove
B7: Come Downstairs
B8: Left For Dead
B9: Brass Buttons
B10: (The) Door
B11: Untitled

Extras (Download Only)
The Lemonheads – Live At The Wireless
Come Back D.A.
Stove
A Song For You
Come Downstairs
Nighttime (Big Star Cover)
Year Of The Cat
Ride With Me
Die Right Now

The Lemonheads’ classic 1993 album. The breakthrough record that took American alt rock global and catapulted Evan Dando into the hearts of a generation. In the 90’s Evan’s Lemonheads produced hit after a hit, a string of super cool singles: ‘Big Gay Heart’, ‘Into Your Arms’, ‘It’s About Time’, and ‘The Great Big NO’. Pure genius filling the radio waves and taking the stage... Some 30 years on; Evan is still knocking that song writing thing out of the park and ‘Come On Feel The Lemonheads’ sounds as fresh and perky as it ever did. Evan knows a good song when he hears it, as ‘Come On Feel The Lemonheads’ certainly proved. “Come On Feel was home to some of his best, sharpest writing – fabulous sunny powerpop and beautiful ballads” The Guardian // “'Come On Feel The Lemonheads' is all it purports to be: a chance to dip into Evan's jumbled-up, dope-smoking love-buggy of a life and celebrate it” NME

TRACK LISTING

Side A:
A1 The Great Big No
A2 Into Your Arms
A3 It's About Time
A4 Down About It
A5 Paid To Smile
A6 Big Gay Heart
A7 Style
A8 Rest Assured

Side B:
B1 Dawn Can't Decide
B2 I'll Do It Anyway
B3 Rick James Style
B4 Being Around
B5 Favorite T
B6 You Can Take It With You
B7 The Jello Fund (+ Lenny – Hidden Track)

Essential Extras – Download Only
Alternative & Acoustic:
1 Big Gay Heart (Demo)
2 Being Around (Alternative)
3 Into Your Arms (Acoustic)
4 Down About It (Acoustic)
5 Deep Bottom Cove
6 Acoustic Rick James Style
7 It's About Time (Acoustic)
Covers & Curiosities:
8 Miss Otis Regrets
9 Learning The Game
10 Little Black Egg
11 Streets Of Baltimore (Acoustic)
12 Frying Pan
13 He's On The Beach
14 Favorite T (Live In Session)

Described by music journalist and author Everett True as “A 30-minute insight into what it’s like to live hard and fast and loose and happy with like-minded buddies, fuelled by a shared love for similar bands and drugs and booze and freedom.”. ‘It's A Shame About Ray’ had a considerable impact back in those heady, carefree days of '92, the record perfectly captures Dando’s ability to effortlessly encapsulate teenage longing and lust over the course of a two-minute pop song. The reissue includes a download card with a slew of extra material, including the ‘My Drug Buddy’ KCRW session track from 1992 featuring Juliana Hatfield, B-sides from singles ‘It’s A Shame About Ray’ and ‘Confetti’, a track from the ‘Mrs. Robinson/Being Round’ EP. Singles such as 'My Drug Buddy' and the breezy perfect pop of the title track might stand out (plus the add-on of 'Mrs. Robinson' which later copies included), but the album's real strength lies in the tracks in-between; the truly fantastic 'Confetti' (written about Evan's parents' divorce), and the eye-wateringly casual acoustic cover of 'Frank Mills' (from the "hippie" musical Hair), a version that seems to resonate with every ounce of pathos and emotion felt for the lost 1960s generation. To hear Evan Dando sing lines like 'I love him/but it embarrasses me/To walk down the street with him/He lives in Brooklyn somewhere/And he wears his white crash helmet' is to truly appreciate how wonderful and tantalising pop music can be. Then, there's the rush of insurgency and brattishness on the wonderfully truncated 'Bit Part'; the topsy-turvy 'Ceiling Fan In My Spoon'... this was male teenage skinny-tie pop music on a level of brilliance with The Kinks, early Undertones, Wipers.

TRACK LISTING

1 Rockin' Stroll
2 Confetti
3 It's A Shame About Ray
4 Rudderless
5 My Drug Buddy
6 The Turnpike Down
7 Bit Part
8 Alison's Starting To Happen
9 Hannah & Gabi
10 Kitchen
11 Ceiling Fan In My Spoon
12 Frank Mills

Essential Extras – Download Only
1 Mrs Robinson
2 Shakey Ground
3 My Drug Buddy (KCRW Session, 1992)
4 Knowing Me, Knowing You (Acoustic)
5 Confetti (Acoustic)
6 Alison's Starting To Happen (Acoustic)
7 Divan
Demo Recordings – Download Only
8 It's A Shame About Ray (Demo)
9 Rockin' Stroll (Demo)
10 My Drug Buddy (Demo)
11 Hannah & Gabi (Demo)
12 Kitchen (Demo)
13 Bit Part (Demo)
14 Rudderless (Demo)
15 Ceiling Fan In My Spoon (Demo)
16 Confetti (Demo)

“It's a devastating debut...this album has struck me with a vengeance. Because it delivers such a powerful, complex and open-ended punch, it's almost impossible at such an early stage to explain why or how in full detail.” Melody Maker. // “I would be willing to sit down and argue that modern-day rock ‘n’ roll reached its peak in 1978 with Pere Ubu’s The Modern Dance and has declined ever since." Rolling Stone // “Peru Ubu’s full length debut fancies itself a fusion of musique concrete and The Stooges. Shrill and ugly it crystallises their original version of industrial rock” Uncut // The Modern Dance’ is the first studio release from Pere Ubu. Following their self-released first singles on Hearpen Records, the uncompromising complex debut has continuously stirred critics. Today the record is still as direct and powerful as it was first heard. Exploding onto the scene with a handful of releases behind them, Pere Ubu’s ‘The Modern Dance’ stunned the music world and quickly began appearing on ‘Most Influential’ album lists. Pere Ubu originally formed as a studio project drawing on a body of musicians who were involved in the Cleveland underground music scene that had, by August 1975, seemingly run its course. The main objective of the band at that time was to document their work and then disappear. Luckily for us they were on the cusp of changing the face of rock forever. For this reworking, Paul Hamann at Suma has transferred from the original 2-track analogue mix tapes to digital at the highest resolution available which, is at least four times the resolution of the original. The tracks have carefully been re-mastered by sonic architect Brian Pyle so as to capture the unique qualities within.

TRACK LISTING

1. Non-alignment Pact
2. Modern Dance
3. Laughing
4. Street Waves
5. Chinese Radiation
6. Life Stinks
7. Real World
8. Over My Head
9. Sentimental Journey
10. Humor Me

Long overdue repress of 'Acid Guru Pond', the incredible collaboration between Bardo Pond, Japanese psych-experimentalists Acid Mother’s Temple and cosmic kosmische legends Guru Guru. The fruits of an incredible collaboration, Acid Mothers Temple wrap their psych rock wizardry and cosmic space noise around Isobel Sollenberger’s ethereal vocals and majestic flute playing, the collective brings out the best in one another, feasting on innovation and distortion while not losing the swirling lock groove. Classic rock riffs merge and morph into the surrounding world music influences to cook up an enchanting and meditative brew. The naming of each song after a colour only further reinforces the vibe heavy proceedings.

TRACK LISTING

A1 Purple
B1 Green
B2 Blue
C1 Orange
D1 Red.

A spectral collection of lost transmissions, drifting in from the periphery of their creative subconscious, a reverberant echo of the band's ever-expanding sonic universe. This is four streams of analogue consciousness to super-soak your deckchair daydreams. Cocktail umbrellas and chlorinated fantasies! It’s time to get cool in the pool with Vanishing Twin. ‘In Piscina’ features the lineup of Cathy Lucas, Elliott Arndt, Phil MFU, Susumu Mukai and Valentina Magaletti. “This is a band that fearlessly floats in the hazy space between the real world and an imagined one, blurring the line between warmly nostalgic and eerily haunted” Pitchfork // “Vanishing Twin take us all on a trip to a strange new world.” The Quietus.

TRACK LISTING

Side A.
1- Spice Level 7
2- In Piscina!
Side B.
1- Gunky
2- The Third Door

Pumping their way out of the South Bronx of New York in the early 80s, this rhythm and dance-punk outfit made unforgettable funk that was also unusually rooted in post-punk. This powerhouse of raw and cutting edge music ultimately made them ahead of their time. ESG enjoyed success sharing stages with PiL and Gang Of Four and have been heavily sampled as many musicians including TLC, Wu-Tang Clan, Beastie Boys and Liars.

“ESG's fusion of sweet soul and punk attitude with an intuitive understanding of dance music remains.” The Guardian

“This is still funk with an alien otherworldliness the likes of which George Clinton never envisioned, stripped to its barest essentials for maximum impact.” All Music

“ESG are as cool as ever.” The Guardian 

TRACK LISTING

1 Be Good To Me
2 Talk It
3 Its Not Me
4 Six Pack
5 Step Off
6 Sensual Intentions
7 My Street 

It feels like someone left the light on in the studio and it all just ran itself, there had been a funky human input earlier in the day but, by a Darwinian machine-led kind of osmosis, the tracks recorded spent the wee small hours self-reducing and simplifying themselves. Marinated in music. “I believe more in the scissors than I do in the pencil,” said Truman Capote. ”Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication,” opined Leonardo da Vinci much earlier in proceedings. Yes, it’s the space around the object, what you leave out that makes what you leave in so important. ESG know this. Sure they can play the game but it’s the swagger of the groove and the minimal topping – like an anti-cup cake – that makes this unique New York sisterhood so appealing on ‘Keep On Moving’. Sampled on TV ads, lauded by critics and swooned over on the dancefloor, ESG’s post-punk took out the grunge and polished the basics. Cut them open and “less is more” is written all the way through. ‘Keep On Moving’ was released over ten years ago to much praise (Q said it was “even better” than 2002’s much loved ‘Step Off’). ESG had been sparring partners for PiL and early hip hop and four years after the ‘Off’, they were onto something new – rhythm as core, reflective storylines about relationship management, sensuality and insanity gather around the bass fix but they’re much blurrier than the incessant beats. Inadvertently they unmask techno and glitch and leave out any kind of superfluous fluff. It’s hard and temple throbbing. Turn it up. And keep moving.

“If there's one tune which sums up ESG's enduring lust for life, it's the beautifully-judged Black Flag/early techno crossover of the closing 'Gimme A Blast'.” The Guardian 5/5

“This album's every percussive aspect has been honed to impart the maximum amount of pleasure.” The Observer /

“Despite their influence on younger bands (you can hear LCD Soundsystem's knobbly grooves on ‘Insane’), ESG still sound like nothing else.” The Guardian

TRACK LISTING

1 Purely Physical
2 Keep On Moving
3 Insane (Tambourine Mix)
4 The Road
5 Id Do It For You
6 Everything Goes
7 Ex
8 Insane (Bass Mix)
9 Gimme A Blast 

Bardo Pond’s extensive archive recordings series opens up once again with 'Volume 9', an incisive journey into their hypnotic sound. Recorded in the early 2000’s it’s a heady mix of acoustic ambience and menacing distortion.

Infamous purveyors of longform stoner rock, Bardo Pond embrace their sludgestorms with graceful nods to Hawkwind, Earth and my bloody valentine. For anyone uninitiated with the band’s tranquilizing sound, Volume 9 leans into their mesmeric practise with reckless abandon.

Featuring two tracks recorded with ace percussionist Michael Zanghi (Kurt Vile/The War On Drugs) and the seminal two parter ‘War Is Over’, a lilting Floydian strum that’s invaded – quite literally – by unreconstructed noise. The Zanghi collaboration is an Eastern-facing mantra with percussive flurries and distorted modal shifts – like listening on the other side of feedback.

“Effortlessly combining psychedelic inspirations from Pink Floyd's original explorations to the more modern reachings into the beyond” AllMusic.

TRACK LISTING

Side A
A1 – Conjunctio
A2 – The Nine Doubts
A3 – War Is Over Part 1

Side B
B1 – War Is Over Part 2

‘Little Eden’ glows with vintage McCartney-esque couplets before rolling out a chiming signature riff on ‘As I Lay Down To Die’ and adopting Jimi-like phrasing on ‘And Away We Go’. A psychedelically-hewn panoramic take on brutalism Britain punctuated with pure pop melodies and beautifully-observed English melancholy. This is an album that rekindles your love of music – from the harmonies that are oh-so Teenage Fanclub and Lemonheads, to the grunge and awe of Dinosaur Jr. There’s perspective and retrospective tale-spinning where we wait “for the wonderful world to come” (©‘Start Burning’), an imaginary future soundtracked by the spirit of Arthur Lee, brought into focus with witty wordplay on songs that are littered with spine tingling guitar breaks.

TRACK LISTING

Disc One:
A1 Everyone Rise
A2 And Away We Go
A3 Brain Fatigue
A4 You Owe Me
A5 They Will Return
B1 Find The Mole
B2 Do Without Me
B3 Hold Your Horses
B4 The Man In The Garden
B5 As I Lay Down To Die

Disc Two:
C1 Cherry Gardens
C2 Numb In The Head
C3 There's Always Love
C4 Little Eden
C5 Here Come The Flies
C6 Pasted All Over
D1 Start Burning
D2 My Own Hollywood
D3 Never Knew What Hit Me
D4 Dreams Of Flying

‘A Mythology of Circles’ is the new album from Brooklyn-based composer and musical artist Faten Kanaan, her first to be released on Fire Records. Cyclical patterns and 'variation through repetition' are central to Faten’s music. Harmony and counterpoint are composed intuitively and treated as narrative tools- with sound, silence, and the resulting mystical relationship between notes used as gestures to tell a wordless story. The album is separated into a ‘dusk to evening’ side, and an ‘underworld/dream-state’ side; highlighting the myths of Ishtar, Inanna, Orpheus, Persephone, and others.

Inspired by cinematic forms and mythological story structures: from sweeping landscapes and quiet romances, to patterned tensions and dream sequences; Faten brings an earthy, visceral touch to electronic music. In symbiosis with technology is an appreciation for the vulnerability of human limitations and nuances.

All the sections are played in real time, neither looped nor sequenced- allowing for subtle changes to unfold. The use of VST sampled choral voices in this album embodies the forlorn state of technological acceleration, and the desire to return to a vulnerable human sound. The album art also explores a complicated relationship with technology: the statue comes from a series of digital replicas, returning in its last stage to a more intimate and handmade feel.

Composed, produced and mixed by Faten Kanaan, the album was mastered by Heba Kadry (Bjork, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Julianna Barwick).

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: I've been a fan Of Faten Kanaan's work since her superb split 7" with Pye Corner Audio on Polytechnic Youth a few years ago. What we have here is the spiritual and logical culmination of an artist working hard at their already considerable skills in the intervening years. It's a stunning work of scope, beautifully transportive and haunting.

TRACK LISTING

1. Patagonia Motet 1: Lago
2. The Archer
3. Hesperides
4. Birds Of Myrrh
5. Night Tide / Anteros
6. Sleepwalker
7. Mist & Madrigal
8. Rêve-Rivière
9. Erewhon
10. Patagonia Motet 2: Andes
11. The North Wind
12. The Heron
13. Ishtar Terra

Melbourne’s RVG return with their highly anticipated second album, Feral. Following their beloved 2017 debut ‘A Quality of Mercy’, RVG perform the tricky alchemy of combining rock’s urgency, punk’s anarchy, and pop’s empathy to create a record that feels vital: Feral is a catharsis, a call to arms, and a forthright indictment of contemporary complacency. ‘Feral’ was recorded at Head Gap studios with producer Victor Van Vugt (PJ Harvey, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Beth Orton). Internationally renowned, Van Vugt currently resides in Berlin, Germany and travelled to Melbourne to work with RVG. One of the producer’s key tenets is a sense of spontaneity, of capturing the essence of a song’s live performance, a concern that RVG prize above all else when recording The band recorded the album’s instrumentals live to track, allowing their playing to be infused with the kind of electricity that has seen the band’s live show lauded across Australia and internationally. ‘Feral’ is RVG’s first full-length release in three years and marks the beginning of an exhilarating new era for the band. Both a cry for help and a call to action, this is an album that demands your attention.

TRACK LISTING

Alexandra
Asteroid
Christian Neurosurgeon
Little Sharky & The White Pointer Sisters
Help Somebody
I Used To Love You
Prima Donna
Perfect Day
The Baby & The Bottle
Photograph

THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2014 EXCLUSIVE, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

180 gram LP (part of a trilogy – complete on RSD 2015). Bardo Pond follow up last year’s RSD release ‘Rise Above It All’ with the second of a trilogy of RSD exclusive releases. Continuing their exploration and interpretation of existing tracks, this time they turn their attention to ‘Ride Into The Sun’ by the Velvet Underground and ‘Here Come The Warm Jets’ by Brian Eno. The results are astounding and in the case of ‘Here Come The Warm Jets’ wonderfully surprising, with Isobel’s voice embellishing a rendition of startling Bardo pop. Loosely formed in 1989 by guitar wielding art student siblings, Michael and John Gibbons, Bardo Pond became a reality in 1991 with the addition of vocalist and flautist, Isobel Sollenberger, bassist, Clint Takeda and drummer, Joe Culver (replaced in 1999 by trainee librarian, Ed Farnsworth). Bardo Pond are the flagship band of Philly's "Psychedelphia" space rock movement, which also included the likes of Aspera, Asteroid No. 4, the Azusa Plane, and tangentially the Lilys. They favour lengthy, deliberate sound explorations filled with all the hallmarks of modern-day space rock: droning guitars, thick distortion, feedback, reverb, and washes of white noise.

TRACK LISTING

1. Ride Into The Sun (The Velvet Underground)
2. Here Come The Warm Jets (Brian Eno)

THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2014 EXCLUSIVE, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

The complete collection from Australian band The Moles. The work of songwriter Richard Davies, who moved to the States and went on to join Eric Matthews in Cardinal, the story of the Moles is told through the release of ‘Untune the Sky’ and ‘Instinct’, which is now reissued on vinyl and CD along with a comprehensive CD containing bonus material from various EPs and singles including, the ‘Tendrils And Paracetamol’ EP, ‘The Moles EP’ and the ‘Propeller’ 7inch single, which brings the track “Propeller” to digital format for the first time, and finally ‘Odds and Ends’. Formed in Sydney in the late '80s, The Moles debuted in 1990 with the EP ‘Untune the Sky’, followed a year later by another EP, ‘Tendrils and Paracetamol’. After the 1992 release of their first full-length release -- also titled ‘Untune the Sky’ -- the group relocated to New York, where they released a pair of seven-inch singles (packaged together as the Double Single EP). A move to London followed, and although they garnered great acclaim from the British press, the band nonetheless broke up around the beginning of 1993. In 1994, however, Davies resurrected The Moles again for the album Instinct; a band effort in name only, it essentially marked the beginning of Davies' solo career, although he did not make his formal bow until 1996's ‘There's Never Been a Crowd Like This’.

TRACK LISTING

Vinyl :
Untune The Sky :
Side A
1. Wires
2. Accidental Saint
3. Rich Man
4. Curdle
Side B
1. Surf’s Up
2. Europe By Car
3. Bury Me Happy
4. Nailing Jesus To The Cross…

Instinct :
Side A
1. Minor Royal March
2. Eros Lunch
3. Already In Black
4. Instinct
5. Cars For Kings Cross
Side B
1. Cassie Peek
2. Raymond, Did You See The Red Queen?
3. Treble Metal
4. The Crasher…

CD Track Listing
DISC ONE
1. Wires
2. Accidental Saint
3. Rich Man
4. Curdle
5. Surf’s Up
6. Europe By Car
7. Bury Me Happy
8. Nailing Jesus To The Cross
9. Minor Royal March
10. Eros Lunch
11. Already In Black
12. Instinct
13. Cars For Kings Cross
14. Cassie Peek
15. Raymond, Did You See The Red Queen?
16. Treble Metal
17. The Crasher…

DISC TWO
Tendrils And Paracetamol EP :
18. Tendrils And Paracetamol
19. This Is A Happy Garden
20. Breathe Me In
21. Lonely Hearts Get What They Deserve.
The Moles EP:
22. What’s The New Mary Jane
23. Going Down
24. Saint Jack
25. Let’s Hook Up And Get Some.
Propellor 7”:
26. Propellor
27. With Body Wifes Seven Days. Odds And Ends :
28. The Crown Souls
29. Rebecca
30. Rich Man (original Mix)
31. Drink Talking
32. Bury Me Happy (early Version)
33. Flex
34. We Need An Electric Guitar
35. Mystery Song