Jay Watson has been releasing records under his GUM moniker for over a decade, & the recordings have followed his wildest creative impulses. For his 7th studio album, GUM has focussed on 9 songs that explore a specific mood & sound.

'Blue Gum Way' sets its roots deep into a widescreen, jazz-informed & psychedelia, one influenced by the the likes of Talk Talk & Radiohead’s 'A Moon Shaped Pool'. This LP is the work of an artist who has reached the clearest sense of what he wants to say.

TRACK LISTING

1. Man Alive
2. Phosphene Scream
3. Expanding Blue
4. In Life
5. Man Ray Bay
6. Celluloid
7. It Happens Almost Every Day
8. Outrider
9. New Equator

HUUUUUUGE REISSUE right here for all my DJs and dancers. Sheffield in the house, literally!

Originally dropping on Toko back in 97, this bad mamma jammer has recently been introduced to a new generation of house heads, pushing prices for OG copies right through the roof. Fortunately, Piccadilly pal and distribution wizz Alec Greenhough and his All Ears cohost Chris Duckinfield are in fact half the team behind this bad ass record, making a reissue pretty straight forward. Working with regular collaborators Paul Ingall and Si Brad, and making excellent use of the inflammatory Brass Eye coined Klarky Cat, the Sheffield All Stars cooked up one of the deepest, dopest and warmest house cuts you're ever likely to hear. Armed with a squirming bassline which never ever quits, "Gumbo" rolls through pillowy pads, delicate Rhodes licks and M1 strings, calmly strolling into the midst of your cerebellum and setting up camp. Hypnotic, smooth and seriously groovy, this is uplifting in the most wonderfully understated way - no wonder the kids are going mad for it. On the B1, the quartet take things a little darker with the techy pulse of "Custard Gannet", a masterclass in percussive nuance, spheric bass and synthesised funk. It remains for the "Blooty Mix" of "Gumbo" to put some addictive icing on the cake, translating the lead track into a progressive and hypnotic heater which begs twin copy deployment with the OG.

TRACK LISTING

A. Gumbo
B1. Custard Gannet
B2. Gumbo (Blooty Mix)

"Hard to believe we made it, but here we are. A sold-out reunion. Gold records. A critically-lauded feature film. Stockton, CA’s finest are once again seated atop the throne and Pavement is the biggest band in the world, North America, the coastal United States. And yet, we get the sense there’s still a lot of people who don’t know who the hell they are. Thus, Matador Records will release ‘Hecklers Choice,’ Pavement’s second-ever “best of” compilation. Look, it’s been more than a decade. Back when 'Quarantine the Past' came out in 2010, TikTok wasn’t a thing. This newly revamped track-list accounts for any/all viral sensations that have emerged hence ('Harness Your Hopes') while continuing to rep the timeworn tunes that have remained playlist and mixtape staples for in-the-know-types across generations."

TRACK LISTING

1. Stereo
2. Harness Your Hopes
3. Cut Your Hair
4. Shady Lane
5. Unfair
6. Major Leagues
7. Summer Babe - Winter Version
8. Gold Soundz
9. Range Life
10. Spit On A Stranger
11. Date W/ Ikea
12. Here

A ‘collection of songs’ is the most accurate description for this album. Unlike most of King Gizz's releases, 'Gumboot Soup' isn’t held together by any semblance of a concept, leading many to dub it a sequel to their 2014 hotchpotch 'Oddments'. Still, there is one relatively consistent element: 'Gumboot Soup' is Gizz’s most thorough embrace of melody ever, with the band going all in on infectious psych-pop tunes. 'Beginner’s Luck' – not just because of its gambling-based lyrics – does this particularly well, sprinkled with Beatles influence and topped off with an exhilaratingly erratic wah-wah guitar solo. The penultimate track 'I’m Sleepin’ In commits to this idea even further, with a beat so catchy it practically begs to be clapped along to.

Elsewhere, the band blend this direction with the jazz-prog rhythms of the previous two records 'Polygondwanaland' and 'Sketches of Brunswick East'. 'Barefoot Desert' and 'The Last Oasis' – both fronted by harmonica player Ambrose Kenny-Smith – achieve this in two distinct ways. The former’s tight groove and yelpy vocals give it a slight Talking Heads vibe, whilst the latter’s heavenly vocals and lush instrumentation sound like a hypnagogic re-imagining of a 'SoBE' track. 'Muddy Water' – as well as being the third Gizz song named after a description of water – is an enthralling prog folk flurry that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Jethro Tull album, elaborately intertwining acoustic guitar, bass and drum rhythms. Later on, Cook Craig fronts 'Down the Sink', a delectable slice of funk rock unlike anything else the group have done before.

TRACK LISTING

1. Beginner's Luck
2. Greenhouse Heat Death
3. Barefoot Desert
4. Muddy Water
5. Superposition
6. Down The Sink
7. The Great Chain Of Being
8. The Last Oasis
9. All Is Known
10. I'm Sleepin' In
11. The Wheel

When multiple car wrecks rendered Samantha Crain injured and bed-ridden for a year and a half -- an experience that was explored within her last full length album 'A Small Death' in 2020 -- followed by the pandemic immediately afterward, the Oklahoman singer-songwriter fnally slowed down.

Having lived within something of a nomadic, solitary existence for as long as she can remember, she's sprinted from city to city on tour while leaving love, consequences and tough conversations behind for the past two decades. Coming off the road has given her more time to refect, more time to connect with the people in her life, and more time to let her curiosity blossom -- as revealing and challenging as it has been.

The experience has been a crash course in humanism, as she continues to question what it means to be a friend, a partner, a piece of a community. It's explored throughout the entirety of 'Gumshoe' -- her seventh studio album and first in half a decade, with an apt title that evokes the sense of mystery-solving she's welcomed these last several years of staying put in Oklahoma.

As a loner for almost her entire life, Samantha's recently come face-to-face with major life events, social interactions, and consequences that she was never exposed to before. The questions of being human that offer clarity, as much as they do a fog of uncertainty with what comes next. How will things play out? Who am I when I'm not onstage? How will I pay my bills? What am I willing to do for my family?

From helping her partner navigate their struggle with addiction, to working several odd jobs (a hair salon, a wildcare rescue, a resource center for unhoused people, and a liquor store doing booze deliveries), to discovering how to love and be loved -- 'Gumshoe' finds Samantha piecing together the puzzle of how we find perspective, groundedness, responsibility, and coexistence in a world with other people. And while that puzzle might be unsolvable, it's at least worth the try.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Lysergic, otherworldly Americana and outsider folk clash beautifully in Samantha Crain's intricate and heartfelt 'Gumshoe'. Though there are hints of 00's rock and airy psychedelia woven through the fabric of the experience, it moves quickly enough to defy all classification but slowly enough for you to really get sunk in. Ace.

TRACK LISTING

1. Dragonfly
2. Neptune Baby
3. Dart
4. Ridin' Out The Storm
5. Gumshoe
6. Fool's Paradise
7. B-Attitudes
8. Trap Door
9. Melatonin
10. Boilermaker
11. Old Hallicrafter Radio

In his label debut on Ghostly International, Brooklyn-born, South London-based artist Goya Gumbani redefines his recording project with rich, full-band arrangements, crossing London's new jazz generation with New York City's hip-hop storytelling legacy. Warlord of the Weejuns is a triumph of taste, heritage, and pride from one of rap music's most dexterous talents. Guests include Fatima, lojii, Seafood Sam, and Yaya Bey. London-based Swedish soul singer Fatima appears in two singles; first, there's "Firefly," a cosmic R&B groove that captures the rawness of a recent breakup. "Fatima came and just laid the hook, and I was like, damn, you're embodying how I'm feeling," says Goya, who built it out with contributions from Swarvy, Omari Jazz, Les Lockheart, and his Ghostly labelmate quickly, quickly.

TRACK LISTING

1. Weejuns (intro) Ft. Will Stowe
2. Beautiful BLACK
3. One Hand Washes The Other Ft. Lojii
4. Crossroad(s)
5. Negroni (Skit)
6. FireFly Ft. Fatima
7. Nothin’ To Say
8. UPtown Mami (Skit)
9. Manuva(s) Ft. Joe Armon-Jones
10. Driftin’ Interlude Ft. Pearl De Luna
11. Chase The Sunrise Ft. Yaya Bey, Lojii, Fatima
12. First Dates
13. Quiz Interlude Ft. Salimata
14. Lizards / Dancin' With The Devil Ft. Jaydon Clover & The Hotel
15. Mind, Body, Spirit Ft. Seafood Sam
16. FOREVER POOH

Founding member of POND.

Over five albums fronting GUM, not to mention the nine he’s made as co-leader of psych cosmonauts Pond, Watson’s restless imagination has treated us to some of the most sonically diverse explorations of the past decade. On Saturnia, however, these visions have coalesced into the richest, but also the most coherent work of Watson’s career to date.

When you’ve got the ability to merge any combination of sounds and moods that pop into your head, there’s a temptation to cram everything you can into each second of tape. The lesson for Watson this time was to realise that sometimes you have to strip away a great idea for the benefit of the song.

Opener “Race to the Air” provides the perfect curtainraiser. Soaring into view like a gigantic interplanetary craft, it takes in a sparkling vista of cosmic disco all robo grooves and quivering strings, while “Would It Pain You to See?”, perhaps one of the most surprising songs on the album, is a glistening slink of sensual R&B.

Indeed, one of the most rewarding things about Saturnia is how the songs pivot and change unexpectedly throughout, beginning as one thing before launching off into a completely different stratosphere.

TRACK LISTING

SIDE A:
1. Music Is Bigger Than Hair
2. Real Life
3. Saturnism
4. Would It Pain You To See?
5. Fear Of Joy
SIDE B:
1. Race To The Air
2. Muscle Memory
3. Argentina
4. In A Glasshouse (With No Light)
5. It Lies A Lifetime

THE TIMES TOP 10 BESTSELLERA GUARDIAN, TELEGRAPH, THE TIMES, IRISH TIMES, ROUGH TRADE, MOJO, CLASH, ROLLING STONE, UNCUT BOOK OF THE YEARFrom award-winning musician and composer Warren Ellis comes the unexpected and inspiring story of a piece of chewing gum. FEATURING AN INTRODUCTION BY NICK CAVE'Warren has turned this memento, snatched from his idol's piano in a moment of rapture, into a genuine religious artefact.'NICK CAVE'Such a mad, happy book about art and music and obsession. I'm so glad I got to read it.

It made the world feel lighter.'NEIL GAIMAN'In praise of meaning-rich relics and magical things. Totally heartwarming project.'MAX PORTER'A unique study of a fan's devotion, of transcendence and of the artistic vocation - it's got depth and great warmth. It's a beautiful piece of work.'KEVIN BARRYI hadn't opened the towel that contained her gum since 2013.

The last person to touch it was Nina Simone, her saliva and fingerprints unsullied. The idea that it was still in her towel was something I had drawn strength from. I thought each time I opened it some of Nina Simone's spirit would vanish.

In many ways that thought was more important than the gum itself. On Thursday 1 July, 1999, Dr Nina Simone gave a rare performance as part of Nick Cave's Meltdown Festival. After the show, in a state of awe, Warren Ellis crept onto the stage, took Dr Simone's piece of chewed gum from the piano, wrapped it in her stage towel and put it in a Tower Records bag.

The gum remained with him for twenty years; a sacred totem, his creative muse, a conduit that would eventually take Ellis back to his childhood and his relationship with found objects, growing in significance with every passing year. Nina Simone's Gum is about how something so small can form beautiful connections between people. It is a story about the meaning we place on things, on experiences, and how they become imbued with spirituality.

It is a celebration of artistic process, friendship, understanding and love. 'This is such a beautiful f*@king book. Thank you, Warren.

I highly recommend this motherf*@ker.'FLEA'A beautifully written book about the power of music and objects. I powered through it in two days.'COURTNEY BARNETT'A moving, inspiration insight into a beautiful mind.'JIM JARMUSCH'The year's most eccentric and joyful musical memoir.'DAILY TELEGRAPH (Books of the year)'[Nina Simone's Gum] is a metaphor for [Ellis'] creativity - the blossoming of a small idea into something bigger and bolder - but also a journey inside the impulsive, improvisatory mind of Warren Ellis, his passions, obsessions and superstitions.' OBSERVER'[A] beautiful, strikingly idiosyncratic book - part memoir, part essay, part conceptual art project, all testament to humans at their strangest and best . .

. [Ellis] sees signifiance where others might not.'MOJO'A glorious piece of object fetishism . .

. Marvel as Ellis' collection of eccentric personal mementos morphs into a celebration of the intangible wonder of music.'UNCUT'Wonderful.' THE TIMES'The most peculiar book I've ever read.' CRAIG BROWN, MAIL ON SUNDAY'Delightful . .

. A joy from start to finish.' BIG ISSUE'A joyous work full of love, connection, creativity and gratitude.' THE SPECTATOR'Completely charming and joyful . .

. glorious.' LA REVIEW OF BOOKS'Beautiful . .

. remarkable.' NEW EUROPEAN

GUM aka Jay Watson is a multi-instrumentalist, founding member of POND and touring member of Tame Impala. Gum’s solo debut album was originally released in 2014 and has now been newly remastered by tour mate Kevin Parker. Delorean Highway is a collection of 10 songs, described as “paranoid pop songs, mostly about falling in love and all of the things that he thinks are going to kill him”. ‘Delorean Highway’ is the first track off the album of the same name, inspired by a dream Gum had of driving through the desert in the silver car from Back to the Future, before taking off into the night. In the real life, Gum can’t drive, but he has seen Back to the Future and it’s fair to say he does look a little bit like Doc. The second single, ‘Growin’ Up’ was unleashed onto willing ears towards the end of 2013 and taps into every emotion that the name would suggest – a sense of paranoia, doubt, fear, honesty and hopefulness.

TRACK LISTING

1. Delorean Highway
2. Growin’ Up
3. The Sky Opened Up
4. Misunderstanding
5. Summer Rain 
6.21st Century Radiation
7. Pink Skies
8. Living And Dying
9. Day Of The Triffids
10. Can’t See Past My Eyes

GUM aka Jay Watson is a multiinstrumentalist, founding member of POND and touring member of Tame Impala. Gum’s 2015 album Glamorous Damage has been newly remastered by tour mate Kevin Parker. ‘Glamorous Damage,’ is a warped comb running thru the shiny blonde hair of pop and disco. Produced and mixed by GUM and mostly recorded at home, the album is at times reminiscent of the elastic robo-glam of Prince, the sci-fi waves of Chrome, early Eno experimentalism and a love of Beach Boys melody. In 2015 ‘Glamorous Damage’ was critically acclaimed by the likes of Pitchfork, NME and Stereogum and featured on the longlist of the 2015 Australian Music Prize. Glamorous Damage features lead single ‘Anesthetized Lesson.’

TRACK LISTING

1. G.U.M
2. Anesthetized Lesson
3. Glamorous Damage
4. Notorious Gold
5. Elafonissi Blue
6. Television Sick
7. New Eyes
8. R.Y.K
9. Science Fiction
10. Ancients
11. Greens And Blues
12. She Never Made It To Tell
13. Carnarvon 

Do you remember when Rock was young? Do you remember when Rock was fun? It seems some folks still do cuz some bad bad Bananas did a heist on the Buddha vault, lifted the hooks from Shakin' Street, & opened up the Joey Johnny Dee Dee Tommy throttle and let 'er rip.

Five years on from their debut album of stompin' Bubblegrunge covers of Garage Rock staples by Paul Revere, The Monkees, Chocolate Watch Band, 1910 Fruitgum Company, Flipper et al ("Pebbles 2000" on Agitated Records, folks) the five-piece from the western shores of Granadaland return with a new album of all-original hip-shakin' nuggets to make your feet move and your head spin!

That's right! That's right! 14 tasty trips tailor made for rock'n'roll radio ...plus 4 hidden midget gems of post-punk junk for ya ta chew on" ...Plus 4 hidden Midget Gems of Post-Punk junk for ya ta chew on!

It's greasy! It's freaky! It's insane! ...and never forget: "Bubblegrunge Music Is The Naked Truth". For fans of having a good time, all the time! Stack up your heels and party Hard with these hardcore funsters.. 

TRACK LISTING

Hang Out! Hang Loose!
She's Got E.S.P.
Kandy On The Korner
U Got Shakin?
Green Eyed Monster
Uber Ella
Happy Happy Happy

Pinky & Purple
Bubblegrunge Gal
Hey Hey Girl
Get Off Tha Road
Juiced!
Whoa! Maria!
Deep Fix

Right as the clock was striking midnight on the last day of the year, King Gizzard issued Gumboot Soup, an entirely new 11-song collection. "Greenhouse Heat Death" and "All Is Known" are microtonal jams that roil and boil like the songs on Flying Microtonal Banana, the metallic "The Great Chain of Being" has the proggy feel of Murder of the Universe, and a bunch of mellow tracks ("Superposition," "I'm Sleepin' In," "The Wheel") could have been warped a bit and slotted right into Sketches of Brunswick East. The rest of the songs are strong neo-psych that would have fit well on the grab bag that was Polygondwanaland; the soft rock "Beginner's Luck" would have been a highlight with its marshmallowy chorus and jabbing guitar solo, and the same goes for the almost funky "Down the Sink," which reveals a loose-limbed side the band doesn't often show. So yes, it's a collection of castoffs and almost-weres, but the amazing thing is that it sounds like a greatest-hits collection made up of songs that are fully realized and played with passion and weirdness, not a half-baked slag heap. In case anyone needed it, Gumboot Soup is yet more proof that King Gizzard were firing all year long on all five cylinders, plus about four more that most bands don't have, and the body of work they created is immensely, intensely, jaw-droppingly impressive.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Though I feel like I might be getting RSI from writing about King Giz, amazingly they've managed to smash out yet another killer LP, full of their trademark hooks and off-kilter psychedelic scree. Once again, a completely realised and cohesive collection comes from the KG camp.

TRACK LISTING

1. Beginner's Luck
2. Greenhouse Heat Death
3. Barefoot Desert
4. Muddy Water
5. Superposition
6. Down The Sink
7. The Great Chain Of Being
8. The Last Oasis
9. All Is Known
10. I'm Sleepin' In
11. The Wheel

Your Friend is Taryn Miller, who plays guitar, writes, sings the vocals and crafts loops. Taryn recorded ‘Gumption’ in New York with Nicolas Vernhes (Deerhunter, War On Drugs) at his Rare Book Room studio.

The album builds on the ideas of Your Friend’s previous EP, ‘Jekyll/Hyde’ and since Taryn has toured with Courtney Barnett and play her first SXSW.

TRACK LISTING

Heathering
Come Back From It
To Live With
Desired Things
Nothing Moved
Gumption
I Turned In
Who Will I Be In The Morning?

Fraser A Gorman arrives on our shores with a bagful of cool, funny, heartfelt and super-infectious tunes, on debut album 'Slow Gum.' Although a core member of fellow Melbourner Courtney Barnett's Milk! Records label troupe and close pals and collaborator with King Gizzard and the Lizzard Wizzard, Gorman cuts a dash entirely his own.

He drinks deep from the well of wayward folk contemporaries such as Bill Callahan and Cass McCombs, while also genuflecting to heroes such as Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan. Its lackadaisical charms bely Gorman's wryly affecting way with a lyric, however, as he sings tongue in cheek couplets over gorgeous slide guitar twangs and early offbeat melodies.

Fraser A Gorman has achieved a great deal in the past 12 months firmly establishing himself as one of Australia’s most promising rising talents. His captivating songwriter abilities and charismatic live performances have secured his place on some of Australia’s most loved festival bills including Meredith, Falls, Queenscliff Port Fairy and Boogie. He has also supported the likes of Mark Lanegan, First Aid Kit, Tex Perkins, Gary Clarke Jr., Wanda Jackson, You Am I and Simone Felice.

TRACK LISTING

Big Old World
My Old Man
Book Of Love
Shiny Gun
Broken Hands
Mystic Mile
Never Gonna Hold You (Like I Do)
We're All Alright
Dark Eyes
Blossom & Snow

Hot Club de Paris mark their eagerly-awaited return in 2010 with a brand-new 6 song EP entitled “With Days Like This As Cheap As Chewing Gum, Why Would Anyone Want To Work?” (A phrase generously loaned by acclaimed British poet Matthew Welton). Still operating with their usual punk-rock ethic and still proudly flying the flag for British DIY, Hot Club are now self producing and recording themselves in their Liverpool rehearsal space.

STAFF COMMENTS

Laura says: Scouse three piece Hot Club De Paris return with this superb collection of acrobatic, articulate pop songs, neatly packaged into a limited edition 10" in a hand numbered sleeve.

With over thirty albums Hartford has an impressive discography and "Gum Tree Canoe" is a gem - a collection of some of Hartford's most endearing performances backed by an all-star crew of acclaimed instrumentalists including Sam Bush and Jerry Douglas.