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GROUND

LA based label Higher Ground debuts at Prime with London based artist and 'Semi Delicious' label head Demi Riquísimo, who has earned global recognition for his unique acid and italo house inspired sound. His first proper release on Higher Ground 'Windows 95 Anthem' follows recent notable tracks on Ninja Tune, DJ Tennis' Life & Death and his own label Semi Delicious, as well as collaborations with Carlita, UNKLE, TSHA, and more. The tracks receive remix treatments from tastemakers Spray and Chloe Caillet, with Chloe's remix arriving shortly after the launch of her own label imprint and global party series.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Windows 95 Anthem
A2. The Force
B1. Windows 95 Anthem (Chloé Caillet Remix)
B2. The Force (Spray Remix)

Tara Clerkin Trio

On The Turning Ground - 2024 Reissue

    Not far off two years from the day, Bristol's Tara Clerkin Trio return to World of Echo and the EP format for a five song collection of quixotic, emotional redolence. But do not mistake their absence for inertia. If their musical output has been a little sparse during those in-between years, limited to a few solo ventures and an astonishing ten minute long piece as a trio, their time has otherwise been richly spent: continuous writing and recording, extensive live performances across Europe and Japan, a cultivation of local and more far-flung artistic connections (musical and otherwise), and a monthly NTS show that, through the voice of others, speaks most obviously to their own unorthodox interests. It's the conflux of that winding activity that leads indirectly to On The Turning Ground, 26 minutes of probing, thoughtful composition that draws from no one specific source. Their inspirations might be centreless, but the trio still possess a very obvious anchor in the form of their hometown. Bristol stands as a city of multitudes, heterogenous and vibrant in such a way as to allow it to renew and remake time and again. Tara Clerkin Trio drink from that same well, duly reflecting a rich musical heritage built on fwd-facing electronic subcultures and experimental urges. As such, On The Turning Ground finds them subject to their own subtle internal evolution, the pervasive sense that you've caught them mid-bloom, on their way to becoming but never anything but themselves. The two instrumental pieces that bookend the EP stand as a perfect case in point, displaying an increasing mastery of compositional space. Pensive and restrained, 'Brigstow' and 'Once Around' both emanate an interstitial quality that's not so much after- as in-between-hours, miniature dub-folk symphonies held together by the kind of tacit understanding that remains the preserve of only the closest of family units. If those two tracks are shaped by a sense of shifting temporality, then the three vocal-led pieces that comprise the record's core feel like a gentle ossifying of aesthetic into something approaching their own unique form of avant-pop. 'Pop' is, of course, a broadly subjective concept, but there's no avoiding the overt sparkling melodicism of songs like 'Marble Walls' and 'The Turning Ground', undeniable re-directions of that late 90s impulse to bend pop sensibilities into off-centre terrain, to render the familiar new again. This is what Tara Clerkin Trio do, gently pulling the ground from under your feet, turning you to face something you'd not quite seen before. To view the world as they do: sideways, sometimes, all of the time.

    TRACK LISTING

    1. Brigstow
    2. World In Delay
    3. Marble Walls
    4. The Turning Ground
    5. Once Around

    Not far off two years from the day, Bristol's Tara Clerkin Trio return to World of Echo and the EP format for a five song collection of quixotic, emotional redolence. But do not mistake their absence for inertia. If their musical output has been a little sparse during those in-between years, limited to a few solo ventures and an astonishing ten minute long piece as a trio, their time has otherwise been richly spent: continuous writing and recording, extensive live performances across Europe and Japan, a cultivation of local and more far-flung artistic connections (musical and otherwise), and a monthly NTS show that, through the voice of others, speaks most obviously to their own unorthodox interests. It's the conflux of that winding activity that leads indirectly to "On The Turning Ground", 26 minutes of probing, thoughtful composition that draws from no one specific source.

    Their inspirations might be centreless, but the trio still possess a very obvious anchor in the form of their hometown. Bristol stands as a city of multitudes, heterogenous and vibrant in such a way as to allow it to renew and remake time and again. Tara Clerkin Trio drink from that same well, duly reflecting a rich musical heritage built on fwd-facing electronic subcultures and experimental urges. As such, "On The Turning Ground" finds them subject to their own subtle internal evolution, the pervasive sense that you've caught them mid-bloom, on their way to becoming but never anything but themselves.

    The two instrumental pieces that bookend the EP stand as a perfect case in point, displaying an increasing mastery of compositional space. Pensive and restrained, 'Brigstow' and 'Once Around' both emanate an interstitial quality that's not so much after- as in-between-hours, miniature dub-folk symphonies held together by the kind of tacit understanding that remains the preserve of only the closest of family units. If those two tracks are shaped by a sense of shifting temporality, then the three vocal-led pieces that comprise the record's core feel like a gentle ossifying of aesthetic into something approaching their own unique form of avant-pop. 'Pop' is, of course, a broadly subjective concept, but there's no avoiding the overt sparkling melodicism of songs like 'Marble Walls' and 'The Turning Ground', undeniable re-directions of that late 90s impulse to bend pop sensibilities into off-centre terrain, to render the familiar new again. This is what Tara Clerkin Trio do, gently pulling the ground from under your feet, turning you to face something you'd not quite seen before. To view the world as they do: sideways, sometimes, all of the time.

    STAFF COMMENTS

    Matt says: Quietly and consciously amassing a cult base through some carefully considered releases, Bristol's Tara Clerkin Trio might by the avant jazz / punky-dubby-acoustic-industrialists you never knew you needed until now. Beautifully hushed and intimate music that's not afraid to push the envelop when necessary. Another triumph.

    TRACK LISTING

    Brigstow
    World In Delay
    Marble Walls
    The Turning Ground
    Once Around

    Eiafuawn

    Birds In The Ground

      While Duster went into hibernation in the year 2000, Clay Parton’s four-track never stopped rolling. Recorded alone at home over several years, Birds In The Ground is an album of 30-something, post-9/11 malaise. Under his Eiafuawn (Everything Is All Fucked Up And What Not) acronym, Parton hides beneath layers of fuzzy and clean guitars, his hesitant, cottony vocal disappear into noise. 

      TRACK LISTING

      Side A
      1. Bunny
      2. No More Like That
      3. Birds
      4. The Voice Of Music
      5. Bees
      6. The Coffin Was So Light I Thought It Might Float Away

      Side B
      7. Good God Y’all
      8. Secret Gypsy Language
      9. On A Peoplemover
      10. Two Thousand Twelve
      11. The Drunk Pilot And The Romantic Passenger
      12. Modulator Hustle

      Alien Tango

      Kinda Happy, Kinda Sad

        The long awaited debut LP by Alien Tango, a joyous and bizarre compilation of what one-man-band and producer Alberto García Roca claims are the "classics from a parallel universe". A bedroom recording that sounds bigger than life, colourful and eclectic like a fever dream where David Bowie, MGMT and Queen are knife fighting in a church while the priest shreds on a detuned guitar and the organ is set on fire.

        TRACK LISTING

        A1. Uwu
        A2. Lemme Go
        A3. B.F.F.
        A4. Pulpo Frito
        A5. Song For FIFA
        A6. Kinda Happy, Kinda Sad
        B1. Hubble
        B2. Memories Are Better Than The Real Thing
        B3. Día Gris
        B4. Fish & Chips
        B5. Sleep Paralysis
        B6. 1000 Years

        Bright Eyes

        LIFTED Or The Story Is In The Soil, Keep Your Ear To The Ground - 2022 Reissue



          TRACK LISTING

          The Big Picture
          Method Acting
          False Advertising
          You Will. You? Will. You? Will. You? Will.
          Lover I Don’t Have To Love
          Bowl Of Oranges
          Don’t Know When But A Day Is Gonna Come
          Nothing Gets Crossed Out
          Make War
          Waste Of Paint
          From A Balance Beam
          Laura Laurent
          Let’s Not Shit Ourselves (to Love And To Be Loved)

          Bright Eyes

          LIFTED Or The Story Is In The Soil, Keep Your Ear To The Ground: A Companion



            TRACK LISTING

            The Big Picture
            You Will. You? Will. You? Will. You? Will.
            Laura Laurent
            Nothing Gets Crossed Out
            November
            Waste Of Paint

            Talk Show

            Touch The Ground

              Touch The Ground, the new EP by rising UK post-punk band Talk Show was produced by Joe Goddard (Hot Chip) and Al Doyle (Hot Chip/LCD Soundsystem).

              TRACK LISTING

              SIDE A
              1. Track 1
              2. Underworld
              3. Cold House
              SIDE B
              1. Dirt In The Keyboard
              2. Leather
              3. 6

              Recorded between Kelly Finningn's Transistor Sound in San Francisco and Fifty Filth Studio in Oakland and mixed by Orgone' producer Sergio Rios and Kevin O' Dea, Record Kicks is proud to finally present Solid Ground, the long-awaited debut album by US very finest deep funk & soul outfit The Grease Traps. The album is set for worldwide release on November 5 on vinyl, CD and digital format. The band, based in Oakland, CA, is the latest addition to Milan-based Record Kicks roster. Active since 2002, with a 45 released on well-respected funk/soul label, Colemine Records, now, after six years spent working on the album's recording and mixing, they are ready to present their first full-length release Solid Ground on Record Kicks. The album is anticipated by the two killer funk singles "Bird of Paradise" and "More and More" on limited edition 45 vinyl.

              As avid record collectors and fans of that old school analog sound, Solid Ground was recorded straight to 8-track tape on a Tascam 388, which also graces the cover art. Half of the tracks were recorded live at Transistor Sound Studio by soul crooner, Kelly Finnigan, and Ian McDonald where both Kelly and their band, Monophonics, have recorded their last few albums. The other half of the tunes were recorded by Kevin and Aaron at Fifty Filth Studio in Oakland, CA where the band also rehearses and mixed by analog-obsessive Orgone producer Sergio Rios. The album's original tunes draw from the Traps' various soul influences ranging from gritty funk ("Bird of Paradise" and "Hungry") to fuzzed-out psychedelic ("Residue") to sweet lowrider soul ("More and More"). The lyrics by lead singer The Gata also don't shy away from pressing issues of the day such as racism in America ("Roots") and finding hope in a world that seems pitted against you (the JB's style "Solid Ground"). The rare funk covers from the album provide a taste of the raw energy one would experience at a Grease Traps live show. The Traps also supplemented their sound with special guests including the Monophonics horns, background vocals from seasoned Bay Area vocalists, Sally Green and Bryan Dyer, as well as strings organized by Kansas City master viola player, Alyssa Bell.

              The seed of The Grease Traps formed back in 2000 when keyboardist, Aaron Julin, answered an ad put out by guitarist, Kevin O'Dea, searching for players who were hip to the rare grooves laid down by Blue Note artists such as Grant Green and Lou Donaldson. They quickly formed Groovement, covering those same artists along with other jazz-funk staples. When their sax player and frontman moved away, they switched gears to form the band, Brown Baggin, getting into the harder funk of the JB's, the Meters, Kool & the Gang, and lesser known acts such as Mickey & the Soul Generation. They also started digging into the rare funk compilations put out by Keb Darge, Jazzman Gerald,and labels like Harmless, Ubiquity, Soul Jazz, and Now-Again. Modern day soul and funk outfits such as Breakestra, the Whitefield Brothers, and the Daptone/Soul Fire crews provided additional inspiration.

              In 2005, while still playing with Brown Baggin yet fed up with juggling the schedules of seven band members, Aaron and Kevin put out an ad to find a bassist and drummer to jam with as a quartet. The first two cats to show up were bassist, Goopy Rossi, and drummer, Dave Brick. It was clear from the get-go that this rhythm section had great chemistry. Originally intended as a fun side project, the Traps quickly took priority as Brown Baggin dissolved. Performing as an instrumental quartet for a number of years, they eventually expanded their repertoire to include horns as well as that sharp-dressing soul brother, The Gata, on lead vocals. Over the years, they've shared the stage with acts such as Shuggie Otis, Robert Walter, Durand Jones, Monophonics, Neal Francis, and Jungle Fire.

              TRACK LISTING

              1. Roots
              2. Residue
              3. Solid Ground
              4. Amazing Grease
              5. Hungry (For Your Love)
              6. Bird Of Paradise
              7. More And More (And More)
              8. Bold Sold Sister, Bold Soul Brother
              9. Get In The Groove
              10. Color Blind
              11. It's A Trap, Pt. II

              Lawrence English

              Observation Of Breath

                Do you remember the last time you were breathing consciously? Either way, you are likely doing it now. On his new album Observation of Breath« for the Swiss-based Hallow Ground label, Lawrence English worked exclusively with an organ for four compositions that are exercises in »maximal minimalism,« as their creator himself notes in a nod to Charlemagne Palestine, who coined this term. While it seems somewhat fitting that those four pieces based on a steady flow of air were conceived and recorded in a situation of accelerated standstill caused by a respiratory disease, the Room40 founder is not so much concerned with capturing the zeitgeist than rather incorporating the spirit of time itself. »It is a record about presence and patience,« he explains.

                Exploring the unique sonic affordances of a singular instrument,
                »Observation of Breath« is not only devoted to the durability of sound but also to its density. That it marks his debut on Hallow Ground after having shaped its sound by mastering most of the label’s releases in recent years is just as fitting then as its release following albums by Kali Malone and FUJI|||||||||||TA, whose innovative work with organ instruments have facilitated a rediscovery of their possibilities.English’s compositions however are neither directly indebted nor responding to these musicians. His exploration of the organ’s many facets started a decade ago when the composer was given access to an instrument built in 1889 that is presently housed at The Old Museum in Brisbane.

                After it had already played a crucial role on his seminal albums »Wilderness Of Mirrors« and »Cruel Optimism,« last year’s self-released »Lassitude« was the first record that English entirely composed and recorded with that instrument. »During the soft lockdowns, I spent many days playing to an empty concert hall, recording the pieces that became ›Lassitude‹ and then, this album,« says English in regards to an unfortunate situation that fortunately provided him with time and space—two major themes but also key qualities of the four new compositions. In this sense, he goes on, »Observation of Breath« resolves a number of the questions originally raised by »Lassitude.« 


                TRACK LISTING

                1) A Torso (10:01)
                2) A Binding (06:05)
                3) And A Twist (02:42)
                4) Observation Of Breath (20:44) 

                Michael Kiwanuka

                Solid Ground (Virgil Abloh Remix)

                  Louis Vuitton Creative Director, Off-White Founder and DJ, Virgil Abloh, remixes Michael Kiwanuka’s "Solid Ground" into a crowd pleasing, jazzy DnB smasher with maximum radio potential! It's a classic formular executed to the letter by Abloh, complete with breathless drops, advanced bass plumes and incredible drum programming. Yes selectah! 

                  Earlier this year, Abloh selected "Solid Ground" to introduce his Louis Vuitton Fall/Winter 2020 Paris Fashion Week Show, and has extended his appreciation of the track with the remix. One sprawling epic for the club, one night n tight, succinct version to tease the radio listeners. Truly great stuff, reminds me of late nineties jazz-n-breaks but brought right up to date. Inside! 

                  STAFF COMMENTS

                  Matt says: Jazz-n-breaks business from Abloh whose intimidatingly cool credentials allow him to do whatever the fuck he pleases with Kiwanuka's humongous crossover soul hit.

                  TRACK LISTING

                  Side A
                  1. Solid Ground (Virgil Abloh Remix)

                  Side B
                  1. Solid Ground (Virgil Abloh Remix – Radio Edit)

                  Marja Ahti

                  The Current Inside

                    The Current Inside”, Marja Ahti's sophomore album for Hallow Ground, plays with the theme of currents - connecting and animating movements in the form of air, water and electricity. It approaches sound as a poetic medium, focusing both on the experience of sound as form and energy and on a loosely narrative arc, suggesting a riddle on the relations between the sounds. It implements alternative as well as intuitive tunings, analog and digital synthesis, recordings of sonorous spaces and vessels, electromagnetic fields transduced into audio, acoustic close-ups of elements in motion and other field recordings. Fluently connecting quite diverse sound sources, Ahti's music lingers in a zone between abstract sonorities and vaguely familiar acoustic environments. The first half of the album consists of ”The Altitudes”, a piece commissioned by Ina GRM for Présences Électronique and Sonic Acts. It was inspired by descriptions of the layers of Earth's atmosphere. Imagining a movement through layers of air, the piece unfolds with a slow intensity, interweaving concrete sounds and closely tuned electronic sonorities.

                    Traversing the altitudes, a landscape of entangled elements, masses and currents emerges. The air around us has weight and it presses against everything it touches. As gravity pulls it to Earth, it is sensed as pressure. The rotation of the planet, the angle of the sun at any new moment sets the elements in motion in a chain reaction. The other side consists of four shorter pieces. ”The Currents” opens with a dance of trembling charged movements. ”Lost Lake” extracts resonant tones from a trail of close-up recordings of winter environments, while ”Fluctuating Streams” channels streaming air in different forms. The closing track, ”Sundial”, could be construed as the steady turning of the planetary angle towards the sun, unfolding through fragments of everyday activity against the backdrop of piercing, slowly twisting, suspended tone. Marja Ahti (b. 1981) is a musician and composer based in Turku, Finland. Originally from Sweden, Ahti has been a part of the Finnish experimental music scene for more than ten years in different constellations.

                    TRACK LISTING

                    1.The Altitudes (20:09)
                    2.The Currents (04:21)
                    3.Lost Lake (04:25)
                    4.Fluctuating Streams (06:12)
                    5.Sundial (04:43) 

                    Here Lies Man took the music world by storm in 2017 with their self-titled debut positing the intriguing hypothesis: What if Black Sabbath played Afrobeat?

                    Since that time, Here Lies Man has expanded and expounded upon their sound and ideas of heavy riff rock and psych within the ancient rhythmic formula of the clave. The L.A. based band comprised of Antibalas members have toured relentlessly over the past 2 years, while also releasing a second album, You Will Know Nothing and an EP, Animal Noises, both in 2018.

                    No Ground to Walk Upon is their third album, and continues with an ongoing concept of HLM playing the soundtrack to an imaginary movie, with each song being a scene. The lead single “Clad in Silver” is the soundtrack snippet of a journey to the imaginary place called home, which can never be arrived at. With every step, the character imagines getting closer, but it is a hallucination that fades in and out of perception.

                    Their debut album Here Lies Man was very well reviewed and featured in loads of end of year polls. BBC 6 & Classic Rock Magazine deemed it among the year’s best, as well as countless other press outlets singing its praises. 2018’s You Will Know Nothing furthered the band’s reputation for genre-smashing rhythmic experimentation, topping many year-end lists as well as earning features from countless metal and indie rock outlets, plus cover stories in weekly papers. No Ground to Walk Upon is the next step in the band’s rapid ascent to what is bound to be influential upon riff based rock.

                    “We’re very conscious of how the rhythms service the riffs,” explains founder and vocalist/guitarist/multi-instrumentalist Marcos Garcia (who also plays guitar in Antibalas) of the band’s sound. “Tony Iommi’s (Black Sabbath) innovation was to make the riff the organizing principle of a song. We are taking that same approach but employing a different organizing principle: For Iommi it was the blues, for us it comes directly from Africa.”

                    No Ground To Walk Upon also includes an interesting conceptual mathematics to the entire proceedings, a theme begun on the prior album. “There are interludes between each song that are 2/3 to 3/4 of the tempo of the previous song,” Garcia says. “The reason it breaks down to 2 over 3 or 3 over 4 is that everything in the music rhythmically corresponds to a set of mathematical algorithms known as the clave. The clave is an ancient organizing rhythmic principle developed in Africa.”

                    Garcia and cofounder/drummer Geoff Mann (former Antibalas drummer and son of jazz musician Herbie Mann) recorded the album much like they did their previous releases, at their own L.A. studio on a Tascam 388 8-track tape machine. Additional layers were recorded with former Antibalas keyboardist Victor Axelrod and other contributors in various other locations, all while the band continued its rigorous touring schedule. 


                    STAFF COMMENTS

                    Barry says: it's pretty impossible not to nod your head along to Here Lies Man, as alluring as the best funk and the most playful rock groove all mixed into one package. Fiery distorted guitar, rhythmic syncopation and hazy, chunky riffage. The Perfect combination.

                    TRACK LISTING

                    1. Clad In Silver
                    2. Swinging From Trees
                    3. Long Legs (Look Away)
                    4. Washing Bones
                    5. Get Ahold Of Yourself
                    6. Iron Rattles
                    7. Man Falls Down

                    Richard Swift

                    Ground Trouble Jaw / Walt Wolfman - Reissue

                      It was a great Swiftian irony that the shining moment of realization that is ‘Ground Trouble Jaw’ first saw its release as a modest, digital-only EP in 2008. Here Secretly Canadian right that wrong and pair it with 2011’s ‘Walt Wolfman’ EP, very much a spiritual twin of ‘Ground Trouble Jaw’. Walt Wolfman’’s blown-out, basement R&B speaker-shredders are not for the faint of heart. Highlight of the set, ‘MG 33’ is a raw and ghostly trance, a blast of kinetic energy and that jazz apple smoke blown right in your face. The quasi-title track ‘Walt Whitman’ is a cryptic salute to Whitman, whose American lineage of primal, urgent art can be traced to include Kerouac and Ray Johnson, Bo Diddley and Beefheart - right on through to Swift himself. He was an outsiderpop wanderkind who could do more with one worn, old mic than most men could with a high-end studio, taking ‘the holy moment’ and making it eternal.

                      TRACK LISTING

                      Would You
                      Lady Luck
                      The Bully
                      The Original Thought
                      A Song For Milton
                      Feher Whitman
                      MG 333
                      Laugh It Up
                      Zombie Boogie
                      Out & About
                      Drakula (Hey Man!)
                      St. Michael

                      Cut Worms

                      Hollow Ground

                        Max Clarke has a knack for conjuring up warmth in his music, like endless summer or ageless youth. The 27-yearold’s debut album, ‘Hollow Ground’, crackles with the heat of a love-struck nostalgia, woven together with a palpable Everly Brothers influence and retro sound. It reaches back into decades of plainspoken, unfussy and squarely American storytelling and pulls it forth into 2018.

                        Some of ‘Hollow Ground’ bloomed from that same period of driven creativity that yielded EP ‘Alien Sunset’; both ‘Like Going Down Sideways’ and ‘Don’t Want To Say Good- Bye’ find new life on the album.

                        The rest is new. There’s ‘Till Tomorrow Goes Away’, a sheepish love song, thrumming with twangy guitar and a two-step rhythm. ‘Cash For Gold’ channels buoyancy; a doo-wop effect on the sleepy backing vocals build out the dreaminess of Clarke’s own affecting croon.

                        ‘Hollow Ground’ strikes the balance between cerebral and simplicity in his storytelling. His lyrics explore the raw realm of youth, its weightlessness and possibilities but channelled through a lens of restraint. Someone who’s old enough to know better but still gets drawn back into the romanticism of teenage feelings - and knows how to take the listener along, too.

                        TRACK LISTING

                        How It Can Be
                        Coward’s Confidence
                        Don’t Want To Say Good-Bye
                        It Won’t Be Too Long
                        Till Tomorrow Goes Away
                        Like Going Down Sideways
                        Think I Might Be In Love
                        Cash For Gold
                        Hanging Your Picture Up To Dry
                        Mad About You

                        Half Man Half Biscuit

                        And Some Fell On Stony Ground

                          'And Some Fell On Stony Ground' is a compilation of Half Man Half Biscuit tracks previously only available on singles and E.P's plus 'David Wainwright's Feet' from the 'Colours are Brighter' charity CD.

                          Includes all tracks from the now deleted Editor's Recommendation and Saucy Haulage Ballads.

                          The idea for this came after some bloke from Crickhowell suggested it whilst engaging the band in pleasant chit chat during a fire drill at Norton Canes Service Station.

                          TRACK LISTING

                          Jarg Armani
                          Tending The Wrong Grave For 23 Years
                          It Makes The Room Look Bigger
                          On Finding The Studio Banjo
                          Blood On The Quad
                          I Went To A Wedding
                          Ecclesiastical Perks
                          Lock Up Your Mountain Bikes
                          Eno Collaboration
                          Get Kramer
                          Hair Like Brian May Blues
                          Ordinary To Enschede
                          David Wainwright's Feet
                          Bob Wilson - Anchorman
                          Worried Man Blues
                          On Passing Lilac Urine
                          New York Skiffle
                          Lark Descending
                          Vatican Broadside

                          Khost (Deconstructed And Reconstructed By) Godflesh

                          Needles Into The Ground

                          Needles Into the Ground contains material by Khost which has been elementally transformed by Justin Broadrick of Godflesh. The original Khost material – taken from their second album Corrosive Shroud – is dense, multifaceted and purgatorial with no straightforward ‘stems’ based approach. Broadrick has extracted what he needed for his work whilst in pure Godflesh mode. As a result, the outcome is claustrophobic and frenetic, the experience akin to being in the proximity of a large, unstable machine on the verge of meltdown. In addition to these pieces, Khost has added a new track. Vinyl comes with download code.
                          “If it was a painting it would be about a kilometer wide held up by old, thick metal supports and wires that creak in wind, in parts abstract, in parts quite hard to decipher, and the materials would be oil like and seeping, never quite drying out” (Khost).

                          TRACK LISTING

                          1. Inversion
                          2. A Shadow On The Wound
                          3. Revelations Vultures Jackals Wolves
                          4. Deathsset

                          Alfa 9 'Gone To Ground' - their 2nd album, and follows their debut Then We Begin, recently described as “one of the best albums of the last decade” by Shindig! It’s hard to believe that it has been seven years ago since Newcastle-Under-Lyme’s finest were gaining high praise for their lusciously produced debut album Then We Begin. Clash called the record “a definitive debut and stunningly complete piece of music”, Classic Rock said it evoked “The Stones Roses [if they] had lived in Haight-Asbury...” whilst “‘For Your Bones”, said The Sun, “recalls The Who at their best”. Drowned In Sound boldly surmised “leaves you feeling like you've just been caught in the eye of a particularly forceful sonic storm”.

                          Alfa 9 may have slowed down, but they didn’t go away. The band took things back to basics, focusing on three-four minute songs, great harmonies and losing the dirt from the guitars and the keyboards. Citing the ’60s and early ’70s folk and country-rock of The Byrds, in particular, Gene Clark, Gram Parsons and The Flying Burrito Brothers, the Paisley Underground bands of early ’80s LA and signature influence The Stone Roses Gone To Ground (which only took six months to record) channels the same love of the past as such contemporaries as The See See, Tame Impala, The Quarter After, Brian Jonestown Massacre and The Beachwood Sparks. “I guess the sort of stuff we were becoming influenced by was far more subtly produced, so it was a pretty natural move,” says Leon of the album’s more spacious production, marked by rich mid-60s harmonies, ringing 12 strings and naturally overdriven and fuzztone guitars. Gone To Ground deserves a place on the record shelf of anyone susceptible to organic jangle and fine melodies.

                          TRACK LISTING

                          1. El Morocco (2:52)
                          2. Birling Gap (3:37)
                          3. Seedless (3:35)
                          4. Gone To Ground (4:23)
                          5. Into The Light (2:57)
                          6. Old Man Blues (3:42)
                          7. Mad Song (3:44)
                          8. Green Grass Grows (4:19)
                          9. Petty Lies (4:24)
                          10. Nothing Feels (3:02)
                          11. The Castle (4:20)
                          12. Ferry Song (3:35)

                          Contrastate

                          A Breeding Ground For Flies

                            After a ten year break, the unique, incredible Contrastate have resumed activities and we at Dirter are immensely proud and excited to be able to announce this full length CD of brand new material. This follows a number of re-issues and releases of live and unreleased
                            material, that just about quenched their loyal following’s thirst. It seems like Contrastate never really went away and they, along other experimental acts from the 80's and 90's, have gone through something of a critical re-assessment of late. When Contrastate ceased activities nothing like them really came to take their place. Wilfully obscure with just a handful of memorable live shows to their name, Contrastate's music has come to be understood on its own terms. Simply, if you are familiar with them you need to know no more; if you’re not, you’ve been missing out and this is as good a place as any to start. Contrastate's sound insinuates itself somewhere inside the dark ritual ambiance of the electronic avant-garde shot through with a vein of experimental noise and sarcophetic vocals strewn amongst industrial surrealism. 'Contrastate achieve an amazing equilibrium between organic sound and brooding electronics' Heathen Harvest


                            Polar Bear With Jyager

                            Common Ground

                              "Common Ground" is a collaboration between Sebastian Rochford’s Polar Bear and young London hip-hop MC Jyager. This nine-track, 25-minute mini album is the follow up to the highly acclaimed fourth Polar Bear album "Peepers", their first for The Leaf Label. "Common Ground" strips down original tracks from "Peepers", using samples taken from a vinyl copy of the original album to build new compositions, and then adding Jyager’s unique flow.


                              Ground Unicorn Horn

                              Damn, I Wish I Was Fat

                                Can I just point out that the following insane ramblings are the record label sales notes! 'Like listening to music? Sure you do. What's your music say? What does it make you feel? Ever snorted ground unicorn horn and seen visions of cavemen and anti-intellectual dick waving and kingdoms of rats? Ever been inside the mothership's computer while a nasty downright vicious fucking virus shagged ass through the mainframe 'fore the thing went up like a goddamn torch? (And god, it lit the skies for days.) Ever walked into the sun and felt your face melt onto your T-shirt? Never been to the sun? Never been anywhere? Where you been all your life? The "experts" murmur: Nowhere. Nowhere. Nowhere. This band features Justin Pearson (The Locust, Some Girls, Holy Molar, Head Wound City), Chris Hathwell (Moving Units), Chuck Rowell (The Plot To Blow Up The Eiffel Tower), and Amy Szychowski (Josh Taylor's Friends Forever) but who really gives a shit?'

                                The Victoria Lucas

                                Hit The Ground Running Fast

                                  Brought into the shop by the band themselves, this album could well see this Brooklyn band being chased by many a clued up UK record label. The Victoria Lucas are a rock band consisting of bass, two guitars, drums, trombone, theremin, vocals, and occasionally augmented by a rotating cast of other assorted noisemakers. Best described, succinctly enough, as a rock band, the VL's sound runs a long and proud gamut. From standard-bearers like The Velvet Underground and New Order, to tear-in-your-beer country, classic rock, ala The Band and The Faces, Kraut rock, and free jazz, the Brooklyn combo embrace a wide variety of sounds combining them all seamlessly. Highly recommended!!!

                                  AM/FM

                                  The Sky Is The New Ground

                                    AM/FM continue to take their sound to a new level. The four songs on "The Sky Is The New Ground" mini albun build on top of the band's usual dense pop arrangements and add huge guitar symphonies and string arrangements for a fully fleshed-out sound. These are not four throw-away songs, but an EP of material that gives us all a glimpse of where these brilliant musicians are headed.

                                    Madcap

                                    Stand Your Ground

                                      Straight from the depths of LA comes Madcap, the new breed of street punks. In the spirit of early Rancid, Anti Flag etc. " Stand Your Ground" possesses the punk rock fury and sing along anthems that makes this an instant classic and another great release from Side One Dummy.


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