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HANDS

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - 2024 Reissue

    Back in print on vinyl for the first time in a good while. “Every time it seems like conventional indie rock has gasped its last, someone builds a mansion of song that reminds us that, at its best, the genre still pulls off raw, celebratory spirit more convincingly than almost any other. Consistently, remarkably strong.” Pitchfork // “CYHSY is at the best point in the lifecycle of a band: un-styled, simply produced and deserving of the hype for what is quite possibly a nearly perfect album” 

    TRACK LISTING

    A1 Clap Your Hands!
    A2 Let The Cool Goddess Rust Away
    A3 Over And Over Again (Lost And Found)
    A4 Sunshine And Clouds (And Everything Proud)
    A5 Details Of The War
    A6 The Skin Of My Yellow Country Teeth
    A7 Is This Love?

    B1 Heavy Metal
    B2 Blue Turning Gray
    B3 In This Home On Ice
    B4 Gimmie Some Salt
    B5 Upon This Tidal Wave Of Young Blood

    Jim O'Rourke

    Hands That Bind (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

      O’Rourke’s process – sourcing resonant sounds to be enmeshed together into a music that supersedes their resident parts – makes a fitting soundtrack for Kyle Armstrong’s “prairie gothic” tale of down-on-the-farm horror way up north in Canada. His minimalist score inhabits the wide open, big sky landscape, flowing into suddenly-deep (and opaque) emotional waters, then panning out to a chilly omniscient remove. 

      TRACK LISTING

      1. Go Spend Some Time With Your Kids
      2. Wasn’t There Last Night
      3. He’s Only Got One Oar In The Water
      4. That’s Not How The World Works
      5. A Man’s Mind Will Play Tricks On Him
      6. Here Is Where I Seem To Be / The Good Lord Doesn’t Need Paperwork
      7. You Have No Idea What I Want
      8. One Way Or Another I’m Gone

      Ásgeir

      Time Is On My Hands

        As one of Iceland’s most successful exports, singer-songwriter Ásgeir has spent the time between his record-breaking debut (now celebrating its 10th anniversary) and today pushing the boundaries of his textured, thoughtful brand of folk-pop. On October 28th he’ll release his long anticipated fourth album ‘Time On My Hands’ via One Little Independent Records.

        ‘Time On My Hands’ sees Ásgeir in a state of self-reflection and experimentation, having spent much of the last few years in his home and in the studio deeply engrossed in writing, recording, translating and producing. On this album he’s entered new realms of composition, sensitively layering acoustics with electronics and brass. As with some of his previous work, most notably 2017’s ‘Afterglow’ and 2020’s ‘Bury The Moon’, Ásgeir plays with euphoric and choral elements of electronic pop music while keeping a tight grasp on the introspective, vocal-lead style of the acoustica that made him famous.

        Across the LP shuffling jazz drums crack through the layered production beneath them, distant saxophone adds emotional emphasis and, amidst it all, Ásgeir’s singular, pure voice weaves narratives that recall the sparse and dark roads of his Icelandic hometown.

        It opens with the assured relaxation of its title track and ‘Borderland’ where subtle instrumental flourishes colour vibrant lyricism and elevated vocals. It’s clear from the beginning that the collection is built around visuals of glacial scenery as Ásgeir soars above an icy terrain of enchanting melodic soundscapes with cinematic lucidity.

        A strong breeze carries us into full flight with ‘Snowblind’, a track that boasts an unforgettable climatic arrangement and heftier beats. ‘Vibrating Walls’ is melancholy in its delivery, while ‘Blue’ is light and crisp. The towering strides of ‘Giantess’ build steadily, exploring a haunting and powerful mythological allegory. It’s on tracks like this, and the retrospective ‘Like I Am’, that one can fully appreciate the beauty of Ásgeir’s lyrics, worked into English from their original Icelandic with his brother Steini and Pétur Ben. As has become traditional for them, much of the album is also inspired by the writing of Ásgeir’s father, celebrated poet Einar Georg Einarsson.

        Gorgeous ballad ‘Waiting Room’ and the hypnotic, propulsive ‘Golden Hour’ work together like hazy memories of carefree, simpler times; walking by lakes, forests and countrysides, reflecting on the past, and things that might’ve been different. Album closer ‘Limitless’ philosophizes on our individualist need to consume and the insignificance of our daily struggles in comparison to the scope of the wider universe. It asks the listener to allow themselves to see things from a different perspective, while spacey ambience is littered with satellite-like synth embellishments.

        The extended time that Ásgeir had to work on the material gave him space to venture into different synth sounds, he tells us; “There’s a synth repair guy that works at the studio and there’s a lot of vintage synthesizers that come through there. We bought an old Memorymoog off him while recording the album and I used it on many of the songs. I wrote Vibrating Walls on a Korg PS-3100. Korg Delta has always been one of my favourite synths and it was used on a few tracks. I use my voice as the bass sound in Golden Hour, I got the idea after listening to Rank and File by Moses Sumney”.

        The rolling landscapes aesthetic of the record was inspired by Ásgeirs own relationship with music over the last two years, consuming mostly while he was running outdoors, or while on long drives. He says that “some of the albums or music that stand out from that time were Caribou’s album Suddenly, Caroline Polichek-Pang, Dijon, Altopalo, Big Thief, Michael Kiwanuka, Sault, Ethan Gruska, Blake Mills and Unknown Mortal Orchestra. This music probably has something to do with how the record came out, combined with earlier influences.”

        ‘Time On My Hands’ was recorded in Studio Hljóðrit where Ásgeir has always recorded, working closely with producer Guðmundur Kristinn Jónsson, he also recorded some of it at home. Ásgeir plays the bulk of the instruments himself but also invited the likes of drummers Nils Törnqvist and Kristinn Snær Agnarson, and the brass trio Samúel Jón Samúelsson, Kjartan Hákonarson and Óskar Guðjónsson as well as Pétur Ben to add the occasional percussion or guitar.

        As ruminated on in ‘Borderland’, the whole album asks us to allow ourselves to glide over borders, both the physical, the ones we put up ourselves, and those between reality and imagination. It’s about freedom, the desire for adventure, and taking flight to escape isolation, as well as appreciating the natural wonders that surround us every day.

        TRACK LISTING

        1. Time On My Hands
        2. Borderland
        3. Snowblind
        4. Vibrating Walls
        5. Blue
        6. Giantess
        7. Like I Am
        8. Waiting Room
        9. Golden Hour
        10. Limitless

        Highway Motion

        Clap Hands / Double O One Disco

        Freestyle dig out another rarity in the form of a DIY brit-funk 7" from Highway Motion aka David Humphrey (a session drummer who played with Sparks, and with PiL on the iconic Metal Box LP & Death Disco 12"). Tinged with raw post-punk edge and 70s library music-style synth leads, this 45 is quite simply massive amounts of fun.

        David Humphrey's professional career as a drummer began aged 19 with Public Image Ltd, providing some of the drum tracks on their iconic Metal Box album and Death Disco single. Humphrey would then go on to work with Mike Oldfield and then Sparks, playing with the latter on their Number One Song in Heaven tour, Top of The Pops and recording sessions for Beat the Clock and Tryouts for the Human Race (those sessions were included and featured in Edgar Wright's recent film The Sparks Brothers).

        In 1980, Clap Hands and Double O One Disco were recorded under the name 'Highway Motion' - intended by Humphrey as "raw experimental tracks" they were both laid down on a 4-track and subsequently released on the DIY Star Records imprint. Rough, grooving, candid and playful; these two tracks seem to somehow simultaneously meld the burgeoning brit-funk sound of the early 80s with a riotous post-punk edge, along with a good dollop of synth-led library music.

        Following it's release David formed the group Reflex, recording and releasing the Funny Situation 7" in 1981 - forming the only other title in the Star Records catalogue. A more straight-up brit-funk dancer yet still pressed and sold in small quantities, Funny Situation became a sought-after record on the second hand collector's market, and finally saw reissue last September 2020 on the start-up Paint A Picture label - garnering plays from from Gilles Peterson on BBC 6 Music and Worldwide FM, StreetSounds radio and reaching No 1 in Juno records Chart. David has now started to working on new music using the name Davey H, and released his first new material in decades recently on Six Nine Records.

        TRACK LISTING

        1. Clap Hands
        2. Double O One Disco

        Roedelius & Story

        4 Hands

          4 Hands, an intimate and surreal musical conversation on the piano from German sound pioneer Hans-Joachim Roedelius and American composer Tim Story, is an example of all the warm yet otherworldly beauty that can come from approaching a shared love for a singular instrument from overlapping directions.

          Recorded sequentially but on one and the same grand piano, Roedelius laid down a few impromptu piano études in May 2019 whilst visiting his transatlantic friend Story. Tim then learned all their intricate phrasings to add his own parts in the following months.

          "Together we shaped the basic compositions, sometimes carefully preparing the piano with various materials (including my own hands), and Achim’s performances were committed to tape. I continued to compose and refine my parts in the following months. Because it was all recorded on the same piano, the result has a very appealing consistency of sound, and hopefully blurs our individual contributions into a single integrated voice,” Story explains.

          4 Hands encapsulates rippling minimalistic patterns and delicate, ghostly interactions with surprising harmonic twists. Roedelius’ intuitive and instinctive approach based in improvisation, paired hand in hand with Story’s deliberate distilling of ideas over time, creates two sides of an engaging and thought provoking conversation that seems to evolve and deepen with each successive listen.

          "4 Hands is not just a new album — the logical continuation of the long-standing friendship between two composers. It’s our tribute to awareness and listening, coaxing a new sound language from the endless possibilities of a single piano played by our four hands. For me, these pieces express a different kind of beauty, they evoke more than the sum of their parts, they are a wordless dialogue, a bridge across the great water that separates our cultures from one another. Allons enfants des deux patrie, haha!” adds Roedelius.

          STAFF COMMENTS

          Barry says: A compositionally stunning selection of ambient piano pieces on the ever-reliable Erased Tapes, '4 Hands' sees Roedelius and Story pulling together an unexpected and beautiful juxtaposition of solemn unadorned instrumentals and jagged, unexpected syncopation.

          TRACK LISTING

          1. Nurzu
          2. Spirit Clock
          3. Haru
          4. Rever
          5. Seeweed
          6. Allegro Estinto
          7. Crisscrossing
          8. Thrum
          9. Bent Rhyme
          10. Skitter
          11. Ba

          Lewsberg

          In Your Hands

            Sometimes change comes with big shocks, sometimes it comes with small steps. On ‘In Your Hands’ Lewsbeg’s new album a bit of both seems to be happening. Take the second song, ‘The Corner’. A remarkably discreet song; a violin plays a simple melody, a gentle drum loop keeps its finger on the pulse. “This brick is a brick to build”, it sounds, though a little later: “This brick is a brick to throw”. A brick offers many possibilities, for those who want to see it. One time as a part of something bigger to come, the next time just as a simple stone, left on the ground. After all, most things are relative. Sometimes one can achieve more by breaking something than by building something. If you think you can determine which of these two is needed, you’d be fooling yourself.

            ‘In Your Hands’ embodies the moment when all the bricks are there, but the wall has yet to be built. It’s a moment with perspective, a moment where everything still seems possible, but caution is advised. The album sounds both smaller and more spacious than the previous albums. Guitar chords are plucked instead of fiercely struck, the bass guitar is given more room for melodic explorations, the drum kit is dismantled to just a tom and a tambourine. There is doubt in the lyrics, but it’s a strong kind of doubt. A doubt that can stand in the way of a wrong decision, but can also invite for a good conversation.

            The old Lewsberg has been professionally demolished and the building blocks are on display. Ready for future applications and already finished at the same time. ‘In Your Hands’ is therefore an ode to the potential and a call to carefully give way to it.

            “Skewed, defiantly left-field indie rock” - Clash.

            "Van Vliet's idiosyncratic lyrics and buttoned-up delivery complement the bracing, no-frills performances." - Uncut
            “Stripped down.. clever rock and roll of the highest quality” - Louder Than War
            "You should get on board with Rotterdam’s answer to Velvet Underground" - NME

            STAFF COMMENTS

            Barry says: Swimming with a sort of unattainable artiness, The Netherlands' Lewsberg mix moody vocal performance and understated instrumentation into a mixture of post-punk, indie and understated folk. It's a minimalstic but strikingly effective journey.

            TRACK LISTING

            1. Departure
            2.The Corner
            3. In Your Hands
            4. Getting Closer
            5. Sweets
            6. Dependency
            7. Table For Two
            8. All Things
            9. All Things (Continued)

            Mitra Mitra

            Hands Remain

              A new year kicks off at Polytechnic Youth HQ, and it’s with an absolute beauty with which they re-enter the fray. The first new MITRA MITRA full length since 2018’s hugely well received “Marionettes” set (also on PY).

              The band was formed in Vienna in late 2014 by Violet Candide and Mahk Rumbae. Originally from New Zealand, Violet Candide has been a fixture of the Vienna post-punk and minimal synth scene for many years as a DJ before making music with Mitra Mitra and her other projects Slow Glass (with Bobby from Low Sea), Peppy Pep Pepper and Violetiger. Whilst British musician Mahk Rumbae is known for his work as a member of the industrial/experimental project Konstruktivists, Oppenheimer MkII (with Andy Oppenheimer of Oppenheimer Analysis) and his solo techno project Codex Empire.

              After working together on one of Violet’s solo songs, the pair decided to continue writing and working together as Mitra Mitra, with the aim of writing electronic songs not tied by any particular influence or style – but combining elements of synth pop, electro and minimal synth to create a modern take on classic period electronic music.

              Despite initial plans involving studio only work, the band were persuaded to take to the stage in 2015 and have since played shows in England, Germany, Belgium, Hungary and their adopted home country of Austria; quickly gaining a reputation for their unique presentation and interaction with the audience.

              The new LP is their strongest set yet; 'Hands Remain' is perhaps darker in nature than previous MM releases; although mostly completed before the pandemic, it somehow fits the times we live in now…

              The sleeve design is based on a work by Canadian artist/filmmaker Michael Snow, who kindly gave permission for a processed version of his image to be used on the cover. A wonderful 12 track collection hugely recommended to fans of classic era synth pop, early Mute, Cherry Red, Blackwing Studios etc etc…. One time pressing available now! 

              STAFF COMMENTS

              Javi says: Plug a fembot into a Moog, and you get Mitra Mitra's 'Hands Remain', a Polytechnic Youth gem caught between Spacer Woman boogie and Moonlandingz grim-pop. These are some synth-ridden end-of-the-world anthems, custom built for fans of yesteryear's German dancefloors - and the price tag ist ziemlich gut too!

              Our Souls Are In The Hands Of The Translator

              An Era Of Spiritual Tenebrae

              Jamal Moss aka Hieroglyphic Being aka The Sun God aka Chicago avant-electronic genius, student of Adonis, protege of The Muzic Box and overall overlord of experimental dancefloor mechanics returns with a BRAND NEW ALIAS (!!) and drops his second record for esteemed label Modern Obscure Music.

              Encased in strange artwork which stretches out images of various dogs, it took me a while to realize that it was Jamal Moss behind the release. I have a feeling this is a deliberate move by the artist to offer up a body of work that's to be judged in its own merit, without any preconceptions alluding to what to expect.

              Die-hard Moss fans will, of course, recognize the warped galactic production aesthetic favoured by the producer during his near-30 year career but this is a decidedly new (non)direction taken by the already quite non-linear and indeed, oft-astray producer.

              Two tracks of over 18 minutes length each which crawl deceptively through tectonic mounds and deep underground caves; somehow churning up the landmass through a powerful array of equipment: Moog Mother 32 Semi-Modular Analog Synths, Behringer 303 Clones, Dr - 5 Drum, Korg Ddd1 Drum Machine, Ensoniq Mirage Workstation, Stagg Electric Upright Bass Casio Dh-100 Digital Horn Midi Sax.


              TRACK LISTING

              Alpha Parte - Magna Controversia 
              Omega Parte - Quomodo Erit Finis

              After supplying a couple of the hottest selling singles in recent years on their first two vinyl releases, Sprechen are back with another utterly spectacular offering on this magic number. Enlisting the talents of Manchester 6 piece See Thru Hands, and making maximum use of the fattest Rolodex around to secure remixes from Skream and Jorja Chalmers, label boss Massey (who offers his own interpretation on the B2) makes a series challenge for 12" of the year here!

              'Connectivity' is a self-produced alt-pop banger from See Thru Hands which delivers 'disco-not-disco-synth-funk-dancefloor heater' vibes from start to stop. The feisty rhythm section and snappy vocals call to mind dance-punk sensations Friendly Fires, while funked up synthesisers trill and quiver around the spiky guitars, conjuring a loved up studio jam between ACR, Prince and Rufus.

              There are remixes for every occasion on this one with Skream cranking up the Italo disco-o-meter to 14 on his bass driven peak time banger for large room raving while Jorja Chalmers takes the party back to a smokey shebeen on her mix that sounds like Tricky sharing a blunt with Aphex Twin whilst King Tubby twiddles the dials!

              Main man Massey finishes off the package with a mucky tops-off style gutter pumper which belongs in those basements you'll often find him and many like-minded souls dwelling within.

              TRACK LISTING

              A1. Connectivity
              A2. Connectivity (Skream Remix)
              B1. Connectivity (Jorja Chalmers Electricity Remix)
              B2. Connectivity (Massey Remix)

              "The Sour Grapes Compilation" is a collection of 12 songs by bands that have performed at one of the deranged Squeeze nights at Big Hands Bar. One side is a heavy dose of quick paced punk and blues where the other is a slow slope into psychedelia and local garage rock. Compiled over the UK lockdown months, this long awaited record is a tribute to the European toilet circuit, with a % of all sales going to help out Big Hands' recovery. 

              If you want a taste of Manchester's beer stained, dirty denimed underbelly, here's twelve (count 'em!) bands that you might not necessarily know yet but are busy making a mad racket week in week out across our rainy city. 

              Pressed on red vinyl and seriously limited in number. A brilliant snapshot of the live scene at one of Manchester's most infamous music spots. Who remembers The Libertine's afterparty there?!  

              TRACK LISTING

              1. Thee MVPS - A Song For Coumcillor
              2. The Cosmics - Cundy Get Down
              3. Teeff - Captain Vere
              4. Shredd - In My Head
              5. Bones Shake - Unwell
              6. Gardenback - Word Of Mouth

              7. Slift - Altitude Lake
              8. Farfisa - Seven Suns
              9. Sioux Poppy Seeds
              10. The Big Peach - Rock N Roll
              11. Freez - Waiting For 
              12. The Slaughter House Band - I Hate TV But...

              Mammal Hands are a trio of like-minded musicians: Nick Smart piano, Jesse Barrett drums and tabla, and Jordan Smart saxophones. Floa is their second album for Gondwana Records and in the 18 months since their debut, Animalia, they have carved out a growing following both here and abroad for their hypnotic fusion of jazz, folk and electronica: winning fans from Bonobo and Gilles Peterson to Jamie Cullum. Landmark live performances have included shows at King's Place in London and the RNCM in Manchester, as well as a barn-storming debut at the Montreal Jazz Festival. Drawing on a rich well of influences from Sufi and shamanic African trance music, Irish and Eastern European folk music, to Steve Reich and Philip Glass and more contemporary electronica influences, their music is built around deceptively simple sounding ideas that are lent power through the use of repetition and rhythmic loops. They have been compared to both Portico Quartet and GoGo Penguin for the way in which they navigate the choppy waters between contemporary dance music and jazz.

              Floa (an old Norse word that means to deluge or to flow) is the sound of a more confident, experienced band: one that has grown together naturally through touring and gigging and through mammoth writing and rehearsal sessions where all three bring rhythmic, improvisational and melodic ideas to the table. Floa was recorded at Gondwana's home from home, 80 Hertz Studios in Manchester, reuniting the band with producer Matthew Halsall and features some of the Gondwana Orchestra strings who played on Halsall's acclaimed album Into Forever. Together they have crafted a wonderful sounding record, the richness of which perfectly illuminates the band's music. Artwork is from Gondwana's in-house design maestro Daniel Halsall whose artwork of symbols created from older symbols perfectly illustrates the creative ideas that drive the band's music.

              The release is supported by an extensive UK tour including dates in Norwich, Bristol, Brighton, Manchester and beyond. The band support Matthew Halsall at St John's Hackney on May 26th and have their own head-line show at the Jazz Café, Camden on 31st May.

              Confirmed airplay from Jamie Cullum BBC Radio 2, Gilles Peterson 6 Music, Radio 3 Late Junction, BBC Scotland Jazz House, Jazz FM, John Kennedy X and full servicing to all specialist and online radio stations. Reviews from The Guardian, Mojo, Record Collector, Jazzwise, Nos Magazine, Nowthen and local press. Online support from AllAboutJazz, Quietus, Access All Areas, Bebop Spoken Here and beyond.

              TRACK LISTING

              1. Quiet Fire
              2. Hillum
              3. Hourglass
              4. Think Anything
              5. In The Treetops
              6. The Eyes That Saw The Mountain
              7. Kudu
              8. The Falling Dream
              9. Shift

              The Lewis Express

              Clap Your Hands / Stomp Your Feet

                Primarily based in Leeds, The Lewis Express is comprised of many of the musicians that have graced previous ATA releases: George Cooper, Piano (Abstract Orchestra) Neil Innes, Bass (The Sorcerers, The Magnificent Tape Band, Tony Burkill), Sam Hobbs, Drums (Dread Supreme, Tony Burkill, Matthew Bourne) and Pete Williams, Percussion (The Sorcerers, The Magnificent Tape Band, Tony Burkill).Recorded over an intense two-day session, 'Clap Your Hands' is heavily influenced by the classic soul jazz recordings of The Young Holt Trio / Young Holt Unlimited, and Ramsey Lewis, from who this group take their name. As with many of the classic Ramsey Lewis cuts this album was recorded live, capturing the rich inter-relationship between the players and leaving in some of that chunky room noise.

                Claps your hands/Stomp Your feet was recorded during the sessions for the upcoming Album 'Clap Your Hands'. building on the template set by their eponymous debut album these tracks further explore the 60's soul-jazz of Ramsey lewis and Young-Holt and the latin boogaloo of Eddie Cano and Pete terrace. A-side 'Clap your Hands' is a pure boogaloo burner just built for the hand-claps that punctuate the whole record. Neil Innes' bass nails Clap Your Hands to the floor, starting as he means to go on, while George Cooper's piano gets to play over the top, just warming up. This is one for the Djs and it'll do the business in the clubs for sure, but, also perfect for a late night, sweaty house party - shoes off and beer in the sink. B-side 'Stomp Your Feet' is much more in the classic mod-jazz frame with a faster pace and funkier drums, but still with handclaps and electric piano to the foreground. Drummer Hobbs opens up 'Stomp Your Feet' in fine style, and The Lewis Express start to swing with a Ramsey-esque groover that's just made-to-measure for dancers. Everything comes together here, with a mid-60s Cadet record feel that's so frantic you don't even have time to have to lace your shoes. Both tracks were recorded live to tape and were recorded and mastered for a tougher sound perfectly suited for djs to fill a dancefloor.

                Big Thief

                Two Hands

                  Big Thief had only just finished work on their 3rd album, U.F.O.F. – “the celestial twin” – days before in a cabin studio in the woods of Washington State. Now it was time to birth U.F.O.F.’s sister album – “the earth twin” – Two Hands. 30 miles west of El Paso, surrounded by 3,000 acres of pecan orchards and only a stone’s throw from the Mexican border, Big Thief (a.k.a. Adrianne Lenker, Buck Meek, Max Oleartchik, and James Krivchenia) set up their instruments as close together as possible to capture their most important collection of songs yet. Where U.F.O.F. layered mysterious sounds and effects for levitation, Two Hands grounds itself on dried-out, cracked desert dirt.

                  In sharp contrast to the wet environment of the U.F.O.F. session, the southwestern Sonic Ranch studio was chosen for its vast desert location. The 105-degree weather boiled away any clinging memories of the green trees and wet air of the previous session. Two Hands had to be completely different— an album about the Earth and the bones beneath it. The songs were recorded live with almost no overdubs. All but two songs feature entirely live vocal takes, leaving Adrianne’s voice suspended above the mix in dry air, raw and vulnerable as ever. With raw power and intimacy, Two Hands folds itself gracefully into Big Thief’s impressive discography. This body of work grows deeper and more inspiring with each new album.

                  STAFF COMMENTS

                  Barry says: It's October, and this is already the second Big Thief album this year. It would be understandable to think that such prolific creation would dilute the end product a little (it often does...) but in the case of Lenker, Meek and co, it couldn't be further from the truth. Arresting, heartfelt and beautiful throughout. Yet another stunning outing from the unstoppable Big Thief.

                  TRACK LISTING

                  1.Rock And Sing
                  2. Forgotten Eyes
                  3. The Toy
                  4. Two Hands
                  5. Those Girls
                  6. Shoulders
                  7. Not
                  8. Wolf
                  9. Replaced
                  10. Cut My Hair

                  Yves Tumor

                  Safe In The Hands Of Love

                    Following on from 2016's superb 'Serpent Music' on label extraordinaire, PAN, Yves Tumor follows up by moving to Warp for the brilliant new LP, 'Safe In The Hands Of Love'. 

                    From the throbbing sidechained electronics and fragmented vocal accentuations of 'Economy Of Freedom' it becomes clear that we're in for something pretty special. Equally obtuse and euphoric, fragments of sound are smeared liberally across a detritus-riddled backdrop of throbbing bass and static crackling before lurching into a beautiful and eerie redux. 

                    This sort of dystopian noise is riddled throughout, but liberally freckled with moments of cohesive and frankly mindlblowing songwriting. 'Noid' for example, is based upon a clattering percussive loop and driving bass (Mr. Tumor really loves that bass synth), but encompasses aspects of hip-hop and soul to boot, vocals rhythmically bobbing in and out of the stereo field, lending a momentous urgency to proceedings before the swooning yang to the former's yin, employing similar vocal phrasing but swapping about the clattering instrumental maelstrom for a sleazy, warped lounge turn. 

                    There are moments of divine clarity scattered throughout the whole LP, balancing the sometimes overwhelming cascade of noise and malaise, but it's these moments that make the comparitive unease so satisying, lending moments of calm to an otherwise claustrophobic affair. Perfeclty balanced spine-tingling melodies are teased out of the decay, fittingly warped and then put to work alongside the dystopian foreground. As ever, a stunningly written and perfectly balanced juxtaposition of chaos and peace. 


                    STAFF COMMENTS

                    Barry says: Yves Tumor smashes it out of the park once again for this shuddering, post-apocalyptic suite of scattered melodies, broken rhythms and oppressive atmospheres, punctuated with moments of deserved beauty and blessed resolution. Killer.

                    TRACK LISTING

                    1. Faith In Nothing Except In Salvation
                    2. Economy Of Freedom
                    3. Honesty
                    4. Noid
                    5. Licking An Orchid Ft. James K
                    6. Lifetime
                    7. Hope In Suffering (Escaping Oblivion & Overcoming Powerlessness ) Ft. Oxhy, Puce Mary
                    8. Recognizing The Enemy
                    9. All The Love We Have Now
                    10. Let The Lioness In You Flow Freely

                    The Wolfhounds

                    Hands In The Till: The Complete John Peel Sessions

                      Originally formed as teenagers in 1984, The Wolfhounds released four critically acclaimed LPs and numerous singles, appeared on the NME’s influential C86 cassette, extensively toured the UK and continental Europe, finally disbanding in 1990. The band reformed in 2006 at the request of St Etienne’s Bob Stanley to celebrate 20 years since the release of C86, and inflicted a severe guitar noisefest on an unsuspecting indiepop crowd at London’s ICA. Since 2012 they have been recording and releasing new material.

                      At the peak of media attention over the new bands promoted by the C86 cassette, The Wolfhounds recorded three four-song sessions for the BBC’s legendary late-night John Peel Show between March 1986 and January 1987, capturing all the excitement and youthful exuberance of a band just catching the public imagination. With an energy born of sweaty, rammed gigs in the function rooms of London pubs and a willful experimentation nurtured in suburban bedrooms and garages away from watchful eyes, The Wolfhounds blasted their raw live sound straight to tape with little in the way of overdubs or the more considered studio polish of their excellent albums.

                      Every song from these sessions is now gathered together on Hands In The Till, making a surprisingly coherent whole despite the heady disorganized thrust of the times and a couple of line-up changes in the meantime. More wiry and angular than most of their C86 peers, The Wolfhounds had more in common with The Fall than The Byrds, and "Hands In The Till" shows them at their caustic best.

                      The Wolfhounds are now (hyper-)active again, releasing two full-length LPs in recent years and performing at several popfests (including Berlin and New York) and Stewart Lee’s All Tomorrow’s Parties, as well as regular club dates of their own. The band continue to be more relevant than ever, grabbing their home country’s woes by the horns on the recent double LP, "Untied Kingdom or How to Come to Terms with your Culture" (which featured guest musicians from such bands as PJ Harvey, Gallon Drunk, Scritti Politti and Evans The Death), Hands In The Till is sure to illuminate such an expansive modern work’s precocious teenage beginnings, as well as providing the band’s contemporary listeners a nostalgic buzz – forever, a real all-ages show!


                      TRACK LISTING

                      1) The Anti-Midas Touch
                      2) Hand In The Till
                      3) Me
                      4) Whale On The Beach
                      5) Boy Racer RM1
                      6) Disgusted E7
                      7) Rule Of Thumb
                      8) Sandy
                      9) Happy Shopper
                      10) Non-specific Song
                      11) The William Randolph Hearse
                      12) Son Of Nothing

                      Circuit Breaker

                      Hands Return To Shake

                        "Circuit Breaker are a band split in half. On the one hand, there is the jagged guitar and maudlin singing of Peter Simpson, which slots into the lineage of expansive and gothic punk ala Killing Joke , Bauhaus , Wire ,etc. Pushing against it is the production approach of his brother Edward. Washes of glassy FM Synth melodies are counterbalanced with bursts of electronic harshness, recalling artists such as Autechre & Pan Sonic. “Hands Return To Shake” is the second full length from the London based group and also their second release for longstanding outlier label Harbinger Sound.

                        Moving on from the previous record, “My Descent Into Capital”, “Hands Return…” is a much more personal and emotive work. Simultaneously a re-affirmation and a deconstruction of influences, the orthodoxies of minimal-synth and post-punk are stretched and squeezed to breaking point. Circuit Breaker are a band who relish in holding together contradictions. Both a rock band and an electronic act , they have a blunt and direct production approach which, nether-the-less, is full of technical detail. ‘Hands Return To Shake’ will likely win them fans from a vast array of genres, from Industrial-Rock to IDM and everything in-between, providing it is dark, synthetic and angular. 

                        TRACK LISTING

                        A1 - Soft Talk
                        A2 - Hands Return
                        A3 - Propulsion
                        A4 - Black Springs
                        A5 - Transient Life

                        B1 – Assemblage
                        B2 - Thoughts Return
                        B3 – Possession
                        B4 - Alert

                        Indie rock songwriter Alec Ounsworth returns with a new album as Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Dubbed The Tourist, it will serve as his fifth full-length under the moniker and the follow-up to 2014’s Only Run. The Tourist was recorded over the course of a week at Dr. Dog’s studio in Philadelphia. Its 10 tracks were engineered by Nick Krill of The Spinto Band and mixed by Dave Fridmann, who assisted on two of CYHSY’s previous LPs. Musically, the album is said to be a “nod” to Ounsworth’s inspirations, such as Tom Waits, Nick Cave, and Paul Simon, and features keyboard-laden cuts alongside more folk-based numbers. “I wanted to experiment with packing lyrics,” Ounsworth says in a press release. “On this album, the lyrics and vocal melody effectively carry the songs, maybe more than anything else. Elvis Costello does this really well on his song ‘Beyond Belief,’ as does Paul Simon on his solo albums.” In terms of theme, Ounsworth uses The Tourist to reflect on an emotional last couple of years, describing the songs as a “type of purge.” A “purge of certain emotional confusion that manifested itself in the last several years,” he explains. “I’d rather not say that it was a dark time, but it was a difficult time in my life — among the most difficult. But I needed and need to try to let it go. And this is how I let things go.”

                        TRACK LISTING

                        1. The Pilot
                        2. A Chance To Cure
                        3. Down (is Where I Want To Be)
                        4. Unfolding Above Celibate Moon (Los Angeles Nursery Rhyme)
                        5. Better Off
                        6. Fireproof
                        7. The Vanity Of Trying
                        8. Loose Ends
                        9. Ambulance Chaser
                        10. Visiting Hours

                        Joan Of Arc

                        He's Got The Whole This Land Is Your Land In His Hands

                        Twenty years now there’s been this thing, our band, Joan of Arc. We have shifted shapes and modified our approaches quite a number of times in the course of twenty years. And we’ve done so always aiming to stay true to ourselves at that moment, by instinct and with conscious intent. This time, it took us a long time to figure out how to start back up. We threw away a lot of songs and started over, over and over. But here’s the thing: We are getting better at being ourselves. So many of the postures of youth just fall away with time. Most bands break up by that point, or become caricatures of their younger selves. Because money is tricky, or I should say, it comes to be that energy is tricky to muster after all of it goes into the basics of sustaining yourself.

                        Every day, at some point, it occurs to me that Richard Brautigan killed himself at the age that I am now. But I got this community of weirdo collaborators to lean on that he never had. We’ve never had an audience that gets any validation of its coolness through liking us. We’ve mangled, juxtaposed, and collaged too many elements for that social contract. But we trust each other. This time, finally, we trusted each other enough to throw all the songs away, to even throw away every preconceived idea about which one of us should take position at which instrument. We hit Record and played, and our collective tastes emerged. And they, our tastes in the moment, were the only standards in all the expanse of the stupefying and beautiful unknown universe, that we regarded as relevant in the least. 

                        TRACK LISTING

                        1. Smooshed That Cocoon
                        2. This Must Be The Placenta
                        3. Stranged That Egg Yolk
                        4. Full Moon And Rainbo Repair,
                        5. Cha Cha Cha Chakra,
                        6. Grange Hex Stream,
                        7. Two-Toothed Troll,
                        8. New Wave Hippies,
                        9. Never Wintersbone You,
                        10. F Is For Fake,
                        11. Ta-ta Terrordome.

                        At the heart of Oskar’s Drum are Patrick Fitzgerald and Yves Altana

                        Patrick is best known for his work with seminal 90s band Kitchens of Distinction who released four albums on One Little Indian/A&M before splitting in 1996. They reformed in 2013 for one final album titled ‘Folly’ on 3loopmusic. Patrick has also written and performed as Fruit, Stephen Hero, Lost Girls with singer Heidi Berry and The April Seven with singer Paul Frederick of The Family Cat.

                        Yves is best known for his work with Manchester bands Wonky Alice, The Chrysalids and (with Mark Burgess) Invincible. He currently plays drums live for Chameleons Vox and is the producer and engineer behind Alchemized Music Production.

                        Together as Oskar’s Drum they write and perform songs that are jagged, witty shards of angular pop. Their first album - A Cathedral of Hands - is released on Ragoora Records. It features ten new songs ranging from the elegiac Green-Veiled Mirror Ghost to the stomping Blackouts.

                        File alongside: Magazine, REM, Scott Walker, Siouxsie and the Banshees and (of course) Kitchens of Distinction.

                        STAFF COMMENTS

                        Laura says: The welcome return of Patrick Fitzgerald from Kitchens Of Distinction (one of the most underrated bands of the late 80s / early 90s IMO). Gorgeous heartfelt songs that swoop and soar. Lovely stuff!

                        TRACK LISTING

                        Green-veiled Mirror Ghost
                        Infernal
                        Quartz
                        In Water
                        Blackouts
                        The Last Time I Saw Roger
                        Arms Of The Dark
                        Porcelain (The Last Queen Of Vietnam)
                        Shadowlight
                        Floating

                        Essentially the project of multi-instrumentalist and producer Demian Castellanos, The Oscillation was formed in London in 2006 with the release of the debut seven-inch and Rough Trade Records ‘single of the week’; ‘New Way To Feel’ on Bee And Smoke records. Drawing inspiration from The Cure, Loop, Can, The Durutti Column, PIL, Spacemen 3, Popol Vuh and Chrome, they’ve since gone on to release three critically acclaimed studio albums; ‘Out Of Phase’ (2007), ‘Veils’ (2011) and ‘From Tomorrow’ (2013). Over the last few years The Oscillation have also appeared on several highly rated compilation albums and provided remixes for the likes of Simian Mobile Disco, Telepathe, Nick Nicely and most recently the Fat White Family.

                        The new long player ‘Monographic’ sees the multi-talented Castellanos, who sings, play bass, guitars and synths on the album, joined by Valentina Magaletti on drums in what is without doubt the band’s most accomplished and outstanding set of songs to date.

                        The Oscillation are set to embark on several dates in the UK and Europe with a band line up that sees Demian Castellanos (guitar/vocals) and Valentina Magaletti (drums) joined by Tom Relleen (bass) and Cathy Lucas (keys). 

                        THE OSCILLATION 'Monographic' Album Teaser from JULIAN HAND on Vimeo.



                        TRACK LISTING

                        Monographic
                        Take Us To The Moon
                        Let It Be The End
                        Truth In Reverse
                        Another Attack
                        Lonely People
                        Alignment Zone

                        Hugh Cornwell

                        The Fall And Rise Of Hugh Cornwell

                        The first ever Anthology of his post-Stranglers career.

                        Since leaving The Stranglers in 1990, Hugh Cornwell has made a series of well-received solo albums 25 years on from leaving the band, this album brings together 12 (super-high-quality remastered at Abbey Road) choice Cornwell classics taken from the fi rst 6 solo albums, plus one brand new studio recording, “Live It And Breathe It” (CD only) A solo acoustic tour of the UK in November 2015, will support the release of ‘The Fall And Rise Of Hugh Cornwell” and will feature many of the songs contained on the album, as well as some other fan favourites, and classics from his time with The Stranglers.

                        “New song “Live it and Breathe it has both bark and bite” - MOJO.
                        “Cornwell’s pop sensibility remains utterly intact” - Classic Rock.



                        TRACK LISTING

                        1. Leave Me Alone
                        2. Beat Of My Heart
                        3. Hot Cat On Tin Roof
                        4. Break Of Dawn
                        5. Under Her Spell
                        6. First Bus To Babylon
                        7. Please Dont Put Me On A Slow Boat To Trowbridge
                        8. Lay Back On Me Pal
                        9. One Burning Desire
                        10. Cadiz
                        11. Long Dead Train
                        12. Get Involved
                        13. Live It And Breath It*

                        *Bonus Track For CD

                        Girl Band

                        Holding Hands With Jamie

                        If you’ve seen Girl Band live, you understand. If you’ve heard ‘The Early Years’ EP or one of their early, handmade releases - or perhaps if you’ve seen the not-for-the-squeamish video for their eight-minute cover of Blawan’s “Why They Hide Their Bodies Under My Garage,” you’ve got a sense.

                        ‘Holding Hands with Jamie,’ Girl Band’s debut album, comes a few years into their tenure; a few years after their first tour; nine days crammed into a Fiat Panda; a few years of stamping 7” sleeves to sell at merch tables and mail-order; a few years of writing songs and touring and developing a live ferocity unmatched by nearly anyone. Recorded in April 2015, two days after returning home from their first-ever US tour, the nine tracks making up 'Holding Hands with Jamie’ capture, more than any previous recordings, the tension and abrasive energy of a Girl Band performance.

                        Going into the studio (Bow Lane, Dublin) to record an album - rather than a track or two here and there - “required a different mindset,” guitarist Alan Duggan explained. "It was way more challenging to stay focused – tricky to find a balance between keeping a distance from the songs for perspective but also to fully concentrate on them.” While they had the luxury of studio time (“we spent three or four days just setting up drums, amps, and mics”), the band laid down seven of the tracks in less than two days, ensuring that the record pulses with vitality and forward momentum.

                        Recalling any number of things but for only milliseconds at a time, Girl Band make a mockery of comparisons, because you can only get as far as “oh this bit sounds like—” before a guitar scuff-screams, the bass crunches like a car in a bailing press, or something else visceral and glorious comes from the speakers, and the thought’s erased. This young Dublin foursome are creating vital, propulsive, and almost terrifyingly energetic noise-rock that pulls as much influence from classic techno as from their more obvious post-punk, noise and industrial predecessors.

                        TRACK LISTING

                        1. Umbongo
                        2. Pears For Lunch
                        3. Baloo
                        4. In Plastic
                        5. Paul
                        6. The Last Riddler
                        7. Texting An Alien
                        8. Fucking Butter
                        9. The Witch Doctor

                        Sleater-Kinney

                        All Hands On The Bad One - 2014 Remastered Edition

                          “Sleater-Kinney is America's best rock band” - Greil Marcus, Time (2001)

                          Sleater-Kinney is an acclaimed American rock band that formed in Olympia, Washington in 1994.

                          The band's core lineup consists of Corin Tucker (vocals and guitar), Carrie Brownstein (guitar and vocals), and Janet Weiss (drums).

                          Sleater-Kinney were known for their feminist, left-leaning politics, and were an integral part of the riot grrrl and indie rock scenes in the Pacific Northwest.

                          ‘All Hands On The Bad One’ is the fifth studio album by Sleater- Kinney, originally released on May 2, 2000 by Kill Rock Stars.

                          The album was produced by John Goodmanson and recorded from December 1999 to January 2000 at Jackpot! Studio in Portland, Oregon and John & Stu's Place in Seattle, Washington.

                          Upon release, ‘All Hands On The Bad One’ reached number 177 on the US Billboard Top 200 chart and number 12 on the Heatseekers Albums chart.

                          ‘All Hands On The Bad One’ appeared on several end-of-year lists and received a nomination for Outstanding Music Album at the 12th Annual Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Awards.

                          The Village Voice placed it at number 10 in its 2000 ‘Pazz & Jop’ Critics' Poll.

                          “The band's most melodic, playful, sarcastic, and punchy album to date” - Brent DiCrescenzo, Pitchfork (8.3).

                          The album has been freshly remastered by Greg Calbi for this release.

                          TRACK LISTING

                          The Ballad Of A Ladyman
                          Ironclad
                          All Hands On The Bad One
                          Youth Decay
                          You're No Rock N' Roll Fun
                          #1 Must Have
                          The Professional
                          Was It A Lie?
                          Male Model
                          Leave You Behind
                          Milkshake N' Honey
                          Pompeii
                          The Swimmer

                          Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

                          Only Run

                            Only Run is the fourth studio album from Philadelphia based Clap Your Hands Say Yeah who are celebrating 10 years as a band this year.

                            The album Features additional vocals from Matt Berninger from The National on "Coming Down" & Turntables from Kid Koala on "Cover Up".

                            Only Run aims to loosely document lead singer/songwriter Alec Ounsworth's observations of his life in music over the last ten years.

                            Ounsworth crafted the songs himself before bringing them to the studio for completion, the distinguishing characteristic (and what sets it apart from his other projects) is the use of synthesizers.

                            Ounsworth spent all of 2014 thus far crisscrossing the United States on The Living Room tour, playing shows in fan's living room Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - the entire concept of the band, the name itself - is about balancing optimism in the face of overwhelming odds.

                            TRACK LISTING

                            As Always
                            Blameless
                            Coming Down (ft. Matt Berninger)
                            Little
                            Moments
                            Only Run
                            Your Advice
                            Beyond Illusion
                            Impossible Request
                            Cover
                            Up (ft. Kid Koala)
                            Impossible Request (alt Version/bonus Track)*

                            Impossible Request*, Featured As Track 10 On CD, Appears On Download Card Of LP.

                            Bass Clef

                            Dawn Chorus Pedal / You Don't Know Don’t Know You

                            Following his acclaimed LP on Punch Drunk ‘Reeling Sideways’, Ralph Cumbers' Bass Clef now joins other Bristol imprint Idle Hands and brings us two brand new tracks.

                            "Dawn Chorus Pedal" is a deep, acidic house track, but with one foot planted in the UK bass production soundscape; the combination of drum breaks lifted from the jazz sphere, a killer compressed electronic bassline and some lush synths will have you harking back to the early UK techno sound. "You Don't Know Don’t Know You" has more of a wonky-hop / fractured beats style. Stuttering, halfstep percussive breaks, sleazy bassline throbs and 8-bit synth lines are the order of the day here.


                            The Hundred In The Hands

                            Red Night

                              Sultry pop-alchemists The Hundred In The Hands return with their second record, saturated in nocturnal yearning.

                              The Hundred In The Hands’ self-titled debut quickly established them as one of the most compelling new acts of the last few years, spawning YouTube and radio hits in the form of ‘Pigeons’ and ‘Commotion’. After touring that album across the globe, the duo consisting of Eleanore Everdell and Jason Friedman, returned to their dimly-lit New York studio to work on their mesmerizing follow-up, ‘Red Night’. ‘Red Night’ is a self-produced meditation on separation and reunion, love nearly lost and the long night back to it; a chronicle of late-hour pining awash in digital glow and urban buzzing.

                              Album opener ‘Empty Stations’ begins with a haunting string arrangement that is overtaken by a propulsive rhythm and Eleanore’s spellbinding vocal turns. The heartbroken vocal on ‘Faded’ wraps itself around the spiralling bell and fragile arrangements to devastating effect. ‘Stay The Night’ is a tale of yearning with a seductive slowed-down industrial R&B groove. The vast soundscapes of ‘Lead In The Light’ start out sparse and build to an otherworldly climax and then back down again. ‘Red Night’ is an opportunity to enter the winding tunnels of The Hundred In The Hands’ nocturnal city where time stretches, tempos drop, and guitars plunge rumbling and throbbing out against denser and denser vocals as the story unfolds. The band’s sound is unafraid to marry minimalism and abstraction with big melodies.

                              STAFF COMMENTS

                              Philippa says: ‘Red Night’ is a self-produced meditation on separation and reunion, love nearly lost and the long night back to it; a chronicle of late-hour pining awash in digital glow and urban buzzing.

                              Hairy Hands is a DIY beats/vocals project from singer/songwriter Mr James Bright. His cut-and-paste productions are playful and naive, drawing from influences such as Madlib, Arthur Russell and Benny Sings.

                              Sometimes, a musician has to suppress some of his or her particular tastes for the benefit of a project. In developing the sound of Mr James Bright, production is often taken care of by James' close friends at studios all across the globe. Over the years, however, James' urge to unleash his own monster sound had grown, and after a year in the making, his own sound is ready to be let out of the cage.

                              This is HAIRY HANDS. Fluid rhythms and lavish keys are strewn together to create a blend of beats and wonky folk that is particularly difficult to label. Tracks bounce between chorus and verse, dropping and twisting every few bars; this music is undeniably vibrant. A childlike approach to production, with everything and anything sprinkled from start to finish, causes the finished product to sound beautifully naive. There are no limits here, each track will get you in a headlock and re-arrange your perception of groove. Goodbye Mr.Music Snob, Hairy Hands has just turned your world upside down…

                              TRACK LISTING

                              1. Ass
                              2. People Chat Alot
                              3. Try Too
                              4. I Know That You Want Me
                              5. Clap
                              6. And
                              7. Lights Go Down Down Down
                              8. A Song For Karen
                              9. Arthur Said To Do It
                              10. Boom (Room) 924
                              11. Faster/Quicker
                              12. It Was Kerrys Idea
                              13. Leaves Keep Falling
                              14. Lemme See
                              15. BumFunk

                              Patrick Kelleher & His Cold Dead Hands

                              Golden Syrup

                              Patrick Kelleher & His Cold Dead Hands are a five piece band from Dublin, Ireland.

                              Their critically acclaimed album 'You Look Cold' was released on Osaka Recordings in 2009. A remix album followed in 2010 called 'You Look Colder'. It featured remixes from the likes of Jape, Hunter-Gatherer and Legion of Two.

                              Their second album 'Golden Syrup' is released on 12th September. Moving on from the previous more DIY / lo-fi sound we now find them embracing a more gothic synth sound. Reminiscent of lesser known early 80's electronics pioneers such as Robert Rental, Thomas Leer and John Foxx but also drawing comparisons to such contemporary artists as Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti and John Maus. Paul Lester in the Guardian's Band of the Day in November 2010 referred to it as "Spookily brilliant, like Daryl Hall in hell!"

                              The music on ‘Golden Syrup’ varies from Italo-disco and hypnagogic pop to the ghost-disco of the opener 'Miracle Candle', a dark dancefloor mover, to the more rhythmic synth-hook laden tracks such as 'Golden Syrup', ‘Too Many Harsh Words’ and 'Gouge'. We also get moments of beautiful heartfelt pop such as 'Broken up Now', and almost medieval electronica in the form of 'Strawberry Dog'.

                              TRACK LISTING

                              1. Miracle Candle
                              2. Golden Syrup
                              3. Seen Me Blue
                              4. Too Many Harsh Words
                              5. Broken Up Now
                              6. Gouge
                              7. Contact Sports
                              8. Strawberry Dog
                              9. I Donʼt Remember
                              10. Still In School

                              The White Stripes

                              Let's Shake Hands / Look Me Over Closely

                                Amazingly, these records still blow the roof off, reissues of the first two White Stripes singles, originally released in another millennium, lets hear what Wiki say: '"Let's Shake Hands" is the debut 7" single of Detroit-based American garage rock band The White Stripes. It was released in March 1998, and marks their first recording. A live recording of the song is featured on Under Blackpool Lights as well as Under Great White Northern Lights. "Let's Shake Hands" showcases the early garage punk sound of the band in its infancy. The single is backed with a cover of "Look Me Over Closely," a song written for Marlene Dietrich by folk musician Terry Gilkyson. The first edition was 500 copies on clear red vinyl. A second edition of 1,000 copies was pressed on black vinyl in 2002. The cover for this repressing was a better quality version of the original photo. There was a "secret" third pressing in 2008 with a stenciled version of the original cover art by Dion Fischer. It was pressed on black vinyl and 1,000 hand-numbered copies were produced. Highly coveted among diehard fans, this 7" remains one of the rarest and priciest items in The White Stripes' entire discography.'

                                Exactly.. a very essential reissue...

                                TRACK LISTING

                                Side A:
                                Let's Shake Hands

                                Side B:
                                Look Me Over Closely

                                The Hundred In The Hands

                                The Hundred In The Hands

                                  The Hundred In The Hands are Brooklyn’s Eleanore Everdell and Jason Friedman, and this is their self-titled debut album. It's an emotionally charged long player, calling on everything from the elegant French pop of Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin to the 00s female pop of Au Revoir Simone, the late 70s electronics of Young Marble Giants to the late 80s Balearic blossoming of Andy Weatherall productions (One Dove spring to mind) and the punk-funk dance songs from NYC’s storied underground. With such an expansive set of infuences and soundscapes present, "The Hundred In The Hands" could fall into a fractured trap, but the the album comes together as a whole, with track after track of wonderfully uplifting music. Includes the singles "Pigeons" and "Dressed In Dresden". Sure to be one of our albums of the year!


                                  The Hundred In The Hands

                                  Pigeons - Inc. Blawan / Walls Remixes

                                    Having presented us with a couple of cross-pollinated underground 12"s previously, The Hundred In The Hands now step things up a bit before the release of their self-titled debut album by bringing us "Pigeons" one of the more upbeat and mainstream cuts from the LP. Indie-pop in the vein of Au Revoir Simone, but with a house-tinted dancefloor edge, the track is an absolute beauty. Obviously we don't escape without a set of alternative reworks, which kick off with a future beats version from Blawan. Percussive and sub-wobbling, this is a must for post-dubstep fans. Walls take over side B with one of their epic ambient-infused tech-house versions for the dancefloor.



                                    Primitive Hands

                                    Split Mind

                                    Debut 45 from Brian Hildebrand's (Demons Claws) Primitive Hands! Completely unaware of itself in the best way, it has pounds of grit squeezed from a light-weight guitar and snare aesthetic. No tricks, no smoke, no mirrors, well... smoke, but just minimalist blues-based rock'n'roll for the most discerning primitive pallette! This is spuzzed out garage blues rock of the highest order.

                                    Thirteen Senses

                                    All The Love In Your Hands

                                      The first single to be taken from their brand new studio album "Contact".

                                      Belle And Sebastian

                                      Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like A Peasant

                                        For their fourth and most cleverly titled album, Glasgow's fey folk-popsters Belle & Sebastian have constructed another11 songs that at times reach into new musical and lyrical areas. Following secondary composer Stuart David's departure, de facto leader Stuart Murdoch divides the songwriting chores among the other members; yet what's apparent is the single-mindedness of Belle & Sebastian's song focus.

                                        The overall mood is even softer and more precious (if that can be believed) than their previous efforts. Murdoch and Chris Geddes' "Don't Leave The Light On Baby" is the band's attempt at a '70s soul ballad, a Wurlitzer adding a Music-of-My-Mind vibe to a lovers' dissertation. Isobel Campbell's "Beyond The Sunrise" is biblical Celtic-prog-folk, all flutes and acoustic guitar, while Jackson's own "The Wrong Girl" is an upbeat, country-ish lament with typically soulful Belle & Sebastian strings and trumpet giving the song an understated melodic kick. Of course, Murdoch contributes a classic or two - "I Fought a War" is a gentle away-at-the-battlefield tale imbued with the greatest sense of dread Murdoch's ever given a song. And "Woman's Realm" is the kind of pop stomper "Arab Strap" was packed to the gills with, highlighted here by its increasingly quiet surroundings.

                                        TRACK LISTING

                                        1. I Fought In A War
                                        2. The Model
                                        3. Beyond The Sunrise
                                        4. Waiting For The Moon To Rise
                                        5. Don't Leave The Light On Baby
                                        6. The Wrong Girl
                                        7. The Chalet Lines
                                        8. Nice Day For A Sulk
                                        9. Women's Realm
                                        10. Family Tree
                                        11. There's Too Much Love

                                        Darkest Hour

                                        Hidden Hands Of A Sadist Nation

                                          Hailing from Washington, DC, Darkest Hour are ready to grab the metal world by the throat with their debut for Victory Records, "Hidden Hands of a Sadist Nation". A brutal mix of aggressive hardcore and conventional power metal, reminiscent of bands such as At the Gates, In Flames, Dismember and Iron Maiden. Extreme hard rock and set to become one of the biggest US metal ablbums of 2003.

                                          Black Cat Music

                                          Hands In The Estuary, Torso In The Lake

                                            Black Cat Music are a new four piece on Lookout Records and they have a rock and rolling way with a riff that's hard to ignore.

                                            Nanci Griffith

                                            Clock Without Hands

                                              A collection of self-penned songs and astute cover versions : as usual Nanci Griffiths has released an album of real depth, emotion and humanity. The lyrics touch on all her passions and come from the heart. Songs of the past and Vietnam's legacy, poignant songs of her home and family; it's one of her most satisfying releases.


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