Here’s what we said about this album on it’s original release in 2003, and it still stands up today. One of the most original singer songwriters of her generation and one of the most gifted pianists too. "Scarlet's Walk" features her finest songs since "Under The Pink" and will please all the converted and maybe open up a few eyes and ears as well. There's a return to a simpler piano sound with the only other instruments on many tracks being bass and drums. Over 74 minutes long it's an epic voyage for the listener as well as 'Scarlet'.

Limited Edition 180g orange coloured vinyl pressing of Johnny Cash's iconic LP 'Sings I Walk The Line' Released in 1964, Johnny Cash's own retrospective of his early career on the Sun record label has become, arguably, his most iconic album release. It was a bold move at the time, as he'd already enjoyed a run of chart-topping albums and become one of country music's most prolifc and celebrated recording artists. Yet, 'I Walk The Line' went on to become one of his greatest selling albums.

A return of the mighty King Spinna records! Manchester dub / reggae / dancehall institution born outta Blood & Fire headed by Bob Harding and Dom Sotgiu. A real coup for this one as they've enlisted the one and only Martin Brew aka J-Walk for a one-drop digi-dub soundclash alongside MC Joseph Cotton. You’ll know J-Walk from his more synth-laced boogie and Balearic pieces (not least his “Mellotronique” from early this year) but he’s a man of many talents and an absolute wizard in the studio! Joseph Cotton is now based in Paris after years spent in Berlin & London after leaving Jamaica in the 80's. He is a regular on the live reggae scene, records frequently for Manu Digital & many others, he is also featured on the timeless classic Rhythm & Sound release “See Mi Yah”.

Godzilla Dust Cloud was a meteorological phenomenon that covered Jamaica.

Voiced by the dancehall icon & reggae veteran as "REWIND", J-Walk provides a fried dancehall riddim and laces the various stems in bucket loads of tape delay. Cotton's on point with soundbwoy shout outs and there's some classic sound system samples thrown into the pot by Brew too. Heavy sawtooth bass and that infectious Casio MT40 keyboard riff ensure this loud pressed 7" gets multiple spins in the dance.

J-Walk's instrumental on the flip is as authentic a slice of B-side digi-dub versioning as one could hope for. Adding extra whistles and cowbells, tweaking the space echo even more than on the vocal version and throwing the focus at the percussion section and that catchy B-line. Yes selector!

Limited copies - don't sleep on this riddim! 

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Massive Manchester dubwise affair here as Dom Blood & Fire's King Spinna label enlists Martin Brew and JA talent Joseph Cotton for a modern dancehall riddim complete with killer dub on the flip.

TRACK LISTING

A. Rewind
B. Gorilla Dust Cloud

J-Walk's (Martin Brew) superb Mellotronique gets a much needed vinyl pressing from the fledgling imprint headed by Jason Boardman of Aficionado records fame. 

If you know Brew's work from the highly lauded 'Limelight Nights' or 'Mediterranean Winds', then you'll know that his sound is a synth-heavy distillation of topical Balearic grooves and snappy disco percussion. This latest outing sees the musical polymath shift his focus slightly more into the almost-tailored-exactly-for-me saturated 8-bit grooves of 90's videogame soundtrackery. 

Kicking things off, 'City Slicker' matches a swung percussive groove against phased chord stabs and rolling synthetic bass, providing a perfect starting point for the wonderfully vivid landscape that is to come. 'Hypercruiser' brings in the most understated saw-wave bass (with *just* enough short reverb on to come popping out of the mix) before launching into a soaring, euphoric lift into one of my favourite pices on the whole collection, the wonderfully evocative portamentoed swing of 'Underwater Galaxy'. 

Both 'A World Someplace' and 'Winter Moon Rendezvous' hold their place perfectly, tactfully seguing between slowly pulled synth chords and twinkling dreamlike bliss. The former swims with a machine-funk groove, reminiscent of an 8-bit cityscape while the latter takes this established groove and slows it down, reducing to a few perfectly pitched elements.  It's this restraint that really sets J-Walk apart from the rest, with his keen production ear coming across perfectly in the finished product. 

Laters, both 'Chill Bien' and 'Equinox Desire' usher in hints of tropical groove, with the syncopated stabs of bass fading into a sea of reverb and bit-crushed guitars before pulling all the elements seamlessly into a perfect culmination of melodic drive and lysergic relaxation. 

We finish with the massive duo of 'Fait Accompli' and 'The Night Machine', the former bringing the latent Italo elements into the mix before the latter slams them home with an uncompromisingly crunchy, filter-manipulated freak-out. 

It's a stunning collection of tracks, and further evidence that J-Walk is indeed here to stay, thank f*ck. 

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: The second release on Jason Boardman's (Aficionado) new labour of love and it's no other than Martin Brew dropping electro-funk-balearo-science! Electrified throughout, it exists as a concise and really quite singular piece conceived by an artist in full creative control. We've waited all year for these BiD records but it's been worth the wait. Buy on sight! Who knows if there'll be a second press...

TRACK LISTING

A1. City Slicker
A2. Hypercruiser
A3. Underwater Galaxy
A4. A World Someplace
A5. Winter Moon Rendezvous
B1. Hologram Jam
B2. Chill Bien
B3. Equinox Desire
B4. Fait Accompli
B5. The Night Machine

If you know Brew's work from the highly lauded 'Limelight Nights' or 'Mediterranean Winds', then you'll know that his sound is a synth-heavy distillation of topical Balearic grooves and snappy disco percussion. This latest outing sees the musical polymath shift his focus slightly more into the almost-tailored-exactly-for-me saturated 8-bit grooves of 90's videogame soundtrackery. 

Kicking things off, 'City Slicker' matches a swung percussive groove against phased chord stabs and rolling synthetic bass, providing a perfect starting point for the wonderfully vivid landscape that is to come. 'Hypercruiser' brings in the most understated saw-wave bass (with *just* enough short reverb on to come popping out of the mix) before launching into a soaring, euphoric lift into one of my favourite pices on the whole collection, the wonderfully evocative portamentoed swing of 'Underwater Galaxy'. 

Both 'A World Someplace' and 'Winter Moon Rendezvous' hold their place perfectly, tactfully seguing between slowly pulled synth chords and twinkling dreamlike bliss. The former swims with a machine-funk groove, reminiscent of an 8-bit cityscape while the latter takes this established groove and slows it down, reducing to a few perfectly pitched elements.  It's this restraint that really sets J-Walk apart from the rest, with his keen production ear coming across perfectly in the finished product. 

Laters, both 'Chill Bien' and 'Equinox Desire' usher in hints of tropical groove, with the syncopated stabs of bass fading into a sea of reverb and bit-crushed guitars before pulling all the elements seamlessly into a perfect culmination of melodic drive and lysergic relaxation. 

We finish with the massive duo of 'Fait Accompli' and 'The Night Machine', the former bringing the latent Italo elements into the mix before the latter slams them home with an uncompromisingly crunchy, filter-manipulated freak-out. 

It's a stunning collection of tracks, and further evidence that J-Walk is indeed here to stay, thank f*ck. 

TRACK LISTING

1. City Slicker 04:00
2. Hypercruiser 03:57
3. Underwater Galaxy 03:44
4. A World Someplace 04:55
5. Winter Moon Rendezvous 03:53
6. Hologram Jam 03:43
7. Chill Bien 04:26
8. Equinox Desire 05:01
9. Fait Accompli 03:24
10. The Night Machine 03:19

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

Following the release of critically acclaimed LP Wake in Fright, which had two songs featured in the new season of David Lynch’s Twin Peaks, it was time for Uniform vocalist Michael Berdan and instrumentalist Ben Greenberg to return to the studio. The duo decided to up the ante and add a third member to help perfect their vicious post-industrial dystopian cyber-punk. After some deliberation, Greenberg called upon drummer Greg Fox (Liturgy, Zs) to help round out the sound they were looking for. Using a mix of triggered samples and real drums along with layered synths and good old electric guitar, the trio arrived at what would become The Long Walk after only a few short days in the studio.

From the opening whirr of the title track, it’s clear that the band is onto something special. Recorded in Strange Weather studios in the first part of 2018, The Long Walk is eight new tracks by the duo of Greenberg and Berdan, incorporating Fox’s skills behind the drum kit to add an entirely new dimension to the signature Uniform sound. Ditching sequenced tracks, Greenberg opted for single takes to highlight the Frankenstein-like guitar-bass-synth hybrid that oozes throughout the recording. Meanwhile, crushing guitar thunder is punched up by Fox’s masterful drumming while Berdan’s cries from the nether feel more desperate and morose than ever. This is Uniform at its most bleak, emotional, and powerful.

Lyrically, The Long Walk deals with paradoxes in spirituality and organized religion. Berdan went to Catholic school for most of his primary education. Fear of Biblical hell and damnation felt tangible. As Berdan grew and matured emotionally, he began to reject Catholicism bit by bit. In the recent past, Berdan found himself slowly reconnecting with his background, observing how the faith that he found so repressive served as a great source of comfort and strength for so many. Yet therein lay the contradiction that drove him from religion in the first place — many of the human traditions of the church also dealt in repression, intolerance, and bigotry. Could one observe the rituals and practice of a faith while acknowledging and rejecting its ugliest elements?

TRACK LISTING

1. The Walk (5:31)
2. Inhuman Condition (4:16)
3. Found (3:51)
4. Transubstantiation (4:36)
5. Alone In The Dark (3:47)
6. Headless Eyes (3:58)
7. Anointing Of The Sick (4:47)
8. Peaceable Kingdom (6:49)

The dual albums find the trio of Buzz Osborne, Dale Crover and Steve McDonald showcasing two distinct sides to the band’s music: Death, a proper Melvins’ release and Love, the score to the Jesse Nieminen directed, self-produced short also titled A Walk With Love and Death

“This was a huge undertaking,” explained band ringleader Buzz Osborne. “All three things: the album, the soundtrack and the film are benchmarks for us.”

Drummer Dale Crover added, “A Walk With Love and Death is one giant, dark, moody, psychotic head trip! Not for the faint of heart. You'll sleep with the lights on after listening.”

The albums, which include guests Joey Santiago (The Pixies), Teri Gender Bender (Le Butcherettes/Crystal Fairy) and Anna Waronker (That Dog), were co-produced with engineer Toshi Kosai.

TRACK LISTING

DISC 1: DEATH
1 Black Heath
2 Sober-delic (acid Only)
3 Euthanasia
4 What's Wrong With You?
5 Edgar The Elephant
6 Flaming Creature
7 Christ Hammer
8 Cactus Party
9 Cardboa Negro

DISC 2: LOVE
1 Aim High
2 Queen Powder Party
3 Street Level St. Paul
4 The Hidden Joice
5 Give It To Me
6 Chicken Butt
7 Eat Yourself Out
8 Scooba
9 Halfway To The Bakersfield Mall
10 Pacoima Normal
11 Park Head
12 T-Burg
13 Track Star
14 The Asshole Bastard

'Through the darkness of future past
The magican longs to see
One chance out between two worlds:
Fire walk with me...'

Seeming to emanate directly from the dark heart of the Black Lodge, "Fire Walk With Me" is an altogether more brooding affair than the Twin Peaks series soundtrack. The surreal atmosphere and airbrushed shimmer remain, but the melancholic notes, minor key melodies and sustained bass tones are perfectly in keeping with the unending disquiet and foreboding which David Lynch achieved. Badalamenti won a grammy for the title track of this LP and it’s not hard to see why- it’s dangerous, and bursting with smokey jazz thanks to Jimmy Scott. 

THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2017 EXCLUSIVE, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

It's a double A-side reggae 12" single. Exclusive release for RSD2017.

In the wake of their 2011 album "Strange Hearts", the three members of Secret Cities branched off in different directions. Charlie Gokey delved into Roy Orbison's ballads about losers in love while becoming a civil liberties attorney in Washington, D.C. Alex Abnos locked in to New Orleans soul masters like King Floyd & Dr. John as he became a journalist in New York City. And Marie Parker became a teacher in the band's spiritual home of Fargo, North Dakota.

Having met at band camp and on an internet message board, the trio had made music together for nine years without ever living together in the same city. After recording two albums and a handful of singles via email, they decided it was finally time to enter a real studio where they could play and record together in real time. They chose San Francisco's Tiny Telephone studio, where Jay Pellicci manned the controls for a week-and-a-half of the most spontaneous, democratic, and visceral recording of their lives. They emerged with Walk Me Home, an album that finally reflects their live chemistry and their diverging lives and musical tastes.

"The bass is dewey. The harmonies are starlit. The theremin is ripe…The racket they're able to muster together in the process is enough to set them apart from the pack." PITCHFORK.

TRACK LISTING

01. Purgatory; 2:17
02. Bad Trip; 2:24
03. Paradise; 4:24
04. The Rooftop; 2:26
05. Interlude; 1:49
06. Thumbs ; 3:28
07. Playing With Fire; 3:50
08. Walk Me Home; 3:46
09. The Cellar; 4:04
10. Interlude 2; 1:36
11. It ’s Always Summer; 2:45
12. It ’s Always Winter; 3:42
13. Sun Enclosure; 3:30

* First ever anthology
* Remastered from original sources
* 2xLP housed in a deluxe gatefold tip-on jacket with 20-pg book, and download card full full anthology
* Vinyl cut by John Golden and pressed at RTI
* CD housed in a deluxe gatefold tip-on jacket with 48-pg book
* Scholarly liner notes by Punk In Africa director Keith Jones
* Unseen photos, flyers, and band ephemera

The South Africa of the late 1970s was neither the right place nor time to launch a mixed-race punk band. Yet, following the student-inspired Soweto Uprising of 1976, it was also exactly the right conditions to foster a band like National Wake, one formed in an underground commune, and one whose very name exists in protest at the divisive, racist apartheid regime. Never before collected together, Light In The Attic is set to release National Wake’s full body of work as Walk In Africa 1979-81.

Featured heavily in the Punk In Africa documentary, National Wake played punk, reggae and tropical funk, equally at home in the city’s rock underground and the township nightclub circuit. Ivan Kadey started the band with two brothers, Gary and Punka Khoza. The three were from different worlds –while Ivan was an outsider, a Jewish orphan born in the traditional Johannesburg immigrant neighborhood, Gary, Punka and their family were forcibly moved to the troubled township of Soweto under the apartheid regime. Later joined by guitarist Steve Moni, the whole band grew up against a backdrop of township unrest, social upheaval and suburban tedium that characterized apartheid-era South Africa.

National Wake released just one album, in 1981. It sold approximately 700 copies before being withdrawn under government pressure. The band subsequently disintegrated, but their influence could be traced in the racially mixed post-punk underground centered around Rockey Street in Johannesburg throughout the 1980s, their legacy transmitted through fanzines and underground cassette trading.

Sadly, Gary and Punka Khoza both passed away in their 40s. Kadey now works as an architect in Los Angeles, but his attention eventually turned back to the band as their legacy grew in the digital era, with the emergence of specialized music websites and Punk In Africa leading to their rediscovery. Czech State Radio memorably described the band as “perhaps the most dissident music scene of the 20th century: a multi-racial punk band in a fascist police state.”

In 2011, Kadey re-released the band’s self-titled album, but spoke about having more than 20 tracks that had never seen the light of day –until now. “All of these recordings put together they speak of the whole evolution of the band,” he has said. “From a sort of naive, almost belief that we could miraculously change everything to realizing what a struggle it was, and what the country was going through and what it would go through.”

TRACK LISTING

1. International News
2. It's All Right
3. Walk In Africa
4. Time And Place
5. Corner House Stone
6. Mercenaries
7. Wake Of The Nation
8. Supaman
9. Speed It Up
10. Beat Up The Lights
11. Black Punk Rockers
12. Stratocaster
13. Everybody
14. Vatsiketeni

The Tavistock five piece return with their second album, recorded and produced in New York by none other than Mark Ronson. "Welcome To The Walk Alone" shows the Rumble Strips in a much more widescreen light than their previous offering with parping brass toned down and the FILMharmonic orchestra of Prague drafted in by Owen Pallet (The Arcade Fire, Final Fantasy) to fill this album with incredible cineramic textures and epic arrangements.

Limited to 500 copies this all-Scottish split 7" contains "Side Effect" from the acclaimed self-titled debut album by Take A Worm For A Walk Week on Midmarch, and a previously unreleased track "25 Seconds Of Positive". Desalvo feature members of Idlewild and follow up their debut 7" on Rock Action Records with the awesome "Get Black".