Another dose of whirring rhythms and dark drones courtesy of Stefan Schneider and Sven Kacirek. This time around they have introduced the beguiling tones of Swedish singer Sofia Jernberg on three pieces, taking their music to a new level.Since their debut release, they have toured extensively with the likes of John McEntire (Tortoise, The Sea and Cake).A fascination with repetitive rhythm is the common thread which runs through the musical development of both musicians: listen to Stefan Schneider in his other projects, the bands Kreidler and To Rococo Rot and his albums with Hans-Joachim Roedelius. Further evidence can be heard on Kacirek's solo albums, in particular on his much-lauded "Kenya Sessions". 

25 years on from the release of their debut LP A Nice Hot Bath With.., acclaimed English dance collective Crazy P returns with their ninth studio album, Any Signs of Love.

Written and recorded in 2023, before the untimely passing of beloved frontwoman Danielle Moore, Any Signs of Love, is Crazy P at their best, crystallising three decades of unforgettable live performances, solid friendship and above all, excellent tunes.

Masters at blending a range of classic references, from underground disco to Fleetwood Mac, and making it entirely their own, the band’s drive to continually evolve as songwriters, producers, and performers is witnessed across the album’s 10 glorious new tracks. Lead single ‘Human After All, is the perfect introduction - a feel-good, sultry groover, bedecked with italo-y arps, infectious piano hooks, and drenched in Balearic beats.

Their first album in five years, ‘Any Signs of Love,’ delivers everything fans expect from a band of their calibre—whose catalogue has built a loyal, multigenerational following and is equally at home soundtracking sweaty basement clubs, and outdoor raves, as it is on huge festival stages. From the anthemic ‘The Revolution Will Not Be Anything’, to the Italo-eque title track, and the psychedelic fruitiness of ‘Not Too Late’, Any Signs of Love contains all the core ingredients of the Crazy P magic: grooves galore, hooks, and the electrifying vocals of charismatic leader, Danielle Moore.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Thumping, Italo tinged bass throbs and snappy percussion loops, soaring synth sweeps and slowly blooming atmospheric tension, releasing in a cacophony of Danielle's beautifully rich, soaring vocal and flickering guitar stabs. Undeniably brilliant, and a true testament to the skill of the whole band. A beautiful end result, and a perfect legacy for Danielle to leave behind.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Any Signs Of Love
A2. Portals

B1. System Failure
B2. Not Too Late
B3. Love Is Power

C1. Mystify
C2. The Revolution Will Not Be Anything

D1. Human After All
D2. You Know How It Goes
D3. Strange Affair

7-inch reissue of this mythical, raw funk rarity by the Miami-based, Cuban rock band, Pearly Queen.

Featuring the hugely sought after, infectious cut 'Quit Jive' In' and a fantastic cover of The Rascals 'Jungle Walk', this is a double header of mid '70s funk fire.

Originally released on Cuban record producer Manuel J. Mato's Sound Triangle Records in 1974, who had emigrated to the US in 1960, this scarce funk gem has long been a prized funk 45 find. DJs and collectors such as Keb Darge and Jazzman Gerald brought this to our attention in the 1990s, with the status of the track amplified by its inclusion on DJ Shadow & Cut Chemist's landmark 7" DJ mix 'Brainfreeze'. DJ Shadow, also used the drums and horns break to masterful effect on his track 'The Number Song' (1996) taken from his infamous 'Endtroducing.....' album on Mo Wax.

Written by Ray Fernandez of Ray & His Court fame, 'Quit Jive' In' is a swaggering funk throwdown, dripping in groove and underpinned by heavy breaks and punchy horns. Whilst on the B side, the rock- funk 'Jungle Walk', is a cover version of The Rascals 1972 original. Penned by the singer, songwriter and guitarist Buzzy Feiten, it wouldn't be out of place as part of the soundtrack to a Tarantino movie.

We can't think of many deep funk tracks we love as much as this beauty. Sadly, for collectors, this original 7" has remained elusive to even some of the most hardened and dedicated diggers, so it feels a fitting release to re-issue for all to savour.

TRACK LISTING

Quit Jive' In
Jungle Walk

As with most things, this project started with a conversation in the pub between me and Martin. As we discussed what J-Walk and BiD could do next we chatted about our mutual love of DIY, post-punk, reggae & (digi-)dub, how about using that feel as an initial jump off on the next thing and see how you get on? I suggested. As is his way Martin considered the suggestion, then promptly disappeared, 6 weeks later something landed in my inbox, it was titled “Broken Beauty” and the music contained embraced all those symbiotic ideals and culture.

Recorded entirely in Stockport using a mixed kit bag of cheap forgotten keyboards, guitar, bass and effects pedals, this LP takes the J-Walk aesthetic and applies the wider palette of these influences to create something unique, those past and present influences forged together to bring you something truly DIY - instructions below.

How To Make Such A Thing...

Deactivate social media. Ignore the internet, don't answer text messages, avoid other music, the telly and other people. This is a process where it's only you in the room with whatever's in your mind. You will be there for some time and the loneliness can hurt a little.

Forget any predetermined ideas. Forget everything you've ever done before. This is an opportunity to start from scratch, but with years of accumulated knowledge and craftsmanship. Trust yourself.
Be scared. Be excited about not knowing what will happen and what will result.

Don't use midi sequencing, virtual instruments or samples. Just plug a toy instrument into an amp, press a rhythm and play around to see what happens. If it sounds good and fresh then record it. Plug a bass in to jam around and you'll soon hear and feel what sits in the pocket of the beat. Record it as it is. Dirty is real and good. Cleanliness equals sterility. Loop the bassline. Plug a guitar in and do the same.

Don't think when doing any of this. Just experiment with interest and curiosity and the music will take care of itself. You will now have a groove which is also about half a song minimum. Play some keys from the toys on top of what you have. Put 'em through effects pedals. Again, don't overthink it and don't try to get it clean. Add sound effects in right and random places.

There you go. Something you've never made before. But more importantly, it's something you've never heard before.

You don't have to die to be reincarnated.

"Broken Beauty"...You can't be either without also having been the other. - Jason Boardman

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: It's here! And it sounds bloody MARVELLOUS! Like a punky-dubby-tropical-disco party - and everyone's invited! I challenge even the grumpiest acid house casulty not to crack a smile or shake a tail feather to this understated BEAUT of an album. Brew's done it again! All hail the legend...

TRACK LISTING

A1. Bubbles On The Line
A2. Janky Waltz
A3. Spring Well, Wellspring
A4. Black Lion Passage
A5. A Vision In Jade

B1. African Custard
B2. Botox Fomo
B3. Walking In The Sunshine
B4. Siz Pap Brick
B5. Monotropicalia

“How the fuck are we going to turn this into a song?” That’s the question Lou Barlow and John Davis have asked themselves since co-founding The Folk Implosion in the early 1990s. Beginning with improvised jams featuring Barlow on bass and Davis on drums, the duo develop their beat-driven pop collages from the ground up. It’s the process they used on their debut cassette, Walk Through This World with the Folk Implosion, and one they’ve returned to 30 years later on their spellbinding, self-referencing reunion, Walk Thru Me.

Separated from their homes in Massachusetts and North Carolina, Barlow and Davis collaborated remotely, flashing back to their early friendship as penpals. A sweaty bass and drums session went down in Barlow’s attic, before they booked studio time with producer Scott Salter (St. Vincent, Spoon, The Mountain Goats).

Contrasts and comparisons are the keys to unlocking Walk Thru Me, and the Folk Implosion as a whole. Beyond the audible differences between Barlow’s soft voice and Davis’s urgent, reedy proclamations,

their approaches to songwriting are strikingly distinct. While Barlow approached his lyrics from a protective paternal perspective (“My Little Lamb”), Davis paid tribute to his late father, shining a light on their complicated relationship (“The Day You Died”). Finally, Davis’s Persian music studies in weekly Zoom lessons inspired him to integrate traditional Middle Eastern instruments such as the setar, oud, saz, and tombak.

“Because we’re so separate, part of this album is me desperately trying to telepathically communicate to John and Scott, who are 700 miles away from me,” Barlow concludes. “A big part of what I consider to be the Folk Implosion is taking disparate things and turning them into pop.”

TRACK LISTING

1. Crepuscular
2. The Day You Died
3. Walk Thru Me
4. My Little Lamb
5. Bobblehead Doll
6. The Fable And The Fact
7. Right Hand Over The Heart
8. Water Torture
9. O.K. To Disconnect
10. Moonlit Kind

One of the most consistent new labels around, Cyphon Recordings, marks double figures with another standout release that gleans from the past, but faces the future. This time they look to the talents of Emotive Technology, a new alias from Chilean Massiande who provides a five-track EP of machine-wielding, soul-rousing techno from across the spectrum.

Although this may be the first release under his new moniker, Massiande has spent the last decade putting out productions with labels such as Housewax, Phonica, Freerange and Groovin. Firing on all cylinders from the get-go, ‘Rise’ kicks off the Walk Into The Light EP. A hyperspace melding of new beat, Italo and arp-operating techno that opens out into a slice of peak-time revelry.

The swirling textures of ‘It’s On’ follow, pushing you into the next dimension. A hypnotic, entrancing and arresting heads-down powerhouse. Crunchy and considered it's the kind of strobe-stuttering basement jam that turns heads inside out.

Two Detroit-leaning tracks ‘Your Zone’ and ‘Walk IntoThe Light’ are up next. The former is a heavyweight machine workout. Layered synth lines and crisp drum programming transfix, as that grooving low-end powers bodies into bedlam. The latter, a Motor-City-influenced tour de force. One that sees Massiande recode the circuitry to hit with a piano-laden stunner, balancing power and presence, with emotion and nuance.

Closing out proceedings, ‘The Swing’ sucks you in deeper. A resonating world of synth stabs, pulsating basslines and atmospheric electronics.

Doing the Emotive Technology namesake proud, Walk Into The Light is machine music hardwired with a heavy sense of soul.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Power house electrics, lazer guided leads and floor stomping beats make this Emotive Technology are sure fire warehouse wrecker.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Rise
A2. It's On
A3. Your Zone
B1. Walk Into The Light
B2. The Swing

THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2024 EXCLUSIVE AND WILL BE AVAILABLE INSTORE ON SATURDAY APRIL 20TH ON A FIRST COME FIRST SERVED BASIS, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

IF THERE ARE ANY REMAINING COPIES THEY WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE ONLINE AT 8PM ON MONDAY APRIL 22ND.

The 40th anniversary of The Sisters Of Mercy's first two EPs from 1984, packaged together as one LP.

Dave Matthews Band’s first album in four years, largely written throughout the pandemic, is as much a reflection on the current times as an urge to find common ground. The twelve-track album was recorded with producer Rob Evans in studios throughout Seattle, Charlottesville, and Los Angeles. “Monsters” was produced by longtime collaborator John Alagia. “'Walk Around The Moon' touches on my children, the futility of our struggles as a human race, gun violence, love, modern political discourse, gratitude.” - Dave Matthews

TRACK LISTING

1. Walk Around The Moon
2. Madman’s Eyes
3. Looking For A Vein
4. The Ocean And The Butterfly
5. It Could Happen
6. Something To Tell My Baby
7. After Everything
8. All You Wanted Was Tomorrow
9. The Only Thing
10. Break Free
11. Monsters
12. Singing From The Windows

Oojami is the alias of Turkish native Necmi Cavli. After spending many years living in London and collaborating with numerous artists from around the globe, "Walk Alone" is the product of his recent move to Manchester. Joining him is Ben Helm on vocals and Nicola Cavli on voilin the album is a true outernational melting pot of influences - spanning almost every genre imaginable but with the undercurrent of Turkish key signatures and exotic instrumentation its glue.

Oojami has previously released six albums, with "Bellydancing Breakbeats" establishing the artist in the international bellydancing scene, 

TRACK LISTING

A1. Rosalina
A2. Open Up
A3. Walk Alone
A4. Hold Me
A5. Voodoo

B1. For Today
B2. Release Me
B3. Rising Sun
B4. Love Is Gone
B5. You And I

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.

Plagued by perceived inaccessibilty and that unfortunate condition of being too pop for the underground, but way too weird for the pop charts, The Blue Nile have never taken up position as Britain's greatest band - and this despite releasing the best single of all time, which you'll find here on their wonderful debut LP. Released by Linn Records (of synth drum fame) and thus recorded with a clarity and quality still unrivalled in music, "A Walk Across The Rooftops" strolls between art rock, synth pop and the avant garde, weaving an appreciation for Reich-style minimalism, downtown experiments and stadium sized melodies into seven masterful tracks. Along with the avant-pop of the titular opener, the A-side features the aforementioned "Tinseltown In The Rain" (AKA greatest single of all time) a soaring, sumptuous bit of 80s wave-pop and the downbeat delicacy of "From Rags To Riches". On the B-side, the emotional pop of "Stay" leads into the eerie "Easter Parade" before drifting fourth world jam and Balearic favourite "Heatwave" offers a "Tin-Drum" style late album masterpiece. The minimal wave "Automobile Noise" closes the set in weird and wistful fashion, and then it's time to play the whole thing through again...

TRACK LISTING

A Walk Across The Rooftops
Tinseltown In The Rain
From Rags To Riches
Stay
Easter Parade
Heatwave
Automobile Noise

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. 

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".

This second set of "Walk A Mile In My Shoes" remixes are also on a house tip, but head straight to the main room of the club. First up is Timo Garcia & The Cheshire Catz (of Berwick Street Records "Into The Light" fame - big with Pete Tong) version on a hypnotic electrohouse tip, mostly instrumental but with a couple of vocal breakdowns. On the flip things go funky disco-house with Tom Belton's rework.

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