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Cat Power returns with "Jukebox", her second album of cover songs and a tribute to the great vocalists who have influenced her over the years. Recorded in Dallas, Memphis and Miami with Stu Sikes (who also worked on Loretta Lynn's Grammy-winning "Van Lear Rose"), it contains twelve tracks, eleven of which are covers and one, "Song To Bobby", is brand new and a suitable inclusion as she wrote it about meeting Bob Dylan for the first time (it also precedes her version of "I Believe In You" on this record). This is the first record she has made with her band Dirty Delta Blues – the quartet of Dirty Three's Jim White, Delta 72's Gregg Foreman, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion's Judah Bauer and Lizard Music's Erik Paparozzi – and they make up a big part of this album. Also making guest appearances on the record are Spooner Oldham (Neil Young, Janis Joplin), Larry McDonald (Toots & The Maytails, Taj Mahal), Teenie Hodges (Al Green, Memphis Rhythm Band) and Matt Sweeney (Chavez). Time Out once wrote that Cat Power was 'a master of interpretation' and "Jukebox" highlights just that. Although her second album of covers, it's not really the sequel to "The Covers Record" (2000), instead a fascinating new chapter in Chan Marshall's artistic arc.
FORMAT INFORMATION
Ltd LP Info: One of a series of re-presses from the Beggars Banquet stable.
Body/Head, the duo of Kim Gordon (CKM, Sonic Youth, Free Kitten) and guitarist Bill Nace (X.O.4, Vampire Belt, Ceylon Mange), release their second studio album, ‘The Switch’, on Matador Records.
Their debut album together as Body/Head, ‘Coming Apart’, from 2013, was more of a rock record - heavy, emotional, cathartic, spellwork in shades of black and grey. ‘The Switch’ is their second studio full length and it finds the duo working with a more subtle palette, refining their ideas and identity. Some of it was sketched out live (if you’ve not had the fortune of seeing them in that natural environment yet, see 2016’s improvisational document ‘No Waves’) but much of it happened purely in the moment.
On ‘The Switch’, their vision and focus feel truly unified. If ‘Coming Apart’ was dark magic, ‘The Switch’ works with light, though it never forgets that these approaches are two sides of the same coin and that binaries - black/white, near/far, emotion/analysis, body/head - are made to be broken open and that the truth of things is in the energy between.
Their debut album together as Body/Head, ‘Coming Apart’, from 2013, was more of a rock record - heavy, emotional, cathartic, spellwork in shades of black and grey. ‘The Switch’ is their second studio full length and it finds the duo working with a more subtle palette, refining their ideas and identity. Some of it was sketched out live (if you’ve not had the fortune of seeing them in that natural environment yet, see 2016’s improvisational document ‘No Waves’) but much of it happened purely in the moment.
On ‘The Switch’, their vision and focus feel truly unified. If ‘Coming Apart’ was dark magic, ‘The Switch’ works with light, though it never forgets that these approaches are two sides of the same coin and that binaries - black/white, near/far, emotion/analysis, body/head - are made to be broken open and that the truth of things is in the energy between.
STAFF COMMENTS
Matt says: Stained with biker grease and fried on the engine heat, this basically drum-less excursion into exhaust fume biker blues hits like a spice-laced cigerette in Piccadilly Gardens. Y'ouch!
Snail Mail’s full-length debut album, Lush, is a debut for the record books — a refreshing marvel of songwriting and technical composition, that’s both cohesive and explosive — Her voice rises and falls with electricity throughout, spinning with bold excitement and new beginnings at every turn.
Lush feels at times like an emotional rollercoaster, only fitting for Jordan’s explosive, dynamic personality. Growing up in Baltimore suburb Ellicot City, Jordan began her classical guitar training at age five, and a decade later wrote her first audacious songs as Snail Mail. Around that time, Jordan started frequenting local shows in Baltimore, where she formed close friendships within the local scene, the impetus for her to form a band. By the time she was sixteen, she had already released her debut EP, Habit, on local punk label Sister Polygon Records.
Lush feels at times like an emotional rollercoaster, only fitting for Jordan’s explosive, dynamic personality. Growing up in Baltimore suburb Ellicot City, Jordan began her classical guitar training at age five, and a decade later wrote her first audacious songs as Snail Mail. Around that time, Jordan started frequenting local shows in Baltimore, where she formed close friendships within the local scene, the impetus for her to form a band. By the time she was sixteen, she had already released her debut EP, Habit, on local punk label Sister Polygon Records.
STAFF COMMENTS
Barry says: Superbly upbeat anthems, soaring melodic vox and highly refined writing for a DEBUT album. Unbelievable really, but true. 'Lush' is exactly that, a beautifully emotive and brilliantly constructed ride.FORMAT INFORMATION
Coloured LP Info: Indies exclusive splatter vinyl.
Beyondless radiates joy. It’s an album that shows Iceage finally catching up with their ambition, all the while retaining the rich character of the band’s brash beginnings. It’s important to pay attention to the journey, from New Brigade (2011), a juvenile delinquent take on post-punk, full of cold, distant condemnation, and onto the ecstasy of You're Nothing (2013), shedding the more aggressive hardcore influence and dragging in more light, a tendency followed on Plowing Into The Field Of Love (2014). Throughout their career, the band’s charm has rested in their running ahead of themselves with blind confidence; on Beyondless, they are treading with a disarming assurance, but no loss of charm.
The album was produced by the band with Nis Bysted, and recorded all-analog by Mattias Glavå at Kungsten Studios in Göteborg, Sweden, and mixed by Randall Dunn at Avast Studios in Seattle. The album was played entirely by Iceage with additional performances by Nils Gröndhal (violin), horns by Kasper Tranberg (trumpet), Lars Greve (saxophones) and Morten Jessen (trombone).
The album was produced by the band with Nis Bysted, and recorded all-analog by Mattias Glavå at Kungsten Studios in Göteborg, Sweden, and mixed by Randall Dunn at Avast Studios in Seattle. The album was played entirely by Iceage with additional performances by Nils Gröndhal (violin), horns by Kasper Tranberg (trumpet), Lars Greve (saxophones) and Morten Jessen (trombone).
STAFF COMMENTS
Barry says: Switching from nodded-out psychedelic shambling melodies to driven garage-rock interludes, Iceage are brimming with spirit and equally matching their loosely laid melodic foundations with a relaxed but effective approach to songwriting.
2018 marks the 25th anniversary of Liz Phair’s landmark Exile in Guyville album. On May 4th, Matador Records will reissue the album on vinyl and CD. Re-mastered by Emily Lazar at The Lodge, the album is set for a remembrance worthy of its greatness. In addition to the straight reissue, Matador is also releasing Girly-Sound To Guyville, an extensive vinyl box set to celebrate the anniversary.
Originally released in 1993, Exile In Guyville is a seminal album and a feminist landmark. Its legendary status has only grown over the years. It’s continually included in countless lists…Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest albums of all time + 100 best albums of the 90s, Pitchfork’s Top 100 albums of the 90s, etc. Numerous essays and think pieces have been written about it and the number of accolades piled on is endless.
Since the release of Exile in Guyville, Liz Phair has continued to defy expectation and break barriers. She has released five albums, and is currently working on a new one with Ryan Adams. She has also composed music for television shows and received awards for that work. In November, it was announced that she would be fulfilling a longtime dream to be an author, having received a two-book deal with Random House. Her first book will be called Horror Stories which focuses on “heartbreak, motherhood, and everything in between.
Originally released in 1993, Exile In Guyville is a seminal album and a feminist landmark. Its legendary status has only grown over the years. It’s continually included in countless lists…Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest albums of all time + 100 best albums of the 90s, Pitchfork’s Top 100 albums of the 90s, etc. Numerous essays and think pieces have been written about it and the number of accolades piled on is endless.
Since the release of Exile in Guyville, Liz Phair has continued to defy expectation and break barriers. She has released five albums, and is currently working on a new one with Ryan Adams. She has also composed music for television shows and received awards for that work. In November, it was announced that she would be fulfilling a longtime dream to be an author, having received a two-book deal with Random House. Her first book will be called Horror Stories which focuses on “heartbreak, motherhood, and everything in between.
FORMAT INFORMATION
2xLtd LP includes MP3 Download Code.
2018 marks the 25th anniversary of Liz Phair’s landmark Exile in Guyville album. On May 4th, Matador Records will release Girly-Sound To Guyville, an extensive limited edition box set to celebrate the anniversary. The box set contains the first ever official release of the legendary Girly-Sound songs, which have been restored from their original three cassettes and mastered onto vinyl. It also contains a remastered double LP edition of Exile In Guyville and a 44 page book containing an extensive oral history, essays by Liz Phair and journalist Ann Powers, never before seen photographs, artwork and ephemera.
Originally released in 1993, Exile In Guyville is a seminal album and a feminist landmark. Its legendary status has only grown over the years. It’s continually included in countless lists…Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest albums of all time + 100 best albums of the 90s, Pitchfork’s Top 100 albums of the 90s, etc. Numerous essays and think pieces have been written about it and the number of accolades piled on is endless.
Since the release of Exile in Guyville, Liz Phair has continued to defy expectation and break barriers. She has released five albums, and is currently working on a new one with Ryan Adams. She has also composed music for television shows and received awards for that work. In November, it was announced that she would be fulfilling a longtime dream to be an author, and she received a two-book deal with Random House. Her first book will be called Horror Stories which focuses on “heartbreak, motherhood, and everything in between.”
Originally released in 1993, Exile In Guyville is a seminal album and a feminist landmark. Its legendary status has only grown over the years. It’s continually included in countless lists…Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest albums of all time + 100 best albums of the 90s, Pitchfork’s Top 100 albums of the 90s, etc. Numerous essays and think pieces have been written about it and the number of accolades piled on is endless.
Since the release of Exile in Guyville, Liz Phair has continued to defy expectation and break barriers. She has released five albums, and is currently working on a new one with Ryan Adams. She has also composed music for television shows and received awards for that work. In November, it was announced that she would be fulfilling a longtime dream to be an author, and she received a two-book deal with Random House. Her first book will be called Horror Stories which focuses on “heartbreak, motherhood, and everything in between.”
Lucy Dacus is done thinking small. Two years after her 2016 debut, No Burden, won her unanimous acclaim as one of rock's most promising new voices, Dacus returns on March 2 with Historian, a remarkably assured 10-track statement of intent. "This is the album I needed to make," says Dacus, who views Historian as her definitive statement as a songwriter and musician. "Everything after this is a bonus."
Dacus and her band recorded the album in Nashville last March, re-teaming with No Burden producer Collin Pastore, and mixed it a few months later with A-list studio wizard John Congleton. The sound they created, with substantial input from multi-instrumentalist and live guitarist Jacob Blizard, is far richer and fuller than the debut — an outward flowering of dynamic, living, breathing rock and roll. Dacus' remarkable sense of melody and composition are the driving force throughout, giving Historian the immersive feel of an album made by an artist in full command of her powers.
Dacus and her band recorded the album in Nashville last March, re-teaming with No Burden producer Collin Pastore, and mixed it a few months later with A-list studio wizard John Congleton. The sound they created, with substantial input from multi-instrumentalist and live guitarist Jacob Blizard, is far richer and fuller than the debut — an outward flowering of dynamic, living, breathing rock and roll. Dacus' remarkable sense of melody and composition are the driving force throughout, giving Historian the immersive feel of an album made by an artist in full command of her powers.
STAFF COMMENTS
Millie says: Dacus' light Americana leanings of the superb No Burden are sidelined slightly for her grander, more expansive new outing, Historian. Though her smouldering guitar work and unmistakable voice are ever present, they are skillfully woven into an intricate and all-encompassing web of orchestration, grandeur and beauty. This is a stunner, and every bit the successful follow-up.
Harking back to their 1997 release of three consecutive EPs (Dog On Wheels, Lazy Line Painter Jane, and 3.. 6.. 9 Seconds Of Light), Belle and Sebastian have kicked of 2018 with three new EPs under the umbrella title How To Solve Our Human Problems. The EP trilogy culminates with this beautifully packaged limited edition vinyl box set containing all three EPs.
Harkening back to their 1997 release of three consecutive EPs (Dog On Wheels, Lazy Line Painter Jane, and 3.. 6.. 9 Seconds Of Light), Belle and Sebastian will release three new EPs under the umbrella title How To Solve Our Human Problems, with the first EP coming out on December 8th, the second on January 19th, and the third on February 16th.
Just as those three early EPs are at the very heart of the Belle and Sebastian canon, so these three new releases deserve to be treated not as a stopgap, but as definitive releases in their own right. How To Solve Our Human Problems is both an era of its own, and part of a long, rich history. How To Solve Our Human Problems is, if you like, Belle and Sebastian Redux.
Just as those three early EPs are at the very heart of the Belle and Sebastian canon, so these three new releases deserve to be treated not as a stopgap, but as definitive releases in their own right. How To Solve Our Human Problems is both an era of its own, and part of a long, rich history. How To Solve Our Human Problems is, if you like, Belle and Sebastian Redux.
Julien Baker releases her highly anticipated second album, ‘Turn Out The Lights’, via Matador Records.
‘Turn Out The Lights’ arrives nearly two years to the day after Baker’s debut album, ‘Sprained Ankle’, which was widely acclaimed by outlets including The New York Times, Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, Noisey, and MOJO, among others.
Recorded at the legendary Ardent Studios in Baker’s hometown of Memphis, TN, ‘Turn Out The Lights’ expands upon the sound and vision of ‘Sprained Ankle’ while retaining the haunting, confessional songwriting style for which she has become known. Throughout the album, Baker reflects on experiences of her own and those closest to her, exploring the internal conflicts that wrestle inside us all: how we deal and cope with our struggles and how it all impacts both ourselves and our relationships of all kinds. The result is a deeply empathetic album that embraces the greys and complex truths of humanity and mental health.
‘Turn Out The Lights’ was written and produced by Baker and mixed by Craig Silvey (The National, Arcade Fire, Florence & The Machine).
‘Turn Out The Lights’ arrives nearly two years to the day after Baker’s debut album, ‘Sprained Ankle’, which was widely acclaimed by outlets including The New York Times, Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, Noisey, and MOJO, among others.
Recorded at the legendary Ardent Studios in Baker’s hometown of Memphis, TN, ‘Turn Out The Lights’ expands upon the sound and vision of ‘Sprained Ankle’ while retaining the haunting, confessional songwriting style for which she has become known. Throughout the album, Baker reflects on experiences of her own and those closest to her, exploring the internal conflicts that wrestle inside us all: how we deal and cope with our struggles and how it all impacts both ourselves and our relationships of all kinds. The result is a deeply empathetic album that embraces the greys and complex truths of humanity and mental health.
‘Turn Out The Lights’ was written and produced by Baker and mixed by Craig Silvey (The National, Arcade Fire, Florence & The Machine).
STAFF COMMENTS
Barry says: 'Sprained Ankle' went down a storm in here (was it really that long ago?) and I have no doubt this will surpass that. More heartfelt lyrics, cleverly constructed melodies and introspective moments, all wrapped in that warm veneer of Baker's spellbinding voice.FORMAT INFORMATION
Coloured LP Info: Clear vinyl.
“The title Villains isn’t a political statement. It has nothing to do with Trump or any of that shit. It’s simply 1) a word that looks fantastic and 2) a comment on the three versions of every scenario: yours, mine and what actually happened… Everyone needs someone or something to rail against—their villain—same as it ever was. You can’t control that. The only thing you can really control is when you let go."—Joshua Homme
Hundreds of epic shows, memory lapses, unexplained injuries, one yearlong detour with Iggy Pop and multiple Grammy nominations later, Queens Of The Stone Age re-emerge from the desert newly scarred and somehow strangely prettier with lucky seventh album, Villains.
Produced by Mark Ronson and co-produced by Mark Rankin and mixed by Alan Moulder, Villains is the first full album offering from Queens Of The Stone Age since 2013’s …Like Clockwork gave the band its first #1 album in the U.S. Like the stunning artwork of returning illustrator Boneface, the sonic signatures of the line-up that took …Like Clockwork around the world and back are as unmistakable as ever, though coexisting with sufficient new twists to induce recurring double takes. As Homme himself puts it, “The most important aspect of making this record was redefining our sound, asking and answering the question 'what do we sound like now?' If you can’t make a great first record, you should just stop—but if you can make a great record but you keep making records and your sound doesn’t evolve, you become a parody of that original sound."
Of his role working within such a closed and confident ecosystem as Queens Of The Stone Age, Ronson says, "Queens are and have always been my favourite rock n roll band ever since I walked into Tower on Sunset and bought Rated R in the summer of 2000, so it was incredibly surreal to be welcomed into their secret, pirate clan—or the ‘jacuzzi’ as Josh likes to call it. There were moments during the making of the album in which I was aware I was watching my musical heroes craft something that was sure to become one of my moments on any Queens album. And to have some part in that felt like being in a dream--a very heavy, dark, wonderful dream.”
Long-time Queens cohort co-producer Mark Rankin added, "After the baptism of fire that was …Like Clockwork, I was excited to get into the studio again with the challenge of pushing the sound for this record, especially with the addition of Ronson into the creative mix… What we’ve made is forward looking yet unmistakably Queens."
2xDeluxe LP includes MP3 Download Code.
2xIndies Exclusive LP Info: Independent store exclusive – different sleeve artwork.
2xIndies Exclusive LP includes MP3 Download Code.
Hundreds of epic shows, memory lapses, unexplained injuries, one yearlong detour with Iggy Pop and multiple Grammy nominations later, Queens Of The Stone Age re-emerge from the desert newly scarred and somehow strangely prettier with lucky seventh album, Villains.
Produced by Mark Ronson and co-produced by Mark Rankin and mixed by Alan Moulder, Villains is the first full album offering from Queens Of The Stone Age since 2013’s …Like Clockwork gave the band its first #1 album in the U.S. Like the stunning artwork of returning illustrator Boneface, the sonic signatures of the line-up that took …Like Clockwork around the world and back are as unmistakable as ever, though coexisting with sufficient new twists to induce recurring double takes. As Homme himself puts it, “The most important aspect of making this record was redefining our sound, asking and answering the question 'what do we sound like now?' If you can’t make a great first record, you should just stop—but if you can make a great record but you keep making records and your sound doesn’t evolve, you become a parody of that original sound."
Of his role working within such a closed and confident ecosystem as Queens Of The Stone Age, Ronson says, "Queens are and have always been my favourite rock n roll band ever since I walked into Tower on Sunset and bought Rated R in the summer of 2000, so it was incredibly surreal to be welcomed into their secret, pirate clan—or the ‘jacuzzi’ as Josh likes to call it. There were moments during the making of the album in which I was aware I was watching my musical heroes craft something that was sure to become one of my moments on any Queens album. And to have some part in that felt like being in a dream--a very heavy, dark, wonderful dream.”
Long-time Queens cohort co-producer Mark Rankin added, "After the baptism of fire that was …Like Clockwork, I was excited to get into the studio again with the challenge of pushing the sound for this record, especially with the addition of Ronson into the creative mix… What we’ve made is forward looking yet unmistakably Queens."
STAFF COMMENTS
Darryl says: ‘Villains’ finds the QOTSA boys in fine rockin’ form. Heavy sonic riffage with an added groove appeal too, no doubt courtesy of Mark Ronson in the producer’s chair.FORMAT INFORMATION
2xDeluxe LP Info: Deluxe heavyweight tipped-on sleeve, with 180g vinyl, plus 14 limited edition art prints by Boneface.2xDeluxe LP includes MP3 Download Code.
2xIndies Exclusive LP Info: Independent store exclusive – different sleeve artwork.
2xIndies Exclusive LP includes MP3 Download Code.
Perfume Genius, nom de poster-wraith of musician Mike Hadreas, will release his fourth album, No Shape, May 5 on Matador Records. The album was recorded in Los Angeles, produced by Blake Mills, mixed by Shawn Everett.
Perfume Genius’s 2014 breakout album Too Bright— featuring seismic anthem ‘Queen’ — marked a musical and performative leap that sounds unlike anything before or since. With his new songs, Hadreas goes even further, merging church music, makeout music, R&B, art pop, krautrock, and queer soul into his take on stadium anthems, completing the journey from critically acclaimed underground hero to fully fledged pop auteur.
Of the album, Hadreas says: “I pay my rent. I’m approaching health. The things that are bothering me personally now are less clear, more confusing. I don’t think I really figured them out with these songs. There’s something freeing about how I don’t have it figured out. Unpacking little morsels, magnifying my discomfort, wading through buried harm, laughing at or digging in to the embarrassing drama of it all. I may never come out the other side but it’s invigorating to try and hopefully, ultimately helpful. I think a lot of them are about trying to be happy in the face of whatever bullshit I created for myself or how horrible everything and everyone is.”
Perfume Genius’s 2014 breakout album Too Bright— featuring seismic anthem ‘Queen’ — marked a musical and performative leap that sounds unlike anything before or since. With his new songs, Hadreas goes even further, merging church music, makeout music, R&B, art pop, krautrock, and queer soul into his take on stadium anthems, completing the journey from critically acclaimed underground hero to fully fledged pop auteur.
Of the album, Hadreas says: “I pay my rent. I’m approaching health. The things that are bothering me personally now are less clear, more confusing. I don’t think I really figured them out with these songs. There’s something freeing about how I don’t have it figured out. Unpacking little morsels, magnifying my discomfort, wading through buried harm, laughing at or digging in to the embarrassing drama of it all. I may never come out the other side but it’s invigorating to try and hopefully, ultimately helpful. I think a lot of them are about trying to be happy in the face of whatever bullshit I created for myself or how horrible everything and everyone is.”
THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2017 EXCLUSIVE, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.
This Record Store Day, Spoon will release the 12” single ‘Hot Thoughts’.
Includes two otherwise unavailable tracks: ‘Hot Thoughts (Dave Sitek Remix)’ and Spoon’s cover of Elvis Presley’s ‘Love Letters.’
Limited to 500 copies for the UK and Eire.
This Record Store Day, Spoon will release the 12” single ‘Hot Thoughts’.
Includes two otherwise unavailable tracks: ‘Hot Thoughts (Dave Sitek Remix)’ and Spoon’s cover of Elvis Presley’s ‘Love Letters.’
Limited to 500 copies for the UK and Eire.
Produced by Spoon and Dave Fridmann, Austin’s most esteemed rock ambassadors have created the bravest, most sonically inventive work of their illustrious career.
Reuniting the band with the label that released their 1996 debut, ‘Telephono’, and following on Spoon’s streak of three consecutive US Top 10 albums—‘Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga’ (2007), ‘Transference’ (2010) and ‘They Want My Soul’ (2014)—‘Hot Thoughts’ is nothing short of epic. Listening to ‘Hot Thoughts’, it’s instantly apparent why Spoon are considered one of the most critically acclaimed acts of the first decade of the new millennium.
Within the space of 10 captivating songs – all written by Britt Daniel- ‘Hot Thoughts’ creates a musical universe all its own, with individual worlds ranging from the kaleidoscopic opening/title trackthrough the gargantuan stomp of “Do I Have To Talk You Into It” and ubiquitous wiry hooks of “Can I Sit Next To You" to the bittersweet “I Ain’t The One” and beyond.
Reuniting the band with the label that released their 1996 debut, ‘Telephono’, and following on Spoon’s streak of three consecutive US Top 10 albums—‘Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga’ (2007), ‘Transference’ (2010) and ‘They Want My Soul’ (2014)—‘Hot Thoughts’ is nothing short of epic. Listening to ‘Hot Thoughts’, it’s instantly apparent why Spoon are considered one of the most critically acclaimed acts of the first decade of the new millennium.
Within the space of 10 captivating songs – all written by Britt Daniel- ‘Hot Thoughts’ creates a musical universe all its own, with individual worlds ranging from the kaleidoscopic opening/title track
STAFF COMMENTS
Barry says: As addictive, funked up rhythms give way to distorted bursts and effervescent vocal melodies, this sonically fascinating but brilliantly accessible LP twists and turns break into pulsing synth pop and grooving head-nodders.
Memphis, TN-based songwriter Julien Baker is the latest addition to the Matador Records roster. The 21-year-old’s devastating and vulnerable debut album, ‘Sprained Ankle’, which was originally released in 2015, is now being made available again. A 7” single by Julien Baker is also being released at the same time.
For years, Baker and a group of close friends performed as the band Forrister (formerly The Star Killers) but when college took her four hours away, her need to continue creating found an outlet through solo work. The intent was never to make these songs her main focus, yet the process proved to be startlingly cathartic. As each song came into shape, it became more apparent that Baker had genuinely deep, surprisingly dark stories to tell from her thus far short life. Tales of her experiences are staggering and when set to her haunting guitar playing the results are gut wrenching and heartfelt, relatable yet very personal. There’s something wonderfully hypnotizing about Baker gently confessing her soul with such tremendous honesty.
“Richly poetic songs of trauma and redemption, moving from almost unbearable fragility to confessional strength.” - The New York Times
For years, Baker and a group of close friends performed as the band Forrister (formerly The Star Killers) but when college took her four hours away, her need to continue creating found an outlet through solo work. The intent was never to make these songs her main focus, yet the process proved to be startlingly cathartic. As each song came into shape, it became more apparent that Baker had genuinely deep, surprisingly dark stories to tell from her thus far short life. Tales of her experiences are staggering and when set to her haunting guitar playing the results are gut wrenching and heartfelt, relatable yet very personal. There’s something wonderfully hypnotizing about Baker gently confessing her soul with such tremendous honesty.
“Richly poetic songs of trauma and redemption, moving from almost unbearable fragility to confessional strength.” - The New York Times
STAFF COMMENTS
Sil says: Sounds that are as raw as they feel with lyrics that offer brutal emotional honesty. Depression, drugs and a deep end well of loneliness. A monster album filled with blues and sensibility.
Chavez’ new EP, ‘Cockfighters’, is three songs in nine minutes; a new chapter and a willful engagement with the masculine issues - both hidden and overt - of our time.
Chavez were an integral part of the Matador records 1990s wave of genius. With a bit more arena rock in their DNA than most of their labelmates, Chavez took the nervous structures and ruminative lyric modes of the indie rock scene but added - deeper and more effectively than their peers - an injection of glistening testosteronemaximized amperage to the mix.
Bassist Scott Marshall is a filmmaker who works and surfs in Malibu each and every day. Drummer The James Lo is ambivalent about this rock music thing. He spends his time designing sound for contemporary dance and creating bits of hardware and software for music and theatre. Guitarist, riff writer and purveyor of harmony vocals Clay Tarver is a screenwriter who has worked on all four seasons of the HBO series ‘Silicon Valley’ and he won a WGA Award in 2015. Guitarist, lyricist and lead singer Matt Sweeney is a knight errant of studio and stage who has played with everyone from Iggy Pop and Neil Diamond to Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, Adele and Run The Jewels.
This is the first public utterance from Chavez since 1996. However, this isn’t a reunion because, technically, the band never broke up.
Chavez were an integral part of the Matador records 1990s wave of genius. With a bit more arena rock in their DNA than most of their labelmates, Chavez took the nervous structures and ruminative lyric modes of the indie rock scene but added - deeper and more effectively than their peers - an injection of glistening testosteronemaximized amperage to the mix.
Bassist Scott Marshall is a filmmaker who works and surfs in Malibu each and every day. Drummer The James Lo is ambivalent about this rock music thing. He spends his time designing sound for contemporary dance and creating bits of hardware and software for music and theatre. Guitarist, riff writer and purveyor of harmony vocals Clay Tarver is a screenwriter who has worked on all four seasons of the HBO series ‘Silicon Valley’ and he won a WGA Award in 2015. Guitarist, lyricist and lead singer Matt Sweeney is a knight errant of studio and stage who has played with everyone from Iggy Pop and Neil Diamond to Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, Adele and Run The Jewels.
This is the first public utterance from Chavez since 1996. However, this isn’t a reunion because, technically, the band never broke up.
Richmond, VA-based songwriter Lucy Dacus is the latest addition to the renowned Matador Records roster.
Lucy Dacus's No Burden is full of surprises—sharp lyrical observations, playful turns of musical phrase, hooks that'll embed themselves in your frontal lobe for days. But the most surprising thing about this album might be the fact that it's a debut; it has a keen sense of self about it, and it nearly glows from the self-possession held by the woman at its core.
The 21-year-old Dacus grew up in Richmond; she was adopted at a young age, an experience that informed her curious, openhearted songwriting. "When my parents were explaining what adoption was—which was very early on in my childhood—they always said that my birthmother thought I was worthwhile even though she couldn't be my mom," she says. "And so from essentially infancy, I was taught that life was innately worthwhile because a bunch of people had worked together to set me up with one.”
Dacus started playing around Richmond while in college, opening for local acts and eventually meeting Jacob Blizard, a guitarist who invited her to make a record for a college project of his. No Burden, which originally came out in February on the Richmond label EggHunt Records, opens with the forthright, almost brutally honest "I Don't Wanna Be Funny Anymore," the last song Dacus wrote before the album's day-long recording session at Starstruck Studios in Nashville. Dacus delivers scalpel-sharp observations about resisting pigeonholing over chunky guitars, ticking off ideals of femininity and youth until the track's not-quite-resolution.
These themes extend to the lyrics of songs like "Strange Torpedo," a whirling portrait of a friend whose "bunch of bad habits" who, Dacus sings, has "been falling for so long… [and hasn't] hit anything solid yet." "I've been that friend watching a loved one do what they know is bad for them and not understanding why," says Dacus. The song offers a simple message: "I love you, why don't you love you? You're the one in your body so you get to choose what to do with it, but if I were you I'd treat me differently.”
The rest of No Burden, which was produced by Collin Pastore, puts Dacus's voice center stage, allowing the glinting poetry of her lyrics to shine even more brightly. "Trust," which Dacus wrote in late 2013, showcases her alone with her guitar, her faint vibrato floating over strummed chords as she sings of self-redemption. And the diptych "Dream State…" and "…Familiar Place," which revolve around Dacus repeating "Without you, I am surely the last of our kind/ Without you, I am surely the last of my kind," capture disappointment and loss in a jaw-dropping way; the music trembles around her while her voice stays steady, anticipating whatever might come next.
No Burden is a forthright, disarmingly catchy statement. And while it's a sterling debut, it only hints at the potential possessed by this passionate, thoughtful young woman.
Lucy Dacus's No Burden is full of surprises—sharp lyrical observations, playful turns of musical phrase, hooks that'll embed themselves in your frontal lobe for days. But the most surprising thing about this album might be the fact that it's a debut; it has a keen sense of self about it, and it nearly glows from the self-possession held by the woman at its core.
The 21-year-old Dacus grew up in Richmond; she was adopted at a young age, an experience that informed her curious, openhearted songwriting. "When my parents were explaining what adoption was—which was very early on in my childhood—they always said that my birthmother thought I was worthwhile even though she couldn't be my mom," she says. "And so from essentially infancy, I was taught that life was innately worthwhile because a bunch of people had worked together to set me up with one.”
Dacus started playing around Richmond while in college, opening for local acts and eventually meeting Jacob Blizard, a guitarist who invited her to make a record for a college project of his. No Burden, which originally came out in February on the Richmond label EggHunt Records, opens with the forthright, almost brutally honest "I Don't Wanna Be Funny Anymore," the last song Dacus wrote before the album's day-long recording session at Starstruck Studios in Nashville. Dacus delivers scalpel-sharp observations about resisting pigeonholing over chunky guitars, ticking off ideals of femininity and youth until the track's not-quite-resolution.
These themes extend to the lyrics of songs like "Strange Torpedo," a whirling portrait of a friend whose "bunch of bad habits" who, Dacus sings, has "been falling for so long… [and hasn't] hit anything solid yet." "I've been that friend watching a loved one do what they know is bad for them and not understanding why," says Dacus. The song offers a simple message: "I love you, why don't you love you? You're the one in your body so you get to choose what to do with it, but if I were you I'd treat me differently.”
The rest of No Burden, which was produced by Collin Pastore, puts Dacus's voice center stage, allowing the glinting poetry of her lyrics to shine even more brightly. "Trust," which Dacus wrote in late 2013, showcases her alone with her guitar, her faint vibrato floating over strummed chords as she sings of self-redemption. And the diptych "Dream State…" and "…Familiar Place," which revolve around Dacus repeating "Without you, I am surely the last of our kind/ Without you, I am surely the last of my kind," capture disappointment and loss in a jaw-dropping way; the music trembles around her while her voice stays steady, anticipating whatever might come next.
No Burden is a forthright, disarmingly catchy statement. And while it's a sterling debut, it only hints at the potential possessed by this passionate, thoughtful young woman.
STAFF COMMENTS
Barry says: I think the first thing that hits you about this is Dacus' voice, it is both enchanting and direct, filled with emotion but almost disarmingly monochromatic, saturated with feeling but structurally unyielding. Place this on top of the head-noddingly groovy bluesy distorted guitars, and galloping drum licks, and you have an end-of year contender. I couldn't imagine anyone who likes any sort of rock/indie/country not enjoying this.
Teens of Denial is the thirteenth album in Car Seat Headrest’s (aka 23-year-old Will Toledo) oeuvre, second on Matador, and first to be recorded in a proper studio with a full band and producer (Steve Fisk).
On Denial, Toledo moves from bedroom pop to something approaching classic-rock grandeur and huge (if detailed and personal) narrative ambitions, with nods to the Cars, Pavement, Jonathan Richman, Wire, and William Onyeabor. By turns tender and caustic, empathetic and solipsistic, literary and vernacular, profound and profane, self-loathing and self-aggrandizing, he conjures a specifically 21st century mindset, a product of information overload, the loneliness it can foster, and the escape music can provide.
On Denial, Toledo moves from bedroom pop to something approaching classic-rock grandeur and huge (if detailed and personal) narrative ambitions, with nods to the Cars, Pavement, Jonathan Richman, Wire, and William Onyeabor. By turns tender and caustic, empathetic and solipsistic, literary and vernacular, profound and profane, self-loathing and self-aggrandizing, he conjures a specifically 21st century mindset, a product of information overload, the loneliness it can foster, and the escape music can provide.
STAFF COMMENTS
Barry says: Boisterous and catchy college-rock anthems with a nod to melancholic folk, skate-punk and everything in between. Teens of Denial is a further expansion of singer-songwriter Will Toledo's already extensive back catalogue. Exciting and heartfelt, and another fantastic outing for Car Seat Headrest.
Spoon’s classic ‘Gimme Fiction’ celebrates its 10th anniversary with a deluxe version released on Matador Records.
The reissue contains the original album newlyremastered by Howie Weinberg from the original tapes, a second disc with 12 previously unreleased demos from the era, a digital download of nine additional bonus tracks and a full colour book containing photos and an extensive oral history of the making of the album by The AV Club’s Sean O’Neal. The deluxe LP package also includes tipped sleeves, a 24” x 36” poster and a digital download of all songs.
‘Gimme Fiction’ dragged the sonic pointillism of ‘Kill The Moonlight’ further into dub-influenced weirdness as the increasingly confident Spoon went crazy in the studio, experimenting with everything from warped hip hop samples to horse whinnies. Whatever digging or strange alchemy had to go into it, they only produced more gold.
‘Gimme Fiction’ deserves special recognition as the album where Spoon took creative and stylistic quantum leaps that resulted in classics ‘I Turn My Camera On’, ‘The Beast And Dragon Adored’, ‘My Mathematical Mind’, ‘I Summon You’ and so many more. 10 years later, ‘Gimme Fiction’ gets the deluxe release it so richly deserves.
The reissue contains the original album newlyremastered by Howie Weinberg from the original tapes, a second disc with 12 previously unreleased demos from the era, a digital download of nine additional bonus tracks and a full colour book containing photos and an extensive oral history of the making of the album by The AV Club’s Sean O’Neal. The deluxe LP package also includes tipped sleeves, a 24” x 36” poster and a digital download of all songs.
‘Gimme Fiction’ dragged the sonic pointillism of ‘Kill The Moonlight’ further into dub-influenced weirdness as the increasingly confident Spoon went crazy in the studio, experimenting with everything from warped hip hop samples to horse whinnies. Whatever digging or strange alchemy had to go into it, they only produced more gold.
‘Gimme Fiction’ deserves special recognition as the album where Spoon took creative and stylistic quantum leaps that resulted in classics ‘I Turn My Camera On’, ‘The Beast And Dragon Adored’, ‘My Mathematical Mind’, ‘I Summon You’ and so many more. 10 years later, ‘Gimme Fiction’ gets the deluxe release it so richly deserves.
Matador Records are thrilled to announce the signing of Car Seat Headrest and the release of ‘Teens Of Style’, with ‘Teens Of Denial’ to follow soon after in 2016.
This prolific artist (also known as Will Toledo) comes to Matador having already crafted an 11-album catalogue of staggering depth, all self-released digitally, gaining him an obsessive following and over 25,000 downloads - all without the muscle of a manager, label, agent, or publicist - until now.
Car Seat Headrest began in 2010 in Will Toledo’s hometown of Leesburg, Virginia. Needing a place of solitude (and soundproofing) where he could record vocals undisturbed, a 17-year-old Toledo set up shop in the family car. Toledo’s catalogue is sharp, literary and culturally omnivorous as it touches upon youth and death, love and depression, drunken parties and 2nd Century theologian. Ever surprising, his lyrical imagery ranges from playful to sexually frank to sorrowful, often within the same song.
After relocating to the Seattle suburbs in 2014, Toledo assembled a line up with bassist Ethan Ives and drummer Andrew Katz. ‘Teens Of Style’ is the first Car Seat Headrest album recorded with a full band and the sound is vibrant and powerful with a wide stylistic range.
On ‘Teens Of Style’ Toledo has taken material from the first three years of the band’s existence and reworked it to generate some of the most realized arrangements to date. Drawing material from ‘3’ (2010), ‘My Back Is Killing Me Baby’ (2011) and ‘Monomania’ (2012), ‘Teens Of Style’ provides a concise overview of the band’s many sonic and emotional facets, with the songs ranging from electronic psychedelia to punky anthems to melancholic acoustic numbers.
The longest track on ‘Teens Of Style’, ‘Times To Die’ is just under seven minutes, applying breakbeat cut-ups and ‘Low Rider’ horns to a groove-driven neo-psych jam with lyrics about Judaism, Hinduism and the record business. Similarly, ‘Maud Gone’ is a wistful 60s-inspired pop number paying homage to Yeats’ unrequited love, while the intricate party track ‘Los Borrachos’ borrows its title from the Diego Velasquez painting.
Car Seat Headrest’s conceptual ambition and stunning songwriting has been apparent since its early days of laptop recording, the scale of Toledo’s vision going far beyond the constricting ‘lo-fi’ term. Now on his Matador Records debut we witness Toledo presenting his intricate ideas with more clarity and refinement than ever, delivering an enthralling collection of songs destined for wide acclaim.
“Toledo’s commitment to giving listeners a direct line to his inner monologue is the kind of thing that inspires hardcore fanhood - the ability to get lost in Toledo’s work is the entire point.” - Pitchfork
“Crazy impressive - catchy, thoughtful, and inventive” - Brooklyn Vegan
“A major new talent… his music is beguiling and easy to get lost in” - NME
This prolific artist (also known as Will Toledo) comes to Matador having already crafted an 11-album catalogue of staggering depth, all self-released digitally, gaining him an obsessive following and over 25,000 downloads - all without the muscle of a manager, label, agent, or publicist - until now.
Car Seat Headrest began in 2010 in Will Toledo’s hometown of Leesburg, Virginia. Needing a place of solitude (and soundproofing) where he could record vocals undisturbed, a 17-year-old Toledo set up shop in the family car. Toledo’s catalogue is sharp, literary and culturally omnivorous as it touches upon youth and death, love and depression, drunken parties and 2nd Century theologian. Ever surprising, his lyrical imagery ranges from playful to sexually frank to sorrowful, often within the same song.
After relocating to the Seattle suburbs in 2014, Toledo assembled a line up with bassist Ethan Ives and drummer Andrew Katz. ‘Teens Of Style’ is the first Car Seat Headrest album recorded with a full band and the sound is vibrant and powerful with a wide stylistic range.
On ‘Teens Of Style’ Toledo has taken material from the first three years of the band’s existence and reworked it to generate some of the most realized arrangements to date. Drawing material from ‘3’ (2010), ‘My Back Is Killing Me Baby’ (2011) and ‘Monomania’ (2012), ‘Teens Of Style’ provides a concise overview of the band’s many sonic and emotional facets, with the songs ranging from electronic psychedelia to punky anthems to melancholic acoustic numbers.
The longest track on ‘Teens Of Style’, ‘Times To Die’ is just under seven minutes, applying breakbeat cut-ups and ‘Low Rider’ horns to a groove-driven neo-psych jam with lyrics about Judaism, Hinduism and the record business. Similarly, ‘Maud Gone’ is a wistful 60s-inspired pop number paying homage to Yeats’ unrequited love, while the intricate party track ‘Los Borrachos’ borrows its title from the Diego Velasquez painting.
Car Seat Headrest’s conceptual ambition and stunning songwriting has been apparent since its early days of laptop recording, the scale of Toledo’s vision going far beyond the constricting ‘lo-fi’ term. Now on his Matador Records debut we witness Toledo presenting his intricate ideas with more clarity and refinement than ever, delivering an enthralling collection of songs destined for wide acclaim.
“Toledo’s commitment to giving listeners a direct line to his inner monologue is the kind of thing that inspires hardcore fanhood - the ability to get lost in Toledo’s work is the entire point.” - Pitchfork
“Crazy impressive - catchy, thoughtful, and inventive” - Brooklyn Vegan
“A major new talent… his music is beguiling and easy to get lost in” - NME
Majical Cloudz return with their eagerly anticipated sophomore studio album ‘Are You Alone?’, released on Matador Records.
In 2013, the Canadian duo, comprised of principle songwriter and vocalist Devon Welsh and producer Matthew Otto, made a lasting impression with their debut full length ‘Impersonator’, which garnered praise from tastemaker and mainstream media alike as one of the year’s best and most notable albums. The band have since been fastidiously crafting their second studio album while simultaneously touring the world with their own shows as well as opening for Lorde on her North American tour.
‘Are You Alone?’ sees the expansion of Majical Cloudz’ sonic and narrative scope in adventurous new directions while retaining the unmistakable building blocks that have singled out the musical-performance art project as a unique proposition. Simple yet emotionally confounding lyrics showcasing a raw vulnerability which explore love and friendship, heartbreak and sadness, delivered in Welsh’s arresting baritone and filled out by minimalist yet evocative production and instrumentation, bringing the songs’ underlying emotional core to stirring realization. Throughout 12 poignant and resonant compositions Welsh and Otto have created a soulful and cinematic novella, continuing their artistic evolution at the forefront of brave and uncompromising musical performance.
Written and recorded between Montreal and Detroit, ‘Are You Alone?’ features drum, viola and piano support from Canadian composition auteur Owen Pallett, known for his work with Arcade Fire, Grizzly Bear, Death From Above 1979 and Alex Turner of the Arctic Monkeys.
Following early releases as well as collaborations with artistic kin Grimes, Majical Cloudz broke into recognition with their ‘Turns Turns Turns’ EP in 2012 and soon after signed to Matador. In addition to being nominated for the 2013 Polaris Music Prize, ‘Impersonator’ received critical praise from Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, Stereogum, VICE and NME among others. In 2014 the duo were personally selected by teenage pop phenomenon Lorde as the opening act for her North American tour, taking their intimate stage setup to theatres across the continent.
Their incredible conceptual live performance - stark and direct yet with moments of Pagliacci-esque silliness - gained plaudits from Billboard, Grantland, and Pitchfork and was described by Lorde as “one of the most simple and moving things I have seen, ever.” The 2014 tour with Lorde was captured in in the Majical Cloudz documentary ‘A Lot Of Humans’, directed by Neil Corcoran with an original soundtrack by the band. They were further highlighted with a summer cover story feature on Pitchfork.
In 2013, the Canadian duo, comprised of principle songwriter and vocalist Devon Welsh and producer Matthew Otto, made a lasting impression with their debut full length ‘Impersonator’, which garnered praise from tastemaker and mainstream media alike as one of the year’s best and most notable albums. The band have since been fastidiously crafting their second studio album while simultaneously touring the world with their own shows as well as opening for Lorde on her North American tour.
‘Are You Alone?’ sees the expansion of Majical Cloudz’ sonic and narrative scope in adventurous new directions while retaining the unmistakable building blocks that have singled out the musical-performance art project as a unique proposition. Simple yet emotionally confounding lyrics showcasing a raw vulnerability which explore love and friendship, heartbreak and sadness, delivered in Welsh’s arresting baritone and filled out by minimalist yet evocative production and instrumentation, bringing the songs’ underlying emotional core to stirring realization. Throughout 12 poignant and resonant compositions Welsh and Otto have created a soulful and cinematic novella, continuing their artistic evolution at the forefront of brave and uncompromising musical performance.
Written and recorded between Montreal and Detroit, ‘Are You Alone?’ features drum, viola and piano support from Canadian composition auteur Owen Pallett, known for his work with Arcade Fire, Grizzly Bear, Death From Above 1979 and Alex Turner of the Arctic Monkeys.
Following early releases as well as collaborations with artistic kin Grimes, Majical Cloudz broke into recognition with their ‘Turns Turns Turns’ EP in 2012 and soon after signed to Matador. In addition to being nominated for the 2013 Polaris Music Prize, ‘Impersonator’ received critical praise from Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, Stereogum, VICE and NME among others. In 2014 the duo were personally selected by teenage pop phenomenon Lorde as the opening act for her North American tour, taking their intimate stage setup to theatres across the continent.
Their incredible conceptual live performance - stark and direct yet with moments of Pagliacci-esque silliness - gained plaudits from Billboard, Grantland, and Pitchfork and was described by Lorde as “one of the most simple and moving things I have seen, ever.” The 2014 tour with Lorde was captured in in the Majical Cloudz documentary ‘A Lot Of Humans’, directed by Neil Corcoran with an original soundtrack by the band. They were further highlighted with a summer cover story feature on Pitchfork.
'b’lieve i'm goin down…' is Vile’s sixth album, and shows Kurt both deeply introspective and briskly self-assured. As longtime fan Kim Gordon wrote in her bio for the album: “Kurt does his own myth-making; a boy/man with an old soul voice in the age of digital everything becoming something else, which is why this focused, brilliantly clear and seemingly candid record is a breath of fresh air.
Recorded and mixed in a number of locations, including Los Angeles and Joshua tree, b’lieve i'm goin down… is a handshake across the country, east to west coast, thru the dustbowl history (“valley of ashes”) of woody honest strait forward talk Guthrie, and a cali canyon dead still nite floating in a nearly waterless landscape. The record is all air, weightless, bodyless, but grounded in convincing authenticity, in the best version of a singer songwriter upcycling.”
Recorded and mixed in a number of locations, including Los Angeles and Joshua tree, b’lieve i'm goin down… is a handshake across the country, east to west coast, thru the dustbowl history (“valley of ashes”) of woody honest strait forward talk Guthrie, and a cali canyon dead still nite floating in a nearly waterless landscape. The record is all air, weightless, bodyless, but grounded in convincing authenticity, in the best version of a singer songwriter upcycling.”
STAFF COMMENTS
Andy says: With a late night/early hours ruminative glow, KV brings more songs from his couch, and his most mellow, considered collection so far.
Breakup albums mark a turning point for a band: the moment when their sound completely changes and reaches a new level of emotional clarity. All that heartbreak and malaise condensed into any single record often makes for a defining piece of work, no matter the genre. The best records explore the nooks and crannies of sadness, learning it inside and out - celebrating it.
Ceremony's fifth studio album, The L-Shaped Man, uses singer Ross Farrar's recent breakup as a platform to explore loneliness and emotional weariness, but it is by no means a purely sad album. Rather than look inward, Farrar uses his experience to write about what it means to go through something heavy and come out the other side a different person.
In order to tell Farrar's story, Ceremony have almost completely stripped back the propulsive hardcore of their previous records, turning every angry outburst into simmering despair. "We've always tried to be minimalists in writing, even if it's loud or fast or abrasive," says lead guitarist Anthony Anzaldo. "It's really intense when I hear it. Not in a way where you turn everything up to ten. Things are so bare, you're holding this one note for so long and you don't now where it's going-to me, that's intensity." That intensity is apparent on "Exit Fears," the first full song on the record. It meticulously pairs Justin Davis' loping bassline, which pulls the track along, with Anzaldo's icy, minimal guitar work. It brings to mind some alternate version of Joy Division that hasn't quite lost all hope. It gets close to exploding, but instead plays the shadows, never quite rising above a nervous simmer.
"A lot of the content has to do with loss, and specifically the loss of someone who you care deeply about," Farrar says. "There is no way for you to go through something like this artistically and not have really strong emotions of loss and pain. There's not really any way to hide that." Farrar, for his part, is singing with a new kind of intensity, his baritone swooping and retreating from stressed angst to unsettling near-mutter as he sings, "You told your friends you were fine/ you thought you were fine too..." and later, "nothing is ever fine/ nothing ever feels right/ you have to tell yourself you tried." It's the first of many lyrically direct moments, and it should be hard to listen to, but Ceremony have so effortlessly nailed the sound of sadness that it feels great to live inside for awhile.
The sound is abetted by producer John Reis, who honed his sound in seminal bands like Rocket from the Crypt, Drive Like Jehu, and Hot Snakes. Much of the gravelly aggression he experimented with in those bands is present on The L-Shaped Man.
There's a story behind the title too. "I was speaking to our driver Stephen while on tour," Farrar says. "We were talking about men in general and what shape they are...their body type. I said, 'I guess men are in the shape of an L. The torso is straight. Vertical. And then you have the little feet at the end.' There's this painter named Leslie Lerner who was living in San Francisco in the '70s and '80s and made these beautiful paintings. He died on my 21st birthday. A lot of the record is about the similarities in our ideas. In what we're trying to make. Things that have to do with love and losing love."
Ceremony's fifth studio album, The L-Shaped Man, uses singer Ross Farrar's recent breakup as a platform to explore loneliness and emotional weariness, but it is by no means a purely sad album. Rather than look inward, Farrar uses his experience to write about what it means to go through something heavy and come out the other side a different person.
In order to tell Farrar's story, Ceremony have almost completely stripped back the propulsive hardcore of their previous records, turning every angry outburst into simmering despair. "We've always tried to be minimalists in writing, even if it's loud or fast or abrasive," says lead guitarist Anthony Anzaldo. "It's really intense when I hear it. Not in a way where you turn everything up to ten. Things are so bare, you're holding this one note for so long and you don't now where it's going-to me, that's intensity." That intensity is apparent on "Exit Fears," the first full song on the record. It meticulously pairs Justin Davis' loping bassline, which pulls the track along, with Anzaldo's icy, minimal guitar work. It brings to mind some alternate version of Joy Division that hasn't quite lost all hope. It gets close to exploding, but instead plays the shadows, never quite rising above a nervous simmer.
"A lot of the content has to do with loss, and specifically the loss of someone who you care deeply about," Farrar says. "There is no way for you to go through something like this artistically and not have really strong emotions of loss and pain. There's not really any way to hide that." Farrar, for his part, is singing with a new kind of intensity, his baritone swooping and retreating from stressed angst to unsettling near-mutter as he sings, "You told your friends you were fine/ you thought you were fine too..." and later, "nothing is ever fine/ nothing ever feels right/ you have to tell yourself you tried." It's the first of many lyrically direct moments, and it should be hard to listen to, but Ceremony have so effortlessly nailed the sound of sadness that it feels great to live inside for awhile.
The sound is abetted by producer John Reis, who honed his sound in seminal bands like Rocket from the Crypt, Drive Like Jehu, and Hot Snakes. Much of the gravelly aggression he experimented with in those bands is present on The L-Shaped Man.
There's a story behind the title too. "I was speaking to our driver Stephen while on tour," Farrar says. "We were talking about men in general and what shape they are...their body type. I said, 'I guess men are in the shape of an L. The torso is straight. Vertical. And then you have the little feet at the end.' There's this painter named Leslie Lerner who was living in San Francisco in the '70s and '80s and made these beautiful paintings. He died on my 21st birthday. A lot of the record is about the similarities in our ideas. In what we're trying to make. Things that have to do with love and losing love."
Recently, The Quietus published an interview with Stuart Murdoch and Richard Colburn which gives a hint of what to expect from "Girls In Peacetime Want To Dance". The album opens with “Nobody’s Empire,” which Stuart said “is absolutely the most personal [song] I’ve ever written.” About the beginnings of his lifelong struggle with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome which led to his first forays into songwriting, it is easily one of his most musically and emotionally epic songs.
What it doesn’t indicate is how fun the album is. Produced and mixed at Maze Studios in Atlanta by Ben H. Allen III, best known for his work with Gnarls Barkley, Animal Collective, and Raury, among others, the band – who have been listening to things like vintage Detroit techno and Giogio Moroder – have brought a dance-party element (and a disco song about Sylvia Plath) into their gorgeous tales of sensitive souls navigating a world gone awry. It is perhaps the most inspired and wide-reaching album Belle and Sebastian have ever made.
2xLP includes MP3 Download Code.
CD Info: With 24 booklet.
What it doesn’t indicate is how fun the album is. Produced and mixed at Maze Studios in Atlanta by Ben H. Allen III, best known for his work with Gnarls Barkley, Animal Collective, and Raury, among others, the band – who have been listening to things like vintage Detroit techno and Giogio Moroder – have brought a dance-party element (and a disco song about Sylvia Plath) into their gorgeous tales of sensitive souls navigating a world gone awry. It is perhaps the most inspired and wide-reaching album Belle and Sebastian have ever made.
FORMAT INFORMATION
2xLP Info: Double LP with a gatefold sleeve.2xLP includes MP3 Download Code.
CD Info: With 24 booklet.
Recently, The Quietus published an interview with Stuart Murdoch and Richard Colburn which gives a hint of what to expect from "Girls In Peacetime Want To Dance". The album opens with “Nobody’s Empire,” which Stuart said “is absolutely the most personal [song] I’ve ever written.” About the beginnings of his lifelong struggle with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome which led to his first forays into songwriting, it is easily one of his most musically and emotionally epic songs.
What it doesn’t indicate is how fun the album is. Produced and mixed at Maze Studios in Atlanta by Ben H. Allen III, best known for his work with Gnarls Barkley, Animal Collective, and Raury, among others, the band – who have been listening to things like vintage Detroit techno and Giogio Moroder – have brought a dance-party element (and a disco song about Sylvia Plath) into their gorgeous tales of sensitive souls navigating a world gone awry. It is perhaps the most inspired and wide-reaching album Belle and Sebastian have ever made.
What it doesn’t indicate is how fun the album is. Produced and mixed at Maze Studios in Atlanta by Ben H. Allen III, best known for his work with Gnarls Barkley, Animal Collective, and Raury, among others, the band – who have been listening to things like vintage Detroit techno and Giogio Moroder – have brought a dance-party element (and a disco song about Sylvia Plath) into their gorgeous tales of sensitive souls navigating a world gone awry. It is perhaps the most inspired and wide-reaching album Belle and Sebastian have ever made.
FORMAT INFORMATION
LP Box Set Info: Limited edition, quadruple LP in lidded box with download voucher and poster. Featuring two extended mixes and four bonus tracks, two of which are exclusive to this format.
Fucked Up are a punk band. They were a punk band when they started in Toronto more than a decade ago and they’ve remained a punk band even as they’ve ascended to career heights that their younger selves never could’ve imagined. But how do you remain a punk band when you’re on magazine covers, or sharing stadium stages with the Foo Fighters? How do you stay true to your 15-year-old self when you’ve got a career to maintain and families to support? Those are the questions that Fucked Up asks on ‘Glass Boys’ and they ask those questions in the form of a blazing, titanic, ultimately triumphant rock album.
The last two Fucked Up albums were sweeping, defining, monolithic gestures. On 2008’s ‘The Chemistry Of Common Life’ they tested hardcore’s capacity for stylistic innovation, for seven-minute songs and unconventional arrangements and they won Canada’s prestigious Polaris Music Prize in the process. With 2011’s ‘David Comes To Life’ they offered up a full-blown rock opera, coming with one larger-than-life hook after another and that made them even bigger and further away from the Toronto hardcore scene that nurtured them. ‘Glass Boys’ isn’t a retrenchment or a back-tobasics move - it’s too ambitious and complex for that - but after those last two albums it’s tight and concise and direct, an album of real and direct sentiment rather than artifice.
Musically, ‘Glass Boys’ carries echoes of some of the more ragged and adventurous bands from America’s punk past (Husker Du, Dinosaur Jr.) but it also has some of the anthemic charge of The Who and the guttural intensity of Negative Approach. Singer Damian Abraham still growls like a demon but he’s found more range and depth in his bark. Drummer Jonah Falco does something innovative on the album, adding two separate drum tracks, one of them in half-time, adding a psychedelic, disorienting feel.
The triple-guitar battalion of Mike Haliechuk, Ben Cook and Josh Zucker still builds symphonies out of feedback and powerchords but this time around there’s less emphasis on world-crushing riffs and more on world-creating textures. Bassist Sandy Miranda is now even more a part of that storm, her instrument blurring in with that overwhelming guitar roar.
If the album’s lyrics concern the quest to stay true to your younger self, the music pulls off the trick beautifully. ‘Echo Boomer’, like ‘Son The Father’ and ‘Let Her Rest’ before it, makes for a powerful album opener, a surge of catharsis that gives a strong idea of what's to come. ‘Sun Glass’ builds from acoustic strumming to bleary pummel and stays pretty the whole time. ‘DET’ has one of those world-annihilating choruses that demands a full-room singalong and the album-closing title track is a blast of epic catharsis as grand and forceful as anything this band has ever done. After two monumental concept-driven concept albums, Fucked Up have made another heartexpanding, life-affirming piece of work, and this time, they’ve done it by shooting straight from the heart.
The last two Fucked Up albums were sweeping, defining, monolithic gestures. On 2008’s ‘The Chemistry Of Common Life’ they tested hardcore’s capacity for stylistic innovation, for seven-minute songs and unconventional arrangements and they won Canada’s prestigious Polaris Music Prize in the process. With 2011’s ‘David Comes To Life’ they offered up a full-blown rock opera, coming with one larger-than-life hook after another and that made them even bigger and further away from the Toronto hardcore scene that nurtured them. ‘Glass Boys’ isn’t a retrenchment or a back-tobasics move - it’s too ambitious and complex for that - but after those last two albums it’s tight and concise and direct, an album of real and direct sentiment rather than artifice.
Musically, ‘Glass Boys’ carries echoes of some of the more ragged and adventurous bands from America’s punk past (Husker Du, Dinosaur Jr.) but it also has some of the anthemic charge of The Who and the guttural intensity of Negative Approach. Singer Damian Abraham still growls like a demon but he’s found more range and depth in his bark. Drummer Jonah Falco does something innovative on the album, adding two separate drum tracks, one of them in half-time, adding a psychedelic, disorienting feel.
The triple-guitar battalion of Mike Haliechuk, Ben Cook and Josh Zucker still builds symphonies out of feedback and powerchords but this time around there’s less emphasis on world-crushing riffs and more on world-creating textures. Bassist Sandy Miranda is now even more a part of that storm, her instrument blurring in with that overwhelming guitar roar.
If the album’s lyrics concern the quest to stay true to your younger self, the music pulls off the trick beautifully. ‘Echo Boomer’, like ‘Son The Father’ and ‘Let Her Rest’ before it, makes for a powerful album opener, a surge of catharsis that gives a strong idea of what's to come. ‘Sun Glass’ builds from acoustic strumming to bleary pummel and stays pretty the whole time. ‘DET’ has one of those world-annihilating choruses that demands a full-room singalong and the album-closing title track is a blast of epic catharsis as grand and forceful as anything this band has ever done. After two monumental concept-driven concept albums, Fucked Up have made another heartexpanding, life-affirming piece of work, and this time, they’ve done it by shooting straight from the heart.
3 12″ singles with a printed flat in a 4-box poly shower curtain display case. There’s metal grommets in the curtain if you’d prefer to display it on your wall (or, if you’re especially nuts, in your shower).
All versions are unreleased except the original version. Each 12″ pack comes with a download coupon with all the tracks plus the radio edit of “Ohm”.
There are only 20 copies of this for the UK so don't snooze if you want one!
All versions are unreleased except the original version. Each 12″ pack comes with a download coupon with all the tracks plus the radio edit of “Ohm”.
There are only 20 copies of this for the UK so don't snooze if you want one!
FORMAT INFORMATION
3xLtd 12" Info: This sold out as soon as we got it in, but someone who ordered it didn't collect it, so if you want this last copy, get your skates on!!
The highly anticipated debut from London’s Savages, an all-female four-piece who play music with scything energy and brutal power.
Recorded with Rodaidh McDonald (The xx), the album is an 11-track, 38-minute masterpiece. Limned in black and white but containing a swell of different emotions within its self-imposed strictures, the songs cover topics from masochism (“Hit Me”), urban dread (“City’s Full”), materialism, possessivenes and the experience of being a woman (“Husbands,” “I Am Here”). Every one is delivered with fierce conviction and concision.
They have cited a huge range of influences, including J.G. Ballard, the Gun Club, Silver Apples, Siouxsie, Wire, Black Sabbath, Mary Shelley and Kurt Vonnegut.
In the words of the band: “Savages are a self-affirming voice to help experience our girlfriends differently, our husbands, our jobs, our erotic life, and the place music occupies into our lives. Savages’ songs aim to remind us that human beings havenʼt evolved so much, that music can still be straight to the point, efficient and exciting.”
Recorded with Rodaidh McDonald (The xx), the album is an 11-track, 38-minute masterpiece. Limned in black and white but containing a swell of different emotions within its self-imposed strictures, the songs cover topics from masochism (“Hit Me”), urban dread (“City’s Full”), materialism, possessivenes and the experience of being a woman (“Husbands,” “I Am Here”). Every one is delivered with fierce conviction and concision.
They have cited a huge range of influences, including J.G. Ballard, the Gun Club, Silver Apples, Siouxsie, Wire, Black Sabbath, Mary Shelley and Kurt Vonnegut.
In the words of the band: “Savages are a self-affirming voice to help experience our girlfriends differently, our husbands, our jobs, our erotic life, and the place music occupies into our lives. Savages’ songs aim to remind us that human beings havenʼt evolved so much, that music can still be straight to the point, efficient and exciting.”
FORMAT INFORMATION
LP includes MP3 Download Code.
Five and a half minutes into ‘Was All Talk’, the third track off his new album Wakin On A Pretty Daze, Kurt Vile murmurs in his beatific, laconic burr, “Makin’ music is easy / Watch me”. If that sounds like an empty boast it’s likely you’ve just not listened to enough of Vile’s music yet, as the way Kurt’s songs fall into place suggests that his art is entirely and convincingly effortless. That these songs zero in on a hazy perfection with such laser-guided precision shows that behind this veneer of lackadaisical creativity, beavers a songwriter toiling hard to make music so beguilingly laid-back.
Kurt Vile (his real name) is one of ten children, born in 1980 and raised in the city of brotherly love, Philadelphia. As a teenager, his bluegrass-lovin’ father gifted him a banjo, when what Kurt truly craved was a guitar. So, with a ‘can do’ spirit that’s a boon to any independent musician, he simply played it as if it were a guitar. Along with his passion for the 4-track-toting titans of early 90’s indie-rock, Vile also harboured a love for classic rock of substance – Creedence, Tom Petty, Neil Young, artists with their roots in ‘Roots’, but with enough vision to carve out an Americana of their own. Within the footprints he was following, Vile began carving a path of his own, making an art of dipping from introspective mellow rambles, to sky-scraping anthems; eager to rock out, equally unafraid to sing low and sweet.
Fast-forward some years and with The Violators in tow (the Heartbreakers to his Tom Petty, if you will) barnstormers like ‘Freak Train’ from the full-length Childish Prodigy [2009] were contrasted with more reflective and sun-dappled tunes from his break-through album Smoke Ring For My Halo [2011], as Kurt quietly became one of the great American guitarists and songwriters of our time.
Wakin On A Pretty Daze, Vile’s fifth full-length, is an album that builds on all Kurt has done before, that makes sense of the supposedly contrary impulses of his previous work. Learning whilst ascending, he’s crafted an album that would have sounded great 30 years ago, sounds great today and will still sound great 30 years from now.
Realising he’s in no rush to prove anything to anyone, songs on Wakin On A Pretty Daze unfurl at their own extended and unhurried pace, but not a second of this loveliness is wasted or surplus. The likes of ‘Air Bud’, ‘Was All Talk’ and ‘Gold Tone’ could keep on ringing out, exploring every possible wrinkle in its chord sequences and expounding with wisdom on the simple pleasures of a beautiful day, for as long as Kurt could stand to play them. These aren’t jams; these are songs that glide as they unwind, with a natural charm that’s enough to convince you that, yes, for Kurt, Makin’ music is easy. So, seriously: Watch him.
2xLP includes MP3 Download Code.
Kurt Vile (his real name) is one of ten children, born in 1980 and raised in the city of brotherly love, Philadelphia. As a teenager, his bluegrass-lovin’ father gifted him a banjo, when what Kurt truly craved was a guitar. So, with a ‘can do’ spirit that’s a boon to any independent musician, he simply played it as if it were a guitar. Along with his passion for the 4-track-toting titans of early 90’s indie-rock, Vile also harboured a love for classic rock of substance – Creedence, Tom Petty, Neil Young, artists with their roots in ‘Roots’, but with enough vision to carve out an Americana of their own. Within the footprints he was following, Vile began carving a path of his own, making an art of dipping from introspective mellow rambles, to sky-scraping anthems; eager to rock out, equally unafraid to sing low and sweet.
Fast-forward some years and with The Violators in tow (the Heartbreakers to his Tom Petty, if you will) barnstormers like ‘Freak Train’ from the full-length Childish Prodigy [2009] were contrasted with more reflective and sun-dappled tunes from his break-through album Smoke Ring For My Halo [2011], as Kurt quietly became one of the great American guitarists and songwriters of our time.
Wakin On A Pretty Daze, Vile’s fifth full-length, is an album that builds on all Kurt has done before, that makes sense of the supposedly contrary impulses of his previous work. Learning whilst ascending, he’s crafted an album that would have sounded great 30 years ago, sounds great today and will still sound great 30 years from now.
Realising he’s in no rush to prove anything to anyone, songs on Wakin On A Pretty Daze unfurl at their own extended and unhurried pace, but not a second of this loveliness is wasted or surplus. The likes of ‘Air Bud’, ‘Was All Talk’ and ‘Gold Tone’ could keep on ringing out, exploring every possible wrinkle in its chord sequences and expounding with wisdom on the simple pleasures of a beautiful day, for as long as Kurt could stand to play them. These aren’t jams; these are songs that glide as they unwind, with a natural charm that’s enough to convince you that, yes, for Kurt, Makin’ music is easy. So, seriously: Watch him.
STAFF COMMENTS
Andy says: I always adored those lushed-out, ‘80s, extended 12” versions of songs. Not the modern, Frankensteinian butchered jobbies with wrong tunes and inappropriate beats sewn hideously together, but the hypnotic, indulgent, lovingly crafted ones, deep enough to dive into and lose yourself in. So it is with KV's new LP. These are long, spacious, layered and blissed-out, smoothly evolving tunes, ready-made extended versions which, while they certainly drift and breeze along, are also the best collection of songs in Kurt's five album career. He doesn't like to edit, just slowly paint pictures, and when you think he's got there, round it goes again. It's mesmerising. It also makes ‘WOAPD’ a proper, old-school grower. It lacks the impact of 2011's ‘Smoke Ring’ but these richly produced, fantastical songscapes build a magical world worth returning to, again and again. Not necessarily stoned, but beautiful!FORMAT INFORMATION
2xLP Info:2xLP includes MP3 Download Code.
Sun is the new studio album from Cat Power. Six years after her last album of original material [The Greatest, 2006], Chan Marshall has moved on from her collaborative forays into Memphis soul and Delta blues. She wrote, played, recorded and produced the entirety of Sun by herself, a statement of complete control that is echoed in the songs’ themes.
Marshall calls Sun “a rebirth,” which is exactly what this confident, ambitious, charismatic record feels like. “Moon Pix [1998] was about extreme isolation and survival in the crazy struggle,” she says. "Sun is don't look back, pick up, and go confidently into your own future, to personal power and fulfilment."
The music on Sun employs a sweeping stylistic palette: There’s the classic Cat Power haunting guitar and provocative vocal hook in ‘Cherokee’ (“marry me to the sky… bury me upside down”); the irresistible Latin-sounding nine-piano loop of ‘Ruin’; upbeat, almost dancey electronic anthems like ‘Real Life’ and ‘3,6,9’; and the stirring, 8-minute epic ‘Nothin But Time,’ featuring a vocal cameo by Iggy Pop. The swagger of ‘Silent Machine’ brings to mind mid-70s Jagger, contrasted with the unusual, sparse production of ‘Always On My Own’. The narrative arc of the record is deeply optimistic; the music is defiantly modern and global.
Though devoid of grave bedroom confessionals, Sun is possibly Cat Power’s most personal album to date. For all its layered expansiveness, it is as handcrafted as her debut, and never has a Cat Power album so paralleled her personality and state of mind – channelling her humour, anger, deep empathy, musical inspirations, technical skill, and spiritual inquiry into an album that’s both surprising and comforting.
Those versed in the Cat Power discography will detect elements of 2003's landmark album You Are Free, which experimented with vocal forms and beats borrowed from urban music, and the spellbinding authority of songs like ‘American Flag’. Sonically, however, with credit to mixer Philippe Zdar (Phoenix, Chromeo, Beastie Boys), Sun is incredibly fresh, reflecting its forward-looking mindset.
Sun was recorded over the past three years in Malibu (in a studio she built herself), Silver Lake (in the Dust Brothers’ studio The Boat), Miami (South Beach Studios), and Paris (Motorbass), where she mixed with Zdar in Spring 2012.
Marshall calls Sun “a rebirth,” which is exactly what this confident, ambitious, charismatic record feels like. “Moon Pix [1998] was about extreme isolation and survival in the crazy struggle,” she says. "Sun is don't look back, pick up, and go confidently into your own future, to personal power and fulfilment."
The music on Sun employs a sweeping stylistic palette: There’s the classic Cat Power haunting guitar and provocative vocal hook in ‘Cherokee’ (“marry me to the sky… bury me upside down”); the irresistible Latin-sounding nine-piano loop of ‘Ruin’; upbeat, almost dancey electronic anthems like ‘Real Life’ and ‘3,6,9’; and the stirring, 8-minute epic ‘Nothin But Time,’ featuring a vocal cameo by Iggy Pop. The swagger of ‘Silent Machine’ brings to mind mid-70s Jagger, contrasted with the unusual, sparse production of ‘Always On My Own’. The narrative arc of the record is deeply optimistic; the music is defiantly modern and global.
Though devoid of grave bedroom confessionals, Sun is possibly Cat Power’s most personal album to date. For all its layered expansiveness, it is as handcrafted as her debut, and never has a Cat Power album so paralleled her personality and state of mind – channelling her humour, anger, deep empathy, musical inspirations, technical skill, and spiritual inquiry into an album that’s both surprising and comforting.
Those versed in the Cat Power discography will detect elements of 2003's landmark album You Are Free, which experimented with vocal forms and beats borrowed from urban music, and the spellbinding authority of songs like ‘American Flag’. Sonically, however, with credit to mixer Philippe Zdar (Phoenix, Chromeo, Beastie Boys), Sun is incredibly fresh, reflecting its forward-looking mindset.
Sun was recorded over the past three years in Malibu (in a studio she built herself), Silver Lake (in the Dust Brothers’ studio The Boat), Miami (South Beach Studios), and Paris (Motorbass), where she mixed with Zdar in Spring 2012.
STAFF COMMENTS
Darryl says: Chan Marshall aka Cat Power returns with her first album of original material in six years. 'Sun' strides confidently over a sonic palette of swaggering guitars, electronic beats, haunting melodies and vocal hooks aplenty all swept along with a fresh multi-layered production.FORMAT INFORMATION
CD Info: Initial pressing in a digi pack.
This Deluxe Edition includes a bonus disc with the 6 tracks found on the 'So Outta Reach' 12".
Kurt Vile has a way of tying time in knots. You can hear it on his new album "Smoke Ring For My Halo" from the get-go – the pinwheeling guitars and reaching atmospheres of "Baby’s Arms" are as strange as they are familiar: a demonstration of how Kurt can put worn methods and sounds through himself and end up with something that isn’t emotionally or sonically obvious. Instead we’re left with a record that contains traces of the past but doesn’t waste precious time in the now being reverent.
Once compared to Leonard Cohen, Tom Petty, Psychic TV and Animal Collective in the same review, Kurt can bring to mind anything from Suicide to Leo Kottke to My Bloody Valentine, Bob Seger, Nick Drake and Eastern ragas. Still, he pieces together these disparate elements so seamlessly and unpretentiously that such reference points are rendered pointless by the singularity of his sound. Kurt Vile might belong to a long lineage of classic American songwriters, but he’s the only one who’s alive and in his prime today.
This is the fourth time Kurt Vile has put an album’s worth of songs together and stuck a name on it, but in a sense "Smoke Ring For My Halo" is his first real album - every flinching guitar arpeggio and vocal wander was made to be here, made with this record in mind, to sit alongside another in situ and in sequence. It’s a record that is perfect for any given day during whatever season, to satisfy all moods in every possible scenario, be that first thing in the morning or last thing at night; today, tomorrow or five years from now.
Limited edition - 500 copies only.
Kurt has a unique sound: dextrous, FX heavy guitar married to a slackerish drawl (J. Mascis is a comparison, and another famous fan) all underpinned by a powerful rock'n'roll band with the emphasis on restraint. These songs need room to breathe; the melodies have to shine. Whether it's fingerpicked, cyclical, hypno-drones, doomy psych rumblers, stoned slowies or straight-up chime-pop, seemingly out of nowhere, Vile has not only conjured ten absolute nuggets, he's made the best guitar LP of the last five years.
Kurt Vile has a way of tying time in knots. You can hear it on his new album "Smoke Ring For My Halo" from the get-go – the pinwheeling guitars and reaching atmospheres of "Baby’s Arms" are as strange as they are familiar: a demonstration of how Kurt can put worn methods and sounds through himself and end up with something that isn’t emotionally or sonically obvious. Instead we’re left with a record that contains traces of the past but doesn’t waste precious time in the now being reverent.
Once compared to Leonard Cohen, Tom Petty, Psychic TV and Animal Collective in the same review, Kurt can bring to mind anything from Suicide to Leo Kottke to My Bloody Valentine, Bob Seger, Nick Drake and Eastern ragas. Still, he pieces together these disparate elements so seamlessly and unpretentiously that such reference points are rendered pointless by the singularity of his sound. Kurt Vile might belong to a long lineage of classic American songwriters, but he’s the only one who’s alive and in his prime today.
This is the fourth time Kurt Vile has put an album’s worth of songs together and stuck a name on it, but in a sense "Smoke Ring For My Halo" is his first real album - every flinching guitar arpeggio and vocal wander was made to be here, made with this record in mind, to sit alongside another in situ and in sequence. It’s a record that is perfect for any given day during whatever season, to satisfy all moods in every possible scenario, be that first thing in the morning or last thing at night; today, tomorrow or five years from now.
Limited edition - 500 copies only.
STAFF COMMENTS
Andy says: Kurt Vile's first two albums were scratchy, lo-fi affairs: plenty of ideas, fragments of melody. In 2009 he signed to Matador, released "Childish Prodigy" and suddenly Thurston and Kim from Sonic Youth were fans. Featuring a more cohesive sound, displaying a thrilling array of guitar playing, there were still only two or three pretty good songs – and nothing that would prepare you for the ridiculous majesty which is "Smoke Ring For My Halo".Kurt has a unique sound: dextrous, FX heavy guitar married to a slackerish drawl (J. Mascis is a comparison, and another famous fan) all underpinned by a powerful rock'n'roll band with the emphasis on restraint. These songs need room to breathe; the melodies have to shine. Whether it's fingerpicked, cyclical, hypno-drones, doomy psych rumblers, stoned slowies or straight-up chime-pop, seemingly out of nowhere, Vile has not only conjured ten absolute nuggets, he's made the best guitar LP of the last five years.
"Wowee Zowee", originally released by Matador in April 1995 on the eve of Pavement's infamous mud-bespattered mainstage appearance at Lollapalooza, began life as a controversial release. Fresh off the success of "Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain" with its chart topping Modern Rock hit "Cut Your Hair", the band went into the studio and came out with a deliberately chaotic and eclectic album that sounded nothing like its predecessor. With influences from the Groundhogs to the Frogs, Captain Beefheart to the more obscure mid- 80s central California hardcore bands featured on Maximum Rock'n'Roll comp "Not So Quiet On The Western Front", "Wowee Zowee" confused critics and alienated fans. How fantastic, then, that it went on to scan 122K copies and became many fans' fave Pavement album. A return to their pre- Crooked cacophony, the songs have a darkness that now seems appropriate, and with Bryce Goggin at the mixing desk, the production was the band's most rocking to date.
FORMAT INFORMATION
LP Info: US import double vinyl 120 gram edition, includes a free download code.
Originally released in 1994, this was Pavement's second album, and it signaled the end of Pavement seeing themselves as a recording experiment and the beginning of Pavement as a full time touring band. One of the casualties of this change was the eccentric and usually drunk drummer Gary Young (included here are eight tracks of pre-album Gary Young sessions), whom was replaced by Steve West who bought a greater stability to the line up. The new line up recorded "Crooked Rain Crooked Rain" in NYC, and it proved to be an instant indie classic, packed with superb tracks including singles such as the awesome "Cut Your Hair", "Range Life" and "Gold Soundz".
FORMAT INFORMATION
LP Info: US import 120 gram edition, includes a free download code.
Pavement's fourth proper LP seems to be a direct response to anyone who thought 1995's "Wowee Zowee" sealed a downward spiral from indie-pop heroes to incomprehensible, in-joke nonconformists. On "Brighten The Corners", the rock hero in Pavement re-emerges as the dominant stereotype, making the lyrical idiosyncrasies on which critics of the band like to harp into witty window-dressing. Nowhere is this dichotomy better heard than on the electrifying opener, "Stereo", which rages with anthemic power-chords and a rock-star chorus ('Hey! Listen to me! I'm on the stereo'), while also pondering the longest-standing mystery in rock, the voice of Rush singer Geddy Lee ('how did it get so high/I wonder if he speaks like an ordinary guy').
Musically, "Brighten The Corners" extends the rock tradition to the other side of Sonic Youth's dissonant discoveries while staying free of grunge's self-defeatist mentality. No longer a group of lo-fi pranksters, Pavement has tightened up into a mighty ensemble, able to jam like psychedelic maniacs (the closing "Fin") or fly by night like punks on speed ("Embassy Row"). Lyrically, Stephen Malkmus and co-conspirator Scott Kannberg (aka Spiral Stairs) have started questioning where they belong in a late-90s world seemingly devoid of secrets and mysteries. Their declarations present yet another yin-yang to the Pavement whole: Kannberg's answers seem to lie in emotional stability, Malkmus' in the never-ending search itself. These uncertainties of dealing with one's unrecognised worth play out like an Irvine Welsh novel: the chapters full of spunky glee, the ending steeped in melancholy.
FORMAT INFORMATION
LP Info: US import 120 gram edition, includes a free download code.
In 1992 "Slanted And Enchanted", arguably the first and best release of 90s 'slacker rock', felt like a compendium of all the very best post-punk moments from the previous fifteen years as well as a surprising new combination of wit, absurdism, noise and pop. All these years later, the album is still fresh, still exciting and still makes most of the competition sound derivative and lazy. So to summarise; still slanted, still enchanting.
FORMAT INFORMATION
LP Info: US import 120 gram edition, includes a free download code.
Stepping away from the punk, noise and no-wave experimentalism that often surrounds both Sonic Youth and Thurston Moore's solo work, ‘Demolished Thoughts’ will catch most off-guard.
A continuation of sorts on from his last album ‘Trees Outside The Academy’ (2007), ‘Demolished Thoughts’ is Thurston Moore’s fourth solo album and his first to be produced by Beck; this influence might explain the lighter touch found on this record with the production and arrangements reminiscent to those employed on Beck’s own album, ‘Sea Change’ (2002).
‘Demolished Thoughts’ is a stripped-down affair, with only guitar, harp, violin and light percussion for accompaniment to Thurston’s vocals.
Recorded in both Los Angeles and Northampton, MA, the pair were joined in the studio by violinist Samara Lubelski (of prior Moore recordings and touring) and harpist Mary Lattimore (most recently heard on Kurt Vile’s ‘Smoke Ring For My Halo’), alongside Beck’s bassist Bram Inscore and drummer Joey Waronker (also of R.E.M., Elliott Smith and Smashing Pumpkins records).
Inviting the listener in to his more secretive and personal side, ‘Demolished Thoughts’ is a brooding and beautifully restrained album.
Supposedly recorded with new technologies amid strange occurrences, the album was completed over nine curious days spent with Beck.
The results are a more direct than many will have expected from Thurston Moore, these songs are as sweet, heartfelt and consuming.
A continuation of sorts on from his last album ‘Trees Outside The Academy’ (2007), ‘Demolished Thoughts’ is Thurston Moore’s fourth solo album and his first to be produced by Beck; this influence might explain the lighter touch found on this record with the production and arrangements reminiscent to those employed on Beck’s own album, ‘Sea Change’ (2002).
‘Demolished Thoughts’ is a stripped-down affair, with only guitar, harp, violin and light percussion for accompaniment to Thurston’s vocals.
Recorded in both Los Angeles and Northampton, MA, the pair were joined in the studio by violinist Samara Lubelski (of prior Moore recordings and touring) and harpist Mary Lattimore (most recently heard on Kurt Vile’s ‘Smoke Ring For My Halo’), alongside Beck’s bassist Bram Inscore and drummer Joey Waronker (also of R.E.M., Elliott Smith and Smashing Pumpkins records).
Inviting the listener in to his more secretive and personal side, ‘Demolished Thoughts’ is a brooding and beautifully restrained album.
Supposedly recorded with new technologies amid strange occurrences, the album was completed over nine curious days spent with Beck.
The results are a more direct than many will have expected from Thurston Moore, these songs are as sweet, heartfelt and consuming.
Kurt Vile has a way of tying time in knots. You can hear it on his new album "Smoke Ring For My Halo" from the get-go – the pinwheeling guitars and reaching atmospheres of "Baby’s Arms" are as strange as they are familiar: a demonstration of how Kurt can put worn methods and sounds through himself and end up with something that isn’t emotionally or sonically obvious. Instead we’re left with a record that contains traces of the past but doesn’t waste precious time in the now being reverent.
Once compared to Leonard Cohen, Tom Petty, Psychic TV and Animal Collective in the same review, Kurt can bring to mind anything from Suicide to Leo Kottke to My Bloody Valentine, Bob Seger, Nick Drake and Eastern ragas. Still, he pieces together these disparate elements so seamlessly and unpretentiously that such reference points are rendered pointless by the singularity of his sound. Kurt Vile might belong to a long lineage of classic American songwriters, but he’s the only one who’s alive and in his prime today.
This is the fourth time Kurt Vile has put an album’s worth of songs together and stuck a name on it, but in a sense "Smoke Ring For My Halo" is his first real album - every flinching guitar arpeggio and vocal wander was made to be here, made with this record in mind, to sit alongside another in situ and in sequence. It’s a record that is perfect for any given day during whatever season, to satisfy all moods in every possible scenario, be that first thing in the morning or last thing at night; today, tomorrow or five years from now.
Once compared to Leonard Cohen, Tom Petty, Psychic TV and Animal Collective in the same review, Kurt can bring to mind anything from Suicide to Leo Kottke to My Bloody Valentine, Bob Seger, Nick Drake and Eastern ragas. Still, he pieces together these disparate elements so seamlessly and unpretentiously that such reference points are rendered pointless by the singularity of his sound. Kurt Vile might belong to a long lineage of classic American songwriters, but he’s the only one who’s alive and in his prime today.
This is the fourth time Kurt Vile has put an album’s worth of songs together and stuck a name on it, but in a sense "Smoke Ring For My Halo" is his first real album - every flinching guitar arpeggio and vocal wander was made to be here, made with this record in mind, to sit alongside another in situ and in sequence. It’s a record that is perfect for any given day during whatever season, to satisfy all moods in every possible scenario, be that first thing in the morning or last thing at night; today, tomorrow or five years from now.
STAFF COMMENTS
Andy says: Kurt Vile's first two albums were scratchy, lo-fi affairs: plenty of ideas, fragments of melody. In 2009 he signed to Matador, released "Childish Prodigy" and suddenly Thurston and Kim from Sonic Youth were fans. Featuring a more cohesive sound, displaying a thrilling array of guitar playing, there were still only two or three pretty good songs – and nothing that would prepare you for the ridiculous majesty which is "Smoke Ring For My Halo". Kurt has a unique sound: dextrous, FX heavy guitar married to a slackerish drawl (J. Mascis is a comparison, and another famous fan) all underpinned by a powerful rock'n'roll band with the emphasis on restraint. These songs need room to breathe; the melodies have to shine. Whether it's fingerpicked, cyclical, hypno-drones, doomy psych rumblers, stoned slowies or straight-up chime-pop, seemingly out of nowhere, Vile has not only conjured ten absolute nuggets, he's made the best guitar LP of the last five years.
Reduced
A self-confessed musical sponge, Kurt Vile began to create and release a series of lo-fi home recordings that reflected his admiration of everything from delta blues and skiffle right through to the minimalist aggression of Suicide. "Childish Prodigy" was recorded by Philly-based engineer Jeff Zeigler and is a marked progression for the former guitarist of The War On Drugs. More diverse than its predecessor, the album is a rich tapestry of rock and folk moments drenched in echo and feedback. Glossier in production and yet still retaining his lo-fi sensibilities, "Childish Prodigy" bears echoes of Tom Petty, "Street Legal"-era Bob Dylan, Spacemen 3 and Skip Spence. With a voice that is intimate yet immediate, "Childish Prodigy" is a record that rewards the patient listener.
Sixty five plus minutes of breath-taking material recorded under smooth circumstances in lovely Nashville, TN. This one will without a doubt appeal to long time Yo La Tengo fans, considering the fact that this is their very best one yet. The really good thing, though, is that a lot of people who will buy this record will do so without knowing that it probably is the only TRULY GREAT record they will buy in their lives. Until the next one comes out, of course!!
While their colossal sonic achievements are well-documented, Yo La Tengo's ninth album is more "In A Silent Way" than "Interstellar Space": a quietly intense melange of pulsing beats, acoustic guitar strum, ringing vibraphone and organ washes. Add electric guitar buzzing underneath dreamy, nearly whispered vocals, and "ATNTIIO" is more mood swing than song cycle. Yo La Tengo have stripped away layers of electric guitar chaos from their sound. Is it so we can hear their voices? So they can hear each other? Whatever the reason, Georgia and Ira's most audible and distinctive vocal performances to date are genuinely intimate and affecting. The quieter settings allow other subtle details to emerge: guest Susie Ibarra's percussion on the first single, "Saturday," high close harmonies swelling in from nowhere, Hubley's delicate brushwork, the gorgeous shimmer of vibes and mellotron. Such are the gifts of Yo La Tengo. They are a pop band, but don't just write pop songs; they write what can only be described as Yo La Tengo songs. By not rocking out, Ira, Georgia and James have made a record which shows how tight-knit a musical unit the trio have become. They are like a three-cornered atom harnessing its energy to the point where blinding explosions are no longer necessary to emanate power.
STAFF COMMENTS
Darryl says: Their ninth album released back in 2000 saw Yo La Tengo peaking with gorgeous melancholy. An introspective, delicate and dreamy sound that shimmers along with shivery pulses and hushed vocals. Perfect for a moody winter night.
"The Eternal" is a supercharged rocker, recalling aspects of the "Evol", "Sister" and "Daydream Nation" holy trinity but with cleaner, louder production and more straightforward momentum. With Pavement's Mark Ibold joining on bass, and producer John Agnello back at the controls, "The Eternal" takes the melodic songwriting of 2006's "Rather Ripped" and slams down the accelerator pedal. Produced by John Agnello and the band, "The Eternal" not only marks Sonic Youth's return to the independent label sphere (titles on their own SYR label excepted) after a long association with Geffen, but more importantly, ranks as one of their more inspired efforts in a 28 year career. Of "The Eternal", Matador's Gerard Cosloy says, 'We've not had a record in our recent history that's been the subject of nearly as much speculation and anticipation. Suffice to say we're pretty amazed at the way the band delivered something this neoteric while still sounding like, well, themselves. Less of a reinvention and perhaps more to do with a particularly awesome dozen songs.'
Here is Thurston Moore's take on the songs:
Sacred Trickster (2:10)
Out-of-the gate hardcore matinee track with Kim singing salutes to French painter Yves Klein and Western Massachusetts noise artist Noise Nomads.
Anti-Orgasm (6:08)
Inspired by the story of Berlin 60s model/activist Uschi Obermeier and the gang at Kommune 1. Free love, dominance and submission, and other political states-of-confusion.
Leaky Lifeboat (For Gregory Corso) (3:32)
The NYC beat poet Gregory Corso once referred life on Earth as a leaky lifeboat. This tune expounds on this rumination.
Antenna (6:13)
Melodious ode to fleeting fantasy and unresolved desire with the sound of two analogue radios communicating the emotional action.
What We Know (3:54)
Charging forth with a riff in reference to Sonics Rendezvous Band, Lee sings a triptych to identity and unity.
Calming The Snake (3:35)
One of the first tracks written, musical references to the Dead C, the MC5 and Neu. Kim musing on visions of Death in painting.
Poison Arrow (3:43)
Dedicated to the lust groove of Kevin Ayers where thoughts of love as pretty poison rejoice in surrealist deliverance.
Malibu Gas Station (5:39)
An ode to the flash moment of the camera as you knowingly step from your SUV sans panties.
Thunderclap For Bobby Pyn (2:38)
Flashing back to a wishful existence in the original Masque basement on N. Cherokee in Hollywood, crashing through lawns and garbage cans en route to the Canterbury/Disgraceland to jump up and down on beds with Helen Killer, Mary Rat and Trudi.
No Way (3:52)
First song written for the album, with a nod to The Wipers of Portland, Oregon. A confrontation with the devil in his guise of temptation and staking a distinct place amongst the black legions.
Walkin Blue (5:20)
Lee with his arm around yr shoulder, getting you through a seemingly impenetrable day of dread to a clear vision towards sweet foreverness.
Massage The History (9:41)
The long way home, where blood rules the universe and time becomes myth.
Here is Thurston Moore's take on the songs:
Sacred Trickster (2:10)
Out-of-the gate hardcore matinee track with Kim singing salutes to French painter Yves Klein and Western Massachusetts noise artist Noise Nomads.
Anti-Orgasm (6:08)
Inspired by the story of Berlin 60s model/activist Uschi Obermeier and the gang at Kommune 1. Free love, dominance and submission, and other political states-of-confusion.
Leaky Lifeboat (For Gregory Corso) (3:32)
The NYC beat poet Gregory Corso once referred life on Earth as a leaky lifeboat. This tune expounds on this rumination.
Antenna (6:13)
Melodious ode to fleeting fantasy and unresolved desire with the sound of two analogue radios communicating the emotional action.
What We Know (3:54)
Charging forth with a riff in reference to Sonics Rendezvous Band, Lee sings a triptych to identity and unity.
Calming The Snake (3:35)
One of the first tracks written, musical references to the Dead C, the MC5 and Neu. Kim musing on visions of Death in painting.
Poison Arrow (3:43)
Dedicated to the lust groove of Kevin Ayers where thoughts of love as pretty poison rejoice in surrealist deliverance.
Malibu Gas Station (5:39)
An ode to the flash moment of the camera as you knowingly step from your SUV sans panties.
Thunderclap For Bobby Pyn (2:38)
Flashing back to a wishful existence in the original Masque basement on N. Cherokee in Hollywood, crashing through lawns and garbage cans en route to the Canterbury/Disgraceland to jump up and down on beds with Helen Killer, Mary Rat and Trudi.
No Way (3:52)
First song written for the album, with a nod to The Wipers of Portland, Oregon. A confrontation with the devil in his guise of temptation and staking a distinct place amongst the black legions.
Walkin Blue (5:20)
Lee with his arm around yr shoulder, getting you through a seemingly impenetrable day of dread to a clear vision towards sweet foreverness.
Massage The History (9:41)
The long way home, where blood rules the universe and time becomes myth.
The new Sonic Youth album, and it's part of a new Matador scheme called 'buy early, get now'. The idea of it being that you pre-order this deluxe edition now and you'll be given a voucher code that from April 28th onwards can be used via the BEGN website to download a pre-release stream of the album a full month or so prior to the physical release (if you're a mailorder customer the voucher code will be emailed to you).
But the fun doesn't end there, because not only do you get the download with this Deluxe Edition, but you also get (with whichever format you pre-ordered) some superb bonus goodies:
- A limited edition live vinyl LP from a Sonic Youth gig in Battery Park NYC
- An exclusive poster contained inside the vinyl above
- Additional exclusive mp3's when you register with the 'buy early, get now' website
Please note this live album, regardless of which format you pre-order is only available on vinyl.
But the fun doesn't end there, because not only do you get the download with this Deluxe Edition, but you also get (with whichever format you pre-ordered) some superb bonus goodies:
- A limited edition live vinyl LP from a Sonic Youth gig in Battery Park NYC
- An exclusive poster contained inside the vinyl above
- Additional exclusive mp3's when you register with the 'buy early, get now' website
Please note this live album, regardless of which format you pre-order is only available on vinyl.
Every month for the last six months, Matador Records have been releasing a limited 7" by Jay Reatard. This collection features all six singles and is compiled in chronological order. Jay Reatard's 7"s have generated more and more attention with each release, but each one has been put out in a progressively more limited run, starting with 3,500 worldwide for single #1 and ending with only 400 copies of single #6. Each release has differed from the last (be it on clear and coloured vinyl, a split 7" or a picture disc) and all have sold out instantly upon release. This album caters for those who aren't so bothered about collecting and those who missed out on the 7"s the first time round - it is also an outstanding album in its own right. Every song is a perfect snarling pop-punk gem, but the collection evolves interestingly (and erratically) from punk to pop. As Pitchfork said on the subject, 'In this short space of time, Reatard has cranked out more memorable songs than some acts do in their whole careers.'
FORMAT INFORMATION
LP Info: ONE PER PERSON!
Upon the 1973 release of "Berlin", Lou Reed's controversial successor to the wildly popular "Transformer", Rolling Stone's Stephen Davis described it thus; 'certain records so patently offensive that one wishes to take some kind of physical vengeance on the artists that perpetrate them... a distorted and degenerate demimonde of paranoia, schizophrenia, degradation, pill-induced violence and suicide'". An earnest pan, yes, but also a fabulous pull quote. Thirty years later, the very same magazine named it one of the 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time. Staging "Berlin" had been discussed for over 30 years, and in December of 2006 it became a reality, over four days at St. Ann's Warehouse in Brooklyn. It was the first time Reed performed the album live. This album documents this legendary performance.
Like the phoenix rising from the ashes, alternative supergroup Jaguar Love formed from members of two disbanded greats: ex Blood Brothers guitarist Cody Votolato and singer Johnny Whitney, alongside Jay Clark from Pretty Girls Make Graves (once guitarist and now drummer, multi-instrumentalist and producer). However, the story this time is very different. After relocating to Portland (from Seattle), these once hardcore musicians have honed their ferociously creative and complex song structures into something strikingly melodic. Votolatos crazed Japanese electric 12-string guitar parts remain as intricate and Beefheart-esque as ever, but Whitney has turned his screaming vocals into pure Bolan-esque glam. The result: an alternative pop music - powerful, edgy and totally unique.
Dead Meadow have returned with a fifth studio album that is both delicate and with purpose. Indeed, in subtle ways, "Old Growth" reminds us of where the band have been stylistically. However, this is no 10-year retrospective but rather an uncompromising stretch of their artistic roots. Dead Meadow have broadened their song writing, gained new ground and, from every drop of ink on the sleeve to every humming noise, chord and pounding beat. We are forced to go forward with them, to climb that mountain, leave our earthly problems behind and, most importantly, grow up. Not to be overlooked is the artwork for "Old Growth". More than just a simple sleeve to market an album, "Old Growth" was designed to tell a story. This sleeve is intended to bring the listener to the quiet places that inspired the music to begin with.
FORMAT INFORMATION
2xLP Info: Import premium 180 gram double vinyl pressing in a gatefold sleeve. Also includes free download of album.
The album was recorded in the rural tranquility of Idyllwild, California, in a room with large windows looking out onto the surrounding nature. Nabob and Rabob gathered their friends to record one of the most unique and mesmerising albums of the year.
STAFF COMMENTS
Darryl says: Released back in 2006 and creating psyched-out folk with a heavy dose of soul, Brightblack Morning Light blurs the edges of consciousness and transports you to another plane.
Once again moving the bar for 'what can be done in just one record', no two songs sound the same. There's everything from epic soundscapes to jaunty popsongs, to gorgeous love songs with a few rock'n'roll numbers thrown in. All delivered with humour, a smattering of falsetto and a huge dose of that unique Yo La Tengo charm.
Chan Marshall, the wayward daughter of US alt-rock knuckles down, loosens up, ropes in 'proper' musicians and makes her possibly her 'greatest' album to date. It seems the engine room of the 70s Memphis Hi Sound (Al Green, Ann Peebles, O.V. Wright) have demanded tighter song structures to flesh out with their effortless sense of groove, borne of deep Southern soul, country and blues. Similarly, the songs themselves become less opaque, the tales of lost love, drunken nights and empty days more immediate and powerful. Only time will tell whether it will stand up to "Dusty In Memphis" or "Lady Soul" in the future.
FORMAT INFORMATION
Ltd CD Info: The limited edition CD includes a bonus track and is packaged in a deluxe digipack.
"Humming By The Flowered Vine" is the much-anticipated third album by Nashville-born, New York-based performer Laura Cantrell. It features ten extraordinary songs both crafted and caught. As on her two previous albums, "When The Roses Bloom Again" and "Not The Tremblin' Kind", Laura's own compositions are some of the highlights; "Khaki & Corduroy" is a meditation on being a transplanted Southerner in New York City, "California Rose" was inspired by the West Coast country music pioneer Rose Maddox, and "Old Downtown" draws on the story of World War I hero Sgt. Alvin York. New York figures prominently in both Emily Spray's infectious "14th Street" and "Letters", a previously unreleased Lucinda Williams song dating back to her days as a struggling folk singer living in the city.
One of the first songs written for the critically-acclaimed sophomore album, it is by far the most foot-tappingly wonderful piece of pop that the band have created to date. Further evidence of Banks' natural mastery with lyrics and the band's ability to create simultaneously beautiful, stomping and catchy songs that inspire both devotion and obsession from fans and newcomers.
FORMAT INFORMATION
Ltd 7" Info: The 7" includes "Leif Erikson" from their Zane Lowe BBC session.Formed in 1997, The Wisdom Of Harry is the brainchild of Creation Records musical pioneer, Pete Astor. "Torch Division" is the band's third album and features 12 new songs. The band's trademark electronic flourishes still flutter in the margins here, but it's Astor's dark, wry but always-melodic songwriting that takes centre stage. "Torch Division" finds Astor's distinctive vocals, agile guitar, keyboards and subtle programming supported by musical cohort David Sheppard who contributes bass, drums and guitar. The album starts with a dramatic, Krautrock-tinged re-working of English folksinger Anne Briggs' "Tangled Man", then continues on through eleven more songs of luminous, cinematic guitar pop.
Reworking of one of the strongest tracks from their album, (my favourite) given a new lease of life by legendary producer Arthur Baker. He's beefed up the sound, stretched out the "Marquee Moon"-esque guitars, cut up the drum rhythms and added squiggly electronic background sounds. Ace!
FORMAT INFORMATION
7" Info: The 7" features the edit and the Black Session mix.
Formed in 1997, The Wisdom Of Harry is the brainchild of Creation Records musical pioneer, Pete Astor. The band's trademark electronic flourishes still flutter in the margins here, but it's Astor's dark, wry but always-melodic songwriting that takes centre stage. And it finds Astor's distinctive vocals, agile guitar, keyboards and subtle programming supported by musical cohort David Sheppard who contributes bass, drums and guitar.
FORMAT INFORMATION
CDS Info: Limited edition - 500 copies only.
Interpol do 'fun'! Guitars slash like The Chameleons with doomy weight...but what's this...they keel over to have their belly tickled, and tumble into a jaunty hop, like The Smiths on "This Charming Man"! But with Ian Curtis on vocals, naturally! What I really love about this group is they've dug up a long-buried era, peculiar to this very city, and made it cool again!
FORMAT INFORMATION
CDS Info: The CD single also includes a demo version of "NYC".
Our End of Year Booklet launch party is next Thursday (November 22) in The Pink Room @yes_mcr 6 - 10:30 Free entry.… https://t.co/m4MWhHgsYw
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RT @redrackem: Big love to @PiccadillyRecs for the nice words about the new @ajukaja single 'Mhmhmh' which is out Bergerac today officially…
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