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Gruppen

Whitestarr

    Formed in 2014, Gruppen are a post rock, post poetry, post culture collaboration between artists, Dean Brannagan and Tim Brennan. Their sound involves spoken word, soundscapes and field recordings to produce dark, atmospheric recordings and performances that draw on the deep past to reflect the state of our current and potential world to come.

    White Starr, their debut album consists of 6 tracks taking the listener through an aural landscape of past, present and the possible. Through spoken word, poetry and post-rock you will find yourself travelling to the earliest known human settlement of Star Carr and across the mesolithic landscape of Doggerland to arrive at contemplations on ritual, social compliance and the plight of an existence underground.

    Luke Unabomber's favourite label makes a triumphant return! U-BEND return with a couple of certified benders. Road-tested this summer from Maceo's, Pikes and The Pagoda all the way to the Worlds End...

    Bringing euphoria to both early morning dancefloors and dusted kitchens alike, BNDRS003 dives deeper into the chugger side of the U-BEND sound with both tracks clocking in well under 100bpm. ‘50Peter20' combines a driving, sweaty 90bpm groove with waves of a half remembered blissed out melody.

    'Bending You Bending Me' pulls in a more exultant direction, where a familiar voice gradually percolates up out of a hypnotic guitar-driven groove.

    As always, these are verified as go-to options for the last track of the night or the first track of the morning and will satiate even the most content-hungary instagrammers... 

    Highly recommended! 

    TRACK LISTING

    A. 50Peter20
    B. Bending You Bending Me

    Big tip!

    Revised eight track re-issue of Maria Somerville's much lauded debut album. This new edition features an additional cut 'Lakes' - a 5+ minute blown out instrumental recorded live on tour in 2019. Building from a reputation of enthralling live shows, Dublin based singer and musician Maria Somerville delivers her debut LP, "All My People", a collection of works recorded across Dublin, Cornamona and Inis Óirr. 

    Somerville draws on conventional folk forms alongside post-punk, traditional Irish motifs, starry eyed pop and hypnotic drones to create wholly original music that is a product of its environment. Channeling the wilderness of the Irish landscape through dense, ethereal soundscapes and bare boned percussion, Maria adds ghostly vocals that are ever present and all encompassing, like crystalline glints of sunshine peeking through dark stormy clouds. The duality of darkness and light is at play throughout the releases seven tracks, hinting at an uneasy optimism during difficult times. 

    "Stirring and beautiful songs, with a consistent optimism underlying even the murkiest of moments."

    Recorded in Connemara and Dublin. Mixed by Brendan Jenkinson. Mastered by The Bastard.

    TRACK LISTING

    Eyes Don't Say It
    This Way
    Undoing
    Dreaming
    All My People
    All Too Much
    Brighter Days
    Lakes

    AFX / Autechre

    Falling Free / Four Four Four

    Tasty 12" featuring two of the greatest legends in electronica: Aphex Twin and Autechre. A side features AFX's remix of Curve's "Falling Free" - a cavernous, eerie trip into the dark recesses of mainframe funk - complete with the producer's sonar bleeps and morse code percussion.

    Autechre's "444" originally appeared as the last track on 1993's "Incunabala". It's a brilliant example of the duo's expert handling of control voltage emotion and otherworldly rhythm sequences. Sounds like a spaceship slowly gliding forcefully through interstellar nebula.

    Super limited copies. 


    TRACK LISTING

    Falling Free
    444

    Both out of print "GU Edits" 12" singles unavailable for years (since 2018) now repressed together on blue colored vinyl. Glenn's killer remixes of Amp Fiddler's "Morning" b/w Raul Midon's "Sunshine" and Mos Def's "Lifetime" b/w Incognito's "I Can See The Future".

    All have that trademark GU shuffle, with deep basslines and silky strings decorating much of the frequency spectrum. Each track is given a whole side for maximum fidelity and headroom.

    A highly sought after artefact of the producer's vast catalogue and feverishly collected by deep house heads across the globe..


    STAFF COMMENTS

    Matt says: Just how Glenn squeezes these highly charismatic tracks into his own wardrobe is quite a feet - but he's managed to impart his own unique style onto these already big personalities - giving them extra mileage across the sets of house and disco DJs and exposing some brilliant soul music along the way. Top drawer stuff, rightfully collected, and back on our racks for a limited time.

    TRACK LISTING

    A. Amp Fiddler - Mornin' (GU Nostalgic Forever Mix)
    B. Raul Midon - Sunshine (GU Rewerk)
    C. Mos Def - Lifetime (GU Retro Mix)
    D. Incognito - I Can See The Future (GU ReEdit)

    Former DMC champion and local superstar DJ Rasp delivers his first instrumental single. Side A kicks off with the title track 'Cycles Of Hope', a downtempo / lo-fi hip-hop cut with a healthy dose of turntable trickery. 'My Heart Bleeds' is an experimental fusion of electronic sounds, eerie samples, heavy drum breaks & turntablism. Meanwhile the B side features 7 skipless scratch sentences with both classic scratch sounds & original phrases of samples and beats designed for you to cut it up and get creative! Nice to see a bit of classic turntablism getting some attention again. Play alongside this week's "The SP Chronicles" and you've got yourself at least half a mixtape on the go! 

    STAFF COMMENTS

    Matt says: Deft, uncluttered instrumental hip-hop decorated with skilled turntablism throughout. It's nice to see a return to this style that used to be commonplace in the days of Fat City and Grand Central.

    TRACK LISTING

    A1. Cycles Of Hope
    A2. My Heart Bleeds
    B. Scratch Sentences 

    Manhattan Murder Mystery

    Baby Wrestlemania

      Manhattan Maurder Mystery jet all the way over from Chicago to hit the shelves with their Steve Albini produced clash of snappy garage rock, jagged punk and melodic rock and roll. 'Messed Up Brain' for instance, has more in common with the early wave of skate-punk like the Descendants or the chugging mutes of Bad Religion, while it's on tracks like 'Greensboro' or the country-leaning 'East Hollywood Livin' that we really see the skill and dedication that has gone to achiving such a carefree, cohesive fusion. A well produced (obviously), nicely written odyssey from the Chicago group. 

      TRACK LISTING

      1. Artie Lange 01:34
      2. Messed Up Brain 03:24
      3. I'm Alone And Life Is Tough 03:55
      4. Greensboro 05:39
      5. Imperial County 06:22
      6. East Hollywood Livin' 04:43
      7. Bodybag 04:45
      8. Me And Brittany 03:48
      9. Baby Wrestlemania 05:13

      Beatconductor & His Famous All-Star Orchestra

      Reworks Volume Two

      Our rogue musical chef Beatconductor returns with volume two of this now infamous serving. Dishing up another selection of tasty plates which marry classic rock and psyche of yesterday with modern styles of edit trickery and extension. Rush, Led Zep, The Rolling Stones & The Clash are all cooked up inna new style and served long and leisurely.

      As illicit as Rishi Sunac's portfolio, much like volume one this is a vinyl only, one off pressing release.

      Highly recommended! Be one step ahead of the next bar DJ with these exclusive edits...


      STAFF COMMENTS

      Matt says: As illicit as Rishi Sunac's portfolio, Beatconductor returns with volume two of his louche rock edits LP. Perfect for the working DJ; you'll cause looks of confusion and knowing winks across the bar as these subtle touch-ups daze and confuse the masses.

      TRACK LISTING

      Side 1
      1. Tom Sawyer (6:53)
      2. Love My Way (5:24)
      3. Gimme Shelter (4:29)
      Side 2
      1. Love Or Confusion (4:47)
      2. Whole Lotta Luv (6:01)
      3. Clampdown (5:40)
      4. Outro-Let There Be Rock (1:53)

      The audio insanity of Alina Astrova's Lolina moniker continues unabeted on her first set of new music(ish) since 2018's "The Smoke". Here the producer / composer / experimentalist / artist explores deep sonic manipulation and rampant fx abuse across 6 tracks of broken, bezerk beatboxing. Imagine Rahzel and Laurie Anderson being bounced round a phonebox by Tyson Fury and the Bronze Bomber while Thomas Brinkmann runs a little too much power through the unholy offspring of a dial-up modem and a fleshlight. Frankly baffling, but that's why we're all here right?

      TRACK LISTING

      Let Go
      Good Or Bad
      Skipping
      Glitching
      Strobing
      Who Is Experimental Music

      Dan armstrong makes the sort of widescreen ambient music that makes you sit up and listen, eagerly drawing in all the tentative synth swells and panned industrial churns. Opener, 'Alpha Wave' for example, is a growing swell of ambient synth churns joined by drawn-out long-envelope pads and reticent twinkling peaks. Though the echoic churn is a gritty analogue mono drone, the glimmering airy spikes glisten with a warm digital air, ofsetting the doomy drone behind.

      It's this sort of build-up and release that lend the key changes and slow seismic shifts further gravitas, with pieces like the stunning 'Epsilon Wave' providing a more rhythmic and dynamically forward juxtaposition, and relying upon a foundation of euphoric beats and repeated themes overlaid on top of each-other rather than the moody but hugely effective drone of earlier.

      Dan has crafted a beatiful album here, tastefully and unintrusively flickering between the more serene moments of rhythmic beauty and full-spectrum sonic walls of sound. 

      TRACK LISTING

      1. Alpha Wave 06:48
      2. Beta Wave 09:30
      3. Gamma Wave 08:33
      4. Delta Wave 07:15
      5. Epsilon Wave 09:15
      6. Zeta Wave 10:24
      7. Eta Wave 11:06

      Carla Dal Forno

      Top Of The Pops

        Pearl blue cassette comes wrapped in colour printed J-cards and with colour sticker inlays. Artwork designed by Carla dal Forno. Photo taken in Yorkshire Grove, Hackney. “Everything begins and ends at exactly the right time and place, look...” Carla dal Forno presents ‘Top Of The Pops,’ a self-released cassette disclosing six songs of sultry pop devotion. This late-Spring cassette of cover songs gets the wider autumnal release it deserves, showcasing the full range of dal Forno’s virtuous taste, style and production in her distinct post-punk, pop (but) minimalist sensibility. Not without cheek, the wink-and-a-nod blue film bawdiness of ‘Lay Me Down’ (Renee) and ‘Give Me Back My Man’ (B52s) are complemented by the earnest ballads of ‘A Silver Key Can Open A Lock Somewhere’ (Liliput) and The Fates’ ‘No Romance.’ Kiwi Animal’s ‘Blue Morning,’ which over the last year has grown with every live performance, finally gets a recorded release. This cosmic inner dialogue of love lost is matched only by the penultimate track, ‘Summertime Sadness’ which is the best example of how devastatingly personal a pop song truly can be. It’s all emphasised by dal Forno’s sparse production which, as with each of these six songs, brings her au fait vocal interpretations to the fore. 

        TRACK LISTING

        1. Lay Me Down
        2. Blue Morning
        3. A Silver Key Can Open A Lock Somewhere
        4. Give Me Back My Man 
        5. Summertime Sadness

        Black Meteoric Star

        No More White Presidents - Original Soundtrack

          This is the soundtrack to the film "No More White Presidents"
          “Black Meteoric Star - No More White Presidents” is a multi layered abstract film that I, a White, recently out Trans-Woman completed in January of 2017. For the film I developed what I am calling the “flash film” technique. Initially it was a structural device similar to the chance operations used by composers such as John Cage to get out of the practice of creating “slick” edits or “moves” predetermined by overarching institutionalized aesthetic norms. However, as I worked with it I began to discover that the technique, although certainly “experimental”, has more kinship with craft techniques I have practiced such as beading, knitting, weaving and braiding. Although on the surface it could simply be a long form music video for my Black Meteoric Star project it is in fact a complex of evocative and energetic themes gathered around the necessity for abolition and reparations.

          The themes that are “braided” or “beaded” together include a repetitive meditation on death, an assessment of global capitalism as so overburdened by the karma of the triple legacies of slavery, land theft/genocide and imperialism that it can no longer function, an invocation of several of the Orishas prominent in the Regla Lukumi tradition and an exploration of my emerging Trans-Feminine identity. The intention of the film is to open up a territory for exploration and interpretation around our current predicament, allowing the viewer to come to their own conclusions about the specific details and possible solutions, both individually and through discussions with others.

          Tercelvoice

          Tercelvoice

            Anyone left with a gaping hole in their heart since "For Emma..." by Bon Iver (or Elliot Smith for that matter...) needs to pay attention now! Recorded at Greenmount Studio's in Wakefield, this debut album from Tercelvoice is a beautifully sparse indie-folk record. The wholesome and thought provoking lyrical style, coupled with the simple acoustic guitar work evokes memories of open roads, log cabin nights and fire-side conversation. From the haunting ending of "Shattered Friends" to the simplicity and brutal vulnerability of "Bad To The Bone", this album was made the old way, stripped down to the bare emotion of music.

            Behind Tercelvoice is singer / songwriter Andy Squires. On the album he plays acoustic and electric guitar, drums, bass, Rhodes, Hammond, and all vocals. Considering the overdubbed process it has a natural ebb and flow which could easily pass off as a full live band recording. His vocal style is unique and beguiling, a fragile falsetto laden with heavy emotion.

            The album was recorded to tape and mastered by Adam Gonsalves at Telegraph Mastering, Portland, USA.

            BBC Introducing has aired 5 tracks from the album, and has booked Tercelvoice for a session in February while he (they?) play The Islington in London on the 20th of January. 


            TRACK LISTING

            A1 Bad To The Bone
            A2 The Love He Kept
            A3 Shattered Friends
            A4 Angel
            A5 Used Up
            B1 Men Lie
            B2 Hard To Learn
            B3 Good Men We're Saved
            B4 Girl

            Kim Deal

            Are You Mine? / Wish I Was

              "Are You Mine?"
              I sang and play guitar. Lindsay Glover played drums and Armando Lopez is on Bass. We recorded this onto a Tascam 388. It's a 1/4" 8 track machine. What a bitch. It was always breaking down. We had to get Billy Zoom from the rock band, X, to fix the machine. We had like 4 of these 388 machines around the house. They sound great but they are "consumer grade" man. But I digress. I ended up transferring it to 2". Then I added a harmony vocal with Steve at Electrical and he mixed it down.

              "Wish I Was"
              I recorded everything on this one in a studio in LA. Kelley played one of the keyboards. Matt Ward (do you know who he is?) played the guitar that appears on the right side of the speakers and the solo in the pretty solo in the middle. I had some nice words but Kelley HATED my melody so I just put it out as an instrumental. Mixed by Albini at Electrical.

              All recorded analog and mastered DMM at Sterling by Ryan.
              This artwork was done by Vaughan Oliver/v23
              There is also an insert image glossy sheet that have the credits on it.

              Kim Deal

              Hot Shot / Likkle More

                Hot Shot:
                "I played electric guitars, bass guitar and vocals. Jose Medeles (a previous Breeders drummer) played drums. This was recorded at Type Foundry and with Steve at Electrical. And Greg Norman mixed it at Electrical, in Chicago.

                All recorded in the analog domain. All mastered by Ryan Smith at Sterling Sound in NYC using Direct Metal Mastering.
                I played the guitars and vocals and Steve Kille (Dead Meadow) recorded it for me in the cellar of the house I was renting out in Los Angeles. It was recorded on my Tascam 1/2" - 16 track machine. Likkle More is "see you later" in patois, btw. Likkle More:

                This was mixed by Greg Norman at Electrical in Chicago. All analog, all mastered DMM.

                Artwork by Chris Bigg using photograph by Ed Deal, 1958, of Fred Deal (Kim's other grandaddy), Chief Deputy of Wyoming County, West Virginia Sheriff's Office.

                The 7" package has an insert. It's a glossy print card that has a picture of my crazy face. It looks like a Polaroid. Because it was a Polaroid of me. And we made copies of the Polaroid and we stick them into each record. And I sign some of them"...


                TRACK LISTING

                3. Hot Shot 2m 44secs
                4. Likkie More 1m 47secs


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