Bringing her debut album to Ninja Tune, rising DJ and producer Elkka presents Prism of Pleasure, an exploration of sensuality and queerness, and a celebration of pleasure in all its forms- sensual, sexual, aural, deprived, creative, painful, political, the list goes onit is this prism that acts as the lens through which Elkka sees the world.

Prism of Pleasure brings Elkka’s voice to the fore, with collaborations from John Carroll Kirby (Frank Ocean, Solange, Harry Styles), Dot Major (London Grammar) and additional writing/production from Tim Bran (Scissor Sisters, Kylie Minogue) and Ash Workman (Metronomy, Christine & The Queens).

Elkka has engaged sex and sensuality expert Oli Lipski as a creative consultant in the project. The pair aim to share their research on the album themes though thinkpieces and features.

Gorgeous visuals for the album and accompanying live show delivered by prominent design studio DR.ME (Mick Jagger, Evian Christ, Ela Minus), whose work has been exhibited at the London V&A Museum and LA’s Museum of Contemporary Art.

Photography for the album was shot by Elkka’s long term creative partner, muse and wife Alexandra Lambert (Metronomy, Loraine James, Charlotte dos Santos).

TRACK LISTING

1. Break All My Walls Down
2. Right Here
3. Make Me
4. Crushhh (feat. John Carroll Kirby)
5. Air Tight (feat. Dot Major)
6. Your Skin
7. Passionfruit (feat. John Carroll Kirby)
8. I Just Want To Love You
9. Surrender2me
10. FCKD It

Annie Clark made her recorded debut as St. Vincent in 2007 with Marry Me, quickly becoming regarded as one of the most innovative and fascinating presences in modern music. Her subsequent albums would include Actor (2009), Strange Mercy (2011), her self-titled fourth album and winner of the 2014 GRAMMY for Best Alternative Album. In 2017, her fifth album MASSEDUCTION would break St. Vincent into the U.S. and UK top 10s and win two more GRAMMYs (Best Rock Song for its title track, and Best Recording Package). 2021’s Daddy’s Home found St. Vincent channeling the hungover glamor and gritty sepia-toned soundtrack of 1970s downtown NYC to an ecstatic reception, ultimately winning her a second Best Alternative Album GRAMMY.

Following a 2021-2022 global tour that reaffirmed St. Vincent’s status as one of live music's preeminent forces with headline appearances at the likes of the Hollywood Bowl and Radio City Music Hall, Clark would begin work on album number seven: Her first fully self-produced album (having co-produced every one of her previous efforts), All Born Screaming is St. Vincent at her most primal. Featuring Clark leading “a curated group of rippers” through the brawny “Broken Man,” the mordant catwalk sashay through the deafening assault of self-loathing that is “Big Time Nothing,” the sublime, elegiac earworm “Sweetest Fruit," All Born Screaming is equal parts spiritual desolation and rapturous acceptance. “If you’re born screaming, that’s a great sign,” says Clark, “because it means you’re breathing. You’re alive. My god. It’s joyous. And then it’s also a protest. We’re all born in protest in a certain way. It’s terrifying to be alive, it’s ecstatic to be alive. It’s everything.” 

TRACK LISTING

1. Hell Is Near
2. Reckless
3. Broken Man
4. Flea
5. Big Time Nothing
6. Violent Times
7. The Power’s Out
8. Sweetest Fruit
9. So Many Planets
10. All Born Screaming

The Stanford Family Band release their debut EP "For Your Listening Pleasure". Fronted by the captivating lead vocals of Elliot Stanford, the EP's six songs capture a vintage pop aura whilst retaining a fresh indie and garage rock edge.

Offering a sound which journeys through bittersweet memories, nostalgia, and the warmth of sunlit days, The Stanford Family Band have started to make a name for their unique sonic approach - drawing inspiration from iconic acts such as The Beach Boys and The Modern Lovers, built around complex four-part harmonies and irresistibly memorable melodic hooks.

Speaking about the EP, Elliot Stanford (lead vocals, piano, guitar and songwriter) said: "When we were first signing with Goo, we really had no idea what we would release or how it would end up looking. We have a lot of songs, old and new, some of which have been floating around for many years. In the end we just really wanted to put out a body of work that really encapsulates everything we are about! We love big dramatic songs and arrangements, but at the same time, a little cheeky country/garage rock beat has always tickled us so we just really wanted to capture everything that we love in one concise record. It’s been an absolute pleasure to work on this with our friend Harry Hayes (Producer) and we are mega proud of how it all came together!"

Having already garnered tastemaker press coverage and a whole host of radio play, The Stanford Family Band have quickly started to gain critical acclaim. This EP showcases the outfit’s uncanny ability as songwriters, creating memorable, charming and beautifully constructed melodic tracks.

TRACK LISTING

Side A
A1. Your Chair
A2. Make My Day
A3. Sweep The Floor

Side B
B1. Love Me A Bit
B2. Nothing Like Something
B3. On My Holiday

Emm Gryner is an award winning singer, songwriter, actor and best-selling author. Emm sang and played keyboards in David Bowie's band, and appears on numerous recordings, including his landmark 1999 SNL appearance, Bowie at The Beeb and Toy. Bowie's acclaimed Glastonbury 2000 documents her performance in front of more than 100,000 fans at Worthy Farm. With Trapper she shared arena stages with Def Leppard, and she also helped bring the first music video recorded in outer space to the world.

Detroit radio formed the soundtrack of Emm's life and career and her brand new record is a celebration of that music. From Motown,jazz and pop, to Steely Dan, Fleetwood Mac and the Doobies, Business & Pleasure is infused with the sunshine soul and stellar playing of the late 70s and early 80s. These songs, produced by Fred Mollin, written with poet Michael Holmes, and recorded with drummer Shannon Forrest (Toto), keyboardist Pat Coil (Michael McDonald), bassist Larry Paxton (Alison Krauss), and guitarists Tom Bukovac (Taylor Swift) and Pat Buchanan (Hall & Oates, Dolly Parton), embody a take on yacht rock that sails deep into the 2020s and introduce the world to a bold new character: a powerful woman whose passion, presence, conviction, humor and grace serves to unite the world in

music, joy and love, once again.

TRACK LISTING

1. Loose Wig
2. Jack
3. Valencia
4. Summertime
5. The Chance
6. Queen
7. The Second Coming
8. Strangers And Saints
9. Burn The Boats
10. Don't Give In
11. Real Love

Holly Johnson is proud to present a 35th anniversary reissue of his 1989 number one debut solo album.

Blast will be available on limited edition red vinyl (Pressing of 1500 copies worldwide).

Here’s what Holly calls "Blast in a Nutshell” - "My exploding red hot vinyl, from the fag end of the nineteen eighties. It's not purple, but it's mine all mine. Thirty five years in the same house, the vibes are still here. Still alive in 2023.”\

Prepare to blast off once more.

TRACK LISTING

1. Atomic City
2. Heaven's Here
3. Americanos
4. Deep In Love
5. S.U.C.C.E.S.S.
6. Love Train
7. Got It Made
8. Love Will Come
9. Perfume
10. Feel Good

To mark its ten year anniversary, Mexican Summer presents a new, limited edition pressing of No Joy’s classic album Wait to Pleasure expanded with two new tracks from the beloved band's original line up. Wait To Pleasure is the product of the Montreal noise-pop band’s first foray in a fullyfurnished studio environment. Here the band has flourished, delivering their finest set to date, rooted heavily in shoegaze ripcurls and devastating melody, finishing sentences whispered long ago with depth, variance and force. Singer-guitarists Jasamine White-Gluz and Laura Lloyd and drummer Garland Hastings knock down the fence between nostalgiaand modernity, chaos and control, in a perfectly- realized effort made to bridge their uncompromised musical pasts with the alarmist tendencies of the present. Wait To Pleasure found No Joy set loose in Mexican Summer’s studio, Gary’s Electric, for two weeks in 2012, with producer Jorge Elbrecht at the helm. “Our earlier records are purely guitar-based, rock band lineups,” Laura adds, “and with Wait To Pleasure we seized the opportunity to change things up a bit.”

TRACK LISTING

1. E
2. Hare Tarot Lies
3. Prodigy
4. Slug Night
5. Blue Neck Riviera
6. Lizard Kids
7. Lunar Phobia
8. Wrack Attack
9. Ignored Pets
10. Pleasure
11. Uhy Yuoi Yoi
12. Dorion (Bonus Track)
13. Beauty (Bonus Track)

On the heels of her showstopping Met Gala appearance & the release of new single “Lipstick Lover”, Janelle Monáe announced her hugely anticipated new album, The Age Of Pleasure, due out June 9th.

Janelle Monáe is without question one of the most celebrated artists of the modern era, an 8x GRAMMY® Award-nominated singer, songwriter, producer, performer, and fashion icon known worldwide for her inimitable style and visionary sound. With multiple celebrated albums, THE ARCHANDROID (2010), THE ELECTRIC LADY (2013), and DIRTY COMPUTER (2018), numerous critically-acclaimed theatrical and television performances, and her unwavering activism for social justice and the LGBTQIA+ community, Monáe continues to be one of the most compelling and important artists of this generation.

'There are moments when we harmonise with each other and become one with nature and reality.' When, in the early 2000's, Pete Adarkwah heard of the existence of tapes of unreleased Roy Ayers and Ubiquity recordings sitting in storage he contacted Roy to get hold of them to be mastered and released. Released they were under the banner of 'Virgin Ubiquity' which spawned two volumes of the original grooves as well as a compilation of remixed versions of selected tracks. Now coming out on a 10” single, 'Reaching For The Highest Pleasure' gets it's first ever vinyl release, thus adding to the canon of 'must have' Roy Ayers records. This vibraphone heavy track and funk-fuelled bassline epitomises Roy's Black Consciousness inspired output from the mid-70's that also saw seminal albums such as Red Black and Green, Mystic Voyage and Everybody Loves The Sunshine recorded with various line ups of 'Ubiquity'. This release is backed with the call to arms of personal freedom and self that is 'I Am Your Mind part 2' remixed by Parisian producer Pépé Bradock AKA Julien Auger. First released by BBE on the original 'Virgin Ubiquity' compilation as the original recording and subsequently as a remixed version on 'Virgin Ubiquity remixed', this track features a stunning female vocal as well as Roy's spoken word philosophies laid over a deep and infectious groove. These two tracks are Roy Ayers at his legendary best from his most innovative period of creativity with his Ubiquity band of top flight Jazz, Funk and Soul musicians and artists. As already said, this a must have record.

TRACK LISTING

1. Reaching The Highest Pleasure
2. I Am Your Mind (Part 2) Pépé Bradock Main Mix

Together with Universal Music, Yello is now looking back on their complete works and releasing the first six studio albums as exclusive 2LP bundles consisting of the original albums as black vinyl re-issues, each combined with a coloured vinyl bonus LP with rare bonus versions of their most famous songs, from the original albums.

In an elaborate state-of-the art process, the old original tapes were remastered in the highest possible resolution to reproduce the sound as authentically as never before. In addition to the cult debut "Solid Pleasure" (1980) with the hit "Bostich", the albums "Claro Que Si" (1981), "You Gotta Say Yes To Another Excess" (1983), the Top 1 breakthrough "Stella" (1985), including the mega hit "Oh Yeah", the legendary follow-up "One Second" (1987), from which the single "The Rhythm Divine" emerged, as well as the electro-pop milestone "Flag" from 1988, including the pop anthem "The Race" in a completely new sound shine.

'Pre Pleasure' is the breath-taking third album from Australian singer-songwriter, Julia Jacklin. Co-produced with Marcus Paquin (The Weather Station, The National), 'Pre Pleasure' sees Jacklin as her most authentic self, delivering the most intimate, raw and devastating ten songs of her career to date. An uncompromising and masterful lyricist, always willing to mine the depths of her own life experience, and singular in translating it into deeply personal, timeless songs. 

TRACK LISTING

1. Lydia Wears A Cross
2. Love, Try Not To Let Go
3. Ignore Tenderness
4. I Was Neon
5. Too In Love To Die
6. Less Of A Stranger
7. Moviegoers
8. Magic
9. Be Careful With Yourself
10. End Of A Friendship

The follow up to Self Esteem’s acclaimed 2019 debut album Compliments Please, Prioritise Pleasure is a record that reminds us all of the importance of being our unapologetic selves, putting your insecurities out there in the hope that it can be the first step towards healing them. Honest disclosure has always been Self Esteem’s forte, and so each track on Prioritise Pleasure handles difficult themes with nuanced perspective, comforted and counter-balanced with an array of rhythmic flourishes that speak to the eclecticism of her experience and influence.

Having allowed itself grace, Prioritise Pleasure is also a record of great joy. Working again with trusted producer Johan Karlberg [of afro-fusion trio The Very Best], it was stitched together throughout the pandemic in chunked sessions, the time between each batch encouraging Taylor to fully flesh out her ideas. With Prioritise Pleasure, Self Esteem comes one step closer to reminding listeners – and herself – that true success begins and ends with self-acceptance, telling your story in the way that only you can.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Rebecca Lucy Taylor has an uncanny skill for a melody, and it's clear from both the gritty drive of neo-synth banger 'Prioritise Pleasure', soaring and triumphant but wonderfully formed around a wealth of scatty percussion and tasteful reverb, as well as the earlier confessional spoken word of 'I Do This All The Time'. It's a wonderfully formed and brilliantly clever album.

TRACK LISTING

1. I’m Fine
2. Fucking Wizardry
3. Hobbies 2
4. Prioritise Pleasure
5. I Do This All The Time
6. Moody
7. Still Reigning
8. How Can I Help You
9. It’s Been A While
10. The 345
11. John Elton
12. You Forever
13. Just Kids

The new album, a sonic shimmer of textures and pulses that switches between raw atmospheric edges and environments, arrives with a fascinating history. As Peel explains, “The specialist library label KPM, gave me permission to reinterpret the original music of the celebrated 1972 KPM 1000 series: Electrosonic, the music of Delia Derbyshire and the Radiophonic Workshop.” This process of re-generation and finding fresh inspiration in pioneering, experimental electronics from the early 1970s is at the core of the album. Peel has made connections and new patterns that mirror the Earth’s ecological cycles through music.

Peel explains, “I’m drawn to the patterns around us and the cycles in life that will keep on evolving and transforming forever. Fir Wave is defined by its continuous environmental changes and there are so many connections to those patterns echoed in electronic music - it’s always an organic dis-covery of old and new.” As Delia Derbyshire revealed in 2000 to BBC sound engineer, journalist and academic Jo Hutton: “I like new things that don’t seem new . . . as though they’ve always been there.”

Known more recently for curating and presenting on BBC Radio 3’s Night Tracks, the Northern Irish Emmy-nominated composer and producer’s work is ambitious and forward-looking, adapting and re-inventing new genres and hybrid musical forms. Recent albums include the solo electronic and pop work of Awake But Always Dreaming, which became an ode to her grandmother’s mind as she lived with dementia; the electronic ruralism of Chalk Hill Blue, an album recorded with the poet Will Burns; and the space and the unparalleled vastness of Mary Casio: Journey to Cassiopeia, scored for synthesisers and a 30 piece colliery brass band. In 2019 she composed and recorded the soundtrack for Game of Thrones: The Last Watch which earned her an Emmy nomination for ‘Outstanding Music Composition For A Documentary Series Or Special (Original Dramatic Score)’. 

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: While i'm a big fan of archival synth business, it's often hard to really listen to it in any other situation other than chin-scratching synth-nerdery. I know, i'm a fan of that and while the more esoteric synth explorations are great fun, they have nowhere near the amount of sheer depth and replayability that you get with 'Fir Wave'. A dynamic and cohesive set of rhythmic electronic pieces, moulded with the legendary influence from KPM. Stunning.

TRACK LISTING

Side A
1 Wind Shadow
2 Emergence In Nature
3 Patterned Formation
4 Carbon Cycle

Side B
1 Ecovocative
2 Fir Wave
3 Reaction Diffusion 

2021 has been an incredible year so far for Jessie Ware. ‘What’s Your Pleasure?’ re-entered the Top 10 following a brilliant Graham Norton performance of ‘Remember Where You Are’ which has proved itself to be one of Jessie’s most connective singles to date. In addition, Jessie has two BRITs nominations, one for Female Solo artist and one for Album Of The Year – the category with a historic four women up for the award. 

Her newest track, ‘Please’ sees Jessie continue the energy of ‘What’s Your Pleasure’ in the form of a throwback to 70s and 80s dance music, and pulls it together in a wonderfully anachronistic style, all packaged with Ware’s outstanding vocals. The track fits perfectly into ‘What’s Your Pleasure - The Platinum Pleasure Edition’, Ware’s deluxe offering of her sensational 2020 record. This edition still bears the cohesive, complementary songwriting, the killer grooves and flawless production of the original version. The Platinum Pleasure Edition only serves to heighten the rich and powerful soul of last year’s release with tracks like Please, 0208 featuring synthpop visionary Kindness, the Endless Remix of ‘Adore You’ and a whole host more.

Talking about the deluxe and new single Jessie said: ”I had such an amazing response to the ‘What’s Your Pleasure?’ record that I didn’t want the lights to go up and the party to be over just yet! ‘Please’ is full of optimism and ready to be played in a place where we can all be together and flirt, dance, touch and kiss. A wonderful excuse not to stop the party from ending.”

It’s safe to say that the last twelve months have been pretty stellar for Jessie Ware. June 2020 saw Jessie release ‘What’s Your Pleasure?’ and gain not only her fourth UK Top 10 album of her career, but also her highest charting record when it entered straight into the UK Official Album Charts at No.3. As if this wasn’t amazing enough, she went on to release her first cookbook and continued her immensely popular podcast Table Manners and recently hit a massive milestone of 21 million individual listens, oftentimes featuring household names such as Dua Lipa, Kylie Minogue, Yungblud, Robbie Williams, Alanis Morissette., Dawn French and Dolly Parton to name a few.

Last year saw the album continue to receive widespread critical acclaim, with ‘What’s Your Pleasure?’ featuring heavily amongst ‘album of the year’ lists including for music critic Anthony Fantano, also known as The Needle Drop, who gave What’s Your Pleasure?’ the coveted no. 1 spot on his ‘Best Albums of 2020’ list, declaring it to be “a religious experience”. The record garnered praise from The Guardian who say it’s“Ware’s finest record yet"; Rolling Stone laude it as a “fantastic dance-pop record”; Pitchfork say “Jessie reminds us why we listen to dance music in the first place.”, GQ proclaim it as “the perfect album” and NME stated it was“pure escapism.”

TRACK LISTING

1. Spotlight
2. What’s Your Pleasure?
3. Ooh La La
4. Soul Control
5. Save A Kiss
6. Adore You
7. In Your Eyes
8. Step Into My Life
9. Read My Lips
10. Mirage (Don’t Stop)
11 .The Kill
12. Remember Where You Are
13. Please
14. Impossible
15. Eyes Closed
16. Overtime
17. Hot N Heavy
18. Pale Blue Light
19. 0208 (feat. Kindness)
20. Adore You (Endless Remix)

"Rare Pleasure" is prolific LA-based musician and producer Mndsgn’s third full-length album for Stones Throw, following "Body Wash"£ (2016) and "Yawn Zen" (2014) This is Mndsgn’s first traditional studio album as compared to his repertoire of homemade beat records. Album contributors include Kiefer, Swarvy, Fousheé, Carlos Niño and more. For fans of R&B, soundtrack / theme-music, psychedelia and jazz standard. Come with lyrics printed on inner sleeve. Artwork painted and designed by Mndsgn Release comes with limited edition merch offerings including t-shirts and stash tins.

For fans of Knxwledge, Flying Lotus, Thundercat, Mild High Club, Sofie, Helado Negro, Los Retros, Dave Dub, Cody Chestnutt etc. 

TRACK LISTING

Side A

01. Rare Pleasure I
02. Truth Interlude
03. 3Hands / Divine Hand I
04. Hope You’re Doin’ Better
05. Rare Pleasure II
06. Slowdance


Side B

01. Abundance
02. Masque
03. Rare Pleasure III
04. Medium Rare
05. Rare Pleasure IV
06. Colours Of The Sunset
07. Divine Hand II

The Pale White are a three piece indie rock band from Newcastle, UK comprised of brothers Adam (Lead Vocals, Guitar) and Jack Hope (Drums), and long time friend Tom Booth (Bass).

The trio have fast been gaining attention for their signature melodic guitar work, thunderous rhythm section and magnetic live shows.

Across a series of early singles and two EP releases, the band have continued to gain high profile support from the likes of NME, MTV and BBC Introducing, and after securing BBC Introducing's Track Of The Week, the band were invited to play stages at Glastonbury and Reading & Leeds.

With a five star live review from The Independent comparing them to US rock royalty Queens Of The Stone Age, the groups reputation as an unmissable live act has started to spread.

Opening for the likes of The Amazons, Sam Fender, Foals, Twin Atlantic, The Libertines and Band of Skulls, the band are developing a passionate word of mouth following as one of the most exciting new British bands.

TRACK LISTING

1. Infinite Pleasure
2. Glue
3. Take Your Time
4. That Dress
5. Nothing Lasts Forever
6. Medicine
7. Confession Box
8. Anechoic Chamber Blues
9. Sonder
10. ...Still No Taste
11. Frank Sinatra

In the words of Mac DeMarco: “Eddie Chacon is planet earth’s number one musician. Yesterday, today, and forever.”

"'The soulful singer had a worldwide hit with 1992’s Would I Lie to You, but he was dropped and his musical partner died. Now, he has poured his pain into a cathartic comeback album''

Eddie Chacon experienced proper, peak-nineties acclaim in the soul duo Charles and Eddie: they scored a global No. 1 in 1992 with “Would I Lie To You,” appeared three times on Top of the Pops, and featured on soundtracks from True Romance to Super Mario Bros..

Produced by John Carroll Kirby, the like-minded artist and collaborator with Frank Ocean and Solange Knowles, it features restrained percussion from Kanye West’s Sunday Service drummer Lamar Carter. Celestial soul as a break from chaos, these are quietly challenging songs as timeless as they are contemporary.

By that time, Chacon had already been navigating music in interesting ways, all the way back to his teen garage rock band with the late Cliff Burton (Metallica) and Mike Bordin (Faith No More). In the late ’80s, he released a full-length on Uncle Luke from 2 Live Crew’s label and signed to Columbia as a solo act. He was a working artist, always popping up in unexpected places: through the course of his career, Chacon would write, sing, or produce ten Top 40 hits around the globe.

Years ago, Chacon retired from music for a second calling as a fashion photographer and creative director. In an interview at the time, he said, “I was fortunate to have a 35-year music career and felt that there wasn’t that much more for me to say or achieve.” Very thankfully, that’s no longer the case. Private experiments, far from the major-label center he once frequented, began to feel urgent and new. “There’s nothing more exciting for me than getting to start from the beginning again,” he says today.

“Pleasure, Joy and Happiness” will be available on the boutique Los Angeles-based label Day End Records. This is a thoughtfully considered album of quiet, confident R&B: it doesn’t jump out at you, but rather gets in you.

Produced by John Carroll Kirby, the like-minded artist and collaborator with Frank Ocean and Solange Knowles, it features restrained percussion from Kanye West’s Sunday Service drummer Lamar Carter. Celestial soul as a break from chaos, these are quietly challenging songs as timeless as they are contemporary.

“What a rare and cool challenge it was for me to help Eddie re-emerge after a long hiatus,” says John Carroll Kirby. “I was excited to produce a record for him that captured the chill, laid-back wisdom and easy vocal mastery he has that you don’t see that much these days.”

Lead single “My Mind Is Out of Its Mind” finds a deep groove to try and contain spiraling heartbreak, while the sweet and wobbly “Trouble” balances the delightful near whisper of the title track “Pleasure, Joy and Happiness.” But even the project’s lightest moments feel sincere and mature. Altogether: a truly unifying release, coming from a man who’s earned the right to share such a regal, romantic sound.

“I used to think to myself,” Chacon says, “if I ever make a record again, I’d want it to be a record you’d have to be my age to make.”

TRACK LISTING

A1. Trouble
A2. Hurt
A3. Outside
A4. My Mind Is Out Of It's Mind
B1. Pleasure Joy & Happiness
B2. Papa
B3. Wicked World
B4. Above Below

Two of the best tracks from one of the Rarest 70s soul LPs on the planet, 500 copies only with a nice brand free label. One time press. The finest floaty modern soul you can buy.

TRACK LISTING

1. Dreaming Our Lives Away
2. A Feeling Inside

RIYL: David Bowie, Prince, Paul McCartney. Restlessness is the first step towards pleasure. We make comfort out of discomfort, pleasure out of pain. That journey isn’t always a straight line, but at least we’re going somewhere real. “I had to move, Lord I couldn’t be still” is the unsettled way that Video Age’s new album and title track, Pleasure Line, begins. But as the song unfolds, it uplifts us into a romantic space of possibility and love. Just as “love” is both a noun and a verb, Pleasure Line is both a road to be traveled and the act of crossing that road.

Video Age’s first two albums were about loneliness and discovering oneself, but Pleasure Line takes on a whole new attitude, considering songwriting partners Ross Farbe and Ray Micarelli are both getting married this year (just a few weeks apart from each other, too). But these songs aren’t expressions of one-dimensional puppy love—this is euphoria with depth, ecstasy with complications. Video Age’s third album, due out from Winspear on August 7, 2020, pairs neon-bright 80s pop melodies with a vast range of influences (including Janet Jackson, David Bowie, and Paul McCartney) to create an optimistic sound all their own. The influences vary song to song, but they’re all tinted with the same rosy hue. These are catchy, memorable songs that radiate big “glass-half full” energy. Pleasure Line is a salve that protects against cynicism—listening to this album, you can’t help but feel the world around you is full of romantic potential. 

TRACK LISTING

01 Pleasure Line
02 Maybe Just Once
03 Blushing
04 Aerostar
05 Comic Relief
06 Sweet Marie
07 Shadow On The Wall
08 That Can't Be
09 Meet Me In My Heart
10 Good To Be Back 

Fourth studio album by the English singer-songwriter, featuring collaborations with Shungudzo Kuyimba, Kindness, Clarence Coffee Jr., Metronomy and former Badbadnotgood sound whiz Matthew Tavares.

TRACK LISTING

Spotlight
What’s Your Pleasure
Ooh La La
Soul Control
Save A Kiss
Adore
In Your Eyes
Step Into My Life
Read My Lips
Mirage (Don’t Stop)
The Kill
Remember Where You Are

Beggars Banquet release two special titles to commemorate the legendary albums Gary Numan/Tubeway Army issued in 1979 – these editions are titled Replicas – The First Recordings, and the debut under his own name, The Pleasure Principle – The First Recordings.

While both of these albums have remained in print, these releases concentrate on the early recordings made prior to the completed albums and present the evolution of the albums. The tracks have been sequenced as they appeared on the original tapes and the audio has been taken from the high resolution digital transfers made by John Dent in 2007. One of the Freerange studio tapes suffered irreparable print through damage on two tracks so they were not used in the 2009 release. However an alternative source has been located so the tapes can now be presented as complete for this release.

Even before the single “Are ‘Friends’ Electric?” was released, Numan had recruited a permanent drummer and keyboard player and demoed an album’s worth of new material between April 9-12, 1979 at Freerange Studio in London’s Covent Garden. This was supplemented by a second session, probably the following June, that yielded four further songs and two re-recordings. Following the hectic schedule of promoting “AFE?”, Numan recorded a new session for John Peel the day after the single hit #1 on the UK charts. Rather than record as Tubeway Army, the session was credited to Gary Numan and the group name abandoned at the peak of it’s success. As before, rather than promote the current album, Numan chose to record four new songs. While the album Replicas hit #1, Numan was busy recording a follow up in Marcus Music Studio. From the surviving tapes there are six mixes marked as out-takes and these have been included in the CD package. The discs have been sequenced with the stronger, second Freerange demo preceding the first session but all tracks are in the order of the tapes.

TRACK LISTING

CD
DISC 1
1. Cars (Demo Version 2)
2. Films (Demo Version)
3. Complex (Demo Version)
4. Random (Remastered 2009)
5. M.E. (Demo Version)
6. Conversation (Demo Version 2)
7. Tracks (Demo Version 1)*
8. Cars (Demo Version 1)*
9. Metal (Demo Version)
10. Airlane (Demo Version)
11. Trois Gymnopédies No.1 (Demo)
12. Observer (Demo Version)
13. Conversation (Demo Version 1)
14. Engineers (Demo Version)
15. Asylum (Remastered 2009
16. Oceans (Remastered 2009)
17. Photograph (Remastered 2009)

DISC 2
1. Airlane (BBC Peel Session)
2. Cars (BBC Peel Session)
3. Films (BBC Peel Session)
4. Conversation (BBC Peel Session)
5. Tracks (Outtake Mix)
6. Complex (Outtake Mix)*
7. M.E. (Outtake Mix)
8. Engineers (Outtake Mix)*
9. Airlane (Outtake Mix)*
10. Cars (Outtake Mix)*

* Previously Unreleased

LP
A1. Cars (Demo Version)
A2. Films (Demo Version)
A3. Complex (Demo Version)
A4. Random (remastered 2009)
A5. M.E. (demo Version)
B1. Conversation (Demo Version 2)
B2. Tracks (Demo Version 1)*
B3. Cars (Demo Version 1)*
B4. Metal (Demo Version)
B5. Airlane (Demo Version)
C1. Trois Gymnopédies No.1 (Remastered 2009)
C2. Observer (Demo Version)
C3. Conversation (Demo Version 1)
C4. Engineers (Demo Version)
C5. Asylum (Remastered 2009
C6. Oceans (Remastered 2009)
C7. Photograph (Remastered 2009)
D1. Airlane (BBC Peel Session)
D2. Cars (BBC Peel Session)
D3. Films (BBC Peel Session)
D4. Conversation (BBC Peel Session)

* Previously Unreleased

Dark wave techno / goth / electro-punk business here from Poison Arrow on the seductively named Pleasure District. A-side tracks, "If You Don't Love Me" and "Casa Show" both pair skeletal drum machines with gothy, pitch black female vocals and eerie metallic washes. A little Chris & Cosey, a little Massive Attack and a little Tropic of Cancer all thrown into one heady, black eye-linered muse.

Side B sees two remixers, Konrad Black and Razor take turns on the lead track. KB keeps "If You Don't Love Me" deeply in the sex dungeon, soaked in amyl nitrate and scarily carnal. Meanwhile, the Razor dub of said track sees it strung out into a highly taut bubbler, smothering the vocal in tape delay and allowing the various elements plenty of room to make their impact.

Causing an immediate stir around Piccadilly HQ this afternoon this is a beautifully dark and arresting record and one that should more than stand the test of time. Highly recommended! 

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart have long set the benchmark for bighearted, idealisti c pop songs. With The Echo of Pleasure, The Pains push beyond their many inspirati ons and embrace their role as indiepop heroes in their own right.

Showcasing the deft songwriti ng of frontman Kip Berman, The Pains’ fourth album is their most confi dent and accomplished. Aft er three criti cally acclaimed records, 2009’s The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, 2011’s Belong and 2014’s Days of Abandon received praise from The New York Times, Pitchfork, The Guardian and Rolling Stone, they have put together a collecti on of songs that possess a ti meless grandeur, deeper and more sati sfying than anything the band has done since their iconic debut. The record is augmented by guest vocals featuring previous Pains collaborators: Jen Goma on “So True” (A Sunny Day in Glasgow), bass guitar by Jacob Danish Sloan (Dream Diary), and horns by Kelly Pratt (Beirut, David Byrne, St. Vincent). The Pains of Being Pure at Heart live band consists of long-ti me guitarist Christoph Hochheim (Ablebody, ex-Depreciati on Guild), bassist Jacob Danish Sloan, drummer Chris Schackerman (ex-Mercury Girls, ex-Literature) and vocalist/keyboardist Jess Rojas.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Thoroughly melodic songwriting, beautiful harmonies and lush, euphoric chord progressions. Outlandishly pretty but innately listenable, with hooks and jangles abound. A great leap forwards for The Pains...

TRACK LISTING

My Only
Anymore
The Garret
When I Dance With You  
The Echo Of Pleasure
Falling Apart So Slow
So True
The Cure For Death
Stay

Feist’s first album in six years reflects on secrets and shame, loneliness and tenderness, care and fatigue and is at its core a study on self-awareness. As the fourth full-length from the Canadian singer/songwriter born Leslie Feist, Pleasure builds off the warm naturalism of the Polaris Prize-winning Metals and emerges as her most formally defiant and expansive work so far. Recorded over the course of three months—in Stinson Beach, Upstate New York, and Paris — Pleasure was co-produced by Feist with longtime collaborators Renaud Letang and Mocky. Following the album’s title-track, Feist has now shared ‘Century’, which features Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker in addition to reaffirming Feist as a cagily inventive guitar player, the album threads her shape-shifting and often haunting vocals into sparse and raw arrangements. Released on a Limited Ed Digi and 2LP set

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: From the mournful lo-fi balladry of 'I Wish I Didn't Miss You' to the country-tinged minor key melodies of 'Any Party' and stomping cyclic rock of century, this is a confident and cohesive collection of classics from one of the all-time masters in the field. Feist smashes it again.

TRACK LISTING

1. “Pleasure”
2. “I Wish I Didn’t Miss You”
3. “Get Not High, Get Not Low”
4. “Lost Dreams”
5. “Any Party”
6. “A Man Is Not His Song”
7. “The Wind”
8. “Century”
9. “Baby Be Simple”
10. “I’m Not Running Away”
11. “Young Up”

Music often comes from a deep place, and in the case of Hannah Cohen’s stunning and heartrending second album, it’s very deep indeed. Mainly inspired by a painful break-up and the anxieties that loss can trigger, Pleasure Boy cushions its sadness in an exquisitely nuanced soundscape of aching melancholy and lush melody where Hannah’s vocal conveys all the different shades of heartbreak. Following the album’s completion, she’s survived the calamity and found a new level of happiness, but to paraphrase the classic Sixties hit, there will always be something there to remind her with Pleasure Boy.

‘Pleasure Boy’, like her debut ‘Child Bride’, was produced by Thomas Bartlett, aka Doveman, whose work with artists such as The National, Antony Hegarty and David Byrne singles him out as one of America’s current finest producers and collaborators, though he’s also a talented pianist. The dynamics of ‘Pleasure Boy’ was the result of Hannah and Bartlett, “bunkering down with my songs, experimenting with different tones and sounds, and layering them. My first record was so airy and roomy, I didn’t have patience for that again, I wanted more movement, something more mysterious and witchier, so we created this sound wall together.”

“I wanted the music to hurt, to have a visceral effect,” Hannah says. Her voice sometimes sounds delirious or icy; other times she recalls the vulnerable, piercing beauty of Harriet Wheeler (The Sundays) and Karen Peris (The Innocence Mission). But Pleasure Boy‘s sound wouldn’t exist without the vision that launched it. The album title arrived as the record took shape. “Pleasure Boy is a character of who it’s about, someone who represents gluttony and decadence and richness,” Hannah explains. She admits it was a tough record to make, given she was aiming to heal emotionally while feeling “devastated and hurt. But it wouldn’t be the record it is if I hadn’t done that.”

TRACK LISTING

1 Keepsake
2 Lilacs
3 Watching You Fall
4 Fake It
5 Claremont
6 Queen Of Ice
7 Just Take The Rest
8 Baby

Following on from Dury’s acclaimed 2010 album ‘Happy Soup’, ‘It’s A Pleasure’ is a series of conflicted emotions, stark drum beats, comic vignettes and strung out synths coming together to present one man’s wry take on the battle with existence. It’s metaphysics meets morose disco.

TRACK LISTING

1. Pleasure
2. Palm Trees
3. Other Men's Girls
4. Police
5. Lips
6. Whispered
7. Petals
8. White Men
9. Wintery Kisses
10. Babies

A lower-than-low priced compilation LP highlighting some of Matador’s most exciting 2013 moments, including (but not limited to) previously unreleased versions of songs from Queens Of The Stone Age, Yo La Tengo and Savages.

The perfect stocking stuffer, particularly if you own a 12” square stocking.

120g vinyl includes MP3 coupon.

Exclusively available to independent retailers.

We can’t really offer you any dirt on No Joy. They won’t give us any. They won’t give you any either, at least not anything you can use. They’ve been asked the same questions one too many times. “What are your influences?” “What’s it like being a woman in rock music?” You’re not gonna get much out of them outside of their music, which has been exclusively in the domain of Mexican Summer since their debut 7”.Check the record covers – no information, no photos, no inserts. Of course their music does not exist in a void, but it stands to reason that if you’re going to put something out there, you’d best back it up. If you’ve seen No Joy perform, you know that this is not their problem.

Wait To Pleasure may not provide you with any new answers, but what it does provide is a batch of incredible new songs, the product of the Montreal noise-pop band’s first foray in a fully-furnished studio environment. Here the band has flourished, delivering their finest set to date, rooted heavily in shoegaze ripcurls and devastating melody, finishing sentences whispered long ago with depth, variance and force. Singer-guitarists Jasamine White-Gluz and Laura Lloyd and drummer Garland Hastings knock down the fence between nostalgia and modernity, chaos and control, in a perfectly-realized effort made to bridge their uncompromised musical pasts with the alarmist tendencies of the present.

While it's a cliché to tag every new band with the 'one to watch' tag, She's Hit can't be discussed without stating the glaringly obvious - they are one of the most exciting bands to have emerged from the UK in years. Turning up amps, reverb and two fingers to fey in their hometown known for Belle and Sebastian's indie-folk, She's Hit's "blistering live outings" (Drowned in Sound) earned them a devoted following and a much justified buzz, long before their first release.

Recalling some of the greatest bands in history: The Fall, Jesus and Mary Chain, The Cramps - She's Hit's debut album 'Pleasure' is nothing short of a classic. Spanning a wide musical spectrum, from the psychedelic droner Velvet Underground-esque opener 'Forfeit to Despair' and 'Lustless' with its dreamy distortion and stoner vocals akin to My Bloody Valentine or The Big Pink, to 'Miriam Hollow' with an instrumental opener as powerful as Joy Divisions 'Digital'. Then there's the singles, 'RE:PEATER' where pounding drums and frenzied organ riffs a heart-speeding audio assault as startlingly brilliant as any offering from The Cramps and the sleazed-up slinky forthcoming single 'Shimmer Shimmer' recalling Iggy Pop and the Stooges. All laced with She's Hit's distinctive snarled out vocals sounding like a brittle, punk-rock Mark E Smith.

'Pleasure' was recorded at The Green Door Studio with Sam Smith (Alasdair Roberts, Remember Remember, Sons & Daughters) and mastered by Iain Cook of Unwinding Hours / Aereogramme. All nine album tracks have been remixed by Errors, The Blessings (LuckyMe), The Unwinding Hours, Remember Remember, Auntie Flo, Fox Gut Daata, Dam Mantle, Green Door & Frog Pocket with the remixes being included as a bonus disc with both the CD and LP.

She's Hit are: David Wilson - Vocals Michael Hanson - Guitar Phil McLellan - Guitar Fraser McFadzean - Bass Cammy Wilson - Drums.

An excellent collection of intense, dynamic songs, recorded over a long weekend in Chicago, with the help of Steve Albini.