Cloth let go on ‘Pink Silence’, a bold reinvention that retains their enchanting pull.

Scottish twins Rachael and Paul Swinton sounded like few around them when they released their 2019 self-titled debut. Their appeal lived in tense guitar parts and Rachael’s signature close vocal. In the time since, they have worked to perfect that sound. The 2023 follow-up ‘Secret Measure’ expanded it in every direction, with more layers, more interplay, and gutsier writing. The record received critical acclaim from publications including The Guardian, Pitchfork, CLASH and Uncut, and was shortlisted for the Scottish Album of the Year (SAY) Award in 2023. Cloth have also been championed by 6 Music DJs Mary Anne Hobbs, Guy Garvey, Tom Robinson, and Matt Everitt, and played exciting live sessions for Marc Riley & Gideon Coe (6 Music), Roddy Hart (BBC Radio Scotland) and John Kennedy (Radio X).

Now, three records in, they embrace letting go of expectation. ‘Pink Silence’ is unafraid to go big in the quest to make something lasting. With Owen Pallett, Adrian Utley (Portishead), and Stuart Braithwaite (Mogwai) contributing, this mission is supported by some of their musical heroes.

“It was a conscious decision to go bigger, more muscular and less subtle,” says Paul. “There was a willingness to push ourselves as far as we could go in terms of how cinematic we could make things.”

The central prompt to ‘let go’ was given to Rachael by the band’s producer Ali Chant (Yard Act, Perfume Genius, PJ Harvey) when she asked him if he noticed any common threads when artists create their best work.

“He said ‘the artist always lets go’, and he didn't really expand on it”, Rachael says. “So I took this phrase away and just ruminated on it for ages, viewing letting go as something that could be helpful. I started applying it to different things, like the writing, not trying to get caught up in that feeling of ‘is this good enough? Do I need to work on this again?’ It was more instinctual.”

With ‘Pink Silence’, the band entered the studio to make the ten strongest songs they possibly could, and they left a stronger band.

TRACK LISTING

Side A
1. Pink Silence
2. Polaroid
3. Stuck
4. Golden
5. The Cottage

Side B
6. It’s A Lot
7. I Don’t Think So
8. Stones
9. Burn
10. Write It Down

“I think this is the best thing we've ever done, it's a proper step up.” It’s immediately clear that the Hull band have broken new ground on Microtonic. “The last album was essentially like a bridge between the two albums,” the band say of 2023’s I Don’t Know. “With that one we knew what we were trying to do but with this one we've fully cracked it.”

Bdrmm’s trademark sound hasn’t disappeared by any means, the band's more guitar-heavy beginnings a blueprint and influence on many of the groups breaking through in the here and now, a time when shoegaze is enjoying its strongest revival since its inception in the 80s, but those guitars are now incorporated into a broader, more expansive and varied sonic palette.

"Microtonic", recorded with long-term band collaborator Alex Greaves, features guest appearances from Working Men's Club and Olivesque of Nightbus.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: BDRMM aren't exactly afraid of pushing boundaries, and earned a lot more fans with their last LP 'Standard Tuning'. This time, the Hull foursome smash through a series of beautifully produced pieces, packed with industrial synths and woozy floating pads, shoegaze tentativeness and electronic bombast.

TRACK LISTING

1 Goit (featuring Working Men’s Club)
2 John On The Ceiling
3 Infinity Peaking
4 Snares
5 In The Electric Field (featuring Olivesque)
6 Microtonic
7 Clarkycat
8 Sat In The Heat
9 Lake Disappointment
10 The Noose

Mogwai’s “The Bad Fire” was recorded at Chem19 studios in Scotland with American Grammy Award winning producer John Congleton (St Vincent, Angel Olsen, John Grant) joining the band in the studio for their eleventh album. A Scottish colloquialism for Hell, The Bad Fire draws inspiration from a series of tough personal moments that the band found themselves in following on from their chart-topping tenth album, As The Love Continues. All vinyl comes packaged in a gatefold sleeve, with MP3 download code and etching. 

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: I'd find it hard to say anything bad about a Mogwai album for two reasons. Firstly, I *LOVE* Mogwai, so it would feel wrong. Secondly, they're one of the greatest bands in the world and thus i'm convinced they'll never make anything less than astounding. The Bad Fire is thematically, visually and aurally impeccable. Beautiful, climactic crushing post-rock with bags of melody.

TRACK LISTING

1. God Gets You Back
2. Hi Chaos
3. What Kind Of Mix Is This?
4. Fanzine Made Of Flesh
5. Pale Vegan Hip Pain
6. If You Find This World Bad, You Should See Some Of The Others
7. 18 Volcanoes
8. Hammer Room
9. Lion Rumpus
10. Fact Boy

Cloth announce a limited edition repress of their self-titled debut album. Long out of press it's now back to celebrate 5 years since its release. The album has been lovingly pressed onto red transparent vinyl.

TRACK LISTING

1. Other
2. Felt
3. Demo Love
4. Sleep
5. Curiosity Door
6. Old Bear
7. Taxi
8. Tripp
9. Moons
10. Brooklyn

Kathryn Joseph releases a new EP featuring reworks of tracks taken from her critically acclaimed 2022 album for you who are the wronged, alongside a brand new song, all created with her long time collaborator Lomond Campbell. Described by Pitchfork as sounding like “unmeditated transpositions of feeling”, Joseph’s complex, quietly seething lyricism sees her songs give voice to those robbed of their own. for you who are the wronged is woven with pain, futility and stasis; delicately addressing subjects of abuse and trauma with peace and kindness and extending a comforting arm to those who seek it. The new EP takes the delicate instrumentation of the original record and builds it up to something bigger, bolder and stronger.

TRACK LISTING

side A

A1. What Is Keeping You Alive Makes Me Want To Kill Them For (lomond Campbell Remix)
A2. The Burning Of Us All (lomond Campbell Remix)

side B

B1. Long Gone (lomond Campbell Remix)
B2. Until The Truth Of You (lomond Campbell Remix)
B3. Call It Out (lomond Campbell Remix)

After the recent success of album "I Don't Know", bdrmm return with a 7” release of new track "Mud" and a remix of the recent album track “Be Careful”, which is reworked by fellow Hull outfit Fila Brazillia who have collaborated with everyone from Radiohead to Harold Budd, Black Uhuru, Twilight Singers, and The Orb. Recorded with long-time collaborator Alex Greaves (Working Men’s Club, Bo Ningen) during their album sessions at The Nave Studios in Leeds, “Mud” sees the band expanding further on their dynamic and sprawling sound, with oceanic production and atmospheric instrumentation, underpinned by the bands reverb heavy vocals.

Recorded with Andy Miller at Chemikal Underground and mixed by Gareth Jones at Castle Of Doom, ‘The Hawk Is Howling’ saw Mogwai return to a totally instrumental landscape on their sixth studio album. The album features the single ‘Batcat’.

To celebrate the 15th Anniversary of the release, the album is available as a newly remastered 2LP White Vinyl on September 22nd, fifteen years to the day since the album’s original release.

The album was remastered by Frank Arkwright at Abbey Road Studios.

While the world became socially distanced in 2020, Hull’s post-shoegaze, dream pop, heavy guitar effects quartet bdrmm made the kind of impact with their debut album any young band would dream about. Bedroom was hailed as “a heady, forward-thinking shoegaze distillation” by Clash magazine, the Guardian proclaimed “one of the underground hits of lockdown”, while NME awarded the album five solid stars and called Bedroom nothing less than “a modern day shoegaze classic.”

Now signed to Mogwai's Rock Action Records, the band return with I Don't Know, complete with their trademark effects-laden guitars and motorik Neu! grooves but now with added piano, strings, electronica, sampling and the occasional dance beat. Bdrmm fans will not be disappointed and the fans of Radiohead, Ride, Mogwai, The Cure that are yet to discover bdrmm would do well by blessing their ears with "I Don't Know".

STAFF COMMENTS

Liam says: Following on from their shoegaze drenched debut LP, Hull's bdrmm are here for round 2 with their follow-up 'I Don't Know'. Whilst the shoegaze leanings are still ever-present ('Pulling Stitches' is as My Bloody Valentine the band have ever sounded), bdrmm also cover sonic ground that leans more towards the electronica and even Radiohead side of the post-rock spectrum. Transcendental, ethereal and dripping in textures, bdrmm once again show their one of the best bands around!

TRACK LISTING

1. Alps
2. Be Careful
3. It's Just A Bit Of Blood
4. We Fall Apart
5. Advertisement One
6. Hidden Cinema
7. Pulling Stitches
8. A Final Movement

Glasgow-based twin-sibling duo Cloth (Rachael and Paul Swinton) release ‘Secret Measure’ their first full-length release on Rock Action Records (Mogwai, Arab Strap, The Twilight Sad) following the four-song ‘Low Sun EP’ (2022). The album was produced by Ali Chant (Yard Act, Katy J Pearson, Squirrel Flower) at Toybox Studios.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Angular post-rock structures and flickering percussion sit perfectly below the hypnotic hushed vocals. Driven, dreamy and full of moments of unexpected syncopation and cumulative heft. A feat of songwriting prowess, and a really enjoyable listen.

Lichen Slow are Malcolm Middleton, primarily known for his work in Scottish indie rock band Arab Strap, who are hailed for their unconventional, intricate instrumentation and candid ruminations on the tragi-comedy of navigating today’s world and Joel Harries, whose discography spans gorgeous, stripped-back solo records, the gentle-electronica of duo Team Leader and instrumental-noise band 72%. Rest Lurks is a record that proves the magic in being creative for the hell of it. The album pieces together a patchwork that amplifies the raw talents of two musicians who don’t write songs because they have to, but simply because they need to.

Shedding any assumptions we have for ourselves and others, Lichen Slow is a band that urges us to soak in the small moments, and if it helps, to poke fun at the things that frustrate us the most.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Lichen Slow sounds like the incredibly small venn diagram crossover between post-rock, electronica and 00's slacker rock, all topped with Malcolm Middleton's singlular vocals smoothly soaring over the top. Dreamy but driving. 'Reset' particularly reminds me of The Notwist, and that's definitely no bad thing.

TRACK LISTING

1. Hobbies
2. Pick Over The Bones
3. Preset
4. Tense
5. Pain Ctd
6. It's Not What We Thought
7. Sunshine Policy (Sombre Song)
8. Hopeless Cause
9. The Things We've Done
10. Imposter Syndrome
11. Tire
12. Garden Gate

Glasgow’s Cloth announce their return with new music by way of a 4 track EP and their first release for their new label Rock Action Records. “Lucid” is resplendent yet brooding, offering airy dream-like, haunting vocals over dark guitar riffs and resonating percussion - a perfect moment of minimal alternative rock. Guitarist Paul Swinton says ”It was the first song we wrote for the EP and it felt like it set a tone for where we should go with the other songs - somewhere darker and bigger. The song is about being wrapped up in a situation you feel you have no control over then realising you do have the ability and agency to change things for the better.”

This physical EP is a limited pressing and is available on ice blue coloured 12" vinyl and includes download code.

It will appeal to fans of The XX, Cocteau Twins, Beachhouse and Warpaint.

TRACK LISTING

1. Old Stories
2. Lucid
3. Low Sun
4. Sidecar

Rock Action Records are pleased to present Gentle Sinners, a project by James Graham of The Twilight Sad and....ta dah! Aidan Moffat of Arab Strap! "These Actions Cannot Be Undone" is the brilliant album from two pals who wanted to try something different musically. The outcome being an epic explorative set of songs that stands quite apart from their esteemed work with Arab Strap and The Twilight Sad.

TRACK LISTING

1 Waiting For Nothing
2 Killing This Time
3 Let Them Rot Feat. AKG
4 The Cries
5 Date & Sign
1 Rent Free
2 Shores Of Anhedonia
3 Face To Fire (After Nyman)
4 Don't Say Goodnight
5 Landfill

To celebrate the beginnings of this new project to Rock Action Records and The Twilight Sad's James Graham along with somebody else, we are releasing their first two tracks on a limited run of 7" vinyl, individually signed by the artists and it comes with a download code.

TRACK LISTING

Side A - Killing This Time

Side AA - DTM

"for you who are the wronged" is the much anticipated follow-up to 2018’s "from when i wake the want is", and her 2014 debut "bones you have thrown me and blood i’ve spilled", which won 2015’s Scottish Album of the Year award. If "from when i wake…" was written for love to return, this is where she fights tooth and claw to protect it.

Written and co-produced by Kathryn Joseph, it was recorded at The Lengths Studio in Fort William, with producer Lomond Campbell (also a recording artist for Heavenly Records and has previously produced King Creosote). Kathryn is signed to fellow Scottish musicians, Mogwai's Rock Action Records. It will appeal to those that have bought Kathryn's earlier albums plus fans of Lana Del Ray, Laura Marling, Kate Bush, Aidan Moffat, and Erland Cooper.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: For her third LP, Kathryn Joseph brings all of the brittle balladry and off-kilter weirdness of her previous outings, but imbued with a confidence and cinematic intensity we've not heard before. Beautifully rich and the perfect follow-up to 2018's 'From When I Wake The Want Is'.

TRACK LISTING

1. What Is Keeping You Alive Makes Me Want To Kill Them For
2. The Burning Of Us All
3. Only The Sound Of The Sea Would Save Them
4. How Well You Are
5. Until The Truth Of You
6. The Harmed
7. Bring To Me Your Open Wounds
8. Flesh And Blood
9. Of All The Broken
10. For You Who Are The Wronged
11. Long Gone

These two songs were written, recorded and mixed during the sessions for Arab Straps' first album in forever "As Days Get Dark". As much as they loved them, they couldn't find a place for them on the final album. Maybe it's because they seem to have their own distinct identities, but sometimes a song just sounds better on its own, when it's not part of a crowd and vying for attention. So, to celebrate the anniversary of the album's release, we present As Days Get Dark's two runaway loners; a couple of black sheep who might not click with the rest of the family but, even though they aren't very happy, are still worth a cuddle.

TRACK LISTING

Side A - Aphelion
Side B - Flutter

“It's about hopelessness and darkness,” says Aidan Moffat. “But in a fun way.” The Arab Strap frontman is speaking about the band’s 7th studio album and their first since 2005’s The Last Romance. The band's exciting return saw the much lauded "The Turning of Our Bones" single achieve Record of the Week on Jo Whiley's BBC Radio 2 show and hit the B-list at BB6Music. The new album will appeal to longtime fans and pick up new ones who weren't ready for Arab Strap first time round!

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: It's hard to believe it's been 16 years since the great Arab Strap hit us with a full LP. Sure we've had Moffat's decidedly excellent solo work but there's something to be said for the superb, ironic and cleverly written melodies and singeable hooks that only Arab Strap can bring. Brilliantly listenable and perfectly timed.

TRACK LISTING

1 The Turning Of Our Bones
2 Another Clockwork Day
3 Compersion Pt. 1
4 Bluebird
5 Kebabylon
6 Tears On Tour
7 Here Comes Comus!
8 Fable Of The Urban Fox
9 I Was Once A Weak Man
10 Sleeper
11 Just Enough 

THE PICCADILLY RECORDS ALBUM OF THE YEAR 2021.

“To The Bin My Friend, Tonight We Vacate Earth'' seems an overwhelmingly prescient phrase to begin an album with, almost as if Benjamin John Powers knew Mogwai would use it for what is certainly their most celestially euphoric and soaringly majestic album to date. It's taken 25 long years since their first single, but it's entirely unsurprising that the people have recognised As The Love Continues as a masterpiece worthy of a UK No.1 album spot, and I would absolutely hasten to agree. Turns out the rest of the staff did too, so here we are.

From the first moments of “To The Bin My Friend..”, it's clear that Mogwai's melodic blend of instrumental rock has undertaken a significant shift towards brighter climes in this instance, with gigantic walls of distortion piercing through the flickering percussion and synth swells below, bringing to mind the tectonic heft of Young Team but with the pop sensibilities brought about on Happy Songs.. or the unbelievably brilliant Mr. Beast.

We've described this album as a 'Best Of' a few times, but that's clearly not in the traditional sense, it's not a compilation by any means and flows like a well sequenced album, but the themes explored are in every way the pinnacle of their sound and encompass everything that Mogwai fans love to hear. The difference here is that EVERYONE is welcome, with the more pop elements like “Ritchie Sacramento” (my song of the decade without a doubt) taking the heavy hitting instrumentals and injecting them with a moody, spine-tingling vocal melody. Later, pieces like “Fuck Off Money” bring things down a little before hitting us with the punky octave athleticism and rolling bass of “Ceiling Granny” or the cinematic orchestration of “Midnight Flit”. It's an absolute triumph, and in my opinion, the most worthy end of year winner yet.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Now, I love Mogwai, and have done since their earlier less melodic moments, but probably one of my favourite Lp's of theirs thus far has been Mr. Beast. this has all of the bombastic heft of their earlier work with the more melodic, spine-tingling minimalism/crushing distortion vibe of the aforementioned LP, beautiful and then punishingly heavy. Quintessential Mogwai.

TRACK LISTING

1. To The Bin My Friend, Tonight We Vacate Earth
2. Here We, Here We, Here We Go Forever
3. Dry Fantasy
4. Ritchie Sacramento
5. Drive The Nail
6. Fuck Off Money
7. Ceiling Granny
8. Midnight Flit
9. Pat Stains
10. Supposedly, We Were Nightmares
11. It's What I Want To Do, Mum

Mogwai's first venture into the world of the feature film soundtracks is for the upcoming KIN (directed by the producers that bought you Stranger Things and Arrival, Jonathan and Josh Baker and in cinemas 31st August 2018).

Expect classic mogwai tensions, twinkling synthesisers and tenderly interwoven guitar lines. Ambient washes spring forth from slowly building atmospherics and fall again into rumbles of activity. Yet another perfectly measured outing from the masters of post-rock. 

STAFF COMMENTS

Darryl says: The first venture into the world of the feature film soundtracks from famously brilliant instrumental(ish) rockers Mogwai, bringing together both the brittle, minimalist atmospherics and earth-shaking euphoric rock they've become so known for. A beautiful counterpoint to ‘Atomic’s tentative (but equally beautiful) malaise.

TRACK LISTING

1 Eli's Theme
2 Scrap
3 Flee
4 Funeral Pyre
5 Donuts
6 Miscreants
7 Guns Down
8 KIN
9 We're Not Done (End Title)

OUTLAW KING is the soundtrack album from the intense Netflix medieval action drama ‘Outlaw King’, composed and performed by Grey Dogs with a host of Scotland’s musical talent.

Grey Dogs is acclaimed producer Tony Doogan (Belle and Sebastian, Mogwai) and the film’s director David Mackenzie (Hell or High Water, Starred Up). Mixing simple beautiful period music with moody atmospheres, plaintive soundscapes and high intensity action score, this is a journey through the misty glens, dark castles and bloody battlefields of Robert The Bruce’s Scotland (whom the film is based on) which somehow sounds both ancient and modern.

Grey Dogs is an umbrella collective designed to pull in diverse talent for making film soundtracks and other sonic landscape work. Tony Doogan and David Mackenzie are the core and a variety of top musicians come in and out including violinist Greg Lawson (Grit Orchestra) Barry Burns (Mogwai), the Scottish Session Orchestra and sax genius Raymond MacDonald.

For the end of the film, Tony and David decided to work with the wonderful Kathryn Joseph for her contemporary take on two folk classics - the tragic Land O’ The Leal and the rousing Scots Wha Hae (about Robert the Bruce and his army on the morning of the Battle of Bannockburn).

Graeme JD Ronald releases Danielle, his first new music in five years, and the first to be released under his own name, since his band Remember Remember went on hiatus following their acclaimed 2014 album Forgetting The Present. The 12 track mini album is the soundtrack to the extraordinary documentary of the same name, directed by Gareth Warland, who was shortlisted for the Young Director Award at Cannes this year for his work  The film tells the story of 27 year-old Danielle MacGillvray and her six year-old son Peter, who live in the beautiful and stark landscapes of the Outer Hebrides, Scotland. The story of a mother, runner, horse rider and fire-fighter living with Multiple Sclerosis, Danielle is a short film about fighting to live your best life possible, despite the obstacles.

TRACK LISTING

1. The Islands
2. Stable
3. Peter
4. Birds
5. Symptoms (Home's Fault)
6. But You Get Better
7. Corrie
8. A Wiggly Worm
9. Lack Of Sunlight
10. You Look Really Pretty Today
11. My Wee Escape
12. Danielle

Beloved Scottish band, The Yummy Fur, are releasing a 14-track ‘best of’ album, Piggy Wings, on Glasgow's Rock Action Records. Singer / guitarist, John McKeown, fronted the band from their 1992 inception (scores of cartoon melodies under a minute long delivered at high velocity) until their demise in 1999. Along the way they recorded three albums: Night Club (1996), Male Shadow at Three O'Clock (1998) and Sexy World (1999). Firm favourites of John Peel, they recorded two sessions for the much revered DJ and regularly featured on his show.

TRACK LISTING

1. Department
2. Plastic Cowboy
3. In The Company Of Women
4. Kirsty Cooper
5. The Canadian Flag
6. Roxy Girls
7. Sexy World
8. Policeman
9. St John Of The Cross
10. The Career Saver
11. Supermarket
12. Colonel Blimp
13. Chinese Bookie
14. Death Club

The story’s almost over. A year on from the release of their first album, Here Lies The Body – a busy 12 months in which there was a Christmas album, a live album, countless shows and sessions – they have decided it’s time to part ways.

The goodbye comes in song: the final release, the brand new single Cut To Black, which serves as an epilogue to Here Lies The Body. The 7” vinyl single, is released by Rock Action and features an exclusive b-side with download.

TRACK LISTING

A - Cut To Black
B- Song On Song

Run Around The Sun is the follow-up to Strike A Match, Sacred Paws' SAY Award winning debut. It includes the previously shared ‘Brush Your Hair’, an infectiously fun listen. The album will appeal to fans of their previous work plus fans of Shopping, Girl Ray and Aldous Harding.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: In keeping with their superb LP from 2017, Sacred Paws have crafted a brilliantly nuanced but hugely listenable combination of jangling indie-pop, driven post-rock atmospherics and angular punky attitude. Completely brilliant, once again.

TRACK LISTING

1 The Conversation
2 Almost It
3 Life's Too Short
4 Shame On Me
5 What's So Wrong
6 How Far
7 Is This Real
8 Write This Down
9 Brush Your Hair
10 Other Side

This is the debut album from Scottish quartet Rev Magnetic, who meld elements of R&B, shoegaze and post rock into their singular, blissfully spacial dream pop. Called ‘Versus Universe’, the album reflects a cosmos of transformative sound references ranging from My Bloody Valentine to Teebs, Lemmy-era Hawkwind to ABBA and Vaughan Williams to Stravinsky into its 11 otherworldly tracks. While touring the world as guest multi-instrumentalist with Mogwai, Luke (Long Fin Killie, Bows, Music A.M. Jomi Massage) used the downtime to sketch a bunch of songs. Once home, he recorded them with the help of Audrey Bizouerne ((Gift Horse) bass, Sam Leighton (drums) and Gregor Emond (guitar), who played with Luke in Hynd. 

TRACK LISTING

1. Versus Universe
2. At The Mercy Of Fabulous Thoughts
3. Daughter Of Astronauts
4. Sunny Windy Winter Morning (Rainbows Spanning The Valley)
5. Schoenberg In America
6. Woodland Sorority Carwash
7. Yonder (Là-haut)
8. A Minotaur's Mass
9. Gloaming
10. It Shoulda Been You
11. Palaces

Rock Action announce the first release on the label by Rev Magnetic.

Combining elements of dream pop, R&B, shoegaze and post rock, Rev Magnetic revolves around the core of musician and author Luke Sutherland, a long-time Mogwai collaborator on stage and on record. 

‘Gloaming’, with its celestial tale of disappearing love, provides a snapshot of the band’s forthcoming debut album which, with a cosmos of transformative sound references ranging from My Bloody Valentine to Teebs, Lemmy-era Hawkwind to ABBA and Vaughan Williams to Stravinsky, is due for release later in the year.

TRACK LISTING

Gloaming
Firmament Gear

'Future Ruins' presents a band moving with real time and real life vitality, showcasing new tricks alongside classic hallmarks. It exhibits Swervedriver’s fabled widescreen escapism, but with a tension that echoes the sleeve image of Coney Island in skeletal monochrome, like a post mortem photograph of a failed utopia. 

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Swervedriver do it once again, their shimmering dytopian drone meeting headfirst with beautiful shoegaze aesthetics and hefty songwriting prowess to craft an absorbing and enthralling listen.

TRACK LISTING

1 Mary Winter
2 The Lonely Crowd Fades In The Air
3 Future Ruins
4 Theeascending
5 Drone Lover
6 Spiked Flower
7 Everybody’s Going Somewhere And No-One’s Going Anywhere
8 Golden Remedy
9 Good Times
10 Radio-Silent

From their unassuming origins as a group of school friends drawn together by a shared passion for music to the global touring force (supporting The Cure and Editors at arenas and stadiums), they have quietly become, The Twilight Sad’s ascent has been forged the old way with grit, graft and four exceptional studio albums. Now signed to Mogwai’s Rock Action Records, the bands fifth album does not disappoint and will certainly not disappoint fans of their previous works. It will also appeal to fans of The Cure, Frighten Rabbits, The National, Interpol and Editors.

TRACK LISTING

1 [10 Good Reasons For Modern Drugs]
2 Shooting Dennis Hopper Shooting
3 The Arbor
4 VTr
5 Sunday Day13
6 I/m Not Here [missing Face]
7 Auge/Maschine
8 Keep It All To Myself
9 Girl Chewing Gum
10 Let/s Get Lost
11 Videograms

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! And in the old tradition, Aidan Moffat & RM Hubbert invite you to gather round the fire for Ghost Stories for Christmas.

The album began with an idea for a song – forthcoming single A Ghost Story for Christmas. Originally intended as a one-off, seasonal release, it proved such fun to write that soon they had enough songs for an EP. “Then, on a nice, sunny, summer morning, I phoned Hubby and suggested we just do a whole album,” says Moffat. The album also features their cover of Yazoo’s synth classic Only You, already a popular number in their live set and the cover versions is topped off with a sombre rendition of Mud’s 1974 hit, Lonely This Christmas.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: There really is no way i'd rather listen to Christmas songs than with these two Scottish legends at the helm. Possibly a little more upbeat that the Low offering, but similarly brilliant, these are tenderly delivered and well-considered ballads for any time of year. Beautiful stuff.

TRACK LISTING

1. Fireside
2. A Ghost Story For Christmas
3. Desire Path (Baby Please Come Home)
4. Such Shall You Be
5. Lonely This Christmas
6. Weihnachtsstimmung
7. The Fir Tree
8. Only You
9. Ode To Plastic Mistletoe
10. The Recurrence Of Dickens

Kathryn Joseph releases her new album From When I Wake The Want Is, via Glasgow’s Rock Action Records. The follow up to 2015’s acclaimed debut Bones You Have Thrown Me And Blood I’ve Spilled, which was named the Scottish Album of the Year, this album is a captivating set that documents both life’s traumas and their resolutions. Produced by Marcus Mackay, who also worked on her debut album, 'From When I Wake The Want Is' mixes new songs with material gathered over the past ten years to create an intimate and often devastating portrait of Joseph’s world.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Echoing piano and dusty atmospheric washes with touches of jazzy percussion make for a beautifully mournful but immersive backdrop for Joseph's evocative vocal touches. A stunningly fragile but brilliantly immersive listen.

TRACK LISTING

1. IIII
2. From When I Wake The Want Is
3. And You Survives
4. Tell My Lover
5. And It Will Lick You Clean
6. There Is No God But You
7. Safe
8. We Have Been Loved By Our Lovers
9. Mouths Full Of Blood
10. Mountain
11. Weight
12. ^^

Fans of all good music to come out of Scotland will be familiar with the name Aidan Moffat. A stalwart of Glasgow, one half of Arab Strap & Scottish Album of the Year winner among many other accolades joins fellow SAY Award winner and Chemikal Underground label mate RM Hubbert for this new album, this time out on Mogwai's Rock Action Records. The album features guest appearances from fellow Glaswegian Siobhan Wilson, who sings and plays cello (and who released her own There Are No Saints album last year to great acclaim); Louisville, Kentucky’s Rachel Grimes on piano; and veteran jazz saxophonist John Burgess.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: A new one from Moffat and Hubbert is never going to disappoint, but this one is thoroughly transcendent. Stunning folk flourishes, off-kilter syncopated rhythms and simmering,loungey woodwind. Stunner.

Out Lines is a project by singer / songwriter Kathryn Joseph (Scottish Album Of The Year winner 2015), The Twilight Sad’s James Graham and producer / songwriter / musician Marcus Mackay.

This exciting body of work was inspired by conversations Kathryn and James had with people who use Platform: a groundbreaking multi-arts and community space in Easterhouse, an area in the east end of Glasgow.

With James and Kathryn at the helm of translating the stories heard through their conversations with locals and Marcus steering the sound, this inspiring collection of songs is being released through Rock Action Records.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Haunting dual-vocal lines, pulsing synths and hefty, echoing percussion make this a fascinating and enthralling journey through electronics, chamber-rock and swirled with a hint of folky drone. Beautifully constructed, and massively enjoyable.

TRACK LISTING

1 Buried Guns
2 Our Beloved Dead
3 The Left Behind
4 There Is A Saved Place
5 If You Love Me You Will Lie
6 Open Shut
7 These Three Desire Lines

Mogwai return with their 9th studio album which was recorded with renowned producer Dave Fridmann (Mercury Rev, The Flaming Lip’s, Mogwai’s Come On Die Young and ROCK ACTION) at his Tarbox Road Studios in New York State.

The box set contains CD, heavyweight double gatefold white vinyl, heavyweight 12” of album demos plus photographic prints by Antony Crook taken while the band were recording in January 2017. The 12” features 6 demos of tracks from the album. All vinyl formats include a download code.

Every Country's Sun named after a friends lack of knowledge in how the universe works, takes two decades of Mogwai's signature, contrasting sounds and distills it, beautifully, into 56 concise minutes of gracious elegance, hymnal trance-rock, and transcendental euphoria. It will definitely appeal to fans of the band and will gain many .new ones along the way. 

TRACK LISTING

CD:
1 Coolverine
2 Party In The Dark
3 Brain Sweeties
4 Crossing The Road Material
5 Aka 47
6 20 Size
7 1000 Foot Face
8 Don't Believe The Fife
9 Battered At A Scramble
10 Old Poisons
11 Every Country's Sun

LP:
1 Coolverine
2 Party In The Dark
3 Brain Sweeties
4 Crossing The Road Material
5 Aka 47
6 20 Size
7 1000 Foot Face
8 Don't Believe The Fife
9 Battered At A Scramble
10 Old Poisons
11 Every Country's Sun

Demos 12”:
1 20 Size
2 1000 Foot Face
3 Don't Believe The Fife
4 Battered At A Scramble
5 Old Poisons
6 Every Country's Sun

Mogwai return with their 9th studio album which was recorded with renowned producer Dave Fridmann (Mercury Rev, The Flaming Lip’s, Mogwai’s Come On Die Young and ROCK ACTION) at his Tarbox Road Studios in New York State.

'Every Country's Sun' named after a friends lack of knowledge in how the universe works, takes two decades of Mogwai's signature, contrasting sounds and distills it, beautifully, into 56 concise minutes of gracious elegance, hymnal trance-rock, and transcendental euphoria. It will definitely appeal to fans of the band and will gain many new ones along the way.

TRACK LISTING

1 Coolverine
2 Party In The Dark
3 Brain Sweeties
4 Crossing The Road Material
5 Aka 47
6 20 Size
7 1000 Foot Face
8 Don't Believe The Fife
9 Battered At A Scramble
10 Old Poisons
11 Every Country's Sun

With nods to boundary pushing artists from the 60s to the present - from MC5 and Sabbath, to Big Business, Earth and Harvey Milk - it’s clear Part Chimp are not content to simply be labelled as one of the UK’s loudest bands. In everything the band create, songcraft is as important as the volume at which is played. This has never been more true than on Iv.

‘Namekuji’ opens the proceedings with its crushing sludge, before erupting into the unforgiving riffs of second track ‘Mapoleon’. Elsewhere on the album ‘RoRo’ is an intoxicating exploration psychedelic stoner-punk while ‘The Saturn Superstition’ sounds like a lost anthem from Seattle’s 90s peak.
We last heard from Part Chimp in 2009 with their third full-length Thriller. This followed two acclaimed studio albums, a live record, compilations and split singles and EPs alongside artists including Torche and Hey Colossus, sharing stages along with the way with the likes of Melvins, Deerhoof, Harvey Milk and Isis, as well as headlining last years Raw Power Festival.

Formed while members of pop noise group Golden Grrls, Rachel Aggs and Eilidh Rodgers release their debut album as Sacred Paws through Glasgow's Rock Action Records. The album features 10 short but very sweet infectious guitar pop tunes.

For fans of The Raincoats, Sleater Kinney and Warpaint.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Lots of twanging guitar and two-part harmonies, swaying surf-guitar lines and beautifully intricate rhythmic melodies. Not twee enough to be twee, but melodic, addictive and brilliant.

TRACK LISTING

Nothing
Rest
Everyday
Empty Body
Wet Graffiti
Strike A Match
Stars
Ride
Voice
Getting Old

After the successful sell out of their debut EP to Rock Action last year, the label announce the release of Sacred Paws’ full album early 2017. This double A side single features the first two tracks to be taken from that album.

The band’s infectious high energy rhythms have gained fans such as Marc Riley on BBC6 Music. This should appeal to anybody who likes their songs short and sweet with an uplifting feel of summery punk pop.

For fans of Sleater Kinney, Courtney Barnett and Warpaint.

Xander Harris, former sidekick to vampire slayer (and sometime fondler) Buffy has gotten out of the stake-wielding game and brought us his 6th album, this time on Mogwai's own Rock Action records. Very much a horror/library sort of affar (no doubt inspired by his illustrious past), comprising of silky-smooth synth sweeps, heavy on the low-pass and saturated to the high heavens. Tracks like 'The Eye In The Triangle' wouldn't sound out of place on a Pye Corner Audio album, meandering but without being too wispy to really make an impact. 'Predator State' is more along the cold-wave lines, lots of delay and swirling pads, ambient and harrowing. Arpeggios swirl in the background before slowly coming to the fore before the groove kicks in, understated but ridiculously effective. 'Buckle Bunny' is probably the most obvious dance number on the LP, with Krauty sequenced synths, 1-2-1-2 percussives and majestic melody lines. The whole album is a perfect example of restraint and melody, understated enough to really shine but with a melodic sensibility that really stands out. Brilliant from beginning to end. 

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: RIYL : Pye Corner Audio, Horror soundtracks, John Carpenter et al. Groovy but dusty synthetic soundscapes, grooving analogue percussives and shimmering arpeggios work together to make this a stunning and enthralling listen.

The album is composed of reworked versions of the music recorded for the soundtrack to director Mark Cousin’s acclaimed documentary Atomic: Living In Dread and Promise, which first aired on BBC Four last summer.

Constructed entirely of archive film, Atomic is an impressionistic kaleidoscope of the horrors of our nuclear times - protest marches, Cold War sabre-rattling, Chernobyl and Fukishima - but also the sublime beauty of the atomic world, and how x-rays and MRI scans have improved human lives. Mogwai’s soundtrack encapsulates the nightmare of the nuclear age, but its dreamlike qualities too. It is the latest in the band’s series of impressive soundtracks and scores, following acclaimed albums Les Revenants (The Returned) and Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait.

Cousins says of Atomic, the film: “I’m a child of the nuclear age, and in my teens I had nightmares about the bomb. But physics was my favourite subject in school, and I nearly studied it at university. Learning about the atomic world excited me. It was like abstract Star Wars.”

Mogwai’s Stuart Braithwaite says: “The Atomic soundtrack is one of the most intense and fulfilling projects we've taken on as a band. Ever since we went to Hiroshima to play and visited the peace park this has been a subject very close to us. The end results, both the film score and the record are pieces I'm extremely proud of.”

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Continuing along the same route as their much heralded synthesiser-heavy 2014 album, Rave Tapes, comes Atomic. Though not strictly an album (it is of course, a soundtrack first and foremost), it is as emotive and moving as you would expect from a band as dab-handed at soundscaping as Mogwai are. Even from the very first piece, twinkling synths meet with triumphant GYBE-esque horns, over a slowly whirling background, this is not quite the most melodic track on the album, but serves as an unsettlingly pleasant introduction. Much like the subject matter investigated in the film, this album is full of emotional ups and downs. Optimistic and dark in equal measure but stunningly gorgeous throughout.

Sil says: Mogwai bring their soundscapes to another stunning score. This one is a experimental documentary that looks at the Hiroshima nuclear bomb and its legacy.
The Scottish ensemble produce a soundtrack full of synthesizer bliss which finely balances the darkness and certain optimism that is reflected in this highly recommended documentary. If you enjoyed the Zidane soundtrack, this is for you.

TRACK LISTING

1. Ether
2. SCRAM
3. Bitterness Centrifuge
4. U-235
5. Pripyat
6. Weak Force
7. Little Boy
8. Are You A Dancer?
9. Tzar
10. Fat Man

It may come as no surprise to someone hearing 'Magnetic Seasons' for the first time that purveyors of said album, Mugstar, are on a label run by stalwart post-rockers Mogwai. Though they share a similar philosophy to music, it is by no means derivative.  There is a noticeable ambience around this whole collection, and with it, a certain calmness. Though the sounds themselves are not typically mellow, their delivery carries the pieces along in a haze. This is drone for those who love a bit of movement or melody, or post-rock for those who love improvisations around a theme. This is a competant and assured collection from a band who have much to offer. Robust but nuanced instrumental loveliness. 

This is Glasgow's De Rosa's third studio album and their first for Mogwai's Rock Action Records. They have previously toured with Arab Strap, Doves and Mogwai so fans of those bands plus Interpol, The Twilight Sad and Belle & Sebastian will enjoy this album. 

Atheist's Cornea is the 6th studio album from Japanese hardcore band, Envy. At 43 minutes long this album shows Envy at their most progressive. One of the loudest bands in the world, Envy have influenced artists such as Thursday, Deafheaven, MONO, Touché Amoré and Mogwai who have signed them to their Rock Action label for UK & Europe.

TRACK LISTING

Blue Moonlight
Ignorant Rain At The End Of The World
Shining Finger
Ticking Time And String
Footsteps In The Distance
An Insignificant Poem
Two Isolated Souls
Your Heart And My Hand

‘Lease Of Life’ is the follow up to Errors’ critically acclaimed 2012 album ‘Have Some Faith In Magic’. Formulated on the Hebridean Isle Of Jura - the location where George Orwell wrote ‘Nineteen Eighty-Four’ and the place where The KLF are rumoured to have burned a million pounds - the new album is a bold work borne by the confidence and ambition of a band with the desire to combine the exploration of fresh soundworlds combined with their most accessible, immediate songwriting yet.

Incorporating featured vocalists Cecila Stamp and Bek Oliva, ‘Lease Of Life’ is also the band’s most cohesive album statement to date: a start-to-finish experience that’s bound by recurring constituents and accomplished craft.

Brand new studio album from Remember Remember, following on from their Scottish Album Of The Year shortlisted ‘The Quickening’ (2011).

"Forgetting The Present shares all the essential DNA of its precursors; thick waves of emotive guitars, piano and synth are punctuated by lovely melodic through-lines and delicate trickles at the top end that, in their fragility, make the big sounds even bigger. But each element feels more in-synch than ever before, from the chilly, Tubular Bells-referencing flow of opener “Blabbermouth” to the final strains of echoing electronics on “Frozen Frenzy”, the distant but soothing lullaby that closes the album." - Best Of Line Fit.

Recorded in Glasgow at Castle Of Doom Studios by Tony Doogan (Belle & Sebastian, Mogwai, The Pastels, The Delgados, Super Furry Animals) and mastered at Abbey Road by Frank Arkwright (Mogwai, Johnny Marr, Rudimental, Arcade Fire), ‘Forgetting The Present’ will be released on CD, heavy pressed gatefold double LP and digital download via Mogwai’s Rock Action Records label.

Following on from the sold out limited edition 10" EP released in January, Rock Action Records are proud to present the full soundtrack album by Mogwai for the acclaimed Canal+ series ‘Les Revenants’, featuring 14 brand new Mogwai recordings created as the score to the drama.

TRACK LISTING

1. Hungry Face
2. Jaguar
3. The Huts
4. Kill Jester
5. This Messiah Needs Watching
6. Whisky Time
7. Special N
8. Relative Hysteria
9. Fridge Magic
10. Portugal
11. Eagle Tax
12. Modern
13. What Are They Doing In Heaven Today?
14. Wizard Motor

New album from Umberto, his first for Mogwai’s Rock Action label.

Created and recorded as a film soundtrack for the Glasgow Music & Film Festival in February 2012, ‘Night Has A Thousand Screams’ conveys a deep love of the film scoring greats such as John Carpenter, John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith and Vangelis.

STAFF COMMENTS

Ryan says: Once again Umberto's love of italian soundtracks shines through on 'Night has a thousand screams'. It follows on from his previous work & is still synthesizer heaven.

Errors announce the release of a brand new 8- track mini-album, the new record, entitled ‘New Relics’, follows on from the critically acclaimed ‘Have Some Faith In Magic’, released earlier this year.

‘New Relics’ was recorded by the 3 piece during the Spring of 2012 in their Glasgow studio and is released via Rock Action Records.

STAFF COMMENTS

Ryan says: A mesh of synthetic sound scapes and bizarre escapes into a new sound. An excellent release from Errors

The Scots post-rock legends follow up their 2010 CD/DVD live opus "Special Moves" with this, their seventh studio album and first since 2008's "The Hawk Is Howling". On this superbly titled effort the band continue to evolve, incorporating contemporary electronic touches into their trademark instrumental post-hardcore sound as they veer from the stately and elegiac to outright brute force. Includes the single "Mexican Grand Prix" and the track "Rano Pano", which was given away as a free download.

Mogwai’s seventh studio album was recorded with Paul Savage, with whom they last worked on 1997’s "Mogwai Young Team" debut.

TRACK LISTING

1. White Noise
2. Mexican Grand Prix
3. Rano Pano
4. Death Rays
5. San Pedro
6. Letters To The Metro
7. George Square Thatcher Death Party
8. How To Be A Werewolf
9. Too Raging To Cheers
10. You're Lionel Richie

Music For A Forgotten Future (The Singing Mountain) *

* = Bonus Track (ROCKACT55CDX Only)

After a brief but hugely-influential time away, Errors return with 'Have Some Faith In Magic', on Rock Action Records; their third album, it counts as far and away their greatest shift in sound yet, heralding in a sound of serenely cosmo-gazing sugar-tipped pop; previously hinted at with Spring single "Magna Encarta."

A group who emerged at the tale end of a period when anything purely-instrumental and guitar-based became lazily tagged "post-rock", Errors have now distanced themselves from that loose genre so much that any fleeting comparison to it is now completely redundant. 'Have Some Faith In Magic' is an LP of sprawling pop, with delicious hooks applied liberally across post-electro scatterings; a complete turn away from previously lauded albums.

STAFF COMMENTS

Darryl says: Stepping away from their instrumental "Post-rock" sound of previous albums, Errors hit us with a bright as a button electro-infused leftfield album. Epic and sprawling soundscapes scattered with pop hooks aplenty.

"Come Down With Me" is the second album from Scottish 'post-electro' band Errors. Signed to Glaswegian post-rock legends Mogwai's label, Rock Action, the four-piece draw upon elements of their paymasters' post-rock influence, as well their own intelligent style of electronic pop. A bolder and more psychedelic album than it's predecessor (2008's "It's Not Something But It Is Like Whatever"), this is an modern and enthralling rock record. Includes the single "A Rumour In Africa".

STAFF COMMENTS

Darryl says: Awesome electro inflicted avant rock and a huge step forward from their previous album.

First UK release from this Japanese band. They create an intense fusion of ferocious, teeth-grinding, screaming hardcore and reflective ballads.