R. Missing is the enigmatic music project of New York based vocalist Sharon Shy and musician Toppy.previously known as The Ropes. Unsummering, the first release under their new moniker R. Missing, expands on The Ropes' previous palette of Morrissey tinged lyrics and darkwave, but manages to be even more isolated lyrically than their famously nihilistic previous work, fully embracing complete detachment. Musically, fraught guitar and synth textures paint an image of an unstable world, held together only by tightly quantized electronic drum beats.

With the release of 41 in March 1994, Swell capped off a trilogy that began, somewhat unintentionally, with their self-titled debut Swell in 1990 and was followed by Well in 1992. All three albums share a birthplace in San Francisco, specifically at 41 Turk Street in the Tenderloin District - a neighborhood known more for its struggles with substance abuse and nightlife excesses than for any sort of tranquility.

This album sees the band further refining a sound they've been crafting since their inception: vocals tinged with disillusionment, a mix of acoustic and electric guitar, a bass that feels both sparse and distant, and drums that serve as a relentless backbone. And then there's the homemade tinkering: microphones placed at a distance, analog multi-tracks.

The band members themselves describe their music as being painted in shades of gray, blue, and brown, capturing an atmosphere that's at once dark, mysterious, and utterly captivating. There's a stark beauty and a sense of anticipation that permeates their work, like the calm before a storm. Listening to the album, you're treated to the intimate sounds of a creaking staircase, a ringing telephone in the distance, or the turn of a wheel. These auditory snapshots are meticulously preserved, bringing to life a recording process that not only captures the essence of the city but also taps into a deeper, often overlooked slice of American life.

The music is both moody and exquisitely beautiful, with layered songwriting and vocals that are hauntingly persistent. Even three decades later, the album's allure hasn't faded in the slightest.

David Freel (guitar, vocals), Monte Vallier (bass), Sean Kirkpatrick (drums).

This reissue is dedicated to the memory of David Freel, who passed away prematurely on April 12, 2022.

TRACK LISTING

1. In The Door, Up The Stairs
2. Is That Important?
3. Song Seven
4. Kinda Stoned
5. Don't Give
6. Smile My Friend
7. Forget About Jesus
8. Here It Is
9. You're So Right
10. Fine Day Coming
11. (It's Time To) Move On
12. Down The Stairs, Out The Door
13. Lyrics

'Please, Wait...', their sophomore album, emerges from a profound collaborative evolution, contrasting with Once, which was crafted remotely during the lockdown. This album is steeped in shared experiences from two years of touring, showcasing a symbiotic musical evolution between Maxwell and Christophe. Please, Wait...is a journey into the realm of the senses, an invitation to a dreamscape where listeners are free to find their own meaning. This record is a testament to beauty and modern hedonism, crafted by artists who live and breathe the epicurean ethos.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Wistful hazy melodies, psychedelic twists and theatrical vocal work all mix together into a lovely distillation of influences. Lounge, melancholic rock and grand orchestral melodies all slotted together perfectly.

TRACK LISTING

The Boat
The Nimbostratus Jig
Plat Du Jour
Backgammon
Hexagon
Galbulus
Begging's Not My Business
Catch 42
Topinambur
Postprandial Promenade (feat. Nadine Khouri)
Stirred But Not Shaken

Another Life is the second album by singer-songwriter Nadine Khouri. Recorded in London and Bristol with producer John Parish (PJ Harvey, Dry Cleaning) the album extends a collaborative partnership that began with Khouri's acclaimed 2017 debut The Salted Air.

Her debut The Salted Air was hailed by MOJO as "A thing of dark possessed beauty" in their four-star album review, celebrated by Q as a Critics Choice record, and selected as one of Rough Trade's Albums of the Year in 2017.

Maxwell Farrington & Le SuperHomard cultivate a certain taste for subtly arranged compositions and pop songs that feel both timeless and current. And beyond this elegance, beyond their solar songs, even beyond Maxwell's majestic voice, we can deeply feel that music is above all a story of meeting and sharing.

Since the time of our early talks with the duo, we've known one thing for sure: their first album "Once" had a misleading title. There was never any question of quickly closing the deal, of getting close to the top and packing up. "Our time alone, our finest hours are spent" sings Maxwell Farrington on the opening, and we don't believe a word of it. Recorded last fall while on tour, "I Had It All" offers 6 new treasures, 6 new proofs of our musicians' dazzling talent, an achievement even more remarkable considering the disc's short format.

Released back in April 2021 "Once" sealed the meeting between Maxwell Farrington (musician, crooner, Australia jack-of-all-trades living in Binic) & the SuperHomard (Christophe Vaillant: orchestration, arrangements, production). Acclaimed by critics, widely praised by the public, this first opus allowed the band to play (in quintet form) at various festivals (Villette Sonique, La Route du Rock, Hop Pop Pop, etc.) and through- out France.

TRACK LISTING

1. I Had It All
2. Two Hopeful Lovers
3. Burning
4. Donna
5. Change Direction
6. Il Cacciatore

Emily Jane White is a musician, songwriter, and poet from Oakland, CA. She began performing under her own name in 2003 and released her first album "Dark Undercoat" in 2007.

Rooted in a moment of catastrophe, Alluvion is an album about personal and collective grief resulting from the loss of human life and the continued loss of our natural world. We live in a moment of merging traumas, of converging environ- mental, social, and political crises. These crises are exacerbated by our lack of cultural practices for individual and also shared, public grieving--which is not without consequence. We often find ourselves mired in "disenfranchised grief," a grieving that cannot be recognized, shared, or named. Emily's album offers a space to consider where grieving is absent in our world, and where it is deeply necessary. Grief moves in waves and cycles, and through its flood we can build anew.

Alluvion: the gradual addition to the land by the wash of water against a shore. How can we mourn what we cannot know we've lost? While living through the "sixth extinction," we may not always perceive the mass death that surrounds us, even as we sometimes remain unconscious of pervasive violence against women, or racist police violence. Emily's new album is an act of public grieving, grieving as breathing: breathing the space in which we might be able to gather up ourselves and move toward the wake of this disaster, the spark of what is yet to come.

Produced and arranged by multi-instrumentalist Anton Patzner (Foxtails Brigade, Judgement Day), Alluvion was written and recorded during the height of the pandemic. Although Nick Ott's drums and John Courage's guitars were recorded in studios with all parties present, most of the instruments were recorded while Emily and Anton were in different locations. More so than on any previous release, Emily almost completely eschews folk arrangements and instrumentation. Alluvion edges the borders of shoegaze and electronic pop without losing sight of the light within the gloom, the hope inside the void.

TRACK LISTING

1. Show Me The War
2. Crepuscule
3. Heresy
4. Poisoned
5. Body Against The Gun
6. The Hands Above Me
7. Mute Swan
8. Hold Them Alive
9. Hollow Years
10. I Spent The Years Frozen
11. Battle Call

Released in early 2019 on the Spanish label Elefant Records, "Meadow Lane Park" was the debut album by Avignon-based Christophe Vaillant under his new entity, Le SuperHomard. Undoubtedly dreamlike and enchanting, hailed by critics both in France and abroad, and by Paul Weller (who invited the group on his entire European tour), the musician laid the groundwork for a new artistic direction. Originally from Brisbane, Maxwell Farrington left Australia in 2013, travelling to the United Kingdom and then France. After Marseille and Toulouse, he moved to Saint-Brieuc and took part in the formation of Dewaere, a noise quartet bathed in 90s influences. Maxwell's vocals bring a poppier and warmer touch. Christophe and Maxwell met during a joint concert at La Boule Noire, on the MaMA Festival in 2019. During his band's sound check, the Australian performed an a capella version of a song by American composer Burt Bacharach. This lead to an engaging conversation between the two musicians, who discussed their common passion for Lee Hazlewood, Scott Walker and Frank Sinatra. We find this elegance again reiterated throughout these compositions – in the orchestral pop, the subtle arrangements, the velvet singing voice. "Once" is a four- handed collaboration. Recording began in February 2020, ending within a short distance of the New Year. "Once" is a journey, both near and far, where everyone will find a safe haven.

TRACK LISTING

1. We, Us The Pharaohs
2. North Pole
3. Free Again
4. Lights & Seasons
5. Love
6. La Mesa Motel (Feat. Max Meser)
7. Good Start
8. Oysters
9. Hips
10. Happening Again
11. Big Ben (Feat. Evelyn Ida Morris)
12. Tonight

Originally released in 1995, "A Life Full of Farewells" is The Apartments' third album. Released only two years after the legendary "drift", this hushed album filled with melancholy ballads once again displays the writing talent of Peter Milton Walsh. Over a quarter of a century later, these majestic compositions, these silky arrangements, this delicate pop engage us with new emotions. Here the nuances are subtle and the musician's demons seem for a time abandoned, leaving room for a new serenity. Reaching full musical maturity, "A Life Full of Farewells" 'is a centerpiece of Australian discography, now unearthed and released for the very first time in vinyl format. Australian vinyl mastering legend, Don Bartley, who also mastered the original 'A Life Full of Farewells' CD, mastered the album for vinyl. Also features a guest appearance by Chris Abrahams from The Necks.

Based in Sydney, Peter Milton Walsh and his band, The Apartments, are acclaimed by critics and fans alike all over the world. Peter Milton Walsh formed The Apartments in Brisbane, 1978, and left Australia for New York a few years later, and relocated to England when The Apartments were signed by Rough Trade. But before leaving Australia, Walsh was sought out by Robert Forster and Grant McLennan, of Brisbane's most critically adored band, The Go-Betweens. Having been offered an 8-album deal by Beserkley Records, Forster and McLennan asked Walsh to join The Go-Betweens as their fourth member in late 1978. The union was, however, short-lived, as the deal with Beserkley fell through. Grant McLennan famously said of their different personalities, "Walsh is night, we are day. We're sun, he's rain." In and Out of the Light is a classic Apartments album, with songs, lines and melodies coming back to you long after the music has stopped playing. The album came together in a new way for The Apartments. Recording began in Sydney, at the end of winter of 2019. Working a few hours a day, one or two days a week, the album was finished in the summer, with the final mix completed the day before coronavirus lockdown hit Australia in 2020.

Peter Milton Walsh and bass player Eliot Fish worked with producer Tim Kevin in his Marrickville studio in Sydney, while French Apartments, Natasha Penot and Antoine Chaperon, recorded their parts in various studios in France. English drummer Nick Allum worked in London. In and Out of the Light (their 7th studio album) again features Chris Abrahams from The Necks on piano. The vocal and piano for We Talked Through Till Dawn were recorded live in one take with Peter singing as Chris played piano. Miro Bukovsky, who played on No Song, No Spell, No Madrigal, again plays flugelhorn and trumpet. In 2015, The Apartments surprised fans by re-emerging -after over a decade of silence-with No Song, No Spell, No Madrigal, an album that saw a new audience drawn to The Apartments music. By year's end, readers and critics of French music magazine Magic named No Song, No Spell, No Madrigal #1 Album of the Year. Five years later, In and Out of the Light is the highly anticipated album that will once more appeal to existing fans and new ones as well. The Apartments exquisite instrumentation and beautiful harmonies and Peter Milton Walsh's impressionistic storytelling work together beautifully on In and Out of the Light. Here are eight songs to get lost in-for a day, for a week, for a lifetime.

TRACK LISTING

1. Pocketful Of Sunshine
2. Write Your Way Out Of Town
3. Where You Used To Be
4. What's Beauty To Do
5. Butterfly Kiss
6. We Talked Through Till Dawn
7. I Don't Give A Fuck About You Anymore
8. The Fading Light

Emily Jane White's new album juxtaposes a heavy melancholy with an intimate touching lightness through her singular alto voice backed by orchestral percussion, soaring strings, heavy guitars, a choir of voices, and an overall cinematic presentation of dynamic songwriting.

Ten songs, all written in minor keys, present a deepening storm of melody that offers the hopeful ray of Emily's voice as the waves of rhythm crash and dance around her. Her voice is the listener's guide, a steady and reassuring presence as they march through eerie landscapes, caverns of reverb, church organs and synthetic arpeggios. The occasional samples of birds, insects, and thunder mix with the blend of electronic and acoustic instruments, a subtle reminder of the necessary link between the fate of our ecology and the moral use of technology.

Laish, from Brighton, are piloted by the mesmeric Danny Green, a master of captivating confessionals and a thoroughly engaging front man. His glorious voice ranges from the angelic, to a plaintiveness echoing Robert Wyatt, to deeper Kurt Wagner-esque tones. New album, Time Elastic, brims with ultra-cool, classic songwriting and bestows a superbly developed and playful record, full of surprises. A bold step forward, presenting a songwriter at the height of his powers.

Formed by Vladislav Parshin (of Motorama), in Rostov-On-Don, in 2010, the band became known in Russia for it’s experimental instrumentation, minimalist approach to the music and existential, spiritual lyrics in Russian language. Utro took the blueprint from Soviet bands, post-punk bands from Germany and UK and pushed it way further, using just drums, percurssion, synth bass, synthesizers, and voice. In 2015 Uto announced "We don’t use guitars anymore, we play live drums, synth bass and different keyboards."

After seven years of consistent touring and new releases, Brussels-based Will Samson steps away from his familiar use of electronics and ambient soundscapes, to present his fourth solo album, Welcome Oxygen. Consisting largely of guitar, voice & violin recorded onto tape - this is his most raw and direct work to date. Brad Lee, from The Album Leaf contributes Trumpet arrangements to the track, 'Find A Little Light' and additional overdubs were also added by Belgian violinist, Beatrijs De Klerck (a former touring member of A Winged Victory For The Sullen & frequent live member for Will).

Danny Green, aka Laish, is set to release his third album via Talitres. A set of twelve songs that span the spectrum of gentle fingerpicked acoustic guitar ballads, through to more robust art-rock jams. Laish’s plaintive tenor - rich, deeply textured and affecting - takes centre stage as he sings honest, self-reflective songs of relationships failed and survived.

Danny formed the band Laish in Brighton in 2008 and became part of the Willkommen Collective (Sons of Noel and Adrian, The Leisure Society, Rozi Plain). Laish have released two records, their eponymous debut (2010), and Obituaries (2013, Folkwit Records), both recorded by Green at his home. 

TRACK LISTING

1 – Vague
2 – Learning To Love The Bomb
3 – Love On The Conditional
4 – Song For Everything
5 – The Last Time
6 – My Little Prince
7 – Pendulum Swing
8 – Wrote Of Freedom
9 – Rattling Around
10 – Gambling
11 – We Haven’t Made Any Money
12 – Isolation

Since their first self-produced album "Horse" in 2008, Motorama have gone their own melodious seamless way. From their Russian port city of Rostov-on-Don, they have carved out their identity and a niche on the musical scene as travels, journeys, landscapes and encounters have helped them forge ahead with a global outlook. "I always try to have it all recorded uncut, in one breath, and have it thus enhanced in its delicate rugged beauty. As I have figured it out, demos sometimes and even often happen to sound better than the actual records to be released", Vladislav Parshin - vocals and guitar - revealed to Magic magazine in February 2015.

As expected, the fourth upcoming album 'Dialogues' is no exception to that rule. As to the distinctive melodies, harmonies and lyrical texts, everything has just gone with the flow day after day in a do-it-yourself fashion that the band have been drawing on, up to the oldie but goodie Tascam Portastudio home recording mastered in a few short weeks. With 'Dialogues', let's talk about an addictive pop music floating on a raft of wondrous melancholy, rocked by breathtaking lyricism, heady keyboards and a muffled but dancing bass. Let's go explore the great outdoors via these compositions that take us on a trip.

Originating from Normandy, France and now based in Marseilles having lived for spells in Brighton, Bristol and Brussels, the itinerant composer / multi-instrumentalist Yann Tambour (aka Stranded Horse) began recording in 2001 under the name Encre, a project combining samples of strings, piano and voice. Following a series of album and EP releases under that name and having returned to his original instrument, the classical guitar, Yann started to experiment with the kora, building his own lighter, more compact versions of the instrument. Marrying this with his singular approach to the singer/songwriter mode, Stranded Horse (formerly Thee, Stranded Horse) came into being in the mid-noughties. Yann's instrument-building endeavours continue - his most recent creation being a chromatic kora with harp levers, made out of keno wood, maple and formica christened the 'formikora'.

'Luxe' is the third Stranded Horse album after 'Humbling Tides' (2012) and 'Churning Strides' (2007), With five of its nine songs sung in English and the rest in French, the ensemble arrangements hinted at on 'Humbling Tides' find full bloom on 'Luxe'.

Micah P. Hinson was born in Memphis, Tennessee, USA, into a strict Christian fundamentalist household. He began to experiment with music upon moving to Abilene, Texas in his teens. In the relative isolation of this town, he became immersed in the local music scene. In 2003, he teamed up with the Texas collective the Earlies which provided a lush backdrop for Hinson’s winsome tales of love, loss and regret, before releasing solo albums for Sketchbook, Jade Tee and Full Time Hobby. 'Micah P. Hinson and the Nothing', his first release on Talitres, is a collection of songs Micah wrote before a terrible van accident he had on the Spanish highway in 2011.

Unsure if or when his arms would ever work properly again, Micah began listening to demos he has made before he went on that Spanish trip. The songs took a different light and he began sending them off to people around the world (The Twilight Sad, his Belgium Quartet, his Texan side-kick, T. Nicholas Phelps) and with their help he began to create a record without the use of his arms. Soon after this, Micah was invited to go and record in Santander, Espana, at Moon River Studio. For two weeks and two days, Fernando 'Mac' and Micah realized what was to become "Micah P. Hinson and The Nothing", working with an astounding array of local musicians, sitting behind the trap set, standing beside the upright bass, holding a viola, or tumbling away the tympani.