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THE SCHOOL
The Crystal Hum is the debut vinyl release by Taiwan-based artist Yuching Huang and her first release for Night School. A beguiling dreamscape of crackles, spluttering, love-struck Casios presided over by the the spectral vocal and guitar work of Huang, Yuching sings love songs at the end of this world and the beginning of the next. Recorded during a hiatus from her group Aemong (a duo with artist Henrique Uba) in Berlin, these songs elevate Huang’s unique vocal style and grasp of atmospherics. The Crystal Hum deconstructs balladry, Garage, guitar music and reforms it into a unified ghostly otherworld version of these languages.
TRACK LISTING
1. Fly! Little Black Thing
2. Love
3. Confessions From A Soul
4. Thoughts
5. Thunder In Heaven
6. In My Room
7. The Song Of Summer
8. JohnJohn
9. Alright
10. You, An Illusion
Features previously unreleased tracks including early recordings by Gang Of Four/Mekons/Delta 5/Sheeny & The Goys & much more.. (20 Tracks)
The Leeds post-punk scene, and the impact of the city’s art schools on its music, have been unjustly overlooked – until now. This double vinyl set compiled by author Gavin Butt comprises hitherto unreleased, unheard & rare tracks, plus several favourites, by diverse art school acts who experimented with art-punk, electro, pop, dada, fluxus and punk-funk. Contains extensive liner notes and reproductions of unseen ephemera and artworks.
Re-mastered with care & attention from the very best available audio sources for maximum listening pleasure..
The Leeds post-punk scene, and the impact of the city’s art schools on its music, have been unjustly overlooked – until now. This double vinyl set compiled by author Gavin Butt comprises hitherto unreleased, unheard & rare tracks, plus several favourites, by diverse art school acts who experimented with art-punk, electro, pop, dada, fluxus and punk-funk. Contains extensive liner notes and reproductions of unseen ephemera and artworks.
Re-mastered with care & attention from the very best available audio sources for maximum listening pleasure..
STAFF COMMENTS
Darryl says: Focussing on the Leeds post-punk scene this wonderful compilation features early recordings from a host of well known artists like The Gang Of Four, Soft Cell, Delta 5, Mekons, and The Three Johns as well as more obscure acts. All bases are covered here from art-punk, primitive synth, punk-funk and indie.TRACK LISTING
Side 1
The Mekons - Trevira Trousers (Demo 1979)
Sheeny And The Goys - Pretty Girls (previously Unreleased)
Gang Of Four-The Things You Do (Previously Unreleased)
Delta 5-Alone (Live At Hurrahs)
Scritti Politti - Messthetics
Side 2
Soft Cell-The Girl With The Patent Leather Face (Demo)
Steve Shill & Graeme Miller (The Commies From Mars) - Moomins Theme
Fad Gadget-Incontinent
Ron Crowcroft -Go Go Dancer
Smart Cookies-Loud & Lonely (Previously Unreleased)
Side 3
Another Colour-Wartime Working Woman (Previously Unreleased)
Cast Iron Fairies-Tengo Tengo Tengo (Previously Unreleased)
Household Name-Indoctrination
Shee Hees-(I Made Love On The ) Astroturf (Previously Unreleased)
The Three Johns-Snitch
Side 4
Gang Of Four-Disco Sound (Previously Unreleased)
MRA-I Am A Monument
Another Colour-World From A Chair (Previously Unreleased)
The Three Johns - Bloop
Sheeny & The Goys-You Let Me Down (Previously Unreleased)
Tomislav Simovic
The Zagreb School Of Animated Film (Original Soundtracks 1961-1982) (OST)
Fox & His Friends
A collection of unreleased themes and scores from 18 short animated films from the world famous Zagreb School Of Animated Film. Includes Oscar winning short cartoon Ersatz / Surogat by Dusan Vukotic (1961) and many other jazz, electronica and experimental scores by composer Tomislav Simovic. Coined by the famed film theorist Georges Sadoul at the 1959 Cannes Festival, The Zagreb School of Animated Film(s) or The Zagreb School of Animation, was defined as an artistic and philosophical world-view that set its mark on the history of animation in the 60's and 70's. The key feature of the Zagreb School (not educational facility in any kind), was commitment to stylization in contrast with the Disney-style canon of realistic animation. Among many composers that worked in Zagreb Film productions, the name of Tomislav Simovic (1931 - 2014) stands out. In his oeuvre of 300+ film scores (not counting compositions and arrangements for pop singers and jazz orchestras), many were made exclusively for Zagreb film documentaries, fiction shorts, features and animation. Simovic was particularly adept at writing music for cartoons. He skillfully synchronized movement and sound and mixed different musical genres, although, like his peers at the time, he leaned towards jazz. 'The Zagreb School of Animated Film (Original Soundtracks 1961-1982)' is compiled by Leri Ahel (Mutant Disco Radio Show) and Zeljko Luketic (Electronic Jugoton, Ex-Yu Electronica III). Master tapes were considered lost, now found and restored for this epic 2 x LP release celebrating Yugoslavia's animated art shorts. Double vinyl gatefold with extensive liner notes, photographs from the films and exclusive cover artwork by Dejan Krsic (NEP / Nova Evropa).
TRACK LISTING
• 01 Posjet Iz Svemira (a Visit From Space) (1964)
• 02 Cudna Ptica (strange Bird) (1969)
• 03 Astromati I (astromutts I) (1963)
• 04 Astromati Ii (astromutts Ii) (1963)
0:11
• 05 Surogat (ersatz - The Substitute) (1961)
• 06 Klizi-puzi (twidle-twidle) (1969)
• 07 Zacarani Princ (the Enchanted Prince) (1978)
• 08 Medvjedja Romansa (grin And Bear It) (1978)
• 09 Zid (the Wall) (1965)
• 10 Dnevnik (diary) (1974)
• 11 Gubecziana (the Serfs Uprising) (1974)
• 12 Plemeniti Soj (the Noble Strain) (1971)
• 13 Homo Augens (1972)
• 14 Idu Dani (passing Days) (1969)
• 15 Opera Cordis (1968)
• 16 San (the Dream) (1982)
• 17 Kugina Kuca (the House Of The Plague) (1980)
• 18 Utopia (1973)
• 19 Dan Kad Sam Prestao Pusiti (the Day I Stopped Smoking) (1982)
Out of print for over 40 years, this is a true rare 12” party hip-hop classic, reissued by Soul Jazz Records.
Absolutely stunning very rare old school party disco rap 12” performed by members of the Chicago public high school, Carver High.
Originally released in 1982 on their own private press label, Challenger Records.
The track is the opening highlight of Soul Jazz Records’ recent ‘Yo! Boombox’ collection and is featured here in its full glorious seven and a half minutes and comes complete with exact replica of the striking original hand-drawn artwork.
Absolutely stunning very rare old school party disco rap 12” performed by members of the Chicago public high school, Carver High.
Originally released in 1982 on their own private press label, Challenger Records.
The track is the opening highlight of Soul Jazz Records’ recent ‘Yo! Boombox’ collection and is featured here in its full glorious seven and a half minutes and comes complete with exact replica of the striking original hand-drawn artwork.
TRACK LISTING
Get Live ’83 (The Senior Rap)
The Carver Senior Song (Class Of ’83)
Transcendentally beautiful, The Space Lady's music is returning to Earth. Transmitting messages of peace and harmony, The Space Lady began her odyssey on the streets of Boston in the late 70s, then San Francisco ten years later, playing versions of contemporary pop music with an accordion and dressed flamboyantly. Following the theft and destruction of her accordion , The Space Lady invested in a then-new Casio keyboard, complete with a phase shifter and headset mic, birthing an otherworldly new dimension to popular song that has captured the imaginations of the underground and its leading exponents ever since. The legend of The Space Lady has continued to grow in the 21st century. Following inclusions on compilations by John Maus, Erol Alkan and Irwin Chusid's "Songs In The Key of Z," the benevolent spectre of The Space Lady inspired humanity from afar in the mists of time and obscurity. 2013 sees the first official release of The Space Lady's music following a hand-dubbed cassette and CD in the early 90s. These recordings were recorded in 1990 for that hand-made release and have now been remastered by Brian Pyle (Ensemble Economique).
Starting out by hand-dubbing CDrs and forging a singular path in the global pop underground, Nilsson’s art has grown to the extent where hers is a precise songwriting devoid of unnecessary flourish. Her songs are perfect silhouettes of feelings everyone shares but that few can articulate with such heart-rending, icy pathos.
Journeys offer change - the possibility of renewal - and accordingly on The Travels Molly Nilsson’s resonant voice is found curling around a new sense of optimism and wide-eyed discovery that was only alluded to in her previous work. Songs like “Dear Life” might be spiked with a barbed sense of the dejected, but the presiding feeling is one of optimism, of being in love with life despite a shield of cynicism. “Dirty Fingers” brings a melancholy recognisable from previous work but with an incessant beat and ecstatic underpinning it becomes apparent that a new force is at play here. In case the listener missed it, “The Power Ballad” brings an endearing, sincerity to proceedings that also offers a tantalising question: can you be sceptical about love but still be bewitched?
On her 5th long-player, Nilsson’s perspective is challenged and manipulated by changes in environment and psychological space: like any other traveller the protagonist brings their own set of values and emotional states to new places, colouring them with a wash of subjectivity. Like any other traveller Molly Nilsson reacts to her environment and shares her unique version of it to other people. Based loosely on Marco Polo’s “Travels” and reading like a map of the protagonist’s geographical and inner journey, The Travels reveals new places and new emotions that are never the same to the beholder. Nilsson’s art is in turning this subjectivity into a cloak that almost anyone can don for the trip.
Journeys offer change - the possibility of renewal - and accordingly on The Travels Molly Nilsson’s resonant voice is found curling around a new sense of optimism and wide-eyed discovery that was only alluded to in her previous work. Songs like “Dear Life” might be spiked with a barbed sense of the dejected, but the presiding feeling is one of optimism, of being in love with life despite a shield of cynicism. “Dirty Fingers” brings a melancholy recognisable from previous work but with an incessant beat and ecstatic underpinning it becomes apparent that a new force is at play here. In case the listener missed it, “The Power Ballad” brings an endearing, sincerity to proceedings that also offers a tantalising question: can you be sceptical about love but still be bewitched?
On her 5th long-player, Nilsson’s perspective is challenged and manipulated by changes in environment and psychological space: like any other traveller the protagonist brings their own set of values and emotional states to new places, colouring them with a wash of subjectivity. Like any other traveller Molly Nilsson reacts to her environment and shares her unique version of it to other people. Based loosely on Marco Polo’s “Travels” and reading like a map of the protagonist’s geographical and inner journey, The Travels reveals new places and new emotions that are never the same to the beholder. Nilsson’s art is in turning this subjectivity into a cloak that almost anyone can don for the trip.
The Lemon Twigs emerged in 2016 with their debut LP, Do Hollywood, which was praised by Rolling Stone for its “toting hooky songs that stand out for their intricate arrangements and delectable melodies” and NPR Music who mused, “like listening to music from a time that never was…a baroque rock romp.”
Their second album, Go To School is their most ambitious work yet; a conceptual musical, conceived by brothers Brian and Michael D’Addario, which tells a heartbreaking coming of age story of Shane, a pure of heart chimpanzee raised as a human boy as he comes to terms with the obstacles of life. Todd Rundgren and their real-life mother Susan Hall play Shane’s parents. The album also features contributions from Jody Stephens (Big Star), Natalie Mering (Weyes Blood) and their father Ronnie D’Addario.
Their second album, Go To School is their most ambitious work yet; a conceptual musical, conceived by brothers Brian and Michael D’Addario, which tells a heartbreaking coming of age story of Shane, a pure of heart chimpanzee raised as a human boy as he comes to terms with the obstacles of life. Todd Rundgren and their real-life mother Susan Hall play Shane’s parents. The album also features contributions from Jody Stephens (Big Star), Natalie Mering (Weyes Blood) and their father Ronnie D’Addario.
STAFF COMMENTS
Barry says: Immediately reminiscent of all your favourite rock greats (you name it, the Lemon Twigs know it), but with a brilliantly innovative sense of pacing and style. Brilliantly mature and eccentrically conceptual, this is a killer LP from a band rising through the ranks quickly. Ace.TRACK LISTING
Never In My Arms, Always In My Heart
The Student Becomes The Teacher
Rock Dreams
The Lesson
Small Victories
Wonderin' Ways
The Bully
Lonely
Queen Of My School
Never Know
Born Wrong/Heart Song
The Fire
Home Of A Heart (The Woods)
This Is My Tree
If You Give Enough
Go To School
If a debut LP is an artist’s introduction to the world and their sophomore release is their now-or-never moment, their third is their most cathartic: they’ve made it out, they’re here.
Glasgow, Scotland’s indiepop optimists The Spook School, despite personal and political obstacle, made it out, and their latest full-length Could It Be Different? is here. It’s been a journey of self-discovery and feel-good realism; modern, dance-friendly indiepop fueling the fun. They made a name for themselves for their exultant and empowering pop, and now, they’ve shown real growth in nuance. Even at their most beaten down, The Spook School manage to find hope free of naivety. That’s clear the second the album opens with “Still Alive,” and its ascending chorus (and soon-to- be crowd favorite) of “Fuck You, I’m Still Alive,” written by Nye after surviving an emotionally abusive relationship. The song avoids villainizing the past, instead, it celebrates the present and welcomes the unknown future.
The energy of working through the wicked exists all over Could It Be Different? “Bad Year” makes personal connections with universal ennui, the debilitating feeling of an atrocious political climate and the desire to do better. Could It Be Different? is a human release a record full of the insecurities and anxiety that arrive after self-awareness, in learning something new and potentially frightening about yourself. But at it’s heart is joy there’s no desolation on the LP, because The Spook School manage to find light in moments of darkness. All things glum must pass even if hope comes only in the form of acceptance.
“A theatrical indie pop band that embrace’s life’s misinterpretations and messiness...their noise-pop jams remain as joyful as ever” - Pitchfork “The Spook School are that rare and beautiful thing: a band with something to say.” - The Guardian
“Societal norms and gender stereotypes are in the crosshairs of these threadbare tunes...trans love songs that hit home no matter your orientation.” - NPR
“Dance music for introverts, love songs for people who are too shy to be in love” - Stereogum
Glasgow, Scotland’s indiepop optimists The Spook School, despite personal and political obstacle, made it out, and their latest full-length Could It Be Different? is here. It’s been a journey of self-discovery and feel-good realism; modern, dance-friendly indiepop fueling the fun. They made a name for themselves for their exultant and empowering pop, and now, they’ve shown real growth in nuance. Even at their most beaten down, The Spook School manage to find hope free of naivety. That’s clear the second the album opens with “Still Alive,” and its ascending chorus (and soon-to- be crowd favorite) of “Fuck You, I’m Still Alive,” written by Nye after surviving an emotionally abusive relationship. The song avoids villainizing the past, instead, it celebrates the present and welcomes the unknown future.
The energy of working through the wicked exists all over Could It Be Different? “Bad Year” makes personal connections with universal ennui, the debilitating feeling of an atrocious political climate and the desire to do better. Could It Be Different? is a human release a record full of the insecurities and anxiety that arrive after self-awareness, in learning something new and potentially frightening about yourself. But at it’s heart is joy there’s no desolation on the LP, because The Spook School manage to find light in moments of darkness. All things glum must pass even if hope comes only in the form of acceptance.
“A theatrical indie pop band that embrace’s life’s misinterpretations and messiness...their noise-pop jams remain as joyful as ever” - Pitchfork “The Spook School are that rare and beautiful thing: a band with something to say.” - The Guardian
“Societal norms and gender stereotypes are in the crosshairs of these threadbare tunes...trans love songs that hit home no matter your orientation.” - NPR
“Dance music for introverts, love songs for people who are too shy to be in love” - Stereogum
Just like Memphis for Rock'n'Roll, Dusseldorf is regarded as the Mecca for electronic music. The capital of North Rhine-Westphalia became the centre of an analog electronic movement which changed the course of all popular music to come.
Electri_City is the oral account of the city's most influential bands, including Kraftwerk, NEU!, DAF, Die Krupps and many more. This history uncovers the myths and reality of the bands emerging from the artistic backdrop of a wealthy, modern, post-WWII German city; the conditions that fostered such a creative explosion.
Interviews include Daniel Miller (Mute Records), Paul Humphreys and Andy McCluskey (OMD), Martyn Ware (Human League), Glenn Gregory (Heaven 17), Rusty Egan (Visage) Ryuichi Sakamoto and producer, Giorgio Moroder.
Electri_City is the oral account of the city's most influential bands, including Kraftwerk, NEU!, DAF, Die Krupps and many more. This history uncovers the myths and reality of the bands emerging from the artistic backdrop of a wealthy, modern, post-WWII German city; the conditions that fostered such a creative explosion.
Interviews include Daniel Miller (Mute Records), Paul Humphreys and Andy McCluskey (OMD), Martyn Ware (Human League), Glenn Gregory (Heaven 17), Rusty Egan (Visage) Ryuichi Sakamoto and producer, Giorgio Moroder.
“The closest we’ll ever get to heaven, with a stolen six pack from 7/11, and though the city sleeps I better she never dreams, she never dreams like you and me.”
The beginning moments of Molly Nilsson’s second album Follow The Light now seem like the start of a personal mythology that was to reach further than she could have imagined. Few contemporary artists have so seeped into the underground pop psyche than the Stockholm-born songwriter. After releasing her debut These Things Take Time on hand-made CDrs, Nilsson’s follow up was a leap in scope and ambition. Of course, the personal takes on a tumultuous life in Berlin and the journeys to and from it inform the songs as before, but there’s a growing maturity in the songwriting in evidence. From the diary pages of These Things Take Time to a growing stature as a songwriter in touch with the universal, Follow The Light contains many of Nilsson’s now firm fan-favourites.
The Closest We’ll Ever Get To Heaven is classic Molly Nilsson. Over plaintive piano chords and little else, Nilsson narrates a story of doomed friends lost, the onset of an East German winter reminding the singer of a time lost, nostalgia frosting the windows to the past. Meanwhile In Berlin, perhaps a passing nod to Leonard Cohen in the melodic refrain, opens up the sonic palette, with synth strings fitting Nilsson’s delivery perfectly. Never O’Clock is a pure pop moment, with a lilting funk and percussion adding a carpe diem immediacy to the album’s flow. Last Forever, which remains a staple to live encores now, seven years later, is fist-pumping melancholy that only Molly Nilsson knows how to do. It’s over before it begins and begs eternal repeat. Truth, a synth pop song that sees Nilsson exploring the upper and lower registers of her voice, feels like a lost chart hit from the mid 80s. I Hope You Sleep At Night, a vitriolic lover’s admonishment gives way to one of Nilsson’s most popular songs: I’m Still Wearing His Jacket. It’s a sentiment that needs no real explanation: the mementos of a completed love affair remain in our wardrobes waiting to hurt us all over again. Hello Loneliness could also be an updated Leonard Cohen song, a peon to melancholy which reminds us that Nilsson has a knack for distilling the complex into sharp epithets. We end on one of Nilsson’s greatest songs. A Song They Won’t Be Playing On The Radio is so finely loaded with emotion that it’s the singer’s reserved delivery that makes it so powerful.
Follow The Light is the second installment of an ongoing Molly Nilsson reissue campaign and is the first time the album has been available on vinyl.
The beginning moments of Molly Nilsson’s second album Follow The Light now seem like the start of a personal mythology that was to reach further than she could have imagined. Few contemporary artists have so seeped into the underground pop psyche than the Stockholm-born songwriter. After releasing her debut These Things Take Time on hand-made CDrs, Nilsson’s follow up was a leap in scope and ambition. Of course, the personal takes on a tumultuous life in Berlin and the journeys to and from it inform the songs as before, but there’s a growing maturity in the songwriting in evidence. From the diary pages of These Things Take Time to a growing stature as a songwriter in touch with the universal, Follow The Light contains many of Nilsson’s now firm fan-favourites.
The Closest We’ll Ever Get To Heaven is classic Molly Nilsson. Over plaintive piano chords and little else, Nilsson narrates a story of doomed friends lost, the onset of an East German winter reminding the singer of a time lost, nostalgia frosting the windows to the past. Meanwhile In Berlin, perhaps a passing nod to Leonard Cohen in the melodic refrain, opens up the sonic palette, with synth strings fitting Nilsson’s delivery perfectly. Never O’Clock is a pure pop moment, with a lilting funk and percussion adding a carpe diem immediacy to the album’s flow. Last Forever, which remains a staple to live encores now, seven years later, is fist-pumping melancholy that only Molly Nilsson knows how to do. It’s over before it begins and begs eternal repeat. Truth, a synth pop song that sees Nilsson exploring the upper and lower registers of her voice, feels like a lost chart hit from the mid 80s. I Hope You Sleep At Night, a vitriolic lover’s admonishment gives way to one of Nilsson’s most popular songs: I’m Still Wearing His Jacket. It’s a sentiment that needs no real explanation: the mementos of a completed love affair remain in our wardrobes waiting to hurt us all over again. Hello Loneliness could also be an updated Leonard Cohen song, a peon to melancholy which reminds us that Nilsson has a knack for distilling the complex into sharp epithets. We end on one of Nilsson’s greatest songs. A Song They Won’t Be Playing On The Radio is so finely loaded with emotion that it’s the singer’s reserved delivery that makes it so powerful.
Follow The Light is the second installment of an ongoing Molly Nilsson reissue campaign and is the first time the album has been available on vinyl.
TRACK LISTING
The Closest We'll Ever Get To Heaven
Meanwhile In Berlin
Never O'Clock
Last Forever
Truth
I Hope You Sleep At Night
I'm Still Wearing His Jacket
Hello Loneliness
A Song They Won't Be Playing On The Radio
The Flexibles are a Punk Rock Band. The Flexibles bend space and time, flex your head, space your Punk, a jarring lightning bolt of truth to the heart of the matter. Comprised of Richard Youngs, his young son Sorley Youngs and family friend Andrew Paine, they operate within Glasgow city limits, outsiders in an outsider culture. Swirling around the wild, searing guitar playing and cosmically infused songwriting of Sorley, The Flexibles' Pink Everything is a concept album of sorts, on the surface a narrative about space travel, the state of the human race in the modern Acopalyx. While vicious in its take down of humanity's own death-drive, the subtext of Pink Everything describes a world where anything is possible. Perhaps the Acopalyx, or Apocalypse, needs to happen for us to be re-born. Anything can be Pink.
Over both sides, The Flexibles depict a realm where fantasy and reality are inexplicably fused together… Sorley’s lyrical flourishes touch on the stream-of-conciousness imagery that seems to be swimming in the Youngs genepool, but there are dashes of real life. When I Was 86 has Sorley tearing modern living apart both from the perspective of the anti-hero Arcosta – an alien visitor to Earth but also from his own perspective as a young man making sense of a reality that needs changed. Smothered by Richard’s electronics and the super-massive fuzz bass of Paine, it’s a radical stomper. Album opener Pink Everything however, offers the flip: a distorted, crazed sermon that essentially asks Why Not? Why can’t everything be pink, true and truthful. Side B comprises a suite chronicling Arcosta’s journey, struggling to comprehend the things we do; capitalism, the endless grind of work-play, the rituals that to extra terrestrials and indeed to children unaffected by cynicism seem meaningless.
As a power trio, The Flexibles blow apart pre-conceptions, burn down barriers and paint them pink. The Flexibles believe anything can be possible and embody an ultimate creative freedom, unencumbered by age barriers, limits. Anything can be Pink.
Over both sides, The Flexibles depict a realm where fantasy and reality are inexplicably fused together… Sorley’s lyrical flourishes touch on the stream-of-conciousness imagery that seems to be swimming in the Youngs genepool, but there are dashes of real life. When I Was 86 has Sorley tearing modern living apart both from the perspective of the anti-hero Arcosta – an alien visitor to Earth but also from his own perspective as a young man making sense of a reality that needs changed. Smothered by Richard’s electronics and the super-massive fuzz bass of Paine, it’s a radical stomper. Album opener Pink Everything however, offers the flip: a distorted, crazed sermon that essentially asks Why Not? Why can’t everything be pink, true and truthful. Side B comprises a suite chronicling Arcosta’s journey, struggling to comprehend the things we do; capitalism, the endless grind of work-play, the rituals that to extra terrestrials and indeed to children unaffected by cynicism seem meaningless.
As a power trio, The Flexibles blow apart pre-conceptions, burn down barriers and paint them pink. The Flexibles believe anything can be possible and embody an ultimate creative freedom, unencumbered by age barriers, limits. Anything can be Pink.
Cut The With The Cake Knife was recorded by Rose McDowall in 1988/89 following the break up of her group Strawberry Switchblade. Produced with the aid of several musicians in several studios, the album features songs written for the fabled second Strawberry Switchblade album. More importantly perhaps it showcases the honest, direct and life-affirming songs of one of the greatest unsung songwriters of the modern pop era at a tumultuous time in her career.
Tibet opens the set and could be one of the best pop songs you’ve never heard. The innate sadness of the songs’ content – the loss of a friendship, impending sorrow – is heightened to heart-melting level by McDowall’s pop nous and melodic sensibility. Choruses and hooks are everywhere on Cake Knife, from the outsider take on stadium 80s pop in Wings Of Heaven to the spiraling, ecstatic So Vicious, a glorious anthem that highlights the human fragility in McDowall’s vocal performance, an instrument that has never lost the naïve purity it first exemplified in Strawberry Switchblade’s early 80s recordings. The centerpiece of the album, the title-track, is the greatest Switchblade pop chart hit that never was. Like the veiled melancholy of her former group’s hits, Cut With The Cake Knife hints at a darkness beneath the gloss, a darkness that saw McDowall delve into more esoteric territory with her subsequent recordings and collaborations. Cut With The Cake Knife serves as the bridge between the pop music McDowall had been making with her friends Jill Bryson, Lawrence from Felt and Primal Scream to what became a more extreme, deep sound informed by neo-folk and post industrial music.
Rose McDowall’s role in the canon has always been one of an outsider. Beginning in Glasgow’s East End in the avant proto-noise group The Poems, achieving fame briefly in the 80s and then disappearing into counter-cultural folklore, the emphasis in the internet-age has been skewed towards her image and cultural significance. Unseen to many, her solo work, her groups Sorrow and Spell and her collaborations with a whole host of underground luminaries have still touched lives. As McDowall elucidates: “They're real sad songs, about real life. I've had people come up to me to say I'd connected with them and helped them. I remember a gig in America when we made a whole room cry. It was bizarre. A couple at the front of the stage started crying and then these two boys beside and suddenly everyone was crying. And I thought, "that's power."
Night School’s issue of Cut With The Cake Knife includes unpublished photographs, extensive sleeve notes from Rose McDowall and 2 bonus tracks culled from the bootleg 7” “Don’t Fear The Reaper.”
Tibet opens the set and could be one of the best pop songs you’ve never heard. The innate sadness of the songs’ content – the loss of a friendship, impending sorrow – is heightened to heart-melting level by McDowall’s pop nous and melodic sensibility. Choruses and hooks are everywhere on Cake Knife, from the outsider take on stadium 80s pop in Wings Of Heaven to the spiraling, ecstatic So Vicious, a glorious anthem that highlights the human fragility in McDowall’s vocal performance, an instrument that has never lost the naïve purity it first exemplified in Strawberry Switchblade’s early 80s recordings. The centerpiece of the album, the title-track, is the greatest Switchblade pop chart hit that never was. Like the veiled melancholy of her former group’s hits, Cut With The Cake Knife hints at a darkness beneath the gloss, a darkness that saw McDowall delve into more esoteric territory with her subsequent recordings and collaborations. Cut With The Cake Knife serves as the bridge between the pop music McDowall had been making with her friends Jill Bryson, Lawrence from Felt and Primal Scream to what became a more extreme, deep sound informed by neo-folk and post industrial music.
Rose McDowall’s role in the canon has always been one of an outsider. Beginning in Glasgow’s East End in the avant proto-noise group The Poems, achieving fame briefly in the 80s and then disappearing into counter-cultural folklore, the emphasis in the internet-age has been skewed towards her image and cultural significance. Unseen to many, her solo work, her groups Sorrow and Spell and her collaborations with a whole host of underground luminaries have still touched lives. As McDowall elucidates: “They're real sad songs, about real life. I've had people come up to me to say I'd connected with them and helped them. I remember a gig in America when we made a whole room cry. It was bizarre. A couple at the front of the stage started crying and then these two boys beside and suddenly everyone was crying. And I thought, "that's power."
Night School’s issue of Cut With The Cake Knife includes unpublished photographs, extensive sleeve notes from Rose McDowall and 2 bonus tracks culled from the bootleg 7” “Don’t Fear The Reaper.”
The School are back with their third album, and it's beautifully fresh, mature and (despite the sad title) brilliantly optimistic. Along with their traditional eight-musician line-up, led by Liz's omnipresent voice, there are three extra musicians this time, helping to create an album with lush instrumentation, and stunning completeness. Opener "Every Day" is a trademark song in every way. Sixties-inspired folk-pop with precious arrangements, delicious choruses, and delicate but brilliant melodies. Elsewhere there are bursts of ye-ye, walls of melody and fascinating brass arrangements. There are echoes of The Supremes and Wilson Pickett but also French pop such as France Gall, and Francois Hardy, plus a dash of Ennio Morricone.
The Space Lady began her odyssey on the streets of San Francisco in the late 70s, playing versions of contemporary pop music an accordion and dressed flamboyantly, transmitting messages of peace and harmony. Following the theft of her accordion, The Space Lady invested in a then-new Casio keyboard, birthing an otherworldly new dimension to popular song that has captured the imaginations of the underground and its lead exponents ever since, with the likes of John Maus, Erol Alkan and Kutmah being devotees.
Of her early street sets, only one recording was made, self-released originally on cassette and then transferred to a home-made CD. "The Space Lady’s Greatest Hits"(LSSN020) features the best of these recordings - mostly covers but with some originals - pressed on vinyl for the first time and features archival photographs and liner notes from The Space Lady herself. “Greatest Hits” contains The Space Lady’s personal favourites; her haunting take on The Electric Prunes’ “I Had Too Much To Dream (Last Night),” a frantic “Ballroom Blitz” amidst other reconstructed pop music. Included are also 4 originals that easily match for the Pop canon. Following the release of this archive, The Space Lady will be issuing new material and travelling the world to present her message outside the United States for the first time.
In the mid 90s The Space Lady packed away her Casio synth and silenced her distinctive voice, retiring from the streets of San Francisco. Now, more than 30 years after her initial forays on Haight Ashbury, she has surfaced with the first ever official release of her timeless, startling music and, even more remarkably, has re-started her live career. Now in Colorado, The Space Lady continues to spread her message of peace, harmony and love.
Of her early street sets, only one recording was made, self-released originally on cassette and then transferred to a home-made CD. "The Space Lady’s Greatest Hits"(LSSN020) features the best of these recordings - mostly covers but with some originals - pressed on vinyl for the first time and features archival photographs and liner notes from The Space Lady herself. “Greatest Hits” contains The Space Lady’s personal favourites; her haunting take on The Electric Prunes’ “I Had Too Much To Dream (Last Night),” a frantic “Ballroom Blitz” amidst other reconstructed pop music. Included are also 4 originals that easily match for the Pop canon. Following the release of this archive, The Space Lady will be issuing new material and travelling the world to present her message outside the United States for the first time.
In the mid 90s The Space Lady packed away her Casio synth and silenced her distinctive voice, retiring from the streets of San Francisco. Now, more than 30 years after her initial forays on Haight Ashbury, she has surfaced with the first ever official release of her timeless, startling music and, even more remarkably, has re-started her live career. Now in Colorado, The Space Lady continues to spread her message of peace, harmony and love.
One Day, After School… have been working on the periphery of Wakefield music for a number of years. The bedroom based project of writer / musician Dean Freeman, ODAS have released a string of home demos through various labels and institutions (Philophobia Music / Geek Pie Records / Rhubarb Bomb) over the past few years. These recordings ranged from ambient downbeat, to crunchingly lo-fi alt rock but with this new record, their first ‘proper’ one, ODAS has found a more upfront, dynamic sound that more accurately represents the live approach of the band as a whole.
‘The Future Is Not Ours, Comrade’ is a record that mixes a love of Philip K Dick, alternate universe novella’s and ideas of fatalism / solipcism and politics with the very harsh reality of working a shit job in the incredibly boring ‘real’ world.
"I want to write about people I love, and put them into a fictional world spun out of my own mind, not the world we actually have, because the world we actually have does not meet my standards," Philip K Dick.
Musically it touches many bases; the intense condensed wordplay or early manics, noise squall breakdowns of Sonic Youth, gentle Sparklehorse-esqe intermissions, grumpy Arab Strap borderline ‘rap’ mumbling with sprawling post rock conclusions. But unlike their early work, ODAS have finally managed to tie it all together in a cohesive, complete package.
Due to their ever changing live setup, One Day, After School… have played with a diverse set of bands in the past, including Shrag, Stanley Brinks (Herman Dune), Napoleon IIIrd, Lucas Renney, Miles Davis (Wonder Stuff) Just Handshakes (We’e British) and St Gregory Orange and will be supporting this record with a full 5 piece (2 bass) line up.
‘The Future Is Not Ours, Comrade’ is a record that mixes a love of Philip K Dick, alternate universe novella’s and ideas of fatalism / solipcism and politics with the very harsh reality of working a shit job in the incredibly boring ‘real’ world.
"I want to write about people I love, and put them into a fictional world spun out of my own mind, not the world we actually have, because the world we actually have does not meet my standards," Philip K Dick.
Musically it touches many bases; the intense condensed wordplay or early manics, noise squall breakdowns of Sonic Youth, gentle Sparklehorse-esqe intermissions, grumpy Arab Strap borderline ‘rap’ mumbling with sprawling post rock conclusions. But unlike their early work, ODAS have finally managed to tie it all together in a cohesive, complete package.
Due to their ever changing live setup, One Day, After School… have played with a diverse set of bands in the past, including Shrag, Stanley Brinks (Herman Dune), Napoleon IIIrd, Lucas Renney, Miles Davis (Wonder Stuff) Just Handshakes (We’e British) and St Gregory Orange and will be supporting this record with a full 5 piece (2 bass) line up.
Free School return to Tirk for their second EP, bringing the Balearic sounds of summer and the icy Kosmiche sounds of winter all in one sweeping hit. Free School are maximalist and minimalist all at once.
The band, hailing from Birmingham, like to compare themselves to Caribou, Orbital, Hot Chip, Fourtet, and Pet Shop Boys. ‘Unravelling After The Lottery’ is a dazzling example of Free School’s inclination towards smooth analogue tones, articulating the solid groove with lovely reverberated percussion. Mark E steps it up in his remix with deep, deep bass and some tasteful synth flourishes amidst the original's foundational elements to suburb effect.
’I’m Not Nintendo' is as pleasing as they come, with layer upon layer of loveliness and a hook that will stick with you for weeks. Nutaike's 'Magnavox Odyssey' remix takes things a little more visceral, working those harmonics and melodies for that warm fuzzy feeling.
These four lean, mean dance floor machines will warm the cockles of even the toughest crowds.
The band, hailing from Birmingham, like to compare themselves to Caribou, Orbital, Hot Chip, Fourtet, and Pet Shop Boys. ‘Unravelling After The Lottery’ is a dazzling example of Free School’s inclination towards smooth analogue tones, articulating the solid groove with lovely reverberated percussion. Mark E steps it up in his remix with deep, deep bass and some tasteful synth flourishes amidst the original's foundational elements to suburb effect.
’I’m Not Nintendo' is as pleasing as they come, with layer upon layer of loveliness and a hook that will stick with you for weeks. Nutaike's 'Magnavox Odyssey' remix takes things a little more visceral, working those harmonics and melodies for that warm fuzzy feeling.
These four lean, mean dance floor machines will warm the cockles of even the toughest crowds.