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(DJ Tennis & Adiel remixes) Francesco Farfa has got his groove back, leading to Danza Tribale number 10. In recent times, the Italian DJ has found himself re-energised once again, back in love with electronic music and right back at the sharp end of the underground scene. A true digger and sound obsessive, Farfa comes armed with decades of experience and musical appreciation, but now with a fresh perspective.

Limitierte farbige LP! "Public Storage" baut auf dem Sound von Vus früheren Veröffentlichungen auf und unterstreicht ihre Stärken als Songwriterin mit einem tieferen Sinn für Glanz, Raffinesse und Dringlichkeit. Sie nennt es eine "sehr invasive und intensiv klingende Musik", die erfrischend unkonventionell zu den zeitgenössischen Trends ist; dies ist Musik, auf die man sich einlässt, anstatt sich zurückzulehnen. Co-Produzent Jackson Phillips (Day Wave) half Vu dabei, eine riesige, körnige, facettenreiche Welt zu erschaffen, in die sie sich stimmlich hineinbegeben kann, wobei ihre ausgeprägte Altstimme frei zwischen beschwörenden, tiefgründigen Betrachtungen und gefühlvollen, himmelwärts strebenden Ausbrüchen hin- und herpendelt. Die ersten Klänge, die wir hören, sind bezaubernd: Vereinzelte Klaviertasten gehen in "April Fool" in warme Schläge und Selbstharmonien über, während Vus Protagonistin ihre Umgebung und ihre Fähigkeit zu kommunizieren verleugnet. Das sanfte bernsteinfarbene Glühen geht über in den Titeltrack des Albums, einen dunkleren, düsteren, lauteren Ort. Vu rennt durch "Public Storage" mit einer Reihe von trotzigen Zurückweisungen (Versagen, Familie, Magie) und kathartischen Forderungen. Es ist eine seltene und kraftvolle Zurschaustellung von Verletzlichkeit von einem Texter, der das Abstrakte dem Autobiographischen vorzieht. Aubade", das auf einem Disco-Synthie-Muster und groovenden Bass-Stabs aufbaut, hat den hellen Schwung seines morgendlichen Namensvetters, der geschickt im Widerspruch zu seinem niederschmetternden Thema steht. Der Kontrast setzt sich in "Keeper" fort, einem pulsierenden New-Wave-Song mit träumerischen Synthesizern und einem coolen, knurrenden Erzähler, der diese Kraft erneut herausfordert. "Gutter" kehrt zum grungigen Lowlight zurück, mit muskulösen Gitarrenriffs, die sich über einem Bett aus Rückkopplungen abzeichnen und zusammen mit orchestralen Streichern zu einem brüllenden Finale anschwellen. Die hintere Hälfte von Public Storage bietet einige der markantesten Momente: Das rhythmische, hooklastige "Everybody's Birthday" spricht von der bösen Absurdität der Gegenwart, dem Ende der Zeiten. Die Nacht ist rot, die Stimmung ist blau, und die Scham ihrer Figur ist goldfarben. Vu hebt sich "Maker" für den Schluss auf, einen letzten Versuch im Existenziellen.

"60 Years of cult and classic soundtracks presented on 2 x 180g

Featuring Bernard Hermann, John Barry, Thomas Newman, Giorgio Moroder, Isaac Hayes, Lalo Schifrin, Mike Oldfield, Vangelis...

Gewalt - "Paradies" A cross-reference of music influences may be difficult for even the most inclined listener to deconstruct. Partly due to our personal limits and partly because of the short time for songwriting and production, we didn’t arrive with a plan. Instead, we went for it. We indulged ourselves. We owned it. And this is what it is.

BBE Music celebrates the centenary of recorded Ghana Highlife music with a double album reissue of two rare 80s LPs recorded by the late Atakora Manu, AFRO HIGHLIFE and OMINTIMINIM. Born in Toase, Ghana, a proud Asante, Atakoras musical talent made itself clear from an early age. But it wasn’t until his late teens that he put that talent to use as a performer, first founding the legendary Princess Trio from 1961 till 1963 with drummer Togas and multi-instrumentalist Elder Osei Bonsu. After a spell from 1963 till 1966 as guitarist with the United Ghana Farmers’ Council Drama Troupe, Manu teamed up with Moses Kweku Oppong to form the legendary Kakaiku No. 2 Band, producing a string of national hit singles over the following three or four years. There followed a three year break from music until fate struck: Atakora found a job in 1973 as Recording Studio Attendant- and later recording engineer- at Ambassador Recording Studios in Kumasi, at that time the country’s largest independent label. On seeing his musical talents behind the studio desk, it wasn’t long before the boss suggested to Manu that he get back to making music himself, an opportunity that he was quick to take up- as will be more than apparent from the hardcore, rootsy Highlife and palmwine selections reissued here. As well as long-time associates Togas and Elder Bonsei, local Kumasi legends CK Mensah, Amoako Agyeman, Agyei Kyeremanteng (of the famous Keyeremanteng All Stars) , and Atta Fofie lent a hand from time to time, along with a handful of other seasoned Ambassador studio session players. THE MUSIC A unique selling point here is the mix of vintage, rootsy ‘palmwine’ blues-style guitar Highlife with quirky keyboard electronics, a sound well-established today but revolutionary in the comparatively conservative world of 70s and 80s Highlife. This comes across beautifully in Dada and Cape Coast Cousin, the latter toasting off guitar licks with bubbling wah wah organ. We find a similar juxtaposition in Asante Kotoko, a shout-out to Kumasi’s champion soccer team, which also features some sweet ‘village’ drumming, and in Meka A Ensa..

Legally blind from birth, Brazilian keyboard player, composer and bandleader Manfredo Fest learnt to read music in braille and began studying classical music at a young age. By 17 he had fallen in love with jazz (particularly the music of fellow blind pianist George Shearing) before becoming swept up in Rio's emergent bossa nova movement in the sixties. Moving to the States in 1967 where he would go on to work with fellow countryman Sergio Mendes, Fest recorded and self-released Brazilian Dorian Dream in 1976, enlisting Thomas Kini (bass), Alejo Poveda (drums, percussion) and Roberta Davis (vocals).

Like a turbo-powered, intergalactic elevator ride, Brazilian Dorian Dream builds on the principle of the modal diatonic scales of the Dorian mode, with influences of Brazilian rhythms, North American jazz and funk, and music of the European baroque and romantic era. The coming together of these intergenerational and intercontinental styles coupled with Fest's visionary use of the Fender Rhodes, Clavinet, Arp and Moog synthesizers (plus a whole load of effects units), makes for an album light years ahead of its time.

The miraculous wordless vocals of American jazz singer Roberta Davis are nailed so tightly alongside Manfredo's keys and mind-bending synths that it sounds almost alien. On the album's liner notes, Fest preaches Davis' ability highlighting how hard it is to sing such precise intervals so accurately. One of the tracks on which the vocals shine brightest is space funk stepper "Jungle Cat", which features hard funky drums, freaky synth lines and expert Rhodes comping. The track builds up and up before releasing into the unmistakable scat melody in the chorus.

A few years after releasing Brazilian Dorian Dream, Fest recorded and released his Manifestations album in 1979, featuring 'Jungle Kitten'': a new dancefloor focused variation on "Jungle Cat". At around 140 BPM 'Jungle Kitten' was possibly deemed too fast for statside dance floors, which explains why it never got a US 12" release. But the track became something of an underground hit at jazz dance clubs and all-dayers across the UK in the 80s and as a result it has probably become Fest's most well known track since.

60 Years of cult and classic soundtracks presented on 2 x 180g

Featuring Bernard Hermann, John Barry, Thomas Newman, Giorgio Moroder, Isaac Hayes, Lalo Schifrin, Mike Oldfield, Vangelis...

Following 12"s from Ricardo Tobar and MANASYt, the third release on Tel Aviv's MUSAR welcomes rising UK star and Super Hexagon label boss, J.Wiltshire. The Laghan Pux EP finds Wiltshire sharing his psychedelic electronic side and brings his versatile skills together, serving up four completely different soundtracks. The gleaming sci-fi gem 'DESklep' opens the EP as a pure melodic IDM track loaded with Cornwall style while the bass-heavy title track 'Laghan Pux' is pumping as a dark & sharp peak-time trippy beast. On the B side, the mysterious Roy of The Ravers, gives you an interpretation of what proper acid sounds like, whereas 'Chained Releases' takes you on a deep and hypnotic adventure into space, full of warm guitar melodies and trancey synths.'Summon Them' closes the EP, an ambient magic piece for a hazy, orange morning where the birds just woke up and the trees singing for the first time to break the day.Early support from: Josh Wink, Danny Daze, Cinnaman, Marcel Dettmann, AME, I:Cube, The Hacker and more...

Clear Vinyl

Side A begins with Veil of Secrecy, its darkness bubbling up from the depths of a strong bass groove, loaded with rich textures and quirky shifts. Psyk offers his hypnotic trademark on the remix, a stripped down feeling with skillful changes to provoke the mind.

Side B begins with Deep State, its intensity gripping immediately due to its lavish percussion, off-kilter leads and unrelenting rolling bass driving the masterly arrangement. The Fourth Branch marches an eerie minimalism into bass oblivion with an abundance of lush atmosphere and well timed changes.

We recognize that now is a difficult time in society across the globe and especially to our dance music community where the impact is still unknown, however because of this, we believe it is more important than ever to share a common bond and a love for techno.

Hidden proves again its strength in consistency and quality with another hard-hitting four-track EP by label boss, Deepak Sharma.

The release is tough, gritty, dark and reflective of both the times we live and the artist involved: Deepak Sharma's heavy, rolling and sobering originals are paired with a somber, powerful remix with subtle movements by Psyk.

In 1994 Come responded to the difficult-second-album stereotype with the hypnotic, intense and emotional masterpiece 'Don't Ask Don't Tell'. Featuring the original line-up of Thalia Zedek, Chris Brokaw, Sean O' Brien and Arthur Johnson, the Boston band broadened their sound by slowing down the tempos and creating a dense urban stream of consciousness that mixes noise, city blues and_ catharsis. The album hits you immediately as one of the greatest dissident records ever made. Lovingly remastered, this expanded edition includes 'Wrong Sides', an additional albums worth of b-sides and unreleased tracks, including the band's very first single 'Car' and their last recorded song, 'Cimarron', featuring this core line-up. These gems showcase the rawness and incredible growth of a band completely in command of their songwriting and at the same time paying homage to some of their punk roots with beautiful renditions of Swell Maps 'Loin Of The Surf' and X's 'Adult Books'. Also Includes new artwork with unearthed photos and fresh liner notes by the band. Dissident from traditional rock this is a band playing music that thematically and structurally seems to pull from old Europa, from Eastern folk and modernist classical music as much as US and UK rock. Dissident from traditional ideas about singing and songwriting Thalia's (ex of Live Skull) presence on songs like 'Yr Reign' and the astonishing closer 'Arrive' isn't the pushy self-aggrandizement of a lead singer but the internal voice of the eternal migrant, someone who knows about survival, hiding, how living between multiple worlds can become its own refuge of distance, its own sanctuary of unbelonging Don't Ask Don't Tell emerged from a period of cohesion, a break from the tight and hectic touring schedule Come had been plunged into after the acclaim accorded 11:11, and you can hear that increased focus in every moment the layers of guitars and feedback are even more precise, the structuring of songs takes on a new openness and ambition, and the whole narrative arc of the record from 'Finish Line' to 'Arrive' is more exquisitely realised and sequenced. "The songs on Don't Ask Don't Tell . . . had a kind of magic we didn't necessarily control ourselves." Chris Brokaw - interview with Neil Kulkarni, 2013. "Devastating, with slow, burning songs that shudder and wince" NY Times

Bill Gage is a quasi-famous singer with a raw, rock ’n’ roll voice.
Cheater Slicks are an infamous, raw, rock ’n’ roll band. Put the two
together and the resulting album is a stream-of-conscious stew of
wild, fuzz-drenched rock ’n’ roll!
Some history: both Cheater Slicks and Bill Gage’s band BILL
began in Boston in 1987, and it was sometime around then that Gage
first sang with Tom and David Shannon playing guitars, in Gage’s
bedroom in Laconia, New Hampshire. It was an intense and primal
sound that was not forgotten by those involved.
Gage’s singing has been compared to Captain Beefheart, David
Thomas, Damo Suzuki, and Yoko Ono. However, Gage clearly has his
own sound, which includes guttural yells, sweet crooning, and bluesy
meanderings—all seemingly told from a tarpaper shack porch under
the oceans of Mars.
Cheater Slicks have from the start been a brain-melting rock ‘n’ roll
dream / nightmare of a band. Steeped in the wild guitar interplay and
pounding drums of classic noisy underground rock groups (Cramps,
Scientists, Velvet Underground), they have created their own unique
and ever-evolving style that has only gotten deeper and sharper over
the years.
In spring 2018, when Cheater Slicks were presented with the idea
of a collaborative record with Gage, they wasted no time, and began
writing and arranging new songs for the project. Gage traveled to
Columbus to record at the legendary Musicol studios in November of
that year. It was a great session and came together as if it were always
meant to be. After thirty years of performing, is the world finally ready
for Bill Gage—accompanied by the seismic Cheater Slicks?
All profits from this record will benefit the Arts Resources programs
of the National Association for Down Syndrome.

Durch die Kunst des komplizierten Songwritings und des ausgeklügelten Storytellings haben Ice Nine Kills
aus Boston, die Fähigkeit, ihre Zuhörer zu fesseln und zu begeistern. Nahtlos verwebt die Band aggressiven
Post-Hardcore mit erhabenen Melodien, nutzt vielschichtige Gitarren-Hooks, eine doppelte Gesangsattacke,
komplexe orchestrale Arrangements und eine stampfende Rhythmusgruppe, die den Hörer an der Kehle
packt und nicht mehr loslässt. Das 2015 erschienene „Every Trick In The Book“ war eine Hommage an ein
klassisches, literarisches Werk und wurde das bisher erfolgreichste Album von Ice Nine Kills und erreichte
die Top 5 der Hard Rock Album Charts.

Bosconi welcomes Cosimo D'Amicis aka Cixxx J with his first EP on the tuscany's finest imprint.
The artist explains here the essential meaning of the release with his own words:
"Music gives people the gift of connection by making people mirror into each other. Here the recipe is simple: feed your sequencers all the feelings, and let them become grooves you can dance to. These four psycho-synthetic streams are deeply rooted in italo disco classics, and filtered through that whole culture that originated in Chicago and Detroit and that keeps un-becoming. All the ingredients are carefully selected to bring you to another dimension, because there is no such thing as glorious as love at first BITE"

The brothers Jerry and Jimmy Vivino belong(ed) to sought-after session
musicians and producers in the American blues scene.
Their services have been taken by numerous blues musicians such as Son Seals,
Johnnie Johnson, Hubert Sumlin, Al Kooper, Shemekia Copeland, Aaron Neville,
Lucky Peterson, Dr. John, Buddy Guy and Odetta, among others.
However, the Vivino Brothers rarely recorded albums together. With Chitlins
Parmigiana, however, they recorded something special by fusing urban blues,
jazz funk and soul. Although the album spreads a party atmosphere, the ballad
‘Fools Gold’ is goose bumps pure.
An enjoyable album that illustrates the Vivino siblings’ diversity.
The album by the Vivino Brothers, which is still legendary today, was no longer available in mint condition for over a decade. Now Chitlins Parmigiana is
emerging again - as a Double-LP.

1976 Space jazz-folk masterpiece infused with prog scents from one of the true legends of Argentinian music, latin rock pioneer Litto Nebbia. Floating electric piano, acoustic guitar, female choirs and moog sounds combine with Litto's own voice and create a unique blend of delicate beauty. The use of analogue synthesizers in this conceptual album was a turn in Nebbia's work at the time. A long 7-minute suite opens the album, mixing acoustic textures with synth sounds, setting the grounds for the entire LP. Songs of introspective darkness alternate with other tracks influenced by sunny bossanova, musical passages fueled with epic energy where the voice of Mirtha Defilpo accompanies Nebbia along with the intricate and enveloping instrumental work driven by Daniel Homer's guitars and Litto Nebbia's keyboards. The album draws a complex soundscape made up of an almost infinite number of musical pieces, rich in layers and textures, that - decades after its original release - still stands out for their modernity. "Bazar de los milagros" is undoubtedly one of the most advanced recordings of those

that appeared in Latin America at the end of the 70s. Includes the song 'La Caída', as recently sampled on Jay Electronica/Jay Z's hip-hop hit 'The Neverending Story'. "Bazar de los milagros" has also been listed on Japanese DJ and music expert Chee Shimizu's Obscure Sound guidebook, a must for record collectors.

First vinyl reissue, including a facsimile version of the 32-page booklet that accompanied the original 1976 release, and remastered sound.

Fanatics of '70s Italian giallos take note…

Behold a veritable smorgasbord of sounds that is Ennio Morricone’s score to Dario Argento’s debut film, THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE (a.k.a. L'uccello dalle piume di cristallo) from 1970.

Considered one of the genre’s gold standards, Maestro Morricone’s stunning sonic work is a masterful accompaniment to the knife-wielding images on the screen. This colorful (yet dark) score features il Maestro’s trademark scat vocal harmonies, beautiful melodies, and mandatory sinister themes – perfect musica for this wonderfully stylistic giallo masterpiece.

The first of Argento’s “animal trilogy” series, the music on THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE is a lovely mix of string-infused bossa, to tenser and instrumentally sparse passages that Morricone does so well.

Just be sure to handle the piumaggio cristallino with care… we suggest wearing your black gloves.

Composed by Ennio Morricone
Artwork by Luke Insect
Manufactured in Italy

Music is a means to purpose. Consuming music, dancing to music or creating music is a form of survivalism, and a purpose to serve. ‘Survivalism’ is the next mini LP offering from Label boss Sepehr as he returns to Shaytoon with a diverse mini LP of music making nods to late 90’s drum n bass, storming and beautiful techno, middle eastern flavors and more. Music to survive to.

Here’s a definitive compilation of their first period career, Glaxo Babies was one of the most exciting british post-punk band of the era. Raised in Bristol – altogether with such local influential acts like Maximum Joy, The Transmitters and obviously The Pop Group – Glaxo Babies formed in late 1977. The band signed to local label Heartbeat Records (marketed by Cherry Red), with their first release being the This Is Your Life EP in February 1979; in the same year they released the single “Christine Keeler” . This led to them recording their first session for BBC radio’s John Peel the following April, and the track “It’s Irrational”, from this session, opened the seminal 1979 Bristol Compilation album “Avon Calling”. Their aggro mix of in your face lyrics and groovy bassline led to a unique formula, with both their feet in the post-punk scene and the uprising black jazz crossover. The so-called white funk was the plat du jour, even if the band soon achieved a straight and original personality. Fully remastered and licensed, ltd to 500 copies.

Das im Frühjahr 1996 produzierte Debütalbum "Kein Schulterklopfen (Gegen den Trend)" wird jetzt in einer limitierten, farbigen, 25 Jahre Edition Vinyl Version wiederveröffenlicht. Die Hamburger Band Rantanplan wurde im Herbst 1995 nach dem Vorbild von Bands wie Operation Ivy und den Mighty Mighty Bosstones gegründet. Die Punk-Ska-Gruppe um Torben Meissner (... But Alive), Markus Wiebusch und Reimer Bustorff (später beide Kettcar) entschloss sich sofort dazu, deutsche Texte zu singen, da Bustorff nur gebrochen Englisch sprach. Mit dem Bandnamen wollte man sich von damals kursierenden Namen wie Pitbull und Bullterrier abgrenzen und entschied sich daher für Rantanplan, den Hund von Lucky Luke, der dümmer als sein eigener Schatten ist.

Dans le Sable is the first new album in over 40 years by composer, pianist, and digital audio pioneer Loren Rush (b. 1935). Active in the Bay Area new music scene since the late 1950s alongside composers such as Robert Erickson and Pauline Oliveros, he also co-founded the Stanford University’s Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics in 1975. His music has been performed by the Boston Symphony, the New York Philharmonic, and the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra amongst others.

The title piece "Dans le Sable" (1967-68, 70) covers the first side of the record, of which Charles Shere in the Oakland Tribune (1972) writes: “A surreal opera scene. A narrator dwells on the significance of passing time. A soprano sings Barbarina's cabaletta from Figaro, which describes her distraught search in the sand for a lost pin. The chamber orchestra—mostly solo instruments—plays soft, half-forgotten tunes reminiscent of the Parisian music hall. If Marcel Duchamp wanted to put painting once more at the service of the mind, so did Rush seem to want to make a composition that speaks directly to that thing behind the mind—the point where it connects with the soul. And he succeeded. But only because the work is so brilliantly constructed, so careful in its structure and the timing of its phrases, so well balanced in the disposition of its parts that it quite overcomes the audience.”

The second piece on the album “Song and Dance” begins with the watery held tones of “Song.” Melancholy phrases are deconstructed and stretched in different retellings, invoking a harmonic fog. We are then thrust into “Dance,” one of the first orchestral pieces to employ computer-generated digital synthesis. A hypnotic and percussive march is propelled into a storm of early computer-processed cannonades.

Recital is proud to now illuminate the deeply overlooked composer Loren Rush, whose meticulous attention to detail has perhaps kept his toiled-upon works in the shadows these past decades. Dans le Sable is among the most gorgeous records I have heard.

MILKY CLEAR VINYL.

''The lightness of the C86 Sarah Records guitars come with the significant counterweight of more ominous Factory Records basslines.The lyrics and vocals are stark, sandpapery and sardonic, akin to Jonathan Richman, Kiwi Jr and, Bodega.'' Ducks Ltd. - EP Review - God Is In The TV
Toronto’s Ducks Ltd. (formerly Ducks Unlimited), the bright jangle-pop duo of Tom McGreevy (lead vocal, guitar, bass, keyboards) and Evan Lewis (guitar, bass, drum programming), accomplish the impossible. The pair craft songs that play to very specific inspirations without drowning underneath them—immediately evidenced on their critically acclaimed EP, Get Bleak, and sharpened on Modern Fiction, their debut LP. “The Servants, The Clean, The Chills, The Bats, Television Personalities, Felt,” Evan rattles off. “Look Blue Go Purple is one I reference a lot with our production.” Echoes of ‘80s indiepop abound, but they never overwhelm. This is not a nostalgic record, after all, nor is it a derivative one. Instead, across 10 cheery-sounding songs, Ducks Ltd. explore contemporary society in decline, examining large scale human disaster through personal turmoil (hence the title, taken from a university course called Gnosticism and Nihilism in Modern Fiction, influenced by Graham Greene novels. Bookish indie fans, look no further.)

Writing the album was intimate. Tom drafted the nucleus of a song on an unplugged electric guitar and brought it over to Evan’s apartment, where the pair sat in his bedroom, placing percussive beats from a drum machine under nascent melodies, passing a bass back and forth, adding organs and bridges where necessary. “It’s computer music trying extremely hard not to sound like computer music,” Tom jokes. Fearful that limited and expensive studio time would kneecap the project creatively, eroding their charming naivete, the pair re-recorded the album in a storage space owned by Evan’s boss. Ornamentation through collaboration followed: there’s Aaron Goldstein on Pedal Steel in the Go-Betweens’ “Cattle and Cane”-channeling interlude “Patience Wearing Thin,” Eliza Niemi on cello (“18 Cigarettes,” a song loosely inspired by a 1997 Oasis performance of “Don’t Go Away”), and backing harmonies from Carpark labelmates The Beths (on an ode to friendship at a distance, “How Lonely Are You?,” “Always There,” and on the sped-up Syd Barrett stylings of “Under The Rolling Moon.”) While in his native Australia due to covid-19, Evan worked closely with producer James Cecil (The Goon Sax, Architecture in Helsinki) on Modern Fiction’s finishing touches—at one point, in the mountains of the Macedon Ranges in Victoria, recorded a string quartet (featured on “Fit to Burst,” “Always There,” “Sullen Leering Hope,” “Twere Ever Thus,” “Grand Final Day.”)

It’s danceable, depressive fun, with some relief: in “Always There” and “Sullen Leering Hope,” Modern Fiction’s faithful heart. “There’s a tendency in my writing, because of my world view, to be very bleak.” Tom explains. “A quality I don’t always see in myself and really appreciate in others is the courage to go on.” And yet, the record manages resiliency—enough for pop fans to fall in love with.

MILKY CLEAR VINYL.

''The lightness of the C86 Sarah Records guitars come with the significant counterweight of more ominous Factory Records basslines.The lyrics and vocals are stark, sandpapery and sardonic, akin to Jonathan Richman, Kiwi Jr and, Bodega.'' Ducks Ltd. - EP Review - God Is In The TV
Toronto’s Ducks Ltd. (formerly Ducks Unlimited), the bright jangle-pop duo of Tom McGreevy (lead vocal, guitar, bass, keyboards) and Evan Lewis (guitar, bass, drum programming), accomplish the impossible. The pair craft songs that play to very specific inspirations without drowning underneath them—immediately evidenced on their critically acclaimed EP, Get Bleak, and sharpened on Modern Fiction, their debut LP. “The Servants, The Clean, The Chills, The Bats, Television Personalities, Felt,” Evan rattles off. “Look Blue Go Purple is one I reference a lot with our production.” Echoes of ‘80s indiepop abound, but they never overwhelm. This is not a nostalgic record, after all, nor is it a derivative one. Instead, across 10 cheery-sounding songs, Ducks Ltd. explore contemporary society in decline, examining large scale human disaster through personal turmoil (hence the title, taken from a university course called Gnosticism and Nihilism in Modern Fiction, influenced by Graham Greene novels. Bookish indie fans, look no further.)

Writing the album was intimate. Tom drafted the nucleus of a song on an unplugged electric guitar and brought it over to Evan’s apartment, where the pair sat in his bedroom, placing percussive beats from a drum machine under nascent melodies, passing a bass back and forth, adding organs and bridges where necessary. “It’s computer music trying extremely hard not to sound like computer music,” Tom jokes. Fearful that limited and expensive studio time would kneecap the project creatively, eroding their charming naivete, the pair re-recorded the album in a storage space owned by Evan’s boss. Ornamentation through collaboration followed: there’s Aaron Goldstein on Pedal Steel in the Go-Betweens’ “Cattle and Cane”-channeling interlude “Patience Wearing Thin,” Eliza Niemi on cello (“18 Cigarettes,” a song loosely inspired by a 1997 Oasis performance of “Don’t Go Away”), and backing harmonies from Carpark labelmates The Beths (on an ode to friendship at a distance, “How Lonely Are You?,” “Always There,” and on the sped-up Syd Barrett stylings of “Under The Rolling Moon.”) While in his native Australia due to covid-19, Evan worked closely with producer James Cecil (The Goon Sax, Architecture in Helsinki) on Modern Fiction’s finishing touches—at one point, in the mountains of the Macedon Ranges in Victoria, recorded a string quartet (featured on “Fit to Burst,” “Always There,” “Sullen Leering Hope,” “Twere Ever Thus,” “Grand Final Day.”)

It’s danceable, depressive fun, with some relief: in “Always There” and “Sullen Leering Hope,” Modern Fiction’s faithful heart. “There’s a tendency in my writing, because of my world view, to be very bleak.” Tom explains. “A quality I don’t always see in myself and really appreciate in others is the courage to go on.” And yet, the record manages resiliency—enough for pop fans to fall in love with.

On The Corner Records are proud to reveal the second instalment of their newly forged ‘Double Drop’ series, pairing together two EP’s from two different members of the OTC family, delivering a cosmically twinned, action packed slab of wax.

Label boss Pete OtC developed this series to introduce record players around the world to new artists coming through On The Corner’s region of the solar system. With Vinyl manufacture in pandemic pandemonium and questionable environmental impacts of the efficacy of Disco 12”s it seemed like a prime time to get laying the OTC family’s sonic landscapes onto highly collectible long playing EP pairings, with no represses and no compromise on the artwork, each side sporting a 20+ minute audio journey.

On the A-Side, and hot on the heels of the ‘Dub Protection & The Sportswear Mystics’ cassette, The Diabolical Liberties present their ‘Birds Of Paradise’ EP. This EP all but sold-out and follows the dynamite success of the Duo’s debut long player “High Protection & The Sportswear Mystics” and it’s follow-up hype cassette of dubbed out versions (as well as a series of self-released and long sold-out white
labels that included collaborations with Nyasha (a moniker of Nubya Garcia) and a super limited On The Corner 10” dubplate.)

o B05 Stormy Scream (Iori Yagami [Stormy Saxaphone 4])





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[o] B05 Stormy Scream (Iori Yagami [Stormy Saxaphone 4])





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[y] C5 Crystal (Type 5) [Staff Roll Type 5
[z] C6 Crystal (Type 6) [Staff Roll Type 6

CAVE Interactive CO., LTD., in collaboration with Limited Run Games and Brave Wave Productions, is proud to unveil the 19th entry in the Generation Series of video game soundtracks, DoDonPachi SaiDaiOuJou The Definitive Soundtrack for CD and vinyl. Originally released for Arcade (2012) and on Xbox 360 (2013) in Japan, DoDonPachi SaiDaiOuJou is the latest arcade release in the DoDonPachi series in the legendary hardcore bullet-hell shoot-’em-up franchise, long respected by dedicated players for its frantic action and rewarding gameplay. The soundtrack features 13 memorable songs by acclaimed Japanese game composer Manabu Namiki. Whether players are scrolling through a relatively simple section or fighting for survival as they’re assaulted by enemies on all sides, this gem of a soundtrack is seeing its first release outside of Japan for the first time on physical formats.

incl. 2 posters

Five years in the making, label boss Emmanuel aimed to deliver what for him was the very best selection of artists and people he could ever imagine in one single roof. We have repacked and redesigned our very first compilation after the great first run. 20 artists, 5 records, 1 box.

The Box is a meticulous work of one entire year, every artist of the 20 selected delivered something that connects deeply with the label and the reason why they are part of it. The study goes beyond when artists get different colors of palettes and a different surface to paint, their known soundscapes come with something freer than the usual approach that they did in their singles.

This is a pinnacle for a label that always placed music in front of everything but kept the design and the aesthetics on a top-level each release, each year. ARTS V.

Trompe Le Monde bookended a golden run of landmark records - a mini-album followed by four albums, released in quick succession - that cemented Pixies as one of the best for a generation. Translated from French to mean "fool the world", Trompe Le Monde showed the band still restless to push their sound forward. Recorded between Burbank, Paris and London, with producer Gil Norton again at the controls, their fourth album is arguably their most playful with Black Francis's lyrics on UFOs and conspiracy theories keeping things weird while power pop creeps in to amplify the space rock established on predecessor Bossanova. Featuring singles 'Planet of Sound', 'Alec Eiff el', 'Letter to Memphis' and a fl awless cover of The Jesus and Mary Chain's 'Head On', Trompe Le Monde goes full throttle with 15 tracks coming in a quickfi re 40-minute salvo. Receiving critical praise at the time and being supported by a huge tour that included playing stadiums with U2, it also proved to be the end of act one for the band with them taking over a decade before returning to stage together. A brilliant record, Trompe Le Monde sounds just as fresh 30 years on with outlets such as Pitchfork concurring, retrospectively scoring it 9.3, they called it "more aggressive than anything in their catalog but also more confi dent. They can handle this now, and they do."

After his excellent debut EP 'Dance Class', which garnered a lot of love and attention from many DJ's across the dance music world, Sangre Voss returns with a superb new 6 track EP on Al Zander's A-Z Records.

Ranging from slow, balearic rhythms to dystopian atmospheres reminiscent of Detroit Techno, equally perfect for both a longing summer's day or a recently reopened dancefloor.
Subtle yet diverse musical references and idiosyncrasies run throughout this six-tracker, which together create a unique, genre-blending style that really stands out.

Label boss, Al gives his own take on 'Bona Fide Friday', potentially the most club or House ready out of the lot, with its dramatic breakdowns and acid melody.

The Great Alternative Boom of the early ’90s had begun to wither on corporate FM barely halfway through the decade, but the ever-changing underground had almost entirely regenerated after two major-label thrifting trips. In the ever-in-flux city of Boston, Karate positioned themselves as a crucial tendril in a sprawling nationwide community. They did so largely by refusing to stick to any single formula from the myriad of styles at their root—slowcore, post-hardcore, and jazz. As if to make a point, Karate’s lineup went through its own shift too. In the lead up to 1997’s In Place of Real Insight, Eamonn Vitt took up the guitar, and Karate compatriot Jeff Goddard entered the fold to become the band’s bassist. Armed with two guitarists, the band got significantly louder, and they smeared punk fury all over their second LP.

The Great Alternative Boom of the early ’90s had begun to wither on corporate FM barely halfway through the decade, but the ever-changing underground had almost entirely regenerated after two major-label thrifting trips. In the ever-in-flux city of Boston, Karate positioned themselves as a crucial tendril in a sprawling nationwide community. They did so largely by refusing to stick to any single formula from the myriad of styles at their root—slowcore, post-hardcore, and jazz. As if to make a point, Karate’s lineup went through its own shift too. In the lead up to 1997’s In Place of Real Insight, Eamonn Vitt took up the guitar, and Karate compatriot Jeff Goddard entered the fold to become the band’s bassist. Armed with two guitarists, the band got significantly louder, and they smeared punk fury all over their second LP.

New school techno star Lee Ann Roberts continues to light up 2021 with another brand new single on her own NowNow Records. Her standout original is backed by remixes from MRD and D.A.V.E. The Drummer.

This year already belongs to South African-born, Amsterdam-based Lee Ann Roberts. Her new label has had high-profile support from tastemakers like Charlotte de Witte & Ken Ishii, and is already well known for its off-grid techno sounds. Roberts herself debuted only last year on Suara. She immediately hit the number 2 spot on the Beatport Hard Techno chart and followed up with more on Octopus Warehouse Series. She has played festivals like Caprices this year and is lined up for BPM as well as plenty more headline gigs.

The excellent 'Feel' is a nine-minute, hard-edged roller. The drums are flat-footed and unrelenting, the synths bring turbulence and dark vocals add dystopian unease. The edgy textures and caustic pads make for a visceral groove that is perfectly designed for shadowy warehouse spaces. An Acid Trip Mix sees the track erupt on wild acid lines that spray about the mix and cannot fail to blow up the dance floor.

Remixer MRD hails from Norway and has released plenty of EPs and an album in a short space of time. He has a ferocious sound that fuses new wave, hardcore and banging techno as evidenced here. His version is break-neck techno with trance pads lighting up the airwaves in euphoric fashion.

The second remixer is the legendary London techno titan and label boss D.A.V.E. The Drummer. He heads up Hydraulix Records and Apex Recordings and always brings the fire. His take on 'Feel' is a wall-rattling banger with oversized bass. Saw-tooth synths rip up the track while the stark, strobe-lit stabs and some buried vocals make the floor sweat.

Residing in Rio de Janeiro, Vasconcelos Sentimento is a self-taught composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist. A mosaic of lo-fi breaks, cosmic ambient jazz and wonky chromatic funk, the eccentric Brazilian DIY wizard’s debut album Furto beautifully pieces together a huge range of seemingly disparate sonic elements. Calling himself an “amateur euphoric sound researcher”, he has no formal training in either music theory or production, and it’s simply by following his ear that has led him to creating his debut album for Far Out Recordings.

It was his fascination with his fellow countryman, the enigmatic, psychedelic 70s folk artist Jose Mauro, that led the young Vasconcelos Sentimento (real name Guilherme Esteves) to first make contact with Far Out. Coincidentally living in the same region as Mauro, Sentimento managed to track him down and put label boss Joe Davis in touch, after Davis had spent years of what felt like hopeless searching for the man many assumed dead.

When Joe and the Far Out team heard Guilhermes’ own music, there was a sense of shock. “It was unlike anything we’d heard before, but it also sounded curiously at home on Far Out. Like it had taken little pieces of different releases from the catalogue, and all the music from the ‘60s onwards that influences everything we do, and recreated all that magic in such an exciting new way”.

Indeed, Sentimento is not afraid to admit what he himself sees as acts of theft. (Furto=Theft in Portuguese). But while the debate surrounding the ethics of sampling is a never ending one, Sentimento’s music - while it does contain the odd sample, including an interview with Joe Davis himself, “One For The Masta Digga”) - steals in an entirely different way. His creative process involves an intensive period, in which he’ll listen to just one artist or song over and over, for days and weeks on end. Then he’ll head to his rudimentary bedroom studio, which, as he puts it, is “built for speed”, hit record and “blurt” whatever comes out. “I never spend more than a day working on any one song idea”...

Picasso once said “lesser artists borrow; great artists steal”. And it’s through this process of ‘Furto’ that Vasconcelos Sentimento has somewhat ironically cultivated a sound that is unmistakably his own.

Furto is due for vinyl, CD and digital release on 30th July 2021, via Far Out Recordings.

For its 30th Anniversary, Pixies’ 1991 album ‘Trompe
Le Monde’ is reissued on marbled green vinyl.
 ‘Trompe Le Monde’ bookended a golden run of
landmark records - a mini-album followed by four
albums, released in quick succession - that cemented
Pixies as one of the best for a generation.
 Translated from French to mean ‘fool the world’,
‘Trompe Le Monde’ showed the band still restless to
push their sound forward. Recorded between Burbank,
Paris and London, with producer Gil Norton again at
the controls, their fourth album is arguably their most
playful, with Black Francis’s lyrics on UFOs and
conspiracy theories keeping things weird while power
pop creeps in to amplify the space rock established on
predecessor ‘Bossanova’.
 Featuring singles ‘Planet of Sound’, ‘Alec Eiffel’, ‘Letter
to Memphis’ and a flawless cover of The Jesus and
Mary Chain’s ‘Head On’, ‘Trompe Le Monde’ goes full
throttle with 15 tracks coming in a quickfire 40-minute
salvo. Receiving critical praise at the time and being
supported by a huge tour that included playing
stadiums with U2, it also proved to be the end of Act
One for the band, with them taking over a decade
before returning to the stage together.

Edu Lobo has to be considered one of the great mysteries of MPB. Already in the early hours of Bossa Nova, he has mainly worked for the renewal and development of the Brazilian Bossa Nova post. Edu Lobo remains a character in the shadows, discreet but effective. Known as a writer "complex and sophisticated", he is part of the circle of composers "melodist" like Tom Jobim, Marcos Valle and Francis Hime. On this 1981 album the duo with Anton Jobim works perfectly, offering classical repertoire played in sobriety. The complicity between the two composers is sincere and it is quite fascinating to see that they interchanged easily their seats.

First time on LP: Praised by NPR for their “upbeat, poppy vibe; energetic,
driving rhythms; and virtuosic solos,” Twisted Pine released their
second full- length Right Now on August 14, 2020 (Signature Sounds).
Exploring a sound they call Americana funk, Twisted Pine takes traditional music in exhilarating directions. Bassist Chris Sartori writes, “This album is easier
to feel than describe. We’re rooted in bluegrass, continually inspired by explorers like Bela Fleck, Jerry Douglas, and Sierra Hull. Right Now takes this heritage into a new dimension. Our bluegrass is jazzy, our indie folk is poppy, our
grooves are funky.”
Twisted Pine (Kathleen Parks, fiddle; Dan Bui, mandolin; Chris Sartori, bass; Anh
Phung, flute) grooves with fearless improvisation and intricate arrangements.
“They were once bluegrass,” wrote The Boston Globe, “but ... this Boston band
has become something else, a wider version of stringband, boundary jumpers
akin to outfits like Punch Brothers and Nickel Creek.”

'The Works and Days: The Black Sections' is a sound collage album that emerged out of the production material of the film, The Works and Days (of Tayoko Shiojiri in the Shiotani Basin). The film — winner of the Encounters Golden Bear for Best Film at the 2020 Berlinale — is the second feature of C.W. Winter & Anders Edström. It is an eight-hour fiction shot for a total of twenty-seven weeks, over a period of fourteen months, in a village population forty-seven in the mountains of Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. It is a geographic description of the work and non-work of a farmer. A portrait, over five seasons, of a family, of a terrain, of a sound space, and of a duration. The film was named one of the Ten Best Films of the Year by critics at: Artforum, Cargo, Cinema Scope, Desistfilm, Filo, La Internacional Cinéfila, Mubi, Nobody, Senses of Cinema, and Sight & Sound.

The film is accompanied by this LP, TheWorks and Days: The Black Sections, by C.W. Winter, and the photo book, Shiotani, by Anders Edström. The album features musical excerpts from Tim Berne & Bill Frisell, Tony Conrad, Graham Lambkin, Mary Jane Leach, Alvin Lucier, Phill Niblock, Folke Rabe, Éliane Radigue, and Akio Suzuki. Producing, editing, and recordings by C.W. Winter. Mastered by Stephan Mathieu.

Winter & Edström’s first feature, The Anchorage, won a Golden Leopard at Locarno Film Festival and won the Douglas E. Edwards Independent/Experimental Film/Video Award from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association. It was named one of the Ten Best Films of the Year by critics at Cinema Scope, Film Comment, Senses of Cinema, Variety, and Indie Wire and was named Best First Film of the Year by The New York Times. Their first film, a documentary short called One Plus One 2 was made in collaboration with the late British guitarist, Derek Bailey. Their film/video work has shown at such venues as the Institute of Contemporary Art (Boston), Centre national de la photographie (Paris), Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Fotomuseum Winterthur, NRW-Forum (Düsseldorf), the Harvard Film Archive, Anthology Film Archives, the Wexner Center for the Arts (Columbus), Centre de cultura contemporània de Barcelona, the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, and the National Museum of Modern Art (Kyoto).

C.W. Winter was born in California. In 2020, he completed his DPhil in Art Practice & Theory at The Ruskin School of Art at the University of Oxford. He received his MFA from California Institute of the Arts where he studied closely under Thom Andersen, James Benning, and Allan Sekula. His writing has appeared in Cinema Scope, Moving Image Source, Purple, and Too Much. He lives in the United Kingdom where he is currently a Visiting Professor at the Royal College of Art and a Lecturer at the University of Oxford.

Side A excerpts:
“Thursday, May 5, 1977 & Friday, May 6, 1977: Part 4” Performed by Tony Conrad. Used by arrangement with The Tony Conrad Estate
“Sethwork” Performed by Phill Niblock. Used by arrangement with Phill Niblock
“What?? (Second Version)” Performed by Folke Rabe. Used by arrangement with the Folke Rabe Estate
“Pipe Dreams” Performed by Mary Jane Leach. Used by arrangement with Mary Jane Leach
“What?? (Second Version)” Performed by Folke Rabe. Used by arrangement with the Folke Rabe Estate
“2011” Performed by Tim Berne & Bill Frisell. Written by Tim Berne. Published by Party Time Music BMI. Recording courtesy of Minor Music Records/Screwgun Records

Side B excerpts:
“Ceremoniolose” Recorded by Graham Lambkin. Used by arrangement with Graham Lambkin
“Kugiuchi” Performed by Akio Suzuki. Recorded live for TheWorks and Days Used by arrangement with Akio Suzuki
“Music on a Long Thin Wire (Side A)” Performed by Alvin Lucier. Used by arrangement with Alvin Lucier
“A Third Trombone” Performed by Phill Niblock. Used by arrangement with Phill Niblock
“Triptych: Part 1” Performed by Éliane Radigue. Used by arrangement with Éliane Radigue

Moscow and Propaganda resident Alexander Babaev, also known as Rekord 61. In the past few years, he has been churning out an impressive series of deep, melodic, and moody tracks which all showed a truly unique blend of Techno. As our label boss Psytox is a huge fan, it was only logical we'd invite him for an EP.

Four tracks will take you further into the mind and soul of this gifted producer. All tracks are deep, dark and moody with a sub bass aiming at the dance floors but without taking the easy way out.

We can't wait to hear what you think about the tracks.

Renowned Dutch violinist and conductor André Rieu released this Live album in 1995. It features 12 of his best interpretations of songs from a wide variety of genres. Some of the songs included are “J‘Attendrai”, “The Little Cafe By The Harbour (Het Kleine Café Aan De Haven)”, “Eine Kleine Salonmusik”, “Auld Lang Syne”, “Granada”, “Cielto Lindo” and much more.

With COVID restrictions now easing, and fresh off the back of their ongoing in-lockdown Quarantine Series, as well as EP + album releases from Calder Valley upstarts The Lounge Society and cult singer-songwriter Stephen Fretwell respectively – the studio is now re-open and Speedy are back to doing what they do best: releasing one-off 7”/digital singles.

The latest band to be welcomed into label boss Dan Carey’s Streatham HQ is the 5-piece London based alt-pop band moa moa comprised of James Ratcliffe (guitars, keys, vox), Connor James (keys, guitar), Sophie Parkes (sax, vocals), Dan Byrne (bass) and Matt Taylor (drums).

Having sent the label a collection of demos during lockdown – of mainly finished songs – the one which caught Carey’s ear was actually a 20-second snippet of just an idea really – which the band had included in what they had sent over. ‘I know it sounds mad’ says the producer – ‘but I just knew there was something in it.’ Meaning in true Speedy style the band and producer alongside engineer Alexis Smith had to build the song around the single motif from scratch on the day – having previously never met before, in what turned out to be a mammoth 13-hour recording session.

‘It was scary and exciting in equal measures going into it’ says the band, ‘but Dan and Lex create such a safe, encouraging creative space, and from that, we somehow came out with a moa track we're all happy with.’

The resulting track ‘Coltan Candy’ is 4 + minutes of hook-laden sunshine alt-pop that layers and builds, perfectly reinforcing the band’s manifesto of marrying ‘unconventional songwriting with pop-leaning sensibilities’, channelling (amongst others) Unknown Moral Orchestra, XTC and MGMT with contemporary R & B influences into something seamless and new. And it’s catchy as hell.

‘Lyrically, the tune is darker and more direct than our other stuff’ says James (Ratcliffe), ‘even if it’s offset by everything else going on in the music. The main hook of the song is the lyric "Coltan Candy" which refers to a mineral that has been mined unethically for decades in Africa for the production of electronic circuits in the West. I’m making some pretty OTT comments about corruption, technology, and the failures of institutions in the West, but also asking some questions about our own involvement and inability to do anything about it.’
Regardless of the seriousness of the content the band just feel relieved to have finished the track. ‘Even up to the night before the session we had 20 seconds of music that we were jamming into what sounded like an awful country track…so, it’s fair to say that the whole process really helped us to focus and make decisions!’
Coltan Candy. The sweet sound of the summer.

Spirits Having Fun records are ones made from and for shows and spaces—arrangements rooted in a deeply collaborative process, that come to life through intuitive and locked-in live improvisation. Following their 2019 debut Auto-Portrait, Two finds the New York and Chicago based four-piece continuing to challenge ideas of what a rock band can be, pulling apart their musical experiences and reimagining them as kinetic compositions, equally studied but palpably organic.

Two is constructed around gut feelings and strong grooves, elastic rhythms and playful pacing. Its twelve songs expand, contract, and make sharp turns between melodies under singer-guitarist Katie McShane’s meditative lyrics. “Broken Cloud,” which was also released last year on a compilation in support of Chicago Community Jail Support, offers a glimpse into her reflections on the natural world: "A city grew out of the ground / to a mountain it's only a blur."

True to its name, the internal logic of the band is also just a lot of fun, built on trust and deep-rooted musical relationships. Before there was Spirits Having Fun, McShane, bassist Jesse Heasly, guitarist-vocalist Andrew Clinkman, and drummer Phil Sudderberg had performed together in various arrangements over the years. McShane, Heasly and Clinkman met in a specific corner of the Boston underground in 2013, a time when a scene had coalesced around students from local music conservatories frequently collaborating with punk bands and noise artists, exchanging ideas and warping musical worldviews. Heasly and Clinkman played together in Cowboy Band, making mutant, free jazz-inspired takes on old country tunes. When Clinkman moved to Chicago, Heasly and McShane played in experimental groups like EKP and Listening Woman; in Chicago, Clinkman met Sudderberg playing in projects like jazz scene fixture Ken Vandermark’s high-powered band Marker.

Spirits first came together as an attempt at a long-distance collaboration among friends in 2016, driven by the simple feeling of missing each other; they’d meet up for marathon weekends here and there to practice, playing small loops through dive bars and art spaces around the Midwest—just enough for McShane and Heasly to afford plane tickets back home. Being split between Chicago and New York forced the project into a deliberate pace. “We tried to take it slow and let it be what it was,” said McShane. That sense of patience unexpectedly prepared them for March of 2020, when their planned tours and the release of Two were indefinitely delayed.

Two was mostly recorded in the summer of 2019 with the help of omnipresent Chicago engineer Dave Vettraino and DPCD’s Alec Watson, whose contributions on organ, synths, and piano are laced throughout the record. The album reflects a synthesis of solitary and communal songwriting processes—each song drawing on fragments written by individuals, which McShane threaded together and shaped through her distinct compositional lens, making the songs whole before returning to them to the band to mature collectively. When composing, McShane writes first on the keyboard before adapting parts for guitars played by herself and Clinkman. Their dueling approaches to guitar are complementary: McShane, being a newer guitarist, brings a freshness to the project (“I'm just discovering the whole time,” she says) while Clinkman has been playing since childhood.

“There's a lot more collaboration on this record,” says Clinkman, “in terms of all of us letting stuff bloom a little bit more.” The record’s first single, “Hold The Phone” is a good example of this process—it started with a playful intro riff from Clinkman, a melody and bridge added by McShane, a wobbly outro groove added by Heasly, which Sudderberg brought to life. Another single, the dynamic “See a Sky,” written primarily by Heasly, underscores the rhythm section chemistry at play across the record, the song ebbing and flowing around Heasly and Sudderberg’s eclectic percussive palettes.

“Entropy Transfer Partners” is the only song on the record with lyrics by Clinkman, and the album’s most politically direct—a call for solidarity in the face of systemic failures, an acknowledgment of the shared material devastation caused by our country’s ongoing healthcare and housing crises: “These are not things we're experiencing individually. We struggle through them collectively. And we could actually declare, all of us, that it doesn't have to be this way, and fight and organize to ameliorate some of those conditions.” (“We won't work to create the shit you monetize, to run our lives,” they sing.)

From front to back, Two is an absorbing listen simply for its impressive range. But as the members explain themselves, the complexity of the record is about more than its intricate riffs, or how often they count out an odd time signature, but how they reject the notion of boxing the songs in, letting the melodies take on lives of their own. “Making music that feels alive is important to us,” says Clinkman. “Music feels most powerful to me when it deepens our sensation of feeling alive and connected to other humans. It’s so easy to feel worn down and isolated; that your life’s value is fixed to your productivity at your job, or the things that you have or don’t have. Making music that feels joyful and fun seems like one effective antidote to that feeling.”