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[f] A6 Independence Day; Drum Programming [Drum Loop] – Tom Rothrock

[h] B1 Waltz #1; Vibraphone [Vibes], Keyboards [Chamberlain] – Jon Brion


[k] B4 Bottle Up And Explode!; Drums – Joey Waronker; Vibraphone [Vibes], Keyboards [Chamberlain] – Jon Brion

[m] B6 Everybody Cares, Everybody Understands; Vibraphone [Vibes], Keyboards [Chamberlain] – Jon Brion

"Imagine a classic singer/songwriter record loaded with the intimacy and grit reminiscent of Alex Chilton or Nikki Sudden." Shindig

Los Angeles singer-songwriter Tracy Bryant returns with his new album The Well, which is his first release since 2019’s critically acclaimed Hush. His fourth solo album, The Well marks a striking new chapter, trading his signature guitar-driven sound for piano-led songwriting that took root during the pandemic. The album was born out of one of the most turbulent periods of his life, written in the wake of his father’s sudden passing and birth of his first child. It was produced by longtime friend and compatriot Joo-Joo Ashworth at Studio 22 in Cypress Park, CA, and mastered by Dave Cooley at Elysian Masters. The nine songs are filled with raw emotion and driving motorik rhythm, telling tales of loss and love, relationships beginning and ending.
 
When the pandemic upended Bryant’s promotion for Hush and brought his 2019 European tour to a halt, he found himself at home rediscovering his musical roots at the piano, listening to Vince Guaraldi and Arthur Russell to take inspiration for the song structures. Without a band around, Bryant used the instrument to create both rhythm and melody, which resulted in a repetitive and precise backbeat, which was elevated when he began working with drummer Carmeron Gartung to rehearse the new songs. This different approach would define the style of The Well, creating an amalgamation of sounds with classic songwriting structures blended with post-punk, 90s indie, krautrock and psychedelia.
 
To produce the record, Bryant turned to Joo-Joo Ashworth, who share a friendship stretching back to 2011 (when Joo Joo was only 18) when both of their bands, Corners and Froth, were at the forefront of the bourgeoning Los Angeles/Echo Park music scene of the time and embarked on their first national tours together. Ashworth, who has since become one of underground music’s most respected producers, recorded the album throughout 2024/2025 on half inch tape at Studio 22 in Cypress Park, California, giving The Well a warm, considered sound that matches the weight of its subject matter.
 
The album’s emotional core was forged by two significant life events arriving in close succession. In January 2022, Bryant’s father passed away unexpectedly at the age of 67. Just three months later, Tracy and his wife welcomed their first child. The Well is a direct result of those experiences, a songwriter processing grief and joy, endings and beginnings in real time. 
 
The nine songs take the listener on a meticulously crafted journey through the nooks and crannies of Bryant’s mind. Spanning 37 minutes, the album is an exploration of classic songwriting elements moving fluidly between driving beat punk, like “Weight” and “Widow”, and more melancholic tracks like “Halfway” and “Danny”. Album opener “Cold Floor” sets the tone immediately, Bryant’s lyrics confronting the day of his father’s death with unflinching directness – the breezy California piano sound is in direct contrast to the heavy theme. The Bowie-esque title track is perhaps the album’s most expansive moment – a fully realised epic composed with a dynamic flare. 
 
 The Well feels like an arrival. Dramatic and expansive, it is a true, visceral reflection of the life changing events that altered the course of Bryant’s life. Fans will be surprised by the heavy focus on piano but they will welcome the change as a bold turning point for an artist who has lived long enough to know exactly what he wants to say. 

Some previous press:

"feels like a slice of California, down to its ringing post-surf guitars and bright melodies, but cross-cut with a folk sensibility more aligned to the work of Elliot Smith or, on occasions, Conor Oberst." Uncut - lead album review

"…sees the Los Angeles rocker confront both the finer and uglier aspects of love and life, combining classic rock with psychedelic tinges and catchy melodies." Evening Standard 4*s

Nach ihrem Debütalbum ,I" im Jahr 2023, das ihnen nationale Radiopräsenz, Auftritte bei großen Festivals und Europatourneen einbrachte, erweitert das Montrealer Art-Pop-Trio Bye Parula mit seinem zweiten Album ,Something Out of Nothing" seinen ästhetischen Horizont und widmet sich einem eher introspektiven Songwriting. Wie sein Vorgänger wurde ,Something Out of Nothing" von Robbie Kuster von Patrick Watson produziert und von Warren Spicer von Plants and Animals gemischt, aber das neue Album präsentiert auch ein Team von Mitwirkenden - darunter die Inuk-Sängerin und Songwriterin Elisapie, Adèle Trottier-Rivard von Bibi Club, Morgan Moore und Karkwa-Keyboarder François Lafontaine -, das von der wachsenden Bedeutung von Bye Parula in der kanadischen Indie-Szene zeugt. Das Ergebnis ist eine vielseitige Mischung, die sich aus dem orchestralen Funk von Serge Gainsbourg, den melancholischen Melodien von Elliott Smith, den weltlichen Rhythmen von Talking Heads und dem bodenständigen R&B von Dijon speist, allesamt durchdrungen von einer cineastischen Sensibilität der 70er Jahre, die die Grenze zwischen sonnendurchfluteter, weichgezeichneter Fantasie und urbaner Raffinesse verwischt. Doch die vergnügungssüchtigen Klänge von ,Something Out of Nothing" können die unter der Oberfläche lauernde Not nicht verdecken - dies ist ein Album, das Ihre Schultern musikalisch massiert, während es Ihnen textlich in die Magengrube schlägt.

On her new album, Two Whole Summers, Half A Life, Lisa Bassenge is once again accompanied by her trusted fellow musicians, pianist Jacob Karlzon and bassist Andreas Lang, with whom she has already realised numerous projects. Typical of Bassenge, the repertoire comprises a seemingly wild yet harmoniously connected mix of pop, singer-songwriter and jazz elements. The spectrum ranges from Elliott Smith to Duran Duran, from Billie Holiday to Björk. ‘It's always about the expressiveness of the songs – that's the common thread for us,’ emphasises the Berlin-based artist. The album features a track by Hank Williams as well as Madonna's ‘Frozen’ and “Catch” by The Cure. Two original compositions are also part of the recording: the title track ‘Two Whole Summers, Half a Life,’ a tribute to the power of friendship and youth, and the neo-folk ballad ‘I'm Getting Old.’ Both works impressively underline Lisa Bassenge's own artistic signature. For over two decades, Lisa Bassenge has stood for stylistic openness and a characteristic voice that lends new nuances to every song. Despite all the diversity, jazz remains the tonal basis. The Scandinavian-style relaxed sound of Karlzon and Lang lends the interpretations a soft, atmospheric depth.

Transmitter ist Max Clarkes viertes Album als Cut Worms. Produziert von Jeff Tweedy im Loft Studio von Wilco, zeigt Transmitter, wie Clarke seine Fähigkeiten weiterentwickelt hat und wie zwei Künstler zusammenkommen, die in ihrer Arbeit nach Anmut inmitten von Entwurzelung suchen. Es sind Orte, die vom Mythos der Selbstständigkeit geprägt sind, an denen Menschen, die die Idee der Verbindung durch Technologie verkauft haben, zu stillen Sendern reduziert wurden - Datenpunkte, die gekauft und verkauft, manipuliert und gemessen werden und deren Leben durch genau die Netzwerke verzerrt wird, die sie eigentlich verbinden sollten. Die ersten Anzeichen für Transmitter gab es, als Cut Worms im Sommer 2024 als Vorgruppe von Wilco unterwegs waren. Am Ende der Tour lud Tweedy die Band ein, im legendären Loft in Chicago aufzunehmen, und schon bald wurden Pläne geschmiedet, im Herbst damit zu beginnen. In der gemütlichen Unordnung aus Gitarren, Verstärkern und Büchern im Loft fanden Clarke und Tweedy schnell eine gemeinsame musikalische Basis und eine gemeinsame Vorliebe für komplexe Songs. Während Clarkes Stimme und Texte den Rahmen bildeten, skizzierten Tweedys Gitarren- und Basslinien die Räume, in denen die Songs leben. Tweedys Präsenz als Produzent zeigte sich nicht in hartnäckigen Entscheidungen, sondern darin, wie er Räume kolorierte und immer wieder neue Texturen anbot. Zwischen ihnen überbrückte ihre gleichgesinnte Sensibilität eine Generationskluft, um etwas zu schaffen, das nuancierter war, als es jeder von ihnen allein hätte schaffen können. Wenn frühere Veröffentlichungen von Cut Worms von der Dekadenz des Brill Building und verrückter Americana geprägt waren, wirkt der Sound auf Transmitter dunkler, reichhaltiger und gesättigter mit der Angst des modernen Lebens. ,Long Weekend" beschleunigt die Zeit und hat die melodische Dringlichkeit von Big Star oder Dwight Twilley. ,Evil Twin" kämpft mit bitterer Enttäuschung, seine gesprächigen Gitarren erinnern an den klirrenden Herzschmerz von The Replacements und The Go-Betweens, und ,Windows on the World" neigt sich mit einer Melancholie, die irgendwo zwischen Elliott Smith und Miracle Legion schwebt, der Sonne der Zukunft zu. Der letzte Titel ,Dream" bringt uns zurück auf eine vertraute Ebene: Clarke allein am Klavier, zart und unentschlossen, grübelt er über das Schicksal von Träumen und das Risiko, zu kurz zu kommen oder sich auf dem Weg zu verlieren. Transmitter zeigt Clarke in voller Fahrt, der mit der Überzeugung eines Menschen schreibt, der seinen Frieden mit der Ungewissheit gemacht hat. Diese Songs setzen sich mit den Kosten des Komforts auseinander und kehren zu der Idee zurück, dass Schönheit, Verbundenheit und Liebe keine Luxusgüter sind, sondern Überlebensnotwendigkeiten. Clarke fühlt sich zu Paradoxien hingezogen - der Reibung zwischen Intimität und Flucht, Glauben und Zweifel, Schatten und Licht. Seine Vergebung kommt, wie die des abgeschnittenen Wurms, durch Übertragung zustande: durch den Akt, etwas Zerbrechliches in den Lärm zu entlassen und darauf zu vertrauen, dass es noch immer spürbar ist.

Transmitter ist Max Clarkes viertes Album als Cut Worms. Produziert von Jeff Tweedy im Loft Studio von Wilco, zeigt Transmitter, wie Clarke seine Fähigkeiten weiterentwickelt hat und wie zwei Künstler zusammenkommen, die in ihrer Arbeit nach Anmut inmitten von Entwurzelung suchen. Es sind Orte, die vom Mythos der Selbstständigkeit geprägt sind, an denen Menschen, die die Idee der Verbindung durch Technologie verkauft haben, zu stillen Sendern reduziert wurden - Datenpunkte, die gekauft und verkauft, manipuliert und gemessen werden und deren Leben durch genau die Netzwerke verzerrt wird, die sie eigentlich verbinden sollten. Die ersten Anzeichen für Transmitter gab es, als Cut Worms im Sommer 2024 als Vorgruppe von Wilco unterwegs waren. Am Ende der Tour lud Tweedy die Band ein, im legendären Loft in Chicago aufzunehmen, und schon bald wurden Pläne geschmiedet, im Herbst damit zu beginnen. In der gemütlichen Unordnung aus Gitarren, Verstärkern und Büchern im Loft fanden Clarke und Tweedy schnell eine gemeinsame musikalische Basis und eine gemeinsame Vorliebe für komplexe Songs. Während Clarkes Stimme und Texte den Rahmen bildeten, skizzierten Tweedys Gitarren- und Basslinien die Räume, in denen die Songs leben. Tweedys Präsenz als Produzent zeigte sich nicht in hartnäckigen Entscheidungen, sondern darin, wie er Räume kolorierte und immer wieder neue Texturen anbot. Zwischen ihnen überbrückte ihre gleichgesinnte Sensibilität eine Generationskluft, um etwas zu schaffen, das nuancierter war, als es jeder von ihnen allein hätte schaffen können. Wenn frühere Veröffentlichungen von Cut Worms von der Dekadenz des Brill Building und verrückter Americana geprägt waren, wirkt der Sound auf Transmitter dunkler, reichhaltiger und gesättigter mit der Angst des modernen Lebens. ,Long Weekend" beschleunigt die Zeit und hat die melodische Dringlichkeit von Big Star oder Dwight Twilley. ,Evil Twin" kämpft mit bitterer Enttäuschung, seine gesprächigen Gitarren erinnern an den klirrenden Herzschmerz von The Replacements und The Go-Betweens, und ,Windows on the World" neigt sich mit einer Melancholie, die irgendwo zwischen Elliott Smith und Miracle Legion schwebt, der Sonne der Zukunft zu. Der letzte Titel ,Dream" bringt uns zurück auf eine vertraute Ebene: Clarke allein am Klavier, zart und unentschlossen, grübelt er über das Schicksal von Träumen und das Risiko, zu kurz zu kommen oder sich auf dem Weg zu verlieren. Transmitter zeigt Clarke in voller Fahrt, der mit der Überzeugung eines Menschen schreibt, der seinen Frieden mit der Ungewissheit gemacht hat. Diese Songs setzen sich mit den Kosten des Komforts auseinander und kehren zu der Idee zurück, dass Schönheit, Verbundenheit und Liebe keine Luxusgüter sind, sondern Überlebensnotwendigkeiten. Clarke fühlt sich zu Paradoxien hingezogen - der Reibung zwischen Intimität und Flucht, Glauben und Zweifel, Schatten und Licht. Seine Vergebung kommt, wie die des abgeschnittenen Wurms, durch Übertragung zustande: durch den Akt, etwas Zerbrechliches in den Lärm zu entlassen und darauf zu vertrauen, dass es noch immer spürbar ist.

Somewhere between the sophisticated songwriting of Leonard Cohen and Jacques Brel, the rugged folk of Bob Dylan and Neil Young, the acoustic pop of Simon & Garfunkel, and the haunting melancholy of Nick Drake and Elliott Smith, there is Philippe B, who reminds us of the depth that can be conveyed with nothing more than a guitar and a few words.

Elliott Smith's 'Division Day' is not only one of the late artist's most beloved fan favorite songs, it's also one of Smith's first departures away from the soft-spoken melancholy of his first two albums and into the more sophisticated pop that led to his breakout success. B-side 'No Name #6' is a classic in its own right, encapsulating the humble brilliance of one of our generation's greatest singer-songwriters.

'Pretty (Ugly Before)' b/w 'A Distorted Reality Is Now A Necessity To Be Free' holds the distinction of being the last recording by Elliott Smith to be released while he was still alive. Originally released as a single in August 2003, the songs were a part of the recording sessions that would ultimately yield the acclaimed posthumous album From A Basement On The Hill. The two songs serve as a powerful reminder of why Smith became the voice for a dejected generation.

Formed in Southend in the late 90’s, Beatglider’s tale is a familiar one taking in early acclaim only for momentum and promise to be dashed by major label statis and indifference.

After the release of the debut long-player, ‘40 Days Of Summer’, in 1999 the band signed to Sony subsidiary Lakota and decamped to LA to record its follow-up, ‘Dreaming Of Roads’, an album that was never to see the light of day.

And now, over 20 years later, ‘Dreaming Of Roads’ eventually gets a deserved release on 28th February via the Arlen label. A beautiful 11-track understated delight which musically falls somewhere between the likes of Elliott Smith, Grandaddy, Yo La Tengo and Sparklehorse, the album has not only stood the test of time, but arguably sounds as fresh as ever in 2026.
The tracklisting of the album - recorded in Los Angeles at the famed Sound City studios - is as follows:

For years, Jackson C. Frank was as ghostly a legend as they come. Even the relatively few record collectors who revered his work were usually only aware of the lone album that he released in his lifetime. For all most listeners knew, Frank put out a celebrated LP and vanished, despite that record having been produced by Paul Simon.

1975 Mekeel Sessions features six tracks recorded in the mid-'70s at a studio in Lake Hill, New York about five miles from Woodstock where Frank was living at the time. Only discovered in the mid-'90s, these recordings still hum with the same mysterious warmth that defined Jackson at his peak. His guitar work, alternating between strummed and fingerpicking, is consistently adept. His stark and somber voice more weathered than the lighter tone heard on his 1965 debut.

The Mekeel tapes were intended for Frank's sophomore album (titled Marlene), but alas it never came to be. What one hears is not a singer-songwriter fading out of view; it is a singular artist who never stopped trying to build his own world, even when no one was watching. For fans of everyone who Jackson influenced: from Nick Drake, Sandy Denny, Bert Jansch and John Martyn to more contemporary acts like Elliott Smith and Iron And Wine who surely used Frank's sparse approach as a template.

Come Back Down, das neue Album des experimentellen Pop-Duos Total Wife aus Nashville, entstand am Rande des Schlafes. Wenn die Komponistin und Produzentin Luna Kupper während nächtlicher Mixing-Sessions einzuschlafen begann, folgten ihr die Songs in den Zwischenraum zwischen Traum und Wachsein. Wie Dale Cooper in Twin Peaks wachte sie mit einer neuen Perspektive auf das Puzzle auf, das sie gerade zusammensetzte. ,Ich bin eine psychologische Mixerin - ich versuche mir vorzustellen, wie jemand den Klang erlebt, anstatt mich darauf zu versteifen, all diese verschiedenen Töne zu erzeugen und all diese Geräte zu benutzen, um einen bestimmten Klang zu erzielen", sagt Kupper. Und wie eine Spirale vom Wachleben in den Traum sind die Songs auf Come Back Down endlos selbstreferenziell und bauen aus einem einzigen Punkt ganze Universen auf. Kupper hat alle ihre Synthesizer verkauft, um die Miete zu bezahlen, bevor sie mit der Arbeit an dem Album begann, und so wird jeder anorganische Klang stattdessen aus Samples der eigenen Arbeit der Band aufgebaut. Eine Gitarre in einem Song kann in dem nächsten Song neu verarbeitet und als Synthesizer verwendet werden, während überall auf dem Album Gesangs-Samples aus einem einzigen unveröffentlichten Cover von Elliott Smiths ,Between the Bars" verwendet werden. Als Hommage an diesen Prozess hätte das Album beinahe den Namen ,The Julia Set" bekommen, nach der mathematischen Gleichung, die sich immer wieder selbst speist und wunderschöne fraktale Bilder erzeugt. Die Absicht war, etwas Komplexes, aber Zugängliches zu schaffen; experimentell, aber präzise und ohne Abstraktion. Auch in ihren Texten ist die Texterin und Sängerin Ash Richter so direkt wie eh und je. Sie griff auf ihre Erfahrungen mit der Isolation während der Pandemie zurück, um über Verbindung und Trennung zu schreiben, und nutzte ihre Texte als Mittel für die Kommunikation, die im Alltag fehlte. In dem hochfliegenden, shoegazigen Track ,peaches" wurde ein Sturm, der die Absage einer Aufnahmesession erzwang, zur Metapher für emotionale Distanz. ,still asleep" erzählt von Richters Euphorie nach der ersten Tournee von Total Wife und beobachtet, wie diese sich allmählich in Paranoia verwandelt. ,Danke, Vollmond, mein Herz ist übervoll", singt sie, bevor sie fragt: ,Gibt es so etwas wie zu viel Glück?" Die Erfahrung der Isolation veranlasste Richter, an ihre Kindheit zurückzudenken, eine Zeit, die für sie von Einsamkeit und Spielen in der Natur geprägt war - auf Bäume klettern, Matschkuchen backen, sich im Wald verlaufen. In Tracks wie ,in my head" und ,second spring" nutzt sie Bilder aus der Natur, um sich an diese Zeit zu erinnern und eine Verbindung zu ihrem einsamen inneren Kind herzustellen. ,Ich fühle mich mit transzendentalistischer Literatur und magischem Realismus verbunden - dem Versuch, Dinge auf konkrete Weise zu vermitteln, aber mit einem Element von Psychologie und Mysterium", sagt sie. Richter und Kupper, Freunde aus der Highschool, gründeten Total Wife im Jahr 2016 und zogen 2020 von Boston nach Nashville. Beide sind sowohl bildende Künstler als auch Musiker, was sie durch vielschichtige und zielgerichtete Visuals in ihre Arbeit mit Total Wife einfließen lassen. Eine DIY-Ader prägt alles, was sie tun - von der Gestaltung ihrer eigenen Kunstwerke und Musikvideos über die Aufnahme ihrer eigenen Musik bis hin zur Veröffentlichung von Kassetten über ihr Label Ivy Eat Home und der Ausrichtung von Hauskonzerten in ihrem Keller, den sie Ryman 2 getauft haben. In Nashville haben sie sich in einer schrägen Szene niedergelassen, die unter dem Parkett der Plattenindustrie lebt, einem Bienenstock kollaborativer und kreativer Energie, der sie begeistert hat, die Stadt ihr Zuhause zu nennen. Kurz nach ihrem Umzug nach Nashville haben sie auch zum ersten Mal eine Live-Band zusammengestellt, bestehend aus Ryan Bigelow, Sean Booz und Billy Campbell, die ihrem kreativen Prozess eine Portion Spontaneität und Lebendigkeit verleiht, die sich auch in Come Back Down widerspiegelt.

Previously we’ve mentioned influences from the 1970s self-reflective work of Nick Drake & John Martyn to the lovelorn tragedy of troubadours such as Elliott Smith and Jeff Buckley creating a fusion of 1960s/70s folk and blues.

Now Cardiff-based indie folk singer-songwriter Ivan Moult returns with his most personal work to date, Stood Out In The Storm, due to be released on November 7th through Bubblewrap (home to The Gentle Good). The album follows the acclaimed Songs From Severn Grove (2023), which drew praise for its warmth, intricacy and timeless songwriting, cementing Ivan’s reputation as one of Wales’ most compelling contemporary voices.

While Songs From Severn Grove captured moments of renewal and joy - written in lockdown and
during the early days of fatherhood - its follow-up takes a braver, more vulnerable step. Stood Out
In The Storm was written in the aftermath of a personal crisis and charts Ivan’s gradual process of
healing and recovery. The record traverses darkness and light, despair and resilience, offering a
deeply honest exploration of fragility, survival and hope.

Ivan’s signature sound remains at the core: a seamless blend of 1960s/70s folk and blues infused
with modern textures, drawing influence from John Martyn, the late great Terry Reid and Ry
Cooder. On Stood Out In The Storm, that familiar intimacy is expanded with a greater presence
of guitars and organs, adding new depth and urgency to the sound. As with his previous records,
Ivan wrote, played, recorded and mixed the album at his Cardiff home studio, and the record sits
as a companion piece to Songs From Severn Grove.

Over the years, Ivan has gained support from BBC Radio 6 Music, BBC Radio Wales and KLOF
(Formerly Folk Radio UK), earned festival slots at Cornbury Festival, Festival of Voice and Sŵn,
and shared stages with the likes of This Is The Kit, Becca Mancari and Willy Mason. Now, with
Stood Out In The Storm (out November 7th), he offers his most powerful and affecting work yet –
an album born of struggle, but defined by resilience.

“Exquisite”- Folk Radio UK 

“Beautiful” - Huw Stephens, BBC Radio

“Utterly wonderful” - Adam Walton, BBC Radio Wales

”There is a wonderful delicateness that resonates through Ivan’s heartfelt lyrics, deamy music and vocals. Ivan is able to take listeners on their own journey of growth through his soft melodies and blissful atmosphere”
- Amplify The Noise

Auf ihrer Debüt-EP ,Future Perfect" singt die britisch-amerikanische Songwriterin Jenny Hirons von Kindheitsvisionen und kapitalistischen Überbauten, von rasanten Fahrten über schmale Landstraßen und dem sanften Verschwinden im Äther wie ein erfüllter Traum. In fünf gedämpften Pop-Tracks, die an Sakamoto & Hosono, Bowie & Eno erinnern, beschwört Hirons Pop-Fantasien herauf und konfrontiert die Realität mit strahlenden Augen und eiserner Entschlossenheit. Der Titel ,Future Perfect" bezieht sich auf Handlungen, die abgeschlossen sein werden. Nachdem man das musikalische Debüt von Jenny Hirons aufgenommen hat, wird der aufmerksame Zuhörer das Gefühl haben, seine Zeit sinnvoll genutzt zu haben. Die Analyse der Texte ist völlig optional, denn bei genauer Betrachtung entsteht ein facettenreiches Bild des Lebens, betrachtet aus allen Blickwinkeln der Zeit - ein Kind stellt sich das Erwachsenenalter vor, ein Erwachsener kehrt zur Autonomie zurück, eine Stimme von einem anderen Ort blickt zurück auf die Zukunftsfantasien eines Kindes. Die Wirkung dieser Songs ist jedoch alles andere als schwerfällig. Hoffnung, Streben, Überwindung sind die Kernaussagen, und musikalisch spiegelt der Ton die Künstlerin selbst wider - ironisch, intellektuell, ausgeglichen, absolut charmant. Die Wirkung dieser Songs ist jedoch alles andere als schwerfällig. Hoffnung, Sehnsucht und Überwindung sind die Kernbotschaften, und musikalisch spiegelt der Ton die Künstlerin selbst wider - ironisch, intellektuell, gelassen, absolut charmant. Hirons nennt Astor Piazolla, die Beach Boys, Elliot Smith, Deerhoof und Rachmaninoff als musikalische Einflüsse. (Für diejenigen, die es nicht wissen: Piazolla ist Akkordeonist.) Hirons ist auch eine äußerst versierte bildende Künstlerin und Designerin. Das Ergebnis mehrjähriger Arbeit, Future Perfect, ist auch ein Album über Trennung, Arbeitslosigkeit und eine ungewisse Zukunft. Nachdem sie es nun in die Welt hinausgebracht hat, blickt Hirons zurück auf eine Zeit, in der ,Musik die Wirtschaft unserer Herzen war", und nach vorne auf eine Zukunft, die sich so gestalten darf, wie sie will, ,in alle Richtungen nach Hause getragen".

Forget the Rush ist das lang erwartete Debütalbum von flypaper, dem Soloprojekt des in London lebenden Singer-Songwriters Rory Sear, das nach zwei gefeierten EPs über das Stockholmer Indie-Label PNKSLM Recordings (ShitKid, Clutter, 7ebra etc.) erscheint. Nachdem er als Frontmann der Indie-Rockband Beachtape aus Brighton bekannt geworden war, gründete Sear flypaper, nachdem er nach London gezogen war und begann, zu Hause selbst Songs aufzunehmen, inspiriert von Songwriting-Größen wie Randy Newman und Elliott Smith. Nach der Veröffentlichung von zwei gefeierten selbst aufgenommenen EPs, big nada und another orbit, löst flypaper mit Forget the Rush das Versprechen seiner frühen Aufnahmen ein und liefert einen ausgereifteren Sound, der die Intimität seiner frühen Werke bewahrt und gleichzeitig seine Songwriting-Fähigkeiten und Melodien in den Vordergrund rückt.

Nonesuch Records ist stolz, Brad Mehldaus Ride into the Sun anzukündigen, ein ergreifendes Songbook-Album mit der Musik des verstorbenen Elliott Smith, das am 29. August 2025 erscheinen wird. Mehldau, der als einer der einflussreichsten lebenden Jazzpianisten gefeiert wird, interpretiert zehn von Smiths Liedern, ergänzt durch vier eigene Kompositionen, die von Smiths Werk inspiriert sind. Das Album enthält auch Interpretationen von Big Stars „Thirteen“ und Nick Drakes „Sunday“, den Mehldau als Smiths „visionären Patenonkel“ betrachtet. Mit einer beeindruckenden Besetzung, darunter Daniel Rossen (Grizzly Bear), Chris Thile (Punch Brothers), Matt Chamberlain und ein Kammerorchester unter der Leitung von Dan Coleman, bietet diese Aufnahme eine einzigartige Mischung aus Jazz und zeitgenössischem Songwriting. Mit den bereits veröffentlichten Titeln „Tomorrow Tomorrow“ und „Better Be Quiet Now“ verspricht Ride into the Sun, eine zutiefst bewegende und unverzichtbare Ergänzung jeder Musiksammlung zu werden.

Seit über einem Jahrzehnt ist die Sängerin und Songwriterin Samira Winter eine feste Größe in der Musikszene von Los Angeles. In der DIY-Rock-Community der Stadt fand sie ihre kreative Heimat und schuf sich unter dem Namen Winter ihre ganz eigene Nische mit glorreich detailverliebtem und eklektischem Dream Pop. Ihr neuestes Album und Winspear-Debüt "Adult Romantix" ist ein Abschieds-Liebesbrief an LA - ,ein Tunnel aus Sommern und Erinnerungen" - inspiriert von der gotisch-romantischen Literatur Mary Shelleys und romantischen Komödien der 90er-Jahre. Samira wuchs in Curitiba, Brasilien auf und spielte in ihren ersten Bands in Boston, bevor sie 2013 nach Los Angeles zog und sich in die Stadt verliebte. Doch irgendwann verspürte sie den Wunsch nach einem Tapetenwechsel, um persönliches Wachstum zu ermöglichen - eine schmerzhafte, aber notwendige Erkenntnis, die sie schließlich nach New York City führte. In den rund zwei Jahren vor ihrem emotionalen Umzug von Küste zu Küste schrieb sie Songs im Übergangszustand - oft zwischen Tourneen, in verschiedenen Städten und temporären Unterkünften. Aus diesen Phasen entstanden die 13 Songs ihres neuen Albums "Adult Romantix", dem Nachfolger ihres gefeierten 2022er-Albums "What Kind of Blue Are You?". Nostalgisch und sehnsuchtsvoll verbindet "Adult Romantix" wirbelnde Gitarren, rauchige Vocals und einige bemerkenswerte Gastauftritte, etwa von Dimitri Giannopoulos (Horse Jumper of Love) und Hannah van Loon (Tanukichan). Beeinflusst von Klassikern wie "Rather Ripped" von Sonic Youth, "Either/Or" von Elliott Smith und dem sonnengetränkten kalifornischen Shoegaze der 2010er Jahre, schwankt "Adult Romantix" zwischen taufrischer, gitarrengetriebener Euphorie und dunkler, nächtlicher Sehnsucht. Geprägt von aufbrausenden Verzerrungen und offen gestimmten Akustikgitarren, liegt über diesen rohen, liebeskranken Liedern eine greifbare bittersüße Stimmung.

Seit über einem Jahrzehnt ist die Sängerin und Songwriterin Samira Winter eine feste Größe in der Musikszene von Los Angeles. In der DIY-Rock-Community der Stadt fand sie ihre kreative Heimat und schuf sich unter dem Namen Winter ihre ganz eigene Nische mit glorreich detailverliebtem und eklektischem Dream Pop. Ihr neuestes Album und Winspear-Debüt "Adult Romantix" ist ein Abschieds-Liebesbrief an LA - ,ein Tunnel aus Sommern und Erinnerungen" - inspiriert von der gotisch-romantischen Literatur Mary Shelleys und romantischen Komödien der 90er-Jahre. Samira wuchs in Curitiba, Brasilien auf und spielte in ihren ersten Bands in Boston, bevor sie 2013 nach Los Angeles zog und sich in die Stadt verliebte. Doch irgendwann verspürte sie den Wunsch nach einem Tapetenwechsel, um persönliches Wachstum zu ermöglichen - eine schmerzhafte, aber notwendige Erkenntnis, die sie schließlich nach New York City führte. In den rund zwei Jahren vor ihrem emotionalen Umzug von Küste zu Küste schrieb sie Songs im Übergangszustand - oft zwischen Tourneen, in verschiedenen Städten und temporären Unterkünften. Aus diesen Phasen entstanden die 13 Songs ihres neuen Albums "Adult Romantix", dem Nachfolger ihres gefeierten 2022er-Albums "What Kind of Blue Are You?". Nostalgisch und sehnsuchtsvoll verbindet "Adult Romantix" wirbelnde Gitarren, rauchige Vocals und einige bemerkenswerte Gastauftritte, etwa von Dimitri Giannopoulos (Horse Jumper of Love) und Hannah van Loon (Tanukichan). Beeinflusst von Klassikern wie "Rather Ripped" von Sonic Youth, "Either/Or" von Elliott Smith und dem sonnengetränkten kalifornischen Shoegaze der 2010er Jahre, schwankt "Adult Romantix" zwischen taufrischer, gitarrengetriebener Euphorie und dunkler, nächtlicher Sehnsucht. Geprägt von aufbrausenden Verzerrungen und offen gestimmten Akustikgitarren, liegt über diesen rohen, liebeskranken Liedern eine greifbare bittersüße Stimmung.

Seit über einem Jahrzehnt ist die Sängerin und Songwriterin Samira Winter eine feste Größe in der Musikszene von Los Angeles. In der DIY-Rock-Community der Stadt fand sie ihre kreative Heimat und schuf sich unter dem Namen Winter ihre ganz eigene Nische mit glorreich detailverliebtem und eklektischem Dream Pop. Ihr neuestes Album und Winspear-Debüt "Adult Romantix" ist ein Abschieds-Liebesbrief an LA - ,ein Tunnel aus Sommern und Erinnerungen" - inspiriert von der gotisch-romantischen Literatur Mary Shelleys und romantischen Komödien der 90er-Jahre. Samira wuchs in Curitiba, Brasilien auf und spielte in ihren ersten Bands in Boston, bevor sie 2013 nach Los Angeles zog und sich in die Stadt verliebte. Doch irgendwann verspürte sie den Wunsch nach einem Tapetenwechsel, um persönliches Wachstum zu ermöglichen - eine schmerzhafte, aber notwendige Erkenntnis, die sie schließlich nach New York City führte. In den rund zwei Jahren vor ihrem emotionalen Umzug von Küste zu Küste schrieb sie Songs im Übergangszustand - oft zwischen Tourneen, in verschiedenen Städten und temporären Unterkünften. Aus diesen Phasen entstanden die 13 Songs ihres neuen Albums "Adult Romantix", dem Nachfolger ihres gefeierten 2022er-Albums "What Kind of Blue Are You?". Nostalgisch und sehnsuchtsvoll verbindet "Adult Romantix" wirbelnde Gitarren, rauchige Vocals und einige bemerkenswerte Gastauftritte, etwa von Dimitri Giannopoulos (Horse Jumper of Love) und Hannah van Loon (Tanukichan). Beeinflusst von Klassikern wie "Rather Ripped" von Sonic Youth, "Either/Or" von Elliott Smith und dem sonnengetränkten kalifornischen Shoegaze der 2010er Jahre, schwankt "Adult Romantix" zwischen taufrischer, gitarrengetriebener Euphorie und dunkler, nächtlicher Sehnsucht. Geprägt von aufbrausenden Verzerrungen und offen gestimmten Akustikgitarren, liegt über diesen rohen, liebeskranken Liedern eine greifbare bittersüße Stimmung.

Swim Inside The Moon is a delicate, confident, quiet singer songwriter record by 24 year old Angelo De Augustine. Angelo’s setup was simple: a Shure SM57 microphone next to the wall of the shower and a cable back to an analogue reel-to-reel in his nearby bathroom. For some songs, he played his mother’s 100-year old piano in the living room and on others he added synth and electric guitar. Listeners might hear Nick Drake’s intricate arpeggiated guitar parts, Elliott Smith’s pure vocals or, at times, a likeness to the soulfulness of artists such as Robert Johnson, Vashti Bunyan and Judee Sill.

Guy Blackman aus Melbourne, Australien, ist ein Songwriter für Songwriter. Seine geschickt konstruierten Songs befassen sich offen mit Themen wie Liebe, Sexualität und Engagement. Wenn Serge Gainsbourg, Tim Hardin oder Kevin Ayers Lieder schreiben würden, die in schwulen Saunen oder auf Websites für Pornoseiten spielen, könnte man sich eine Vorstellung von Guys Ansatz machen. "Out Of Sight" ist ein sanftes, klagendes Album, das unter seinen komplizierten Arrangements und dem luftigen Softrock humorvolle und verletzende Momente verbirgt. Es enthält ein träges Duett mit dem französischen Künstler Julien Gasc (Aquaserge und Stereolab) und den Backgroundgesang der australischen Songwriter-Ikone Laura Jean. Das Album wurde in drei Sessions zwischen 2022 und 2024 aufgenommen, zuerst in Melbourne mit Liam Parsons und Stefan Blair von Good Morning, dann 2023 in London mit Liam Parsons und 2024 wieder in Melbourne mit Liam Halliwell (Snowy Band). Die schönen Streicherarrangements stammen von Paddy Mann von Grand Salvo. Als Solokünstler hat Guy die Bühne mit Joanna Newsom, Bill Callahan, Vashti Bunyan, Stereolab, John Grant, Beach Fossils, Owen Pallett, Jens Lekman und anderen geteilt. In seinen früheren Bands Sleepy Township, Minimum Chips und Montero hat er mit Elliot Smith, Cat Power, Pavement, War On Drugs, Kurt Vile und vielen anderen gespielt. Guy tourte durch die USA, Großbritannien, Europa und Japan und spielte mit Mt Eerie, Tenniscoats, Dear Nora, Julien Gasc und anderen. Sein erstes Soloalbum "Adult Baby", mit einem heißen Duett mit dem schwedischen Popstar Jens Lekman, sowie Beiträgen von Mitgliedern der Dirty Three, des Eddy Current Suppression Ring und vielen anderen, wurde 2024 vom französischen Label Pop Superette auf Vinyl neu aufgelegt. Guy ist auch die treibende Kraft hinter Chapter Music, einem der am längsten bestehenden und beliebtesten unabhängigen australischen Plattenlabels, das er 1992 im Alter von 17 Jahren gründete. Chapter Music wurde bei den Australian Independent Record Label Awards 2019 und 2023 als bestes Label ausgezeichnet.

Auf ihrem ersten Album mit Alt-Pop-Hymnen - "When I'm Alone" (2022) - hatte girlpuppy (geborene Becca Harvey) oft das Gefühl, im Schatten ihrer Mitstreiter zu stehen. "Sweetness" entstand auf der anderen Seite einer Beziehung, in der sie sich oft an den Rand gedrängt fühlte. Für die 25-jährige Singer-Songwriterin aus Atlanta war "Sweetness" das richtige Projekt, um ihre kreative Herangehensweise zu überdenken und ausschließlich mit ihren eigenen lyrischen und melodischen Ideen zu arbeiten. Das Ergebnis dieses Prozesses ist ein dunkleres, textlich weitläufigeres Album als sein Vorgänger, voller herzzerreißender Songs über das Zurückdrängen von Selbstvorwürfen und Zweifeln. Von den kraftvollen Klängen über die natürlich fließenden Melodien bis hin zu den emotional großzügigen Texten strahlt jedes Element von "Sweetness" Zuversicht aus und zeigt, dass Harvey die rohe Kreativität genießt und ihren Neigungen vertraut. Das Album spielt sich in dem Moment ab, auf den alle Künstler warten: wenn ihre "Stimme" so klar wird, dass sie einfach den Mund aufmachen und anfangen können zu sprechen. Befreit von der nagenden Unsicherheit, dass sie keine Songwriterin sein kann, ohne ein Instrument zu spielen - sie nennt Matt Berninger von The National als Inspiration - begann Harvey für "Sweetness" mit der Aufnahme von Acapella-Stimmnotizen in voller Länge. Um einen Hintergrund für den Gesang zu finden, griff Harvey auf ihre vielfältigen, lebenslangen musikalischen Bezugspunkte zurück, von der Country- und Top-40-Popmusik, mit der sie in der Kleinstadt Georgia aufgewachsen ist, bis hin zu ihren späteren Lieblingsliedern, die ihre Vorstellung davon, was Songwriting erreichen kann, erweitert haben: Elliott Smith, Lana Del Rey, Yo La Tengo und mehr. Mit Hilfe des in Asheville ansässigen Produzenten und Co-Autors Alex Farrar und den weiteren Co-Autoren Tom Sinclair und Holden Fincher hat Harvey den Sweet Spot zwischen Shoegaze, Dream-Pop und Pop-Rock-Hymnen der Jahrtausendwende ausfindig gemacht. Harvey mischt das Verspielte mit dem Zerstörerischen und schwimmt in "Sweetness" auf kathartischen Wellen von Emotionen und Monster-Hooks - eine Dynamik, die sie garantiert an die Spitze der furchtlosesten aufstrebenden Indie-Pop-Singer-Songwriterinnen von heute katapultieren wird.

London based flypaper, the project of singer-songwriter Rory Sear, is back with his first ever vinyl release. The big nada / another orbit 12" collects flypaper's first two EP:s as well as new single"coming back again" on 12" black vinyl limited to 500 copies via PNKSLM Recordings (7ebra, ShitKid,Chemtrails etc.) As flypaper, Sears retain the melodic sensibilities shown in his work as frontman and chief songwriter of Brighton indie combo Beachtape, coupling them with a gentler soundscape which showcases his rising stock as a songwriter while firmly establishing flypaper as one to watch with a debut album due out in 2025. RIYL: Hovvdy, Sun June, Elliott Smith, Sam Evian, No Windows

NOTE ONE SHEET IS PLACEHOLDER. NEW ONE TBD. Long-lost late-90s Portland band issued on vinyl for the first-time ever! "A chilled classic" said the NME. Produced by Larry Crane (Elliott Smith, Sleater-Kinney, The Decemberists, The Dandy Warhols).

Mit seiner nunmehr 10. Platte für Exile On Mainstream (die 'Suiciety' Single und das Trialogos-Album "Stroh zu Gold" einfach mal mitgezählt) braucht Conny wohl weder eine Einführung, noch eine oberflächliche Bejubelung. "Troubadour" würde das auch nicht gerecht, denn selten hat man den in Deutschland und Italien lebenden Künstler so reduziert, deep und nahbar erlebt. Die Platte ist eine Hinwendung zu seinen Wurzeln als Solokünstler, der mit spärlicher Instrumentierung und bedingungsloser Ehrlichkeit ganze Kathedralen mit Emotionen füllen kann. Nach eher experimentellen Ausflügen auf "Wahn und Sinn", seinem vielbeachteten deutschsprachigen Album aus 2023 und dem eher opulent instrumentierten "Doom Folk" von 2019 ist "Troubadour" nun wieder ein reines Singer/Songwriter-Album geworden. Eine Gitarre, eine Stimme - mehr braucht es nicht. Conny beschreibt es selbst wie folgt: "Meine Idee war, ein Album zu machen, das den minimalistischen Ansatz von Raw Love Songs und Black Happy aufgreift, aber zugleich das widerspiegelt, was ich heute erlebe. Konzerte sind für mich immer das Herz meiner Musik, deshalb wollte ich Stücke schreiben, die ich jederzeit und überall spielen kann - in Clubs, auf Festivals oder unterwegs, unter den geringsten Anforderungen. Ich hatte eine Platte im Kopf, die Raum zum Atmen und Zuhören bietet, damit man die Details der erzählten Bilder erkennen kann." Für Fans von Townes Van Zandt, Leonard Cohen, Elliott Smith

Isik Kural returns with Moon in Gemini, a luminous scrapbook of slow-flowing narratives couched in intuitive and symbolic storytelling. Bending a playful take on environmental music to the folk song form, Isik's vocals coo atop pastoral field notes, airy chamber instrumentation and archival recordings culled from a curious musical life. A tender pastiche coalesces across the suite of Moon in Gemini's fourteen pieces, and Isik invites the listener to daydream as-deep-as-possible. "The songs on Moon in Gemini don't mind being slower or taking their time to reach the listener," says Isik, who wanted the title to speak to the album's dreamy, liminal nature. "I enjoyed how the phrase could be used to describe an object, a time or a place simultaneously," he explains. Similarly and subsequently, these songs contain a multiplicity of sonic artifacts, moments and spaces that span Isik's rich musical career to date. With the bulk of the album realized between Amasya, Turkey and Isik's current home in Glasgow, in both domestic and studio recording environments, additional tracks unearthed from his personal recording archive lend their lush patina. The record emerged as a fertile space to reimagine a handful of previously unreleased songs and unfinished ideas spanning the past fifteen years of his life and work, including streetside sounds documented while growing up in Turkey and recordings made while studying music engineering in Miami, Helsinki and Glasgow. Looking to the more recent past, Isik found himself wanting to build upon some of the methodologies and textures explored on his 2022 album in february, seeking a newly intimate, vocal-forward sound. He points to the track "film festival" from that album as a door through which to enter Moon in Gemini, where sample-based arrangements are presented in the context of asymmetrical "build ups and progressions" and ambience and vocals intertwine. Inspired in part by listening to iconic, if not sometimes misunderstood, singers such as Nina Simone, Aldous Harding and Ed Droste of Grizzly Bear, Isik aimed to carve out a new space for his voice on Moon in Gemini, experimenting with novel recording and mixing techniques. Captured at his aunt's farmhouse in Amasya during an extended three week recording session, we find Isik's vocal high in the mix, front-and-center and on newly expressive terms. As a songwriter, Isik is an intuitive and playful lyricist who allows his deep love of literature to flow through his off-kilter texts. Here, echoes of Silvina Ocampo's poem "Dialogues of the Silence" reverberate from the margins of "Most Beautiful Imaginary Dialogues". Likewise, Elliott Smith and Virgina Astley shapeshift through "Behind the Flowerpots," some lines of which were based on misheard lyrics from Smith's "Stickman" and Astley's "Some Small Hope." Attuned to the magic of happy coincidences, other unexpected "themes and connections between tracks flourished" during the recording process, resulting in some songs being more "thematically and lyrically connected to each other compared to previous records." The duos "Prelude" and "Interlude" as well as "Grown One Iota" and "After a Rain" explore connected stories, while "Almost a Ghost" and "Behind the Flowerpots" serendipitously emerged out of a conversation with Stephanie "Spefy" Roxanne Ward, whose balmy vocals heard highlighting in february return and call out to Isik's in sweet dialogue. Plumbing these new potentials of structure and songwriting, Isik also developed a taste for an expanded sonic palette, one enriched by the lulling undertones of live woodwinds and strings. The resulting collaborations with flutist Tenzin Stephen, harpist Kirstin McCarlie and clarinet player Giulia Tamborino envelop the record in an altogether "dreamier sound," swaying pastel and awash in lunar light. Moon in Gemini, brimming with natural imagery and lullaby-inflected tones, tunes into states of being where the wonder filled sound of everyday is heard and felt, perfectly imperfect in its poetry; where the invisible steps forward; where dauntless ghosts wait around every corner and play enriches the soul; where bird song fills sun-soaked afternoons and carries us on its wings into each enchanted evening. Isik Kural's Moon in Gemini will be released on vinyl, Japanese import CD, and digital editions on September 6, 2024. On behalf of Isik and RVNG, a portion of the proceeds from this release will benefit Mor Çaty Women's Shelter Foundation, whose social work at their solidarity centers and shelters supports women building lives unhindered by gender-based discrimination and male violence under free and equal conditions.

"Pretty (Ugly Before)" b/w "A Distorted Reality Is Now A Necessity To Be Free" holds the distinction of being the last recording by Elliott Smith to be released while he was still alive. Originally released as a single in August 2003, the songs were a part of the recording sessions that would ultimately yield the acclaimed posthumous album From A Basement On The Hill. The two songs serve as a powerful reminder of why Smith became the voice for a dejected generation. This repress is limited to 500 copies on tri-color vinyl - mustard, baby blue, and coke bottle green.

Elliott Smith's "Division Day" is not only one of the late artist's most beloved fan favorite songs, it's also one of Smith's first departures away from the soft-spoken melancholy of his first two albums and into the more sophisticated pop that led to his breakout success. B-side "No Name #6" is a classic in its own right, encapsulating the humble brilliance of one of our generation's greatest singer-songwriters. "Division Day" b/w "No Name #6" is now back in print with its first pressing on colored vinyl. Limited to 1000 copies on clear vinyl, this 7" single is a crucial document of Elliott Smith's musical evolution, and a vital piece of Suicide Squeeze history.

"Coming Up To Consciousness" ist das sechste Studioalbum von Pure Reason Revolution und das dritte ihrer Renaissance nach der Pause, die mit "Eupnea" von 2020 begann und mit "Above Cirrus" von 2022 fortgesetzt wurde. Wie die beiden Vorgänger ist auch das neue Album sehr persönlich. Die acht Tracks sind alle zwischen vier und sieben Minuten lang - kurz für PRR-Verhältnisse - und sie setzen sich mit verschiedenen Arten von Dunkelheit auseinander. Der unverwechselbare Stil der Band, der Prog und Pop durch verträumte Stimmungen, epische Riffs und engelsgleiche Harmonien verbindet, ist geblieben. Courtney und Greg Jong haben aber auch versucht, einen etwas anderen Weg einzuschlagen, indem sie neben ihren Dauerbrennern - vor allem Pink Floyd - auch Einflüsse von Talk Talk, Elliot Smith, The Smile und sogar Arctic Monkeys einfließen ließen. Der legendäre Session-Musiker Guy Pratt, der unter anderem mit Pink Floyd zusammengearbeitet hat, steuerte bei sieben der acht Tracks die Bassgitarre bei, während Jon Sykes von The Pineapple Thief bei einem Song den Bass spielte. Bruce Soord, ebenfalls von The Pineapple Thief, mischte das Album in Stereo und zum ersten Mal für PRR in Dolby Atmos und 5.1 Surround Sound.

*BLACK VINYL*Asher White's third album in two years (and fifteenth overall), Home Constellation Study is less a refinement of last year’s sly, quaint New Excellent Woman and more an explosion of it. Her meticulous chamber pop has given way to resplendent swells of horns and squeals of noise, throbbing bass and queasy orchestral loops. The cover, painted by White, frames a burst of flowers against a dark blue abyss, mimicking the music: over frenzied sambas, bleary slacker rock, hushed ambient meditations, and surprisingly slick disco. The past year has found the prolific Providence-based singer-songwriter ascending through her city’s fertile experimental rock scene alongside the breakout synth-punk act BabyBaby_explores and her labelmates Or Best Offer. Live, White’s band plays riotous, unpredictable noise rock that nods to their city’s storied DIY scene; on Home Constellation Study, mid-album highlights like “Downstate Prairie” and “Hymn” nod to Providence’s bands of yore with their blistering sheets of feedback and pummeling drums, placing White, improbably, within the lineage of local heroes Les Savy Fav or the broken pop dispatches of Black Pus. At its core, however, Home Constellation Study is the product of studied, monastic auteurism. Like New Excellent Woman, it was arranged, performed, recorded and mixed by White alone in her basement studio in Providence. “Happy Birthday” is an earnest psalm, a paean of devotion and remorse to God a la Beverly Glenn-Copeland that drifts along with Panda Bear haziness. White’s concept of “toxic femininity” undergoes further investigation on “Good luck!” and “Runes,” both with Elliott Smith-like chord changes and the barbs of cynical romantics like Aimee Mann. Asher White’s vision has never been so expansive and unpredictable.

Nothing Makes Sense Without It, the seminal sophomore LP by Kind of Like Spitting, is finalyl getting the deluxe reissue that it deserves.. The group's second album, originally released in 2000, is a heartbreakingly tender effort, with songwriter Ben Barnett's signature, sullen voice aching across twelve slow-burners. Now, 24 years after its original vinyl pressing, the album has been reissued as a deluxe 2xLP featuring an entire extra LP of demos and unreleased tracks. Whether you're replacing your worn out original pressing or just discovering Nothing Makes Sense Without It, this reissue is a must have for both longtime die-hards or any fan of the music of Kind of Like Spitting's northwest indie contemporaries like Death Cab For Cutie, Pedro The Lion and Elliott Smith.

Baby Blue & Halloween Orange Vinyl. In their decade-plus together, the four-piece_Julia Shapiro (guitar, vocals), Lydia Lund (guitar, vocals), Gretchen Grimm (drums, vocals), and Annie Truscott (bass, vocals)_have created a resonant body of work. Live Laugh Love is a natural continuation. Against the bizarre backdrop of the past few years, Chastity Belt remained a supportive space for the members to grow and experiment, drawing on the ingredients most essential to their process since the beginning: authenticity and levity. Recorded over three sessions in as many years (January 2020, November 2021 and 2022), the focus became more about enjoying their time together in the studio than making it feel like work. Their ease and familiarity with engineer Samur Khouja in LA, who also recorded their last album, made for a particularly enjoyable process. Once completed, they returned to renowned engineer Heba Kadry who mastered the album.Album opener "Hollow" sets the tone with a gently driving rhythm while guitar layers stream like sun rays through an open car window. A warmth radiates through Shapiro's voice, even while grappling with feeling lost and stuck. "The older I get," Shapiro says of the lyrics, "the more I realize that I might just always feel this way, and it's more about sitting with the feeling and accepting it, rather than trying to fight it." That wisdom seems to anchor Live Laugh Love. Chastity Belt has never shied from navigating the spectrum of difficult emotions, and an existential thread weaves throughout the subject matter. And yet the songs feel more grounded than ever; there's a sense of quiet confidence and self-assurance that comes with being less numb and more present. Facing discomfort takes more fortitude, after all.Live Laugh Love finds the members in their prime as musicians. Their parts trace intricate patterns over one another, but there's room to breathe between the layers. Everyone contributes to the writing, sometimes switching instruments, and for the first time, all four members sing a song. It's never been more apparent that they are creative siblings, cut from the same belt. "We've been playing music with each other for over a decade," says Shapiro, "so it really does feel like we're all fluent in the same language, and a lot of it just happens naturally.""Laugh" seeks in the balm of friendship, aware of the anticipatory nostalgia that hits during a good time that you're already missing before it's gone; the heavier guitar tones on "Chemtrails" streak ominous chord progressions over Grimm's precision timekeeping, lamenting memories that won't fade easily. During a transitional time, Truscott came across a note in their phone that read, "it's not hard all day, just sometimes," which inspired a poignant line in the chorus of "Kool-Aid," their first song as lead vocalist on a Chastity Belt recording. Another standout, "I-90 Bridge" shines with a silvery melody that soars as Lund belts one of the most resounding moments on the album: "Tell your girlfriend she's got nothing to fear/I'm set in my head/My body's a different story." The track "Blue" saunters nonchalantly with a wink; you can almost hear Shapiro's smile as she sings "Faking it big time/So I can hit my stride/Man, it feels good to be alive," channeling early Chastity Belt channeling early '90s before channeling the late Elliott Smith in a spiral of distortion and insight: "Don't get upset about it/It's gonna pass/Tell all your friends about it/They're gonna laugh.""We have such a strong sense of each other's musical inclinations" says Lund. "I think this allows for a lot of playfulness_we can kinda surprise each other, like a good punchline would."

Nachgepressed in klassisch schwarz! Focus On Nature ist das neue Studioalbum des gefeierten Post-Psych/Independent Singer-Songwriters Nick Saloman und seiner Band The Bevis Frond. Fünfundsiebzig Minuten herrlicher Melodien, die sich zwischen 60er-Jahre-Psych, englischem Folk, den Seattle Art-Punks The Wipers, dem Buzzsaw-Pop von Dinosaur Jr. und Hendrix-esken Erkundungen bewegen. Ihre Musik hat immer etwas spielerisch Englisches an sich. Die Kult-Ikonen, die sicherlich The Lemonheads, Teenage Fanclub, Elliot Smith, Pavement und Dinosaur Jr. beeinflussten, haben eine weitere schräge Mischung aus melodischer, klaviergeführter Melancholie, akustischen Grübeleien, kratzigem Garagen-Rock mit punkigem Einschlag und voller Gitarren-Histrionik produziert. Wie der viel gelobte und äußerst erfolgreiche Vorgänger "Little Eden" befasst sich die neue Platte mit dem Überdruss der Welt, füllt aber eine größere Leinwand aus: Fast Food und globale Erwärmung, gebrochene Herzen und lange Nächte, alltägliche Unsterblichkeit und Gottes Geschenk - all das findet seinen Platz. Es ist wie Townshend in seiner thematischsten Phase; Big Star in all ihrer akustischen Pracht, perfekt ausbalanciert mit der punkigen Garage-Rock-Combo, die auf "Empty" mit Gilmour-Breaks endet, die das Ganze zur Größe erheben. "Sie mischen immer noch Pop, Punk und Psych mit schwindelerregender Wirkung. The Guardian "Selbstreflexion gepaart mit einer reumütigen Bestandsaufnahme des aktuellen Zustands der Nation." Uncut zu Little Eden - Erhältlich auf Ltd Double Classic Black Vinyl mit DLC und/oder als CD im Digisleeve -

"Recorded and produced by friend and frequent collaborator Mo Troper, Who’s A Good Boy is equal parts scrappy and starry-eyed in its sonic makeup. Album opener “The Flake” sets the stage with fuzzy guitars crashing in and Ramirez’s relaxed vocals placed front and center, as a result, the track feels like throwing on a warm blanket. And look no further than the album’s charming lead single “We Both Won,” a jangly earworm with the hypnotic refrain of “Don’t worry about me” lingering long after the track ends, serving as further proof that Bory has found the recipe for the perfect pop song and knows how to deliver it in two minutes flat. At every twist and turn of Who’s A Good Boy there’s something new to be discovered, making it one of the most exciting debuts you're likely to hear in a long time.

"Warm but guarded, intricate and muted, reminiscent of the Shins and David Bazan and especially Elliott Smith." -Pitchfork
"Whether it's the pastoral "Feel The Burn" or the splendid, reverb-drenched "Five-Course Meal", Who's A Good Boy debut full-length project shows some major potential for Bory to earn the title of Next Big Thing in the genre." - UPROXX

How do you follow up a work described in the Independent on Sunday as “the best debut album since Marquee Moon”? That’s the question facing singer-songwriter John Canning Yates, twenty years on from the critically acclaimed ‘The First Album’ by his band Ella Guru.
‘The Quiet Portraits’ will appeal to anyone who loves the beautiful melodic soundscapes woven by Brian Wilson, Burt Bacharach, and Tom Waits, while Yates’s unique vocals evoke the emotional fragility and compelling narrative of Neil Young, Paul Buchanan, Mark Linkous and Elliott Smith.
Mastered by Jason Mitchell (PJ Harvey, Robert Forster), and featuring guest contributions from pedal steel maestro BJ Cole and friend and multi-instrumentalist Andy Frizell (Kevin Ayers, Wizards of Twiddly), those dedicated followers of Ella Guru who stayed the path will find their patience very well rewarded. ‘The Quiet Portraits’ is a remarkable achievement from an unassuming, yet hugely talented artist.

It’s a welcome relief amid the rapidly changing musical landscape to find that all that has changed in John’s world is the number of musicians around him. The beautiful storytelling, the art of finding those magical musical moments that will remain with you for years to come: all of that has survived the passing of time intact.
Happiest with headphones on, working alone in the small hours from his Liverpool home, Yates has created another masterpiece.
He explains: “In the wee small hours, with loved ones safely asleep and the busy day done, there comes a hush. Within it, you can breathe and listen. Listen for the infinite possibilities. From those possibilities emerged these portraits. I have sought to find those precious moments: of love and peace in turbulent times, of truth and hope for calmer days ahead. I hope you find them too.”
Entitled ‘The Quiet Portraits,’ the new solo album from John Canning Yates tells tales of people and places, of time, family, history, belonging, forgetting and remembering.

decade-plus together, the four-piece - Julia Shapiro (guitar, vocals), Lydia Lund (guitar, vocals), Gretchen Grimm (drums, vocals), and Annie Truscott (bass, vocals) - have created a resonant body of work. Live Laugh Love is a natural continuation. Against the bizarre backdrop of the past few years, Chastity Belt remained a supportive space for the members to grow and experiment, drawing on the ingredients most essential to their process since the beginning: authenticity and levity. Recorded over three sessions in as many years (January 2020, November 2021 and 2022), the focus became more about enjoying their time together in the studio than making it feel like work. Their ease and familiarity with engineer Samur Khouja in LA, who also recorded their last album, made for a particularly enjoyable process. Once completed, they returned to renowned engineer Heba Kadry who mastered the album. Album opener "Hollow" sets the tone with a gently driving rhythm while guitar layers stream like sun rays through an open car window. A warmth radiates through Shapiro's voice, even while grappling with feeling lost and stuck. "The older I get," Shapiro says of the lyrics, "the more I realize that I might just always feel this way, and it's more about sitting with the feeling and accepting it, rather than trying to fight it." That wisdom seems to anchor Live Laugh Love . Chastity Belt has never shied from navigating the spectrum of difficult emotions, and an existential thread weaves throughout the subject matter. And yet the songs feel more grounded than ever; there's a sense of quiet confidence and self-assurance that comes with being less numb and more present. Facing discomfort takes more fortitude, after all. Live Laugh Love finds the members in their prime as musicians. Their parts trace intricate patterns over one another, but there's room to breathe between the layers. Everyone contributes to the writing, sometimes switching instruments, and for the first time, all four members sing a song. It's never been more apparent that they are creative siblings, cut from the same belt. "We've been playing music with each other for over a decade," says Shapiro, "so it really does feel like we're all fluent in the same language, and a lot of it just happens naturally." "Laugh" seeks in the balm of friendship, aware of the anticipatory nostalgia that hits during a good time that you're already missing before it's gone; the heavier guitar tones on "Chemtrails" streak ominous chord progressions over Grimm's precision timekeeping, lamenting memories that won't fade easily. During a transitional time, Truscott came across a note in their phone that read, "it's not hard all day, just sometimes," which inspired a poignant line in the chorus of "Kool-Aid," their first song as lead vocalist on a Chastity Belt recording. Another standout, "1-90 Bridge" shines with a silvery melody that soars as Lund belts one of the most resounding moments on the album: "Tell your girlfriend she's got nothing to fear/I'm set in my head/My body's a different story." The track "Blue" saunters nonchalantly with a wink; you can almost hear Shapiro's smile as she sings "Faking it big time/So I can hit my stride/Man, it feels good to be alive," channeling early Chastity Belt channeling early '90s before channeling the late Elliott Smith in a spiral of distortion and insight: "Don't get upset about it/It's gonna pass/Tell all your friends about it/They're gonna laugh." "We have such a strong sense of each other's musical inclinations" says Lund. "I think this allows for a lot of playfulness...we can kinda surprise each other, like a good punchline would."

Tauchen Sie ein in eine harmonische Mischung aus rauen Emotionen und musikalischer Brillanz. 'The Color Purple (Music From and Inspired By)' verspricht ein Hörerlebnis, das zutiefst nostalgisch und erfrischend neu zugleich ist. So trumpft das Album mit einem Ensemble auf, das seinesgleichen sucht - der für den Golden Globe nominierten Fantasia mit ihren gefühlvollen Melodien, Taraji B. Henson mit ihrer emotionalen Tiefe, Colman Domingo mit seiner fesselnden Energie, der für den Golden Globe nominierten Danielle Brooks mit ihrer kraftvollen Resonanz, H.E.R. mit ihrer zeitgenössischen Kunst und Hallie Bailey mit ihrem strahlenden Gesang. Und Musik von den Grammy-prämierten Songwritern des Musicals - Brenda Russell, Allee Willis und Stephen Bray. Doch hört die Magie nicht bei den zeitlosen Klassikern auf.
Tauchen Sie noch tiefer ein und lassen Sie sich verzaubern von einem neuen Kapitel und neuer Musik von Alicia Keys, Jennifer Hudson, Mary J. Blige, Keyshia Cole, Coco Jones, Jorja Smith, Celeste, Mary Mary und October London sowie einer atemberaubenden Kollaboration von USHER & H.E.R.
Von Liebe und Schmerz bis hin zu Widerstandskraft und Erlösung - diese Songs fangen die Essenz von 'The Color Purple' ein und ebnen gleichzeitig den Weg für eine neue musikalische Ära. Und für diejenigen, die einen modernen Twist suchen, gibt es Remixe von Missy Elliot featuring Megan Thee Stallion und Timbaland featuring Black Thought. So schlägt 'The Color Purple' auch eine Brücke zwischen Generationen von Musikliebhabern.

Tauchen Sie ein in eine harmonische Mischung aus rauen Emotionen und musikalischer Brillanz. 'The Color Purple (Music From and Inspired By)' verspricht ein Hörerlebnis, das zutiefst nostalgisch und erfrischend neu zugleich ist. So trumpft das Album mit einem Ensemble auf, das seinesgleichen sucht - der für den Golden Globe nominierten Fantasia mit ihren gefühlvollen Melodien, Taraji B. Henson mit ihrer emotionalen Tiefe, Colman Domingo mit seiner fesselnden Energie, der für den Golden Globe nominierten Danielle Brooks mit ihrer kraftvollen Resonanz, H.E.R. mit ihrer zeitgenössischen Kunst und Hallie Bailey mit ihrem strahlenden Gesang. Und Musik von den Grammy-prämierten Songwritern des Musicals - Brenda Russell, Allee Willis und Stephen Bray. Doch hört die Magie nicht bei den zeitlosen Klassikern auf. Tauchen Sie noch tiefer ein und lassen Sie sich verzaubern von einem neuen Kapitel und neuer Musik von Alicia Keys, Jennifer Hudson, Mary J. Blige, Keyshia Cole, Coco Jones, Jorja Smith, Celeste, Mary Mary und October London sowie einer atemberaubenden Kollaboration von Usher & H.E.R. Von Liebe und Schmerz bis hin zu Widerstandskraft und Erlösung - diese Songs fangen die Essenz von 'The Color Purple' ein und ebnen gleichzeitig den Weg für eine neue musikalische Ära. Und für diejenigen, die einen modernen Twist suchen, gibt es Remixe von Missy Elliot featuring Megan Thee Stallion und Timbaland featuring Black Thought. So schlägt 'The Color Purple' auch eine Brücke zwischen Generationen von Musikliebhabern.

Focus On Nature ist das neue Studioalbum des gefeierten Post-Psych/Independent Singer-Songwriters Nick Saloman und seiner Band The Bevis Frond. Fünfundsiebzig Minuten herrlicher Melodien, die sich zwischen 60er-Jahre-Psych, englischem Folk, den Seattle Art-Punks The Wipers, dem Buzzsaw-Pop von Dinosaur Jr. und Hendrix-esken Erkundungen bewegen. Ihre Musik hat immer etwas spielerisch Englisches an sich. Die Kult-Ikonen, die sicherlich The Lemonheads, Teenage Fanclub, Elliot Smith, Pavement und Dinosaur Jr. beeinflussten, haben eine weitere schräge Mischung aus melodischer, klaviergeführter Melancholie, akustischen Grübeleien, kratzigem Garagen-Rock mit punkigem Einschlag und voller Gitarren-Histrionik produziert. Wie der viel gelobte und äußerst erfolgreiche Vorgänger "Little Eden" befasst sich die neue Platte mit dem Überdruss der Welt, füllt aber eine größere Leinwand aus: Fast Food und globale Erwärmung, gebrochene Herzen und lange Nächte, alltägliche Unsterblichkeit und Gottes Geschenk - all das findet seinen Platz. Es ist wie Townshend in seiner thematischsten Phase; Big Star in all ihrer akustischen Pracht, perfekt ausbalanciert mit der punkigen Garage-Rock-Combo, die auf "Empty" mit Gilmour-Breaks endet, die das Ganze zur Größe erheben. "Sie mischen immer noch Pop, Punk und Psych mit schwindelerregender Wirkung. The Guardian "Selbstreflexion gepaart mit einer reumütigen Bestandsaufnahme des aktuellen Zustands der Nation." Uncut zu Little Eden - Erhältlich auf Ltd Double Purple Vinyl, DL-Karte und/oder als CD im Digisleeve -

World Of Echo are proud to announce the long-awaited reissue, on 17th February, of the self-titled debut album by Bristol’s Movietone. Originally released in 1995 by Planet Records and reissued on CD in 2003 by The Pastels’ Geographic Music imprint, this is the first time Movietone has been reissued on vinyl. An expanded double-LP edition, it includes the extra tracks from the 2003 CD (their first two singles, and an unreleased demo of “Chance Is Her Opera”), and adds three more unearthed gems: demos of “Alkaline Eye” and “She Smiled Mandarine Like”, and an early take of “Late July”, recorded in a garden by Dave Pearce (Flying Saucer Attack) in 1993. Taken together, this is the definitive collection of music from the first phase of one of Bristol’s most remarkable groups.

Movietone was the cumulation of a series of events, explorations, and discoveries, starting at secondary school – the group’s core membership of Kate Wright, Rachel Brook, Matt Elliott and Matt Jones met at Cotham School in Bristol. As for many other groups, their early years were all about experimenting, and finding ways to ‘make do’, a DIY sensibility that would inform Movietone through their decade-long lifespan. From formative rehearsals in a shed in the garden of Brook’s family home, to recording early material to four-track in Redland Library, and on into the Whitehouse and Mr Grin’s studio sessions for their debut album, Movietone’s music fell together in a creatively unpredictable, yet conceptually rigorous manner.

By the time they released Movietone, they’d found a home with Bristol’s Planet, run by author Richard King and James Webster, who had both released their first two singles, “She Smiled Mandarine Like” and “Mono Valley”. There was other music happening around them in Bristol, too, from the Jones brothers’ avant-rock outfit Crescent (who were Movietone’s closest conspirators), through Elliott’s jungle/electronica project Third Eye Foundation, and Brook and Elliott’s membership of Flying Saucer Attack. A closely knit community, Movietone are the centre of this nestling architecture of groups.

The vision in the music, mostly, belongs to Wright, but Movietone ran in democratic creative consort. Listening back to Movietone, you can hear this democracy in action through the wildness of the music, which is balanced by the poetics of Wright’s lyrics and melodies. Full of half-captured memories and entangled abstractions, there’s an elliptical, ruminative quality to much of the writing here that shows the deep influence of the Beat Generation writers, along with a twilight environment captured in the songs that’s pure third-album Velvets, Galaxie 500, early Tindersticks, Codeine. Unpredictable interventions – the crashing glass in “Mono Valley”, the sudden explosions of “Orange Zero” – point towards the noise blowouts of My Bloody Valentine, the unpredictability of Sonic Youth; Wright’s understated vocal cadence suggest a deep, embodied understanding of John Cage’s Indeterminacy.

Movietone would go on to make three fantastic albums for Domino – Night & Day (1997), The Blossom Filled Streets (2000) and The Sand & The Stars (2003) – and their Peel Sessions were released early in 2022 by Textile. Still held in high regard by artists like Steven R. Smith, and The Pastels, whose Stephen McRobbie once described them as “one of the great unknown English groups,” it’s an absolute thrill to listen to Movietone anew – still inspired, still seductive, still magic, still mysterious.

Sechs Jahre nach ihrem letzten Album 'Enter The Kingdom" meldet sich die US-Band endlich mit neuem Studioalbum 'On The Northline'zurück!

Die aus Metro Detroit, Michigan kommende Band Frontier Ruckus veröffentlicht mit 'On The Northline' ihr lange überfälliges neues Studioalbum", auf dem die Band lässig Americana, Rock und orchestralen Folk-Pop fusioniert. Matthew Milia, David Jones und Zachary Nichols begeistern mit ihrer Spielfreude und sozial-kritischen Lyrics auf ganzer Länge. Die Jahre nach dem fünften Album der Gruppe, dem opulenten 'Enter the Kingdom' von 2017, waren große Jahre für die Band. Ihr mehr als zehnjähriges ununterbrochenes Touren wurde dann allerdings durch die Pandemie beendet, die jeden zu Beginn des Jahres 2020 betraf, aber während sich diese Surrealität abspielte, durchlief Milia auch eine separate Zeitlinie, auf der er wirklich die Liebe fand, heiratete und zu gegebener Zeit Vater wurde. Fans von Elliott Smith bis hin zu Sufjan Stevens sollten die Band Frontier Ruckus nicht verpassen!

As with all albums on Shabaka Hutchings' Native Rebel Recordings the plan was the same: the musicians gather at the RAK Studios for three days, without rehearsal and consider the rehearsals part of the recording, with Shabaka producing

The performers featured here are Jas Kayser who has performed with Alfa Mist, Nubya Garcia and Jorja Smith among others, Alexander Hawkins of the Convergence Quartet and Decoy, Daisy George, and Ross Harris of Speakers Corner Quartet.

The features on the album are incredible too, and highlight the eclectic nature of Native Rebel. We have billy Woods on album opener “Apothecary", TS Elliot prize winning poet Anthony Joseph on "By Now", Confucius MC of Speaker's Corner Quartet and Con & Kwake on "Flowers In The Dark", Elucid on "Show Me", ganavya on "Increase Awareness", and Siyabonga Mthembu of The Brother Moves On and Shabaka and The Ancestors on “Aim".

As always with Native Rebel releases, the physical product is on double heavyweight vinyl, in high quality sleeves with printed inner sleeves and with side D on this release featuring etched artwork.

Foreigner's debut spawned massive FM hits "Feels Like the First Time," and "Cold as Ice"
180-gram 45 RPM double LP
Mastered directly from the original master tape by Ryan K. Smith at Sterling Sound
Pressed at Quality Record Pressings and RTI
Tip-on old style gatefold double pocket jackets with film lamination by Stoughton Printing

Arena rock heroes Foreigner crushed with their 1977 self-titled album debut, spawning some of the biggest FM hits of that year, including the anthemic "Feels Like the First Time" and "Cold as Ice," both of which were anchored — like most of Foreigner's songs — by the muscular but traditional riffing of guitarist Mick Jones, the soaring vocals of Lou Gramm, and the state-of-the-art rock production values of the day, which AllMusic reviewer Andy Hinds says allowed the band to sound hard but polished.

The architect behind Foreigner's extraordinary catalog, Mick Jones has crafted some of rock music's most enduring songs. Grammy and Golden Globe-nominated songwriter, performer and producer and winner of the prestigious Ivor Novello songwriter award in 1998, Jones first began playing guitar in his early teens.

After starting his own rock band and opening for the Rolling Stones in pubs across South London, Mick's first big break came in 1964 when he moved to Paris and was hired to play with French singer Sylvie Vartan.

After a brief stint in England to reform the band Spooky Tooth, Jones moved to New York City and formed Foreigner with Ian McDonald and Dennis Elliott and Americans Lou Gram, Alan Greenwood and Ed Gagliardi.

Foreigner defined a generation of rock music to people across the globe. From its iconic debut album, the band moved on to record-breaking hits including "I Want To Know What Love Is," "Waiting for a Girl Like You," "Double Vision," "Hot Blooded," "Juke Box Hero" and many more.

Now on 180-gram 45 RPM double LP you'll hear Foreigner in all its phenomenal glory. Mastered from the original tape by Ryan K. Smith at Sterling Sound, this reissue rocks. Double LP cut at 45 RPM, pressed at Quality Record Pressings and RTI, and housed in a Stoughton Printing tip-on old style gatefold jacket. That's how you upgrade a classic.

Better Man, the debut album by The Föhns, is the result of a close friendship between two men whose characters are polar opposites. That alone is worth gold. Eindhoven pop heroes Dennis Grotenhuis and Roel Blommers have been working together since the wild punk rock adventure called The Spades. After this they continued to write, arrange and record songs. Record after record appeared, each time different, each time richer and each time under a different name. They thought they felt the hot breath of the pop industry breathing down their necks. But does that breath actually exist? Weren't they themselves the source of that hot breath? Enter The Hair Dryers. Slow down and go into the depths. Their debut features thirteen beautifully crafted listening songs in power pop guise. Imagine Sparklehorse and Elliott Smith in the respectful hands of The Posies, delicacy preserved in the grander gesture. Better Man contains their strongest work to date, car radio pop supreme. Dennis and Roel found a better version of themselves thanks to the efforts of five musician friends from the Eindhoven scene.

Elliott Fullam is a New Jersey artist who conjures the magic of when loneliness meets hope with his ghostly vocal melodies and gentle guitar tracks that bring a tranquil feeling to the listener. All of Elliott’s songs are recorded in his bedroom at home and mastered by the world-renowned Alan Douches of West West Side Music. His teenage goal was to release his first album by the time he turned 18 and he achieved that goal with the release of his debut album “What’s Wrong” on his 18th birthday of September 2, 2022. Elliott is also an actor, playing the co-starring role as Jonathan in the film Terrifier 2 which made a big smash at the box office as an uncut and unrated horror film. And as a dedicated music fan, Elliott has interviewed many musicians since the age of 9 including James Hetfield of Metallica, J Mascis, Ice-T, Jay Weinberg of Slipknot and many more. He always held his passion for music in high regard while finding inspiration in his favorites Elliott Smith, Duster, Mazzy Star, Broadcast, Radiohead and Nick Drake. With nothing else in his life plans aside from the pursuit of creating the best music he possibly could while sustaining his promising acting career, Elliott will continue to release music and play shows for as long as he exists on this planet in hopes that he may be a small part of the force for good in this trying world.

Xavier Boyer, the lead singer of Tahiti 80 and one of the most distinctive voices in French indie pop, returns solo with a melodic and timeless new EP entitled "Soda Coda".

After "Tutu To Tango" (2007, under the name Axe Riverboy), "Some/Any/New" (2017), and not forgetting Tahiti 80's nine studio albums, Xavier Boyer has composed five songs navigating between soft rock, folk sounds and pop experimentation. "On previous albums, I'd done everything on my own, but this time I was looking for something more lively, more organic, more collective. I also wanted to exchange ideas with other musicians.

This mini-album (the vinyl version will include five alternative versions recorded on a 4-track cassette) was created with the help of three emblematic figures from the French music scene, Mehdi Zannad (Fugu, April March, A Girl Called Eddy) on keyboards, Laurent Blot (Le Superhomard) on drums and Stéphane Laporte (Domotic, Egyptology) on mix.

Recorded between tours and studio sessions with his main band, "Soda Coda" once again confirms his talent as a melodist and his appetite for sonic adventures. The power pop of "D Day" or the lyricism of "Children Of The Sun" would not be out of place on albums by Emitt Rhodes or Richard Swift (producer of Tahiti 80's "Ballroom" in 2014). "Oh Liza" is as smooth as an Elliott Smith novelty.

The singer assumes his influences: "My aim has always been to write timeless songs without pretending it's 1975, or 1998. I want my music to remain rooted in its time." "Read The Room" blends Jamaican music and avant-garde pop with its crystalline guitars and soaring synths, while "Soda Coda" brings a touch of Soul to the EP with its distorted piano and slap-back vocals.

More than a journey or a nostalgic trip, Soda Coda is a succession of luminous songs, and as Xavier Boyer sings on the eponymous track: "I'm singing something good, I can hear this tune lighting up my path".

From Northern Ireland and the South of England hail Jetplane Landing - which, for the last two decades has been variously composed of: Jamie Burchell (Bass/Vocals), Raife Burchell (Drums), Andrew Ferris (Vocals/Guitars), Cahir O’Doherty (Guitars/Vocals) and Craig McKean (Drums). Big Scary Monsters are releasing their debut album Zero For Conduct on vinyl this January as well as putting their entire back catalogue back on streaming services. Their debut album ‘Zero For Conduct’, was recorded on an 8-track tape machine in Jamie's parents' garage in Bognor Regis and mixed during engineer Sean Doherty’s downtime in a London studio owned by a diamond mining company. Hailed a 'masterpiece’ (5Ks - Kerrang!) upon its release in 2001 - it contains fan favourites ‘This Is Not Revolution Rock’ and ‘Summer Ends’ and perfectly encapsulates the vitality of the 00's post-hardcore DIY scene that inspired its creation. Deriving their name from the moment a blissed-out Burchell/Ferris witnessed At The Drive-In perform ‘One Armed Scissor’ on their debut British TV performance - “Fuck me Ferris, they sound like a jet plane landing!” - ZFC channels that riotous energy across its heart-felt eleven cuts. Delicate acoustic confessionals sit alongside full-throated math-rock experimentation; this is an album as varied as it is ambitious. Jamie: “We initially set out to track the record during a two-week period Andrew had off from work. At the end of those two weeks, we didn’t even have all the drums recorded let alone the overdubs. So the idea emerged that Ferris and I would drive down every weekend from London to my parents’ house and we would make the album that way. Cut to… one year later…” Andrew: “When I listen back now, I can physically feel the conversations we had on those long drives, all those micro-decisions - getting the songs to be… right. It was a long process, but truthfully I’d have been happy to let it go longer. Jamie gave me so much confidence and pushed me to places I didn’t know I had or even needed to be. It was a really special time.”. Jamie continues, “There was this weird fusion between us musically which seemed to just work.” Fans of Elliot Smith, Nick Drake, J Mascis, and Stephen Malkmus will feel right at home with this lovingly crafted set. Spoiler alert: heavier sounds and bigger rooms were to come for Jetplane but on Zero For Conduct their musical universe feels at once expansive and deeply personal.

End of Ways is a bridge to healing as it was written during the period of helping a loved one escape an abusive household while working though its lingering horrors to find peace. On this second album
release by indie label Kill Rock Stars, 18-year-old Elliott Fullam touches on even darker subject matter than his predecessor What’s Wrong which was a dissociative trip that reached out to thousands of
like-minded music enthusiasts who hailed the record as their album of the year.

And End of Ways is the next record that will continue in that same gentle melody which alleviates the emotional storm that
torments so many of us. Elliott’s sophomore full-length is a blend of home recordings as well as studio recordings which bring some extra depth within the songs to suit their somber settings in the tracks
Throw It Away, Forget, and Better Way. But the record still retains its stripped down, lo-fi vibe in songs like Let’s Go Somewhere and Remember When with their clear Elliott Smith and Nick Drake
influences in both the acoustic guitar lines and quiet vocals. The addition of young pianist Jeremy Bennett also beautifully adds candle-light melody through-out the album with his haunting notes in the opening song Mistake and his Tim Burton-meets-Vince Guaraldi style in the album’s escapist-themed title track End of Ways along with the dramatic climax to Timeless Tears and the album closer, Over
the Moon which is Elliott’s profession of love to his present companion who he saved from her former home. Nick Drake, Big Thief, Crumb, and Alex G that explores childhood, dissociation, heartbreak and ultimately, survival

The project was made in collaboration with producer, Rob Schnapff (Kurt Vile, Dr. Dog, Elliot Smith), and although Rowland already has impressive songwriting credits to his name, Come June is truly the beginning of the most important chapter yet in Rowland's artistic evolution.

In March of 2020, after learning that a dear friend’s life was coming to an end, Johansing sat down and in one sitting wrote the song “Daffodils”. An elegiac tribute to someone facing death with grace and curiosity, the lyrics confront Johansing’s own mortality by observing the brief lifespan of a Hlower. Only a week later when the world came to an abrupt standstill, she soon found herself processing this recent loss while trying to make sense of a new global reality. Across the ensuing months, Johansing found herself increasingly untethered by a world of isolation and political upheaval.

Having been a frequent touring member of bands like Hand Habits and Fruit Bats, and often being called into the studio to lend her harmonies and multi-instrumental talents to records, Johansing’s phone no longer rang. Living in Los Angeles she feared her musical community was vanishing, as friends and collaborators continually announced they were leaving the city. It was in returning to her piano nightly that she found the greatest solace, feverishly writing the songs that would be collected on her next album. Resulting from this new sense of time and focus was a deepening of her songwriting. As Johansing recalls, “I felt like a metamorphosis happened during that time. There was a lot of personal growth and healing.”

Throughout Year Away Johansing traverses uncharted emotional landscapes brought upon by the changes occurring all around her. The forced self-reflection of the moment is aptly captured by “Old Friend”, featuring an aching melody and swooning production that recalls the best of Harry Nilsson. The epic piano and saxophone-driven “Smile with My Eyes” addresses the loss of community as friends became distant and political divides between family grew. On “Smile” Johansing pushes her vocals further than ever, expanding her range and using her peerless voice as the singular instrument it is. Facing the loss of a family home due to environmental destruction, “Shifting Sands” is marked by soaring Hlutes, Hield recordings and glassy synthesizers that nod to Japanese New Age.

“Daffodils”, the stunning album centerpiece, is built from a pastiche of looping samples, swirling Mellotron and dazzling vibraphone. “Keep your heart open wide, you never know your time / Keep your heart wild, true Hlower child”, Johansing sings as she says goodbye to an elder, while the band reaches a grief-stricken crescendo of woodwinds and chiming bells. On the title track, Johansing takes listeners on an eerily meditative journey of collective experiences. “I wanted to keep the progression simple and repetitive so that musically we could add new elements little by little, while the emotional tone of the lyrics becomes increasingly more strained and expressive”. The song grows to a fever pitch as Johansing sings higher than she thought possible; the tension of the repeating chords Hinally resolving into a hopeful coda as multiple soloists weave around each other.

Amidst heavier themes, Johansing still leaves room for her love of irresistible pop melodies and lush production. The driving “Last Drop” and mid-tempo “Valley Green” are two of her catchiest songs to date. On the former Johansing sings the anthemic chorus, “As if it were the last drop, and nothing ever lasts forever / As if it were the last stop, too far out to come back ever”, longing for a love that she’ll never take for granted, while also admitting that she doesn’t always know how good she has it. “Valley Green” features shimmering layers of 12- string guitars, stacked horns and an impeccable solo by co-producer and multi- instrumentalist Tim Ramsey (Vetiver, Fruit Bats), hinting at a love for bands like NRBQ.

Having been eager to capture the initial spark of songwriting, Johansing booked time at Highland Park’s 64 Sound Studio the week that it reopened. Over the course of three days, she and her band gathered basic tracks for 10 songs, before returning home to Hinish the record with Ramsey. Setting forth to make an album that paid homage to the music that kept them company during the months spent alone together, the duo pulled inspiration from a wide net including Burt Bacharach, John Carroll Kirby & Haruomi Hosono. Ramsey’s newfound love of early digital synthesizers dovetailed effortlessly with Johansing’s fondness for classic 70’s horn and string arrangements, creating a sound that is distinctly modern yet warm and familiar.

Once again Johansing called upon some of the Hinest players of Northeast Los Angeles’ vibrant music community to lend a hand with the record. The 70s R&B-folk of “Watch It Like a Show” features an electric guitar solo from Hand Habits’ Meg Duffy, while album closer “Endless Sound” boasts backing vocals from electronic musician Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith and swooping Indian-inspired violins from Amir Yaghmai (HAIM, The Voidz). The record shines brightly thanks to an ace mix from veteran producer Rob Schnapf (Beck, Elliott Smith, Cat Power), woodwinds from Logan Hone (John Carroll Kirby, Eddie Chacon), and a featured rhythm section of drummer Josh Adams (Jenny Lewis, Bedouine) and bassist Todd Dahlhoff (Feist, Devendra Banhart). Recorded across multiple studios including LA’s famed Sunset Sound, the album remains steadfastly buoyed by the adept engineering of Tyler Karmen (MGMT, Alvvays).

Though born of turbulent times, Year Away is ultimately interested in moving forward. The album ends with “Endless Sound,” where Johansing laments seismic global changes, (“The water is hotter, the mighty thaw / The current’s reversing, the last are lost”) but vows to keep going (“No storm can take me down / Endless light, endless sound”). It’s Year Away’s resilience that shines through despite the darkness. It’s a sound all her own and Johansing’s most cohesive set of songs yet.

Debut album from Norwegian alt-country artist Thomas Hansen (aka St. Thomas) reissued on vinyl for the first time. 13 songs of unpretentious and melodic Psycho Cowboy tunes with beautiful heavenly harmonies underscored by acoustic guitar, organ and acid banjo. Recommended for fans of Will Oldham, Elliott Smith, who were the guiding stars for Thomas that led him to quit his dayjob as a
postman to become a full time songwriter and artist. in the 2000's he topped the charts in Norway, toured with bands like Lambchop and Of Montreal. He sadly passed away in 2007.

Mit ihrem fünften Album "Calling the Dogs" setzen Citizen ihre Bemühungen fort, melancholische, energiegeladene Rockmusik zu machen, die sich nicht auf einen einzigen Sound festlegen lässt, sondern eine Vielzahl von Einflüssen einbezieht. Produziert von Rob Schnapf (Saves the Day, Joyce Manor, Elliott Smith) ist "Calling the Dogs" ein Album, das mit dem Blick nach innen beginnt und mit dem Blick nach außen schließt. Es ist ein Album, das sich mit den Menschen beschäftigt, die wir durch die Menschen um uns herum werden. Es läutet nicht nur personell eine neue Ära der Band ein, sondern atmet auch thematisch neue Luft. Es ist ein Album der Selbstreflexion, aber auch eines, das die Wut auf direktere Weise als je zuvor zum Ausdruck bringt. Mit Einflüssen von Künstlern wie den Ramones, Violent Femmes und Bloc Party fühlt sich "Calling the Dogs" wie ein neues Kapitel für Citizen an. Songs wie der Opener "Headtrip" und die Leadsingle "If You're Lonely" wirken wie typische Citizen-Songs, die von Produzent Rob Schnapf mit einer neuen Energie versehen wurden. Wie schon bei ihrem 2021er Album "Life In Your Glass World" ist bei Songs wie "Hyper Trophy" und dem groovigen "Can't Take It Slow" ein deutlicher Einfluss des NYC-Garage-Rock-Revivals zu erkennen. Aber Citizen lässt auf "Calling the Dogs" nie eine einzige Stimmung zu lange bestehen - auf der Platte gibt es Momente der Pop-Seligkeit, der Punk-Aggression und der üblichen Citizen-Melancholie. Auf der Grundlage ihrer persönlichen Erfahrungen und ihres kollektiven musikalischen Könnens haben Citizen ein Album geschaffen, das Grenzen überschreitet und den Hörer herausfordert, seine eigenen emotionalen Landschaften zu erkunden. Für Fans von Turnstile, Fiddlehead, Angel Du$t, Militarie Gun, Drug Church, Narrow Head.

Neil Gust und Elliott Smith kamen im Sommer 1991 gemeinsam nach Portland, OR, um mit dem Schlagzeuger/Produzenten Tony Lash eine neue Band zu gründen. Innerhalb eines Jahres, nachdem sie den Bassisten Brandt Peterson am Bass kennengelernt hatten, spielten sie an der gesamten Westküste und nahmen Dutzende von Songs für ihre erste LP auf. Sechs dieser Stücke wurden auf der Kassette "The Music of Heatmiser" veröffentlicht, die bei Konzerten und in örtlichen Plattenläden verkauft und an Plattenlabels verteilt wurde. Der Sound der Band hat sich im Laufe von 3 LPs stark verändert, aber das hier ist Heatmiser direkt "in your face".

Neu, energiegeladen, aufgeregt, sich schnell durch die Stile bewegend, total kaputt und auf jede erdenkliche Weise funktionierend.

Was auch immer möglich ist. Es ist Gitarrenrock, mit voller Wucht, durch 100 Watt Marshall-Halfstacks, als Grunge im pazifischen Nordwesten aufkam und die Szene in Portland explodierte.Schnell, tight, laut, lustig.

Dunkelgrünes Vinyl. Vor einigen Jahren, irgendwo in einem Tour Van in Idaho, wurde den Chastity Belt Mitgliedern Julia Shapiro, Gretchen Grimm, Lydia Lund und Annie Truscott zu langweilig und sie fanden eine recht ungewöhnliche Beschäftigung: Sie fingen an einander Komplimente zu machen, sehr detailliert und umfangreich. Das mögen wir an dir am Liebsten; Deshalb lieben wir dich. An dieses Bild denke ich die ganze Zeit, die Vier, wie sie sich den anderen gegenüber auf diese Weise offenbaren, freiwillig. Es fällt schwer sich vorzustellen, dass das andere Bands tun würden. Jenseits ihrer doch recht omnipräsenten Social Media Seiten mit tonnen von Duck Face Schnuten, der ,I don't care" Attitüde, liegt ganz am Grund eine Ehrlichkeit und Intimität als auch eine emotionale Brillanz, die alles was Chastity Belt kreieren, verschmelzen lässt. Simple ausgedrückt: Sie sind witzig aber auch in der Lage sehr verletzlich zu sein. Giant Vagina und Pussy Weed Beer, zwei Highlights ihres 2013er Debüts No Regerts, wurden prompt gefolgt von dem großartigen aber leicht zu übersehenden Happiness. Bei dem 2015er Time to Go Home habe ich ständig meine jüngere, unstetere Version vor Augen gehabt. Der kommende Juni markiert die Veröffentlichung von I Used to Spend So Much Time Alone, ihr drittes und bisher bestes Album. Mit dem Produzenten Matthew Simms (Wire) live im Juli 2016 in Portland / Oregon (Geburtsstätte einiger ihrer favorisierten Elliot Smith Alben) aufgenommen, ist es ein dunkles und ungewöhnlich schönes Set aus Moody Post Punk, dass die Gefühlsbreite der Band aus Seattle in vollem Ausmaß und nicht durch Humor gefiltert zeigt. Da ist keine Ironie im Titel: Bevor sie Chastity Belt gründete, sah sich Shapiro klar als einsamen Wolf. Das ist keine kleine Geste. Ich kann dieses Album so sehr nachempfinden wie in meinen 20ern: Das ist ein mutiges und oft berauschendes Gewirr aus gemischten Gefühlen und quälenden Melodien, die atemberaubende Angst (This Time of Night) mit schimmernder Erkenntnis (Different Now) und hauchdünner Ungewissheit (Stuck - geschrieben und gesungen von Grimm) verbindet. Es ist eine ernste Platte. Shapiro definiert es wahrscheinlich am besten selbst: ,I wanna be sincere." Als ich die Band frage, wie dieser Text hier werden soll, war ihr einziger Anspruch, dass er kurz, ehrlich und ohne Übertreibung sein soll, Als ich mehr erfahren will sagt Truscott: "Just say that we love each other. Because we do." So sind sie, deshalb liebe ich sie. - David Bevan (Pitchfork), Februar 2017

It contains all the signatures of her best lyricism: delicate and precise phrasings, moments that flicker between beauty and banality, meaning that forms through the accretion of observations, memories, and unexpected adages. This is an album that is at once post-theistic and devoted to a relationship with the divine, each song blinking in and out of "the fragile plane," a place Krieger describes as "a middle ground in the universe," both abstract and peaceful, where time, bodies, and names don't exist.

Krieger initially collaborated with Luke Temple and Jeremy Harris to record her vocals and guitar to tape at Panoramic Studios in West Marin, CA. As the album continued to form, Krieger envisioned instruments - like the French and English horn (Nancy Ranger and Priscilla Reinhart), electric guitar (Jacob Drab), and pedal steel (Kevin Copeland) - as characters which would walk in and out of the soundscape. What emerged from conversations with composer Sammy Weissberg, are brass parts that have a dark, almost surreal logic: horns arise to emphasize a word or phrase, fall out completely, only to rush back with dissonant orchestrations that gesture simultaneously toward deterioration and generation.

While Krieger takes inspiration from Elliot Smith's honesty, Judee Sill's cosmic reaching, and Joni Mitchell's sharp noticing, the dream-like association, harmonic dissonance, and angular melodic ascensions in each song are singularly and delightfully Krieger's.

"I Keep My Feet on the Fragile Plane" is a daring collection of songs by an artist who scries with both the cold glass eye of truth and the beating heart of empathy; who portrays life in all its twisted complexities.

Available for the first time on vinyl - a 20th anniversary release of The Mystic Chords Of Memory's seminal, unique DIY psych-folk debut. By Beachwood Sparks singer/songwriter Chris Gunst & Aislers Set's Jen Cohen. Mastered at Abbey Road. The seeds of this exquisite album are scattered among the tracks of Make The Cowboy Robots Cry - the LP Beachwood Sparks hung their hats on before a ten year break. A further step forward from west coast country psych towards something with folkier roots but new, mysterious and above all free. Chris and Jen's conjuring of magical, unforced, domestic spirituality. Recorded in a little wood cabin amongst the redwoods overlooking a running creek with a range of collected musical toys. Just give it 5 minutes once you’ve dropped the needle & you’ll be right there. Here’s Amanda Petrussich’s brilliant write up in Pitchfork - “With its soft melodies, sweet vocals, and scratchy DIY production, Mystic Chords of Memory is also an overwhelmingly intimate record, focused and domestic - much closer to Elliott Smith than former-benchmarks the Byrds and Buffalo Springfield…. The duo's wordy moniker was lifted from Abraham Lincoln's first inaugural address, a lecture delivered in the spring of 1861 and boldly eternalised at the base of Mount Rushmore... Appropriately, the band's sound is just as archaic as a truly striking political speech: Gunst and Cohen blend tinkling bells, melodica, harp, keyboards, bits of samples, tinny drums, and strummy guitars, presenting a vaguely contemporary update on the British folk phenomenon of the late 1960s with more blips. Mystic Chords of Memory is a surprisingly coherent re-introduction to Gunst, and his professional coupling with Jen Cohen has proven both a freeing and inspired move.” Two decades later it’s obvious how seminal a record they conjured up. They forged a path that came to define the wave of US indie that followed for a while. In our opinion, the original has a natural, guileless, effortless beauty that trumps them all. Without a whiff of Starbucks. "Mystic chords of memory speech I interpreted the meaning as the underlying psyche fabric we are all creating on this land together. Jen and I thought it would be a great name to inspire our music together. This was really close to post 9/11 times and we were thinking about all of this and also wanting to improve our own contribution to the psychological fabric of the world.” Chis Gunst.

Available for the first time on vinyl - a 20th anniversary release of The Mystic Chords Of Memory's seminal, unique DIY psych-folk debut. By Beachwood Sparks singer/songwriter Chris Gunst & Aislers Set's Jen Cohen. Mastered at Abbey Road. The seeds of this exquisite album are scattered among the tracks of Make The Cowboy Robots Cry - the LP Beachwood Sparks hung their hats on before a ten year break. A further step forward from west coast country psych towards something with folkier roots but new, mysterious and above all free. Chris and Jen's conjuring of magical, unforced, domestic spirituality. Recorded in a little wood cabin amongst the redwoods overlooking a running creek with a range of collected musical toys. Just give it 5 minutes once you’ve dropped the needle & you’ll be right there. Here’s Amanda Petrussich’s brilliant write up in Pitchfork - “With its soft melodies, sweet vocals, and scratchy DIY production, Mystic Chords of Memory is also an overwhelmingly intimate record, focused and domestic - much closer to Elliott Smith than former-benchmarks the Byrds and Buffalo Springfield…. The duo's wordy moniker was lifted from Abraham Lincoln's first inaugural address, a lecture delivered in the spring of 1861 and boldly eternalised at the base of Mount Rushmore... Appropriately, the band's sound is just as archaic as a truly striking political speech: Gunst and Cohen blend tinkling bells, melodica, harp, keyboards, bits of samples, tinny drums, and strummy guitars, presenting a vaguely contemporary update on the British folk phenomenon of the late 1960s with more blips. Mystic Chords of Memory is a surprisingly coherent re-introduction to Gunst, and his professional coupling with Jen Cohen has proven both a freeing and inspired move.” Two decades later it’s obvious how seminal a record they conjured up. They forged a path that came to define the wave of US indie that followed for a while. In our opinion, the original has a natural, guileless, effortless beauty that trumps them all. Without a whiff of Starbucks. "Mystic chords of memory speech I interpreted the meaning as the underlying psyche fabric we are all creating on this land together. Jen and I thought it would be a great name to inspire our music together. This was really close to post 9/11 times and we were thinking about all of this and also wanting to improve our own contribution to the psychological fabric of the world.” Chis Gunst.

Inspired by the rawness and honesty of artists like Elliott Smith, Julien Baker, Adrianne Lenker & Sufjan Stevens, Callum Pitt imbues his indie-folk with grand, orchestral, chamber pop sensibility plus an alt-rock edge. Despite using music often as a canvas to openly discuss depression & anxiety, as well as political unrest, Callum still manages to imprint feelings of optimism and unity, alongside genuine warmth and honesty, throughout his songs.

This debut album In The Balance pinpoints back to one night in 2019, where Pitt was handed an earth-shaking reminder of how much hangs in the balance with each passing second. Minutes after he waved goodbye to his brother and parents as they left his house, a fire engine hit the back edge of their car. They were all unharmed. But if the car was in the engine’s path a fraction of a second later — if Pitt had said one more word at the doorstep — it would have ploughed directly into the drivers’ side.

28-year-old Pitt has been working on his craft for a decade, beginning in the Newcastle pub scene and gradually refining his thoughtful, poetic songwriting voice. He won the Alan Hull Award for songwriters in 2019, and the Fender Player Plus competition in 2021. Meanwhile, he’s studying a masters in Occupational Therapy, and has worked with children, young people and adults with disabilities through various outlets, including therapeutic music work. These are experiences that shaped In The Balance, his first true body of work, giving him a new perspective on the cathartic and unifying power of music.

The album showcased Cornfield's knack for crafting deeply personal songs with an observational tone and witty lyric delivery. She took these heartbreakingly relatable songs on the road, playing numerous shows & festivals across North America and Europe, including opening for Pedro The Lion, Stars, Sarah Harmer and others.

On Cornfield's new album, Could Have Done Anything, she teamed up with producer and Bonny Light Horseman member, Josh Kaufman in Upstate New York, first at the stained- glass- tinted Dreamland Recording Studios, then at the nearby Isokon Studio, run by engineer D. James Goodwin (Kevin Morby, Whitney) and his assistant, Gillian Pelkonen. Kaufman and Cornfield played every instrument themselves, channeling the energy of her favorite classic records,
from Elliott Smith's Figure 8 and Jeff Buckley's Grace to Neil Young's Harvest -- albums where the listener is simply carried by the songs, and their musicians' beautiful playing. Standouts like "You And Me" highlight intimacy and absence, while "Gentle Like The Drugs" captures memories from Cornfield's spring 2022 tour with Pedro the Lion - her first time seeing sunsets in Arizona.

Deluxe Eco Vinyl LP with 16 page lyric booklet! London slowcore band deathcrash have announced their new album Less, due March 31st via untitled (recs). Recorded at the UK's most remote studio in the Outer Hebrides, Less follows their critically acclaimed 2022 album, Return with a statement in reduction that turns out to be as powerful and potent as it is tender and introspective. "The mission statement was to be super minimal," says deathcrash singer Tiernan Banks. "Just simple and beautiful guitar parts and to be really bare. To be...less." Swiftly following Return, the band initially had no plans to make a full length. "The last thing we felt like doing was making another album," says bassist Patrick Fitzgerald. "It was like, 'let's do this little EP that's aesthetically quite different and pared down'." Less was always planned to be a statement in reduction but it soon became apparent that the songs the band were writing were significant, personal and, despite the intentions to strip things back, bigger. "As time went on, we started putting much more emotional weight into it and it became more important to us," says Banks. The result is a record that is as powerful and potent as it is tender and introspective, with arrangements that manage to feel refined yet detailed and with a deep emotional resonance at the core of the record. Banks' voice shifts from hushed whispers to guttural screams, one minute tapping into the kind of fragile beauty that artists like Elliott Smith managed so well, on tracks such as 'Duffy's' before unleashing a doom metal growl in thundering unison with the band on 'Empty Heavy'. The record has confirmed early press support from a number of UK publications, including a 4-page print feature in Loud & Quiet, a feature in Line of Best Fit, and early indications of support from Stereogum and a number of other U.S. publications too. A radio campaign will also be run for the second single 'Duffy's' and we expect support from BBC 6 Music, Apple Music and other tastemaker stations

Nach seinem Debütalbum 'Are You Happy Now?' aus dem Jahr 2020 meldet sich Nile Marr aus Manchester mit seiner zweiten LP 'Lonely Hearts Killers' zurück. 'Ich habe wieder angefangen, all die Bands zu hören, die mich dazu gebracht haben, Songs zu schreiben, wie die Lilys und Neil Finn. Da ich während des Lockdowns nicht live spielen konnte, habe ich mich mehr auf das Songwriting konzentriert als auf 'Ich weiß, dass das bei unseren Live-Shows funktioniert', daher habe ich das Gefühl, dass sich dieses Album in jeder Hinsicht von meinem vorherigen unterscheidet', sagt Marr. Für Fans von Broken Social Scene, Big Star und Elliott Smith erscheint 'Lonely Hearts Killers' auf umweltfreundlichem Vinyl bei Oldham Street Records.

Ever dream you're in a spaceship on a never-ending journey to an unknowable destination? That's how Nyles Lannon often thought of life in the early part of the pandemic, when time seemed to stand still, before the vaccines or even knowing when there might be any. But whether that spaceship is a desolate prison or a vessel for escaping to a better world depends on how you use it. With literally nowhere to go, the Film School guitarist and his then-12-year-old son Skye, on drums and modular synths, would jam most evenings in Nyles's home studio, just to have something to focus their minds on and counter the tedium of "remote learning." What started out as a way to keep his talented kid busy became a means to process the anxiety and disorientation of that strange, scary stretch of time. The result is Vanishing, a ten-song album of moody melodies, new wave beats, droney rock, and even an electrogroove instrumental interlude, by the father-son project they named Nyte Skye.

The emotional toll of lockdown, our collective grief, the literal darkness that engulfed the sky thanks to devastating wildfires brought on by climate crisis—these are heavy subjects, but the songs also convey how we managed to keep each other sane, and inspired, through it all. Film School devotees will find plenty to love; so will fans of the Police (Stewart Copeland being one of Skye's major

influences), the Cure, Spiritualized, and Elliott Smith. The album's opener, "Dream State (I'm Vanishing)," is a wistful synth-driven indie gem about disappearing into an alternate universe where worries don't exist. "Doing Time," with its massive washes of 12-string guitar and sophisticated syncopated beat, is a shoegazey meditation on holding onto a child's sanguine outlook in the face of adversity. If dream pop track "Take Me Up Again" is the album's bounciest, its counterpoint is "Faded," whose bittersweet melody and gentle rhythm bely themes of physical and emotional frailty.

Ultimately, not only did working on Vanishing help the duo cope with a uniquely challenging situation, but just being stuck at home helped stoke their creativity. "Music was the only thing I did during the pandemic, besides online school," Skye says. "It gave us all this time we didn't have before to make the album." For Nyles—knowing they might never have that kind of time again—to be able to put out a record with his son is, simply, "a dream come true."

Vanishing was written, recorded, and produced by Nyles Lannon and Skye Lannon and mixed by Dan Long, with additional contributions from Zach Rogue (Rogue Wave), Nichole Kreglow (backup vocals), lyricist Neil Rodenmeyer (Lupa Rosa), and Ian McDonald (FUTRVST).

New for 2023 Metal Blade Records reissues the brilliant third album from OSI, featuring Jim Matheos (Fates Warning), Kevin Moore (ex Dream Theater, Chroma Key) and Gavin Harrison (Porcupine Tree, King Crimson) on drums throughout. The album also features a guest appearance from Mikael Åkerfeldt (Opeth) on "Stockholm", which the Swedish musician composed together with the two O.S.I. masterminds, and also included are three bonus tracks, one of which is a harmonic cover of Elliott Smith's "Christian Brothers". In 'Blood', O.S.I. have succeeded in creating a lasting album at the crossroads between rock and progressive metal. Music that alternates between atmospherically dense and aggressively demanding elements, while effortlessly transcending barriers between different styles and genres.

New for 2023 Metal Blade Records reissues the brilliant third album from OSI, featuring Jim Matheos (Fates Warning), Kevin Moore (ex Dream Theater, Chroma Key) and Gavin Harrison (Porcupine Tree, King Crimson) on drums throughout. The album also features a guest appearance from Mikael Åkerfeldt (Opeth) on "Stockholm", which the Swedish musician composed together with the two O.S.I. masterminds, and also included are three bonus tracks, one of which is a harmonic cover of Elliott Smith's "Christian Brothers". In 'Blood', O.S.I. have succeeded in creating a lasting album at the crossroads between rock and progressive metal. Music that alternates between atmospherically dense and aggressively demanding elements, while effortlessly transcending barriers between different styles and genres.

Stay What You Are is the breakout third studio album by the American alternative rock band Saves The Day. Produced by Rob Schnapf (Elliot Smith, Beck, The Vines) in early 2001 it's a record that remains incredibly influential within the emo and rock scene to

this day, showcasing the band's signature blend of upbeat catchy melodies, with dark lyrical undertones. Features the standout singles 'At Your Funeral' and 'Freakish'.

Originally released on July 10th 2001, the album saw Saves The Day crack the Billboard 200 at the same time other that emo acts like Jimmy Eat World and Dashboard Confessional were enjoying mainstream success.

This new pressing comes on double 10" splatter vinyl, packaged in a hand-numbered gatefold sleeve with lyrics and accompanying insert; released via Hassle Records for the UK/EU in conjunction with Vagrant Records to celebrate their 25th Anniversary.

Dylan Owen's breakout mixtape 'Keep Your Friends Close' is on vinyl for
the first time to celebrate its 10 year anniversary
It features remastered, reworked versions of his classic songs that his diehard
fans love. Dylan's listeners have tattooed his meaningful lyrics, shared heartfelt
messages with him about what these songs mean, and streamed this album over
4 million times on Spotify. The album is pressed on turquoise blue colored vinyl,
includes a download card that links to a free digital zine created by Dylan with the
help of his fans, and includes a pullout square poster sheet. Dylan has shared
stages with: Mac Miller, Logic, Watsky, Ceschi, Patrick Droney, The Doppelgangaz,
and has collaborated with Abhi the Nomad, Watsky, Skinny Atlas, Telli of
Ninjasonik, and more. His lyrical, raw honest songwriting style has been
compared in the press to alternative icons Conor Oberst and Elliott Smith.Pressed
on Turquoise Blue color vinyl.

Back in stock !

First Word Records is very proud to present a brand new full-length album from Kaidi Tatham. 'It's A World Before You'.

Following on from two EPs released on First Word last year ('Changing Times' and 'Hard Times'), Kaidi has delivered us thirteen tracks that deftly illustrate his various talents as a multi-instrumentalist.

Kaidi is probably best known for his work with Bugz In The Attic, though his musical contributions over the years have also included Amy Winehouse, Slum Village, Mulatu Astatke, Soul II Soul, Moonchild, Leroy Burgess, Amp Fiddler, Chris Dave, Macy Gray, King Britt, DJ Spinna, Mr Scruff and IG Culture to name but a few! In recent times, he's worked with DJ Jazzy Jeff on a variety of projects, including his most recent album 'M3', touring Europe for Jeff and Will Smith's reunion shows, and on the PLAYlist album 'Chasing Goosebumps', with Glenn Lewis, Stro Elliot (The Roots), Masego, Maimouna Youssef, Rich Medina, Daniel Crawford and more.

All this in addition to heating up dances around Europe with his inimitable DJ sets, and working heavily with First Word label-mate, Eric Lau (who also mixed this album) on a variety of projects, and adding releases to his already impressive catalogue on 2000 Black, Eglo and Theo Parrish's Sound Signature, with regular compadre, Dego (who features on the album's title track).

This album personifies Kaidi's diverse palette of sounds - bar Eric & Dego's features, every piece of music is played by himself. Largely flowing on a broken beat rhythm section, Kaidi effortlessly incorporates washes of afro, latin and funk throughout. From the harmonics of 'Your Dream Don't Mean A Thing', to the breakneck funk of 'Outta Audah', each and every riddim exudes energy. But this isn't simply a bruk record. The album is laced together with downtempo beats and future jazz interludes throughout, and some sweet synth boogie is never very far away, especially on the weighty vibes of 'It's About Who You Know'. To top it all off, there's two delightful nuggets of hip hop soul - Mancunian label-mates, Children of Zeus, feature on the neo-soul vibes of 'Out Here On My Own', and there's a feature from Amir Townes, better known as Uhmeer - an upcoming MC from Philadelphia, and son of one Jazzy Jeff Townes - who rides a sub-heavy, piano-led slice of boom bap, voicing an assortment of characters to tell the tale of 'Cupid'.

'It's A World Before You' is set to cause serious damage to sound-systems over the Summer, and show and prove once again the skills of one of the UK's best unsung musical talents, Kaidi Tatham.

One of the most distinctive recordings of the early 2000s, Jon Brion's one
and only solo album Meaningless is a master course in power popinspired art rock songwriting and production
Uniting psychedelic rock, classic songwriters, tape loop soundscapes, and
chiming folk jangle, the record offers a vivid backdrop for Brion's wry
observations on love, reality, and the elusive quality of meaning €"all that plus a
mind-bending Cheap Trick cover. More than two decades later, its emotional core
remains undiminished by year's spent in the major label wringer, both before and
after its creation. Like his work with artists including Aimee Mann, Fiona Apple,
and Elliott Smith, Brion's songs offer depth and resonance, and like his
soundtrack work on films like Magnolia, Punch Drunk Love, I Heart Huckabees,
and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, its scope is widescreen. Remastered
and artist approved, Meaningless can finally be heard the way Brion intended.

Dreamers is the new project from the legendary British saxophonist and composer Mark Lockheart featuring Elliot Galvin (Dinosaur, Elliot Galvin Trio), Tom Herbert (Polar Bear, The Invisible) and Dave Smith (Robert Plant). Stylistically free and psychedelic in nature, the release of Dreamers signals a new trajectory for the musician who has already featured on a wide ranging and diverse catalogue of albums including Radiohead's Kid A. As a founding member of Loose Tubes and Polar Bear, Mark Lockheart has always remained ahead of the curve and has constantly explored new directions in his own music. Dreamers epitomises this adaptation and evolution, allowing the music to speak beyond the boundaries of genre and predictability. Mark has created an album which is direct and unpretentious but also surprising and unexpected.

Jackie Cohen decided the only way forward was to succumb to crisis, to
relax into it instead of fighting, to find beauty even in the flame an
approach that fuels her sublime new album, Pratfall
Because of the record's pandemic origins, Cohen was only aided in studio by two
collaborators: her husband, Foxygen's Jonathan Rado, and engineer Rias Reed.
"We were a tight pod," she laughs. The three musicians holed up at Sonora
Recorders in Los Angeles, tapping into the studio's vaulted ceilings and haunted
feeling to amplify Cohen's widescreen songwriting. "Elliott Smith recorded some
stuff there, and it always seemed like there was a ghost banging around in there,
turning lights on and off," she says, before adding a cheery followup: "Shakira
recorded there too, can't forget another 5'2" icon." On Pratfall, Cohen renders both
extremes of that range of experience in warm, inviting indie pop. "I didn't want to
write a dirge inspired by the darkest moments of my life, I wanted a cathartic
moment, to experience the emotion and build from it," Cohen says. "This record is
a climax where everything becomes explosive and you can just close your eyes,
give in, and dance it off."
LP Tracks: Two Days / Coup De Grace / The Valley / Pratfall / Ghost Story /
Moonstruck / Dire Love / Lost Without Fear / Some Days / Extra Credit / Scraps
Of Love

The stunning third album from Wyldest - aka London singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Zoe Mead. Taking cues from the vulnerable and honest songwriting of Elliott Smith to the melodic indie-pop of Soccer Mommy and Hovvdy, Feed The Flowers Nightmares is something of a coming of age moment and with co-production from Luciano Rossi (Idlewild, Dama Scout) the LP is set to further establish Wyldest as a quietly prolific, multi-faceted and increasingly assured talent.

On High Flying Man, the third LP by Matt Berry’s pseudo-eponymous project The Berries, loss and desire take center stage. Berry delves deep into 21st century malaise, crafting densely layered songs which project an unshakable yearning for deliverance from the world’s shortcomings. Each track extends an outstretched palm towards universal connection, blending a complex of mix of pop hooks, rock swagger, and psychedelia into dejected populist anthems. Faced with the perils of an isolating world, High Flying Man reignites the tradition of great American songwriting, speaking in the voice of the longing masses. At heart, Berry demands more life, rejecting both arty cynicism and nostalgic escapism.

Berry cut his teeth at a young age playing in the bands Happy Diving (Topshelf Records) and Big Bite (Pop Wig), and has since regularly served as a touring member for bands like Angel Dust and Dark Tea. His early work with Happy Diving and Big Bite solidified his position as an upcoming star in the world of fuzzed-out indie rock, earning him tours and opening slots with the likes of Turnstile, Dinosaur Jr., Nothing, The Swirlies, and The Coathangers. With The Berries, however, Berry turns the Big Muffs down (although not off), creating sonic space to stretch his wings as a burgeoning pop songwriter. The psychedelic-surrealist textures of his earlier output are not gone, per say, but rather find themselves folded into more expansive, rock-oriented arrangements, becoming accoutrements as opposed to the driving force of each song itself.

High Flying Man follows The Berries’ previous releases, 2018’s Start All Over Again and 2019’s Berryland. While longtime listeners will undoubtedly recognize Berry’s disaffected drawl and melodic sensibility, High Flying Man’s complex arrangements and expansive sonic landscape place it well apart from its predecessors. Berry enlisted live band members Danny Paul (drums), Emma Danner (backing vocals), and Lance Umble (bass) during the recording of High Flying Man, as well as the mixing talents of Rob Schnapf (Elliott Smith, Beck, Guided by Voices), breaking from the self-produced home recording ethos of the previous Berries LPs. The collaborative nature of High Flying Man’s recording process is reflected in the quality of each song’s arrangement. Freed from the pressure of being individually responsible for every detail committed to tape, Berry was able to focus his attention more fully on the creative demands of constructing a dynamic and cohesive record. High Flying Man pivots away from any sort of obvious nod to Americana tropes, baggy British attitude, or Neil Young-esque riffing, leaning head on into a lush, idiosyncratic grandeur.

Each track evokes the irreverent and flashy style of a songwriting voice finding itself for the first time. Berry’s guitar heroics extend towards new heights, channeling the simple pop mastery of Lindsay Buckingham (“Prime”) and the wicked emotion of a 21st century “November Rain” (“High Flying Man”). Unusual stylistic juxtapositions give certain songs an almost timeless quality: Bert Jansch-esque crooning finds its counterpoint in sweeping, distortion-soaked riffs (“A Drop of Rain”), the primitive rhythms of Amon Duul are given an arena-sized, Britpop facelift (“Life’s Blood”). On High Flying Man, however, the ballad reigns supreme. “Down That Road Again” drips with sentimentality, powered by soft, undeniable pop melodies and pared-down chord progressions. Album-centerpiece “Eagle Eye” teeters between pure grace and extreme sorrow, unfolding into a massive, immediately memorable tide of melancholic beauty.

Lyrically, High Flying Man is both simple and direct. Although often bitter about the state of the world, Berry has no overtly political axe to grind. In some instances, he takes jabs at the moral laziness of aging millennials, expressing his yearning for a return to vitality and conviction (“Prime”). In other instances, Berry turns his criticism inwards, examining his longing for a better life and his repeated tendency to self-sabotage (“Down That Road Again”). These two poles balance each other out, creating a thematic tenor which is more so self-implicating and empathetic than critical. If anyone is to blame, it is the world we have been saddled with, not the people left to pick up its pieces. Although often personal, Berry’s words evoke a universal experience of continued belief in the face of loss. “High Flying Man” chronicles the growing distance between Berry and an old friend who has been shipwrecked by the weight of trauma, evoking the sorrow of trying to love someone who is no longer able to keep up with reality. Even the most somber passages of “Eagle Eye” (“long before I become aware of it, my friend/it’s 6 AM and I’m gonna die”) find their redemption in a burning devotion towards something worth living for (“If there’s one thing I can depend on/it’s my old friend/my shining light/my eagle eye”).

With High Flying Man, Matt Berry embraces undying love in the face of isolation. Daring to want more life becomes a spiritual rallying cry against a world that has failed to make life either meaningful or beautiful. At their core, these songs are not about revolution, but they are about the faith that gives something like revolution a purpose in the first place.

FOR FANS OF: Big Thief, Parquet Courts, Cate Le Bon, Elliott Smith, LVL UP. On their debut for Western Vinyl, recording engineer and multi-instrumentalist Nate Mendelsohn and his band use lyrical maximalism for the powers of good. Where Market’s previous home recorded releases shifted genre restlessly, on The Consistent Brutal Bullshit Gong Mendelsohn took a core band of longtime collaborators to a house in rural Massachusetts where they carved out space for his words to speak through with humor and intensity. Though he comes from a background in experimental music, Mendelsohn’s ear for pop has prevailed. Certain moments on Bullshit Gong reveal his stranger side, as on the thundering bridge of “Scar,” which sounds like a more unhinged Parquet Courts, or the angular “I Would Do That,” which takes cues from Cate Le Bon. On the whole, though, this band of close friends insists on directness, their arrangements clear despite the intricacies. Guitars and synthesizers tangle fluidly atop the rhythm section’s tight bedrock, evoking the tenderness and backbeat-centric qualities of Elliott Smith or Big Thief. After college, where he met most of the members of Market, Mendelsohn became an engineer and producer at the Brooklyn studio Figure 8 Recording. Through that community he’s recorded artists like Frankie Cosmos and Wendy Eisenberg, and played with Yaeji, Vagabon, Katie Von Schleicher (who co-produced Bullshit Gong with him), and Sam Evian, who mixed the album. Creating intimacy out of manic self-reflection requires a delicate balancing act, one Mendelsohn tackles with abandon. His words never skew too poetic or grandiose, and when he invokes the ugly it’s met with a sonic tonality that sets him right again. In tender moments, his voice is often flanked by bandmates Natasha Thweatt or Von Schleicher, who help skew his words toward the universal. Still, Bullshit Gong is an obsessive look inward, one in which Mendelsohn simply asks himself if he is good to those he loves. It’s an act of trust between the artist and the imagined listener he takes with him. UK press campaign by Silver PR. Mendelsohn has worked in the studio as an engineer and musician with Frankie Cosmos, Yaeji, Sam Evian, Wendy Eisenberg, Thor Harris, Rebecca Black, in addition to touring as a member of Katie Von Schleicher’s band. Market developed a cult following emerge after being championed by British comedian James Acaster, who featured the band’s first album in his book Perfect Sound Forever and his follow-up podcast for BBC Sounds.

RIYL: Velvet Underground, Lou Reed, Nick Cave, Patti Smith, Leonard Cohen, Iggy Pop, Radiohead & Tom Waits. "If you have never heard the Doctors of Madness, you should. Musically they are the Velvet Underground, New York Dolls with shades of glam, hippie, prog and punk all rolled into one, yet are still totally original. Vastly underrated, they should have been huge. Pure genius" Vic Reeves…. The DOM are “the missing link between David Bowie & The Sex Pistols” (The Guardian May 2017). Exploding onto the music scene in 1975 with their theatrical, William Burroughs-inspired Sci-fi nightmare, they were misunderstood by many, but those who knew understood the importance of the band’s dangerous, uncompromising approach to lyrics, to music and to performance. Among the many fans of the band were acts as diverse as The Damned, Vic Reeves, Joe Elliott of Def Leppard, Spiritualized, Julian Cope, The Adverts, The Skids and Simple Minds. The Sex Pistols supported them, so did The Jam & Joy Division. They were the first to combine the avant-garde approach of The Velvet Underground with a distinctly European aesthetic. The blue hair, exotic stage-names, the lyrical themes of urban decay, political propaganda, mind control and madness were all taken up by the punk bands who followed in their wake. The DOM were trailblazers, pioneers, adventurers…pushing the boundaries of rock music and theatre to see how far it would go before it bust. What happened after them was due, in no small part, to what they achieved in 3 short years. They may not have been Jesus Christ, but they were, arguably, John the Baptist!!! Now, 40 years after they imploded, they are back…with an album seething with lyrical anger and passion. It is the most potent and incisive musical dissection of modern life and contemporary politics released the decade. With tracks titles like “So Many ways To Hurt You”, “Sour Hour”, “Make It Stop!” and the ground-breaking sonic assault of the title track “Dark Times”, Richard “Kid” Strange proves once again that he has his finger firmly on the pulse of our times, just as he had when he founded the band in 1974. Produced by John Leckie (Radiohead, Stone Roses, Pink Floyd), the new album, Dark Times, features contributions from Joe Elliott (Def Leppard), Sarah Jane Morris (Communards), Terry Edwards (PJ Harvey, Nick Cave etc), Steve ‘Boltz’ Bolton (The Who, Scott Walker) and the young protest singer Lily Bud, alongside the current thrilling and thunderous DOM rhythm section of Susumu Ukei (bass guitar) & Mackii Ukei (drums) of the Japanese extreme glam-metal band Sister Paul, and Dylan O Bates (violin and keyboards). Julian Cope, another rock star who, like Strange, found the confines of music too tight for his ambition, his energy and his imagination, was blown away when he first heard the songs, declaring, “These Dark Times are enormously informing: the RULES OF THE FUTURE are indeed being forged right now”. Top producer Martyn Ware (Human League/Heaven 17) said the album “…reminds me of Iggy Pop’s Kill City album – love it.” and Biba Kopf (The Wire) declared, “Still listening to new DOM album with immense interest and pleasure”. The first single, Make It Stop!, is an impassioned howl against the global drift to right wing extremism and persecution of minorities, and is already a live showstopper for the band. It features the thrilling cross-generational combination of Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott and Lily Bud on backing vocals. In the period since the last DOM gig in 1978, Richard has written a memoir, collaborated on a cantata with internationally celebrated composer Gavin Bryars, worked as an actor on films with Tim Burton, Martin Scorsese, Harmony Korine & Jack Nicholson, toured the world in a Russian version of Hamlet with James Nesbitt as his grave-digging co-star, played Glastonbury, sung baritone in the British premiere of Frank Zappa’s200 Motels at the Royal Festival Hall, directed a multi-media evening celebrating the life and work of William Burroughs, won Best Art Film Prize at the Portobello Film Festival last year, had his own live talk show, worked with Tom Waits and Marianne Faithfull on the William Burroughs/Robert Wilson stage play The Black Rider, curated events for the Tate Gallery, and sung Walt Disney songs with Jarvis Cocker.

Danish singer-songwriter Soren Munk releases his debut solo album Purr Show on 15 April 2022 via Navarino Records.Soren also travels the world as a cameraman for Channel 4 News, and the album was written and recorded in between trips to cover some of the major global events of recent times, from the war in Mali to the Taliban resurgence in Afghanistan

Soren also co- wrote the much- loved theme tune to the hit animated TV series Charlie and Lola – which is currently trending on TikTok with millions of views.Despite the nature of his news work, the songwriting on Purr Show has a more private focus, dealing in intimate but ambiguous moments of love and loss.

Melodic and intense, the album has elements of Dream Pop, Slowcore and classic songwriting, while the blend of electric guitars, analogue synths and vocals draws on the work of artists that combine restraint and power, such as Neil Young, Low, Big Star and Elliot Smith. Soren worked with Andy Ramsay from Stereolab to record the album, and Jimmie Robertson (Depeche Mode, Arctic Monkeys) during the mixing Soren explains, “I wanted to create slow pop songs. Romantic and melodic but with an edge of strangeness that makes them harder to pin down. That's the music I respond to – things that are assertive but fragile at the same time. Where every element counts.”Soren drew together a strong lineup of musicians and collaborators, including guitarists Garo Nahoulakian (Emiliana Torrini, Gaz Coombes, Piney Gir) and Nick 'Growler' Fowler (Gaz Coombes, Luke Haines); a Danish rhythm section of drummer Nikolaj Bjerre (Lamb) and bassist Andreas Jensen (Dub Pistols); and
pianist Tom Dyson (co-writer of the Charlie and Lola theme). Soren's vocals are often combined on the songs with the soft alto of backing singer Emma Faulkner, creating a sense of something confidential, like snatches of pillow talk.

Nile Marr is the son of former Smiths guitarist and current solo artist
Johnny Marr and his wife Angela
He was named for one of his father's musical heroes, Chic's Nile Rodgers. Marr
started out as a solo artist, then as a duo with American singer- songwriter
Meredith Sheldon, and then in the trio Man Made, alongside drummer Scott
Griffiths and bassist Callum Rogers, with future tour manager for Blossoms, Dan
Woolfie, as their sound engineer. They released their debut album TV Broke My
Brain in 2016, although its constituent songs were written over a period of eight
years. Marr released a debut solo album in 2020, titled Are You Happy Now? 'Part
Time Girl' was released as its first single in 2019. 'Are You Happy Now?' followed
in June 2020. An EP, Still Hearts, was released on 24 April, 2020. 'Still Hearts' was
its first single. Aside from the title track, there are two other tracks: 'Hush' and
'The Pusher'. Marr added acoustic guitar and backing vocals on 7 Worlds Collide's
2009 album The Sun Came Out. He has also appeared on two of his father's
albums: on 2013"s The Messenger he plays as a soloist, while on 2014"s Playland
he adds backing vocals. Marr has toured extensively with German film score
composer and record producer Hans Zimmer. His influences include John
Martyn, Fugazi and Elliott Smith.