The notorious London White vinyl only project is back. This time round tracks selected by Gareth Wild. This cut through VA sees excellent additions to the series via standout material from Gareth Wild, SP-X, Kessell and exciting London based newcomer End Train. Tried and tested, dance floor killers >
Being played and supported by the likes of: Marcel Dettmann, Jonas Kopp, Kwartz, Dax J, Rodhad, Etapp Kyle, DJ Pete, Aiken, Rem Co, and Peter Van Hoesen.
Label boss Cali Lanauze is joined once again by Jonny Cruz to deliver the fifth release of Opulence's catalogue.
The duo perfectly demonstrates through the 'Flyg EP' the versatility and sounds that Opulence brings to the table: Deep, Trippy, Dark, Groovy & more.
Taking on remix duties of Cali Lanauze & Jonny Cruz's originals, Germany's legendary Roman Flügel delivers a dark warehouse electronica roller remix of 'Flyg', whilst Disco Halal head honcho Moscoman delivers a deep summer instrumental interpretation of 'May The Wind Always Be At Your Back'.
Die Beta Band war eine britische Musikgruppe, die ihren
eigenen Stil als Folktronic bezeichnete, was eine Mischung aus
Folk, Rock 'n' Roll, Trip Hop und hemmungslos
experimentellem Jammen darstellt.
Die Beta Band wurde 1996 in der Nähe von Edinburgh von
den Musikern Steve Mason (Gesang, Gitarre) und Gordon
Anderson gegründet. Als sie gemeinsam Songs für ihre Debüt-
EP Champion Versions verfassten, stießen mit Robin Jones
(Schlagzeug) und John MacLean (DJ, Sampler, Keyboard-
Pianist) noch zwei weitere Mitglieder hinzu. Im Juli 1997
veröffentlichten sie die von Nick McCabe produzierte EP
Champion Versions, die von Kritikern vor allem aufgrund des
innovativen "Cut'n'Paste"- Sample-Konzepts umjubelt wurde.
Zwei ähnliche EPs folgten bald darauf: The Patty Patty Sound
im März des folgenden Jahres und Los Amigos del Beta
Bandidos im Juli. Alle drei erschienen im September 1998
unter dem passend gewählten Titel The Three EP's in einer
Kollektion.
"The Room", Fenster's fourth album and their first release on Altin Village & Mine marks the beginning of a new chapter for the band. After releasing three albums, a feature length film, and touring extensively throughout Europe and North America since 2012, "The Room" serves as an entry point into their sonic evolution. The essential characteristic of the band is transformation - within and between genres, albums, and songs. Their sound is a window framing psychedelic, groovy, hypnogogic, playful pop.
Fenster is Elias Hock (Germany), Jonathan Jarzyna (Germany), Lucas Ufo (France) and JJ Weihl (USA). Their mission in creating this album was to compose and arrange every song together in a room. It is an experiment in collective creativity that pushed all of them to transcend their individuality and create something together which is greater than the sum of its parts.
The songs were tracked live in a house where the band ate, slept, and played together. Often the songs were recorded without implementing a click track. They were intent on finding and locking into a human groove—one open to imperfection—while still maintaining a tightness between them. They wanted to make the songs feel alive—as if the listener were present in the room with them in the moment of creation.
The album's title track "The Room" opens the record like a rollercoaster ride. There is a tension in the first bars that ties us to earth, a minimal riff that guides us to the first chorus where we feel we are slowly lifting into the air—and by the time we reach the second chorus it has exploded into a space far away from the planet's gravitational pull.
The band's use of juxtaposition is not just a way of channeling a vast library of musical genres and concepts, it is a means of expression. Combining tender pop melodies with kraut-beats, disco grooves and psychedelia frees the band from any one sound and creates a genre all its own.
This playfulness is especially vibrant in songs like "Rhythm A" and "HAHA lol" which deconstruct and fuse together disparate moments of explosive rock, tender harmonies, percussion made of splashing water, voices from a radio, and electric piano. Even "Feel Better", a sparkly pop ballad is cracked wide open by a long trippy interlude that appears unexpectedly within an otherwise classic structure.
The cover art, created by the band's own Lucas Ufo, invites us into a room in the shape of a human skull. If one looks "out" the window in the picture, one finds oneself looking in to an infinite portal of rooms within rooms. The record plays a lot with this idea of perception. In "HBW", the relationship between the bass and the drums creates the feeling of an infinity loop. The lyrics lend an enigmatic tint to the landscape of so called objective reality v. perceived reality: "I was a phase — you were going through — said I was the one but there is no one — there's only the sun — that gives shape to the moon"
The record starts with "The Room" and ends with "Two Doors". Maybe one door is an exit, and one leads to another room... who knows The song has something mysterious and expansive, like a digital ocean flooding the room, carrying everything away. The whole process of making a record is about capturing a moment in time. This is the record they made - in this point in time, all together, in a room. The last words of the record roll out with the waves: "What you leave behind for someone else to find — Two doors inside — neither one is right"
Tracklisting
'Garage bands suddenly obtain cult status and become the antithesis of their initial appeal'
Garage Class were a group of reluctant outliers who produced one of the finest contributions to the wave of UK DIY music that emerged during the late 70s and early to mid-80s.
Hailing from Alsager in North West England and comprised of Tim Shutt (vocals) Phil Murphy (lead guitar) Clive Williams (guitar) Lynne Sanders (bass) and Phil Bourne (drums / bass on studio recordings) Garage Class originally went by the name of The Pits before their then manager Steve Hurt imposed an alias which, though unpopular within their ranks, would nevertheless reflect the shambolic art they would eventually capture on their first and only single.
As The Pits the group offered a loutish inflection on glam-punk flamboyance, evoking Johnny Thunder hitting the north and remaining disowned yet undeterred in a dreary old boozer. But as Garage Class the group distilled a roughcast and homespun primitivism that felt quintessentially their own. In this they proved too unruly to be assimilated into any wider scene. Early gigs descended into acrimony and recognition proved elusive. Yet what they managed to make back then now sounds like an extraordinary article of underdog ambition.
Released in 1984, four years after it was originally recorded, the Terminal Tokyo single is an unlikely triumph of exceptional messthetic punk. Though raw and unpolished the songs here are precariously pop-minded and indisputably anthemic. The titular A-side reveals the dry and detached drawl of Shutt aka The Subliminal Kid, a sharp, jaded and poetic voice that has some of the most iconic lines never heard in punk. Accompanied by second-hand guitars, on-the-fly handclaps and a chorus like a terrace chant this is the cult hit that never was, a heroically artless masterpiece that has all the ragged character and misfit euphoria of Swell Maps and The Buzzcocks if they were more impulsive and boisterous, and left to their own devices in the remote margins of a Cheshire town. The original B-side is here substituted for I Got Standards, a track that, until now, has somehow remained unreleased. An ideal twin to Terminal Tokyo there's the same brusque and dog-eared quality to the band's delivery, as well as the same upfront emphasis on strong hooks and insistent momentum. Yet again, Shutt is on impeccable form, perfecting an inflated, adolescent antagonism that has all the sardonic, malcontented charm of similarly 'shirty' buggers like Dan Treacy (Television Personalities), Patrik Fitzgerald and Mark Perry (Alternative TV).
Although never accepted in their own time both tracks represent a brief but inspired moment of fervent imperfection, one that epitomized the best of a diffuse and autonomous underground movement spearheaded by The Desperate Bicycles and built upon by the likes of Amos & Sara, The Homosexuals, The Cleaners From Venus and Family Fodder. Like them Garage Class were situated at a point where punk, art, humour and a sense of stubborn independence all intersected.
In the years since Terminal Tokyo has accumulated a retrospective appeal among certain trusted circles, with Jon Dale celebrating the single in his exhaustive and essential Story of UK DIY for Fact Magazine, and original copies regularly changing hands for a foolish forty quid or so. With this inaugural release on the Outer Reaches label Terminal Tokyo is not only restored for the very first time but given a worthy expansion courtesy of JD Twitch (Optimo).
Continuing his own fascination with the fringe history of UK DIY - documented on his own outstanding compilation Cease & Desist: DIY! (Cult Classics From The Post Punk Era 1978-1982) and in his re-edits of Crass Records classics for an early release on RVNG INTL - Twitch reinterprets I Got Standards as an incisive, dubwise outing that pictures Jaki Liebezeit and Muslimgauze on a bender in England's provinces, tasked with remixing the raw product of local punks. A new slant on Garage Class' crude magnificence, built to play loud on contemporary soundsystems.
Although the latter part of 1980 spelled the end for Garage Class with members moving on to other projects (Bourne fell in with The Colours Out of Time, Murphy went on to front The Regular Guys and Shutt eventually left to form Happy Refugees) this reissue attempts to give their fleeting time together and the unique single statement they made the treatment it deserves. If this means Garage Class have obtained cult status, their initial appeal remains. Just listen for yourself.
Children Of Tomorrow will celebrate soon its 10 years anniversary. The label was created by Emmanuel Ternois back in the day and being joined by Arnaud Le Texier in 2011. Since then they focused on Techno producing amazing artists, to name few: Terrence Dixon, Zadig, Tensal, Antigone, Oscar Mulero, Jonas Kopp, Samuli Kemppi etc... Children Of Tomorrow is now presenting the first album from Arnaud Le Texier. After almost 30 years Dj-ing around the world and almost 20 years producing. Signing many releases over the years and always busy delivering dance floor releases, it's been a long wait to finally get an album from ArnaudOn his first album we can feel that he wanted to tell a story and to express something deeper with his production experience. There is a different variety of Techno that stretches from ambient / broken beat / hypnotic / raw Techno along with subtles grooves, wondrous atmospheres & sonic textures. On A side the album opens with Dusk, an ambient atmospheric mid-tempo track with sonic sounds that is a perfect intro.Pattern 2 starts with drones and blip sounds and a broken beat groove follows with a pad that sounds like a voice coming from the space. The track ends with some modular click sounds that make the whole track clever. Followed by the album title Granular Therapy, a deep techno track with modular bass line and melancholic pad. A perfect track to play in after or to warm up a party.The B Side is more dedicated to the dance floor with Black Nympheas that is a proper dark modern techno with a grinding bass line and magic drones. A simple beat makes the track evolve in a nice way. Blade Pass frequency is 4/4 effective Techno with a 909 kick, a syncope acid bass line and a pad that sends you to another dimension. It is a powerful track but with a sense of deepness and sensibility that Arnaud can achieve sometimes. This side closes with Binary Sun Dawn which is an ambient track with melody that has a jazz feeling mixed with dark atmospheres, sonic drones and water drops. The C side opens with Mono Driver, a minimal track with a little synth that stays until the end repetitively until it makes you travel and lose your mind. Deep and dance floor at the same time.
Then Snapper is a more percussive track with some shinning bells and a grinding modular bass line.
The last track Virgo Consortium is a cosmic broken beat with dark atmospheric drone, simple bass and phasing efx. The D Side starts with Midi overdub which is a beauty. A mix between ambient and broken beat. The pad has the deepness that transports you somewhere else with an angel choir on top. The beat is spacial and groovy at the same time with smart high hats. This reminds Arnaud's past ambient production but with a modern approach. Surely a special track of the album.
Hideous Engine is more dance floor with metallic bass line and 4'4 beat going towards a sonic pad that closes the track.The last track Dawn is ambient with drones and blip sounds and an acid bass line modulate. A perfect end of the album.This album is an accomplished journey that makes you dance and travel from dusk till dawn. Arnaud Le Texier shows a coherent vision and illustrates his vast diversity in the techno world. Hopefully we won't have to wait 20 years to get another one.
"It is not often that we hear STL's music reworked and in this instance, it was not an easy process, since the parts to the originals were unavailable, resulting in a uniquely interesting approach for this release.
Juniper lead the way on the A side, delivering two dynamic versions of Haze & Kraze. Dark and shuffly edits of the original that keep you drawn in from beginning to end.
On the B side, Fold reinterprets Hide & Seek into a low tempo dub house piece. Heavy on the low end. Lush with the pads. And suited for your warm ups. B2 sees Jonas Friedlich work a loose electronica / techno edit of Hide & Seek, complete with twists and surprises.
The first release on Standards & Practices since the widely acclaimed remixes of Talker's 'Battle Standards' EP (by Surgeon / Regis / Broken English Club) from late last year, 'Live From Frankfurter Strasse' represents the first recorded collaborative effort from Jonathan Krohn (Stave, also 1/2 of Talker) and Jan Grebenstein (Downwards, Horo).
Culled from recording sessions following several successful improvised live performances in San Francisco, Los Angeles, & Berlin, 'Live From Frankfurter Strasse' is 3 tracks of seismically powerful, industrial dub music that represents a new direction for the pair and is unquestionably some of their strongest material to date.
The twitchy, pared-to-the-bone opener 'Alfa' is at once vast and frighteningly claustrophobic, recalling the brutal, clinical precision of Mika Vainio & Ilpo Vaisanen's output, with a brilliantly tricky arrangement that continually pulls the rug out from under the listener - it's vertigo-inducing twists and turns are simultaneously disorienting and endlessly hypnotic. On the flip, the brooding, scorched-earth 'Stirn' & 'Verstarkerstufe' work at a much slower tempo, uncurling like a plume of smoke with a spacious, cerebral quality that occasionally brings to mind early Gescom.
The first release on Standards & Practices since the widely acclaimed remixes of Talker's 'Battle Standards' EP (by Surgeon / Regis / Broken English Club) from late last year, 'Live From Frankfurter Strasse' represents the first recorded collaborative effort from Jonathan Krohn (Stave, also 1/2 of Talker) and Jan Grebenstein (Downwards, Horo).
Culled from recording sessions following several successful improvised live performances in San Francisco, Los Angeles, & Berlin, 'Live From Frankfurter Strasse' is 3 tracks of seismically powerful, industrial dub music that represents a new direction for the pair and is unquestionably some of their strongest material to date.
The twitchy, pared-to-the-bone opener 'Alfa' is at once vast and frighteningly claustrophobic, recalling the brutal, clinical precision of Mika Vainio & Ilpo Vaisanen's output, with a brilliantly tricky arrangement that continually pulls the rug out from under the listener - it's vertigo-inducing twists and turns are simultaneously disorienting and endlessly hypnotic. On the flip, the brooding, scorched-earth 'Stirn' & 'Verstarkerstufe' work at a much slower tempo, uncurling like a plume of smoke with a spacious, cerebral quality that occasionally brings to mind early Gescom.
LP in printed innersleeve + download code. STUFF.'s highly anticipated new album is a cross genre groove, spanning broken hip-hop, electronica and jazz-influenced future funk, bringing forth a completely different and exciting sound.
STUFF.'s highly anticipated new album is a cross genre groove, spanning broken hip-hop, electronica and jazz-influenced future funk, bringing forth a completely different and exciting sound.
With fans that include Plaid, Kev Beadle, Kutmah, Lefto and Gilles Peterson, STUFF. began life in 2012 when drummer Lander Gyselinck was asked to play live music in-between DJ sets. Collecting together like-minded musician friends, they would keep the vibe of the room bubbling, with spaced-out jams and improvisation, taking elements of funk, RNB, electronica, jazz and hip-hop, forming their own compositions as a result.
Hotly tipped in Belgium as one of the country's brightest new hopes, they released their first EP the same year, which included the track D.O.G.G. and it caught the attention of bloggers, 22tracks and DJs across Paris and Brussels. Supports slots with D'Angelo and Robert Glasper soon followed and the band would go on to share the stage at the Dour Festival with Hiatus Koyote, Flying Lotus and Lefto.
In 2014, STUFF. were invited to perform a Boiler Room session for the prestigious global, online music broadcasting platform, the first European live band to do so.
The band's self-titled debut album, released in 2015, received critical acclaim, with the Belgian press citing the release as the "record of the year" and "the best thing that happened musically in Belgium since the last 25 years". Mastered by Daddy Kev (Flying Lotus, Thundercat, Jon Wayne), several tracks from the album received airplay on leading dance and electronica radio stations across Europe, and included support from Gilles Peterson on BBC Radio 6 Music and Phil Taggart on BBC Radio 1.
STUFF. have performed sold out shows across Europe and have gained a growing reputation for their explosive eclectic live sets, playing over 150 shows on such diverse stages as the North Sea Jazz Festival (Netherlands), Pukkelpop (Belgium), Secret Garden Party (UK), Shambala festival (UK), Dimensions (Croatia) and Fusion (Germany). The band were also personally invited by Gilles Peterson to perform at On Blackheath, London.
Accolades in Belgium include two MIA's (Belgian Music Industry Awards) for 'Best Musician' (Lander Gyselinck) and 'Best Artwork' (Rinus Van de Velde).
STUFF. are Andrew Claes (ewi/sax), Lander Gyselinck (drums), Joris Caluwaerts (keyboards), Dries Laheye (bas), Mixmonster Menno (turntables)
Le Matin, always rare and uncategorised, following the reissue of his early synthwavepop tunes on « poussière d'époque » and a track on the good Lena Wilikens' Dekmantel Selectors 005 comp, this new EP on Lost Dogs Ent. let you hear some of his last works. Expect an ultra-cold-minimal-electro riddim, a less-mental-nearly-good-for-the-dancefloor tune with depitched haunted r&b vocals, an analog and bassy arpeggio ride ... On the flip side, Oh My God ! This is the peak-time-for-weirdo-nearly-techno tune, a blast, only for craziest DJs that like broken-frustrated-uncomfortable dandefloors and to finish this well balanced 5 trackers : the « are you depressed that much It's the 10th time you're listening to this OST of a dying world, this won't get any better but at least this is good music ! » tune. Le Matin is a good kept secret that prefer to take care of his kids than to travel the world of nightclubbing with drunk teens (ok that's how it is in France, that looks better in some other countries), but sometime you can hear his music on decks of some wise people and DJs like Call Super, Lena Wilikens, House of Traps, Charles Drakeford, Jon K, Bergsonist, Body Motion...
Matt Edwards' reissue label R-Time Records presents 'After Dark' this September with three tracks from Mark The 909 King.
Following reissues of excellent music by Sir Lord Commix, FBK and Sanasol (Thor & Yagya), Rekids offshoot R-Time Records now presents definitive cuts from Mark The 909 King. Debuting with the timeless 'Can You Dig It!' on Sex Trax in '94, the producer went on to release via a number of New York house legend DJ Duke's labels throughout the mid-nineties. A huge fan of DJ Duke since the 90s, Matt Edwards even held a Sex Mania night at Berghain in 2009 featuring a rare DJ performance from the Duke himself.
Alongside tracks by Roy Davis JR and Trackman (Jon Cutler), 'After Dark' featured as part of a VA release on the label DJ Exclusive, whilst 'Into Space' landed on Rated X Records, and 'The Loft' appeared on the 'Can You Dig It' album via Power Music Records.
'After Dark' set the tone of the package with a piercing drum groove, airy arpeggios and a funky bassline, before cosmic synths and crunchy snares work alongside scintillating chords in 'Into Space.' Concluding the package, 'The Loft' begins with a hooky bass sequence and filtered effects before soothing melodies come into play.
Of all the releases on Italy's legendary Cramps Records, Raul Lovisoni and Francesco Messina's seminal LP from 1979 has long remained among the most beloved. Prati Bagnati Del Monte Analogo not only introduced the world to the work of two gifted composers, but also is notable for being produced by electronic pioneer Franco Battiato. A sister album to Prati Bagnati would be Giusto Pio's breathtaking Motore Immobile, likewise graced with the maestro's gentle hand around the same time.Lovisoni and Messina are both central figures within the Italian avant-garde. Part of a generation of artists who contributed to a radical rethinking of musical practices and composition, they reveal Minimalism as it's rarely known: delicate melodies, subtle harmonic interplay, incorporating diverse creative traditions and slowly giving way to an ever-expanding open space.Prati Bagnati Del Monte Analogo's meditative title track, inspired by René Daumal's surrealist novel Le Mont Analogue, features Messina on synthesizer and Michele Fedrigotti's impressionistic piano, while on Lovisoni's "Hula Om" and "Amon Ra," solo harp, crystal glasses and Juri Camisasca's radiant vocal drones further ascend into the stratosphere. Skirting the outer edges of ambient, new age and experimental music, Prati Bagnati has a transformative beauty unlike anything else.Superior Viaduct's edition reproduces the original sleeve design and is recommended for fans of Jon Hassell, Luciano Cilio and Popol Vuh.
Butter Sessions proudly presents the debut LP from label mainstay Cale Sexton. Last seen on the imprint with his club-minded EP East Link in 2016, Melondrama accumulates over 12 months work writing in studio.
Having taken a step back from live performance, the album is a marination of Sexton's musicianship, flexing his abilities as a bass-man, and incorporating live instrumentation and drenched arrangements to tell a vivid story. With the new found freedom of playing for himself, his inspired creations span electro-synth, deep milky way ambience and mutant drum machine funk. Produced as a solo act from the bass up, he's only accompanied on Previous Employee, with drums, synth and fx from Maryouss. His zonked imagination is brought to clarity by Corey Kikos' final mix, further animated via Ben Jones' sleeve design.
Full of emotion and adventure, the nine patiently durational earworms on Melondrama are a welcome antidote to the deluge of modern electronica that's designed for speed listening. Find a comfortable seat and let the mind travel.
Planet Mu Are Very Happy To Be Releasing 'vicious Circles', The Debut Ep By Sinjin Hawke And Zora Jones, Who Aside From Producing Music Also Run The Audio-visual Production Unit 'fractal Fantasy'. Zora Released Several Collaborations On Last Year's 'visceral Minds 2' Including 'dark Matter' With Planet Mu's Jlin, While Sinjin Has Collaborated With Dj Rashad, Just Blaze And Mikeq, And Also Produced Music For Monoliths Like Kanye West And Frank Ocean. Remarkably, Given The Breadth Of Their Work, 'vicious Circles' Is Their First Collaborative Ep, And The First Time Either Have Released A Vinyl Record Too. The Ep Is A Great Showcase For The Duo's Emotional, Maximalist Chimeras Of Abstract Pounding Beats. From The Punchy, Circular, Grandiose Build-ups Of Opener 'vicious Circles', To The Unyielding Melancholy Of 'god' With Its Sinister Bulgarian Choir Sample Against A Peak Timbaland-era Rhythm, The Record's Potent Synths And Manipulated Vocals Are Both Simultaneously Fierce And Friendly. 'source Of Conflict' Is A Poised Dance Between Pulsing Ambient Textures And Drilling Beats, While 'lurk 101' Pits A Volley Of Abstracted Juke Toms Up Against A Hammering Drumline. 'babyboysosa' Feels Like Drum-less Drill, Manipulating Vocals Into Strange Alien Shapes Over A Bassline Before Spiraling Toms And Hi-hats Start To Form A Forceful March. The Ep Concludes On The Love Anthem 'and You Were One' With A Chipmunked Vocal Running Through Its Wonky Chorus Of Bent Notes And Chords.
Matthew Halsall first met the La-based, spiritual jazz vocal legend, Dwight Trible(Kamasi Washington, Pharoah Sanders and Horace Tapscott) at the Joy of Jazz Festival in South Africa back in 2015, when a chance encounter backstage led to Trible sitting in with The Gondwana Orchestra for an impromptu reading of the classic Pharoah Sanders and Leon Thomas anthem 'The Creator Has A Master Plan'. In 2017 they released the deep, soulful Inspirationsalbum together (GOND017) but inspired by their first meeting Matt arranged some classic Pharoah tunes for Dwight to revisit. This then is The Gondwana Orchestra featuring Dwight Trible, Colors: a 4 track vinyl and digital only EP featuring brilliant new versions of Colors,The Creator Has a Master Plan, Love is Everywhereand You've Got to Have Freedomand featuring the Gondwana Orchestra with pianist Taz Modi, bassist Gavin Barras, drummer Jon Scott, harpist Rachel Gladwin and Matt himself on trumpet.
Packed in a distinctive bright orange Gondwana Records sleeve this is the second in a collectors series of spiritual jazz limited-edition EPs set for release in 2018 as part of Gondwana Records' 10th anniversary.
At first, it's difficult to pinpoint exactly what makes Our Girl so special, or why the Brighton-formed, London-based trio's music stands out within a busy crowd of fellow guitar-wielding-types. But if an explanation didn't jump out when they first emerged with a debut EP of mighty fuzz-soaked songs in November 2016, it surfaces with 'Stranger Today', a debut album of personal, emotional juggernauts that could have only been made by these three people: Guitarist / vocalist Soph Nathan, bassist Josh Tyler and drummer Lauren Wilson.
Since forming in Nathan and Tyler's Brighton home four years ago - Wilson joining as a late recruit when she was wowed by a demo of their self-titled debut track, and 'Stranger Today''s opener - Our Girl's members have only had pockets of time to work together. A day booked in a local studio here, a soundcheck there, full-time jobs and other projects meant the three rarely had a concentrated, collective patch. This changed in September 2017, when they stayed in Eve Studios in Stockport for a week, recording with Bill Ryder-Jones. Their week in Stockport became a crucial catalyst for what would follow. Ryder-Jones is a guitar virtuoso himself ('He did stuff neither me or Soph had ever seen anyone do before,' Tyler remarks), and he became an unofficial fourth member of the group.
'Stranger Today' is a special debut for several reasons: First, because it's the sound of a band beginning to grasp their own value and place in the world. Secondly, because you can hear the trio's hunger to finally get in the same room and put to tape years' worth of scrapbooks, half-finished ideas, and a slowly-forming feel for how their first album would actually sound. 'What band isn't itching to make their debut But it's quite frightening, knowing you're about to do it,' Wilson remembers.
The real clincher, however, is Our Girl's dynamic, and how it plays out across 'Stranger Today'. Best friends in person, the trio share the same close kinship and chemistry on record. On one side is Nathan's visceral lyricism, which has a habit of detailing and chipping away at precise moments; the first heart-flutter of a new crush; the moment a long-term friendship begins to ebb away. Around her, Tyler and Wilson's rhythm section carefully mirrors each feeling Nathan conveys. When she sings pointedly about love ('I Really Like It'), she's backed by a major-key afterglow. When the subject turns on its head ('Josephine'), out steps a wall of taut, earth-shaking noise. They each 'serve the song,' in Wilson's words, moving in sync but with their own personal slant. Not least on the closer 'Boring', where all restraint is thrown aside and the trio let out one final, violent thrash. They inhabit a space bigger than the first loves, sleepless nights and growing pains that define this record.
Nathan remembers being in Brighton four years ago, shortly after Our Girl formed, and realising, 'I was finally in the band I wanted to be in.' Almost half a decade later, and this eureka moment is sewn up on 'Stranger Today'. It's the sound of three friends totally at ease in their own space, discontent with being anywhere else; a vibrant document of what it's like to be young, invigorated and amongst people who feel the same.
