Cerca:little ed

Debut full-length album set for release on Lovely Records - Previous and
ex-Members from Year Of The Goat, Disfear, Skitsystem, The Deadbeats,
Dollhouse, Tortyr and The Dontcares - Sweet Teeth's debut album got
hyped by Little Steven (Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band) and
Classic Rock Mag - The vinyl is pressed on Vinyl in two editions limited to
500 copies each
One edition on Pink vinyl and one edition on transparent yellow vinyl - The band
have previously released their debut one- sided 12" and got nominated to a
Manifest Award (Swedens Alternativ Grammy) for it - The band have opened up
for Millencolin and their debut 12" was released by Lovely Records together with
De:nihil Records (That is runed by Larzon, the Millencolin drummer)

Debut full-length album set for release on Lovely Records - Previous and
ex-Members from Year Of The Goat, Disfear, Skitsystem, The Deadbeats,
Dollhouse, Tortyr and The Dontcares - Sweet Teeth's debut album got
hyped by Little Steven (Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band) and
Classic Rock Mag - The vinyl is pressed on Vinyl in two editions limited to
500 copies each
One edition on Pink vinyl and one edition on transparent yellow vinyl - The band
have previously released their debut one- sided 12" and got nominated to a
Manifest Award (Swedens Alternativ Grammy) for it - The band have opened up
for Millencolin and their debut 12" was released by Lovely Records together with
De:nihil Records (That is runed by Larzon, the Millencolin drummer)

- 180 GRAM AUDIOPHILE VINYL
- RANKED FIRST IN ALL-TIME TOP TEN LIST OF SHRED ALBUMS BY GUITAR WORLD MAGAZINE
- LIMITED EDITION OF 1.000 NUMBERED COPIES ON GOLD VINYL

Rising Force is the first studio album by guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen, released on 5 March 1984 through Polydor Records. The album reached No. 14 on the Swedish albums chart, No.
60 on the US Billboard 200, and received a nomination for Best Rock Instrumental Performance at the 1986 Grammy Awards. It is regarded as a seminal release in the shred and neoclassical metal genres.

Steve Huey at AllMusic gave Rising Force four stars out of five, calling it 'a revelation upon its release' and 'The true inauguration of the age of the guitar shredder'. He praised Malmsteen's technique and 'blinding virtuosity', as well as highlighting 'his obsessions with Bach, Beethoven, and Paganini'.
In a 2009 article by Guitar World magazine, Rising Force was ranked first in the all-time top ten list of shred albums. The staff wrote: 'Yngwie J. Malmsteen was, is, and always will be the greatest shredder of all time. Hell, he invented the genre with his debut.'

Black Star' and Far Beyond the Sun' have endured as two of Malmsteen's most popular songs, as well as being staples of his live setlist. In a 2008 Guitar World interview, Malmsteen said of the two songs: 'I'll probably play Far Beyond the Sun' and Black Star' until the day I die.'

Limited edition vinyl copies of the new Kassian versions and it sounds like they've been on a trip to Italy circa 1983.

Choice Italo edits from the London-based duo who have gone a little bit more experimental, completely re-recording the drums and adding original synths, with an original vocal on 'Timewarp' too!

A double treat for those who love timeless Southern Soul flavoured with some of those good ol’ down home blues. Memphis born, and Minneapolis based, Willie Walker can comfortably be included in the pantheon of grittiest soul singers along with Wilson Pickett, Syl Johnson, Lou Rawls, James Carr, Eddie Floyd, Tyrone Davis and L.V. Johnson, to name but a few, but there has always been speculation about other Willie Walkers. The recordings on Eutor and Hi in the 70’s are not by the same Willie as those on Goldwax and Checker in the 60’s. He did, however, also record as Wee Willie Walker.
 
He was a member of The Rhythm Harmonizers, The Val-Dons, The Exciters, The Bound Band, Willie & The Bumblebees (although that Willie is actually Willie Murphy of The Val-Dons), and Canoise, spanning a long and varied career before hooking up with the Minneapolis based band The Butanes in 2004, with whom he made the next three albums. The first of these was mainly cover versions, but "Right Where I Belong" (2004) and "Memphisapolis" (2006) are notable for each providing the tracks that make up this latest Jai Alai release, a label that differs from sister label Soul4Real by featuring 21st century tracks previously CD only but now released on 7” vinyl for the first time. It also has to be noted that all the tracks on both these albums were written and produced by Curtis Obeda, who managed to track down Willie after so many years.
 
“I Feel It” will have been missed by most as it was on the CD "Right Where I Belong" which was released in 2004 on the most unlikely of UK imprints, the Wirral based One On One Records run by Colin Dilnot. The album is a lavish display of real instruments from a band that once backed John Lee Hooker and Little Johnny Taylor and the perfect setting for Willie’s powerful vocals. 
 
Just tipping five glorious minutes, "Cry, Cry, Cry" is a perfect example of why soul music is inextricably linked to the blues, and when the gospel styled chorus joins in towards the end, you realise that this could, maybe should, have carried on for just a little bit longer. Perhaps a fuller length version exists? Sadly, Willie died peacefully in his sleep in November 2019, but to complete his story check out the two albums on Blue Dot as Wee Willie Walker & The Anthony Paule Soul Orchestra. To quote the great Quinton Claunch…”Willie was one of the best to come out of Memphis in the 60’s”.
 
Steve Hobbs
(Solar Radio, Totally Wired Radio)

RC02 is the much awaited vinyl release of the tracks from the second fundraver by Rhythm Research. Showcasing four tracks that offer dark and textured moments courtesy of label artists Surt, Reticent and head honcho Ritual Cycles.

Side A sees the much awaited track "Ten" by Surt on wax featuring his signature cinematic immersive sound. "AT" by Reticent is an imposing sound design journey centered around a spooky pad brought forward by his trademark bass configuration.

The B side is the Ritual Cycles side with "Collapsing Singularity" - a blueprint of a peak time time warping composition. Finally live duo InsideOut close the EP with their spin on "Hot Coal Dance" .

All proceeds go to Lilipad e.V.
Lilipad e.V. is a Berlin based non-profit initiative that aims to facilitate access
to education to underprivileged children. We provide little libraries.

For its second release, Elmir once again puts 1980s pop-raï in the spotlight with the identical reissue of Cheb Kader's masterpiece: El Awama. Originally self-produced on cassette in 1986, this album was then released on vinyl by Michel Lévy, who was then Cheb Mami's manager and producer. Back then, the album was not the hit it was expected to be, because a little too avant-garde for the time. But more than 35 years later, fans and collectors consider the few remaining copies as priceless. The raï of Cheb Kader is a subtle compromise between the melodies of Oranese suburbs, the electricity of Casablancan guitars and the roaring layers of reggae. The listener can only be fascinated by this Awama (witch) who burns in his heart and to whom he declares his love; they can only be carried away by his hypnotic Reggae-Raï. This record is a rejuvenating find that makes you fall in love with the raï of the beginnings all over again. This new edition was remastered by Josh Stevenson in Canada and enriched with notes in French and English by the specialist Rabah Mezouane.

Celebrate Christmas with an array of stars and the best diva talent the world has ever known. Featuring classic songs and festive favourites from Aretha Franklin, Billie Holiday, Eartha Kitt, Ella Fitzgerald, Judy Garland, Nina Simone and many more, this LP is the perfect seasonal soundtrack.

To confuse parts for the whole is inevitable with Palm. Drummer Hugo Stanley, bassist Gerasimos Livitsanos and guitarists/vocalists/high school sweethearts Eve Alpert and Kasra Kurt started making music together as teenagers, and spent much of their twenties in the kind of proximity unusual for adults, outside of touring bands and the International Space Station. For a number of years the band consumed the lives of its members to a point of exhaustion: “To be honest I think we got a little burnt out. There were times where it wasn’t clear if we’d make another record,” says Alpert. It was only after multiple freak injuries followed by a pandemic, forced a pause - from touring but also from writing, rehearsing, even seeing each other- that the four were able to regroup and see a way forward again.

On their latest effort, Nicks and Grazes, Palm embrace discordance to dazzling effect. “We wanted to reconcile two potentially opposing aesthetics,” Kurt says. “To capture the spontaneous, free energy of our live shows while integrating elements from the traditionally gridded palette of electronic music.” In order to avoid what Kurt refers to as “Palm goes electro,” the musicians spent years educating themselves on the ins and outs of production by learning Ableton while also experimenting with “the percussive, textural, and gestural potential” of their instruments. To this end, the band continued the age-old tradition of instrument-preparation, augmenting guitars with drumsticks, metal rods and, at the suggestion of Charles Bullen (This Heat, Lifetones), coiling rubber-coated gardening wire around the strings. The unruliness of the prepared guitar on songs like “Mirror Mirror” and “Eager Copy” contrasts with the steadfast reproducibility of the album’s electronic elements.

While Palm cite Japanese pop music, dub, and footwork as influences on this album’s sonic palette, they found themselves returning time and again to the artists who inspired them to start the group over a decade ago. “When we were first starting out as a band, we bonded over an appreciation of heavy, aggressive, noisy music,” Alpert reflects. “We wrote parts that were just straight-up metal.” Kurt adds, “I found myself rediscovering and re–falling in love with the visceral, jagged quality of guitars in the music of Glenn Branca, The Fall, Beefheart, and Sonic Youth, all important early Palm influences.” Returning to the fundamentals gave Palm a strong foundation upon which they could experiment freely, resulting in their most ambitious and revelatory album to date.

Ltd indie exclusive vinyl version of "the best" GG Allin studio album, originally released in 1988 pressed on shit colored vinyl Vinyl edition of what is probably GG Allin's greatest studio album. This was GG's fourth album when it was originally released on Homestead Records in 1988."Die When You Die" is arguably the most famous GG Allin song and this album features the original, best version of the live warhorse. . It also includes GG's rewrite of David Allen Coe's "Longhair Redneck" titled "Outlaw Scumfuc." The punkest man alive (at the time) at his peak. Pressed on blue and bile colored vinyl, sounds interessting...

Debut album by Dutch producer w1b0, who passed away in August, to be released in November on U-TRAX.

Wibo Lammerts' sudden death on August 15thshocked the worldwide electro community, and also left the record label, that had been working on the debut album with the artist known as w1b0 for the past two years, dumbfounded and in grief.

Wibo had jokingly always called his upcoming debut album 'his legacy', which now sadly has become a painful truth. With the support of Wibo's family, U-TRAX is now doing the only thing that doesn't feel totally wrong: proceed as planned, and release 'When Humans Ruled The Earth' on November 11.

W1b0 made quite a name for himself with heavy electro tracks that he released on labels like Bass Agenda, Hilltown Disco and Discos Antónicos. Standing at 202 meters, and combined with a cheerful character, most people remember him as the gentle giant of electro.
For this album, Wibo wanted to steer away from the dark and heavy electro he mostly made until then. The idea of having a platform to create delicate electronic music in different styles, and make it a showcase of his versatility, was very appealing to him. And that is where he and U-TRAX found each other.

The full-length album (over 75 minutes on cd and digital) comes after 'The Pilex Program EP', released in October, that featured a remix by Detroit's Ectomorph of 'Pilex Driver' and saw 'Program Yourself To Feel' remixed by a well-known Dutch producer that recently created the new 'techno alias' Human Form.
As usual with U-TRAX, the album comes in three different editions, with the 11-track double vinyl version containing the Ectomorph and Human Form remixes. The CD and digital version boast original versions only, plus four additional tracks: 'Alternate Reality Interface', 'Mixed Matter Fluctator', 'Synthetic', and 'In There'. The cassette version more or less has the same track list as the CD/digi version, but has both aforementioned remixes and a bonus track in the incredibly hypnotizing 'I Wanted You', a track that unfortunately couldn't be on the CD and vinyl versions.

Buyers of the physical releases get treated on superior quality products, another trademark of U-TRAX. The vinyl edition boasts over one hour of music, on two 180 grams, green vinyl discs, in a black & white & neon green gatefold sleeve. The eye-catching artwork is created by Utrecht artist Leffe Goldstein, known amongst others for his psychedelic beer can designs for Utrecht brewery Maximus. Wibo, being the beer lover he was, had zero doubts about having Leffe Goldstein do the cover for his album. The CD has a total playing time of 75 minutes and comes in a beautiful 6-panel digipack, while the cassette will have full-color on-body print and comes in a plastic-free Maltese cross fold-up sleeve.

Buyers of the physical releases get treated on superior quality products, another trademark of U-TRAX. The vinyl edition boasts over one hour of music, on two 180 grams, green vinyl discs, in a black & white & neon green gatefold sleeve. The eye-catching artwork is created by Utrecht artist Leffe Goldstein, known amongst others for his psychedelic beer can designs for Utrecht brewery Maximus. Wibo, being the beer lover he was, had zero doubts about having Leffe Goldstein do the cover for his album. The CD has a total playing time of 75 minutes and comes in a beautiful 6-panel digipack, while the cassette will have full-color on-body print and comes in a plastic-free Maltese cross fold-up sleeve.

Opener 'Acid Whip' is one of the oldest compositions on this album, in which a dark 303 bassline hums over layers of spacey strings. Wibo named it after the legendary Whip It party in Amsterdam's De Melkweg. 'Alternate Reality Interface' then presents bouncy rhythms toying around with all sorts of analog (bass) synthesizers, before we go really deep with the epic ambient techno track 'Wandering Souls'.
Then things get a little lighter spirited: 'Mixed Matter Fluctator' is an electro track that builds on sounds created by Matt Buggins. It has very strong Detroit influences, the city Wibo loved so much and that he made a pilgrimage to with a group of friends that called themselves 'The Techno Tourists'. The tempo goes up a notch in 'Program Yourself To Feel', that halfway opens up in wide science fiction strings that evoke memories of Star Wars, the movie series that Wibo was a great fan of, and that was the source of many of his tracks' names. The Human Form remix opens the vinyl edition of this album and is a downright belter of a track.

Next is a somewhat experimental intermezzo named 'Synthetic'. Erratic beats and pounding bassdrums get accompanied by very subtle eerie-sounding strings, before melancholic synthesizers and piano chords take over. This is an excellent prelude to the epic 'Hologram Computing', a track that is one of our favorites. It slowly and softly builds and builds, before a pounding bassdrum breaks loose and a hypnotic arpeggio takes you to higher planes.
Not ready to letting the listener relax, w1bo then serves 'Beilstein Reference', which again presents his trademark cocktail of down-to-earth electro rhythms and catchy melodies, covered in all sort of little sounds and noises, giving the song a lot of energy. What follows is 'Hit me', a track loosely based on a song by Dutch indie rock band Mr. Joe Abe. Wibo met the band's singer on a camping site while being on holidays and the two decided Wibo should do a remix of one of their songs. Nothing was left of the original except the vocals, and the result is a remarkable cheerful, poppy electro song.

'Anticipated Input' is one of the more recent tracks Wibo made for this album, combining electro, acid and, yes: epic strings. But not all is peace and quiet on this album, as 'Pilex Driver' shows. This is w1b0 going experimental in a danceable fashion: Industrial sounds make the track sound like we're passing a construction site that is playing loud electro music. On the vinyl version of this album, Ectomorph totally decomposed the original and made it into a mysterious, almost subdued, and totally brilliant electro track that sees a main role for the retro Roland CR drum machines sounds.

TFHats, Wibo's fellow member of the Transhumanism collective, added lyrics to 'Cartesian Coordinates'. His vocals add a pleasant New Wave flavor to this song, that has breaks that remarkably reminds one of Nirvana's 'Smells Like Teen Spirit'. What follows is the most personal track on this album. 'Fornan' is a song that Wibo made for his wife Nanette, and was added as the last piece of the puzzle that creating an album is. The warm Detroit techno atmosphere in this electro song couldn't be a more beautiful tribute to his love, and mother of their two young boys.
The album then takes a surprising detour through a 1980s landscape with 'In There', that features the Joy Division-esque vocals of another one of Wibo's friends, indicated only as Vincent. The super slow and gloomy track is a treat for anyone that loved the darker side of New Wave. The album has a worthy closer in the sensitive, yet playful 'Schlegel Diagram'.








h 08: Hit Me (w1b0's Slugfest Assault Dub) feat. Mr Joe Abe

re-release Typische Weihnachtslieder wie "Stille Nacht" haben die Meisten wahrscheinlich schon so oft gehört, dass sie zu beiden Ohren raushängen. Deswegen muss man in der Adventszeit trotzdem nicht auf die bewährten Weihnachtsklassiker verzichten. Denn mit "Noël Gospel" bringt das französische Label Wagram eine Kompilation heraus, die 15 ergreifende Gospelversionen bekannter, und auch einiger weniger bekannter Weihnachtstitel versammelt, zum Beispiel "Oh Happy Day", "Silent Night" oder "White Christmas". So ist für besinnliche Stimmung und ein aufregend neues Hörerlebnis gesorgt. Mit auf der LP vertreten sind die Superstars des Gospels wie Aretha Franklin, Mahalia Jackson, The Edwin Hawkins Singers, Elvis Presley, The Staple Singers, Johnny Cash und The Golden Gate Quartet. Hinzu kommen mit Louis Armstrong, Nat "King" Cole und Little Richard stimmgewaltige Sänger, die man auch unterm Tannenbaum immer wieder gerne hören mag.

Club of Jacks presents their 6th vinyl-only release - Hoovers EP.
This heavyweight 4 tracker fuses that trademark Club of Jacks House & Garage sound with an injection of raw Rave energy, delivering an EP that's as upfront as it is nostalgic.

Kicking things off on the A side is 'The Hoovers Track', an homage to a certain UK Garage classic (we'll let you work it out) but with a twist - combining a slamming 909 beat with a dirty Alpha Juno hoover line and a roucous breakbeat on the breakdown. A2 track 'Fall On Me' is a bumping Deep House groove flecked with evocative old-school vox and samples that raise the temperature.

On the flip side, things get a little moodier with the 2-Stepper 'Rub-A-Dub' mixing heavy sub bass with organ grooves, pianos, chopped breaks, dancehall shouts and a sweet female vocal chant. Finishing off the EP is 'Watch It' which samples a voicemail from a conversation the COJ boys had with none other than El-B and cuts it up over a rolling 4/4 bass groove. Limited edition clear vinyl hand-stamped pressing.

Written/Produced/Mixed by Club of Jacks.A Mastered by Henry@Pitchcraft.

Ltd edition Double Sky Blue Vinyl, Gatefold sleeve w/ spot gloss, liner notes + DL card. Classic Double Black vinyl, Gatefold sleeve w/ spot gloss, liner notes + DL card. Bending scuzzy boundaries, ‘Good Bad Not Evil’ is a coming-of-age garage rock classic record. Full of hedonistic delinquent anthems, the fourth studio album from Atlanta punks Black Lips reaches it’s 15 year anniversary. This deluxe edition includes unearthed photos and new liner notes from Jared Swilley and King Khan. The second disc features B-sides and rarities including ‘Cruising’, ‘I Wanna Dance With You’ and ‘Leroy Faster’. ‘Good Bad Not Evil’ perfectly encapsulates the disillusionment of the mid-00s America, slammed between warehouse parties, DIY generator shows and scattered party pics, which was recorded in a little house in Atlanta that had been converted into a studio called the Living Room. Referencing Shangri-Las in the title, this is where their knack for garage gems met Motown; with bass heavy grooves (later remixed by Diplo), a certified country twang and unabashed bravado. Instant hits like ‘Veni Vidi Vici’, ‘Cold Hands’, ‘Bad Kids’ and ‘O Katrina!’ immediately became Black Lips staples. This was a band caught in the eye of the storm, the touring continued, the parties didn’t stop, this was a band bending the scuzzy boundaries of their chosen genre. The record was hailed by the likes of Pitchfork, who proclaimed, “Black Lips are a go-to band for vintage lo-fi freaks, and their raucous live shows have helped them cross over outside of crusty dive bars. ‘Good Bad Not Evil’, however, is the record where naysayers, disinterested friends and acquaintances, people on the street, and anyone else within earshot has to sit up, shut up, and listen.” …and, shut up and listen they did. “A perfect tapestry of sordid pleasure.” NME // “The same rapturous energy as the Sonics and the 13th Floor Elevators.” The Guardian // Track List: Disc One – Good Bad Not Evil. A1 I Saw A Ghost (Lean) A2 O Katrina! A3 Veni Vidi Vici A4 It Feels Alright A5 Navajo A6 Lock and Key A7 How Do You Tell a Child That Someone Has Died B1 Bad Kids B2 Step Right Up B3 Cold Hands B4 Off The Block B5 Slime and Oxygen B6 Transcendental Light… Disc Two - B-Sides & Rarities. C1 Cruising C2 Make It C3 I Wanna Dance With You D1 Best Napkin I Ever Had D2 My Trouble D3 Leroy Faster D4 Buried Alive

Ltd edition Double Sky Blue Vinyl, Gatefold sleeve w/ spot gloss, liner notes + DL card. Classic Double Black vinyl, Gatefold sleeve w/ spot gloss, liner notes + DL card. Bending scuzzy boundaries, ‘Good Bad Not Evil’ is a coming-of-age garage rock classic record. Full of hedonistic delinquent anthems, the fourth studio album from Atlanta punks Black Lips reaches it’s 15 year anniversary. This deluxe edition includes unearthed photos and new liner notes from Jared Swilley and King Khan. The second disc features B-sides and rarities including ‘Cruising’, ‘I Wanna Dance With You’ and ‘Leroy Faster’. ‘Good Bad Not Evil’ perfectly encapsulates the disillusionment of the mid-00s America, slammed between warehouse parties, DIY generator shows and scattered party pics, which was recorded in a little house in Atlanta that had been converted into a studio called the Living Room. Referencing Shangri-Las in the title, this is where their knack for garage gems met Motown; with bass heavy grooves (later remixed by Diplo), a certified country twang and unabashed bravado. Instant hits like ‘Veni Vidi Vici’, ‘Cold Hands’, ‘Bad Kids’ and ‘O Katrina!’ immediately became Black Lips staples. This was a band caught in the eye of the storm, the touring continued, the parties didn’t stop, this was a band bending the scuzzy boundaries of their chosen genre. The record was hailed by the likes of Pitchfork, who proclaimed, “Black Lips are a go-to band for vintage lo-fi freaks, and their raucous live shows have helped them cross over outside of crusty dive bars. ‘Good Bad Not Evil’, however, is the record where naysayers, disinterested friends and acquaintances, people on the street, and anyone else within earshot has to sit up, shut up, and listen.” …and, shut up and listen they did. “A perfect tapestry of sordid pleasure.” NME // “The same rapturous energy as the Sonics and the 13th Floor Elevators.” The Guardian // Track List: Disc One – Good Bad Not Evil. A1 I Saw A Ghost (Lean) A2 O Katrina! A3 Veni Vidi Vici A4 It Feels Alright A5 Navajo A6 Lock and Key A7 How Do You Tell a Child That Someone Has Died B1 Bad Kids B2 Step Right Up B3 Cold Hands B4 Off The Block B5 Slime and Oxygen B6 Transcendental Light… Disc Two - B-Sides & Rarities. C1 Cruising C2 Make It C3 I Wanna Dance With You D1 Best Napkin I Ever Had D2 My Trouble D3 Leroy Faster D4 Buried Alive

Given the respective outputs of committed ambient explorers and sound designers zake (best known for releasing no less than five fine albums in 2019) and 36 (most recently seen on A Strangely Isolated Place with the superb album "Fade To Grey"), you'd expect this trip into aural deep space to be rather good. It is of course, with the four tracks mixing echoing sonic tones and drifting sound effects with slow-burn electronic melodies and the kind of immersive, sustained chords that were once the preserve of German maestro Pete Namlook. The third track in the suite, appropriately titled 'Stage 3', is little less than stunning, in part because of its grandiose, almost classical intent. No surprise to discover, then, that after a stretch of being out of print it's back via a reissue, this version being a limited clear vinyl edition.

Given the respective outputs of committed ambient explorers and sound designers zake (best known for releasing no less than five fine albums in 2019) and 36 (most recently seen on A Strangely Isolated Place with the superb album "Fade To Grey"), you'd expect this trip into aural deep space to be rather good. It is of course, with the four tracks mixing echoing sonic tones and drifting sound effects with slow-burn electronic melodies and the kind of immersive, sustained chords that were once the preserve of German maestro Pete Namlook. The third track in the suite, appropriately titled 'Stage 3', is little less than stunning, in part because of its grandiose, almost classical intent. No surprise to discover, then, that after a stretch of being out of print it's back via a reissue, this version being a limited clear vinyl edition.

Special 10th Anniversary Edition In Brown Card Artboard Sleeve With Additional Lyric Print Insert

Slowdive singer and songwriter’s third solo album, which was originally released in November 2012. It is a stunning record and one which, upon its release, underlined the claims that Neil was one of the finest and most underrated British songwriters of recent times. It’s also a very special release in the Sonic Cathedral catalogue; the shoegaze label licensed the record from Jack Johnson’s Brushfire imprint for the UK and Europe and it was the start of a relationship that also gave us the Black Hearted Brother album in 2013 and, ultimately, brought about the reformation of Slowdive in 2014. But Palindrome Hunches is a very different beast. Both stately and understated, this moody and mesmerising collection of peculiarly British folk songs was made with the Band of Hope, a Wallingford, Oxfordshire based collective consisting of Ben Smith (violin), Drew Milloy (double bass), Paul Whitty (piano) and Tom Crook (guitar). Together with producer Nick Holton, banjo player Kevin Wells and backing singer Aimee Craddock, they recorded the album to tape over a few weekends in the music room of their local junior school. “At first we were going to record in a studio, but everything seemed too clean,” said Neil at the time. “We just went through the songs and recorded them live without very much rehearsal. We wanted to be spontaneous and simple and to keep the little mistakes that sneaked in.” This goes a long way to explaining the album’s humanity and intimacy, and also why it has had a quiet life of its own over the past decade, gradually growing in stature alongside Neil’s more high-profile activities with Slowdive; copies of the 2012 original and even the 2017 repress currently fetch up to triple figures on Discogs. The stunning opener ‘Digging Shelters’ was used to devastating effect in the posthumously released James Gandolfini movie Enough Said – a fitting home for a song that rubs shoulders here with ruminations about love and loss such as ‘Tied To You’ and ‘Spin The Bottle’ and, on ‘Wittgenstein’s Arm’, an Austrian pianist who had his right arm amputated in World War I and lost three of his brothers to suicide. The wordplay of the title track is almost light-hearted in comparison; “I wanted to write a song that was the same forwards and backwards, but it didn’t quite work out,” explained Neil, adding that he also chose ‘Palindrome Hunches’ for the album’s title because “I like the idea of things being reversible”. A couple years later, by reforming his old band, he proved that. And now, ten years on, it’s the perfect time to rewind to this understated, underrated classic. Side A 1 Digging Shelters 2 Bad Drugs and Minor Chords 3 Wittgenstein’s Arm 4 Spin The Bottle 5 Tied to You Side B 1 Love Is a Beast 2 Palindrome Hunches 3 Full Moon Rising 4 Sandy 5 Hey Daydreamer 6 Loose Change. Praise for Palindrome Hunches on its original release: ““Nope, it ain’t shoegaze as it's been codified and re-codified. But why be disappointed in someone following his muse to a logical conclusion when that path was always the one he walked on?” – Pitchfork An exquisite set of dark folk music” – The Times “Draws from the same understated, reflective well as John Martyn” – MOJO “‘Tied To You’ doesn’t merely evoke Nick Drake but withstands the comparison – evidence of the songs’ quality” – Financial Times “Halstead’s songs breathe the sort of honesty and goodness that’s harder and harder to find in the iTunes age” – The Independent “Given the chance, they could be songs that continue to enchant for many years to come” – The Line Of Best Fit

It’s almost four years since their last opus - two years since the most-recent run
of live shows. Now, Bitchin Bajas return from whatever kind of rare ether they
occupy when they’re at home, bearing the riches of the whole cosmos in their
hands. And strictly OG as well - on cassette only.
 ‘Switched On Ra’ is the outcome of a typical Bajas exercise: pouring some out
for the pioneers that came before (as they’ve done with Bitchitronics and their
participation in the annual Chicago performance of ‘In C’ over the years). It’s a
nice way to get a flow - they play a little of themselves, then some for the
pioneers, then a little more for the band. Before long, they’re playing with the
inspirations twined, as they can only come from within.
 For ‘Switched On Ra’, this meant a deep delve into the song-book of one of their
soul-predecessors, Sun Ra, whose music is literally written in the Bajas DNA.
Digging into this music sounded wild on paper: the drone synth group taking on
the Arkestra harmonies and Ra’s loose grooves? The trick was to get that sense
of rhythm to translate across the spectrum from Ra to Bajas, in a way that
worked for them both.
 Their rearrangements of the tunes went good - up and down the EQ band, they
were finding the round sounds and jagged edges that brought Ra’s music into
their own thing. Then at the last minute, there was another twist - why not pay
tribute to the Queen herself, and think of the arrangements with a Wendy Carlos
vibe? A little side homage? After all, ‘Switched on Bach’ was visionary, bringing
analogue synths from the outside all the way into the mainstream in the late 60s -
and this take on Ra is meant to take him to new ears everywhere.
 Sun Ra of course was his own kind of original keyboard visionary, using electric
keyboards in the late 40s and 50s to fill a role in jazz that had traditionally been
played on acoustic piano only. Once he’d done so, he took his writing in
directions inspired by the electricity, places no one had thought to go before
then.
 Bitchin Bajas have been content to dominate in a microtonal world, usually
without a single chord to be found anywhere. But here, they step up righteously,
their vibe triangulated as they bring Ra’s music forward with some Wendy C
style, making an unexpected space for all to thrive. There’s a real feeling of joy
as these collected signals bounce off the tape and through the speakers into
your space.
 To get this unique colloid exactly right, Bitchin Bajas used nineteen different
keyboards. They abstained from deploying their arsenal of reed and woodwind
instruments: everything had to be on the keys. This meant Yamahas, Rolands,
Korgs, Casios, a MicroMoog and of course their trusty Ace Tone organ. They
even broke out the Crumar DS-2, to have some of Ra’s chosen tone in the mix.
Then Jayve Montgomery added an EWI as a solo voice on a few tunes, just to
get some air-blown signal (and a natural shout out to EWI master Marshall Allen)
in there, after all. It felt like somewhere in the universe, Ra was decreeing it.