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On his latest full-length, Low End Activist swerves towards weightless grime and suspended hardcore miniatures to tell a very personal story. The UK-rooted producer continues his habit of zeroing in on a distinct approach for each release, leaving a logical breadcrumb trail of soundsystem science in his wake as he channels decades of bass absorption into 14 atmospheric cuts that prize patience and precision over obvious club functionality.

Municipal Dreams plays out as a semi-autobiographical tour through the Blackbird Leys estate that the Activist grew up on. It’s a lived reflection on inequality and the ripple effect it has in working class communities, using the sonic palette to set the mood and scattering pointed samples throughout to spell out the story.

In sampling the exhaust of a stolen Subaru Impreza, ‘TWOC’ looks back to the recreational car theft which was standard entertainment for the kids in his community. There’s an underlying idea that this ‘council estate sport’ wouldn’t have been so prevalent if there were public services and opportunities presented to the scores of disaffected youth looking for somewhere to direct their energy and frustration.

In ‘Just A Number (Institutionalised)’ LEA alludes to the shattered juvenile detention system, growing up seeing friends and family members locked up at ease with little to no support on being released back into society, just meant that the same cycles of behaviour would play out over and over.

‘Violence’ samples from a short film shot by the drama division of the Blackbird Leys Youth Club to evoke the physical threat which formed a background hum to life on the estate. The industrial mechanics of the local car factory, which served an integral role as a workplace for many in the community, gets sampled in ‘They Only Come Out At Night’ while the ‘Everyone I look up to are either junkies or criminals’ sample in ‘Broke’ looks to a lack of positive role models.

Municipal Dreams isn’t a one-note indictment of life on the estate, ‘Innocence’ captures the simplicity of a child at birth before their environment has time to shape them. The Hope interludes cut through the grim honesty of the longer tracks while a subtle thread of wry humour finds its way into some of the talking heads cutting through the signature LEA murk.

But honesty is the operative word here, and the message feels all the more meaningful at a time when the UK’s social divisions are laid bare in the wake of a devastating stretch of austerity. Returning to Blackbird Leys to shoot images for the photo-zine and album cover, the Activist found the local community centre being demolished. The local pub stands derelict, its faded Welcome sign a grimly ironic portent of the options facing children of the estate in the wider world.

Funnelling his memories, hopes and fears into a singular twist on the bass weight tradition, LEA captures evocative scenes that land somewhere between kitchen sink realism and rave futurism.

Lili Holland-Fricke and Sean Rogan’s debut album “dear alien” is a constellation of radiant improvised impulses, imagined in lucent fragments of cello, guitar and voice. Spacious, tender and glistening with rich electronic distortion, the record melds a spectrum of processed and natural sound as the artists invite listeners into their dreamlike world of synergetic introspections.

Cultivated through a shared spirit of resourcefulness and play, “dear alien” emerges as an organic meeting place in the compositional output of British-German experimental cellist Lili Holland-Fricke and Manchester-born guitarist and producer Sean Rogan. Having studied their respective instruments at the Royal Northern College of Music, both artists have flourished in eclectic solo and collaborative projects, creating intricate and intimate spheres of sound with a deep appreciation for songwriting and improvisation.

Holland-Fricke’s transition from the classical world to writing her own material, and later vastly expanding her palette with electronics, first converged with Rogan’s distinctive flair for production in 2022 on her EP “birdsong for breakfast” and single ‘draw on the walls’. Now, the duo present an album envisioned through true ‘50/50’ collaboration during the summer of 2023, written across two intensive weeks of improvising and experimenting at Rogan’s Greenwich home studio. A convergence of the artists’ sounds and influences, the music was fostered by the idea of making an album with ‘no plan’ and their shared recent discovery of Arthur Russell, to whom the final track is dedicated.

“dear alien” assembles eight compositions that emerged naturally as the duo created sketches with cello and pedals, guitar, tape loops and poetic vocal musings, forming songs that explore themes of waiting, circling back around, and glitchy communication. Moments of drifting through pillowy layers of sound contrast with saturated visions of electronic modification, where the record’s glowing instrumental contours are pushed to the extremes.

The plaintive shades of ‘half blue’ and meandering deliberations of ‘slow thing’ are teased by the friction of static signals and a sense of ever-mutating sonic mass – a sensibility most acutely realised in ‘dawning’, where cello-vocoder eruptions grow in magnitude, the absence of sound between them burdened with something sinister and unspoken. As the artists expand on this piece, ‘It’s the sound equivalent of squeezing your eyes shut to shield against the brightness of something you don’t want to see, only to find that each time you open them again the world is not softening but getting more relentlessly overwhelming, to the point of being totally blinding.’

Three tracks with lyrics – ‘at first’, ‘dear alien’ and ‘seem asleep’ – refract the album’s wistful and melancholic colours into poetic imagery and metaphors, ushering in reflections on relationship tensions and someone close feeling unknown, with hints towards wider unsettled feelings about climate change. In the spirit of lyrical improv, ‘seem asleep’ compiles lone lines from Holland-Fricke’s journals into a cut-and-paste collage around hopeful patience or futile lingering – either way conjuring a softness that welcomes the hazy ambience of ‘for a. r.’, the final composition which soundscapes the summer days spent making the album. As the artists describe of this track, ‘The music kind of leads somewhere, but then kind of leads nowhere, and just meanders around where it is, content to just be walking in a circle back to where it started.’

Indignation Meeting are punky rail fans from Leeds. 15-year-old Peter is the driver - he's the drummer and lead singer, writes most of the songs, and also plays bass and trumpet on the album. The rest of the crew is his dad Michael on guitar, Hugo on bass, and with Keith, Heather and Sally often along for the ride when they play out. Here at DGHQ we loved listening to their self-released debut album Trouble In The Shed so much we eventually released it on vinyl for the first time. They now have a second album! Vocalist/drummer Peter very kindly talks us through the (train) tracks_ * "The Trainspotting Song" - Now, as a train geek, I go out filming trains an awful lot, and one thing you can't help noticing whilst out in the wilds of Staffordshire or the moors of Lancashire are a whole load of unnecessary 'Private Land' signs. This song is my response_ * "The Talyllyn Railway" - The history of the Talyllyn Railway is a fascinating one that I've long since wanted to explore, due to its unique nature as the first railway to ever be taken over by volunteers. This is the result! * "The Middleton Railway" - As a volunteer at the Middleton Railway, I had felt that a song needed to be written for quite a while. However, our guitarist Michael, ended up beating me to it! * "A Model World" - It was late one night, and I was lying on my sofa, trying my hardest to gain an ounce of enjoyment from 'Hornby; A Model World.' It was proving quite hard, due to the alarming lack of substance in the programme, so instead I decided that its name was rather good, and could be the basis of a song explaining my 'model world.' And, well, here it is! * "The Fifth Black Five" - This song is dedicated to the railway preservationists of old, who spent countless hours in cold, damp, dreary sidings, all to make sure us future generations would be able to enjoy the smell of a steam train. Thanks guys! * "Case Study" - This song is a commentary on the sensationalisation of disasters, when there's a massive tragedy and people at home just sit in their comfy sofas, watching the news and drinking tea. We know what's going on, but we can just choose to turn off the TV and forget it ever happened and continue with our lives. It also relates to the dehumanisation of those disasters you experience in school, where you have to write essays on someone who's just become homeless. It seems quite heartless sometimes_ * "Loco Motives" - This song is a fictional story of a man's personal struggle with a railway company, and the drastic measures he took to fix them_ * "That Would Never Suit His Grace" - With model railways, you always seem to get a few people who can never be satisfied with a layout or a model - no matter how hard someone's tried, there's always something to improve on, and they're never nice about it either. This song is a reality check for them_ * "Small Black Shunter" - This is our second homage to Zounds - Electrification would never be truly complete without its B-side. And this B-side is the story of a little loco who wanted to see the world. * "Rhydyronen" - Slowly but surely, we're going to pick off all of the stations on the Talyllyn Railway. Starting where Abergynolwyn left off, this is the story of our second favourite station on the TR. * "Typically English Day" - This is an homage to Mark Astronaut, a true punk genius who was gone before his time. Although there were many songs we could've picked to cover, it only seemed right to punk up one of his most popular tracks, and one of the main ones that got me into the Astronauts in the first place - Typically English Day, a heart-wrenching tale of an elderly couple trapped in the middle of a nuclear war, following their last moments before their inevitable demise. * "Just For The Record" - There is too much misinformation in the media these days, and one case I found particularly egregious was the gross misrepresentation of the strikers, who aren't so evil as the media want you to believe_

You find Andrew Gabbard on the road and in his creative prime on this astral road trip, collecting songs like a cosmic traveler hitching a ride. "Ramble & Rave On!," Andrew's third solo LP, sounds like the kind of weathered tattoo you'd see etched on a barfly's forearm as he slams another drink in a dive. Like its title, the record feels like something that's always been around; a trusty mixtape that everyone can agree on. Andrew comes to this collection of songs with something that very much feels like a `studio' record, the kind of album a 60s rock star feels like they've built the confidence to make, to shake off a rawness for something fuller and more realized. The fact that this record was yet again a homemade effort, with Andrew playing everything (apart from Sven Kahns' pedal steel), gives you an idea of how devoted and studied he is to creating that perfect song. `Ramble & Rave On!' is Andrew's most personal album yet, it finds him journeying between his worlds as a decades-long touring & studio musician/vocalist for the Black Keys, as a songwriter with his head-in-the-stars, and as the man in his home with the people he holds dearest and with the studio where he brings it all together. It is clear that Andrew finds himself at this prolific point in his career completely beholden to songs, to their absolute power, and to their otherworldly ability to connect. He has mastered his craft, and proves throughout the course of this album that he can truly make a pitstop stop at every genre.

You find Andrew Gabbard on the road and in his creative prime on this astral road trip, collecting songs like a cosmic traveler hitching a ride. "Ramble & Rave On!," Andrew's third solo LP, sounds like the kind of weathered tattoo you'd see etched on a barfly's forearm as he slams another drink in a dive. Like its title, the record feels like something that's always been around; a trusty mixtape that everyone can agree on. Andrew comes to this collection of songs with something that very much feels like a `studio' record, the kind of album a 60s rock star feels like they've built the confidence to make, to shake off a rawness for something fuller and more realized. The fact that this record was yet again a homemade effort, with Andrew playing everything (apart from Sven Kahns' pedal steel), gives you an idea of how devoted and studied he is to creating that perfect song. `Ramble & Rave On!' is Andrew's most personal album yet, it finds him journeying between his worlds as a decades-long touring & studio musician/vocalist for the Black Keys, as a songwriter with his head-in-the-stars, and as the man in his home with the people he holds dearest and with the studio where he brings it all together. It is clear that Andrew finds himself at this prolific point in his career completely beholden to songs, to their absolute power, and to their otherworldly ability to connect. He has mastered his craft, and proves throughout the course of this album that he can truly make a pitstop stop at every genre.

Pascal Obispo, französischer Singer-Songwriter aus Bergerac, begann 1988 ber der New-Wave-Band Senso als Bassist und übernahm später die Rolle des Leadsängers. Sein erstes Soloalbum, Le Long du Fleuve, erschien 1990 und wurde mit den Mitgliedern von Senso aufgenommen. Das Album blieb von den Kritikern weitgehend unbeachtet, aber es verhalf Pascal Obispo zu einem Plattenvertrag mit Epic, wo 1992 Plus Que Tout au Monde erschien. Mit dem Titeltrack und anderen Singles wie Tu vas me manquer" festigte er seinen Status als einer der am schnellsten aufsteigenden Stars der französischen Popmusik. Diesem Erfolg ließ er 1994 Un Jour Comme Aujourd'hui folgen, das Platz 17 der französischen Charts erreichte und mit Platin ausgezeichnet wurde. Sowohl Superflu (1996) als auch Soledad (1999) erreichten in Frankreich Platz 2, und das Live-Album Live 98 (1998) brachte ihm seine erste Nummer-1-Platte ein. In den folgenden Jahren wiederholte Pascal Obispo dieses Kunststück noch einige Male mit den Alben Studio Fan - Live Fan (2004), Les Fleurs du Bien (2006), Millésimes (2013) und Billet de Femme (2016). France, sein elftes Album, erschien 2021 und verfehlte nur knapp den Spitzenplatz der Albumcharts und landete auf Platz 2. Das neue Album L'Archipel des Séquelles besteht aus unveröffentlichten Songs von Pascal Obispo - aufgenommen und abgemischt von seinem treuen Begleiter Youri Benaïs in seinen Pariser Studios. Dieses Konzeptalbum mit intimen, akustischen, jazzbeeinflussten Liebesliedern wurde erneut von seinen beiden New-Wave-Jazz-Freunden Fred Nardin und Max Pinto produziert und basiert ausschließlich auf Begegnungen mit Künstlerinnen mit inspirierenden Stimmen: Da wären Zazie, mit der Obisipo seit ,Les meilleurs ennemis" nicht mehr gesungen hatte, mit einem Lied, das sie gemeinsam geschrieben und nie aufgenommen hatten, Carla Bruni, die zwei Songs beisteuert, Elodie Frégé, mit der er bereits auf ihrem Album ,Le grand amour" gemeinsam aufgenommen hat. Oder Nolwenn Leroy, für die er seine allererste Single ,Cassé" produziert hat. Anne Sila, die grandiose Interpretin der Maria in seinem Musical über Jesus von Nazareth. Sharon Laloum, die Interpretin der Myriam in der neuen Version der Zehn Gebote, und nicht zu vergessen sind Isabelle Boulay, die große Künstlerin aus Quebec, für die er bereits Lieder geschrieben hat, und Nawel Ben Kraïem, die junge tunesische Künstlerin, mit der er an seinem ersten Musikprojekt gearbeitet hat. Der Rest des Albums wurde gemeinsam mit Pierre-Dominique Burgaud geschrieben. Mit dem Album ,L'archipel des Séquelles" setzt Pascal Obispo seine Suche nach Schönheit und Stille fort. Als CD oder farbiges Vinyl.

"VOLUME 1" ist eine denkwürdige Einführung in die Welt von MRCY. Ihre Vision von Soul lässt sich von den Größen der Kindheit (SAM COOKE, MARVIN GAYE) bis hin zu Genre-verschmelzenden Modernisten wie KHRUANGBIN oder SAULT inspirieren - "it's like hearing a distant memory," sagt Barney, "but one that speaks to where you are now". Auf ihrem Debüt blickt der Sound von MRCY tiefer nach innen und weiter nach außen: Die Debüt-Single "Lorelei" war eine ätherische, jenseitige Geschichte über eine Liebe, die in einer Katastrophe enden sollte, während "Flowers In Mourning" Afrobeats und Northern Soul in einer ergreifenden Meditation über Familie und Verlust zusammenbrachte. Das Album wird von einer auffälligen, visuellen Ästhetik begleitet, die in Zusammenarbeit mit Harris Elliot entstand und KI, Adinkra-Symbolik und britische Ikonografie zu einem Look - und Sound - verbindet, der bereits unverkennbar MRCY ist. Auch wenn MRCY sich mit einer ausgereiften Vision präsentieren, haben sie auch hart daran arbeiten müssen. Barney, der inmitten der Schmelztiegel-Kultur von Huddersfield aufgewachsen ist, hat sich als einer der gefragtesten, eklektischsten jungen Produzenten Großbritanniens etabliert; von einem Ivor Novello Award für seine langjährige Zusammenarbeit mit Obongjayar bis zu Mercury-nominierten Künstlerinnen wie Joy Crookes und Olivia Dean. Der in Süd-London aufgewachsene Kojo verdiente sich seine Sporen in der Kirche und sang mit ebenso illustren einheimischen Künstlerinnen wie Cleo Sol und Little Simz. Nachdem sie sich während der Pandemie über Instagram kennengelernt hatten, trafen sich MRCY zwischen den Abriegelungen in Brixton, wodurch sich der Sound der Band - und ihre Verbundenheit - vertiefte. Und obwohl das soziale und politische Chaos unweigerlich in ihr kommendes Projekt einfließt, geht es bei MRCY auch um das Bedürfnis nach einer gemeinsamen Basis: universelle, aber höchst individuelle Erfahrungen mit Klasse, Gemeinschaft und der Qualitätsmusik, die gute Menschen schon immer zusammengebracht hat.

Free Help is Minnesota trio Heart to Gold's celebration of the titular idea, conceived while broken down on the side of a road in Georgia. Recorded at Will Yip's Studio 4 and releasing on Memory Music, it's an expertly arranged, arena-sized rendering of the group's scrappy, bold guitar rock, a heartening mix of melodic punk, cavernous post-hardcore, and '90s alt-rock. It's the sound and feeling of a band growing into adulthood and maturity_singer Grant Whiteoak's writing is subtle and figurative, a result of deepening introspection spurred by years of touring.Free Help represents a push beyond Heart to Gold's long-time community, and a broadening of the boundaries of the project. The rich, spacious single "Can't Feel Me," released in February, evidenced this new sound and space, and record opener "Surrounded" leaves no room for doubt: This is Heart to Gold operating on a new level. It's a sleek, pit-ready thrasher, tearing at the seams with energy and intention, loaded with melody. There are classic, pedal-to-the-metal bangers, like "Get It Back" and "Blow Up the Spot," alongside the down-tempo drift of "Pandora," and the multi-movement epic "Belonging." Here it is, from Heart to Gold to you: Free Help.

This release will come in 10 alternative sleeves limited to 100 copies of each so the bedroom design of the front cover has been painstakingly adapted for devotee’s of; 1. Sex Pistols 2. The Clash 3. The Jam 4. Buzzcocks 5. The Damned 6. The Stranglers 7. Siouxsie & the Banshees 8. Generation X 9. Ramones and 10. Blondie… and that design comes with a signed and stamped print of that design inside…
Mal-One’s new five track 12’’ offering has broached the tender subject of the bedroom wall and what as a teenager we would cover it with, as we revelled in our teenage glory. During what we now fondly remember as the Punk Rock period, this would have been the promo posters, gig tickets, flyers, badges, t- shirts anything we could find to extend our allegiance to the Punk Rock cause. Track one of this extended play covers this dilemma in fine style:

Side One
1. Punk Rock Pictures on my Wall …from floor to ceiling and ten feet tall !!!
2. JJ’s Alright relates a true story of Mal-One’s run in with the Euroman Cometh himself and finding out first hand that
even if his band The Stranglers were to become Punk’s social outcasts that in fact JJ was Alright and so in fact was
Hugh….
Side Two
1. The Buzz-Cocks Are Coming tells the Buzzcocks connection to this movement and their entry point into the affray.
2. Damned Disciple tells what is required to become a Damned devotee. Which includes amongst other requirements
and as stated on one of their early badges ‘skipping off school to see them play’
3. The Satellite Kid tells the engaging story of Mr Paul Weller coming to London seeing the Sex Pistols for the first time
at the Lyceum Ballroom on The Strand. In doing so he found some likeminded souls and more importantly people the
same age that he could relate to and forge an identity with.
Hopefully to hang on your bedroom wall… it’s never too late Punk….

This re-issue faithfully replicates the original 1970 Island Records UK release in gatefold sleeve and is pressed onto high quality 180g vinyl. After their 1969 album Liege and Leif paved the way, Fairport Convention pushed further into traditional music, led by charismatic and renown fiddle-player Dave Swarbrick, who had joined the group in 1969 after making his name with Martin Carthy earlier in the decade. Vocalist Sandy Denny and bassist Ashley Hutchings left after Liege and Leif, and for the first time since the group's inception in 1967, there would be no female voice on a Fairport album.Guitarists Richard Thompson and Simon Nicol took vocal leads with Swarbrick and, with new bassist Dave Pegg joining drummer Dave Mattacks, the group made Full House, released in July 1970. Picking up where its predecessor left off, and again recorded with Joe Boyd at London's Sound Techniques, the album continued the standards set by their previous four albums. Four of the seven songs on Full House were adapted from traditional folk melodies, such as Dirty Linen and Sir Patrick Spens, while of the originals, Thompson and Swarbrick's nine-minute opus Sloth gave the group one of their all-time anthems. The sleeve sent up their new role as ambassadors of the rustic by inventing a string of traditional British games that didn't really exist.

“Are you ready to come into my world?” Dorothea Paas asks on Autumn Roses, the lead single from her latest album, Think of Mist, out this fall on Telephone Explosion Records. It’s an invitation extended with equal parts sincerity and slyness, delivered over a casually propulsive groove and layers of transcendent harmony. The only option is surrender.

Think of Mist is Paas’s sophomore album, following 2021’s Polaris-longlisted Anything Can’t Happen - “one of the most stirring and emotionally resonant break-up albums of recent years” (Uncut). Widely praised for its emotional resonance and lush sonic landscape, Anything showcased the talent that has made Paas a fixture of Toronto’s music scene for over a decade - both as the leader of her own band, and as a vocalist and guitarist for a constellation of groups including U.S. Girls, Jennifer Castle and Shabason & Krgovich.

For listeners of: Jessica Pratt, Fievel is Glaque, Cassandra Jenkins, Cindy Lee, The Roches, Labbi Siffre, Linda Perhacs, Stereolab, Dear Nora, Connie Converse, Julie Byrne.

“Are you ready to come into my world?” Dorothea Paas asks on Autumn Roses, the lead single from her latest album, Think of Mist, out this fall on Telephone Explosion Records. It’s an invitation extended with equal parts sincerity and slyness, delivered over a casually propulsive groove and layers of transcendent harmony. The only option is surrender.

Think of Mist is Paas’s sophomore album, following 2021’s Polaris-longlisted Anything Can’t Happen - “one of the most stirring and emotionally resonant break-up albums of recent years” (Uncut). Widely praised for its emotional resonance and lush sonic landscape, Anything showcased the talent that has made Paas a fixture of Toronto’s music scene for over a decade - both as the leader of her own band, and as a vocalist and guitarist for a constellation of groups including U.S. Girls, Jennifer Castle and Shabason & Krgovich.

For listeners of: Jessica Pratt, Fievel is Glaque, Cassandra Jenkins, Cindy Lee, The Roches, Labbi Siffre, Linda Perhacs, Stereolab, Dear Nora, Connie Converse, Julie Byrne.

"Sympathy Pain is an unusual animal, as their collective backgrounds come from hardcore, drone, and experimental pop in Salt Lake City, Utah. Sympathy Pain began as Skyler Hitchcox’s gloomy drone project which was later joined by Casey Hansen (of Cult Leader) to explore and expand the sullen space that the project initially carved out. Sympathy Pain is rounded out by Chaz Prymek (Lake Mary) and Nora Price. The deep connections to Salt Lake City’s underground well of experimental music have deep entanglements. Sympathy Pain has emerged from those entanglements with a clear eyed thesis, transmuting the often oppressive cultural climate of Utah through a personal veil of heavy sorrow.

Swan Dive is the product of years of excavating that space into a cavern, yielding their self-described “emo)))” (a nod to the preeminent doom/drone band Sunn) while still holding onto the submerged soundscapes that began as the core of the project. The album is expansive — a winding ride that travels from minimalism, to claustrophobic ambient, to triumphant passages that all underscore its forlorn undercurrent.

Originally released in January of 2024 as a CD by The Ghost is Clear and cassette by Diabolical Records, Swan Dive finally finds a new life on vinyl - reissued by the Cincinnati, OH record label Whited Sepulchre Records.

Tracked with Wes Johnson at Archive Recordings in SLC, UT and mixed/mastered by longtime friend and co-conspirator Ben Young, the album features a haunting guest spot by Madeline Johnston of Midwife on “Heaven + Hell” to close out the album."

How could this album, one of the biggest crossover country smashes of the ‘90s and a complete artistic triumph, remain a vinyl wallflower at this late date?! Well, we at Real Gone Music are pleased and proud to take this classic Mary Chapin Carpenter release to the dance with a special 2-LP expanded highlighter yellow vinyl edition that includes an entire bonus side featuring a live performance from 1994, the same year Stones in the Road was released! The accolades and accomplishments of this record are almost too numerous to list here: #1 on the Country charts, Top 10 on the Billboard 200 Pop charts, a number 1 Country hit with “Shut Up and Kiss Me,” other charting singles like “Tender When I Want to Be,” “House of Cards,” and “Why Walk When You Can Fly?”, and Grammies for Best Country Album and Best Female Country Vocal Performance. But hits and awards aside, what makes this album so special is that every song packs its own unique emotional punch, starting with the title tune that was first covered by Joan Baez; you could also point to the transcendent “John Doe No. 24” and the brilliant “End of My Pirate Days” as firsts among equals on this amazingly consistent and rewarding album (which Country Universe called the best Contemporary Country album of all time!).

Some credit must be given to the band that producer John Jennings assembled, including drummer Kenny Aronoff, keyboardist Benmont Tench, guitarists Lee Roy Parnell and Steuart Smith, and backing vocalists Trisha Yearwood, Shawn Colvin, and Linda Williams. But, as always with a Mary Chapin Carpenter album, it’s the songwriting that’s the real star: witty, wistful, personal, and REAL. With gorgeous hooks to boot! Side D includes the four tracks that came out on the Live at “Her Majesty’s Theatre” EP recorded in London, featuring a version of “Shut Up and Kiss Me,” and it all comes with two printed inner sleeves boasting lyrics. Released on its 30th anniversary with the full consent and support of the artist herself!

NEA Jazz Master Big Chief Donald Harrison Jr. is one of finest saxophonists of his generation. His resume includes long associations with Terrance Blanchard and Art Blakey throughout the 1980s. But the foundation of Harrison's music, and it’s the soul of his music, comes from his lifelong participation in the culture of New Orleans, his home town.

Here he pays tribute to that rich culture, and accompanied by non other than the legendary Dr. John.

Both artists, the embodiment of New Orleans’ music in their own right.

The album features a mix of original compositions and jazz standards, all infused with the spirit and energy of New Orleans. Featuring the Mardi Gras Indian chants of The Guardians Of The Flame, this recording captures the magic of heritage New Orleans Mardi Gras music and wraps it all up in one package.

Originally recorded at BMG Studios in New York City, May of 1991. Remastered by Bernie Grumman.

The Prisoners were a regular live act in London’s psychedelic and mod revival scene of the early 1980s. They recorded some fantastic material blending garage-punk, soulful vocals, and electrifying Hammond organ, but never quite made it. They called it a day in 1986, and most band members went on with new musical projects, including The Prime Movers and The James Taylor Quartet. The love of the Prisoners’ music has grown ever since though, and the original four members have done several re-unions over the years on stage and released a long-awaited comeback album this year. Their lasting influence can be detected on subsequent generations of musicians, including many of the Madchester bands of the early 90s, notably the Charlatans and the Inspiral Carpets, and serves as a blueprint for Britpop and beyond. Now we release The Prisoner’s best songs on the LP Hurricane with great packaging, liner notes and rare photos.

"Perhaps best known for his long association with the legendary Muddy Waters, Otis Spann is largely recognized as one of the greatest blues pianists of all time, if not the greatest.

Although Spann made a name for himself in Chicago by the mid 1940s, it wasn’t until 1960 that he got the opportunity to record an album of his own. The sessions Spann did with Candid Records co-founder Nat Hentoff that year resulted in the legendary album Otis Spann Is The Blues. (Incidentally, this was also the first album ever recorded for the fledgling New York City based label.)

The tracks on Walking The Blues were recorded during those same sessions in August of 1960 in New York City.

Left on the cutting room floor, they would not be officially released until 1972, two years after Spann’s untimely death.

Robert Lockwood Jr., also from Muddy Water’s group, accompanies Spann on guitar here as he does on the Is The Blues album. But Walking The Blues also features Spann’s close friend, veteran singer and composer James Oden, better known to blues fans as St. Louis Jimmy.

Stripped down to just the these musicians, this magnificently performed and produced set showcases Spann’s voice as well as piano. Spann stretches out with his pulsing two-handed rhythmic attack, and brings the barrelhouse piano style of his youth in line with the modern Chicago style he embodied."

Auf ihrem zehnten Langeisen zeigen sie mehr Bandbreite denn je und begeistern mit einer wilden Achterbahnfahrt durch punkige Hymnen wie dem Titelsong "Choices Made In Anger" oder den eingängigem "Liberty Cuffs", über gute Laune Rock’n’Roll ala "Sun‘s up, tops down" bis hin zu klassischem Hardrock wie "Rock Above Love" oder dem überragenden Abschluss des Albums "Sing Like You Mean It“. Nicht zu vergessen ihre Homage an die eigene Unbeugsamkeit "Wankers Forever", der mit dem passenden Video Clip schon eine Vorschau auf das 25 jährige Bandjubiläum im kommenden Jahr gibt. Die V8 Wankers, gegründet im Jahr 2000, sind Deutschlands Speerspitze des harten Motorrocks. 10 Alben und unzählige Veröffentlichungen auf Vinyl zeugen von ihrem unbeirrbaren Weg durch die Abgründe zwischen Punk und Rock. Er führte sie ins Vorprogramm von Bands wie Motörhead, The Exploited oder Gluecifer. Auf Europatourneen mit Rose Tattoo, Girlschool und W.A.S.P. sowie rund um den Globus, von den USA über Südamerika bis ins ferne Australien. Weltweit kennt man die Faust des Rock’n’Rolls. Ob große Festivals wie Wacken, With Full Force oder Mighty Sounds. Ob Autotreffen, Tattoo Conventions oder Biker Parties, die V8Wankers rocken jede Bühne mit Vollgas! Also verpasst nicht die nächste Gelegenheit Offenbach‘s Nummer Eins live zu erleben!

Black Cherry. Fiddlehead's debut LP Springtime and Blind is an exploration of grief both introspective and through the insight of others. Following the release of their Out of the Bloom EP on Lockin Out Records, the Boston-based band have created a debut LP that shares an anguishing, relatable story of love and loss through the catharsis of spirited, loud indie rock. Consisting of guitarist Alex Henery (also of Basement), vocalist Patrick Flynn and drummer Shawn Costa (both of Have Heart), Fiddlehead explore musical styles different from their other projects while bringing a familiar energetic and emotional core to the collaboration. Springtime and Blind stemmed from Pat's loss of his father. Flynn looks at how his mother coped with the situation- losing her spouse, her center of gravity -writing the lyrics as an emotional catharsis for both of them. While the process of writing and recording helped Flynn cope with his personal loss there's no doubt it carries a universal message that can help ease others' loneliness. A contrast to itself, Springtime and Blind is a multidimensional and relatable journey through its cathartic message and spirited instrumentals.

Die schwedische Musikerin Thea Gustafsson, die unter dem Künstlernamen Becky and the Birds bekannt ist, veröffentlicht am 15. November ihr selbst produziertes Debütalbum "Only Music Makes Me Cry Now" via 4AD. Zur Feier der Albumankündigung, präsentiert Becky and the Birds ihre neue Single "I made my baby cry". Der Song, ein emotional aufgeladenes Stück über Herzschmerz und Trennung, wird von einem Visualizer untermalt, den Gustafsson selbst kreiert hat. Die Visualisierung wurde von Gustafsson kreiert und stellt ihre Kreativität und eindrucksvolles Können im Studio unter Beweis. Über den Song sagt sie: "Ich habe den Song nach einer Trennung geschrieben. Für mich sind Trennungen das Schlimmste; mitzubekommen wie die andere Person innerlich stirbt und zu wissen, dass man es selbst ausgelöst hat." Mit "Only Music Makes Me Cry Now" kehrt Gustafsson zu ihren Wurzeln zurück und greift die experimentelle Herangehensweise wieder auf, die sie an den Tag legte, als sie mit dem Produzieren begann. Sie nutzte für ihr Debüt die Fähigkeiten, die sie seither erlernt hat, um neue Klanglandschaften zu erschaffen und Grenzen zu testen. Ihr unverwechselbarer innovativer Stil und ihre Emotionalität kommen in ihrem neuen Album zur Geltung.

The songs that grace this comprehensive double vinyl package all come from the golden age of country music. For nearly a century now, country music has been captured on cylinder, vinyl, tape and compact disc. In America during the 1950s, while rock & roll battled calypso as the nation’s favourite sound, meanwhile in the background, these classic country songs could be heard across the land - all the way from the Gulf of Mexico, right up to the frozen wastes of Minnesota. After the golden age of what might be called pure country, came country-rock, alt-country and Americana. But the century of songs gathered together here is plain and simple country music - at its best

London based songwriter Louis Gardner offers his first mixtape, released via Goldsmiths University imprint NX Records. On For The Open Room, Gardner spirals artfully through outsider jazz, pop, folk and noise, landing sprawled in a territory all his own.

Tangled riffs and strange structures form the terrain for intimate, un-rugged vocals to float above. Starting life like brisk journal entries or misshapen doodles in digital fuzz, Gardner's stories bloom with stop-start tension, oscillating between tender and guttural, crude and complex.

For the open room captures a flow state of ideas, traces and associations - from the bubbling jazz congruence of "It's Hard", to plucked maximalist fragility on "Ten Zithers". Wrapping up with "Body Left in the Snow", Louis reveals mightily undulating piano chops - leaving us to wonder what else is withheld, and what might appear next.

Recommended for fans of Jandek, Mount Eerie, Arthur Russell.

"Having already cemented her legacy with a breadth of wondrous outings, Northern Irish artist Sister Ghost has now announced her plans for her long-awaited debut album ‘Beyond The Water’, showcased by its riveting lead-track “Dark Matter”. ‘Beyond The Water’ is an amalgam of sorts, a portrait of Sister Ghost’s 20s as a queer woman from a tiny village in rural Ireland, and her experiences both near and far beyond the waters of home. "

David C Clements calls time a blessing and a curse. In the eight years since the release of his debut album, he has toiled through creativity's long winters and now offers up 'The Garden', an 11-track alternative folk record featuring songs written with Iain Archer and Jacknife Lee.

Hard-Fi make their welcome return with brand new single ‘Don’t Go Making Plans’ on Ignition Records. Their first new material in ten years, the track marks the first taste of an EP of brand new songs, as well as a big UK headline tour this November. Rolling around a sun-scorched groove and boisterous beats, ‘Don’t Go Making Plans’ is an immediate, soul-infused summer anthem, recorded at the band’s own Staines studio, produced by frontman Richard Archer and long-term contributor Wolsey White. It’s the end result of the first session together since 2011 album Killer Sounds and follows a series of sold-out tours and live shows over the last 18 months - listen here. As with many of the band’s songs, there is a thought-provoking depth behind Hard-Fi’s pop sensibility. The song’s defiant themes were initially inspired by the UK Government’s attempts to criminalise many aspects of popular protest through the 2022 Public Order Act, while the issue has been thrown into even sharper focus over the last year as police and people have repeatedly clashed on streets around the globe. SGB50LPXX

Crypt of the Wizard is proud to present With Hope or Without, a new mini-LP from Riders of Rohan, available now on vinyl and digital formats.

The singing Rohirrim hath returned on their continued quest through the nooks and crannies of Middle Earth to tell more tales of love, longing and derring-do. This time our heroes even hark back to an era far beyond the Third Age and the War of the Ring on occasion, delving into territory lesser known to the fairweather Tolkienistas. That is not to say we won’t run into some friendly faces. Indeed one familiar friend is well-met wandering free out on the borderlands in Ranger Song yearning for yesteryear, and for lost love with a great destiny ahead of him.

‘Dyp Tid’, the fifth album from Norwegian psych-rock group Electric Eye, is a contemplation of the unknown and the ineffable. Crafted in a landscape where time and space collapse, the record is Electric Eye's most ambitious and experimental project to date. Originally commissioned by Sildajazz – the Haugesund International Jazz Festival – and premiering there in 2022, ‘Dyp Tid’ (Norwegian for ‘Deep Time’) is both a meditative journey and an exploration of what it means to exist in a universe where time stretches far beyond humanity’s grasp. First performed live in Skåre Kirke, an octagonal wooden church in Haugesund, Norway that was built in 1858, these six atmospheric compositions centre church organs, synths and choral vocals over any traditional ‘rock’ instrumentation. Gradually winding through ambient minimalism, kosmische improvisations and experimental psych-jazz, ‘Dyp Tid’ isn’t just an album but a space; a mental landscape where sound and time intersect. Talking about the album, Electric Eye’s Øystein Braut says: “We have always been drawn to the cinematic, to the sense that something feels larger than life, and in Dyp Tid we wove these elements together into something both deeply personal and utterly elusive.” Setting up in Bergen´s Duper Studio, the recording space became a laboratory to further develop these new ideas and transform the ‘Dyp Tid’ piece into a fully-fledged studio album: “We delved into analogue technology, explored vintage machines, and experimented with what lay at the edge of our control. We sought the sound of time’s depths, something that felt infinite and uncontrollable. In an age where everything seems algorithmic and predictable, we aimed to create something that refused to be boxed in – something that lives and breathes by its own rules. The album intricately weaves together live recordings from the wooden church and studio sessions, often oscillating between the two in the course of a single track.”

A Universe of Pop: Fleetwood Mac’s Tango in the Night Features Meticulous Production, Includes the Hits “Big Love,” “Everywhere,” “Seven Wonders,” and “Little Lies”

Experience the 1987 Album in Audiophile Sound for the First Time:

Mobile Fidelity’s Numbered-Edition 180g 45RPM 2LP Set Captures the Perfectionist Details

1/2" / 30 IPS analogue master to DSD 256 to analogue console to lathe

The perfectionism involved in crafting Fleetwood Mac’s Tango in the Night reached a level of intensity experienced by few artists before or since. Commercially and creatively, the painstaking efforts paid off. Recorded over the span of 18 months, the triple-platinum album spawned four hit singles and put Fleetwood Mac back at the center of mainstream conversation. Its demands also ultimately forced its primary architect, guitarist-singer Lindsey Buckingham, to leave the group shortly after its completion. Was it all worth it? A thousand times “yes.”

Sourced from the original master tapes, pressed at Fidelity Record Pressing, and housed in a Stoughton jacket, Mobile Fidelity’s numbered-edition 180g 45RPM 2LP set of Tango in the Night presents the 1987 record in audiophile sound for the first time. Everything co-producers Buckingham and Richard Dashut sought to instill in the music — the exacting tones, gauzy textures, plush atmospherics, shifted harmonics, unique pitches, pristine acoustics, biting rhythms — can now be heard with elevated accuracy, range, depth, and detail.

Made under challenging circumstances, Tango in the Night is as much a universe of sound as it is an album. This reissue conveys that sonic spectrum in exhaustive manners that go beyond prior editions by playing with a combination of transparency, imaging, openness, and dynamics that provides uncanny insight into the meticulously layered vocal and instrumental tracks. Equally important, it also amplifies your connection to the elaborate melodies, contagious hooks, and airy highs that account for the album’s ageless pop brilliance.

As for the wondrous array of percussive accents, synthesizer elements, interlaced guitars, and lush choruses — all seemingly occupying the exact right place amid the soundstages and taking on shapes and forms that lend them a living, breathing quality? If your audio system is up to the task, the realism, presence, and warmth of Mobile Fidelity’s collectible edition will have you considering Tango in the Night from a new perspective — one that puts its lavish, gorgeous creations on a par with those from Rumours and Tusk.

Unlike those records, Tango in the Night began from a more individualistic perspective in that it sprang from what originally was intended to become a Buckingham solo effort. Instead, it remains the final album credited to the peak Fleetwood Mac lineup involving Buckingham, Stevie Nicks, Christine McVie, Mick Fleetwood, and John McVie. Though the participation of all the members varies from track to track, the cohesive arrangements and alchemic production on Tango in the Night suggest a unity that remains on a par with the band’s other landmark works.

Largely constructed from laborious methods that involved recording at half speed to achieve the desired sonics and tonal nuances, piecing together verses and choruses to attain seamless synchronicity, and Buckingham using a Fairlight CMI synthesizer/workstation in visionary ways, the songs pair electronic and acoustic elements to radiant effect. Tango in the Night also possesses light dance structures that resulted in several tunes being recast as dance mixes on extended-play singles. Above all, however, this is music that appears to float and cast dreamy spells.

Surrender to the frisky interplay of the opening “Big Love,” big pop punctuated with Buckingham’s back-and-forth “oh-ah” sighs that ping the Top 5 smash with innocuous sensuality and toe-tapping momentum. Delight amid the shimmering lights of “Seven Wonders,” whose shades and shadows shift amid Nicks’ raspy vocals and a large group chorus. Wrap yourself in the warmth of the weightless “Everywhere,” a flawless slice of hummable pop that topped with Adult Contemporary charts for three weeks and towers as an ode to the love everyone desires. Stare into the mysterious landscape of the title track (and dig the synthesized harp) just before it explodes, briefly ceding to a terse riff and locked-in grooves.

Tango in the Night teems with delightful surprises and well-honed specifics, especially when Buckingham and Christine McVie team together. In addition to the aforementioned “Everywhere,” the singer born Christine Anne Perfect plays a major role on four more cuts — all highlights — from the breathy, head-over-heels emotionalism of “Mystified” to the sweet, sweeping escapism of “Little Lies,” a cover-up of romantic despair aided by Nicks’ irreplaceable background vocals.

“If I see you again/Will it be the same,” asks Buckingham on “When I See You Again,” finishing up a song a longing-sounding Nicks had started while voicing words that many likely knew would resonate far beyond the confines of the heartfelt song — a goodbye wearing a faint disguise. Though Fleetwood Mac would never again reach the heights maintained throughout Tango in the Night, and members would go their own way, the album towers as a paean to what’s possible in the fields of pop, rock, and studio wizardry.

One of the most dynamic female soul singers in the history of the music, Tina Turner oozed sexuality from every pore in a performing career that began the moment she stepped on-stage as lead singer of The Ike & Tina Turner Revue in the late '50s.

Her gritty and growling performances beat down doors everywhere, looking back to the double-barrelled attack of gospel fervor and sexual abandon that had originally formed soul back then. After almost fifty years in the music business, Tina Turner has become one of the most commercially successful international female rock stars to date.

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water, THE ROUTES are back with their unique blend of beat-you-to-death surf music (IGGY POP). Their latest target: the music of JOY DIVISION!

Having previously surfy-fied the songs of KRAFTWERK and BUZZCOCKS, Surfin' Pleasures sees THE ROUTES take on the music of JOY DIVISION. As with their previous tributes, this is not an album of note for note cover versions. THE ROUTES have only taken subtle melodic and rhythmic hints from the original songs; rearranging them into songs of their own, respectfully and lovingly translating the music of JOY DIVSION into a different musical language.

Surfin' Pleasures sees twelve classic JOY DIVISION songs reimagined and rearranged as banging 60s surf guitar instrumentals (a la THE VENTURES, DICK DALE, SHADOWS, TRASHMEN, TERAUCHI TAKESHI, LINK WRAY, THE SURFARIS and THE ASTRONAUTS and more).

Prepare to be taken on a wild musical trip where A Means To An End and Ice Age are transformed into the background music of a 60s drag race movie, Transmission hints at the classic ASTRONAUTS sound, and Digital gets the beach party treatment... You don't have to be a fan of JOY DIVISION to enjoy these tunes, and likewise if you're a JOY DIVISION fan you don't need to be a fan of surf music to enjoy them.

The record cover comes courtesy of British design icons Peter Saville and Malcolm Garrett. It is a reworking of Peter Saville's design for JOY DIVISION's Unknown Pleasures. Reminiscent of the op art of Bridget Riley, the lines are no longer that of a pulsar, but that of the sound wave of a reverb tank. Its cover design is provided with calender embossing as well as a printed inner sleeve, just like the hit-album Unknown Pleasures.

Blasphemy or alchemy? You decide!

One thing is for sure is that THE ROUTES have provided the world with yet another future cult classic, destined to irk or jerk for eons to come.

For Caleb Klauder & Reeb Willms, country music is soul music. Just as soul music resonates the mind, body, and spirit with powerful rhythms and expressive vocals, so too does the reflective storytelling and crooning country music on their latest record, Gold In Your Pocket. Blending classic country, bluegrass, old-time, and Cajun influences, Caleb & Reeb offer a refreshing departure from the often sorrowful themes found in traditional music. In fact, love–particularly remembering, giving, and receiving it–is the thematic glue connecting all 13 tracks. Celebrated for their charismatic performances and deeply-rooted musical style, the duo’s pared-down approach is supplemented by pedal steel and electric guitar, channeling classic country duos of old. Legendary Cajun musician and engineer Joel Savoy, along with Nashville session savant Chris Scruggs, added tasteful performances to Gold In Your Pocket at sessions in Louisiana and Nashville. As a vocally-led band, Caleb & Reeb focus on the art of harmony, capturing listeners with the joy of telling a universal story through song. Their creations also honor the communal side of country and honky-tonk music. These longtime leaders of the vibrant Pacific Northwest underground country scene prove that getting us to dance and sing together is more important than ever.

Classic mix of rocksteady and early reggae hits, includes ‘007’ which topped the UK & US charts.

Krauty electrocis from FACTORY FLOOR re-promoted now! The music is taken from a project originally commissioned by London's Science Museum to live score Fritz Lang's 1927 cinematic landmark, Metropolis on its 90th anniversary. The band performed the score live at the Science Museum's IMAX in April 2017 in an event that was part of the acclaimed Robots exhibition. This new release is a studio recording of the 150 minute score, recorded in its entirety and mixed by Nik Void with the exception of the tracks `Heart of Data' and `Babel' which was mixed by award-winning producer Marta Salogni. It's something of a rite of passage for electronic artists to compose music for the classic sci-fi movie Metropolis, and with the simply named Soundtrack for a Film, Factory Floor join the ranks of Giorgio Moroder and Jeff Mills. ... While Soundtrack for a Film is subtler than Factory Floor's albums, it still bears the duos signature approach. ... Soundtrack for a Film also takes Factory Floor's skill at making expansive, evolving tracks to its logical conclusion, and the album could be heard as one two-and-a-half-hour cut. Despite its length, Gurnsey and Void never lose focus thanks to their carefully chosen motifs. ... As Factory Floor balance the organic and mechanical aspects of Metropolis and their music on Soundtrack for a Film, they achieve the best of both worlds -- a commissioned work that's just as original as their own albums. - Available as a box set comprising four 12" vinyl on the band's own imprint H/O/D Records. The artwork is by British artist Haroon Mirza adapted and arranged by Nik Void in collaboration with illustrator Sam Moore.

This album took fuckin" forever, even longer than Decline. we started in December of "99 and finished in February "00. Of course we took the holidays off and we went on a three week tour in Jan. We recorded like 22 songs, but we scrapped 8 of them. We"ll finish them some other time. The title track "Pump Up The Valuum" got cut from the album. That"s wierd. we gave it to Epitaph for Punk O Rama 5. There"s another song called "San Francisco Fat" that is gonna go on the next fat comp. I guess a lot of the songs on this record are about drugs. I guess that"s because we like drugs and like singin" about them even more. well our drummer doesn"t like them so much. He did so much of em he had to quit seven years ago. But he"s not writing the lyrics. Am I rambling, I feel like I"m rambling, any way, I like this album. there"s no ska, no reggae, no jazz, just punk and punk and a little polka. I don"t feel the need to ever play a ska song again, but ya never know. Yes, I definitely think I am rambling.

12” paddling pool blue vinyl, is an edition of 500. CD Digifile. Following the runaway success of their critically acclaimed 2021 second album Contender, the question for fast-rising London four-piece Fightmilk was always going to be “what next?” With a tight indie-pop sound that defined their early recordings, the answer was obvious to a band who seem hellbent on the notion of evolve or die… The band originally formed in 2015 in a Brixton pub garden by Lily and Alex, who had both, separately, just been dumped and thought being in an angry punk band would cheer them up. Then they found Nick and Healey to hold the rhythm down and make them sound good. With three albums under their belt, they’ve perfected their chaotic, melodic brand of joy and rage-filled pop with full-throated yelling and sparkling guitar riffs as their trademark. They’ve graduated from angsty whippersnappers in their mid-twenties to overgrown teenage 30-somethings with mild ongoing back and shoulder pain. Their previous 2 albums Not With That Attitude (2018) & Contender (2021) marked them out as an ambitious and rising prospect, and now on their forthcoming new album No Souvenirs the band eschew their former Britpop ties and edge further into DIY punk and heavier rock influences to reveal a leaner, meaner, more abrasive side to their cathartic lo-fi anthems. Whilst collectively diving into their passion for Jimmy Eat World, frontwoman Lily Rae made a conscious decision to strengthen her “big loud yell” with influence from Alicia Bognanno (Bully), Nat Foster (Press Club), and Missy Dabice (Mannequin Pussy). “My voice is the biggest it’s ever been and I’m constantly thrilled when people are surprised at how loud I am, considering I’m so small in stature,” she grins. “Lyrically I always look to Bruce Springsteen for inspiration but I also really enjoyed the angsty candour of Sour by Olivia Rodrigo, and Kacey Musgraves’ impeccable one-liners.” There are a few genre experiments on the record—Yo La Tengo in ‘Paddling Pool’, ‘Canines’ is part The Strokes and part Neu!, and ‘Back From Tour’ was heavily influenced by long term friends Johnny Foreigner. “You could probably make a case for ‘Inferno’ having a bit of Counting Crows to it, but we were never writing to emulate,” explains guitarist Alex. “The references and touchstones just happened along the way. As far as we’re concerned, they just sound like Fightmilk - and that’s a really nice place to be nearly a decade in.” “That said, we’ve also been REALLY picky with the songs that made it onto the album - there’s probably an-other album’s worth of songs that didn’t feel right, even if we loved them. We got really good at finding the “magic thing” in each song that made it work.” Spilling over with candid lyrics about death, doomed love, and dog bites, framed by endless punk energy and the kind of full-throated riff-rock that sounds just at home in a giant stadium as it does in a sticky-floored toilet bar, No Souvenirs is a triumphant return from the band, who are equally enthused by the album. “I only realised after we put the songs together how personal to me this album was,” explains Lily. “Not just because I’m writing about extremely specific sitcom episodes in my life (getting fired from bridesmaid duty, being bitten on the arse by a dog, being relentlessly asked when I’m going to have kids), but because whilst we were making it, I turned 30. It’s a significant age for women, especially in music, because aside from being something called a ‘geriatric millennial’, there’s an unspoken rule that there’s a cut-off point for you to have ‘made it’ and after that you have to settle down and be normal.” For Lily, writing for the album also aligned with the 10th anniversary of the death of a close friend, with the resulting track ‘No Souvenirs’ lending its title to the album as a whole. “It had taken me that long to write about it in a way I felt ok with. But I realised that I couldn’t have written it before,” she explains. “I needed that distance, and that maturity, to be able to articulate those feelings. It feels to me now like the album is about scorched earth, moving on, taking nothing with you for the next ‘thing’ - and realising that getting older is a privilege.” Bringing a huge amount of energy and joy with them whenever and wherever they hit a stage, interacting with the audience is a vital part of the Fightmilk live experience. “Without people singing and dancing at us we wouldn’t have gigs at all, so we want everyone to get involved!” says Lily of the band’s future tour plans

Just a little over two years since the release of his debut album Opening the Door, Jack re-emgerges with a new full length album. On Blue Desert, the Australian-born Vancouver-based multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter and producer wades deeper into the stylistically prismatic pool of his own creation: melancholy dub-funk, jangling psychedelia, moon-burnt sophisti-pop and stained glass folk mutations float freely together.

Just a little over two years since the release of his debut album Opening the Door, Jack re-emgerges with a new full length album. On Blue Desert, the Australian-born Vancouver-based multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter and producer wades deeper into the stylistically prismatic pool of his own creation: melancholy dub-funk, jangling psychedelia, moon-burnt sophisti-pop and stained glass folk mutations float freely together.

Entirely self-produced at Mood Hut Studios in Chinatown, Vancouver between 2022 and 2024, the album picks up where Opening the Door left off; the songwriting concise and refined, the voice front and centre on almost every song, the pensive mood irresistible and dense.

The apparently effortless melodic interplay of voice, guitar, synthesizers and bass that Jack is well known for is ever present but despite the clear-eyed harmonies and energetic rhythms there is a shadow that quietly haunts the album. The lyrical buoyancy of his early EPs and even some of the more explicitly sunburnt instrumental moments of his last record have continued to fade and peel like paint. Regret, remorse and melancholy are woven into almost every turn of phrase; the self-deprecating longing of Tracey Thorn and Sade Adu can be heard alongside the plaintive echos of Mark Hollis and Arthur Russell. The Mood Hut Records founder and NTS host digs deeper in all the directions that he only brushed upon on Opening the Door, creating a kaleidoscopic index of his omnivorous listening habits: from Underworld to Kate Bush, Disco Inferno to Bryan Ferry, Julian Cope to Arthur Verocai.

The LP will be released on Jack’s own Mood Hut Records on November 1st and will be followed by a live tour in the UK and Europe in November and December, featuring a string of dates opening for revered Los Angeles artist Jessica Pratt.
- Mood Hut Records, Vancouver

Produced by Jack Jutson at Mood Hut Studios, Chinatown Vancouver
Mixed by Jack Jutson and CZ Wang
Saxophone by Linda Fox
Strings on Falling Down a Well by Aiden Ayers
Bass on Down the Line by Diego Herrera
Additional synth on Red Cloud by Liam Butler
Artwork by Mela Melania + Jack Jutson






e A5. Pink Shoes Part I





Part II

LINKIN PARK—Mike Shinoda, Brad Delson, Phoenix, Joe Hahn, alongside new members Emily Armstrong of critically acclaimed band Dead Sara as co-vocalist and Colin Brittain songwriter/producer for G Flip, Illenium, One OK Rock as drummer—share their first brand new music in seven years.

The iconic band shared a new single “The Emptiness Machine,” which is also the herald for the arrival of LINKIN PARK’s first album since 2017, FROM ZERO, on November 15.

About the new era, Shinoda stated, “Before LINKIN PARK, our first band name was Xero. This album title refers to both this humble beginning and the journey we’re currently undertaking. Sonically and emotionally, it is about past, present, and future—embracing our signature sound, but new and full of life. It was made with a deep appreciation for our new and longtime bandmates, our friends, our family, and our fans. We are proud of what LINKIN PARK has become over the years, and excited about the journey ahead.”

Right out of the gate, “The Emptiness Machine” channels the DNA of LINKIN PARK, harnessing the band’s explosive energy and retaining the hallmarks of their instantly identifiable and inimitable sound. A chameleonic and catchy anthem, Shinoda’s hypnotic melodies hand off to Armstrong’s blistering chorus, over distorted riffs and head-nodding drums.

Ultimately, with FROM ZERO, the band is looking to harness the purest energy of their past, present, and future. The new era has officially begun.