Pop & Rock Vinyl New Releases - News

Five years after his track 'Mr. Croissant Taker' appeared on Soulwax's Grand Theft Auto V radio station, Belgian producer Transistorcake releases his official debut release, the 'Future Plans' EP on Eskimo Recordings. Featuring 4 tracks of hazy electronica that would sit neatly alongside early releases on Aphex Twin's Rephlex label or recent excursions by the likes of Palmbomen and Betonkust.

Opening tracks 'Future Plan I' and 'Future Plan II' sets out Transistorcake's stall nicely. Swirling synth melodies, an ever evolving bassline that leads you down a labyrinthine maze and diaphanous strings and pads all add up to create an ecstatic yet at the same time melancholic quality to the music that manages to sound both ancient and modern.

"Future Plans I and II are constantly changing routes of ideas, improvisations and coincidences," explains Transistorcake, "nothing is a constant in the two numbers, outside the pulse of the drums. You can see them as two possible versions of the future or as an old version of the future alongside its current variation."

Whilst cut from the same cloth as the previous tracks 'Ribbles' has more than a touch of the Nordics to it. Sparkling, playful melodies glitter like snowflakes caught in the flash of a strobe light before a pulsing disco beat rockets the track into the stratosphere. In his own words the track is "an ode to spontaneity and dancing without braking. I pictured it being played by a live band next to a pool at an LA cocktail party in the '80s."

Closing the EP we have 'Kluts', driven by a stuttering, head-nodding, rhythm that recalls that rapping sound of a woodpecker in the forest, the track is gently swaddled in a warm embrace of synthetic stings that gradually develops and asserts its dominance over the course of nine, all-too brief as it happens, minutes. For all its gauzy textures there's also an undeniable solidity to these tracks, an underlying organic quality and nostalgic warmth that permeates them.

Having previously studied jazz composition and played in several bands over the years, Transistorcake brings a sense of spontaneity to the often all-to-structured world of electronic music. This EP just capturing a snapshot in time of these songs that can be endlessly reworked and reimagined in his live set, where live bass and drums, are added to his collection of vintage synths to an endless back and forth between man and machine.

Part of The Optic Sevens Reissue Series
Limited White Vinyl Includes Poster & Postcard
Originally released in 1985 on Reception Records. The debut single by The Wedding Present is reissued here on white vinyl using the original (Reception Records) artwork .

Part of The Optic Sevens Reissue Series
Limited to 500 copies on splatter vinyl Includes Poster & Postcard
Originally released on Factory Records in 1987 on a 4 track 12” EP entitled “Something That No One Else Could Bring” These 2 tracks make their first appearance as a 7” single

The new album by Juno Award and Polaris Music Prize-nominated Canadian soul star Tanika Charles.

Produced by a stable of some of Canada's finest musical minds including among the others Chin Injeti (DJ Khalil, Eminem, Drake, Aloe Blacc..), Record Kicks proudly presents "The Gumption" the awaited new album by Canadian soul star Tanika Charles that will hit the streets worldwide on May 10.

"What gave you the gumption?" Tanika Charles rhetorically asks during the introductory notes of her sophomore album appropriately titled The Gumption. While the apprehensive lover at the receiving end of that inquisition should feel slighted by the remark, it also alludes to the assuredness Tanika has gained since the release of her Juno Award and Polaris Music Prize-nominated debut Soul Run. The Gumption picks up where Soul Run left off, continuing her tradition of marrying classic soul with modern production styles. Across a dozen songs spanning 38 minutes, Tanika addresses moments of vulnerability, vindication, uncertain love, forbidden fruit and the state of the world today. "It's a little more mature. It's not feeling guilty about being up front, not being afraid to address situations that aren't comfortable for me. I'm comfortable in my skin now in a way I never was before. The overall theme is growth. I feel the music reflects that, and my words reflects that. Even the album cover tries to convey the feeling too. I'm not putting up with unnecessary nonsense anymore."

Predominately guitar-driven mid-tempo soul, with a handful of dance floor friendly tunes and some psychedelic leanings, The Gumption was indirectly influenced by the likes of Alabama Shakes, The Supremes, Khruangbin, D'Angelo, and Moses Sumney. It is sonically moody at times, but with consistent silver-lining arcs. "I've grown up and learned to deal with situations significantly better. We have a tendency to hold back our innermost feelings for fear of hurting others. Even when we're happy we worry about over-sharing, as if joy is a competition you don't want to gloat about."

The success of Soul Run propelled Tanika in front of new audiences far and wide, with extensive touring in North America and Europe. "I've been touring, experiencing new places and meeting new people. And in that time also worked on completing this album". While criss-crossing Canada with festival appearances on both the east and west coasts, Tanika also embarked upon four overseas tours for a combined 45 European shows within a one year period. This included performances at the prestigious Trans Musicales Festival in France, the Lärz, Germany Fusion Festival, Mostly Funk & Soul and Jazz Festival in UK, the Holy Groove Festival in Switzerland, and the Canarias Jazz Festival in Spain.

Chris Corsano & Bill Orcutt Electric Smog, the next installment in Unrock's ongoing Saraswati series, will be the most rebellious and wildest to date. Again an intercontinental output, this is a dangerous, electric brew filled with exotic aroma from Cairo's sound guerilla, Alan Bishop (Sun City Girls), Maurice Louca (Karkhana), and Sam Shalabi (Land of Kush, Karkhana). The always-changing face of Dwarfs Of East Agouza shows them in a feverish mode with an adrenalin rush; massive eruptions fight a genuine flow. Chris Corsano & Bill Orcutt manage to sound like a tonal cyclone consisting of 156 musicians, blowing heads and minds away. Out of the blue they suddenly manage to change mode and develop mild, calm, and elegant/fragile melodies. Interplay between early Baker and Clapton in Cream's looser frequencies seems sometimes just a stone's throw away. Electric Smog is meant to be a twin release to Sir Richard Bishop and David Oliphant / Karkhana with Nadah El Shazly's Carte Blanche. One-time pressing.

However far back you trace its triumph, we seem to still be living in Poptimism’s world. It is unclear, however, what kind of world that is. It has always been a self-referential optimism: Pop was promised to deliver the pleasures of Pop; nothing less or more. We were never given an impression of what a Pop utopianism might look like.

Utopia is no-place; utopianism is concerned with the invisible potentials that sleep in the interstices of our world. Fenster’s Lucas Ufo, who records as WORLD BRAIN, is preoccupied with the aethers that surrounds us – he lists among his inspirations for Peer 2 Peer, sitting at the windows and “watching WiFi enter the room.” Perhaps this is the core of the utopian imagination – staring intently at those parts of the world which we cannot see but which we know must be shaping the rest.

As the album’s title suggests, this Pop Utopianism is often concerned with the romantic potentials of digital technology, and its central image, the network - while the music often invokes the studios of the 1980s, the themes are more suggestive of the Web-positivity of the 90s and early 00s. Following his windowsill observation sessions, ‘Network’ is a three minute guitar solo impersonating those WiFi signals. “Hyptertext” call the links that weave our experience of the internet one of ‘the true modern things.’ “<3beat” imagines two computers falling in love, discussing the things that matter to them – ‘networks reflected in the sky.’ The digital paramours are concerned above all with the legibility and maintenance of connection, but are also poignantly aware of the accelerated impermanence of technology: the singer wants to share his heart – ‘until the next update.’

The utopian spirit that pervades Peer 2 Peer is not limited to a nostalgia for the dream of an open internet or the production aesthetics of a past era. Opener “The Pangean Anthem,” by its name (after the no-place that was every-place of the first supercontinent) and infectious cheer, is a wordless declaration of intent for what follows. Lead single “Made U Cry,” which made a splash in early 2018, is addressed to Satan, the original utopian, possessed of the prettiest smile. “Everybody Dies,” featuring ubercrooner and frequent Mansions and Millions guest Sean Nicholas Savage, is a kind of thanato-utopianism, a blissful, mellow meditation on the grand egalitarianism of mortality. “It’s All True,” driven by a maddeningly infectious riff emphasized with a Windows 95 system ‘ding’, simply lists well-known and common phenomena, lost in wondrous awe at the simple fact of existence. In a similar mood, the appropriately bubbly “Bubble Tea” asks ‘isn’t it sweet to live on this sphere, isn’t it wonderful?’ Even the album’s most melancholy moment, “Besides,” takes a cosmic perspective, dwelling on the parallels between the proverbial grain of sand and the grains in a lonesome bowl of rice, meditating on the holographic quality of mood.

Both sweet and silly, wistful and whimsical, Peer 2 Peer is always affirmative. Where others might mine the past as a cheap source of irony or nostalgia, WORLD BRAIN has a made a clearing equidistant between then and now, a no-place in which to build a Pop Utopia in miniature.

Daughters Of The Sun's singer / guitarist Nick Koenigs has been toiling solo as Filthy Huns for a couple quiet years at this point, layering grease-stained drum machines with badlands guitar, mirage keys, and desolate vocals, alternately broke-down and road-burned. His debut is a dusty midnight ride through black hills. “Watch Of The Bear” in particular captures a loner-in-leather mood, headlight off, pushing 70, chasing the horizon under a sea of stars. Elsewhere there's woozy, hungover dub (“Hot Morning”), peyote campfire awakening (“Infinite Ride”) and stoned sunshine raga (“Out Of The Grave"). Barren times on the highway, through darkening deserts.

A cat may have nine lives, but Peter Cat Recording Co. has a multitude of dimensions. Formed in New Delhi around 2010 by the crooner Suryakant Sawhney, it's a group that's mutated over time, shedding members and accruing more, always evolving musically with each album: from gypsy jazz to psychedelic cabaret; ballroom waltzes to epic space disco; bossa supernova to uneasy listening. What's more they play jajj, which you've almost certainly never heard of. 
'Gypsy jazz is the description we used around the time of our first album Cinema that we sound nothing like now,' says Sawhney, before adding: 'At the time I was really into Strauss.' 

Portrait of a Time 2010 - 2016 is the first taste many Europeans will have of this highly original, musically capricious and deeply inscrutable New Delhi four-piece. The compilation helps you get to know a band who are essentially unknowable, not that that will stop you from trying. Furthermore, in a capital city known for its mystery, madness and mayhem, Peter Cat Recording Co. is something of ananomaly there too. 

While Suryakant's crooning is spookily reminiscent of a hipster 50's Sinatra, it was more his intention to ape legendary Bollywood playback singers like Kishore Kumar, Mohammed Rafi and especially Hemant Kumar. There are diverse American influences in the mix too, including Sam Cooke, Etta James and even Tom Waits, and time spent in San Francisco studying film may have contributed to the cinematic melange. Thrown together it becomes something unique that equates less to a listening experience and more to an out-of-body experience. 

They were signed to new French record company Panache after label boss Alexandre Rabia was trawling through YouTube one day and happened upon their remarkable promo for 'Love Demons'. It's a mind-blowing eight minute epic featuring the desert, one camel, a movie theatre, swirly organs over coruscating beats, dancing girls, more police and a cavernous pit that then-bassist Rohan Kulshreshtha falls into. 

You can try to compartmentalize them all you want, but just when you think you've got them pegged, they will evolve and transmogrify and the description you have in your hand will slip through your fingers like sand. Who knows if Peter Cat Recording Co. has nine lives, but you can listen to a past life on Portrait of a Time, and a future incarnation - much of it recorded in Paris - will be available in the autumn. Just remember, unlike a cat, you'll never put them in a box. 

Originally released on Fierce Recordings in 1988 as a single side pressing of 100 copies, 50 in a pink sleeve and 50 in a blue sleeve and is one of the most collectable indie 7' singles.
The B side is an instrumental which you can dub your own lyrics to, send an mp3 to the Pooh Sticks and they will put it on their Facebook page.

It's difficult to overstate the unique brilliance of Arthur Russell's posthumous release, 'Another Thought'. Originally released on CD in 1994 and reissued in 2006, this is the first time Another Thought has been released on vinyl.

Arthur Russell's Another Thought was first released posthumously in 1994, two years after his death. The tracks date from between 1982 to around 1990, catalogued from over 800 tape reels by Mikel Rouse for Point Music, and produced by Don Christensen. While it is a collection of tracks in various stages of completion, often sparse and direct, it is perhaps the most sonically coherent album ever released of Russell's material.

Another Thought includes appearances by trombonist Peter Zummo, percussionist Mustafa Ahmed, additional vocals by composers Julius Eastman and Elodie Lauten, plus Joyce Bowden, Jennifer Warnes and Steven Hall.

Das erste neue Album der Emo / Hardcore Legende
aus Kansas City nach 11 Jahren.
Nach ihrer gefeierten - Kicker EP' im Sommer 2018 (Pitchfork:
"The band's most satisfying release in nearly 20 years")
kommen The Get Up Kids mit dem Album - Problems',
produziert von Peter Katis (The National, Interpol, Gang of
Youths).
Gegründet wurde die Band 1995 von Matthew Pryor (Gitarre,
Gesang), Jim Suptic (Gitarre, Gesang), Robert Pope (Bass)
und Nathan Shay (Schlagzeug). Schwer melodisch und mehr
einbrennend als eingängig, hüpfen die Jungs aus Kansas City
mit Leichtigkeit über die Gipfel der Emo-Szene und schaffen
es dabei noch, wie so viele ihrer amerikanischen Kollegen,
nicht bei jeder Platte als Plagiat ihrer selbst zu enden,
sondern sich in kleinen, aber feinen Schritten zu veredeln.
ihrer Heimatstadt. Sänger und Mastermind Matthew Pryor
widmet sich seit dem verstärkt seinem Soloprojekt The New
Amsterdams während Keyboarder James Dewees seine
Energie in sein Projekt Reggie and the Full Effect steckt

Das erste neue Album der Emo / Hardcore Legende
aus Kansas City nach 11 Jahren.
Nach ihrer gefeierten - Kicker EP' im Sommer 2018 (Pitchfork:
"The band's most satisfying release in nearly 20 years")
kommen The Get Up Kids mit dem Album - Problems',
produziert von Peter Katis (The National, Interpol, Gang of
Youths).
Gegründet wurde die Band 1995 von Matthew Pryor (Gitarre,
Gesang), Jim Suptic (Gitarre, Gesang), Robert Pope (Bass)
und Nathan Shay (Schlagzeug). Schwer melodisch und mehr
einbrennend als eingängig, hüpfen die Jungs aus Kansas City
mit Leichtigkeit über die Gipfel der Emo-Szene und schaffen
es dabei noch, wie so viele ihrer amerikanischen Kollegen,
nicht bei jeder Platte als Plagiat ihrer selbst zu enden,
sondern sich in kleinen, aber feinen Schritten zu veredeln.
ihrer Heimatstadt. Sänger und Mastermind Matthew Pryor
widmet sich seit dem verstärkt seinem Soloprojekt The New
Amsterdams während Keyboarder James Dewees seine
Energie in sein Projekt Reggie and the Full Effect steckt

Uxbridge four piece BLOXX release their first 10" EP. Featuring tracks that have already accrued a million streams on Spotify alone. RADIO: Radio1, Radio X, Triple J, Alt Nation. TV: syncs BT Sport, Sky Sports, Made In Chelsea. Press: Clash, DIY, Dork. LIVE: Headline tour and Wombats support

Pregoblin is a collaboration between Alex Sebley and Jessica Winter. There have been a few incarnations of the band but it's when Alex and Jess met in 2016 it fell into place. Before Pregoblin formed, Alex was a member of The Saudis, alongside Lias and Nathan Saoudi, and Jessica is a producer and writer and has worked with members of Gorillaz, Fat White Family, and Dinosaur Pile Up.

There have been millions of typical disco edits in the last years. But there is so much more interesting music from the late 1970s and early 80s yet to bubble its way to the surface. One of those lesser explored fields is the crazy funky side of Germany's underground disco and new wave from that period. At the time, many German bands were trying to make their own version of English and American styles. After Kraftwerk and Can had started to use the German language in a cool, new way, many bands that followed in their steps experimented with German new wave. Most of these bands didn't reach a bigger audience. Their records never got pressed to more than 300 - 500 copies as they were a number of years ahead of the huge commercial explosion of German pop in 1984: The NDW aka 'Neue Deutsche Welle", with Nena's humongous hit 99 Red Balloons. The bands featured on the compilation released their music before the NDW hype and later broke up. Plenty of these early bands are best forgotten but if you dig deeper you'll find the gems, bursting with style and attitude. And that's just what Toy Tonics heads Mathias Munk Modica & Kapote did. They hit gold.

This triple pronged battle weapon from Cowboy Rhythmbox takes is inspiration from a wealth of disparate elements, the brutal drum machine swagger of early Chicago house, the murky world of 1980's video arcades, the bleeps of Sheffield, arcane home computing documentaries recorded to VHS, public access TV, yes there really is something here for everyone.

Terminal Madness:
A quirky track about the paranoia surrounding artificial intelligence, inspired by early Dance Mania releases and broken pocket calculators amongst other things.
Beware, you'll begin to think that computers have minds of their own!!!

Hands Inside The Car:
Proof that there is joy in repetition, a wonderfully eccentric number with a deadpan vocal hook that wraps itself around a killer combination of sub bass, freestyle beats and deranged reversed elements.

Vodonik:
A stark, glacial rave beast, very much a reaction against Cowboy Rhythmbox's usual maximal approach. This is stripped-down-to-the-bone body music that will work in the most cavernous of rave palaces or the most intimate seedy basement club.

"Keyboard player/producer Emerson Kitamura has worked with a number of artists and bands in Japan throughout the 1990s and 2000s. He began his solo project in 2014 to further understand and realize his music more clearly and personally, and released the album Ochi Kochi Ni ("In Perspective") in the same year.

Like his favorite rocksteady keyboard player Jackie Mittoo, Kitamura's organ is simple yet groovy. It is accompanied by cheap drumbox tracks which is a nod to the 1980s new wave rock and 'digital' dancehall reggae in the 1990s.

In 2017 he released Countryside is Great EP, a cover of a Thai pop song from the 1970s. The EP also contains a track named Rock Your Baby, featuring mmm (pronounced me-my-mo) on vocals, which has since been included in an UK compilation album Balearic 4 released in August 2018.

Mado Kara ('From My Window') has a melody like a West Indies' folk-song, with a lively 'montuno' part. Ame No Saka No Ashimoto ('Underneath My Feet in the Rain') is inspired by the sound of his favorite dub poet Linton Kwesi Johnson and his band from the early 1980s. An old combo organ was used on both tracks. All recording, mixing, mastering were done by Kitamura himself."

* Second Album From La Stampa, The Six-piece Band From Berlin, Hamburg & Geneva.
* Includes A Bespoke, Full Colour, Fold-out Poster
* Artwork By The Acclaimed Artist, Shirana Shahbazi.
* Design By Manuel Krebs From Norm.
* Edition Of 500

Closely Working With Legendary Producer Tobias Levin From Hamburg, The Band Have Developed And Recorded The Ten Songs Over The Course Of Two Years. Picture Northern Creatures Sweating Out Their Melancholy In The Southern Sun. As The Wind Carries The Beats From The Beach Disco Across The Bay, Chopin, Vodka Shot In Hand, Imagines Writing Music Based On The Build Of Crystals. To The Side Of The Composer, The Rhythm Section Gets Restless. The Thrum Of Eastern European Electronics Pulsates In Their Brains. 'don't Work Yourselves To Death', One Of Them Shouts, 'it's Not Our Fate. Let's Go Dancing, Everything Must Change', Adds Another, And 'sun Screen's On The House!' This Is A Glimpse Of The World Bonjour

On March 29th, Dischord will release Autoclave's discography on a single LP for the first time ever. This LP combines the band's 7' and 10' singles as well as two extra demo tracks. The music has been remastered from the original tapes by TJ Lipple and cut for vinyl by Bob Weston at CMS.
Christina Billotte and Melissa Berkoff initially began playing together in a Washington, D.C. band called Hazmat in 1989, but then joined up with Nikki Chapman and Mary Timony to form Autoclave. The group lasted for one year and played only a handful of shows.
In 1991, the quartet released a three-song 7" on the "DisKord" label -- a joint effort between Dischord and Olympia, Washington's K Records. The band's second release was a posthumous 10" that came out via Billotte's label, Mira Records.
Following Autoclave's dissolution, Billotte would go on to perform in Slant 6, Quix-o-tic, and The Casual Dots. Timony formed the bands Helium and Ex Hex in addition to releasing four records under her own name. Timony also played in Wild Flag with Carrie Brownstein, Mary Timony, Rebecca Cole and Janet Weiss, who are ex-members of the groups Sleater-Kinney, Helium and The Minders.
Christina Billotte: vocals, bass mary Timony: vocals, guitar NIkki Chapman: vocals, guitar melissa Berkoff: drums

The first Redskins re-issue for many years, this is a 4-track celebration of their 1985 Top 40 hit, 'Bring It Down! (This Insane Thing!)'. Featuring their distinctive hybrid of rock and soul complete with their signature brass section and their unmistakeable 'call to arms' socialist sensibility.

C Duncan's highly anticipated third album sees the Scottish multi-instrumentalist ditch his bedroom studio and work with other producers, engineers and musicians for the first time. Packed with fresh ideas and buzzing with invention, 'Health' combines syncopated art-pop piano rhythms with breezy, undulating heartbreak ballads executed with acute precision. As always Duncan has contributed all the artwork surrounding the release, and the colourful and natural aesthetic is reflected in the instrumentation and lyrics.

James Milne is a brave human. Whilst the sleeves of many artists are adorned with well-worn hearts as they release their complete albums into the world, as New Zealand born singer-songwriter Lawrence Arabia, James' latest project offers a rare glimpse into the creative process through 12 separate Lawrence Arabia's Singles Club releases - now available on one handy LP and bringing together an extensive list of VIP members.
Launched as a Kickstarter to write, record and release a digital single every month in 2018, Lawrence Arabia's 2018 Singles Club saw more than 368 backers pledge NZ$ 23,710 to help bring the project to life.
Talented pals contributed to the project including The Ruby Suns' Ryan McPhun, Hollie Fullbrook of Tiny Ruins (singing on 'Everything's Minimal'), Heather Mansfield from The Brunettes (singing alongside Liam Finn's drums on 'A Little Hate'and a dream collab- oration with psychedelic hero, Van Dyke Parks. 
'The whole experience was initially terrifying but ultimately heart-warming and encouraging,' recollects James. 'The energy from all that rampant human positivity ended up pushing me into the process of producing twelve new songs with some sense of manic, irrational vigour. It was pretty exciting.'
One day in late 2017, at his home in Auckland, James sent a message on a whim and suddenly found himself in an email tête-à-tête with Van Dyke. 'The thrill was having the name Van Dyke Parks appearing in my email inbox and engaging the most florid parts of my vocabulary in order to respond to his brilliantly verbose communiqués,' he recalls. A 'lullaby for neurotic adults,' 'Just Sleep (Your Shame Will Keep)' was originally written for Arabia's psychedelic comedy podcast sensation, 'Mysterious Secrets Of Uncle Bertie's Botanarium,' but took on a new lease of life with the addition of Van Dyke's piano, accordion, scratch woodwind and double bass. 'Since I first heard of Van Dyke Parks, I've been fascinated by him, appearing as he did, Zelig-like, in the stories of people somewhat more famous than he, yet making some truly glorious art himself. I'd always nursed a fantasy of working with him.'

Constructed in Lawrence Arabia's revered bedroom recording style, each Singles Club offering was built with ruthless ambition. 'Everything's Minimal', 'Cecily', 'Meaningless Words' and 'Oppositional Democracy' began through the course of the year and were completed in the following months whilst other songs were revived from rough demos that followed 2016's Absolute Truth as quickly and instinctually as possible. 'The time pressure of the process definitely influenced the way I arranged the songs - I had to make bold decisions and stick to them, or tear them apart brutally and start again pronto.'
Woodwind and strings were recorded in Auckland's Roundhead Studios with each track mixed in an office in the Dalmatian Cultural Society, surrounded by views of the city's western suburbs and volcanic cones in the distance. 'During the day there's a constant hum of chit chat from neighbouring offices and the ping of the second-floor lift doors opening. At night, the building goes quiet, I'd turn the lights down low to evoke the sensation of a proper recording studio, but it never quite managed to shake the aura of the building's bureaucratic past.'
Bound with one seamless invisible thread, the album stands as a body of work capturing a moment in time. Like those buildings with their structure on the outside, Lawrence Arabia's Singles Club exposes the inner-workings of what it takes to create a record and offers any member a one-way ticket to Dreamsville. 'I'm delighted at how it all ended up flowing,' he tells. 'I treated it like making a mixtape in extreme slow motion, so tried to make each song respond to the previous one the way you might when choosing a DJ set on the fly. Except this set was one year long, only twelve songs, and the songs had to be written and produced before they could be played.'

Available as a limited (300 copies) 10 track green vinyl gatefold (with D/L code) or limited 14 track CD in gatefold sleeve, this is the re-mastered re-release of the second classic album by The Claim, originally released on Kevin Pearce's legendary Esurient Communications in 1988.

The Claim from Cliffe, Kent and were one of the key players in the then thriving 'Medway Scene' alongside The Prisoners, Billy Childish and The Dentists. This second album received glowing reviews at the time including Bob Stanley's 8/10 review in the NME alongside numerous plays by Peel. If you want to hear where early Blur got their sound from look no further.

The Claim's guitarist David Arnold also played on early Jasmine Minks releases.

This re-master was done using the original quarter inch tapes and gets a luxurious treatment as a limited green vinyl. The cd is a six panel package and features 4 unreleased demo tracks from 1988/1990 Both formats feature liner notes by David Arnold.

The band are currently mixing a new album for release in Summer 2019. To coincide with this release the Claim play the 100 Club on March 23rd supported by The Jasmine Minks.

Limited edition (300 only) 2 track 7'' on blue vinyl in card sleeve with download code.

The first band to be signed to the iconic Creation Records, The Jasmine Minks return with a new single as compelling as those early singles, 'Think' or 'Cold Heart'.

With almost the same line-up as the very first recordings, Jim Shepherd, Martin Keena Dave Musker and Tom Reid recorded the two new songs with producer Pat Collier in his Perry Vale Studios

The Jasmine Minks support The Claim as special guests at the 100 Club on March 23rd to coincide with this release. Followed by their own headline show at The Islington on April 20th

Conceived over a bucks fizz binge in Birmingham UK early 2018, Cherry Pickles comes at you like the base-ment band you always wanted to start. Priscila B brings from Brazil her love of early Tropicalia and the kind of 'let's be bad' attitude that can only come from a land chock full of Catholic guilt. Mimi B brings her love of stripped down, bare essential rhythm. If two drums are good enough for Peggy O'Neill then they should definitely be good enough for you. Together they bonded over a mutual love of 50s malt-shop-pop, 60s minimalist garage, no wave, fuzz and all forms of outsider art. 'Art damaged' isn't a slur, it's a compliment. Anything lost in translation with this transatlantic duo only doubles the charm.Played entirely on thrift store instruments with the kind of enthusiasm and naiveté severely lacking in a lot of today's music this is not some clever re-imagining or ironic take on lo-fi, this is the real deal! Technique and skill be damned, the message comes through strong and that message is 'Don't think about it, just cross the line and enjoy it.' All rolled together with gum, glitter and stickytape in the studio by fellow Bir-mingham noisemakers Black Mekon, the result is slightly wrong-sounding but infectious one-minute-ga-rage-pop with gusto. One guitar, 2 drums, the basement band you always wanted to start. Cherry Pickles' debut LP Cherry Pickles Will Harden Your Nipples will be released on April 5th 2019 via PNK-SLM Recordings (ShitKid, Les Big Byrd, Miss World etc) following the band's US debut at SXSW

Peter Doherty & The Puta Madres release their eponymously titled debut album on Friday 26th April though Strap Originals/Cargo Records. A single, mixed by Cenzo Townshend, 'Who's Been Having You Over,' is available now.


'Peter Doherty & The Puta Madres' was recorded live to beautifully capture the essence and spirit of the Puta Madres at a family home overlooking a fishing village in Étretat Normandy, over 4 days last summer and mixed at Urchin Studios (East London). The album is engineered by Dan Cox (Laura Marling, Thurston Moore, Florence & The Machine)and produced by Jai Stanley (long time friend and manager).

'Peter Doherty & The Puta Madres' is a devastatingly intimate portrait of love, loss, being lost, happiness, tragedy, addiction and the power of the human soul to transcend its darker levels. All the songs from the album were road tested over the last 18 months across Europe at Festivals and headline shows.

Songs include the reflective 'All At Sea,' the raw 'Punk Buck Bonafide,' the upbeat and playful 'Shoreleave,' the joyous hymn of liberation 'Paradise Is Under Your Nose,' 'Someone Else To Be' Peter's re-imagining of the Velvet Underground's 'Ride Into The Sun' and Oasis' 'Don't Look Back In Anger and 'Who's Been Having You Over' with dialogue from the 1948 film adaption of Graham Greene 'Brighton Rock' and the cheeky poke at his own notoriety, 'You're so rock'n'roll.'

The last we heard from Stephen Bailey was a year and a half ago, when he released his debut album Silo, a sprawling collection of warped psych-pop that zigzagged between classic 60's rock and eerie freak folk, and served as an impressive introduction into his expansive sound. It has been a little bit of a break, although he certainly hasn't been resting on his laurels - Stephen also fronts Perth heavy-hitters Mt. Mountain, who just dropped their third album - but that makes it all the more exciting to reveal that his second Stephen Bailey album '9' comes out on the 22nd Feburary. '9' picks up where Silo left off, creating a familiar sense of warmth and lushness - however, this time around things feel more considered, compared to the lo-fi bedroom psych pop nature of 'Silo'. Led by woozy keys that constantly stab over a laid-back drum and bass grooves while grainy guitar chords chime in as instruments leave plenty of space for Stephen's warbly voice to cut through, up close and delicate, as he weaves the track's strongest hooks almost effortlessly. Expressions of indecisiveness towards love, misinterpretation and happiness in isolation litter the lyrics of '9' creating a introspective mood that suck you further into the lush atmosphere of Stephens recordings.
'9' is presented in a 350gsm Card Sleeve with a double sided, full sized colour insert and download code.

Announcing a reissue of The Oh Sees - The Cool Death of Island Raiders
We here at Castle Face are not afraid to get our shins dirty mucking around in the stacks and we're well aware of an out-of-press gap of Oh Sees releases right before 2006 when we started the label with Sucks Blood. We're rectifying that and first among these is The Cool Death of Island Raiders, a particularly dusty gem that we think merits another look. Kicking off the record with what should have been the hit of the summer that year but for the hard C in the title, "The Gilded Cunt" seems to clearly preface Oh Sees' later psych skewed pop sensibilities. At the time it was an obvious jam and I recall being floored by its shuffling beauty. Chirping birds, gently lapping tempos and the nascent harmonization of Bridgid Dawson and Dwyer detail what I consider to be a definitive highlight of their early quiet period of the band. The tree hangs heavy with Patrick Mullins' handiwork, manning the musical saw, drums, and an assortment of home made electronics. It seemed a bit radical to be so quiet about it but the tunes are total earworms among the assorted drones, cut up bits of tape noise, and mellow front porch vibes, and the whole thing hangs together in a lovely hand-made way, helped in no small part by Dave Sitek's production (he would later work on Master's Bedroom as well). 'We flew Brigid out a fresh woman and literally sent her home on a plane with a trash bag of her clothes' says John. Evidently the whole record was accidentally erased at some point right around when the photo on the back of the jacket was taken, which makes it all the more remarkable that the result sounds so casually and confidently careworn. .

The latest release from DEEWEE, the record label run by Soulwax/2manydjs' David and Stephen Dewaele, comes from Phillipi & Rodrigo. 'Paciencia' is the Brazilian duo's 9-track debut album, recorded, produced and mixed at Studio DEEWEE in Gent.

This longplayer follows Phillipi & Rodrigo's single of the same name; released in November last year, 'Paciencia' (single) was backed with a DEEWEEDUB. The release picked up plaudits from Lauren Laverne on BBC6 Music, Dazed & Confused, Mixmag, DJ Mag, Rinse France, Acid Stag, and a host of DJs including Âme, Mano Le Tough, Disclosure, Applescal, Elliot Adamson, nd_baumecker, Tiga, Joe Goddard, Citizenn, DJ T., Black Coffee, Carl Craig, and more. All vinyl copies sold out within 3 weeks.

Described by David and Stephen as sounding 'like Stereolab in 2018 singing in Portuguese while a Batacuda band performs at a Brazilian beach techno party', 'Paciencia' (album) begins with 'Magnetico', a languid, dubby start, that opens proceedings before the upbeat, organ-heavy psychedelic pop of 'Retrogrado'. The melancholic 'Minas' (complete with beautiful piano, strings, and birdsong), is the first straight dance cut on the album, a torch song, sung, like the rest of the album, in Portuguese.

Previous singles, 'Mantra', (their second release alongside 'New Beach' on DEEWEE017), and the equally acclaimed 'Karma' (released with 'Gueto De Gent' as DEEWEE010) are also included. 'Barberella' and 'Rotina' show the depth and width to Phillipi & Rodrigo's sound, before the album shifts gear with the slow techno groove of 'Face', and 'Paciencia' (single) closes the album with 5 minutes of hypnotic brilliance.

Rather good, that" - Gideon Coe , BBC 6 Music"mixes the post-punk snarl of The Fall with the socially aware polemics of Sleaford Mods all backed with some Can-like motorik ... really goddamn good." - Dayz of Purple and Orange
On April 5th Cowboy Flying Saucer (CFS) are to release their second album, Travel Lodge', on their own Sparrowhawk Records imprint. The follow up their 2017 eponymous debut LP, the album tells the tale of a moment in singer BK13's past; of days lost in a hotel after a wedding; of things that were witnessed both imagined and real ...
'I arrived at Travel Lodge, meant to be here only one night, it's been a week, I'm still here! Outside my window, stories were being told, some sinister, some happy, some sad, some filthy. I was only here for one night. IT'S BEEN A WEEK. A Travel Lodge wedding."
Formed as a result of a conversation about T shirts in a Walthamstow pub sometime in 2014, CFS have built cult status. Influenced by the likes of Can, The Fall, Sleaford Mods, Pere Ubu, Captain Beefheart, Happy Mondays, John Cooper Clarke and Spacemen 3, theirs is a distinct sound that encompasses psychedelia, techno, krautrock, ambient electronica, punk, post-punk, funk, dub, spoken word and disco. Drawing on these disparate styles and influences, CFS have improvised their way on BBC 6music, Resonance FM, and a list of podcasts, streams and FM broadcasts across the UK and Europe. Embracing life's "happy accidents", CFS live in the moment; for them there is no script or style guide, just spontaneous, creative moments in time to be captured and occasionally revisited.
'Travel Lodge' was recorded live at The Sickroom over an intense two-day period with editing and production carried out back home in Walthamstow, and with it's impending release CFS are currently organising shows and activities.
Dates confirmed (with more TBA) so far are:
Sat 23rd March CFS supporting Damo Suzuki (St Mary's Music Hall Walthamstow)

Sat 20th April CFS live session on Resonance FM - Hello Goodbye Show
Singer, wordsmith, poet and yodeller Bobby, aka BK13, first met polymath-renascence-artist- bass player-musical Swiss army knife, Spanna at Art school in the North East before moving to London and forming art punk, synth driven electro groove band Plakka with Keith Levene and becoming a regular installment on the East London gig and party scene at the end of the noughties. DJ, producer, label owner, artist, sound designer, video game producer and Guitarist Johnny Ven's first band, Idiot Joy, were erratic and random but enjoyed success on the festival scene, playing Glastonbury and supporting space rock overlords Hawkwind.
Dave B's first musical adventure was as drummer for Magoo, whose pedigree as lo-fi Indie pioneers is well documented. Championed by John Peel and recording several Peel sessions, they released two albums on Glasgow label Chemical Underground. Dave and Johnny first met in 2000 playing together in punk-funk groovers, Junkateer. In 2014 they collided with BK13 and Spanna to form Cowboy Flying Saucer.

The Beths' Warm Blood is a strong contender for the catchiest record you've never heard. Formed when four jazz students at the University of Auckland bonded over their shared love of the pop-punk sounds of their youth, The Beths bring new energy to the genre. This 5-song debut EP, a deliriously pleasurable statement of purpose, comes crammed with enough blissful hooks to carry through most bands' careers.

Listeners for whom the tag 'New Zealand indie rock' brings to mind the Flying Nun sound of bands like The Clean and The Chills may be surprised to find Warm Blood's five unstoppable tunes landing closer to artists like Slant 6 and The Breeders. The nimble guitar work here moves from heavy riffing reminiscent of Sleater-Kinney to hazily bending lines that would make Stephen Malkmus and Mary Timony beam, while the joyous vocal harmonies from all four members bubble and swell to ecstatic crescendos that channel The Zombies' Odessey and Oracle.

With impeccable production from guitarist Jonathan Pearce and stellar musicianship across the board, Warm Blood is a non-stop delight. Tracks like leadoff track and first single 'Whatever,' the ridiculously addictive standout 'Idea/Intent,' and 'Rush Hour 3,' a playful ode to romance in this era of download-and-chill franchise films, take delight in the challenge of breathing new energy into the limitations of the 3-minute pop song. 

Radio plays for lead single 'Flying High' already on Steve Lamacq, Gideon Coe, Janice Long, John Kennedy, Absolute Radio & Amazing Radio

Very limited edition coloured vinyl

After a break of two years, Zefur Wolves return with a brand new album, beating a path to the promised 2019 follow up to their acclaimed debut. The three-piece's distinct brand of languid, emotive, alt-rock takes the commanding role with Truth is in the Stars, released on Strangetown Records on Friday 29 March.
The band have once again teamed up with M h of human consciousness and empathetic resistance to injustice. r. Kobo who hasn't disappointed with the beautiful and intricate sleeve artwork and lovingly presented by Mark James Works. For the audiophiles the gorgeous deep berry coloured vinyl will be a feast for the eyes as well as the ears.
Studio sessions helmed by producer and former live band member, Super Furry Animal's Cian Ciarán, have driven the band to greater intricacy and an audible sense of playfulness, toying with compositional and recording technique. Having crafted their debut album in California, evocative of their cited inspirations including Spiritualized and Beach House, the upbeat trailblazing first single Flying High, recorded at Strangetown Studios in Caridff, suggests new and fertile creative ground has been found to 'one up' an already glinting reputation.

Hound Gawd! Records Wird Das Neue «the Gentlemens» Album Mit Dem Ikonischen Und Ironischen Titel «triage» Am 22. Februar 2019 Auf Vinyl, Als Cd Und In Digitaler Form Weltweit Veröffentlichen. Beim Dritten Album Der The Gentlements Spielt Giordano Baldoni An Der Gitarre, Daniele Fioretti Am Schlagzeug Und Paolo Fioretti An Der Gitarre Und Am Gesang. «triage» Enthält 11 Erstklassige Stücke Rohen Rock'n'rolls Gespickt Mit Blueseinflüssen.

Auf Diesem Album Sind Sämtliche Tourerlebnisse Und Ekzesse Der Band Seit Dem Letzten Veröffentlichten Album Im Jahr 2016 Verarbeitet. Das Trio Beginnt Bei Den Wurzeln, Nimmt Den Garage Blues Als Sprungbrett, Saugt Sämtliche Einflüsse Des Rock'n'rolls Auf Und Kontaminiert Sie, Sodass «triage» Das Persönlichste Und Sicherlich Charakteristischste Werk Der Band Ist. The Gentlemens Injizieren Blues Punk, Rockabilly Und Den Garagensound Der 60er Jahre Mit Ihrer Eigenen Wut. Roh, Wild, Aber Unglaublich Eingängig, Deckt Dieses Album Eine Breitere Klangpalette Ab, Als Man Es Zunächst Vermuten Mag. Von Poppig Bis Wild Spiegelt Es Ein Großes Spektrum An Ideen Und Emotionen Wieder Und Behält Gleichzeitig Eine Überraschende Konsistenz Bei.

Aufgenommen Und Gemischt Wurde Das Album Im "outside - Inside Studio" Von Gianluca Turrini (jon Spencer Blues Explosion, One Dimensional Man) Und Matt Bordin (mojomatics, Squadra Omega), Gemastert Von Andrea De Bernardi Im Eleven Mastering Studio.

Cranes' first full-length album Wings of Joy was released back in 1991. The strange combination between gothic sounds on one side and the dream pop on the other side marked a new decennia of music. It's one of those debut releases which throws you straight into the deep end. The varied tracks alternated between the heavier and lighter songs. It is gloomy, haunting and almost sinister in its atmosphere despite being made up almost entirely of piano and synth melodies.

Siblings Alison and Jim Shaw formed the band Cranes back in 1989. They recorded several successful albums, including 1991s Wings of Joy and 1994s Loved.

Wings of Joy is available as a first pressing of 1500 individually numbered copies on blue coloured vinyl.

From the heart of the strange, suburban environment known as the San Fernando Valley, a vast sprawl on the edge of Los Angeles, Scott Gilmore produces his own brand of seductive, beguiling and dreamy pop music.

This is how Scott describes what he does: 'I make music using synthesizers, drum machines, electric bass, and acoustic and electric guitars. I try to write music that is both beautiful and engaging. I enjoy writing many melodies,

harmonies and counter melodies into my compositions to develop a sense of forward motion. My main influences include Brian Eno, Cluster, Kraftwerk, Stereolab, Talking Heads, YMO, '70's and '80's Ethiopian Music, J.S. Bach,

and the out-takes from the Beach Boys' Smile Sessions.' (from an interview in Titel - Kultur Magazine) His first album 'Subtle Vertigo' elicited praise from the media. Comparisons to

sounds as diverse as those of Air, Stereolab, Italian film music from the '70s and to solitary eccentrics such as R. Stevie Moore and Captain Beefheart were drawn.

From the media reactions to Scott Gilmore's previous album: 'It takes its principal stylistic cues from Krautrock and library music; the album often sounds like Air's Moon Safari or Stereolab's Dots and Loops run through

a beat-up transistor radio that's been wrapped in cheesecloth.' - Pitchfork

'Light, melodious, somehow simultaneously of 'now' and plausibly a hitherto unheard relic from a bygone age.' - Vice

'A bedroom pop experimentalist. Dreamy.' - Stereogum

- 180 GRAM AUDIOPHILE VINYL
- INCLUDING INSERT
- FEATURING THE CLASSIC HIT SINGLE 'UNDER THE MILKY WAY'
- LIMITED EDITION OF 1.000 INDIVIDUALLY NUMBERED COPIES ON WHITE VINYL

The Church were founded in 1980 in Canberra, Australia. Their jangly guitar pop, combined with emotional and smart lyrics, proved an immediate smash 'down under' and beyond. Their 7th album Starfish was recorded in Los Angeles with producers Waddy Wachtel and Greg Ladanyi, both longtime veterans of the L.A. studio scene. When released in 1988, it rightfully became the breakthrough of The Church in the United States. The album peaked at #41 in the Billboard 200, no small feat for a non-US act. 'Under The Milky Way' was released as a single and nearly topped the Mainstream Rock charts, topping at second place, and reached #26 on the Billboard Hot 100. 'Reptile' was released as a second single.

Available as a limited edition of 1.000 individually numbered copies on white vinyl.

*Limted to 300 copies worldwide* It all began in summer 2017 when Peter Broderick's former Efterklang bandmate Rasmus Stolberg invited him to perform at his new festival in Denmark, with the specific idea that Peter would play an entire set of Arthur Russell songs. As a long-time lover of Arthur's work, Peter immediately accepted the invitation and began to learn a collection of Russell songs. Stolberg put together a band of Danish musicians to join Broderick on stage, and the festival performance went off without a hitch.

Immediately after, Peter starting receiving invitations from other festivals, asking for the same thing — a full set of Arthur Russell songs. Even Arthur's long-time partner Tom Lee took notice of these performances of Arthur's work, and reached out to Peter personally. It wasn't long before Broderick was invited to examine some of Russell's archival work, and asked to do audio restoration work on the old tapes.

Peter's strong love for Arthur's work grew exponentially as he dove into the psyche of his hero, listening to hours and hours of unreleased material. He discovered that some of his favorite Russell songs have yet to be heard by the masses, and felt inspired to learn some of these tunes himself.

It was inevitable that Peter would record an album of his own renditions of Arthur's songs. And there was no better place to do it than the state of Maine, where most of Arthur's surviving family are based, and where Broderick himself was born back in 1987. With a large cast of friends and family, including Arthur's niece Rachel Henry and nephew Beau Lisy, Peter set out to capture his love for Arthur's music with a diverse collection of 10 songs, two of which have yet to be released in their original versions.

Its cover adorned with an original painting by Tom Lee, 'Peter Broderick & Friends Play Arthur Russell' is a vibrant and joyful tribute to one of Broderick's greatest heroes. Peter extends his deepest gratitude to all of Arthur's family, friends and fans who have so warmly welcomed his own versions of these tunes. It is hoped that these recordings will serve to honor the truly staggering legacy of Arthur Russell.