Pop & Rock Vinyl New Releases - News

4 X 7" - All 4 voidARCHIVE vinyl releases to date in a hand crafted package by visual artist Lauren Hall.

Handmade Box contains two double 7" record packs suspended between sheets of corugated twin wall plastic. Fastened with book binding nuts. Filled with collared sand and salt. Edged with aluminium chrome tape.

set #1 Elara Caluna A-side 'Silver Dust' B-side vinyl etching #4 Sue Tomkins (formerly Life Without Buildings) (spoken word / poetry release) A-side 'RAID' B-side 'TURNOVER' #3 West Princes A-side 'Wet Bark Is A Slug' B-side 'You Never Told Me What To Say' #4 Matthias 'Wolfboy' Connor / Alexis Taylor (Hot Chip) (spoken word / poetry release) A-side To All The Girls In Oklahoma B-side Somewhere Over The Rainbow

Colour vinyl. Compilation with great cover versions of NICK DRAKE, FALCO etc. Featuring artist like DAISY CHAPMAN, JOHNNY PARRY, RIDDLE & THE STARS and more.

Glasgow-based quartet West Princes debut single, Wet Bark Is A Slug, on the Voidoid imprint, the brainchild of artist and Poetry Club founder Jim Lambie. VoidoidARCHIVE Art sleeve with concentric circles indicating release number #3 (three circles). Design by Jim Lambie VoidoidARCHIVE is a gallery and archive space curated by Turner nominee Jim Lambie that hosts exhibitions of emerging and established artists

Trans Am is a band that has never compromised. Originally from North Bethesda, Maryland, Trans Am is considered fathers of the instrumental post-rock sound of the 1990s. Since then the band - Phil Manley, Sebastian Thomson and Nathan Means - has added vocals and spanned genres from metal to house to progressive rock. They exploited Casio keyboards for cacophonous lo-fi sounds. They played fully electronic sets when most of their contemporaries were sticking exclusively to guitars. They pioneered early millennium fad Electroclash. Today, they continue to set their own course.

On California Hotel, Trans Am borrowed ideas from My Bloody Valentine, John Carpenter, DAF, Led Zeppelin, Air, Sade and David Gilmore, among others. The result is an incredibly rich range of sounds that retain a pulsating energy.

California Hotel was constructed in four one-week bursts that took place over two years deep in San Francisco's El Studio. Bits and pieces of songs like Expansions' and Alles Verbotten' were recorded during live jams, lost due to unique file management and remerged for inspection and improvement - often multiple times.

El Studio boasts a large live room designed for this type of recording. The space is also stocked with a wide variety of vintage analog synths - from Moog to Micro-Korg to Crumar and beyond - from which Trans Am was able to create a vast palette of Klangfarben.

But the album was also shaped by outside forces. The guitar parts for Ship of the Imagination' were written in Portland, Oregon at a table overflowing with beer and pizza. Rules of Engagement' was written in a cramped Brooklyn apartment just a few days before the last session.

At the beginning of the final week-long mixing session for the album in November 2016, it was mostly unfinished. Trans Am used the time pressure to their advantage. The energy from I Hear Fake Voices,' for example, comes in part from the song being composed as it was being tracked. The band tweaked arrangements and parts until the song presented itself. The track was written, recorded and mixed in about five hours.

In an effort to get back to their roots' some songs were recorded live to analog tape. The basic tracks for most songs were recorded live, in an attempt to capture Trans Am's X-factor Rock 'n' Roll serpent energy.' All musicians were playing in the same room at the same time with a minimum of overdubs. This decision was partly choice and partly necessity due to time constraints.

The album's title pays homage to late Eagles founder, guitarist and vocalist Glenn Fry - the forgotten death' of 2016, a year in which artists including David Bowie, Lemmy, Prince and George Michael also left us.

The EP is about blurring a line between what is considered pop and what isn't,' explains Ryan Grieve.  Our main influences being The KLF and The Eurythmics, looking back into the 80's and 90's when these artists were dominating the charts, their music wasn't always immediate and accessible but it was always challenging and thought provoking to the listener, in a way that made you invest and engage on a somewhat deeper level. This is what we hope is in store for "pop" music once again in the future.' 

The 12' EP features 5 x dub mixes including lead track 'Homecoming' and comes as a companion to another 12' of remixes (HITS11)

Breathtakingly beautiful", "magical", "epic", "magnificent" and "instantly memorable" were among the words used in reviews of her much applauded comeback album "Rocks & Straws" from 2015, her first in 10 years. Brimming with memorable melodies, subtle arrangements, evocative lyrics, strong musicianship and a vital album production, it showed a mature and confident artist moving in a somewhat surprising direction, given her background in electronic music with Bel Canto, Röyksopp and her first solo efforts. It would be no mean feat to follow up the huge artistic success of "Rocks & Straws", but to our ears "Revelation For Personal Use" is an mprovement on all accounts. It is also very much a follow-up, an ode to her native town and region, and again with all the songs being based on lyrics by local cult poet Arvid Hanssen and translated to English by artist and writer Roy-Frode Løvland. Anneli has written the album's eight lovely songs, plays piano and keyboards and has produced the album. It largely moves in the same musical landscape as the previous album, with the Arctic Philharmonic present on six tracks and string arranger Sindre Hotvedt, guitarist Eivind Aarset and drummer Rune Arnesen on board again. If anything, a couple of the tracks show a slightly sharper rock edge than its predecessor. Anneli Drecker's magical voice first became known through the music of her band, Bel Canto back in the 80s. At age 17, Anneli left her Arctic hometown of Tromsø with band members Geir Jenssen (aka Biosphere) and Nils Johansen, for the pulsating indie scene in Bruxelles. Signed to the legendary Belgian label Crammed Discs, Bel Canto captured the Zeitgeist of European electronic music in the late eighties. Their two first albums, "White Out Conditions" and "Birds Of Passage" were released internationally in most territories. They won the Norwegian Grammy award 'Spellemannprisen' three times, and are regarded as pioneers on the Norwegian electronic pop music scene. With her characteristic singing style, often compared to other wonderful singers such as Lisa Gerrard, Kate Bush and Liz Frasier, Anneli has had the possibility to collaborate with many great artists. She participated in projects with Hector Zazou, Jah Wobble, Gavin Friday, DJ Krush, Tim Simenon, Simon Raymonde of Cocteau Twins, and Guy Sigsworth. Anneli has also co-operated with ECM artist Ketil Bjørnstad and recorded three albums based on poems by John Donne and Hart Crane. Few can claim that they have been singing duets with Morten Harket, but Anneli joined A-ha on two world tours as their guest singer. She also toured the world for more than 10 years singing with Röyksopp and co-writing a number of songs with them.

Epic kraut-pop opera teeming with motorik rhythms and analogue synths.' NPR // 'A mind-expanding delight, devoid of retro posturing.' Guardian // 'Sparkling strangeness from one-woman genre-buster..superb.' Uncut // 'Intoxicating space-rock.' MOJO // Modern Kosmology sees Jane Weaver's melodic-protagonist channeling new depths of creative cosmic energy within. After the huge critical acclaim of 2012's 'Fallen By Watchbird', followed by 2015's exploratory "Silver Globe" LP winning her unanimous "record of the year accolades" and hefty measures of radio play-listing Jane Weaver's conceptual trajectory has sent her neo-kosmische penchants to the point of no-return. Jane Weaver's unwaning yearning for psychoactive pop energy has just reached a new level of magnetism. As snowclones go, Modern Kosmology is the new Silver. Another Spectrum to add to the tension. Jane Weaver also announces a short run of album launch shows in the UK this May, ahead of more extensive UK and European touring to be announced later in the year. UK dates : 18th May Birmingham, Hare & Hounds 2, 19th Manchester, Band On The Wall, 20th Brighton, Great Escape, 22nd London, Lexington //

n describing Palm to the uninitiated, it's sometimes necessary to clarify the meaning of the group's name by raising one's hand in the universal symbol of greeting and goodwill. The act of corroborating the aural with the gestural occurs everywhere in their work. On their latest EP, Shadow Expert, the syntax of popular music is regarded suspiciously and often subjected to revisions or reversals. Without formal training in their instruments, the players are left to determine their own musical language.

Eve Alpert and Kasra Kurt's guitars occupy themselves most often with the pace-keeping work typical of a rhythm section. Meanwhile, Gerasimos Livitsanos' bass and Hugo Stanley's drums seem to perform commentary and reportage from deeply embedded positions at the front. Their contributions remain necessary to the composition, generating the kind of friction that other motion can be charted against: the grinding of teeth, the turning of an engine.

The record begins with the skittering appeals of one guitar to another, hard-panned left and right. They produce a groove, stop on a dime, and begin a series of nimble paces that might suggest the artful recovery from a skipped step. Here and elsewhere, the guitars confer and conspire with each other, finishing phrases and figuring it out. There is a faint delay to be heard in their communication, perhaps equivalent to that which exists between an object and its shadow, broken across several surfaces.

On the vocal track, Alpert and Kurt trade the barbs and bristles of a familiar argument and share the blissful cries of discovery. The 'How could I forgive that / How could I forget that' refrain of 'Two Toes' recalls the capricious turns of the gut in moments of grievance and doubt. These sonic and thematic dissonances are sustained, rather than resolved. This music draws the thought as it bounces around the head, draws the conversation as it circulates the room. Its most important questions are never answered but always rephrased.

On 2015's Trading Basics, Palm's experiments were more alchemical, more preoccupied with the impossible. Much of that music was submerged in some viscous and delicious substance, which often seemed to burn and bubble over. Two years and several tours of the United States later, the group sounds more limber, more acclimated to the press of events. At seventeen minutes in duration, these six songs are efficiencies of form, cutting quickly and decisively among scenes of bodies, systems, and intrigue.

Keep Britain Untidy (KBU) was originally released in 2000 to critical acclaim, consistently selling well in shops and at the 1300 (yes that's right one thousand, three hundred !!) or so solo acoustic shows Tom has performed since the turn of the millennium.

The original album contained a handful of songs that Tom had written in the early 90's, with the intention of them being recorded by Inspiral Carpets but the band took an initial hiatus in 1995. 

Fast-forward to 2017 and Tom has now genetically re-mastered KBU with the addition of the very best songs of his two subsequent acoustic albums, the splendid 'Thames Valley Delta Blues' (2009) and the post Inspirals split album 'Sand' (2012).

So by adding 10 barn storming acoustic songs plus the brand new single 'Nobody Said' which was co-written with his child hood friend, Will Rayson, you have an expanded and improved KBU, perfect for these uncertain times.

'Well, well...what a great album! Just voice and acoustic guitar, but the power of that voice and the beauty of the guitar playing makes this a very moving and tremendously heartfelt record'

'This is a brave album with lots of emotion. Although it's all acoustic, there's plenty of variety in rhythm to keep the interest. Tom's a great songwriter and a great singer and this album really shows his talent off'

'Tom Hingley's solo album "Keep Britain Untidy" is a deep album full of observations on love, life and experiences, Dark and moody in places, rising to a crescendo of uplift in others, it covers as wide a range of topics'

!!! (Chk Chk Chk) liessen "Shake The Shudder" von den Dance-Koryphäen Phil Moffa, Joakim und Matt Wiggins produzieren, die 12 Tracks featuren eine ganze Reihe von VokalistInnen wie Lea Lea, Meah Pace, Nicole Fayu, Cameron Mesirow und Molly Schnick. Während die Band, geprägt von ihrer Post-Punk-Vergangenheit, immer auf der Suche nach frischen Sounds ist, bleibt ihr Geschmack behaftet im Funk und diversen elektronischen Dance-Styles. Die Idee zum neuen Album entstand bei Jam-Sessions in Barcelona, in den Folgemonaten wurden die Aufnahmen zu Loops geschnitten, aus denen die neuen Songs entstanden. Zuhause in Brooklyn ergoss Leadsänger Nic Offer seine Vocals über die Disco-Breaks seines Zimmergenossen. Ferner zeigte sich die Band diesmal offener bei der Verwendung von Samples und Keyboards. So entstand dieses groovige Meisterwerk!

!!! (Chk Chk Chk) liessen "Shake The Shudder" von den Dance-Koryphäen Phil Moffa, Joakim und Matt Wiggins produzieren, die 12 Tracks featuren eine ganze Reihe von VokalistInnen wie Lea Lea, Meah Pace, Nicole Fayu, Cameron Mesirow und Molly Schnick. Während die Band, geprägt von ihrer Post-Punk-Vergangenheit, immer auf der Suche nach frischen Sounds ist, bleibt ihr Geschmack behaftet im Funk und diversen elektronischen Dance-Styles. Die Idee zum neuen Album entstand bei Jam-Sessions in Barcelona, in den Folgemonaten wurden die Aufnahmen zu Loops geschnitten, aus denen die neuen Songs entstanden. Zuhause in Brooklyn ergoss Leadsänger Nic Offer seine Vocals über die Disco-Breaks seines Zimmergenossen. Ferner zeigte sich die Band diesmal offener bei der Verwendung von Samples und Keyboards. So entstand dieses groovige Meisterwerk!

DEBUT LP FROM 90's NYC CULT HEROS. - FIRST TIME IN PRINT IN 20 YEARS.

Post-Punk Indie-Rock Post-Hardcore The Van Pelt walked between all these worlds. Spoken/sung vocals, anthemic pop hooks, fiery guitars and a tightly wound rhythm section made them stand outs of the DIY basement scene they emerged from.

RELATED TO: The Lapse, St Vincent, Blonde Redhead, Enon, Jets to Brazil, The Butterflies of Love, Vague Angels, Native Nod, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists.

- Original recording released 1996.

- 2017 reissue remastered for vinyl from the original tapes.

- First time in print in 20 years.

- New artwork featuring archival photos and lyrics.

- The Van Pelt will be presenting the reissues live during 2017.

90s NYC indie heroes The Van Pelt have had a lasting power far greater than so many of the other once bigger bands of that era have had. The sort of interest that has neither waxed nor waned over the decades since they disbanded, yet just mysteriously continues on despite their discography being out of print since the end of the last millennium. So what is it that sets them apart Too soft to have ran with the AmRep or Touch and Go crowds, not hip enough to have made sense on Matador or Merge, ernest yet not histrionic enough to make it onto the 'best emo bands' lists, not weird enough to be on bills with Arto Lindsay and Thurston Moore, etc. In a sense, their outsider status comes not from the wings, but from the dead center eye of the storm. The 90s were happening all around them, they were witnesses thereof, yet they emerged transcendent of it all. You Follow Maybe it's worth having a listen to see what I mean.

Barcelona's La Castanya records is treating us with the first ever rerelease of the two Van Pelt albums to mark the 20th anniversary of Sultans of Sentiment, their benchmark album. They teased us in 2014 that this might be on the docket with the release of Imaginary Third, a collection of singles and unreleased Van Pelt tracks which were originally intended to have been the components of their third album, including the alt-famous 'Speeding Train'. Now we'll finally have access to their entire discography. The first album, Stealing From Our Favorite Thieves is an explosion of anthems belted out as if the war was already lost yet they were hoisting that tattered banner anyhow until there wasn't a shred to salvage. The momentum coming out of that album had every major label in the States salivating at the possibility of turning them into the next Nirvana. Instead, The Van Pelt followed it up by pulling the van into the garage, leaving the engine running, funneling the exhaust into their lungs, and blissfully deciding to bow out of the race with the epic Sultans of Sentiment. Of course as the story goes, their intended financial flop was the exact opus that jettisoned them into the history books. Buy both albums. You'll need them both.


CREDITS:
Neil O'Brien: drumsDavid Baum: guitar, backing vocalsChris Leo: guitar, vocalsToko Yasuda: bass, backing vocals
Ted Leo: Additional backing vocals, percussionJustin Nortillo: Additional backing vocals
Recorded September 1995 at the Showplace & Sweetwood Sound Co. Enginered by Alap Momin. Assisted by Keith De Blasi.Produced by The Van Pelt.All selections by The Van Pelt.All lyrics by Chris Leo.
Remastered from original tapes by Tom Ruff at Asbury Media.
Layout and design by Bobby Gilanyi.

DEBUT LP FROM 90's NYC CULT HEROS. - FIRST TIME IN PRINT IN 20 YEARS.

Post-Punk Indie-Rock Post-Hardcore The Van Pelt walked between all these worlds. Spoken/sung vocals, anthemic pop hooks, fiery guitars and a tightly wound rhythm section made them stand outs of the DIY basement scene they emerged from.

RELATED TO: The Lapse, St Vincent, Blonde Redhead, Enon, Jets to Brazil, The Butterflies of Love, Vague Angels, Native Nod, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists.

- Original recording released 1996.

- 2017 reissue remastered for vinyl from the original tapes.

- First time in print in 20 years.

- New artwork featuring archival photos and lyrics.

- The Van Pelt will be presenting the reissues live during 2017.

90s NYC indie heroes The Van Pelt have had a lasting power far greater than so many of the other once bigger bands of that era have had. The sort of interest that has neither waxed nor waned over the decades since they disbanded, yet just mysteriously continues on despite their discography being out of print since the end of the last millennium. So what is it that sets them apart Too soft to have ran with the AmRep or Touch and Go crowds, not hip enough to have made sense on Matador or Merge, ernest yet not histrionic enough to make it onto the 'best emo bands' lists, not weird enough to be on bills with Arto Lindsay and Thurston Moore, etc. In a sense, their outsider status comes not from the wings, but from the dead center eye of the storm. The 90s were happening all around them, they were witnesses thereof, yet they emerged transcendent of it all. You Follow Maybe it's worth having a listen to see what I mean.

Barcelona's La Castanya records is treating us with the first ever rerelease of the two Van Pelt albums to mark the 20th anniversary of Sultans of Sentiment, their benchmark album. They teased us in 2014 that this might be on the docket with the release of Imaginary Third, a collection of singles and unreleased Van Pelt tracks which were originally intended to have been the components of their third album, including the alt-famous 'Speeding Train'. Now we'll finally have access to their entire discography. The first album, Stealing From Our Favorite Thieves is an explosion of anthems belted out as if the war was already lost yet they were hoisting that tattered banner anyhow until there wasn't a shred to salvage. The momentum coming out of that album had every major label in the States salivating at the possibility of turning them into the next Nirvana. Instead, The Van Pelt followed it up by pulling the van into the garage, leaving the engine running, funneling the exhaust into their lungs, and blissfully deciding to bow out of the race with the epic Sultans of Sentiment. Of course as the story goes, their intended financial flop was the exact opus that jettisoned them into the history books. Buy both albums. You'll need them both.


CREDITS:
Neil O'Brien: drumsDavid Baum: guitar, backing vocalsChris Leo: guitar, vocalsToko Yasuda: bass, backing vocals
Ted Leo: Additional backing vocals, percussionJustin Nortillo: Additional backing vocals
Recorded September 1995 at the Showplace & Sweetwood Sound Co. Enginered by Alap Momin. Assisted by Keith De Blasi.Produced by The Van Pelt.All selections by The Van Pelt.All lyrics by Chris Leo.
Remastered from original tapes by Tom Ruff at Asbury Media.
Layout and design by Bobby Gilanyi.

20th ANNIVERSARY CLASSIC ALBUM BACK IN PRINT FOR THE FIRST TIME.

Recorded in 1996, the second album from this NYC quartet featured a new line up & sound. Clean, warm, spacious guitars paired with repetitive, hypnotic songs showcased the band reaching a new peak. Beloved by those initiated, it continues to find new devotees.

- Original recording released 1997.

- 2017 reissue remastered for vinyl from the original tapes.

- First time in print in 20 years.

- Updated artwork featuring original painting aged 20 years.

- The Van Pelt will be presenting the reissues live during 2017.


90s NYC indie heroes The Van Pelt have had a lasting power far greater than so many of the other once bigger bands of that era have had. The sort of interest that has neither waxed nor waned over the decades since they disbanded, yet just mysteriously continues on despite their discography being out of print since the end of the last millennium. So what is it that sets them apart Too soft to have ran with the AmRep or Touch and Go crowds, not hip enough to have made sense on Matador or Merge, ernest yet not histrionic enough to make it onto the 'best emo bands' lists, not weird enough to be on bills with Arto Lindsay and Thurston Moore, etc. In a sense, their outsider status comes not from the wings, but from the dead center eye of the storm. The 90s were happening all around them, they were witnesses thereof, yet they emerged transcendent of it all. You Follow Maybe it's worth having a listen to see what I mean.

Barcelona's La Castanya records is treating us with the first ever rerelease of the two Van Pelt albums to mark the 20th anniversary of Sultans of Sentiment, their benchmark album. They teased us in 2014 that this might be on the docket with the release of Imaginary Third, a collection of singles and unreleased Van Pelt tracks which were originally intended to have been the components of their third album, including the alt-famous 'Speeding Train'. Now we'll finally have access to their entire discography. The first album, Stealing From Our Favorite Thieves is an explosion of anthems belted out as if the war was already lost yet they were hoisting that tattered banner anyhow until there wasn't a shred to salvage. The momentum coming out of that album had every major label in the States salivating at the possibility of turning them into the next Nirvana. Instead, The Van Pelt followed it up by pulling the van into the garage, leaving the engine running, funneling the exhaust into their lungs, and blissfully deciding to bow out of the race with the epic Sultans of Sentiment. Of course as the story goes, their intended financial flop was the exact opus that jettisoned them into the history books. Buy both albums. You'll need them both.


CREDITS:
Neil O'Brien: drums
Brian Maryansky: guitar
Chris Leo: guitar, vocals
Sean P. Greene: bass

Additional musicians: Ida Pearle, Elaine Ahn, Danny Leo, Amy Leo, Ali Clarke.

Recorded Fall 1996 at the Showplace & Sweetwood Sound Co. by Alap Momin. Assisted by Keith De Blasi & Gary Gannon.
Mixed at Showplace & Sweetwood Sound Co. by Alap and the band.

Remastered from original tapes by Tom Ruff at Asbury Media.

Cover painting by Sean P. Greene.
Polaroids by the band and friends.
Design by Glenn Maryansky.

20th ANNIVERSARY CLASSIC ALBUM BACK IN PRINT FOR THE FIRST TIME.

Recorded in 1996, the second album from this NYC quartet featured a new line up & sound. Clean, warm, spacious guitars paired with repetitive, hypnotic songs showcased the band reaching a new peak. Beloved by those initiated, it continues to find new devotees.

- Original recording released 1997.

- 2017 reissue remastered for vinyl from the original tapes.

- First time in print in 20 years.

- Updated artwork featuring original painting aged 20 years.

- The Van Pelt will be presenting the reissues live during 2017.


90s NYC indie heroes The Van Pelt have had a lasting power far greater than so many of the other once bigger bands of that era have had. The sort of interest that has neither waxed nor waned over the decades since they disbanded, yet just mysteriously continues on despite their discography being out of print since the end of the last millennium. So what is it that sets them apart Too soft to have ran with the AmRep or Touch and Go crowds, not hip enough to have made sense on Matador or Merge, ernest yet not histrionic enough to make it onto the 'best emo bands' lists, not weird enough to be on bills with Arto Lindsay and Thurston Moore, etc. In a sense, their outsider status comes not from the wings, but from the dead center eye of the storm. The 90s were happening all around them, they were witnesses thereof, yet they emerged transcendent of it all. You Follow Maybe it's worth having a listen to see what I mean.

Barcelona's La Castanya records is treating us with the first ever rerelease of the two Van Pelt albums to mark the 20th anniversary of Sultans of Sentiment, their benchmark album. They teased us in 2014 that this might be on the docket with the release of Imaginary Third, a collection of singles and unreleased Van Pelt tracks which were originally intended to have been the components of their third album, including the alt-famous 'Speeding Train'. Now we'll finally have access to their entire discography. The first album, Stealing From Our Favorite Thieves is an explosion of anthems belted out as if the war was already lost yet they were hoisting that tattered banner anyhow until there wasn't a shred to salvage. The momentum coming out of that album had every major label in the States salivating at the possibility of turning them into the next Nirvana. Instead, The Van Pelt followed it up by pulling the van into the garage, leaving the engine running, funneling the exhaust into their lungs, and blissfully deciding to bow out of the race with the epic Sultans of Sentiment. Of course as the story goes, their intended financial flop was the exact opus that jettisoned them into the history books. Buy both albums. You'll need them both.


CREDITS:
Neil O'Brien: drums
Brian Maryansky: guitar
Chris Leo: guitar, vocals
Sean P. Greene: bass

Additional musicians: Ida Pearle, Elaine Ahn, Danny Leo, Amy Leo, Ali Clarke.

Recorded Fall 1996 at the Showplace & Sweetwood Sound Co. by Alap Momin. Assisted by Keith De Blasi & Gary Gannon.
Mixed at Showplace & Sweetwood Sound Co. by Alap and the band.

Remastered from original tapes by Tom Ruff at Asbury Media.

Cover painting by Sean P. Greene.
Polaroids by the band and friends.
Design by Glenn Maryansky.

20th ANNIVERSARY CLASSIC ALBUM BACK IN PRINT FOR THE FIRST TIME.

Recorded in 1996, the second album from this NYC quartet featured a new line up & sound. Clean, warm, spacious guitars paired with repetitive, hypnotic songs showcased the band reaching a new peak. Beloved by those initiated, it continues to find new devotees.

- Original recording released 1997.

- 2017 reissue remastered for vinyl from the original tapes.

- First time in print in 20 years.

- Updated artwork featuring original painting aged 20 years.

- The Van Pelt will be presenting the reissues live during 2017.


90s NYC indie heroes The Van Pelt have had a lasting power far greater than so many of the other once bigger bands of that era have had. The sort of interest that has neither waxed nor waned over the decades since they disbanded, yet just mysteriously continues on despite their discography being out of print since the end of the last millennium. So what is it that sets them apart Too soft to have ran with the AmRep or Touch and Go crowds, not hip enough to have made sense on Matador or Merge, ernest yet not histrionic enough to make it onto the 'best emo bands' lists, not weird enough to be on bills with Arto Lindsay and Thurston Moore, etc. In a sense, their outsider status comes not from the wings, but from the dead center eye of the storm. The 90s were happening all around them, they were witnesses thereof, yet they emerged transcendent of it all. You Follow Maybe it's worth having a listen to see what I mean.

Barcelona's La Castanya records is treating us with the first ever rerelease of the two Van Pelt albums to mark the 20th anniversary of Sultans of Sentiment, their benchmark album. They teased us in 2014 that this might be on the docket with the release of Imaginary Third, a collection of singles and unreleased Van Pelt tracks which were originally intended to have been the components of their third album, including the alt-famous 'Speeding Train'. Now we'll finally have access to their entire discography. The first album, Stealing From Our Favorite Thieves is an explosion of anthems belted out as if the war was already lost yet they were hoisting that tattered banner anyhow until there wasn't a shred to salvage. The momentum coming out of that album had every major label in the States salivating at the possibility of turning them into the next Nirvana. Instead, The Van Pelt followed it up by pulling the van into the garage, leaving the engine running, funneling the exhaust into their lungs, and blissfully deciding to bow out of the race with the epic Sultans of Sentiment. Of course as the story goes, their intended financial flop was the exact opus that jettisoned them into the history books. Buy both albums. You'll need them both.


CREDITS:
Neil O'Brien: drums
Brian Maryansky: guitar
Chris Leo: guitar, vocals
Sean P. Greene: bass

Additional musicians: Ida Pearle, Elaine Ahn, Danny Leo, Amy Leo, Ali Clarke.

Recorded Fall 1996 at the Showplace & Sweetwood Sound Co. by Alap Momin. Assisted by Keith De Blasi & Gary Gannon.
Mixed at Showplace & Sweetwood Sound Co. by Alap and the band.

Remastered from original tapes by Tom Ruff at Asbury Media.

Cover painting by Sean P. Greene.
Polaroids by the band and friends.
Design by Glenn Maryansky.

Grammy-winning band Phoenix are thrilled to announce their new album, Ti Amo, set for release on June 9, 2017 via Loyaute/Glassnote/Atlantic Records. The band - comprised of Thomas Mars (vocals), Laurent Brancowitz (guitar), Christian Mazzalai (guitar), and Deck D'Arcy (bass) - detailed creating the album to the New York Times earlier this week, who called it the band's most unabashedly romantic record yet.' Ti Amo's first single, a brilliant, shimmering explosion called J-Boy,'

Phoenix will be playing J-Boy' for the first time on television on Tuesday, May 2nd, when they debut it on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.

Ti Amo is Phoenix's first album since 2013's critically lauded Bankrupt!. Produced by the band and recorded at La Gaîté Lyrique (Paris) with the help of long-time collaborator Pierrick Devin, Ti Amo is - in the band's own words - an album about simple pure emotions: love, desire, lust and innocence, it's also a record about their European, latin roots, a fantasized version of Italy: a lost paradise made of eternal Roman summers (hyper-light, hyper-clarity, pistachio gelato), juke-boxes on the beach, Monica Vitti and Marcello Mastroiani, fearless desire and Antique marble statues.

Phoenix have also recently confirmed that as part of the huge upcoming world tour (which kicks off in America on May 12th) they will be swinging by Worthy Farm to perform at this year's Glastonbury Festival. They will return to UK shores in September for a massive headline show at London's Alexandra Palace on the 30th September. Full tour dates are below.

Wolfgang Tillmans designed Cover with Innersleeve

How to introduce the first record by Wolfgang Tillmans Now considered one of the most significant visual artists working today, his very first passion in life lay with music. This record features on its B-side three songs recorded in 1986 in his home town of Remscheid. The A-side features two pieces recorded in 2015/2016. The 29-year gap in between were marked by Tillmans exploring music, pop and club culture from many different angles. 'Make It Up As You Go Along' is a pulsing dance track based on the recordings of a book printing press in a factory in Stuttgart. Morphed through various production stages, the press's syncopations and his Tillmans' serendipitouspenditous vocals merge into an intoxicating track that could become a summer festival early a.m. favourite. 'Triangle / Gong / What' is an experimental offering made up ofwhich combines the sounds of playing a special alloy triangle, a 999 fine gold gong and a vocal, fused through a particular gain manipulation during the recording process. The 1986 side features three songs which Tillmans wrote and recorded with collaborator Bert Leßmann. A single channel recording from the rehearsal room was all he had from back in the day. With the help of Tim and Klaus Knapp the recordings were filtered and eq'ed and then supported with precise reconstructions of the original instruments. Out of this production process spanning 30 years a unique time capsule emerged, which portraits a small town teenager with some ambition. 'Time Flows All Over' is a haunting reminiscence of the angst and energy of the mid-1980s, infused with surprising contemporary relevance.

Limited 7" on Chess Club from Bloxx, a brand new 4 piece from Uxbridge. Super-infectious teenage grunge-pop is the order of the day on the dazzlingly catchy You, which sits perfectly alongside its fellow A-Side and previously shared Your Boyfriend on the brand new release on Chess Club. West-London born and raised, Bloxx are already showing all the right signs of becoming on the UK's most exciting new prospects. They've already been picked out by Radio 1 (MistaJam / Phil Taggart / Huw Stephens) and had nearly a quarter of a million streams on Your Boyfriend on Spotify. Bloxx follow in the footsteps of Mo, Sundara Karma, Skott, Jungle and Wolf Alice in releasing their debut single through the London-based Chess Club Records

2 x LP + DVD (Slow Motion Addict - A Film )

2LP + book

Grammy-winning band Phoenix are thrilled to announce their new album, Ti Amo, set for release on June 9, 2017 via Loyaute/Glassnote/Atlantic Records. The band - comprised of Thomas Mars (vocals), Laurent Brancowitz (guitar), Christian Mazzalai (guitar), and Deck D'Arcy (bass) - detailed creating the album to the New York Times earlier this week, who called it the band's most unabashedly romantic record yet.' Ti Amo's first single, a brilliant, shimmering explosion called J-Boy,'

Phoenix will be playing J-Boy' for the first time on television on Tuesday, May 2nd, when they debut it on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.

Ti Amo is Phoenix's first album since 2013's critically lauded Bankrupt!. Produced by the band and recorded at La Gaîté Lyrique (Paris) with the help of long-time collaborator Pierrick Devin, Ti Amo is - in the band's own words - an album about simple pure emotions: love, desire, lust and innocence, it's also a record about their European, latin roots, a fantasized version of Italy: a lost paradise made of eternal Roman summers (hyper-light, hyper-clarity, pistachio gelato), juke-boxes on the beach, Monica Vitti and Marcello Mastroiani, fearless desire and Antique marble statues.

Phoenix have also recently confirmed that as part of the huge upcoming world tour (which kicks off in America on May 12th) they will be swinging by Worthy Farm to perform at this year's Glastonbury Festival. They will return to UK shores in September for a massive headline show at London's Alexandra Palace on the 30th September. Full tour dates are below.

(June Cargo Collective Title) Heavyweight Vinyl LP + MP3.Mining the rich territories of The Velvet Underground and The Beach Boys, their debut album proper "Wooden Head" features fourteen thrillingly taut and melodic pop songs with a deep, dark undercurrent. Comprised of Argentinian Max Claps and James Hoare (also of Veronica Falls) - who both sing and write the songs - and joined by Daniel Nellis (bass) and Robert Syme (drums), the band have already shared stages with the likes of Real Estate, Woods, Crystal Stilts, Toy and Metronomy. Maximo Claps arrived in London in 2008 on a one-way ticket from Buenos Aires, aided by former Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham. Oldham had produced a record by Claps' Argentinian band of the time but the group had fallen apart in a mess of drugs and acrimony and Claps' family were attempting to intervene by sending him to a mental hospital. The only option seemed to be to flee the country. As Claps recalls, "The day before flying to the UK I got run over by a car and had to escape hospital in order to make it so I arrived with bandages and my head all stitched up." A few weeks later Max walked into the vintage clothes shop where James Hoare sat behind the counter reading a book on The Velvet Underground, and attempted to cause a diversion while his kleptomaniac girlfriend stole a pair of boots. 'She didn't steal them in the end,' says Max. 'They weren't her size'. However, the shop assistant and the would-be accomplice bonded over a mutual love of the Velvets, Love, Felt and West Coast pop and began writing together, taking their name from a song by the pioneering soft psych band The Free Design. In 2010 they released their first single, "Recalling", following it up with a five-song EP for London label No Pain in Pop. In 2013 Lo Recordings released all their output to date on a collection titled "Waiting for the Summer", followed by the single 'First Step Out' in February 2014. Their new album was recorded at a studio in Hackney, as well as at home in their old flat in Whitechapel on a broken 8-track reel-to-reel bought off eBay from an angry guy who threatened to shoot them and chop off their balls when they attempted to return it - a terrifying experience for a pair of skinny indie boys. Taking inspiration from Berlin-era Lou Reed, Jesus and Mary Chain's 'Darklands', The Television Personalities and West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band, the songs are breezy and easy on the ear, with sublime harmonies and chiming Byrdsian guitar, but with a darker twist and a pervasive air of melancholy. Stand-out tracks include the beautiful but sad 'Summer's Gone' (about mental illness), 'Magazine' (an upbeat number written from the perspective of a bullet in the barrel of a gun) and 'You'll See' (about how when you die you'll see everyone you know, all there lined up in a row). With "Wooden Head", The Proper Ornaments prove that it is still possible to create an album of pure pop perfection. Max's girlfriend may not have stolen the boots, but The Proper Ornaments are about to steal your heart. 'The joint project of James and Max, through romantic drama that borders on that of The Libertines. And when you hear The Proper Ornaments you'll see why it's all worth it. LIVE:Band have previously supported Metronomy and Toy on tour. UK tour scheduled for Autumn. PRESS: Uncut , Mojo, NME, Clash, Loud & Quiet and Artrocker all confirmed so far, loads more tbc

Since putting out their intriguing breakthrough LP 'Majesty' via Soundway Records last summer, Bahrain-via-London psychonauts Flamingods have seen praise come in quick for their fearless invention and mesmerising live performances. Following their storming of the Sunrise stage at Latitude last year, alongside appearances at End of the Road, Latitude and Green Man, the group have attracted a kind of awed reverence for their effortless confluence of instruments and styles from as far afield as Japan, Turkey, India, Tanzania and the Amazon 

Originally started as a solo bedroom project for main vocalist Kamal Rasool, they became a multi-headed musical force following an eight hour impromptu jam session at the Animal Collective curated ATP Festival in 2010. Since that moment of conception, Flamingods has operated at the nether regions of the creative process. Their brazenly rootless and cosmopolitan approach, which voraciously consumes dance, psych and folk from across the planet and reconstructs it into beguiling psychedelic wig-outs, comes at a crucial time in our global culture.

While their limitless approach to instrumentation and origination is peerless, their music is couched in a reverence for the kind of magical hook that any person in any place can immediately latch on to. Lauren Laverne, Gilles Peterson, Tom Robinson, i-D, Loud & Quiet, Dazed and Fader have all joined in the chorus of praise and fervour building around the group.

'Kewali' is the title track from their latest EP. It's a song about love and the spaces between us, both physically and emotionally. With electrifying melodies and immersive production it comes on like a wave of lysergic euphoria. Doffing its hat to the monolithic bass grooves of the late sixties, it culminates with a mammoth braying guitar solo. Like the rest of the EP which bears its name, 'Kewali' is the result of Flamingods coming off the road having learnt the secret musical alchemy that turns an audience from a bunch of onlookers into a unitary hive mind, together floating on the same feeling. 

Flamingods are a step forward at a time when the world seems bent on looking backwards. Feeding on the interplay between different cultures and ideas, their freeform mentality calls to mind dazzling experiments like kosmische musik or free jazz, but in their encyclopaedic multicultural compositions they stand as wholly unique.

As the future gets more uncertain, we may want to look outwards, towards a kaleidoscopic confluence of ideas outside of our own cultures. Flamingods may physically be a musical group, but conceptually they're the product of an idea. An incredibly hopeful and beautiful one at that. 

Come Clean is the the highly succesfull major-label debut and second studio album by the American rock band Puddle of Mudd. Originally released in 2001, the album's music was responsible for breaking Puddle of Mudd into the mainstream music scene. The album reached the Billboard 200 Albums chart peaking at #9. It has sold over 5,000,000 copies and was certified 3 times platinum by the RIAA.

The lead single Control' was also the theme song for WWE's Survivor Series 2001, which was critically acclaimed. The second single off the album, Blurry' turned out to be Puddle of Mudd's most successful single, reaching No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 8 in the UK Singles Chart, and also winning an ASCAP song of the year award. Drift & Die' was also released as a single spending six weeks at the No. 1 on the Mainstream Rock Chart. The fourth single, She Hates Me' reached the No. 1 spot on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and won the ASCAP award for most played rock song of the year.

In support of the album the band embarked on a European and American tour as the opening act for Godsmack and Deftones, and were also a part of the Family Values 2001 tour, alongside Linkin Park, Stone Temple Pilots, and Staind.

Available on vinyl for the very first time, Come Clean is pressed on clear vinyl, limited to 1.000 numbered copies!

Debut limited edition 7' on silvergrey vinyl from this fiery three piece from Leeds.

DRAHLA are a three piece post-punk band consisting of Luciel Brown - vocals, guitar & bass; Rob Riggs - vocals, guitar, bass & keys; Mike Ainsley - drums & vocals

Fictional Decision is a dark and gruesome slab of indierock with nods towards 'Pod' era Breeders with spoken/ sung vocals by Luciel and rattling, scuzzy guitars.

Flip over to Dog Collar Guillotine and the off kilter chaos continues with a raucous blast of skewed avant rock that nods to Sonic Youth's more visceral pop moments.

This is supremely confident , lovingly warped pop music that suggests big things ahead with indeed another 7' due out on Too Pure soon..

Two years after the release of Monkshood LP, Joalz returns with new recordings.

'Hello darkness my friend' it is a four song E.P featuring actress & singer Mary Tsoni, known for her play at the Oscar nominated film 'Dogtooth'. The band here interferes the psychedelic side of its rock influence from the early Krautrock days of Amon Duul. The Can, Faust & Aphrodite's Child.

A balanced conflict between basses, guitars, electronic analoq synthesis & Mary Tsoni's theatrical performance, leads to a darker but more extrovert sound.
The E.P starts with 'Oh darlin' Margaret', low frequencies scapes, meets guitars drones, while the delusional Mary's performance accompanied by thereminist May Roosevelt.
Keeping the same ingredients in Jay Hawkins ' Alligator wine ' lyrics cover, Mary Tsoni dares to compete her voodoo hero with a creepy and yet stunning interpretation.
Haunted by the words of Daphne Richardson writing ' Outspoken you are ' it's a talk-style song. A monster bass & a tight drum set enticingly wanders through Dimitris Zografos guitars.
'Text 1018' with a repeated bass, the crawling whispers & a raw guitar melody chained with the ms20 synth, pleasantly shrinks your room.


JOALZ new e.p comes with 2 hd video clips. 'Oh darling Margaret' & 'Outspoken you are' filmed in Athens & New York, by directors Dimitris Tsatsoulis & Spyros Dahlias.



FEEDBACK

early support
Anika (Stones Throw): Really cool, really nice E.P , love the vocals
Plisken festival: Once more a fantastic work.
Toni Kater: What they do Its really dark & really interest
Andrew Weatherall: played at his white lines radio show.