quête:neil young

A1 GIRL IN A BAND (ORIGINAL BY HALF GIRL)
A2 INCOMPREHENSIBLE WORLD (ORIGINAL BY LAUNDROMAT CHICKS)
A3 NACHT (ORIGINAL BY CULK)
A4 PAST LIFE (ORIGINAL BY EUROTEURO)
A5 INVISIBLE (ORIGINAL BY LUISE POP)
A6 CAN'T YOU SEE (ORIGINAL BY SALAMIRECORDER & THE HI-FI PHONOS)|TOPSY TURVY
B1 THE BULLSHIT (ORIGINAL BY TELEBRAINS)
B2 TOMORROW (ORIGINAL BY DIVES)
B3 SCHÖNE GRÜßE (ORIGINAL BY TCHI)
B4 WHO'S GONNA LOVE ME (ORIGINAL BY BAD WEED)
B5 TROUBLES CAUGHT (ORIGINAL BY MILE ME DEAF)
B6 PLEASE WASTE YOUR TIME (ORIGINAL BY POTATO BEACH)
B7 MARCELINO (ORIGINAL BY TOPSY TURVY)

Das Wiener Label SILUH RECORDS feiert 20-jähriges Jubiläum u.a. mit dieser limitierten wirklichen Vinyl Only-VÖ (no CD, no DL, no Stream)! Das Album kommt mit 13 Songs, aktuelle Label-Artists covern jeweils einen liebgewonnene Song von Labelkolleg*innen. Ein wilder Ritt zwischen den Genres ist vorprogrammiert, was auch den breiten Backkatalog der Wiener Indie-Institution Siluh Records gut widerspiegelt. Das 2005 gegründete Label mit mittlerweile über 100 Releases ist ein wahrliches Szene-Juwel, wo Bands wie DIVES, GARDENS, CULK, MILE ME DEAF, LAUNDROMAT CHICKS, SEX JAMS oder EUROTEURO ihr zuhause haben und zum kleinen Undeground-Hype der Musikstadt Wien maßgeblich beigetragen. Doch im Label-Backkatalog finden sich auch ein paar internationale illustre Gäste. So zum Beispiel gab es Releases mit JAD FAIR von Half Japanese bzw. dem französischen Elektro-Akustiker PHILIP PETIT, den 90er US-Indie-Rockern SWEARING AT MOTORISTS, eine Techno-Remix Platte mit ALEC EMPIRE, ERIC D. CLARKE, JASON FORREST und BERNHARD FLEISCHMANN, ein Single mit CASSIE RAMONE von The Babies, oder Alben vom Chokebore-Frontman TROY VON BALTHAZAR. Für die Jubiläumsplatte wurde jetzt der Auftrag an derzeitige Siluh Acts erteilt, je einen Song aus dem Katalog neu zu interpretieren. ISCHIA zaubern aus einem LAUNDROMAT CHICKS Song eine wahre Dream Pop Hymne mit Shoegaze Finale. LAUNDROMAT CHICKS wiederum basteln aus dem Garagenrock von TELEBRAINS eine Neil Young'esque Version. TELEBRAINS nehmen sich DIVES' "Tomorrow" vor, diese wiederum graben einen alten LUISE POP Song, der nie auf einem Album erschienen ist, aus und erwecken ihn zu neuem Leben. Die Indie-Folk-Gruppe GARDENS bearbeiten eine Dada-Pop-Nummer von EUROTEURO, die wiederum einen TOPSY TURVY Song eingedeutscht haben. Und so geht's munter weiter... Der Titel "POCKET SONGS" bezieht sich auf ein Zitat des befreundeten Betreibers von Bachelor Records, der mal meinte "Pocket Band, eine Band für die Hosentasche. Eine Band, die man liebt und von der man Freunden erzählen möchte, aber nicht zu vielen, denn die Band sollte klein und in der Hosentasche bleiben und nicht in den Playlists von jedem Tom, Dick und Harry vorkommen". Dem Vinylalbum beigelegt ist ein Siluh-Poster, alle Tracks nur auf LP hier exklusiv/original! Herzlichen Glückwunsch!

Private View is distinctly Blancmange while also expanding into new sonic terrain. There’s a deft marriage of futuristic electronic sounds, Neil Arthur’s unmistakable vocal hooks, and songs veer from buoyant and joyful to dark and brooding. Private View will be released on London Records almost exactly 40 years to the day since the label released Blancmange’s debut album Happy Families. This neat full circle of Blancmange re-signing to the same label that ignited things all those years ago is also reflected in the album itself, being the perfect crystallisation of four decades of creativity.

On Private View Neil returns with key collaborator Benge (Wrangler, John Foxx, John Grant), and David Rhodes (Kate Bush, Peter Gabriel, Scott Walker) also returns as the guitarist, having previously performed with the band as early as 1982’s Happy Families (as well as several other Blancmange albums).

Private View is a record that manages to capture an artist who is potently in the moment when it comes to creating new work, while also being able to draw on 40 years’ worth of knowledge, experience, and built-in intuition. “I'm really lucky to be able make the music completely on my own terms,” Arthur says. “Being able to just continue being creative...that's when I'm happiest.” As he said before: “within myself there are no limits.”

Blancmange is also reflected in the ongoing influence the music has on younger generations of artists and fans over the years. Contemporary electronic producers like Honey Dijon and Roman Flügel have paid tribute with remixes, Moby once called Blancmange “probably the most underrated electronic act of all time.”; while John Grant continues to profess his love for Arthur’s music, old and new, and has invited Blancmange to perform as part of Grace Jones’ Meltdown festival.

Willie Roy Turner a native Mississippian, migrated with his family to the South Side of the city of Chicago during the 1950’s. Initially taking up employment at the Golden Rod Ice Cream Company, his first foray into secular music arose when he was accompanied by Muddy Waters Band at Smitty’s Corner Club and performed an impressive recital of the 1959 Big Jay Neely standard “There’s Something On Your Mind” at an Open Mic Night sometime in 1963. A regular talent show entrant, Duke would eventually meet and befriend fellow Mississippian, Garland Green. Green himself had been spotted at the Trocadero Theater by the then husband and wife team of Mel Collins and “Joshie” Jo Armstead, who signed him to their Giant Enterprises production company where he recorded several excellent singles for MCA’s subsidiary, Revue and Uni labels. Green’s third Revue single release, “Ain’t That Good Enough” was composed by Jo Armstead, brothers Howard and Walter Scott and session drummer Ira Gates. It was Green who introduced Duke Turner to the Scott Brothers. The Scott Brothers Review (later known as The Scott Brothers World), one of Chicago’s most respected bands, operated their own production company, Capri Productions, producing songs on both their own and other labels artists. With the Scott’s, Duke recorded his first 45, the upbeat funk mover “Doggie Dog World” b/w “Put Some Soul In Your Dance”. The tracks penned by Duke and respected arranger Johnny Cameron was released on Don Clay’s Omega label in 1968.



Duke then formed his own company, Spinning Top Records, initially releasing “Shake Your Rang-A Tang (Rang-Dang-Du) to be followed by a second single “(Let Me Be Your) Baby Sitter”. Originally intended for release with a b-side entitled “Friendship Or Friends” the studio engineer on the project Ed Cody persuaded Duke to drop “Friendship” in favour of a part 2 version of “(Let Me Be Your) Baby Sitter”. “Friendship Or Friends” was sadly never revisited and with Duke moving to several different addresses across the ensuing years, the tapes eventually became lost. Fast forward half a century, and following a conversation with collector Malcolm Collins who divulged the existence of a acetate of “Friendship Or Friends” won on e-bay by a British collector Russell Gilbert (now living in the Netherlands), the idea of releasing the song was born. When contacted, Russell was only too happy to loan to us the acetate as a mastering reference. Upon receipt of the acetate, we realized in addition to the unreleased “Friendship Or Friends” the version of “Baby Sitter” was a longer and different mix to the released 45 version. After confirming and reacquainting Duke with his long-lost masters a licensing deal was struck which will see the long overdue release of “Friendship or Friends” along with the alternative mix of “(Let Me Be Your) Baby Sitter” as part of a 3- track EP courtesy of Soul Junction Records that also includes the original 1974 version of “Give Me Some Sugar, Baby”, a song now finding favour with the ‘Lowrider’ scene. “Give Me Some Sugar, Baby” became Duke’s signature song, which he recorded again in 1983 under the title of “Sugar Baby Your Love” with his then band ‘Torch’, which included two young musicians that Duke had previously mentored, Terry Coffey and Jon Nettlesbey, the successful 90’s songwriting partnership responsible for several RnB/Pop hits for Howard Hewitt, Alexander O’Neil, Teddy Pendergrass and Keith Washington. Their credits also include Joey Diggs “Always Coca-Cola” hit commercial jingle.

Over three years after the release of his latest record, Belgian singer-songwriter Bram Vanparys finally returns with breathtaking new music. His songwriting has often drawn comparisons to the music of Bob Dylan and Neil Young, but the new record 'Silent Days' reveals that Vanparys has been on a journey into new musical territory.

After 'Wild Flowers' (2015), which he recorded in Los Angeles with Ray LaMontagne's former live band, Bram Vanparys kept his guitars locked away in their cases for months. Too many questions had been bothering him and soon he found himself struggling with his musical direction and his artistic integrity. Partly so because he felt that his almost archaic approach on songwriting was pushing him down a dead end street and partly because his interest in rich and complex arrangements started to grow stronger. In 2016 he bought an old trailer and went living in the countryside to work on his new sound. A harsh winter and a tragic breakup with his wife set the mood for a new set of songs and soon Vanparys started recording again.

'Silent Days' comprises both classic songwriting reminiscent of the old masters such as Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan and on the other hand dark, complex arrangements that refer to late Talk Talk and even Radiohead. Guitars were played with kitchen knives and the heavily manipulated acoustic sounds reveal that Vanparys might have been listening to Kurt Vile. Bram's lyrics are deeply honest, touching, but never sentimental and his once so angelic voice now sounds hoarse and mature.

The Bony King of Nowhere is the pseudonym of Belgian singer-songwriter Bram Vanparys. He released his debut album 'Alas my love' to critical acclaim in 2009, which was followed by his second and most celebrated album 'Eleonore' in 2011. In the aftermath of 'Eleonore' he was asked to write the film score for the movie 'Les Géants', for which he was awarded by Les Magritte du Cinéma for best original soundtrack.










L

A long-lost Japanese acid folk gem, Niningashi’s 1974 private press debut Heavy Way shimmers with originality, deft song writing and a dream-like groove.

Although he was training as a pharmacist, Kazuhisa Okubo was much more interested in prescribing musical medicine.
A coming-of-age album, Heavy Way captured a turning point in Okubo’s life, and Japanese society more widely as a nostalgia for the pastoral calm of the traditional life, met the cosmopolitan thrill of coffee, sex and cigarettes in the big city.
Intoxicated by Tokyo, driven by a passion for music and surrounded by a thriving acid folk scene, the young student filtered his experiences through a psychedelic cocktail of soulful influences from the US and Japan.
Niningashi was his first band, and Heavy Way was their only album. It was honest and raw, deep and strangely funky, in an off-beat kind of way. Across nine tracks, Okubo and the 6-piece band put their own spin on the new folk sound of Japan, combining witty lyrics with electric guitar-driven solos and crisp, understated grooves.

Melancholy and profound, opening track ‘Ameagari’ feels like a synthesis of Harvest-era Neil Young and Haruomi Hosono’s Happy End. Then there’s the whimsical washboard country sound of ‘Semai Boku No Heyade’; the moody, low-lit charm of ‘Restaurant’; and ‘Hitoribotchi’, a sensitive portrayal of childhood, steeped in memories of rainfall that will resonate with fans of Woo and Mac Demarco.
While Okubo would go on to taste success with psychedelic folk bands Neko and Kaze, the latter of which scored three #1 albums, little is known about his mysterious debut with Niningashi.
Self-released by Okubo in 1974, and featuring album artwork by his brother, it has slowly generated a cult following online, intrigued by its soft and enchanting sound. So few records were ultimately pressed that those remaining have fetched up to £1,500 online.

Featured on Time Capsule’s era-spanning collection Nippon Acid Folk, Niningashi’s Heavy Way is a deep-cut grail of a vibrant time in Japan’s musical history, where even the pharmacists were making jams.

2003 erscheint auf dem Hamburger Label Hit Thing auf CD das Album KARNY SUTRA eines Duos namens Luther & Toby. Wer hinter Toby steckt, wird bald klar: Label-Co-Founder und Schlagzeugkünstler Larry Mullins. Man kennt ihn als Mitglied ikonischer Bands wie den Stooges, Swans oder Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds. Wer aber ist Luther, Nachname Hawkins? Erst jetzt wird eines der vielen Geheimnisse hinter KARNY SUTRA gelüftet: Hinter dem Pseudonym Luther Hawkins steckt James Hawkinson, als Kameramann in L.A. verantwortlich für die Bilderwelten von Serien wie "Hannibal" und "The Man In The High Castle", von Musikvideos wie "Naughty Girl" von Beyoncé, Missy Elliotts "Get Ur Freak On", "Aenema" von Tool oder "Windowlicker" von Aphex Twin. Mullins und Hawkinson verbindet seit vielen Jahren eine Freundschaft. In den 80er-Jahren spielten sie in L.A. gemeinsam in einer Band. Vielleicht hätte daraus etwas werden können, doch dann gehen die beiden andere Wege - um sich Anfang der Nullerjahre in Hawkinsons Haus in L.A. zu verabreden und dieses Album aufzunehmen. Mit dabei: der Produzent Mark Howard. Die Liste an Namen, für die dieser als Produzent oder Engineer gearbeitet hat, ist imposant: Bob Dylan und Neil Young, U2 und R.E.M., Tom Waits und Willie Nelson, Emmylou Harris und Fiona Apple. Zusammen mit Daniel Lanois etabliert er ab Ende der 80er die Idee eines mobilen Studios: Howard hat einen Lkw-Führerschein, lädt das Equipment ins Fahrzeug und sucht für Aufnahmen zu speziellen Orten. Als Hawkinson ihn fragt, ob er sich vorstellen könnte, ein Album bei ihm zu Hause aufzunehmen, schaut sich Howard dort kurz um - und sagt sofort zu. "Kurze Zeit später sah ich ihn, wie er sich vor James" Haus an der oberirdischen Stromleitung zu schaffen machte", sagt Larry Mullins. "Für seine Aufnahmegeräte brauchte er mehr Leistung, und die besorgte er sich dort oben selbst." Nun, über 20 Jahre später erscheint das Album in einer 180 Gramm Doppel-Vinyl-Ausgabe mit aufwändigem Artwork in gewohnter Hit Thing Qualität.

In 2001, Shin’ichi Ogawa of Sugar Plant was working for the SAL Disc record label and came up with the idea of doing an E2-E4 tribute album with his friends. This album would come off the back of a Neil Young tribute album which might have seemed odd but these two artists, Neil Young and Ashra (Manuel Göttsching), would be played regularly as equals at after-parties that Shini’ichi would throw at his house. Longtime friend and collaborator, Taro Yoda, noted that the eclecticism of these after-parties were influenced by the variety of parties they were attending at the time, from the legendary Japanese open-air rave party Life Force to Cream at Amnesia in Ibiza. Taro was obsessed with European trance and left-field downtempo while the two members of Sugar Plant were into ’70s soul—especially Marvin Gaye and William DeVaughn and at the same time, they were listening to Phish and the Grateful Dead too. All three of them were of course inspired by the DJ’ing and selections of Larry Levan.

A- Side – Sugar Plant – “Just Be There” – Production began in my home studio. Since I was frequently attending a house party called “Life Force” (with DJ Nick the Record as the resident DJ) at the time, I thought deep house would be the perfect style for a Sugar Plant cover.
I looped a two-chord electric piano track and applied filters using plugins and outboard gear to create a “sound I could listen to forever.” I recorded the bass on guitar and converted it to an analog synth (Doepfer MS-404).

From there, I layered synths improvisationally, listening to the track over and over again to make fine adjustments. I think I worked on it for days, mostly late at night.
I recorded the guitar at the very end of the track. After playing it a few times ad lib without any set plan, I suddenly had the idea to add vocals during the bridge, so I set up a mic in my hallway and recorded them.

I think this track is packed with the emotions I felt when listening to “E2-E4” back then, as well as the vibe I experienced at that party. – Shin’ichi Ogawa

Donkey Inching', the Cellophane Suckers' ninth studio album, is set for release in September 2026. Unwavering and stubborn as a donkey, the Cellophane Suckers follow their very own path at their very own pace. The band, decried as "lead-swallowing" high-speed rock 'n' rollers, stoically let chords linger and celebrate feedback, reducing rather than harmonising, then picking up the speed when you least expect it and slowing down shortly afterwards to roll on in a Dadaist fashion the drums become a machine, the guitars increasingly embodying yin and yang. With "Execution Day", they pay tribute to Spencer P Jones, whom one might well cite as a musical influence, and Neil Young is also honoured, whose Wall of Sound goes down well with the Suckers. The fact that a text by Charles Bukowski is also "set to music" may be down to their love for red wine "Donkey Inching"... creeps stoically and stubbornly, like a donkey, into your ears. In July 2026, the Cellophane Suckers will once again be touring Brittany, and in September they'll be hosting a release party at the Sonic Ballroom in Cologne. Further concert weekends are planned for autumn/winter 2026...

Mit „Foxbase Alpha" (1991) legten Saint Etienne auf Heavenly Recordings ein Mercury-Prize-nominiertes Debüt vor, das an vorderster Front der „Sampledelica" stand: warme House-Beats, Dub-Anklänge und ein sonnengetränkter 60s-Pop-Charme, verwoben zu einem Klangbild von großer Leichtigkeit. Zwischen der schwebenden Neil-Young-Neudeutung „Only Love Can Break Your Heart" und Sarah Cracknells eleganten Vocals entfaltet sich das Album wie ein luxuriöser Tagtraum, aus dem man nie erwachen möchte. Ein zeitloser Klassiker britischer Dance-Pop-Eleganz – unverzichtbar für jede stilbewusste Sammlung.

Bonobo alias Simon Green returns with "Distance In Static", his new album, which will be released on September 11, 2026, by Ninja Tune.

On "Distance In Static", Bonobo collaborates with a characteristically impressive lineup of artists, including Arooj Aftab, Joy Crookes, Nilüfer Yanya, Ichiko Aoba, Nicole Miglis (Hundred Waters), and Aanya Martin. The lyrics are written in English, Urdu, and Japanese, while historical Iranian samples and guzheng recordings stand alongside Bonobo's carefully crafted instrumental sounds. These were created during recording sessions in Los Angeles, Tokyo, London, and beyond: a significant part of the album was completed at Neil Young's legendary Broken Arrow Ranch in California, where he had retreated for several weeks earlier this year.

The album's title - "Distance In Static" - aptly describes Bonobo's current situation: it evokes images of distorted transmissions and fleeting frequencies, memory fragments and glimmers of meaning that echo through more than two decades at the forefront of electronic music. He sees the traces of his work reflected in a younger generation rediscovering trip-hop, downtempo, and experimental electronic music of the 1990s from a contemporary perspective. "I think the beginning of my work is relevant to younger people today," he says. "I liked the idea of listening for a distant signal - finding something in the noise," he continues. The entire album conveys the feeling of a search for transcendence: music that hovers between intimacy and vastness, the familiar and the unknown.

Within the universe of "Distance In Static", there is also a sense that this album marks something truly monumental. It is a moment of transition, a celebration of Bonobo's 25th anniversary, but perhaps also his last album in the traditional sense: with numerous guest contributions and a multi-year world tour with a full live band.

Whatever comes next, one thing is certain: "Distance In Static" is arguably Bonobo's best album to date; as ambitious and forward-thinking as ever and a reminder of why he has influenced so many people so strongly for so long.

Bonobo alias Simon Green returns with "Distance In Static", his new album, which will be released on September 11, 2026, by Ninja Tune.

On "Distance In Static", Bonobo collaborates with a characteristically impressive lineup of artists, including Arooj Aftab, Joy Crookes, Nilüfer Yanya, Ichiko Aoba, Nicole Miglis (Hundred Waters), and Aanya Martin. The lyrics are written in English, Urdu, and Japanese, while historical Iranian samples and guzheng recordings stand alongside Bonobo's carefully crafted instrumental sounds. These were created during recording sessions in Los Angeles, Tokyo, London, and beyond: a significant part of the album was completed at Neil Young's legendary Broken Arrow Ranch in California, where he had retreated for several weeks earlier this year.

The album's title - "Distance In Static" - aptly describes Bonobo's current situation: it evokes images of distorted transmissions and fleeting frequencies, memory fragments and glimmers of meaning that echo through more than two decades at the forefront of electronic music. He sees the traces of his work reflected in a younger generation rediscovering trip-hop, downtempo, and experimental electronic music of the 1990s from a contemporary perspective. "I think the beginning of my work is relevant to younger people today," he says. "I liked the idea of listening for a distant signal - finding something in the noise," he continues. The entire album conveys the feeling of a search for transcendence: music that hovers between intimacy and vastness, the familiar and the unknown.

Within the universe of "Distance In Static", there is also a sense that this album marks something truly monumental. It is a moment of transition, a celebration of Bonobo's 25th anniversary, but perhaps also his last album in the traditional sense: with numerous guest contributions and a multi-year world tour with a full live band.

Whatever comes next, one thing is certain: "Distance In Static" is arguably Bonobo's best album to date; as ambitious and forward-thinking as ever and a reminder of why he has influenced so many people so strongly for so long.

Sing Forever (Singing Is Free): Songs from 2021-2023 meets us as a foreword to A Profound Non-Event, Daily Toll's debut album from 2025. Offering an earlier chapter in the ever-growing songbook of the Sydney/Gadigal-based group, Sing Forever... is a collection in demo-form that maps their initial formative period as a duo, largely marked by Covid-era isolation, diabolical housemates, sonic experiments and copious amounts of wine sourced from Kata's job at the time. As bowerbirds of song, Kata and Jasper are making sounds from their own pocket - their world! - singing from nowhere to no-one from (in) a context of global upheaval, loss and mass confusion. Here we find the urge to sing forever, to share a morsel of spirit, and with it a mode of grounding one's humanity. The songs are loose, off-beat and textural, a period of "first thought, best thought" in boundless practice that finds inspiration from all over: a bracelet and a solo afternoon in Budapest; lyrics formed via a black-out poem scrawled across the page of a Neil Young biography; the scratch of paper daisies, toy drums, typewriters, and pots and pans all welcome melodies repeating and fumbling unto themselves until ultimately falling apart and into something else. These songs were never initially intended to find a physical release or to even be distributed further than the Bandcamp void, and yet here we arrive at a kind of essence of Daily Toll, or at least one iteration thereof, before the studio, before the additional band members, and before being known (perhaps, even loved) by more beyond. Sing Forever (Singing Is Free): Songs from 2021-2023 was initially released as a seven song cassette that came with early copies of A Profound Non-Event. Now with the addition of an extra song and a remastering by Mikey Young, it is now released as a limited 12" LP via Tough Love in a ww ltd edition of 275 copies.

After a critically acclaimed trilogy of albums and a 10-year hiatus, Romain Turzi, the underground pope of uncompromising French music, returns to the helm to compose and produce his new opus “Drop!”. He is joined on vocals by his longtime friend Oliver Gage, whose autobiographical and melancholic writing brings to life an intimate and redemptive musical epic, woven with oblique pop songs and club tracks that reconcile punks and dancers.



An album of diverse influences, it draws on the masters of film music (Goblin, Angelo Badalamenti), the titans of electronic and techno music (808 State, Dopplereffekt), the hedonistic spirit of ’80s Brit rock (Happy Mondays, The Stone Roses), the finely crafted melodies of timeless folk singers (Woody Guthrie, Neil Young), and the sonic power of My Bloody Valentine or the productions of Andrew Weatherall.



A record born of friendship and fearless creative freedom, “Drop!” is an invitation to escape the heaviness of the present and brush against a form of utterly necessary ecstasy.

Random Color ReVINYL Edition. Never has a Songs: Ohia album's process been so integral to its overall feel as is the case with DIDN'T IT RAIN, the band's sixth proper full-length. The album, like the working class South Philadelphia neighborhood in which it was birthed, has a real used goods kinda feel to it. Engineer Edan Cohen employed what some may consider "old-fashioned" recording techniques -- the entire album was recorded live with no overdubs, the full band playing in one room with the players always within arms' reach of one another; singers Jason Molina, Jennie Benford and Jim Krewson (the latter two of Jim & Jennie And The Pinetops) sharing microphones singing live together, sometimes sitting in chairs, sometimes standing. The result is a sound which resembles the warmth and personality of the classic Muscle Shoals Sound recordings of the early- to mid-70s: Willie Nelson's PHASES & STAGES, the Rolling Stones' "Wild Horses", and others by Aretha Franklin, Boz Scaggs, Bob Seger, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Wilson Pickett.Inspired by the Mahalia Jackson song of the same name, the title track is a beautiful song about the shifting tides of life and the old cycle of "a lot of shit going down before shit clears up". It's a damn fine place to start an album that seems in no hurry whatsoever to make a universal statement, instead perfectly content to walk its own path toward resolution. And damn if Songs: Ohia principal songwriter Jason Molina hasn't gone and created a record that is even more intensely personal and healing than any of his previous works. Neil Young had his AFTER THE GOLDRUSH, this is Molina's DIDN'T IT RAIN. Indeed, this is the album with which Molina really leaves his mark as a serious songwriter and artist. On 1999's genre-bending Ghost Tropic full-length, Songs: Ohia made it clear that it could make a cohesive album that took its listener on a journey from front to back. Its dislocated feel set a haunting tone, and its largely instrumental and drone-like quality was the process of the Ohia eluding itself and its own tendencies, searching for the underside of its roots freshly yanked. With DIDN'T IT RAIN, Molina & Co. return to the beauty of the song form and offer up a startlingly soulful and introspective song cycle in which Molina -- accepting a comfortable degree of anonymity amongst the other players -- meditates on what it means to feel rooted again (in the city of Chicago, where he's called home for the past three years), sounding more sturdy at his core than ever.

Random ReVINYL Edition. Black Mountain, the front-line soldiers for the Black Mountain Army, an arts collective from Vancouver, British Columbia, write, perform and record music that speaks (and sings) to this realization: that solutions are rarely simple, that the world is as complex as it is ambiguous, and that music sprinkled with an inoculating dose of madness may well be the Pied Piper that takes us all back into the primordial mountain, where our hearts can be made steady and our minds can be set free. Their debut self-titled record, like a space probe built of erector set parts and transmitting secret and arcane messages to earth by string, charts territories unknown yet remains grounded by the roots of classic rock and roll. It is easy to discern these roots: Black Sabbath, Animals-era Pink Floyd, Blue Cheer, Led Zeppelin and Can. Principal songwriter Stephen McBean's vocals are a smoother, bluesier amalgam of the voices of Neil Young, Mick Jagger and perhaps a James Brown loaded on cough syrup. And when Amber Webber's voice joins Stephen's, the combination brings to mind the potency and chemistry of Richard and Linda Thompson singing together on Shoot Out The Lights, or of Meat Loaf and Ellen Foley howling together on Bat Out Of Hell. Musical comparisons aside, the Black Mountain full-length is one part protest song, one part pop-cultural commentary, and one part sick-groove-rock casserole peppered with mesmerizing ballads and intoxicating ditties. "Modern Music" is the lead-off hitter and counts its way to the imposing and riff-rife "Don't Run Our Hearts Around". Immediately thereafter, the sludge-rock masterpiece "Druganaut" establishes the fecund heart and tone of the record. Black Mountain have also just recently released a 12-inch single (on Jagjaguwar), including an extended mix of "Druganaut" on the A-side. And the band's currently sexploitative counterpart The Pink Mountaintops, a band that also pipes into the prolific well-spring of Stephen McBean's mind, released their self-titled debut record (on Jagjaguwar as well) this past summer. A video by Heather Trawick of the song "Druganaut" is included on the CD version of the Black Mountain self-titled record.

Get ready for a musical history lesson of the wildest kind! Vancouver's garage-punk specialists THE BAD BEATS are back with a bang On their new album "Shiver and Shake - 14 Canadian Cold Cuts," released via SOUNDFLAT RECORDS, the band pays homage to the musical heritage of their Canadian homeland--with 14 hard-hitting cover versions. After proving they have the 60s "fuzz" spirit in their DNA with albums like "His Vengeful Hand" and "Off the Hook," they've now dug deep into Canadian music history. Instead of the usual hits, THE BAD BEATS present a selection of "Cold Cuts"-- raw, unpolished gems from cult bands that shaped the sound of the North. Look forward to high-energy reinterpretations of legends such as THE DEVRONS (who would later become THE GUESS WHO with the classic "She's Your Lover"), DAVID CLAYTON THOMAS & THE SHAYS (with the gripping "Take Me Back"), LES LUTINS ("Je Cherche") and of course, a tribute to the legendary NEIL YOUNG, with a gritty version of "Mr. Soul," is a must.

Tudo is an album by world renowned Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter Bebel Gilberto, originally released in 2014.

Gilberto, daughter of bossa nova immortal João Gilberto, is one of the most internationally famous and beloved of Brazilian musicians. Tudo, which means "everything" in English, showcases Bebel's ethereal vocals and wistful, dreamy song writing in each of the 12 tracks.
Bebel reunites with Mario Caldato Jr., who produced her first landmark album Tanto Tempo.

With Bebel singing in French, English, and Portuguese, Tudo is a shimmering, sweet summery collection that includes original songs along with songs by João Gilberto, Antonio Carlos Jobim and Neil Young, as well as soulful duet with Seu Jorge.

The gorgeous melodies are shaped by touches of electronica and Bebel's intimate vocals hint at a fantastical Rio de Janeiro, a style that has earned her a devoted fanbase worldwide.

Tudo is available on black vinyl and includes a 4-page booklet with pictures and lyrics.

Evergreen In Your Mind, the new and third album from Norwegian singer-songwriter Juni Habel, exists in two worlds at the same time. Songs were recorded in quiet corners of her home, on the piano in the school where she works, and it uses the physical world around her to provide percussion. It also takes place, as she herself attests, within a dream; an imagined place in which her desire for oneness with each other and the world around us is finally realised.

Evergreen In Your Mind was recorded with co-producer Stian Skaaden, it’s Habel’s first album in three-years, following the breakthrough success of 2023’s Carvings LP. Formed of eleven new recordings, the songs here remain delicate, Habel’s voice playing an elegant lead role – but there are fluctuations too.

These small shifts in Habel’s sound result in a notable stride forward. More focus went into the groove of these songs. Playfulness was embraced and, perhaps most importantly, patience played a fundamental role in shaping the album with time and care given to every element of these songs. “We always aim to capture effortlessness - but the way of getting there is anything but effortless,” Habel reveals.

This extra time that was given to the project gave Juni the space to nurture her creativity. She would read and listen to music, hike into the hills, place herself within nature and seek out stillness. Not as a deviation from her work but as a fundamental part of the process. It’s a search for connection, and it’s a recurring theme across Evergreen In Your Mind; the polarity between stillness and passion, also our resistance to these desires, and the things we want to live and experience.

The album’s title-track and fist single feels indicative of this narrative. A gorgeous, delicate folk song, it finds Habel out in the woods, hiding from real life, caught in the space between the natural world and the pull of modernity. “It’s nostalgic. It’s about looking back and realizing things will be different,” Habel says. “Its about visualizing something beautiful in your head that you keep clinging onto.”

The album cover for Evergreen In Your Mind also adds shimmer. A striking photograph of Juni among the mountains, it was taken on a day trip to Rondane, a five-hour drive each way from her home. Habel explains. “It was awe-inspiring to drive all the way up into the high mountains, with its wide plains and intense colours. For an album with music that at times likes to hide itself, I think it fitted nicely with such an epic, grand, and powerful landscape.”

"Fans of Nick Drake, Karen Dalton and Neil Young will find much to enjoy in this musical equivalent of an evening spent alone by the fireside.” The Times

UK Shoegaze legends, now on baby blue vinyl!

“Future Ruins achieves everything an admirer could ask of the reunited band’s new album…Swervedriver now posses a melancholic, autumnal undertow that suits them like a little distinguished grey in the whiskers…a career-best peak…Future Ruins pulls off a canny trick, perfectly channeling their past, while making sense in the present” – 4 stars, MOJO

“The spacious, Neil Young-ian rumbling of the title track and the bulked-up power-pop of ‘Spiked Flower’ both see co-founders Adam Franklin and Jimmy Hartridge venture beyond the template of Raise and Mezcal Head without making the faithful worry they’ve ditched their distortion pedals” – 7/10, Uncut

“That first song, ‘Mary Winter,’ is a heavy wave of swirling guitar fuzz offset by the soothing balm of Franklin’s voice.” – Stereogum

Slow Leaves - alias Grant Davidson aus Winnipeg - steht für einen feinfühligen Indie-Folk, der leise spricht und dennoch lange nachhallt. Seine Musik verbindet warmes Fingerpicking, sanfte Psych-Rock-Anklänge und eine Stimme, die direkt ins Herz zielt: klar, verletzlich, tröstlich. Kritiker vergleichen ihn mit Roy Orbison, Nick Drake, Mickey Newbury oder Neil Young - Songwriter, die Emotionen mit Einfachheit und Tiefe verbinden. Davidsons neue Songs kreisen um innere Landschaften: Erinnerungen, familiäre Prägungen, Generationenlinien, kleine Wunden und stilles Wachstum. Er schreibt mit einer poetischen Direktheit, die Intimität schafft, ohne schwer zu werden. Seine Arrangements bleiben bewusst zurückhaltend: Gitarre, behutsame Rhythmik, warme Tastenklänge, dezente Streicher - alles im Dienst einer emotional klaren Erzählstimme. Was Slow Leaves besonders macht, ist seine Fähigkeit, kosmische Themen - Zeit, Einsamkeit, Verbundenheit - in schlichte, menschliche Momente zu übersetzen. Es ist Musik, die Raum lässt: zum Atmen, Erinnern, Trost finden. Ein leises, aber eindringliches Songwriting, das im Kleinen das Große sichtbar macht.

Let's see now – you just love that hugely fertile foundation period of Jamaican pop music from the birth of ska, through the spectacularly brief two year heyday of rocksteady up to and including the arrival of the first incarnation of reggae a.k.a. early or 'boss' reggae. But you're also aware that the pioneers of these sounds (including The Pioneers!) won't be creating music in these styles or touring forever – so what do you do?

Well, if you're Neil Anderson, owner of Original Gravity Records, the creation bit isn't a problem. You put forth period-authentic style material from a 'roster' of acts – such as Junior Dell & The D-Lites - that in reality consist mostly of yourself (you are a multi-instrumentalist and lyricist after all!) and whichever extra musicians and session singer you rope in for a given track. In the case of Junior Dell & The D-Lites that singer was Adrian Dell – soon to be dubbed (no pun intended) 'Junior' - first appearing on 2021's uptempo ska tribute to Salvadoran retro-dancing internet sensation Aranivah, entitled Miss Aranivah. And you keep putting out stuff so profusely and effectively that there are clamours for you to tour 'the band' which - er - doesn't really exist. What a botheration! Still, maybe your session singer could become – well - a permanent singer? Maybe you can rustle up assorted bredren to become the rest of the band and...you know what? That might just work!

And so, in the blink of an eye, Junior Dell & The D-Lites becomes a bona fide actual live band fronted by a young Jamaican singer playing fresh 60s/70s-style Jamaican music with an energy last seen and heard in, well, the 1960s and 70s. And it tours so effectively that there are clamours for 'the band' – or more accurately, now – the band - to release an album. Wait...what now? And, by the way, you've got a European tour coming up in April wouldn't it be great if the album was ready to tour by then? Pressure drop? Pressure rise more like!

Then again, Junior Dell & The D-Lites have done so many sure-shot singles to date that assembling them along with a new cut, an extended version of one of the singles and re-recordings of two of the label's previous singles that were originally by 'label mates' The Regulators should be a cinch. So expect all the hits: bluebeat banger 20 Flight Ska, the euphoric ska bounce of the aforementioned Miss Aranivah and the title track, a de rigueur smattering of covers (opener Jump Around, midway markers Praise You and Just Can't Get Enough, and one of the re-recordings, closer Don't Look Back In Anger), early reggae groovers Cool Right Down, Last Night Reggay, Can't Stop The Reggae (in a new extended form) and crowd-pleasing new one Mi Try along with the other Junior Dell re-recording - the gorgeous Why Why Why which nods to the period of reggae between the sound of '69 and the arrival of roots.

Don't you brag and don't you boast but that's a Whole Lotta Skankin' going on! Do the ska, do the rocksteady, do the reggay, why– it's another scorcher!

Die 15 Songs sind eine Reise und zaubern uns mit der klassischen Rock-Group (Gitarre, Bass, Schlagzeug) sowie mit Slideguitar, Geige, Nyckel-Harpa, Chor, Klavier- und Orgelsounds bunte Bilder in den Kopf. Eine Mischung aus erdigem Blues - Country und Folkrock mit prägnanten Lyrics auf deutscher und sorbischer Sprache.Die Musik öffnet mit ruhigen, tiefen, gospelartigen Passagen Räume und bewegt sich bis hin zum Punkrock.Textlich handelt das Album vom Weg, den du mit der Zeit gehst, von den damit verbundenen Sorgen, vom Ringen mit dem Guten und dem Bösen, von Liebe, von Freundschaft aber vor allem von Hoffnung. Der Sound von J.J.Cale, Neil Young und Ry Cooder verschmilzt mit modernem Postpunk und kreiert etwas ganz eigenes. Ein Album mit vielen Ecken, Kanten und Rundungen.Jacke selbst nennt seine Musik Lusitzana, was eine Anspielung auf den Begriff Americana ist. Hier gehts jedoch um das Leben in den langsam austrocknenden Sümpfen und Wäldern der Lausitz, rund um die Spree - Wo die Wölfe heulen und die Schafe ins Gras beißen. Aber die Hoffnung stirbt zuletzt und der Rock wird siegen! (Henne)

“It’s hard to find your way, following the ghost,” sings Noah Alves on the title track from Middleman’s debut album, as the band explores ideas of how being chained to the past can hinder your forward momentum into the future. This creates a thrilling duality to the debut LP from the London DIY four-piece made up of Alves, Harper Maury, Rory White and Ted Foster. They are all young, in their early-to-mid-twenties, and very much focused in the now, harnessing an energy, urgency and rawness that feels fresh, alive and viscerally present. However, it’s also clear there’s a deep love of music that was made before they were born: the taut, wiry assault of Mission of Burma; the raspy yet melodic charge of The Replacements; the pioneering punk of Wipers, fleshed out via the more restrained and tender moments of Big Star or Neil Young. The result is a beautiful dichotomy of a record that both pays tribute to a rich musical lineage that the band are a part of, while also resisting the urge to get sucked into a dead end of nostalgia, mythology and recycling past glories.

With »News from Planet Zombie«, The Notwist return to view after years of exploration and experiment with an album rich in both melancholy and positivity, sketched across a suite of thrilling, fiercely committed pop songs. It’s an album reflecting a chaotic world, but responding with warmth and generosity, to achieve creative and spiritual consolidation. Recorded in their home base of Munich, it reconnects with the security of the local to explore the troubles of the global: a guiding impulse writ large across this album’s eleven songs. It’s also the first studio album since 1995’s »12« that the entire band recorded together in the studio in its expanded live formation.

A new album by The Notwist is always a curious endeavour; their musical language is as consistent and resilient as the contexts for creativity are unpredictable and ever shifting. For »News from Planet Zombie«, the core trio of Markus and Micha Acher and Cico Beck embraced the plural possibilities of writing together, bringing songs to the collective and then arranging, rehearsing and recording that material live, in the studio.

The result is an album that’s energised, fully in ›the now‹, with spectacular moments where you can hear the magic bubbling up in the dynamic between the Achers, Beck, and fellow members Theresa Loibl, Max Punktezahl, Karl Ivar Refseth, and Andi Haberl. If »Teeth« begins »News from Planet Zombie« quietly and reflectively, by »X-Ray« everyone’s supercharged, blasting out future anthems with the collective energy cranked up high. The chiming keys of »Propeller« skim the instrumental’s surface like stones across burbling water; »The Turning« clangs its way into one of the album’s most heartwarming melodies.

»News from Planet Zombie« was recorded over one week at Import Export, a non-profit space for arts and music. You can tell, too; there are some pleasingly rough edges here, as though The Notwist’s striving for hazy perfection means they’re also confident enough to let the songs breathe and mutate between our ears. That openness to chance also takes in guest turns from friends both local and international, reflective of a cosmopolitan Munich: Enid Valu joins in on vocals, while Haruka Yoshizawa guests on taishōgoto and harmonium, Tianping Christoph Xiao on clarinet, and Mathias Götz on trombone.

The Notwist aren’t best known for cover versions, but »News from Planet Zombie« features two: a gorgeous version of Neil Young’s »Red Sun« (from 2000’s »Silver & Gold«), which the group originally developed for a theatre play directed by Jette Steckel, and a take on Athens, Georgia folk-pop gang Lovers’ »How the Story Ends«. They slot into the album’s narrative perfectly, nestling in like old friends, revealing The Notwist as poetic interpreters. Played well, the cover version is both acknowledgement of fellow travellers and act of generosity, and The Notwist nail both aspects here.

And that narrative, the way the album plays out? »News from Planet Zombie« acknowledges the distress of our current geopolitical impasse, while reminding us there are collective ways forward. Fed through the figure of the zombie, Markus Acher explores our anxieties: »In the title and some lyrics I reference B- and horror-movies, which is a reference to the crazy world at the moment, which seems to be like a really bad and unrealistic B-movie.« But there’s a reminder here not to lose the thread entirely, that these things, too, will pass.

»The river here in Munich I often go to has been there forever and will be there long after us,« Acher reflects, pinpointing an important source of succour for him, »always the same but always changing. Very calming, but also always reminding me that like this river time only flows into one direction and you can’t go back. Every moment is very precious.«

Artwork by Marie Vermont

The Notwist:
Markus Acher: vocals, guitar
Micha Acher: bass, sousaphone, euphonium, trumpet
Cico Beck: electronics, keyboards, guitar, recorder, percussion
Theresa Loibl: bassclarinet, clarinet, piano, harmonium, organ
Max Punktezahl: guitar
Karl Ivar Refseth: marimbaphone, vibraphone, glockenspiel, congas, percussion
Andi Haberl: drums, dulcimer
+
Enid Valu: vocals on 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 11
Haruka Yoshizawa: taishōgoto on 6, harmonium on 9, 10, 11
Tianping Christoph Xiao: clarinet on 4, 10, 11
Mathias Götz: trombone on 4, 10, 11

With »News from Planet Zombie«, The Notwist return to view after years of exploration and experiment with an album rich in both melancholy and positivity, sketched across a suite of thrilling, fiercely committed pop songs. It’s an album reflecting a chaotic world, but responding with warmth and generosity, to achieve creative and spiritual consolidation. Recorded in their home base of Munich, it reconnects with the security of the local to explore the troubles of the global: a guiding impulse writ large across this album’s eleven songs. It’s also the first studio album since 1995’s »12« that the entire band recorded together in the studio in its expanded live formation.

A new album by The Notwist is always a curious endeavour; their musical language is as consistent and resilient as the contexts for creativity are unpredictable and ever shifting. For »News from Planet Zombie«, the core trio of Markus and Micha Acher and Cico Beck embraced the plural possibilities of writing together, bringing songs to the collective and then arranging, rehearsing and recording that material live, in the studio.

The result is an album that’s energised, fully in ›the now‹, with spectacular moments where you can hear the magic bubbling up in the dynamic between the Achers, Beck, and fellow members Theresa Loibl, Max Punktezahl, Karl Ivar Refseth, and Andi Haberl. If »Teeth« begins »News from Planet Zombie« quietly and reflectively, by »X-Ray« everyone’s supercharged, blasting out future anthems with the collective energy cranked up high. The chiming keys of »Propeller« skim the instrumental’s surface like stones across burbling water; »The Turning« clangs its way into one of the album’s most heartwarming melodies.

»News from Planet Zombie« was recorded over one week at Import Export, a non-profit space for arts and music. You can tell, too; there are some pleasingly rough edges here, as though The Notwist’s striving for hazy perfection means they’re also confident enough to let the songs breathe and mutate between our ears. That openness to chance also takes in guest turns from friends both local and international, reflective of a cosmopolitan Munich: Enid Valu joins in on vocals, while Haruka Yoshizawa guests on taishōgoto and harmonium, Tianping Christoph Xiao on clarinet, and Mathias Götz on trombone.

The Notwist aren’t best known for cover versions, but »News from Planet Zombie« features two: a gorgeous version of Neil Young’s »Red Sun« (from 2000’s »Silver & Gold«), which the group originally developed for a theatre play directed by Jette Steckel, and a take on Athens, Georgia folk-pop gang Lovers’ »How the Story Ends«. They slot into the album’s narrative perfectly, nestling in like old friends, revealing The Notwist as poetic interpreters. Played well, the cover version is both acknowledgement of fellow travellers and act of generosity, and The Notwist nail both aspects here.

And that narrative, the way the album plays out? »News from Planet Zombie« acknowledges the distress of our current geopolitical impasse, while reminding us there are collective ways forward. Fed through the figure of the zombie, Markus Acher explores our anxieties: »In the title and some lyrics I reference B- and horror-movies, which is a reference to the crazy world at the moment, which seems to be like a really bad and unrealistic B-movie.« But there’s a reminder here not to lose the thread entirely, that these things, too, will pass.

»The river here in Munich I often go to has been there forever and will be there long after us,« Acher reflects, pinpointing an important source of succour for him, »always the same but always changing. Very calming, but also always reminding me that like this river time only flows into one direction and you can’t go back. Every moment is very precious.«

Artwork by Marie Vermont

The Notwist:
Markus Acher: vocals, guitar
Micha Acher: bass, sousaphone, euphonium, trumpet
Cico Beck: electronics, keyboards, guitar, recorder, percussion
Theresa Loibl: bassclarinet, clarinet, piano, harmonium, organ
Max Punktezahl: guitar
Karl Ivar Refseth: marimbaphone, vibraphone, glockenspiel, congas, percussion
Andi Haberl: drums, dulcimer
+
Enid Valu: vocals on 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 11
Haruka Yoshizawa: taishōgoto on 6, harmonium on 9, 10, 11
Tianping Christoph Xiao: clarinet on 4, 10, 11
Mathias Götz: trombone on 4, 10, 11

Somewhere between the sophisticated songwriting of Leonard Cohen and Jacques Brel, the rugged folk of Bob Dylan and Neil Young, the acoustic pop of Simon & Garfunkel, and the haunting melancholy of Nick Drake and Elliott Smith, there is Philippe B, who reminds us of the depth that can be conveyed with nothing more than a guitar and a few words.

Zum 25-jährigen Jubiläum der Veröffentlichung von MONOs Debütalbum "Under The Pipal Tree" bringt die Band eine einzigartige limitierte Auflage auf farbigem Vinyl in der Farbe "Iridescent Forest Night" heraus, um diesen besonderen Anlass zu feiern. "Under The Pipal Tree" ist das Debütalbum der mittlerweile legendären japanischen Experimental-Rockbands MONO. Veröffentlicht im Jahr 2001 auf dem Avantgarde-Label Tzadik von John Zorn, präsentierte "Under The Pipal Tree" ein junges japanisches Quartett, dessen vielfältige Einflüsse - vor allem Sonic Youth, Mogwai, The Velvet Underground und Neil Youngs Crazy Horse - sich in einem wilden und ambitionierten Werk zeigten. Obwohl MONO später vor allem für ihre geschickte Verbindung von Metal und klassischen Genres bekannt wurden, zeigt ,Under The Pipal Tree" die psychedelischen Wurzeln der Band. Lange Passagen mit hypnotischen, melodischen Klängen gehen über in rasante Gitarren-Freakouts, die in eindringlicher Stille versinken. Das Album ist nicht nur wegen seiner ernsthaften Suche bemerkenswert, sondern auch wegen seiner überraschenden Umsetzung. 25 Jahre und ein Dutzend Alben später gilt ,Under The Pipal Tree" als eines der besten Debütalben einer wegweisenden Underground-Band.

World Of Echo announces the reissue of two remastered albums by Japanese guitarist and songwriter Naoki Zushi, 1988’s Paradise, and 2005’s III. Two classics of Japanese psychedelia, both Paradise and III were originally released on Org Records, the imprint of Shinji Shibayama of acid-folk group Nagisa Ni Te, with whom Zushi has guested on second guitar for decades. Both intimate and expansive, rich with revelatory songwriting and blasted, sky-scouring guitar, these reissues return these albums to print for the first time since the 2000s. It’s the first time III has been officially released on vinyl, with an extra, previously unreleased track, “Under The June Moonlight.”

Recorded in Kyoto’s Townhouse Studios in mid 1987 and released in limited-to-500 vinyl pressing in 1988, Paradise emerged from a scene in Kansai, Japan that was embracing the idiosyncracies of 1970s singer-songwriters, the soaring solos of early seventies psychedelia, and the DIY impulse of 1980s post-punk. While Zushi’s musical history stretched back to the early eighties – he was a founding member of Jojo Hiroshige’s noise outfit Hijokaidan – he found his feet with groups like Hallelujahs, whose dream-pop collection Niku O Kuraite Chikai Wo Tateyo was recently reissued by Black Editions, and Idiot O’Clock.

Paradise appeared two years after that Hallelujahs album and share much the same membership – Zushi’s backing band on several of the songs includes Shibayama on drums and Ken-Ichi Takayama (aka Idiot) on electric guitar, though just as often, Zushi plays all the instruments himself. The coordinates here are wide-reaching – you can hear the volume and intensity of Neil Young & Crazy Horse (on “Hallelujah: Left Side” and “Paradise: Midday”), the slow-motion magic of Galaxie 500, the idiosyncratic spirit of The Only Ones, all mixed up with tender guitar miniatures and stumbling garage-psych-pop moves.

Seven years later, after the transitional album Phenomenal Luciferin, Zushi released III. Perhaps his masterpiece, it’s already been bootlegged on vinyl, but this reissue is the real deal. The album was recorded at Studio Nemu over seven years, and sees Zushi backed by Shibayama (bass) and Masako Takeda (drums), his erstwhile bandmates in Nagisa Ni Te. By this stage, Zushi had started to really stretch out, and many of the songs on III swoon languorously, taking their sweet time to say what they need to say. It’s rich with lovely, melancholy songs, in a similar realm to bandmates Nagisa Ni Te, of course, but you can also hear traces of everything from Syd Barrett’s The Madcap Laughs, through seventies private press loner folk, to the slow-burn meanderings of the likes of early Low or Damon & Naomi.

When interviewed by Shibayama in the mid-nineties, Zushi said of Paradise, “it was a sort of collection of songs that had meant something to me up to that point… it was my paradise. I wanted to create paradise.” That’s something Zushi achieves on both of these albums – visionary Japanese psychedelia, en route to paradise. - Jon Dale

Alex Rex, the project of acclaimed musician and former Trembling Bells bandleader Alex Neilson, is set to release his fourth and final studio album, The National Trust, on March 28th. Written in the wake of the sudden death of his younger brother, Alastair, the album is a poignant reflection on loss, love, and renewal, deeply rooted in the landscape of Carbeth—a cabin community in the Scottish countryside that Alastair called home. For Neilson, the cabin became both a physical and emotional project, a symbol of restoration and reconnection.

"For the first four years after Alastair died, his cabin lay empty and exposed to the remorseless Scottish weather. It came to look like a rotten tooth in a beautiful mouth. Cladding was dropping off its veneer, the ashen baubles of dead wasps nests clung to the rafters, all his possessions were just as he'd left them but eaten by mice, moths and time. Ashtrays still carried the crushed centimetres of his old tab ends. The cabins are so joyfully animated by their host's specific personality and this one looked like a haunted house. Guilt, unrealised hopes and encroaching nature yoked together in a wandering sadness. Combined with the fact that I didn't know the right way round to hold a hammer made the project of its restoration seem hopeless.”

Neilson, however, gradually began chipping away at the task, determined to transform the cabin into something he hoped would resemble “a National Trust site occupied by a psychopath,” with a little help from some friends, including Lavinia Blackwall and Marco Rea.

“They poured love into the cabin and helped restore Alastair's original vision. The project also helped restore my relationship with Lavinia which had fractured after Trembling Bells broke up in 2017. Alongside long-term Rex lieutenant Rory Haye, we applied the same intensity of dedication that we did in renovating the cabin, into creating The National Trust.”

As with Neilson’s previous albums, the recording process was intentionally unpolished, with songs presented in the studio with no rehearsals and captured in just a few takes. This raw, immediate approach amplifies the emotional weight of the album, which Neilson describes as being at a “personal apex of sour self-reflection, mock misanthropy, and self-exposure.” Longtime collaborators Lavinia Blackwall, Marco Rea, and Rory Haye return, alongside guest musicians like Jill O’Sullivan (Jill Lorean) and Trembling Bells guitarist Mike Hastings, to bring Neilson’s vision to life. The result is a deeply personal and multifaceted work, blending acid wit with haunting introspection.

The songs on The National Trust traverse a wide emotional and thematic range. The title track opens the album with a sharp and confessional edge, exploring love, loathing, and cultural critique with Neilson’s signature wit. “Boss Morris” pays tribute to the all-female Morris dancing troupe that reinvents British folk with vibrant energy, while “Two Kinds of Song” turns self-referential humour into an avalanche of remorse, culminating in the unforgettable chorus: “I’ve got two kinds of song. Which one will it be; one where I hate myself or one where you hate me?” Elsewhere, tracks like “Psychic Rome” draw from the decadence and hysteria of ancient Rome, while “The Coward in the Tower” breaks new ground as the only song Neilson has composed on an instrument before recording.

Throughout the album, Neilson’s lyricism is as vivid as ever, transforming personal tragedy into poignant and often darkly humorous art. Yet, there is a sense of finality to this work. "Songwriting has encouraged me to see the whole world as a resource. The things people say and throw away can be chiselled and polished and plopped into a lyric. It’s the same with building the cabin- scouring the edges of society for pallets, discarded wood, ornaments for the garden. But while song writing brings to life orphaned parts of my personality, the cabin is a synthesis of all my interests – nurturing my emotional health instead of exploiting it. With that in mind, I think this will be my last album as Alex Rex.”

With The National Trust, Neilson closes a significant chapter of his career, blending masterful musicianship with deeply personal storytelling. Known for his collaborations with artists such as Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Shirley Collins, and Current 93, as well as his decade-long tenure leading the psych-folk outfit Trembling Bells, Neilson has long been celebrated for his eclectic and uncompromising vision. This final album serves as a fitting culmination of his journey as Alex Rex, capturing the essence of his artistry while offering a profound exploration of loss, renewal, and the enduring power of love.

The last time Noir embarked on a similar creative exorcism was for 2012's Jimmy's Show LP which selected choice cuts from 18 E.P. 's released via straight to fan subscription over as many months. The resulting album is one of his most lauded and beloved by fans, with the vinyl now selling for silly money on Discogs.

Programmes for Cools is Jimmy's Show's spiritual successor, idiosyncratic, other worldly and brimming with timeless melodies. Noir's influences seep through the track list, wrapped with a haunting, dreamlike delivery.

First single 'Out Of Sight' is a Fleetwood Mac meets Selected Ambient Works era Richard D James, four to the floor banger. Already a fan favourite, it propels Side A forward with a somewhat misplaced optimism, much like Neil Young's 'Walk On' starting On the Beach.

Side B is more esoteric, exemplified by 'Fireworks’which includes lyrics and vocals from Marie Claude Dequoy,produced with the wooze of golden era Boards of Canada. Elsewhere, influences as disparate as Stevie Wonder, on the wonky clav funk of 'The Fountain', and Ian Brown 'I think I found it' illustrate Noir's disregard for musical straightjackets (the latter may have the most unapologetic baggy, hypnotic groove since the Mondays' 'Halleluiah').

As the album swells to its conclusion, via the epic Led Zeppelin meets the Warhol clique 'Morning Light’and the heart tugging finale of 'Motorbike’(the first song released from the most recent run of E.P.'s), there is a sense of completion and finality...
‘This is the last Jim Noir album. There are no more Jim Noir albums after this one. This time I'm serious. It's been the hardest I've ever worked on anything. I think I have created my own Be Here Now...Sorry.’
Joking and hyperbole aside, the album has more of an Abbey Road feel, and needs to be experienced in one sitting. If the infamous Davyhulme prankster is to be believed and this is his final outing, then you could wish for a more fitting album. - NM

Apollo Ghosts return with “Amethyst,” a seven-song EP overflowing with introspection, defiance, and the frustration of grappling with the world’s ills. With distortion pedals and walls of feedback - a first for Apollo Ghosts! - the songs contrast the monotony of daily life with climate anxiety, the rise of autocracies with the rise of apathy. But throughout, the album cements Apollo Ghosts' status as lifelong underground music defenders and eternal optimists with plenty of nods to 90s indie rock heroes Yo La Tengo, Dead Moon, Pavement, Guided By Voices, Eric’s Trip and Built To Spill

,Warmer Than Gold", das neue Album von Ben Cooks Projekt GUV, ist ein Dokument eines Lebens in der Musik, ein kritischer und feierlicher Reisebericht, ein Versuch, die homogenen und statusbesessenen Zustände der heutigen Welt durch den Einsatz von großen Beats, großen Refrains und Verzerrung zu überwinden. Es ist ein Album, das unterwegs entstanden ist und überall Sinn ergibt. Vor allem aber leitet es mit seiner erweiterten Klangpalette und der Betonung von Breakbeats eine neue Ära eines Künstlers ein, der nie aufgehört hat, sich weiterzuentwickeln. Cook, der zwischen Toronto und England aufgewachsen ist, verfügt über eine angloamerikanische Authentizität, die ihn von der wachsenden Schar von Hardcore-Kids mit Windjacken und Pilzköpfen unterscheidet. Zwei der ersten Konzerte, die er im Alter von 12 Jahren besuchte, waren Oasis und Neil Young. Nach dem Konzert, erinnert er sich, dachte er: ,Ja, ich werde für immer Musik machen." Kurz nachdem er Hardcore und Punk für sich entdeckt hatte, ging es los, zuerst mit seiner geliebten Hardcore-Band No Warning (mit der er bis heute spielt), dann als Mitglied der Punk-Experimentalisten Fucked Up, die er 2006 gründete. Er war ein Teil der Underground-Szene, die sich in den 90er Jahren in Kanada Kurz darauf entdeckte er Hardcore und Punk, und schon ging es los, zunächst mit seiner geliebten Hardcore-Band No Warning (mit der er bis heute spielt), dann als Mitglied der Punk-Experimentalisten Fucked Up von 2007 bis 2021 - und währenddessen baute er sich ein umfangreiches und beeindruckendes Repertoire an Soloarbeiten auf, zunächst als Young Governor, dann als Young Guv und jetzt einfach als GUV (,Ich bin nicht mehr so jung, Drei-Buchstaben-Bandnamen sind cool, und ich bin es leid, mit einem Rapper verwechselt zu werden", bemerkt Cook). Warmer Than Gold ist die großformatige Krönung all dieser Stränge. Die Musik des Albums behält den eingängigen Geist von Cooks früheren Alben bei, wie den gefeierten Doppelalben GUVI & II und GUV III & IV, fügt jedoch ein ausgeprägtes rhythmisches Element hinzu, das von klassischem Madchester und Britpop geprägt ist. Es verschmiert und schwebt, es fühlt sich an, als würde man um Mitternacht die Autobahn M1 entlangrasen, angetrieben von einer Dringlichkeit, die in Cooks anderen Werken nicht zu finden ist. Was jedoch von diesen früheren Power-Pop-Veröffentlichungen beibehalten wurde, ist das ausgeprägte Gespür des Künstlers für eingängige Melodien. In Kombination mit einer neuen Produktionssensibilität, die von den Beastie Boys über The Field Mice bis hin zu Primal Scream inspiriert ist, gelingt es Cook, die zentralen lyrischen Themen des Projekts musikalisch zu untermalen: die globale Verflachung der Kultur, das Vergehen der Zeit in der materiellen Welt und die Rolle des Künstlers in all dem.

,Warmer Than Gold", das neue Album von Ben Cooks Projekt GUV, ist ein Dokument eines Lebens in der Musik, ein kritischer und feierlicher Reisebericht, ein Versuch, die homogenen und statusbesessenen Zustände der heutigen Welt durch den Einsatz von großen Beats, großen Refrains und Verzerrung zu überwinden. Es ist ein Album, das unterwegs entstanden ist und überall Sinn ergibt. Vor allem aber leitet es mit seiner erweiterten Klangpalette und der Betonung von Breakbeats eine neue Ära eines Künstlers ein, der nie aufgehört hat, sich weiterzuentwickeln. Cook, der zwischen Toronto und England aufgewachsen ist, verfügt über eine angloamerikanische Authentizität, die ihn von der wachsenden Schar von Hardcore-Kids mit Windjacken und Pilzköpfen unterscheidet. Zwei der ersten Konzerte, die er im Alter von 12 Jahren besuchte, waren Oasis und Neil Young. Nach dem Konzert, erinnert er sich, dachte er: ,Ja, ich werde für immer Musik machen." Kurz nachdem er Hardcore und Punk für sich entdeckt hatte, ging es los, zuerst mit seiner geliebten Hardcore-Band No Warning (mit der er bis heute spielt), dann als Mitglied der Punk-Experimentalisten Fucked Up, die er 2006 gründete. Er war ein Teil der Underground-Szene, die sich in den 90er Jahren in Kanada Kurz darauf entdeckte er Hardcore und Punk, und schon ging es los, zunächst mit seiner geliebten Hardcore-Band No Warning (mit der er bis heute spielt), dann als Mitglied der Punk-Experimentalisten Fucked Up von 2007 bis 2021 - und währenddessen baute er sich ein umfangreiches und beeindruckendes Repertoire an Soloarbeiten auf, zunächst als Young Governor, dann als Young Guv und jetzt einfach als GUV (,Ich bin nicht mehr so jung, Drei-Buchstaben-Bandnamen sind cool, und ich bin es leid, mit einem Rapper verwechselt zu werden", bemerkt Cook). Warmer Than Gold ist die großformatige Krönung all dieser Stränge. Die Musik des Albums behält den eingängigen Geist von Cooks früheren Alben bei, wie den gefeierten Doppelalben GUVI & II und GUV III & IV, fügt jedoch ein ausgeprägtes rhythmisches Element hinzu, das von klassischem Madchester und Britpop geprägt ist. Es verschmiert und schwebt, es fühlt sich an, als würde man um Mitternacht die Autobahn M1 entlangrasen, angetrieben von einer Dringlichkeit, die in Cooks anderen Werken nicht zu finden ist. Was jedoch von diesen früheren Power-Pop-Veröffentlichungen beibehalten wurde, ist das ausgeprägte Gespür des Künstlers für eingängige Melodien. In Kombination mit einer neuen Produktionssensibilität, die von den Beastie Boys über The Field Mice bis hin zu Primal Scream inspiriert ist, gelingt es Cook, die zentralen lyrischen Themen des Projekts musikalisch zu untermalen: die globale Verflachung der Kultur, das Vergehen der Zeit in der materiellen Welt und die Rolle des Künstlers in all dem.

Bert At the BBC is a comprehensive collection of Jansch’s appearances at the BBC, featuring over eight hours of rare and unreleased recordings, including live-on-air spots, studio sessions and full concerts straight from the BBC vaults, delving further into this legendary performer’s canon. Bert Jansch was the very essence of folk music, providing inspiration for everyone from Paul Simon and Neil Young to Led Zeppelin and countless folk revivalists. This unparalleled limited-edition compendium is available as a 4xLP and 8xCD set, housed in a coffee-table book set with a lavish 40-page book tracing the recordings from Bert’s earliest moments at the BBC. It includes interviews and insights from Lauren Laverne, Jools Holland, Johnny Marr, Jacqui McShee, Bob Harris, Bernard Butler, Mark Radcliffe and many more. Twenty broadcasters, producers and collaborators contribute at length to the booklet, with great affection for this gentle, maverick genius. Bert’s BBC legacy remains the most significant and exciting untapped reservoir of his music. The undeniable advantage of recordings made for broadcast is that they were, by their nature, created for public consumption and, barring live-on-air appearances – which might go well or go badly, but were going out either way – were explicitly signed-off by the artist as representations of his art that were good enough to be heard. The set is compiled by Colin Harper, author of Dazzling Stranger: Bert Jansch and the British folk and blues revival (Bloomsbury, 2000), who contributes detailed liner notes to the package. The release is mastered by IFTA award-winning engineer Cormac O’Kane. The vinyl release features 48 tracks on LP and is accompanied by a download card with over six hours of extras spanning 1966–2009, including BBC4’s St Luke’s concert (2003), and a complete Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh concert (2004) for BBC Radio Scotland. It is also available as a special 8xCD set containing all 147 tracks and encased within a coffee-table book. Bert Jansch At The BBC is an epic and enduring trail, 45 years in the making. “He was that rarity, a musician who really did deserve to be regarded as a legend.” The Guardian // “As a guitar player there was no one like him. He was jazz and blues and folk but there was a whole world in there that was just him, esoteric”

Mathew takes inspiration from the weirdness of Aldous Harding and Amen Dunes while embracing the songcraft of greats like Neil Young and Jeff Buckley. Due for release on 3rd October 2025 via Tip Top Recordings (Mandrake Handshake, Japanese Television, Pearl & The Oysters), EP 'Full Weight' is a six track offering of emotionally driven, lyrically agile, eccentrically produced indie- rock. Released on limited edition (300) heavyweight white coloured vinyl.

Mathew's journey began with a childhood guitar and quietly grew into a private archive of hundreds of songs, never meant for anyone but himself. After stints with local outfits The Velotones and Violet May, he broke away to carve out his own space, one where every note and word belonged to him. Stepping into the studio with friends and trusted collaborators, he found the freedom and confidence to let the world in. The result is 'Full Weight', a bold new chapter in Mathew's musical story. '5:32' is the natural way to introduce Mathew's gloriously unique voice and songwriting, evoking Sheffield's musical royalty such as Richard Hawley.

As the single artwork depicts, '5:32' was conceived by Mathew "in bed, during COVID, eating cereal and taking my meds. As Thom Yorke once said, 'no one is really a solo artist'". The surging, cathartic anthem 'Weight Of Love' is about a simple case of unrequited love. Mathew says, "In my case, it's a story of my dad leaving. The cover artwork is of me and my brother around the age he left" . Further tracks like 'Lady Luck' lean into a slowburning groove of shimmer and snarl, while the fully exposed 'Creature Of Comfort' is built on skeletal instrumentation. 'Full Weight' captures the duality of refusing to choose between fragility and force. It's music that aches, bleeds, and ultimately triumphs: a testament to the strength in showing your cracks. Mathew J Hall celebrates the EP with a live show on 24th October at Hallamshire Hotel, Sheffield.

MJ Lenderman is a songwriter born and raised in Asheville, North Carolina. The anatomy of an MJ record might go something like this: warped pedal steels and skuzzed out guitar; a voice reminiscent of the high-lonesome warble of a choirboy; the keen observations and reflections of a front stoop philosopher. Songs snake their way from a lo-fi home recording to something glossier made with longtime friends at Asheville's Drop of Sun studios, but the recording setting
doesn't seem to matter much - at its core, a Lenderman song rings true.

MJ Lenderman was recorded, mixed and mastered for digital in 2019 by Colin Miller in Asheville NC, and was self-released online to quiet but firm acclaim. Now available as a Double LP and remastered for vinyl by Heather Jones, it offers a glimpse into the formative steps of a style; focused and precise, yet expansive and rough around the edges, that remains consistent across MJ's catalogue to date.

Looking as firmly to the legacy of 90s slowcore as it does to the tenor of Magnolia Electric Co. and sound wall of Neil Young and Crazy Horse, these 9 songs clock in at just over an hour and offer warm, patient worlds of heavy colour that blow by breezily. These are songs that wrap mysterious and urgent feeling in layers of patience and clarity that unfold anew with each timeless listen.

Mit Portugal erscheint eine sorgfältig kuratierte Sammlung von B-Seiten und seltenen Aufnahmen aus den Jahren 1998 bis 2004, die größtenteils erstmals auf Vinyl erhältlich sind. Diese Veröffentlichung bietet einen tiefen Einblick in die frühen kreativen Phasen des Künstlers und bringt lange verborgene Schätze ans Licht. Im Zentrum steht der meistgespielte Radiosong Portugal, der bisher nur auf der 2CD-Compilation Introducing the Past... verfügbar war und nun endlich auf Vinyl erscheint. Weitere Highlights sind die Coverversionen Over and Over (Neil Young) und Waiting Around to Die (Townes Van Zandt), ursprünglich Teil der Bonus-7" seines Debütalbums Songs from a Two-Room Chapel. Auch Lady of the Land, ein Song aus der Session zum Debütalbum, ist enthalten - bisher nur als Bonustrack auf einer limitierten CD-Ausgabe erhältlich, die bis heute nicht digital verfügbar ist. Diese Zusammenstellung dokumentiert die künstlerische Entwicklung eines Songwriters, der sich stets abseits des Mainstreams bewegt hat.

The Lemonheads tease new material with this super limited 12" single. Rekindling the near-perfect pop for which they're famed, the single focuses on the light and dark balance of their impending new album Love Chant that will be released on Fire Records this Fall. Beautifully ill-balanced, `Deep End' and `Sad Cinderella' traverse the highs and lows of life, perfectly illustrating Evan Dando's esoteric musical taste. `Deep End' is a churning riff monster with light-the-blue-touch-paper guitar breaks by J Mascis of Dinosaur Jr, a compulsive fist-in-the-air piece of timeless punk pop, the perfect soundtrack for bumming a cigarette. Co-written with Australian sparring partner Tom Morgan of Smudge, featuring J. Mascis and Juliana Hatfield! Meanwhile, the exclusive flipside is straight out of the Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris songbook; a cover of the late, great Townes Van Zandt's `Sad Cinderella', it's a song for the romantics, a tearjerker that could have made its way onto Neil Young's `Harvest', or any aching George Jones opus; filled with regret and remorse, it's a beautifully brittle duet between Evan and Erin Rae. So, two slices of the born-again Lemonheads - a mature phoenix rising from the ashes of this legendary band who've been away way too long.