Cerca:new look

Two years in the making, 25-year-old Angelica Garcia's album Cha Cha Palace is the result of an artist's need to SAY SOMETHING. The second song on the record, "Jícama" might only be a minute and 25 seconds in its entirety, but the message spans generations and is one that resonates deeply for Garcia with her Mexican and Salvadoran roots. Singing/shouting, "I see you, but you don't see me Jímaca, Jímaca, Guava Tree_I've been trying to tell ya, but you just don't see, like you I was born in this country," Garcia tells the reality for millions of Americans unapologetically and with passion.That feeling of being between places is something Garcia knows well having been raised between multigenerational, multicultural, homes with step-parents and half-siblings. Additionally, she made the journey from the West Coast to the East Coast and back again multiple times before finally settling down in Richmond, Virginia.She fondly recalls Mexican ranchera music always playing throughout her childhood. Ranchera was ingrained within the maternal side of her family with her Mother, Grandmother, Uncle & Aunt constantly singing the traditional music throughout the home of her Grandparents.Like Mitski, Lorde, Billie Eilish, and Rosalía, Garcia isn't afraid to tear pages out of her diary and express emotions that might be difficult and oftentimes daunting to share given today's social and political environment. Like her peers, she joins a new chapter of musicians who are connecting with their audiences on a level that lives outside the reaches of technology, trends, and social media, the daily experience of feeling torn between saying something and doing something, for being a voice and speaking with your voice, of being Latina while being American. And it's humanity and honesty that audiences are looking for and will find in spades throughout each note of Cha Cha Palace.

Upchuck are experiencing a moment. The Atlanta punk collective just came off multiple tour runs with their good friend Faye Webster. Their Ty Segall-produced second album Bite The Hand That Feeds, with all its buzzsaw guitars and high-speed rippers and headbanging sludge, arrived in October. Later this year, they’ll make appearances at multiple festivals including Coachella. In the midst of relentlessly barreling ahead, the band and their label Famous Class are taking a beat to revisit how they got here. After working with Segall on Bite the Hand That Feeds, the band floated the notion that they wished they could hear what their collaborator could do with the songs on their 2022 debut album Sense Yourself. Holed up in his studio over Christmas with COVID and nothing else to do, Ty Segall began toying with Sense Yourself, sifting through folders of unlabeled stems to find the best guitar parts, emboldening the drum sound, and bringing greater clarity to KT’s vocals, all while bolstering the urgency of the band’s overall attack. With Segall’s new mix, Upchuck’s intense and righteous debut now impossibly overflows with even more fuzz and fury. In Segall, they found a kindred spirit whose studio approach made sense for just how hard they wanted this music to hit. “When we first went to record with Ty for Bite the Hand That Feeds, Mikey and I walked into the guitar room and Ty said, ‘Don’t touch the EQs.’ We looked at the amp and everything was on 10 except the master volume,” Hoff said. Previously, the band had been encouraged to capture the unvarnished sound of the studio. They’d toured with Segall’s band Fuzz, so everybody had the same goal while recording together: Capture the electricity of their intense live set. The band’s shows have a reputation for coming unglued, and there’s no greater document of that than Sense Yourself’s iconic album artwork. With no text, it’s a candid photo of a moment from a show shot on film without editing: blood streaked across KT’s face as they shout into the mic. In the middle of their EP release show, KT was in the pit as a fan started crowd surfing inside a shopping cart. A loose piece of metal near a wheel caught the singer right near the eyebrow and blood was everywhere, an instant piece of iconography snapped by probably every camera phone in the room. When Hoff revisits the message of this first album and Upchuck’s first songs, he thinks back to the year before the band even started when he and KT were hanging out. “We were sitting around talking for eight hours like ‘fuck, that's fucked up, that's fucked up.’” Upchuck became a vehicle for these five people to process how fucked up everything it is—to digest these formative hours-long conversations and put them to bludgeoning, intense rock music. The music is also fun as hell, and that’s part of the point. “There's a lot we need to do as people and a lot of things we need to fix in society but also like come on man like have your fun, wild out, have your drink,” KT says. “But be on your shit at the same time. Check your folk.”

The self-titled debut album by Last Plane Out (S-Rock/Border) will be released worldwide on vinyl - The band: Last Plane Out is a duo consisting of Nils Erikson (music) and Anders Lundquist (lyrics) They describe their style as progressive pop: songs for those looking for some musical and lyrical chewing resistance, yet appealing to the casual listener.

Nils Erikson, based in Malmoo, Sweden, is a Swedish singer, composer and multi- instrumentalist. He has released a number of solo albums, one of which was nominated for two Swedish Grammys (Newcomer of the Year and Male Artist of the Year). He has also released several instrumental works that have been streamed millions of times.
In addition to that, Nils is the co-keyboardist and co-lead singer of the progressive rock band Karmakanic, led by longtime Steve Hackett bassist Jonas Reingold. Anders Lundquist, based in Stockholm, Sweden, is a lyricist, composer and bassist/guitarist, as well as a renowned music journalist. As the bassist and one of the two main songwriters of Swedish hard rock progsters band Future Elephants?, he released three acclaimed albums between 2016 and 2023.

Active since 2001, Ayyuka was one of the first bands to look back at 70’s Turkish music to find a new voice. Not caught up in the Retromania but reincarnating Turkish Psychedelic within their own style, the band managed to develop an unmistakeable unique sound. Inspirations of Dick Dale, John Frusciante, and local heroes like Erkin Koray, Orhan Gencebay, make their music more guitar oriented but their fascination with film music and improvisation creates unexpected twists within their songs. Right after their eponymous debut in 2007, the band shared stage with Sonic Youth and Jonathan Richman. Heading to a completely instrumental music, their 3rd studio recording “Sömester” had already become a cult album for record collectors. They’ve collaborated with Orlando Julius, Ilhan Ersahin and had guests on almost every album. Their latest full length “Maslak Halayı” was a creative collaboration with Calibro35 genius Tommaso Colliva. The worldwide hype of "Yukadans” will now be followed by their upcoming EP "Zaman Ziyan”, showcasing four brand new instrumental tracks that will transport listeners through a kaleidoscope of musical landscapes, experimenting with techniques of music writing and flirting with genres like afro-beat, funk, dub or arabesque. Save the date for their very first performance of these, live at babylon, as a part of Akbank Jazz Festival.

"Recorded and produced by friend and frequent collaborator Mo Troper, Who’s A Good Boy is equal parts scrappy and starry-eyed in its sonic makeup. Album opener “The Flake” sets the stage with fuzzy guitars crashing in and Ramirez’s relaxed vocals placed front and center, as a result, the track feels like throwing on a warm blanket. And look no further than the album’s charming lead single “We Both Won,” a jangly earworm with the hypnotic refrain of “Don’t worry about me” lingering long after the track ends, serving as further proof that Bory has found the recipe for the perfect pop song and knows how to deliver it in two minutes flat. At every twist and turn of Who’s A Good Boy there’s something new to be discovered, making it one of the most exciting debuts you're likely to hear in a long time.

"Warm but guarded, intricate and muted, reminiscent of the Shins and David Bazan and especially Elliott Smith." -Pitchfork
"Whether it's the pastoral "Feel The Burn" or the splendid, reverb-drenched "Five-Course Meal", Who's A Good Boy debut full-length project shows some major potential for Bory to earn the title of Next Big Thing in the genre." - UPROXX

Original print from 2002

Look through any self respecting quality music publication or web site and peruse through a list of the most important and influential psychedelic albums of all time and you can be pretty sure to see KALEIDOSCOPE'S 'Tangerine Dream' ranked high up there, along with your 'Sgt Peppers', your 'Forever Changes' 'Satanic Majesties Request' 'Axis Bold As Love' 'Odyssey & Oracle' and 'The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators'........

This seminal album of quintessential English psychedelia is one of the most highly prized artifacts that define the psychedelic genre and like some of the most highly collected and prized albums from that time, mint copies can now go for way in excess of £1000.

Thus given the record`s rarity & collectability, matched to the recent explosive interest in all things psyche, garage & underground, you would be excused for thinking that this slice of perfect late 60's progressive underground pop would have been given the full reissue and remastering treatment already. Surprisingly though, you would very much be mistaken. But to those of you who know the checkered history of Kaleidoscope this will perhaps come as no surprise!!!

Thankfully after 3 years of painstaking detective work, chance encounters with Universal archivists, heavy negotiations with major label legal executives and some good fortune, we are delighted to announce that this record will finally not only get its first proper official reissue in over 5 decades, but thanks to a lot of pure persistence it can now be presented to its listeners in the manner in which it was supposed to have been heard, following the discovery of a batch of the original master tapes that were languishing in the vaults of Universal that have laid largely unheard for 50 years!

Furthermore following a couple of shared festival billings at Austin and Copenhagen Psyche Festival, with another legend of the scene, Mr Pete Kember aka SONIC BOOM of SPACEMEN 3 fame, Sonic has been holed up in his Lisbon studio, painstakingly remastering the album from the original ¼' tapes.

The remastering of these ¼' tapes though is only part of the story, as along with the discovery of these a significant number of ½' tapes and other material was also discovered which is penned for a future release when the band`s entire works will be presented in a definitive boxset of all four of their studio albums (including all their Fairfield Parlour recordings) plus BBC Sessions, live recordings, alternative takes, new mixes, unreleased tracks and material from the band`s own archive including pre-Kaleidoscope demos when they were known as both The Sidekicks and The Key.

For now though, this 50th Anniversary release comes with a flavor of what is to come, with the inclusion of two unreleased out-takes tracks from 1967 on a bonus 7' housed in a replica original paper thin Fontana sleeve which, includes an early version of the track that gave the band their name, the suitably titled: 'Kaleidoscope'. Whilst the flip presents an alternative earliest known recorded version of the album's follow-up single: Dream For Julie'.

The album itself, has been cut onto 180g heavyweight vinyl, housed in a deluxe high-end gatefold tip-on sleeve with the lyrics printed and new artwork. The first 1000 copies of the album will be hand numbered by the band & pressed on 'Tangerine' orange vinyl housed in an inner sleeve with attractive new artwork + download code.

Deluxe 180g vinyl. Art Edition LP includes set of six 12”x12” art cards.



The follow-up to Kee Avil's acclaimed 2022 debut Crease: "A stunning debut" (The Quietus); "A whiplash style of uninhibited exploration" (The Wire); "Kee Avil's debut is a force" (Foxy Digitalis); "A work of Frankensteinian wonder" (Electronic Sound); "A tightly coiled, finely wrought vision of avant-pop" (Exclaim); "A debut of fiendish creativity" (Bandcamp Album Of The Day / Albums Of The Year) Kee Avil's music is both adventurous and intimate, intellectually challenging and emotionally resonant. The Montréal guitarist and producer's 2022 debut LP Crease garnered plaudits from outlets like The Wire, The Quietus, Mojo and Foxy Digitalis, picking up a Canadian Juno Award nomination and Bandcamp Album Of The Day and Albums Of The Year along the way. Its intricate construction, unnerving atmospheres, and knife-edge take on avant-pop prompted comparisons to early PJ Harvey, This Heat, and Gazelle Twin. A remix EP with work by claire rousay, Ami Dang, Cecile Believe, and Pelada brought collaborative perspectives to four Crease tracks, offering new pathways within those songs. With Spine, Kee Avil strips back her heavily textured compositions, opening up a much rawer sound. She calls it folk… and while traditionalists might scoff, this is urgent music that reflects the precarity of modern life, as well as the jarring mixture of electronic and real-world interactions that have become the fabric of our day-to-day experiences. There's a hypnotic post-punk somnambulance to it all, using the repetition and fracturing of melodic phrases interwoven with delicate electronics to create curious and persistent hooks. While not a concept album, themes of time's passage, remembrance, and decay crop up across multiple tracks. Each track intentionally only has four elements - guitar, electronics, and two other instruments, with Kee's voice and guitar pushed to the front. Within this minimalist framework, the juxtaposition of beauty and discomfort that is key to the Kee Avil sound stands out in skin-prickling relief. "We're shaped by many versions of ourselves," says Avil. "I was looking back at these versions of myself and what could have been, what didn't end up being and what did end up being, and going back like that through time. Seeing the future, the past." Spine was written in Kee Avil's home studio after a lapse in writing while touring Crease and working on other projects. She is a well-known and respected member of the Montréal experimental scene, and formerly ran Concrete Sound Studio with Zach Scholes, who continues to work with her as a producer on Spine. Compared to the three years that went into making her debut, Spine emerged in a matter of months - a process that may also be a factor in its intensity and sharpness: "This record was much harder, like it was really discovering everything from scratch." In her desire to not simply replicate or extend the sound of Crease, she felt she had to rip up the rule book, write in a different way, and pare back songs against her usual instincts. Sometimes, when we work against our ingrained habits, we get to the core of who we really are. Spine is an exercise in that process. Without over-intellectualizing or being didactic, it hits immediately and emotionally, especially if you are a person who has spent much time in the process of self-examination. Kee's voice hisses, whispers, and chants; her guitar bends and rings; electronics skitter and crackle; violin creaks like a door in the wind. There is something so evocative about the atmospheres she creates that it's easy to overlay one's own feelings onto her work, but to do that wholly would be to overlook one of the most important things about Spine: Kee Avil's clear and thoughtful vision. This isn't just the next step forward in her artistic trajectory; it's a stunner of a record that stands on its own, a bracing and thrilling listen that has much to reveal about the contradictions inherent in being human. - jj skolnik

Nathaniel Russell is a multi-disciplinary artist from Indiana who creates drawings, paintings, prints, murals, objects, videos, and music, often with friends and fellow artists. And in 2023, he packed up his car and drove from his home in Indiana all the way to North Carolina to record new music with his long-time friend Amelia Meath (Sylvan Esso, The A's) at Betty's, the wooded studio haven of Sylvan Esso, where recent releases from The Tallest Man on Earth, Caroline Rose, Wednesday, The A's, The Mountain Goats, Flock of Dimes, Indigo de Souza, and many more have been born. This record began with a funny and sad idea Russell had about a funeral. "I imagined a picture of a funeral with a merch table. It was an idea full of darkness and sweetness to me. Immediately I thought about what my merchandise would look like, what it would be. I began to think about what the record for sale at my funeral would sound like. I started to think about the songs I have made up and sung to and with my friends, family, and myself over the years. I noticed how the songs I had sung the longest seemed connected to others from a different time. I had changed some words and how I played them but they were all of me and my time on earth. I heard how these things fit together. Of course I now needed to see this project become a reality." Songs Of was produced by Meath, engineered by Alli Rogers, and features additional performances from Joe Westerlund (Megafaun, Califone) and Nick Sanborn (Sylvan Esso, Made of Oak).

GER Als Night Beats erschafft der in Texas geborene und in LA lebende Künstler Danny Lee Blackwell Musik, wie man ein Puzzle zusammensetzen könnte. Der psychedelische Autorenfilmer aus dem Westen baut sein Werk aus einem Moment, einer Initialzündung, auf, die bestimmte Kriterien erfüllen muss: Sie muss ihm Gänsehaut bereiten. Wenn dieses Gefühl eintritt, verfolgt Blackwell die Idee unermüdlich, bis er einen neuen Song hat; wenn nicht, geht er zum nächsten Moment über, immer auf der Suche nach dem perfekten Molekül eines Songs. Auf seinem sechsten Night Beats-Album "Rajan" zeigt sich der Songwriter von seiner besten Seite und erschafft Werke, die mit fesselnden Melodien und hypnotischen Rhythmen glänzen, aber auch durch subtile handwerkliche Entscheidungen unterstrichen werden, die nur nach unzähligen Stunden im Studio erreicht werden können. Blackwell erschafft ein Werk, das irgendwo zwischen Spaghetti-Western-Filmmusik und Psych-Pop-Opus angesiedelt ist, ein karrierebestimmendes Album, das viel über Danny Lee Blackwells künstlerische Philosophie verrät und gleichzeitig den so wichtigen Hauch des Geheimnisvollen bewahrt. Exklusiv für den Indie-Handel, todesrote LP, handnummeriert mit Poster und DLC.


ENG As Night Beats, Texas-born, LA-based artist Danny Lee Blackwell creates music like one might assemble a puzzle. The Western psychedelic auteur builds his work from one moment, an initial spark, that must fit a certain criteria: it must give him goosebumps. If that sensation arrives, Blackwell will pursue the idea relentlessly until he has a new song; if not, he moves onto the next moment, constantly looking for the perfect molecule of a song. On his sixth Night Beats album, 'Rajan', the songwriter is at his strongest, creating works that shine with captivating melodies and hypnotic rhythms, but are underscored by subtle choices of craftsmanship that can only be achieved after countless hours in the studio. Blackwell creates a work that lands somewhere between Spaghetti Western film score and psych-pop opus, a career-defining album that reveals much about Danny Lee Blackwell's artistic philosophy while keeping that ever crucial air of mystery intact. Indies only LP on 180g 'Dying Red Giant' coloured vinyl, limited to 350 hand-numbered copies, fold-out art poster, download card included.

The official soundtrack release to the new film of Amy Winehouse, BACK TO BLACK, releasing Spring 2024. Amy Winehouse is widely considered as one of the greatest artists in recent history, selling more than 30 million records worldwide. Her acclaimed self-produced 2006 album Back to Black, propelled her to global stardom, going on to win a (then) record breaking 5 Grammy Awards, including Record Of The Year and Song of The Year for hit single Rehab. Releasing on 140g 1LP Black vinyl, the tracklist comprises a carefully curated highlights collection of Amy's original recordings and tracks from her idols, such as The Shangri-Las, Billie Holiday and Dinah Washington, that are featured in the film, plus a new original track sung by Nick Cave. The vinyl product is housed in a single sleeve with printed inners featuring a personal note from director Sam Taylor-Johnson.

To celebrate the 15th anniversary of "Born in 69"", the album is reissued for the first time as a double vinyl! It features collaborations with The Sugarhill Gang, Shabba Ranks, Kevin Lyttle ant the renowned Awell. (Re)Discover the worldwide hits "La La Song", "Love you no more", "New new new" and "What a wonderful world"

Chelsea Wolfe has always been a conduit for a powerful energy, and while she has demonstrated a capacity to channel that somber beauty into a variety of forms, her gift as a songwriter is never more apparent than when she strips her songs down to a few key components. As a result, her solemn majesty and ominous elegance are more potent than ever on Birth of Violence.

There is a core element to Chelsea Wolfe’s music—a kind of urgent spin on America’s desolation blues—that’s existed throughout the entirety of her career. At the center, there has always been Wolfe’s woeful longing and beguiling gravity, though the framework for compositions has continuously evolved based on whatever resources were available. Her austere beginnings were gradually bolstered by electronics and filled out with full-band arrangements. The music became increasingly dense and more centered around live performances. Her latest album, Birth of Violence, is a return to the reclusive nature of her earlier recordings

“I’ve been in a state of constant motion for the past eight years or so; touring, moving, playing new stages, exploring new places and meeting new people—an incredible time of learning and growing as a musician and performer,” Wolfe says of the era leading up to Birth of Violence. “But after awhile, I was beginning to lose a part of myself. I needed to take some time away from the road to get my head straight, to learn to take better care of myself, and to write and record as much as I can while I have ‘Mercury in my hands,’ as a wise friend put it.“ Birth of Violence is the result of this step out of the limelight. The songs stem from humble beginnings—little more than Wolfe’s voice and her Taylor acoustic guitar. Her longtime musical collaborator Ben Chisholm recorded the songs on a makeshift studio and helped fill them out with his modern production treatments and the occasional auxiliary flourish from ongoing contributors Jess Gowrie (drums) and Ezra Buchla (viola).

The album opens with “The Mother Road,” a harrowing ode to Route 66 that immediately addresses Wolfe’s metaphoric white line fever. It explains the nature of the record—the impact of countless miles and perpetual exhaustion—and the desire to find the road back home, back to one’s roots. Songs like “Deranged for Rock & Roll” and “Highway” offers parallel examinations on the trials and tribulations of her journeys while the ghostly “When Anger Turns to Honey” serves as a rebuttal to self-appointed judges.

While the record touches upon tradition, it also exists in the present, addressing modern tragedies such as school shootings in the minor-key lullaby “Little Grave” and the poisoning of the planet on the dark wind-swept ballad “Erde.” But the record is at its most poignant when Wolfe withdraws into her own world of enigmatic and elusive autobiography. Much like Alan Ginsberg’s hallucinatory long-form poem Howl, the tracks “Dirt Universe” and “Birth of Violence” weave together specific references from her past into an esoteric overview of the state of mankind. Though the lyrical minutiae remain secret, the overall power of the language and delivery is bound to haunt the listener with both its grace and tension.

“These songs came to me in a whirlwind and I knew I needed to record them soon, and also really needed a break from the road,” Wolfe says. “I’ve spent the past few years looking for the feeling of home; looking for places that felt like home. The result of that humble approach yields Wolfe’s most devastating work to date.

European Headline tour confirming now for 2020. UK/EU Publicity handled by Lauren Barley at Rarely Unable. Immense support from Press, including coverage with NPR, Pitchfork, FADER, Vice, Revolver, Decibel, Under The Radar.

Die aus Miami stammenden und seit langem in Nashville ansässigen Americana-Ikonen The Mavericks melden sich mit ihrem mit Spannung erwarteten 13. Studioalbum "Moon & Stars" zurück. Es ist die erste Veröffentlichung seit dem erfolgreichen Projekt "En Español" aus dem Jahr 2020 und die erste englischsprachige Veröffentlichung seit dem gefeierten Album "Brand New Day" aus dem Jahr 2017.

The Mavericks, die bereits für ihre unverwechselbare Americana/Roots-Fusion aus Alternative & Outlaw Country, Rock, Blues, R&B und Tejano/Tex-Mex-Einflüssen bekannt sind, nahmen die Tracks von "Moon & Stars" passenderweise kreuz und quer durch die USA auf: In den Blackbird Studios (Nashville, Tennessee), den Frogville Studios (Santa Fe, New Mexico) und dem Dockside Studio (Maurice, Louisiana). Das Ergebnis ist ein lang erwartetes Album, das sowohl das zeitlose Gefühl einer klassischen Mavericks- eröffentlichung hervorruft, die sich nahtlos in die Reihe der Werke
ihrer Karriere einreiht, als auch einmal mehr Genre-Konventionen herausfordert und die Grenzen ihres Schmelztiegel-Sounds immer weiter verschiebt.

Zu den Gästen auf dem Album gehören Sierra Ferrell, Maggie Rose, Nicole Atkins und das "Fantastic Five"-Mitglied der Band, Max Abrams. Zu den Songschreibern gehören Bernie Taupin, Sam Hollander, Wally Wilson und andere.


b Live Close By (Visit Often) [with Nicole Atkins]


[b] Live Close By (Visit Often) [with Nicole Atkins]

Die aus Miami stammenden und seit langem in Nashville ansässigen Americana-Ikonen The Mavericks melden sich mit ihrem mit Spannung erwarteten 13. Studioalbum "Moon & Stars" zurück. Es ist die erste Veröffentlichung seit dem erfolgreichen Projekt "En Español" aus dem Jahr 2020 und die erste englischsprachige Veröffentlichung seit dem gefeierten Album "Brand New Day" aus dem Jahr 2017.

The Mavericks, die bereits für ihre unverwechselbare Americana/Roots-Fusion aus Alternative & Outlaw Country, Rock, Blues, R&B und Tejano/Tex-Mex-Einflüssen bekannt sind, nahmen die Tracks von "Moon & Stars" passenderweise kreuz und quer durch die USA auf: In den Blackbird Studios (Nashville, Tennessee), den Frogville Studios (Santa Fe, New Mexico) und dem Dockside Studio (Maurice, Louisiana). Das Ergebnis ist ein lang erwartetes Album, das sowohl das zeitlose Gefühl einer klassischen Mavericks- eröffentlichung hervorruft, die sich nahtlos in die Reihe der Werke
ihrer Karriere einreiht, als auch einmal mehr Genre-Konventionen herausfordert und die Grenzen ihres Schmelztiegel-Sounds immer weiter verschiebt.

Zu den Gästen auf dem Album gehören Sierra Ferrell, Maggie Rose, Nicole Atkins und das "Fantastic Five"-Mitglied der Band, Max Abrams. Zu den Songschreibern gehören Bernie Taupin, Sam Hollander, Wally Wilson und andere.


b Live Close By (Visit Often) with Nicole Atkins


[b] Live Close By (Visit Often) [with Nicole Atkins]


[b] Live Close By (Visit Often) [with Nicole Atkins]

Crucial reissue of the cult Electric Capablanca LP, on SWIMS.

"A mechanical ghost in the corner of our room, The Electric Capablanca spins spectres, shades and sonics while nobody looks.

Lifestyle product for a Dolce Vita dreamer, the device – abandoned by one careless owner – now dreams up probable chaos."

Released September 2019, enjoy these new hallucinations from no known author; a machined mega-puzzle of miscalculated patterns, automatic failures and lost coffee house betas.

Turn the dials to creak splinters of 70s Italian midi classical (Venosta, Musci), imagined mitteleuropa ambient (Froese, Popol Vuh) and spiritual mathematics from the old new world (Spiegel, Hassell, Riley).

CapablancaCapbalancaCapalabancaCapabalanca

Inspired by the Buddhist sutras, Blitzen Trapper’s radiant new album, 100's of 1000's, Millions of Billions, offers a captivating take on rebirth and transcendence, navigating its way through the space beyond dreams and reality, beyond gods and mortals, beyond life and death. The songs here are as sincere as they are surreal, rooted in rich character studies and deep reflection, and the production is intoxicating to match, blending lo-fi intimacy and trippy psychedelia into a mesmerizing swirl of analog and electronic sounds. Add it all together and you’ve got a gorgeous collection of stripped-down bedroom folk wrapped in lush layers of synthesizers and washed out electric guitars, a poignant, expansive exploration of perception and purpose that manages to look both forwards and backwards all at once. This LP is pressed on clear blue vinyl and limited to 1,000 copies worldwide. Launched roughly two decades ago in Portland, OR, Blitzen Trapper broke out internationally with 2008’s Furr, which cemented their status at the forefront of the modern indie folk revival. Rolling Stone hailed the band’s “hazy, psychedelic Americana,” while NPR praised their “explosive live performances and infectious roots-rock swagger.” Dates with Fleet Foxes, Wilco, and Dawes followed, as did festival appearances at Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, Newport Folk, and Coachella, among others. The band would go on to release six more similarly lauded studio albums, culminating with 2020’s Holy Smokes Future Jokes, which Mojo proclaimed “sounds like the Beatles at Big Pink.”

100's of 1000's, Millions of Billions by Blitzen Trapper, released 17 May 2024, includes the following tracks: "Cosmic Backseat Education", "Cheap Fantastical Takedown", "Planetarium", "Long Game" and more.

Inspired by the Buddhist sutras, Blitzen Trapper’s radiant new album, 100's of 1000's, Millions of Billions, offers a captivating take on rebirth and transcendence, navigating its way through the space beyond dreams and reality, beyond gods and mortals, beyond life and death. The songs here are as sincere as they are surreal, rooted in rich character studies and deep reflection, and the production is intoxicating to match, blending lo-fi intimacy and trippy psychedelia into a mesmerizing swirl of analog and electronic sounds. Add it all together and you’ve got a gorgeous collection of stripped-down bedroom folk wrapped in lush layers of synthesizers and washed out electric guitars, a poignant, expansive exploration of perception and purpose that manages to look both forwards and backwards all at once. This LP is pressed on clear blue vinyl and limited to 1,000 copies worldwide. Launched roughly two decades ago in Portland, OR, Blitzen Trapper broke out internationally with 2008’s Furr, which cemented their status at the forefront of the modern indie folk revival. Rolling Stone hailed the band’s “hazy, psychedelic Americana,” while NPR praised their “explosive live performances and infectious roots-rock swagger.” Dates with Fleet Foxes, Wilco, and Dawes followed, as did festival appearances at Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, Newport Folk, and Coachella, among others. The band would go on to release six more similarly lauded studio albums, culminating with 2020’s Holy Smokes Future Jokes, which Mojo proclaimed “sounds like the Beatles at Big Pink.”

100's of 1000's, Millions of Billions by Blitzen Trapper, released 17 May 2024, includes the following tracks: "Cosmic Backseat Education", "Cheap Fantastical Takedown", "Planetarium", "Long Game" and more.

Ollie Spalding and Jack Watts were friends first, and songwriting partners second, and this quality sets them apart. They're marked by that peculiar alchemy when two voices become one, a special sense of human connection wrought through harmony and emboldened with experience.

New album 'Redsetter' is their coming- of- age moment - gilded indie- folk with an optimistic sense of maturity, it dares to look towards the light. "We had literally no idea what was gonna happen!" Ollie gasps when looking back on the pair's self-titled debut album. Sculpted over the pandemic and released on Real Kind Records - the boutique Communion imprint chaired by Lucy Rose - the record displayed their core values. "The emotion has to be right," says Oliver.

"When we record songs, we want to stay true to the emotion - as though those songs had just been written seconds before they were recorded." The success of their debut brought fresh experiences - writing with Flyte, collaborating with everyone from Matthew & The Atlas and Victoria Canal to Talos and Olafur Arnalds - but also new challenges.

New LP 'Redsetter' takes them from their base in Brighton to a remote part of Texas (and back again); it's a record that's driven by a special kind of determination, dealing with intimate bonds, familial connections, and a quiet sense of renewal. Looking for perfect moments within our imperfect lives, Memorial have displayed extraordinary sense of character to drive themselves forwards. "We've let go of trying to make everything sound perfect," says Jack. "Being vulnerable in that way means that the end product is truer to you than it ever could be. There's a realness to it." Memorial have taken true ownership of their lives, pushing through enormous challenges to unlock new aspects of their artistry, and actualise their dreams.

Allchival present their second look at the music of Roger Doyle and Operating Theatre (a little known proto synth-pop act and experimental theatre group that he led.)

In reverse chronological order the second disc contains music from the United Dairies release of 1979 – ‘Rapid Eye Movements’. Experimental tape work heavily influenced by the French school of music concretists and recorded at various points during the 70s in Finland, Holland and Ireland, although it is most certainly a Roger Doyle solo record the label ran by Nurses With Wounds John Fothergill decided to release it under the group name for reasons now lost to the fog of time.

After this a volte-face towards a more accessible sound, coming via his friendship with future Hollywood actress Olwen Fouéré and her connection to the theatre. It also featured the vocals of a young Spanish immigrant Elena López- bucking the 80’s trend by moving to rather than from Dublin. With Fouéré adding the theatrical element to the group (an almost essential part of any early 80s synth act) alongside pulsing synths, brass, a vocoder and the electro acoustic production talents of Doyle himself, it was the first time a Fairlight sampler was used in an Irish studio setting and gives a prescient but alternative take on the new wave sound that came to dominate the charts soon after.
Doyle’s work on the newly released Fairlight sampler had brought him to the attention of U2’s Bono who had seen a feature about his sampling experimentations and reached out to him for piano lessons. This led to a deal on the bands embryonic Mother records for what Doyle calls his first “popular song” - Queen of No Heart - which alongside “Spring is Coming” made up the backbone of the EP which was released some years later (1986) on the Mother Records label. Established by U2 in 1984 and initially intended to launch Irish bands, many of the acts – including this one – were subsequently unhappy about the label’s haphazard approach to releases and lack of promotion. The record was released as a die cut 7 inch with the two main tracks and a 12 inch EP with additional tracks – ‘Part of My Make-Up’ / ‘Atlantean’ / ‘Satanasa’. The Mother experience was for Doyle and the rest of the group a frustrating one with no promotional plan and no tour. After that Operating Theatre as a quasi pop project ‘just kind of fizzled out’ says Doyle.

Doyle, the musical maverick at the heart of the act, continues to produce to this day and has released 30 albums. A frequent collaborator we round out the record with a remix from another Irish outsider - Morgan Buckley of the Wah Wah Wino fame.