Free Help is Minnesota trio Heart to Gold's celebration of the titular idea, conceived while broken down on the side of a road in Georgia. Recorded at Will Yip's Studio 4 and releasing on Memory Music, it's an expertly arranged, arena-sized rendering of the group's scrappy, bold guitar rock, a heartening mix of melodic punk, cavernous post-hardcore, and '90s alt-rock. It's the sound and feeling of a band growing into adulthood and maturity_singer Grant Whiteoak's writing is subtle and figurative, a result of deepening introspection spurred by years of touring.Free Help represents a push beyond Heart to Gold's long-time community, and a broadening of the boundaries of the project. The rich, spacious single "Can't Feel Me," released in February, evidenced this new sound and space, and record opener "Surrounded" leaves no room for doubt: This is Heart to Gold operating on a new level. It's a sleek, pit-ready thrasher, tearing at the seams with energy and intention, loaded with melody. There are classic, pedal-to-the-metal bangers, like "Get It Back" and "Blow Up the Spot," alongside the down-tempo drift of "Pandora," and the multi-movement epic "Belonging." Here it is, from Heart to Gold to you: Free Help.
ShitKid's self-titled debut EP immediately cut through the haze on its release in 2016, pushing the home-recording lo-fi pop artist into the spotlight with praise from the likes of The FADER, Pigeons & Planes, i-D, SPIN, The Line of Best Fit and many more. Home-recorded lo-fi recordings ranging from the alternative pop of debut single "Oh Please Be A Cocky Cool Kid" to the White Stripes-y garage rock of "Rnr Sally" to the just plain weird, the ShitKid EP is an essential release from ShitKid - now available on vinyl again, on limited edition galaxy vinyl.
"The Affectionate Punch is the debut studio album by the Scottish post-punk and new wave band the Associates. The album was released on 1 August 1980. From the album ""The Affectionate Punch"" and ""A"" were released as singles. Upon its release, The Affectionate Punch was declared ""a kind of masterpiece"" by Paul Morley of the NME, who described it as ""a passionate cabaret soul music, a fulfilment of the European white dance music Bowie was flirting with back then."" None other than Robert Smith (the Cure) can be heard doing backing vocals on ""The Affectionate Punch"" and ""Even Dogs in the Wild"". Nigel Glockler (Saxon) is the drummer on this album. The Affectionate Punch is available as a limited edition of 1000 individually numbered copies on turquoise coloured vinyl and includes an insert."
180 Gram Vinyl Make the holiday season unforgettable with All Time Christmas Favourites! This festive collection is the perfect soundtrack, featuring the beloved voices of Johnny Cash, Paul Anka, Bobby Darin, Harry Belafonte, and many more. Whether for hosting a holiday gathering or enjoying a quiet evening by the fire, these timeless classics will fill your home with warmth and joy.
180 Gram, Red Vinyl Make the holiday season unforgettable with All Time Christmas Favourites! This festive collection is the perfect soundtrack, featuring the beloved voices of Johnny Cash, Paul Anka, Bobby Darin, Harry Belafonte, and many more. Whether for hosting a holiday gathering or enjoying a quiet evening by the fire, these timeless classics will fill your home with warmth and joy.
Incomparable Northern Irish songstress Janet Devlin is poised to release her courageous country-rock album, "Emotional Rodeo," on 15th November 2024. Recorded at Martina McBride’s Blackbird Studio in Nashville with esteemed producer Roo Walker, tracked by Lowell Reynolds (Shania Twain, Boy Genius, Taylor Swift) and mixed mostly at Spotnick Studios by Grammy-Award winning producer/mixer Vance Powell, (Chris Stapleton, Jack White) Devlin captures the heartfelt essence of country-rock with an authentic edge, blending sharp, witty lyrics with themes of fearless self-empowerment.
Hard-Fi make their welcome return with brand new single ‘Don’t Go Making Plans’ on Ignition Records. Their first new material in ten years, the track marks the first taste of an EP of brand new songs, as well as a big UK headline tour this November. Rolling around a sun-scorched groove and boisterous beats, ‘Don’t Go Making Plans’ is an immediate, soul-infused summer anthem, recorded at the band’s own Staines studio, produced by frontman Richard Archer and long-term contributor Wolsey White. It’s the end result of the first session together since 2011 album Killer Sounds and follows a series of sold-out tours and live shows over the last 18 months - listen here. As with many of the band’s songs, there is a thought-provoking depth behind Hard-Fi’s pop sensibility. The song’s defiant themes were initially inspired by the UK Government’s attempts to criminalise many aspects of popular protest through the 2022 Public Order Act, while the issue has been thrown into even sharper focus over the last year as police and people have repeatedly clashed on streets around the globe. SGB50LPXX
Did you know there are horses on the cover of Earth 2: Special Low Frequency Version? There are at least three in the right hand corner, gathered inexplicably near a white canvas tent, a human possibly perched among its folds. As widescreen and vast as the cover may seem, those little details-the horses, the possible human, the faint wisp of white clouds-give it depth and wonder, something to which the imagination can return. Did you know that the music on Earth 2-repressed now for its 30th anniversary, back in its original artwork, and accompanied by a riveting set of remixes that demonstrate the reach of what Dylan Carlson long ago called "ambient metal"-works much the same way? The surface is massive and obvious, the meatpaw riffs of Carlson and bassist Dave Harwell pounding and swiping and pawing at the speakers, a true bludgeon in three-dimensional sound. Listen, though, for the details in the corners, for the finesse beneath the force, and Earth 2 reveals new levels of depth and wonder. The widespread impact of Earth 2 suggests that others have indeed been leaning in, listening to these minutiae and making something new of them. A masterpiece without many genre precedents, Earth 2 surely helped send doom metal down its more modern drone, ambient, and avant-garde avenues. Those descendants are obvious. Perhaps more surprising and gratifying are the ways it has influenced electronic music, modern composition, and even hip-hop by realigning our senses of tempo, time, and texture. Earth 2 engendered a rearrangement of expectations, regardless of preferred form.
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~~~From Mississippi and Olvido Records~~~~~~ Steel-string guitar and vocals by the great Giorgos Katsaros, a mythic figure of Greek rembetiko. Our obsession with underground Greek music continues with 10 ultra-rare recordings of heartbreak and vice from rembetiko legend Giorgos Katsaros. Katsaros, who by some accounts lived to be over 100 years old, carried the old songs of Greece to the Diaspora in the United States, bridging centuries of music in one storied lifetime. Born in 1901 on the Greek island of Amorgos, Katsaros' was enchanted with the songs he picked up as a kid in the streets of Piraeus and Athens. Encouraged by his grandfather, an amateur singer, Katsaros developed a style that mirrored his upbringing - centuries-old Asia Minor songs, island rhythms of his homeland, well-known Athenian songs of the time, and anonymous `rebetiko' songs. Katsaros' songbook was vast, but he was most drawn to the street life and music of the manges of early 20th-century Greece: outcasts who dealt with the indignities of an unstable economy and an inauspicious future with the old standbys: wine, hash, and dancing. These ten tracks are remastered from Katsaros's 64 surviving early recordings, many rarely heard since their original release. Hypnotic melodies plucked over repeating thumbed basslines back his deep, mournful voice. Katsaros brought this nostalgic late-night music to smoke-filled rooms of Greek exiles in Chicago, Philly, and New York, where he emigrated in 1917. He continued to travel the country and play until his music was supplanted by more modern styles in the 1950s. He retired to the town of Tarpon Springs, FL, famous for its Greek sponge fishers, til a late-in-life revival brought him back to Greece for a few massive concerts and national accolades in the 1990s. Like many great artists, Katsaros carefully curated his own mythic backstory over the decades. He sometimes claimed he was born in 1888, making him 109 on his passing, and conflicting accounts of his birth and travels circulate to this day. Greek researchers Stavros Kourousis and Konstantinos Kopanitsanos, who also compiled these tracks, contribute groundbreaking new historical research on Katsaros' life. Lyrics, poetically translated by Tony Klein, further fill in the picture. Clean and rare 78s were remastered by Stereophonic. Katsaros has never sounded better than on this LP, pressed on heavy black vinyl, with extensive notes and lyrics.
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Shock Room it’s a double vinyl release who takes the name from the main room of the discoteque.
ULTIMO IMPERO DI Torino; an historic temple of the techno music from the ‘90s. in this compila)on are all included the most iconic and an)cipated “techno, trance & progressive” grooves that have made dance en)re genera)ons of people, nowadays again on track and well
spinned up by djs all arounf the world.
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Ltd White Vinyl, DL card. 1992's 'Untitled' brought the band's third album that re-cemented the duo once again as the progenitors of the "lo-fi" genre. This breakthrough set transitioned "The Trux" into a never ending all-inclusive rotating cast of musicians. Continuing Fire Records' series of classic remastered albums from Royal Trux, 'Untitled' is released on white vinyl and features updated monochrome and silver artwork. As unpredictable as ever, Neil Hagerty and Jennifer Herrema shook off the next level layering and noise of 'Twin Infinitives' to embrace the history of rock 'n' roll in all its deformed grandeur. Utilizing their ever present mind set of macro-inclusivity, they allowed the subconscious "radio stations" of their lives to infiltrate, lead, and dictate. Culling from their collective minds and memories twisted tunes that touched them. After the blood rush of their much-hailed avant-garde masterpiece 'Twin Infinitives' (1988), this eight-song opus added to the lo-fi genre that originated on 'Twin Infinitives'. On 'Untitled' Hagerty uses his 5-string blues roots and hails rock's twisted potential, while Herrema slurs and snarls in ecstasy. They sound like they're locked in a fourth-floor boudoir at the Chelsea Hotel; bottles clink, an album clicks on its run-out groove, the band plays on. In the mix are the characters and casualties of the 90s, a roll call of swaggering misfits. These aren't superficial sketches, the Trux cut much deeper than that_ "'Junkie Nurse' isn't just about addiction; it's about the twisted hope that even the most broken people can somehow mend others, even when they're falling apart themselves." Jennifer Herrema, Royal Trux. With 'Untitled' Royal Trux justifiably increased their coterie of convicted followers, becoming the cult heroes for a transgressive generation, and the Rosetta Stone for male/female duos (ie:The White Stripes, The Kills etc... ) over the years inspiring everyone from The Silver Jews (David Berman) & Sonic Youth through to melodic blue-eyed soulsters like Hot Chip - "I urge and encourage you to enter the harmolodic multiverse of their music." Alexis Taylor, Hot Chip. "Royal Trux were nothing if not fearless." Pitchfork.
"A sparkling mixture of American and British stars, featuring 23 of the biggest Christmas songs ever recorded. With Elvis Presley wishes you a “Blue Christmas”, the Drifters wishing you a “White Christmas”, a “Christmas Prayer” by Billy Fury, a “Christmas Present” from Solomon Burke, “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree” with Brenda Lee, “Twistin’ Bells” by Santo & Johnny, and the “Jingle Bell Rock” with Chubby Checker & Bobby Rydell. The Cadillacs sings “Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer” and Chuck Berry “Runs With Rudolph”, Frankie Valli & The 4 Seasons “Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus”, Johnny Cash with his “Little Drummer Boy” and finally David Seville and the Chipmunks with “The Chipmunk Song”."
This 12-song collection from Elvis Presley compiles the King of Rock ’n’ Roll’s most famous Christmas recordings including ”Santa Claus Is Back In Town,” ”White Christmas,””Here Comes Santa Claus,” ”Blue Christmas,” ”O Little Town of Bethlehem,” and ”Silent Night” among others!
"A sparkling mixture of American and British stars, featuring 23 of the biggest Christmas songs ever recorded. With Elvis Presley wishes you a “Blue Christmas”, the Drifters wishing you a “White Christmas”, a “Christmas Prayer” by Billy Fury, a “Christmas Present” from Solomon Burke, “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree” with Brenda Lee, “Twistin’ Bells” by Santo & Johnny, and the “Jingle Bell Rock” with Chubby Checker & Bobby Rydell. The Cadillacs sings “Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer” and Chuck Berry “Runs With Rudolph”, Frankie Valli & The 4 Seasons “Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus”, Johnny Cash with his “Little Drummer Boy” and finally David Seville and the Chipmunks with “The Chipmunk Song”."
Mit der neuen Doppel-LP 'Long Distance Love - A Sweet Relief Tribute to Lowell George' hat Sweet Relief, die Organisation, die alle Arten von Berufsmusikern und Beschäftigten der Musikindustrie finanziell unterstützt, die mit körperlichen oder geistigen Problemen, Behinderungen oder altersbedingten Problemen zu kämpfen haben, ein Juwel vorgelegt.
Lowell George war der Gitarrenvirtuose, Sänger und Songschreiber von Little Feat. In dieser Sammlung von 25 Liedern interpretieren und spielen Künstler wie Elvis Costello, Ben Harper und Dave Alvin seinen vielfältigen Katalog. Der in Hollywood, Kalifornien, geborene George war Mitglied von Frank Zappas Mothers of Inventions, bevor er diese Band verließ und mit Bill Payne Little Feat gründete. Lowell gehörte der Band 7 Jahre lang bis zu seinem Tod an und veröffentlichte in dieser Zeit acht Alben. Obwohl George 1979 starb, lebt sein Vermächtnis durch dieses Album weiter.
MIRACLE OF SOUND hat weltweit über 1 Milliarde organische Streams gesammelt und zahlreiche virale Hits erzielt, darunter den erfolgreichen Song
„Valhalla Calling“.
Mit Materia (Best Of 2011 – 2024) veröffentlicht Mastermind Gavin Dunne sein erstes physisches Release und Napalm Records Debüt am 08.
November 2024.
Als Multi-Instrumentalist, Songwriter und Sänger hat Dunne mit seinem Solo-Projekt MIRACLE OF SOUND zahlreiche #1 Chartplatzierungen in ganz
Europa erlangt, kooperiert mit Ubisoft, Bioware, Owlcat/Games Workshop, EA und Bethesda und produziert virale Hits. Sein Projekt ist bekannt für
themenbezogene Musik, die von wagemutigen Charakteren, sagenhaften Filmgeschichten, Büchern und Gaming-Klassikern wie Mass Effect,
Assassin’s Creed, Warhammer 40k, Wasteland 2 und Watch Dogs inspiriert ist.
Das Best Of-Album steht als Sinnbild für seinen kreativen Geist und präsentiert eine exklusive Auswahl, die Hörer*innen in die mystischen Welten von
Wikingern, Piraten, Seemannsliedern, keltische Geschichte und moderner Fantasy entführt
The seeds of composer Rafael Anton Irisarri’s latest LP were first planted during his 2016 tour in Italy, months before that Autumn’s unexpected presidential election. The linguistic glitch of an innocuous diner in Milan named “il Mito Americano” – meant as “The American Dream” but translated literally to English as “The American Myth” – sparked a series of ideas, both conceptual and musical.
Amid the chaos of 2020, while exploring the stark world of brutalist architecture and inspired by the false fronts of Potemkin villages, a vision started to take shape: FAÇADISMS. Composed over three years, it’s a late capitalist lament of simmering electric despondency.
Irisarri’s obsession with repeating motifs mirrors the cyclical nature of our tumultuous political history. The album’s eight tracks heave and storm like a tempest being drained of its rage. This is the sound of majestic dissipation, of morning afters, fashioned from a mournful haze with cavernous guitars and granular twilight. A euphony of a receding tide as one sifts through the remnants of what remains: dust, delusion, and memory.
Opening with the somber gauze of “Broken Intensification," FAÇADISMS moves fluidly between moments of absence and abandon. Ashen swaths of electronics billow above smoldering embers of melody, guitar, and scattered streaks of processed strings and voice, as on the rapturous doom of “Control Your Soul's Desire for Freedom,” featuring Julia Kent on cello and Hannah Elizabeth Cox on vocals. "The impoverished peoples of the Americas have known all along that 'freedom' is a cruel illusion crafted by the elites, akin to Potemkin's fake villages designed to impress Catherine the Great," Irisarri indicates. "FAÇADISMS illustrates a twisted inversion where the rulers deceive their subjects with illusions of safety, democracy, and free speech to create a grotesque mirage of control over their own lives.”
Elsewhere, Irisarri leans into passages of hushed oblivion (“Hollow,” “Dispersion of Belief”), while ragged drones rumble and disintegrate into wind-battered ambient wreckage. One has the sense that it’s all too late. The hour of fury has passed. The beauty has come and gone. Irisarri’s muse has become the crack in the façade of the unraveling myth.
The record closes with a climax of grand departure. Co-written with Kenyan sound artist KMRU, “Red Moon Tide” surges from flickering elegy to celestial disquiet, roiling waves of hymnal descent, and bristling noise. The effect is unsettling and unmooring: a soundtrack for the soul leaving the body, only to discover a void. It’s the sound of the center not holding, of shared illusions being dissolved in a tunnel of white light.
The cover photograph captures a profound sense of desolation. Taken in the historic shanty town of La Perla, Puerto Rico, where Irisarri spent his childhood, brutal colonial mysteries are lost to time. A skeletal concrete structure decays against an expansive blue horizon. Only the shadow of its shell ripples on the empty sea.
Has the American myth finally run its course?
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The seeds of composer Rafael Anton Irisarri’s latest LP were first planted during his 2016 tour in Italy, months before that Autumn’s unexpected presidential election. The linguistic glitch of an innocuous diner in Milan named “il Mito Americano” – meant as “The American Dream” but translated literally to English as “The American Myth” – sparked a series of ideas, both conceptual and musical.
Amid the chaos of 2020, while exploring the stark world of brutalist architecture and inspired by the false fronts of Potemkin villages, a vision started to take shape: FAÇADISMS. Composed over three years, it’s a late capitalist lament of simmering electric despondency.
Irisarri’s obsession with repeating motifs mirrors the cyclical nature of our tumultuous political history. The album’s eight tracks heave and storm like a tempest being drained of its rage. This is the sound of majestic dissipation, of morning afters, fashioned from a mournful haze with cavernous guitars and granular twilight. A euphony of a receding tide as one sifts through the remnants of what remains: dust, delusion, and memory.
Opening with the somber gauze of “Broken Intensification," FAÇADISMS moves fluidly between moments of absence and abandon. Ashen swaths of electronics billow above smoldering embers of melody, guitar, and scattered streaks of processed strings and voice, as on the rapturous doom of “Control Your Soul's Desire for Freedom,” featuring Julia Kent on cello and Hannah Elizabeth Cox on vocals. "The impoverished peoples of the Americas have known all along that 'freedom' is a cruel illusion crafted by the elites, akin to Potemkin's fake villages designed to impress Catherine the Great," Irisarri indicates. "FAÇADISMS illustrates a twisted inversion where the rulers deceive their subjects with illusions of safety, democracy, and free speech to create a grotesque mirage of control over their own lives.”
Elsewhere, Irisarri leans into passages of hushed oblivion (“Hollow,” “Dispersion of Belief”), while ragged drones rumble and disintegrate into wind-battered ambient wreckage. One has the sense that it’s all too late. The hour of fury has passed. The beauty has come and gone. Irisarri’s muse has become the crack in the façade of the unraveling myth.
The record closes with a climax of grand departure. Co-written with Kenyan sound artist KMRU, “Red Moon Tide” surges from flickering elegy to celestial disquiet, roiling waves of hymnal descent, and bristling noise. The effect is unsettling and unmooring: a soundtrack for the soul leaving the body, only to discover a void. It’s the sound of the center not holding, of shared illusions being dissolved in a tunnel of white light.
The cover photograph captures a profound sense of desolation. Taken in the historic shanty town of La Perla, Puerto Rico, where Irisarri spent his childhood, brutal colonial mysteries are lost to time. A skeletal concrete structure decays against an expansive blue horizon. Only the shadow of its shell ripples on the empty sea.
Has the American myth finally run its course?
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Dernière livraison il y a 22 mois réapprovisionnement sans garantie
The seeds of composer Rafael Anton Irisarri’s latest LP were first planted during his 2016 tour in Italy, months before that Autumn’s unexpected presidential election. The linguistic glitch of an innocuous diner in Milan named “il Mito Americano” – meant as “The American Dream” but translated literally to English as “The American Myth” – sparked a series of ideas, both conceptual and musical.
Amid the chaos of 2020, while exploring the stark world of brutalist architecture and inspired by the false fronts of Potemkin villages, a vision started to take shape: FAÇADISMS. Composed over three years, it’s a late capitalist lament of simmering electric despondency.
Irisarri’s obsession with repeating motifs mirrors the cyclical nature of our tumultuous political history. The album’s eight tracks heave and storm like a tempest being drained of its rage. This is the sound of majestic dissipation, of morning afters, fashioned from a mournful haze with cavernous guitars and granular twilight. A euphony of a receding tide as one sifts through the remnants of what remains: dust, delusion, and memory.
Opening with the somber gauze of “Broken Intensification," FAÇADISMS moves fluidly between moments of absence and abandon. Ashen swaths of electronics billow above smoldering embers of melody, guitar, and scattered streaks of processed strings and voice, as on the rapturous doom of “Control Your Soul's Desire for Freedom,” featuring Julia Kent on cello and Hannah Elizabeth Cox on vocals. "The impoverished peoples of the Americas have known all along that 'freedom' is a cruel illusion crafted by the elites, akin to Potemkin's fake villages designed to impress Catherine the Great," Irisarri indicates. "FAÇADISMS illustrates a twisted inversion where the rulers deceive their subjects with illusions of safety, democracy, and free speech to create a grotesque mirage of control over their own lives.”
Elsewhere, Irisarri leans into passages of hushed oblivion (“Hollow,” “Dispersion of Belief”), while ragged drones rumble and disintegrate into wind-battered ambient wreckage. One has the sense that it’s all too late. The hour of fury has passed. The beauty has come and gone. Irisarri’s muse has become the crack in the façade of the unraveling myth.
The record closes with a climax of grand departure. Co-written with Kenyan sound artist KMRU, “Red Moon Tide” surges from flickering elegy to celestial disquiet, roiling waves of hymnal descent, and bristling noise. The effect is unsettling and unmooring: a soundtrack for the soul leaving the body, only to discover a void. It’s the sound of the center not holding, of shared illusions being dissolved in a tunnel of white light.
The cover photograph captures a profound sense of desolation. Taken in the historic shanty town of La Perla, Puerto Rico, where Irisarri spent his childhood, brutal colonial mysteries are lost to time. A skeletal concrete structure decays against an expansive blue horizon. Only the shadow of its shell ripples on the empty sea.
Heute, genau 10 Jahre nach dem ursprünglichen Release, veröffentlicht Matador Records ein Re-Issue des populären achten Studioalbums von Spoon, "They Want My Soul". Es ist ab sofort auf allen digitalen Plattformen verfügbar und erscheint am 08. November auch als Doppel-LP und Doppel-CD. Neben den zehn Originaltracks - inklusive der Band-Klassiker "Inside Out", "Do You" und "Rent I Pay" enthält die Deluxe-Version elf Demos und Alternate Versions, die bislang fast alle unveröffentlicht sind. Die Wiederveröffentlichung unterstreicht den herausragenden Platz des Albums in einer beeindruckenden Diskographie und bietet Einblick in eine der prägenden Phasen der Spoon-Geschichte. "They Want My Soul" folgte 2014 auf "Transference", ein von der Band selbst produziertes Album, nach deren Veröffentlichung sich die Band erschöpft fühlte. Als "Transference" herauskam, waren sieben Alben in 14 Jahren erschienen und Spoon hatten sich beständig auf Tour befunden. Der ungewohnte Sound des Albums machte es dem Publikum zudem schwer und obwohl es ihre bis dahin erfolgreichste Platte wurde, blieb es um die Veröffentlichung insgesamt relativ ruhig. Es folgte eine Bandpause. Und 2014 dann schließlich die Rückkehr mit "They Want My Soul", das sie mit Joe Chiccarelli (Strokes, White Stripes) aufnahmen - und mit Dave Fridmann, dem visionären Produzenten von Flaming Lips, MGMT oder Low. Die Arbeit mit Fridmann, der für seine maximalistisch-psychedelische Herangehensweise bekannt ist, scheint erst mal keine allzu offensichtliche Wahl, erwies sich dann aber schnell als außerordentlich fruchtbar. Nicht zuletzt entstand so "Inside Out, der heute meistgestreamte Song der Band überhaupt. Aus klanglicher Sicht ist "They Want My Soul", das vielleicht das strahlendste Album, das Spoon je gemacht haben. Umso interessanter ist es, nun ergänzend die Demos hören zu können, die zu diesem Album führten und die in dieser Deluxe-Edition enthalten sind.
"Frank’s Christmas Greetings features Frank Sinatra performing a number of holiday standards. The songs are lush and gentle, underscoring the warmth in Sinatra’s voice. These 20 wonderful season’s greetings from “Ol’ Blue Eyes” make a worthwhile album addition to any Sinatra or Christmas music collection."
"This Christmas album – a limited edition on transparent red vinyl - contains some of the biggest evergreens of the season. These are the holiday songs you know by heart, the ones that immediately put you in the Christmas mood. Featuring Bing Crosby, Elvis Presley, Brenda Lee, Johnny Cash, Louis Armstrong, Dean Martin, Ella Fitzgerald and many others."
Where would a painter paint if it were not on a white canvas? Where would a composer compose if it were not on the stave and the spaces in between the lines? How would a musician play his instrument if there were no melodies composed, written down, painted for him to follow?
The magic of art needs a frame, a somewhat solid container to hold the freedom that can only be found once we integrate some form of structure. And that also holds in every other area of life. We all need a frame, a structure, a rhythm, or else, we fall apart. This human form needs the body, and yet it transcends the limitations of the body - through art.
Consistency being one of them seems oftentimes less tangible, for it resides more in the act of doing, and showing up for the practice, for devoting energy and presence. Strangely, if we consistently show up for our practice, regardless of its form, the solid frame of the hour we devote to playing the instrument, learning a language, doing the sport, sitting silently for that meditation: It feels different every single time. It feels new every single time.
The repetitive consistency in being present again and again allows for nothing short of magic to happen. Magic feeds consistency. Consistency feeds magic. Consistency sets a foundation that strengthens over time. It allows us to slowly but surely develop any kind of skill, to find and hence to embody expertise. On the fertile grounds of such a solid foundation, creativity fosters, and innovation blossoms.
Establishing consistent rituals and routines can bring a sense of comfort and safety into every-day-life. For routine beholds repetition and its frame enables our experience within to change. In the familiar, we dare to explore, maybe even experiment, merely because a part of us remembers we depart from, and always return to, a safe space. We do not get lost. We do not fall apart. As we practice, again and again, we build resilience in overcoming obstacles or literally persevering through challenging situations and stretches of time.
While consistency gifts steadiness and stability, its overdose risks to result in what may appear as uniformity. It feels like constantly - consistently - dancing on the fine line of freedom within a structure. Life is filled with unexpected twists and turns, adjustments need to be made to accommodate change and avoid rigidity. By striking a balance between consistency and flexibility, we can create harmony in our lives, just like a beautiful melody that flows smoothly from one note to the next.
Within the magical waves of music, skills are needed, too. Consistency is key to show up and do the work. It frames the freedom of magic that resides beyond and only beyond effort. Learning to play an instrument, learning to sing, does never happen within the blink of the eye. It takes time. Time to show up for the practice, to do precisely that: practice. Again and again, every single time, again and again. Precision feeds perfection that falls apart inside the structure of a song, a line, a rhythm, dissolving into magic.
Consistency in practicing, in composing and sharing music with the world regardless of the form allows any musician to refine his style, to carve out his uniqueness. For any artistic expression is, after all: Unique. And this uniqueness is born inside the vessel of any structure, over and over again. Sharing music in the form of new releases and public performances nourishes the bond between artist and audience. And for that to unfold, both parties need to show up - while the underlying beat of this never-ending practice is presence fuelled by consistency.
All Is Chaos by Stake, released 1 November 2024, includes the following tracks: "The Calling", "Stargazing", "Trapped", "Drowning In Your Blood" and more.
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André Rieu is a Dutch violinist and orchestra leader known to many as the waltz king of Europe. He is also one of today's most celebrated solo violinists/composers, with over 500K sales on his catalog. Rieu is known to the general public with his performances of popular classical works by Johann Strauss.
His 1992 Christmas album Merry Christmas consists of beautiful arrangements of traditional Christmas songs. Merry Christmas is completely remastered for vinyl and is now available as a limited edition on translucent red coloured vinyl.
Hellbilly Deluxe 2: Noble Jackals, Penny Dreadfuls and the Systematic Dehumanization of Cool is the fourth solo studio album by former White Zombie frontman Rob Zombie. The album is a sequel to his debut album Hellbilly Deluxe and was released on February 2, 2010. This is the first album with bassist Piggy D and the last with drummer Tommy Clufetos.
Hellbilly Deluxe 2 is also the first release where Rob Zombie worked with his full touring band. Previous albums were written and recorded by Rob Zombie himself and a rotating set of musicians. The lead single ""What?"" debuted on radio stations on October 6. Rob Zombie enlisted the help of artists Dan Brereton (creator of Nocturnals), Alex Horley (of Image Comics and DC Comics) and David Hartman (storyboard artist) to create the album artwork. British dark/horror/science fiction/steampunk artist Sam Shearon aka 'Mister Sam Shearon' (artwork for Ministry, Slayer, Clive Barker, and tour merchandise for Iron Maiden) also contributed to the artwork of Hellbilly Deluxe 2.
Hellbilly Deluxe 2 is now available as a limited numbered edition of 1500 copies on Dracula coloured vinyl, housed in a gatefold and it comes with a 4 page booklet.
Christmas Time with the Judds is the fourth studio album by country duo the Judds. Now available on Opaque White Vinyl; originally released on September 29, 1987 by Curb Records/RCA Records. It was produced by Brent Maher who had produced the first three Judds albums. Christmas Time was the duo's first collection of Christmas music released in a full-length album and includes the standout recordings of "What Child Is This" and "Beautiful Star of Bethlehem" as well as the original recording of "Who Is This Babe" which was composed by Don Potter.
Louis De Roo already knows a thing or two about what life can throw at a person, yet this young Belgian songwriter is still very much on the threshold of a promising international musical career. Fall 2024 sees the release of his debut album ‘Troubled Waters’ as Isaac Roux. His debut and breakthrough single White Rose (which is not on the album) became an alternative hit in Belgium and the Netherlands, with follow-up singles Colours and Autumn Love opening doors in Germany (radioeins), France (Radio Néo) and Austria (FM4) and to trendy streaming playlists. Roux’s combination of warm indie folk and alternative rock works even better on stage, never failing to leave a crowd open-mouthed, like during a live session on German national radio (Deutschlandfunk Kultur). Impressing crowds at the Rock Werchter and Pukkelpop festivals in his home country, he did the same in the Netherlands and Germany (playing Reeperbahn three times), and supporting Dotan on his European tour in places like London, Paris and Vienna. Every song, and the album as a whole, gives the listener a glimpse into the life of De Roo, who hasn’t always had it easy, hoping that his music can give people in similar situations something to hold on to. “To win, to lose, to dream and to hope, they’re just some of the things that have shaped me into the person that I am today”, De Roo says. “And through my stories I hope to provide a little bit of a moral compass for people who, like me, haven’t always been treated nicely by life.”
Ltd Silver Vinyl, DL card. From a long-forgotten trunk; two extended jams, twin slabs, circa 1989. Continuing Fire Records' series of classic remastered albums from Royal Trux, 'Hand Of Glory' is released on silver vinyl. This bad-ass black, white and blue magic is a kind of Burial Dub_ or so preached the sleeve of 'Hand Of Glory' on its original release in 2002. Legend has it, the two sides of this 40-minute gem were recorded between 1985 and 1989. The resultant mountain of creativity from where they hail were inevitably left under a scuzzy sofa as life and a career that ebbed and flowed over nine albums. Royal Trux became an inspirational tipping point for everyone from Pavement & Sonic Youth to the Black Keys, Kurt Cobain, The Avalanches & Hot Chip's Alexis Taylor. "I urge and encourage you to enter the harmolodic multiverse of their music." Alexis Taylor, Hot Chip. 'Hand Of Glory' is not like their other albums but then again none of their albums are alike, it's a two-faced masterpiece. Side one's 'Domo Des Burros'/'Two Sticks' is on par with Beefheart's sprawling 'Trout Mask Replica'. It plays out in 19 minutes, sounding like it was laid down on Warhol's sofa in The Factory; like Dylan's sprawling 'Desolation Row' with, background squalls, interruptions and both Neil Hagerty and Jennifer Herrema's overlayed stream of consciousness peeping through a multi-layered backdrop. It's just staggering. "Royal Trux were nothing if not fearless." Pitchfork. Side two's 'The Boxing Story', a loose homage to William Burroughs, moulds and morphs from tape to tape, a multi-speed soundtrack, while the dynamic duo press pause, guitars ring, occasional melodic lines arrive and evaporate. Lou Reed's pastoral 'Metal Machine Music' could perhaps be recognized as an older and perhaps less challenging sibling. A two-sided masterpiece featuring two wayward pieces of creative genius.
Freestyle Records drop another UK boogie 12" rarity from Eddie Capone's Treatment, this time the previously white label-only "Only You Know What I Like" from 1985. Limited to 300 copies worldwide.
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A mainstay of the UK's reggae, soul, funk & rock circuits since the early 1970s, Eddie Capone has played with a diverse and revered collection of acts; Chairmen of the Board, The Foundations, Black Velvet, The Elgins, Arthur Brown's Kingdom Come, Arthur Lee's Love, Billy Preston and Edwin Starr to name but a few. Eddie was also part of short-lived group Casablanca, with David Costa & Barry Clarke of early 70's folk-rockers Trees, signed to Elton John's Rocket Record Company.
Eddie founded the Treatment band in the early 1980s bringing in a revolving cast of singers and players, and created the Treatment Records imprint out of his own Black Rock studio in South East London in 1982. Releasing a string of singles - with efforts from Eddie Capone's Treatment, a side-project with singer Beryl Marsden as Salt & Pepper, and a single from Norwegian group Wave - Treatment Records then followed this up in 1985 with the 12" release of "I Won't Give You Up" with Diane Jones brought in on vocal duties. This received solid support amongst DJs and radio at the time, and was quickly followed with this solid slice of white label-only UK boogie-funk that has since become a favoured deep cut on the selectors circuit.
Treatment Records continued through the 1980s through to early 1990s releasing Eddie's music, both as a solo artist and as part of collaborative side-projects, and Eddie has continued to write, perform and produce music from his home studio right through to the present day. As a committed community figure & activist in South East London, Eddie has since 2014 re-started Treatment Records under the name of 3G Treatment - bringing together three generations of people from the local area to ensure young artists & musicians have access to the expertise and experience of their elders for support and encourage successful careers in the industry.
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This year, get ready for KONK! with the ultimate collection The Magic Force Of Konk 1981-1988. This white hot Limited Edition 3xLP set is a lovingly composed Deluxe retrospective, showcasing the Definitive Sounds Of A New York Jazz Punk Afro Funk Disco Machine.
The Magic Force Of Konk 1981-1988 is a testament to the bands artistic staying power, the music sounding as fresh now as it did then, from the crossover funk grooves of the ‘Planet Rock’ inspired ‘Konk Party’, to the innovative punk funk synth bass of club hit ‘Your Life’, the bands influence indisputably lives on in this specially created deluxe collection. This beautifully designed package is a feast for the senses, looking as good as it sounds and sure to please fans of Liquid Liquid, ESG, Pigbag, James Chance, Soul Sonic Force, LCD Soundsystem, to name but a few, or simply those intrigued by those tales of wild nightlife that have become synonymous with the vitality of 1980’s downtown New York City.
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Lemonheads’ seminal album ‘It’s A Shame About Ray’, lovingly reissued for it’s 30th Anniversary. The long overdue reissue includes a slew of extra material, including an unreleased ‘My Drug Buddy’ KCRW session track from 1992 featuring Juliana Hatfield, B-sides from singles ‘It’s A Shame About Ray’ and ‘Confetti’, a track from the ‘Mrs. Robinson/Being Round’ EP, alongside demos that will be released for the first time on vinyl. This reissue celebrates their prestigious fifth album, these deluxe bookback editions feature new liner notes and unseen photos.
Described by music journalist and author Everett True as “A 30-minute insight into what it’s like to live hard and fast and loose and happy with like-minded buddies, fuelled by a shared love for similar bands and drugs and booze and freedom.”. ‘It's A Shame About Ray’ had a considerable impact back in those heady, carefree days of '92, the record perfectly captures Dando’s ability to effortlessly encapsulate teenage longing and lust over the course of a two-minute pop song.
Singles such as 'My Drug Buddy' and the breezy perfect pop of the title track might stand out (plus the add-on of 'Mrs. Robinson' which later copies included), but the album's real strength lies in the tracks in-between; the truly fantastic 'Confetti' (written about Evan's parents' divorce), and the eye-wateringly casual acoustic cover of 'Frank Mills' (from the "hippie" musical Hair), a version that seems to resonate with every ounce of pathos and emotion felt for the lost 1960s generation. To hear Evan Dando sing lines like 'I love him/but it embarrasses me/To walk down the street with him/He lives in Brooklyn somewhere/And he wears his white crash helmet' is to truly appreciate how wonderful and tantalising pop music can be. Then, there's the rush of insurgency and brattishness on the wonderfully truncated 'Bit Part'; the topsy-turvy 'Ceiling Fan In My Spoon'... this was male teenage skinny-tie pop music on a level of brilliance with The Kinks, early Undertones, Wipers.
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Back in 2022, James Burnham aka Burnski started a White sub-series of his much-hyped Instinct label and the first one sold out as quick as a flash. Now he is finally back with a follow-up that will likely do the same. This limited one-sided 12" slab of sonic filth features just one tune, but what a tune it is. '02' is a house cut with elements of garage percussion, old-school dirty bass, and even some trance-infused chords that chime with what's going on in the dance world right now. Some return horns at the breakdown really send it into overdrive and it's not hard seeing this one blow the roof off many a club this summer.
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With a voice of pure gold and a startling sensitivity for heartfelt pop songwriting, on No Reino Dos Afetos (In the Realm of Affections), Berle firmly embraces earnestness, through starry-eyed Brazilian love songs, ambient vignettes, warm, home-cooked beats and gentle strokes of MPB genius.
Maceió, the capital of Brazil’s Alagoas state on its sprawling east-coast, is home to pastel coloured colonial houses, white sand beaches and a brilliant young composer, poet and multi-instrumentalist named Bruno Berle.
With a voice of pure gold and a startling sensitivity for heartfelt pop songwriting, on No Reino Dos Afetos (In the Realm of Affections), Berle firmly embraces earnestness, through starry-eyed Brazilian love songs, ambient vignettes, warm, home-cooked beats and gentle strokes of MPB genius.
“It’s an album that was built from my desire to find beauty”, Berle explains - his simple, graceful words mirroring the graceful simplicity in his music. But amongst the simplicity, the compositions, arrangements and productions on No Reino Dos Afetos tingle with nuance and detail.
On the contemporary R&B inspired lead single “Quero Dizer” - produced by Berle and longtime friend and collaborator Batata Boy - the swirling, lo-fi, kalimba and guitar-fronted beat is turned into a feel-good hit by the ingenuity of Berle’s honey-soaked vocal melody.
Powerfully intimate, “O Nome Do Meu Amor” (My Love’s Name) is a guaranteed tearjerker, with Berle’s stunning voice soaring over gently plucked acoustic guitar and the textural flutter of soft movement, as if we hear him writing the song in the moment.
Drawing upon a close-knit, collaborative scene of Maceió artists and musicians, (of which Berle and Batata Boy are vital members), Berle also recorded some of his friends songs on the album, including João Menezes’ “Até Meu Violao”, the album’s beautifully laid back sunshine soul opener, which has all the charm of early-70s João Donato.
Having cut his teeth in soft-rock group Troco em Bala, and more recently finding himself embedded in both Rio and Sao Paulo’s contemporary music scenes - collaborating with the likes of Ana Frango Eletrico, who took the photo for the album cover - No Reino Dos Afetos is as musically diverse as Bruno himself. It’s hazy indie rock (“É Preciso Ter Amor”), calming ambient and field recording (“Virginia Talk”) as well as Berle’s own take on West African High Life (“Som Nyame”).
Instantly recognisable as a truly special artist, Berle’s character fills every corner of the sound, which is unsurprising considering he played most of the instruments.
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Camelot, the legendary seat of King Arthur's court in Early Middle Ages Britain, was probably not a real place. A corruption of the name of a real Romano-Briton city, the word "Camelot" accumulated symbolic, mythic resonances over centuries, until achieving its present usage as a near-synonym of "utopia." In the mid-20th century alone, Camelot inspired an explosion of representations and appropriations, among them the violent, affectless Arthurian court of Robert Bresson's 1974 film Lancelot du Lac and the absurdist iteration of Monty Python's 1975 Holy Grail, both of which feature armored knights erupting into fountains of blood; the mystical Welsh world of novelist John Cowper Powys's profoundly weird 1951 novel Porius, with its Roman cults, wizards and witches, and wanton giants; and the nationalist nostalgia of President John F. Kennedy's White House. Unsurprisingly there are fewer Camelots in more recent memory. Camelot, Canadian songwriter Jennifer Castle's extraordinary, moving 2024 chronicle of the artist in early middle age, charts a realer, more rooted, and more metaphorical place than the fabled Camelot of the Early Middle Ages (or its myriad depictions), but it too is a space more psychic than physical. In Castle's Camelot, the fantastic interpenetrates the mundane, and the Grail, if there is one, distills everyday experience into art and art into faith, subliming terrestrial concerns into sublime celestial prayers to Mother Nature, and to the unfolding process of perfecting imperfection in one's own nature. Co-produced by Jennifer and longtime collaborator Jeff McMurrich, her seventh record is at once her most monumental and unguarded to date, demonstrating a mastery of rendering her verse and melodies alike with crisply poignant economy. For all their pointedly plainspoken lyrical detail and exhilarating full-band musical flourishes, these songs sound inevitable, eternal as morning devotions. "Back in Camelot," she sings on the lilting, vulnerable title track, "I really learned a lot / circles in the crops and / sky-high geometry." The album opens with a candid admission of sleeping "in the unfinished basement," an embarrassing joke that comes true. But the dreamer is redeemed by dreaming, setting sail in her airborne bed above "sirens and desert deities." If she questions her own agency_whether she is "wishing stones were standing" or just "pissing in the wind"_it does not diminish the ineffable existential jolt of such signs and wonders. This abiding tension between belief and doubt, magic and pragmatism, self and other, sacred and profane, and even, arguably, paganism and monotheism, suffuses these ten songs, which limn an interior landscape shot through with sunstriped shadows of "multi-felt dimensions" both mystical and quotidian. The epic scale and transport of "Camelot," with its swooning strings, gives way dramatically to "Some Friends," an acoustic-guitar-and-vocals meditation in miniature on Janus-faced friends and the lunar and solar temperatures of their promises_"bright and beaming verses" versus hot curses_which recalls her minimalist last album, 2020's achingly intimate Monarch Season. (In a symmetrical sequencing gesture, the penultimate track, the incantatory "Earthsong," bookends the central six with a similarly spare solo performance and coiled chord progression, this time an ambiguous appeal to _ a wounded lover? a wounded saint? our wounded planet?) Those whom "Trust" accuses of treacherous oaths spit through "gilded and golden tooth"_cynics, critics, hypocrites, gurus, scientists, doctors, lovers, government, the so-called entertainment industry_sow uncertainty that can infect the artist, as in "Louis": "What's that dance / and can it be done? What's that song / and can it be sung?" Answering affirmatively are "Lucky #8," an irrepressible ode to dancing as a bulwark against the "tidal pools of pain" and the "theory of collapse," and "Full Moon in Leo," which finds the narrator dancing around the house with a broom, wearing nothing but her underwear and "big hair." But the central question remains: who can we trust, and at what cost faith, in art or angels or otherwise? Castle's confidence in her collaborators is the cornerstone of Camelot. Carl Didur (piano and keys), Evan Cartwright (drums and percussion), and steadfast sideman Mike Smith (bass) comprise a rhythm section of exquisite delicacy and depth. This fundamental trio anchors the airiness of regular backing vocalists Victoria Cheong and Isla Craig and frames the guitars of Castle, McMurrich, and Paul Mortimer (and on "Lucky #8," special guest Cass McCombs). Reprising his decennial role on Castle's beloved 2014 Pink City, Owen Pallett arranged the strings for Estonia's FAMES Skopje Studio Orchestra. On the ravishing country-soul ballad "Blowing Kisses"_Pallett's crowning achievement here, which can be heard in its entirety in the penultimate episode of the third season of FX's The Bear_Jennifer contemplates time and presence, love and prayer_and how songwriting and poetry both manifest and limit all four dimensions: "No words to fumble with / I'm not a beggar to language any longer." Such rare moments of speechlessness_"I'm so fucking honoured," she bluntly proclaims_suggest a state "only a god could come up with." (If Camelot affirms Castle as one of the great song-poets of her generation, she is not immune to the despairing linguistic beggary that plagues all writers.) Camelot evinces a thoroughgoing faith not only in the natural world_including human bodies, which can, miraculously, dance and swim and bleed and embrace and birth_but also in our interpretations of and interventions in it: the "charts and diagrams" of "Lucky #8," a daydreamt billboard on Fairfax Ave. in LA in "Full Moon in Leo," the bloody invocations of the organ-stained "Mary Miracle," and all manner of water worship, rivers in particular. (Notably, Jennifer has worked as a farmer and a doula.) The album ends with "Fractal Canyon"'s repeated, exalted insistence that she's "not alone here." But where is here? The word "utopia" itself constitutes a pun, indicating in its ambiguous first syllable both the Greek "eutopia," or "good-place"_the facet most remembered today_and "outopia," or "no-place," a negative, impossible geography of the mind. Utopia, like its metonym Camelot, is imaginary. Or as fellow Canadian songwriter Neil Young once sang, "Everyone knows this is nowhere." "Can you see how I'd be tempted," Castle asks out of nowhere, held in the mystery, "to pretend I'm not alone and let the memory bend?"
. For Fans Of: The Weather Station, Weyes Blood, Adrianne Lenker, Phoebe Bridgers, Joan Shelley, Lana Del Rey, Cass McCombs, Angel Olsen & Neil Young. Camelot, the legendary seat of King Arthur’s court in Early Middle Ages Britain, was probably not a real place. A corruption of the name of a real Romano-Briton city, the word “Camelot” accumulated symbolic, mythic resonances over centuries, until achieving its present usage as a near-synonym of “utopia.” In the mid-20th century alone, Camelot inspired an explosion of representations and appropriations, among them the violent, affectless Arthurian court of Robert Bresson’s 1974 film Lancelot du Lac and the absurdist iteration of Monty Python’s 1975 Holy Grail, both of which feature armoured knights erupting into fountains of blood; the mystical Welsh world of novelist John Cowper Powys’s profoundly weird 1951 novel Porius, with its Roman cults, wizards and witches, and wanton giants; and the nationalist nostalgia of President John F. Kennedy’s White House. Unsurprisingly there are fewer Camelots in more recent memory. Camelot, Canadian songwriter Jennifer Castle’s extraordinary, moving 2024 chronicle of the artist in early middle age, charts a realer, more rooted, and more metaphorical place than the fabled Camelot of the Early Middle Ages (or its myriad depictions), but it too is a space more psychic than physical. In Castle’s Camelot, the fantastic interpenetrates the mundane, and the Grail, if there is one, distills everyday experience into art and art into faith, subliming terrestrial concerns into sublime celestial prayers to Mother Nature, and to the unfolding process of perfecting imperfection in one’s own nature. Co-produced by Jennifer and longtime collaborator Jeff McMurrich, her seventh record is at once her most monumental and unguarded to date, demonstrating a mastery of rendering her verse and melodies alike with crisply poignant economy. For all their pointedly plainspoken lyrical detail and exhilarating full-band musical flourishes, these songs sound inevitable, eternal as morning devotions. “Back in Camelot,” she sings on the lilting, vulnerable title track, “I really learned a lot / circles in the crops and / sky-high geometry.” The album opens with a candid admission of sleeping “in the unfinished basement,” an embarrassing joke that comes true. But the dreamer is redeemed by dreaming, setting sail in her airborne bed above “sirens and desert deities.” If she questions her own agency whether she is “wishing stones were standing” or just “pissing in the wind” it does not diminish the ineffable existential jolt of such signs and wonders. This abiding tension between belief and doubt, magic and pragmatism, self and other, sacred and profane, and even, arguably, paganism and monotheism, suffuses these ten songs, which limn an interior landscape shot through with sunstriped shadows of “multi-felt dimensions” both mystical and quotidian. The epic scale and transport of “Camelot,” with its swooning strings, gives way dramatically to “Some Friends,” an acoustic-guitar-and-vocals meditation in miniature on Janus-faced friends and the lunar and solar temperatures of their promises—“bright and beaming verses” versus hot curses which recalls her minimalist last album, 2020’s achingly intimate Monarch Season. (In a symmetrical sequencing gesture, the penultimate track, the incantatory “Earthsong,” bookends the central six with a similarly spare solo performance and coiled chord progression, this time an ambiguous appeal to … a wounded lover? a wounded saint? our wounded planet?). Those whom “Trust” accuses of treacherous oaths spit through “gilded and golden tooth” cynics, critics, hypocrites, gurus, scientists, doctors, lovers, government, the so-called entertainment industry sow uncertainty that can infect the artist, as in “Louis”: “What’s that dance / and can it be done? What’s that song / and can it be sung?” Answering affirmatively are “Lucky #8,” an irrepressible ode to dancing as a bulwark against the “tidal pools of pain” and the “theory of collapse,” and “Full Moon in Leo,” which finds the narrator dancing around the house with a broom, wearing nothing but her underwear and “big hair.” But the central question remains: who can we trust, and at what cost faith, in art or angels or otherwise? Castle’s confidence in her collaborators is the cornerstone of Camelot. Carl Didur (piano and keys), Evan Cartwright (drums and percussion), and steadfast sideman Mike Smith (bass) comprise a rhythm section of exquisite delicacy and depth. This fundamental trio anchors the airiness of regular backing vocalists Victoria Cheong and Isla Craig and frames the guitars of Castle, McMurrich, and Paul Mortimer (and on “Lucky #8,” special guest Cass McCombs). Reprising his decennial role on Castle’s beloved 2014 Pink City, Owen Pallett arranged the strings for Estonia’s FAMES Skopje Studio Orchestra. On the ravishing country-soul ballad “Blowing Kisses” Pallett’s crowning achievement here, which can be heard in its entirety in the penultimate episode of the third season of FX’s The Bear Jennifer contemplates time and presence, love and prayer and how songwriting and poetry both manifest and limit all four dimensions: “No words to fumble with / I’m not a beggar to language any longer.” Such rare moments of speechlessness “I’m so fucking honoured,” she bluntly proclaims suggest a state “only a god could come up with.” (If Camelot affirms Castle as one of the great song-poets of her generation, she is not immune to the despairing linguistic beggary that plagues all writers.) Camelot evinces a thoroughgoing faith not only in the natural world including human bodies, which can, miraculously, dance and swim and bleed and embrace and birth but also in our interpretations of and interventions in it: the “charts and diagrams” of “Lucky #8,” a daydreamt billboard on Fairfax Ave. in LA in “Full Moon in Leo,” the bloody invocations of the organ-stained “Mary Miracle,” and all manner of water worship, rivers in particular. (Notably, Jennifer has worked as a farmer and a doula.) The album ends with “Fractal Canyon”s repeated, exalted insistence that she’s “not alone here.” But where is here? The word “utopia” itself constitutes a pun, indicating in its ambiguous first syllable both the Greek “eutopia,” or “good-place” the facet most remembered today and “outopia,” or “no-place,” a negative, impossible geography of the mind. Utopia, like its metonym Camelot, is imaginary
What if Japanese city pop met no wave? Neither in your wildest dream such occurrence could be real, but let’s make things clear. Frank Chickens could have been possibly forerunners for several famous alternative bands, Cibo Matto on top of all, but sure had a development on their own. Our history began in London, early eighties, art duo Frank Chickens is the original creation of Japanese performers Kazuko Hohki and Kazumi Taguchi. All of a sudden the band debuts with a pair of singles and a full length on Kaz Records, it’s 1984, but could have been easily 1994. Backed by the likes of Steve Beresford (Alterations, The Slits, General Strike, London Improvisers Orchestra), Annie Whitehead (Penguin Cafe Orchestra, Robert Wyatt), Lol Coxhill, Tony Coe and Clive Bell (the top of the cream of the English avantgarde) the band soon became a case in history. Now we have the pleasure – 37 years after its original release – to reissue their second album: Get Chickenized!
The record came out in 1987 on the british label Flying Lecords and showed a different side of the project, with a major focus on the so-called synth wave counterculture, still maintaining a certain avant feel. With original conspirator Steve Beresford still on board, the band was propelled in the studio by another key figure of the London underground: journalist, composer and producer David Toop. Being John Peel’s favorite for a while, the band built a cult following retaining some absurd live performances, well known for their idiosyncratic choreography. Later revamped in the year 2000 - thanks to cult label Ninja Tune – the band enjoyed a second wave of success, with a remix album featuring the likes of Pizzicato 5, Fink and Neotropic. With a cover embellished by the labor of Pere Ubu David Thomas, this second influential album is finally available for your listening pleasure. Here’s your chance to dive deep into this exotic pop extravaganza.
~~~From Mississippi and Olvido Records~~~~~~ Steel-string guitar and vocals by the great Giorgos Katsaros, a mythic figure of Greek rembetiko. Our obsession with underground Greek music continues with 10 ultra-rare recordings of heartbreak and vice from rembetiko legend Giorgos Katsaros. Katsaros, who by some accounts lived to be over 100 years old, carried the old songs of Greece to the Diaspora in the United States, bridging centuries of music in one storied lifetime. Born in 1901 on the Greek island of Amorgos, Katsaros' was enchanted with the songs he picked up as a kid in the streets of Piraeus and Athens. Encouraged by his grandfather, an amateur singer, Katsaros developed a style that mirrored his upbringing - centuries-old Asia Minor songs, island rhythms of his homeland, well-known Athenian songs of the time, and anonymous `rebetiko' songs. Katsaros' songbook was vast, but he was most drawn to the street life and music of the manges of early 20th-century Greece: outcasts who dealt with the indignities of an unstable economy and an inauspicious future with the old standbys: wine, hash, and dancing. These ten tracks are remastered from Katsaros's 64 surviving early recordings, many rarely heard since their original release. Hypnotic melodies plucked over repeating thumbed basslines back his deep, mournful voice. Katsaros brought this nostalgic late-night music to smoke-filled rooms of Greek exiles in Chicago, Philly, and New York, where he emigrated in 1917. He continued to travel the country and play until his music was supplanted by more modern styles in the 1950s. He retired to the town of Tarpon Springs, FL, famous for its Greek sponge fishers, til a late-in-life revival brought him back to Greece for a few massive concerts and national accolades in the 1990s. Like many great artists, Katsaros carefully curated his own mythic backstory over the decades. He sometimes claimed he was born in 1888, making him 109 on his passing, and conflicting accounts of his birth and travels circulate to this day. Greek researchers Stavros Kourousis and Konstantinos Kopanitsanos, who also compiled these tracks, contribute groundbreaking new historical research on Katsaros' life. Lyrics, poetically translated by Tony Klein, further fill in the picture. Clean and rare 78s were remastered by Stereophonic. Katsaros has never sounded better than on this LP, pressed on red vinyl, with extensive notes and lyrics.
