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Los Angeles-based experimental producer Al Lover will release his new studio album ‘Cosmic Joke’ on May 27th via Fuzz Club Records.
A staple of the global psychedelic scene, Lover has spent nearly a decade fine-tuning a broken, abstracted form of electronica that pools together a tapestry of trip-hop, synthesised krautrock, dub and dark ambient. Utilising an arsenal of samples, drum machine, analogue synths and live instrumentation, Lover’s is a kaleidoscopic sound that’s J-Dilla, DJ Shadow and Lee Scratch Perry by way of Brian Eno, Kraftwerk and Kluster. Central to Lover’s music is a desire to explore the fringes of psychedelic music and the common threads that run through its far-reaching styles, drawing elements from the past and connecting them to the future. Through the years he has released a number of studio albums and beat tapes, remixed the likes of Osees and Night Beats, been resident DJ for the Levitation and Desert Daze festivals and collaborated with the likes of Goat, Anton Newcombe, Cairo Liberation Front and White Fence. Now, Lover returns with his latest studio album, ‘Cosmic Joke’ – a series of synthesised philosophical meditations on modern life, in all its tragicomic absurdity. "'Cosmic Joke' came from observing the rising, compounded absurdity in recent years and seeing structures of normalcy dissolving. It’s my attempt to view these things as part of a higher-order process, through a metaphysical lens rather than an ideological one. It’s been an exercise in holding the paradoxical relationship of comedy and tragedy, joy and pain, growth and decay, scale and decline as part of an interlocked system that, at a deep level, is essential to how we interface with the world.”

Deluxe Edition is on 180g transparent green vinyl, gatefold sleeve, printed inner-sleeve.

Los Angeles-based experimental producer Al Lover will release his new studio album ‘Cosmic Joke’ on May 27th via Fuzz Club Records.
A staple of the global psychedelic scene, Lover has spent nearly a decade fine-tuning a broken, abstracted form of electronica that pools together a tapestry of trip-hop, synthesised krautrock, dub and dark ambient. Utilising an arsenal of samples, drum machine, analogue synths and live instrumentation, Lover’s is a kaleidoscopic sound that’s J-Dilla, DJ Shadow and Lee Scratch Perry by way of Brian Eno, Kraftwerk and Kluster. Central to Lover’s music is a desire to explore the fringes of psychedelic music and the common threads that run through its far-reaching styles, drawing elements from the past and connecting them to the future. Through the years he has released a number of studio albums and beat tapes, remixed the likes of Osees and Night Beats, been resident DJ for the Levitation and Desert Daze festivals and collaborated with the likes of Goat, Anton Newcombe, Cairo Liberation Front and White Fence. Now, Lover returns with his latest studio album, ‘Cosmic Joke’ – a series of synthesised philosophical meditations on modern life, in all its tragicomic absurdity. "'Cosmic Joke' came from observing the rising, compounded absurdity in recent years and seeing structures of normalcy dissolving. It’s my attempt to view these things as part of a higher-order process, through a metaphysical lens rather than an ideological one. It’s been an exercise in holding the paradoxical relationship of comedy and tragedy, joy and pain, growth and decay, scale and decline as part of an interlocked system that, at a deep level, is essential to how we interface with the world.”

It’s the desire to celebrate their sonic bounty that first got Oberst and the band excited about
the idea of comprehensive reissues. But this wouldn’t be a Bright Eyes project if a moment
devoted to appreciating the past weren’t turned into an opportunity to connect with the future.
That’s where the companion EPs (on Opaque Gold vinyl) come in. Or as Oberst puts it, “the
supplemental reading” for the primary reissues: one six-track EP per reissued album, each
featuring five reworked songs from that album. “My thing was they had to sound different from
the originals, we had to mess with them in a substantial way.” Plus one cover that felt “of the
era” in which that particular albums was made - a song that meant something to the band at
the time. To help the EPs come alive in the fullest way, Bright Eyes called in lots of old friends,
like Bridgers, M. Ward, and Welch and Rawlings, as well as new ones like Katie Crutchfield of
Waxahatchee.
 ‘Fevers And Mirrors’ is pressed on Merlot Wave coloured double vinyl

Lucille Mathis was a two-release mystery on the Abet label back in 1968.

 ‘I’m Not Your Regular Woman’ is a girl power anthem that was way ahead of its time.

 The flipside of ‘Am I Asking Too Much’, the track is a stormer powered by roll-heavy drums and some great brass stings and goes for around £300 these days.

 Cut with one of three singles by Holly St James (real name Lorraine Di Bonaventura) that also arrived in 1968.

 ‘That’s Not love’ is an enormous echoey Spectoresque wall-of sound that broods with incisive string chops and Holly’s groovy mid ‘60s vocal, a soul eruption that simmers with emotion.

 A £40 price tag for the original.

 Both sides remastered for dancefloor penetration.

 Ty Segall meets a new non-rock challenge head-on; soundtrack music for
Matt Yoka’s compelling documentary film ‘Whirlybird’. A variety of synth
sounds, electric keyboards, drums, percussion and saxophone (and yeah, a
few guitars) form a shifting impressionist counterpart, instrumental music that
dialogues with and serves to frame the film’s compulsive themes and
images.
 Released to great acclaim in Summer 2021, ‘Whirlybird’ tells the story of
Zoey Tur and Marika Gerrard, former partners and founders of the Los
Angeles News Service, and deftly tracks their extraordinary and oftenreckless pursuit of breaking news throughout the 80s and 90s - a time in
which they pioneered the use of a helicopter to report on Los Angeles at its
most chaotic, capturing historical moments like the 1992 riots and the OJ
Simpson slow speed pursuit.
 Through striking interviews and one-of-a-kind archival footage, Yoka’s
documentary expertly tells the story of Zoey and Marika’s unravelling
marriage as they singlehandedly changed broadcast news forever. These
two arcs intertwine to create an electric view of the encroaching intensities of
that era, when the 24-hour news cycle first rose to dominate our national
consciousness.
 Ty Segall has previously scored scenes and interstitial bits for film and video
things here and there - but this is his first full-on feature film score, a work
done in collaboration with the director, whose friendship and creative
partnership with Ty has grown over a decade-plus of music videos and other
projects. Working off notes and feels from Matt and responding to the images
and story on screen, Ty crafted some of his most creative arrangements to
date, using synth, drum machine, Wurlitzer keyboard, guitars, drums and
percussion (plus saxes played by Mikal Cronin, who also cowrote the title
track with Ty) to articulate a multitude of tones running through the film.
 For a shape-shifter like Ty, this apex of tone colour is no mean feat, an
achievement further highlighted by the full set of pieces. Rather than simply
throw a bunch of songs-with-singing at the project, Ty’s score perfectly
epitomizes the film’s ethos, providing an instrumental counterpart that
dialogues with and helps frame the film’s provocative themes and images.
 As both Matt and Ty are natives to the Southern Californian milieu,
particularly the era ‘Whirlybird’ depicts, their collaboration involved a journey
through their past. In realizing the music, they revisited their own Los
Angeles awakenings, adding another personal layer to the deeply felt
meditations and elegies sighted by the remarkable ‘Whirlybird’ - now an
equally thrilling counterpart to be experienced through the original
soundtrack.

Vector Music by Suren Seneviratne is a true homage to the Yamaha TG33, a synth that he was hoping to keep forever, or at least a very long time until Covid-19 struck.

During the early months of 2020, Suren, like many other artists, went without work and was forced to sell surplus belongings to help subsidise food, rent and other necessities. Some sneakers and clothes went first but he avoided considering his music gear for as long as possible. As the pandemic continued to cause havoc throughout the year, selling gear was inevitable. The rare Yamaha TG-33 programmable synthesizer module was next.

By bittersweet chance, this was the perfect opportunity to make use of this unsung synthesizer one last time, and to make it count. The synth sold via Twitter and Suren suddenly had a deadline in which to make the most of it in the two days before it would be gone forever and so he decided to record a body of work using only the TG33, to shine a spotlight on its quirks and idiosyncrasies and give it the attention it deserved. This ultimatum proved to be really fruitful and resulted in the recordings that form the eight tracks on this album “Vector Music”; a raw and intimate portrayal of a forgotten digital instrument from the 1990s. The broader collective sentiment of loss, anxiety and seasonal depression during the thick of the pandemic mixed with feelings of uncertainty, distress and fear binded throughout the recording process and became sewn into the very fabric of the music.

The song titles are taken from various stages of sleep: the once instinctive process which, since 2020, was radically altered and experienced a new for millions of people around the globe due to the phenomena known as Pandemic Dreams.

Composed and produced by Suren Seneviratne
Mastered by Luca Sammartin
Original artwork and layout by Marco Ciceri

 ‘Heart Under’, Just Mustard’s second album and first for Partisan Records
(IDLES, Fontaines D.C., Laura Marling), is an album that asks you to forget
what you know. At every turn, this remarkable record reconfigures and
stretches the ideas and ambition of a rock band and turns a year of lockdown
and personal struggles into a breath-taking artistic statement.
 Across its 10 tracks, the album presents a coherent style and ethos - those
scything guitars, Katie’s magical vocals - but still incorporates a wide and
untethered vision. There are brooding, atmospheric rock songs (‘Still’, ‘In
Shade’) and others that apply a lighter, dreamier touch (‘Sore’, ‘Mirrors’), all
tied together with impeccable instrumentation and a united vision.
 On debut ‘Wednesday’, the band played with dreamier soundscapes and
production techniques, and ‘Heart Under’ serves as the next stage of this
development, with every instrument brilliantly pushed to its limit and every
boundary of the band stretched.
 After the band had finished recording and producing the album, ‘Heart Under’
was pushed even further into singular territory when the band worked with
mixer David Wrench, whose previous collaborators include Frank Ocean,
Let’s Eat Grandma, Jamie xx, FKA twigs and beyond. “We wanted someone
who had done pop and electronic records and didn’t just work within rock
music,” Katie says.
 “Ireland’s buzziest new band” - The FADER
 “Their rapturous reception here at SXSW is a testament to their startling
evolution as well as the excitement that can only come from watching a band
just beginning to realise the full extent of their powers.” - NME
 “They have well and truly mastered the art of atmospheric rock” - Loud And
Quiet (9/10)
 Supporting Fontaines D.C. on their European and US tours this year. They
were handpicked by Robert Smith to support The Cure in Dublin in 2019.
 Eire headline tour in June, UK headline tour in September, including Village
Underground, and EU headline tour in October.
 Choice Music Prize nomination for Irish Album Of The Year for their debut
album, ‘Wednesday’.
 CD housed in a cardboard wallet with lyric and photo insert.
 LP pressed on black vinyl and housed in a single sleeve jacket with lyric and
photo insert.

The latest offering from French shape-shifter Maxime Primault (High Wolf, Black Zone Myth Chant, etc.) is both a distillation and deepening of psychedelic soundsystem strategies honed across a decade plus of production and performance, in crisscrossing trenches of vibrational exploration. The four cuts comprising IN D EV IL were born of bass and syrup, designed as anthems for baser desires: “I just wanted to make bangers really.” Alien squelches and insectoid chatter pulse above thick swells of low end, intercut with sirens, screwed voices, and seasick wobble, alternately pummeling and prismatic. Masterfully disorienting, flickering with FX, drops, and narcotic murmuring, at the threshold of dissociative and dubstep.

Recent years spent performing in clubs influenced Primault’s listening habits, both in taste and production methods, skewing towards a starker contrast of highs and lows. IN D EV IL encapsulates this evolution, hallucinatory but urgent, like DJ tools for an underworld afterhours: tight, tripped, and lightless. The EP’s tracks vary in energy and density but share Primault’s premise of “tunes that sound fat and heavy.” Club music as dimensional gateway, booming and liminal, rippling with tremors, texture, and undertow. Whether deployed in public or private, these designs manifest vividly altered states, testament to their creator’s omnivorous vision of rhythm and sound.

Recline Music welcome AXIOMATICS on the label with an outstanding four tracks EP on vinyl.

AXIOMATICS is the new project by Mirco Violi and Riccardo Baldoni that masterfully wrote and produced this amazing record. The EP opens with 'Thelma', a great Detroit house tune with a delicious vocal and impressive jazzy pianos, chords and strings that is set to become an instant classic. Then comes 'Polar' that mixes the classic with the contemporary, fusing old school elements like the melodic bass line and stuttering synth licks, with bumpy rhythms that add a modern charm to the composition of this house number.

The B side opens with 'Habibti' a much deeper and dark trip with rolling grooves, deep vocal samples and lead sounds that come from Eastern lands; an immense house cut made strictly for the dancefloor. Finally, 'K.O.T.B' closes the record, a no nonsense house cut, tipping the focus over to a chuggy bass groove, tension building strings and rugged drums with a beautiful vocal sample; the result is a weighty peak-time interpretation.

AXIOMATICS The EP is a real bomb, stay tuned guys and do not sleep!

We could tell you how this debut album from Lucita Octans is influenced by the full spectrum of electronica, with an unique palette of genre-busting sounds bursting forth from a singular mind. We could tell you this is raw but melodic, intense but deep, and tough yet fun.

Indeed we could tell you how Lucita Octans is a pseudonym for Melissa Speirs and how in another life she makes dancefloor destroying electro with Biochip (CPU, WeMe).

But really, perhaps it'd be better to just tell you how Melissa herself describes the world of Lucita Octans.

"Lucita Octans is floating adrift somewhere. She is looking for the perfect world.

Melodies kind of come to her by a somekind of phenomenon. She begs you not to take her too seriously. She was never here and neither are we."

Kicks & Hugs, a multi-disciplinary platform established in 2017 to hold space for like-minded creators, now launches its own label showcasing emerging sonic spheres that reach beyond momentary hype and trends alike. Based in Berlin, the foundation of Kicks & Hugs lies at intersectional crossroads of music and art, with their first record establishing a definite attitude towards contemporary artistry. Kicks & Hugs celebrates an immersive spectrum of talent across different mediums and promotes ideas composed of color to challenge a steady current of long exhausted black & white patterns within the realm of electronic music. The debut EP available on black & limited edition colored marble vinyl assorts a kinetic flow of ideas produced by a seemingly divergent roster. Completely ecstatic & exhilarating maze of rhythm by The Lone Flanger, additionally reworked with Varg2TM versus contrasting yet innovative dancefloor mechanics by Bertrand., ending with a hypnotic mix by Dasha Rush, the record is an absorbing material of dynamics that subtly surprise and leave nothing but an ambitious statement for what’s yet to come. KH01 is dedicated to a musical shape-shifter, a paramount figure, ephemeral talent & a dear friend – Andrew Smith. To end in his own words, Keep It Fungki. The Lone Flanger was an audio-visual project from the artist Jasen Loveland also known as Andrew Smith (1980-2021). Dedicated to exploring the intersection of music and visual arts in the expanded dimension, the work of TLF picked up where Loveland’s eponymous acid-based project left off, aspiring for a kind of transcendence that takes the listener beyond the previously known concepts to experiments with the possibility of creating a resonant bridge between frequencies, worlds and dimensions. The work of TLF questions, obfuscates and complexifies notions of rhythm, melody and musical genre… even our ability to rely on our senses for accurate information about the work in question Varg2TM also known as Jonas Rönnberg casts a cryptic shadow from the North over contemporary aesthetics, continuing to create in his largely collaborative and always thrilling approach. Tempering a caustic rhythmic sensibility with a pneumatic palette for high definition synthesis, his unique embrace of risk tests the reliability of the forms he works in as well as the genre borders he surveys. Bertrand.’s work as a producer incorporates a wide spectrum of influences and aims to create beyond the common means of electronic dance music. Bertrand.’s restless nature and desire for technical perfection bleed into his productions of bass-heavy futuristic soundscapes often juxtaposed with playfully intense dancefloor fundamentals. Dasha Rush constructs a rather wide assortment of electronic music and arts projects. She sees the genre as a starting place, not a destination. Rush brings up a mixture of rather rare electronic experimentation more akin to the brief movement of underground music. Credits: Mastering and mastercut by Andreas LUPO Lubich at Loop-O Cover artwork by Fredrik Altinell Graphic Design by Marta Braga Inner label artwork by Tommy Dwane Vocals by Kawala Bravo

Previously releasing tracks and EPs on several respected big room labels such as Drumcode, Kraftek and Noir, Dutch DJ/producer SAMA announces the arrival of his new darker, grittier label Maximalist_Minimalist. Showcasing his new sound, the Utrecht- based DJ/producer delivers four hard-hitting, groove-led techno tracks built with intricate sound design and a perfectionist mindset.

Leading the release is ‘Onyankopon’, a dark and dubby number with a chunky groove and gritty percussion. ‘I Reject What I Just Said’ enters harder and more driving territories, with textured sound design meeting polyrhythmic synth stabs and eerie atmospheres. The B-side starts with the trippy leads and atonal pads of ‘One Small Mistake’, before ‘And All Of A Sudden, I Was Free’ closes out the release with a driving roller.

“I’ve felt the need to reinvent myself, to really create my own identity, and not attach myself too much to other labels anymore. For this reason, I ultimately set up this imprint: to provoke myself to become the artist that I so much adore and aspire to be. That’s why this brand will serve as an extension of myself; my creative identity, if you will.” - SAMA

It started, as it so often does, with two old friends hanging out.

John Shima and C P Smith were joking around one evening in their home city of Sheffield. At some point, Smith challenged Shima that, if the latter could produce a record using nothing more than a small modular synth setup, then Smith would release it on his Central Processing Unit label. As heads will know, while Shima has drops on imprints like FireScope and Subwax Excursions to his name, he had never previously released anything via CPU. Shima accepted, and thus we now have his CPU debut, the four-track EP CPU Modular 1.

The specific setup that Shima worked with for these tracks was Smith's Doepfer A-100P6 Suitcase, a small but mighty combination of modules and programmers. It's no surprise that Shima was able to familiarise himself with the equipment in double-quick time - after all, Shima was an early adopter of the Eurorack modular format back in the day. What emerged from the CPU Modular 1 sessions was a quartet of devastatingly effective DJ tools, mid-set rollers which will get the dance moving something crazy.

Opener '003' kicks the EP off as it means to go on. There's something at once stiff-necked and buoyant about the rhythms here, all thwacking Roland tones and snares which crack like someone whipping a length of sheet metal. While the beat barrels unyieldingly onwards, the programming in the tuned modulars is more exploratory and even trippy, full of delay-laced bleeps and flighty rhythmic motifs. It comes together for a cracking mix in the vein of artists like Jerome Hill and London Modular Alliance. Second A-side cut '010' is no different, the street-beat groove and grumbling low-ends underpinning all manner of modular wizardry.

CPU Modular 1 is really timeless stuff, a set of percussion-heavy, future-focussed beats which recalls Smith's own CPU drop 'DJ Tools Vol.1 - 808 Tracks'. '011' kicks of CPU Modular 1's second-half with a dose of Drexciyan dystopia, playing an atonal loop off of an insistent bass wiggle and neurotic hi-hats. Even when Shima tightens or slackens the modulars here, '011' remains unyielding, a dose of pure 'Wip3out' energy that you could happily groove to all day long. The EP closes out with '005', a gnarled, gurgling production which still retains the dancefloor punch of the rest of the record.

For his Central Processing Unit debut, John Shima was tasked to produce four tracks using a single small modular setup. Unsurprisingly given the pedigree of this seasoned machine-funk pro, Shima aced the assignment.

Modes continues the forward thinking soundscapes explored on Dyne’s recent album Teal, which garnered acclaim from peers and fans alike -including Late Night Tales, Toddla T, Ransom Note, and BBC6 Music presenters - and sold out quickly on vinyl.

Lush synths and dreamy vocals are paired with up-tempo afro-inspired house, with tinges of percussive jazz and future soul. Dyne's trademark slick production can be relied upon once more, as well as the music's insistent rhythmic drive and intensity.

Modes employs some of New Zealand's most well known and iconic vocalists, in addition to many new rising stars. Frequent collaborators Lord Echo, Ladi 6 and Mara TK (Electric Wire Hustle) return, alongside soul legends Dallas Tamaira aka Joe Dukie (Fat Freddys Drop), Che Fu and Troy Kingi.

purple marbled vinyl

VA - 08
Creating a distorted reality, Jacidorex chose to reunite various artists from different horizons with strong personalities bringing all bunches of stuff to the table, creating a dark reality helped with sonorities reaching from trance to UK dubstep.

Disk Space - Matrix
A good introduction to what trance blended with techno can do and how a repetitive beat can sharpen a track transcending trance, techno and more. This track will definitely create a matrix in you, thanks to the use of low and quick riffs creating a tension that will keep you dancing.

Charlie Sparks - Senshi
Charlie Sparks may have discovered how to break jaws with the simple use of a baseline. Starting with a Japanese sample and a mysterious vibe, this track sound like a heart warming remembrance of hooligans songs, and the 90's Gabber spirit all mixed to create a new GTO manga soundtrack, but better.

Axyom - Blackout
It all started with a dark riff and a sharp voice, then it went crescendo creating a UK dubstep Burial kind of track in a more rhythmic way. A melodic synth and a whispering female voice achieving to create a forgotten memory lost on the dance floor, served with a crunchy acid side. This track mold with concrete and sounds, will surely leave a loud deeper feeling in your mind.

Dorian Parano - Locked Down
After years of lockdowns and stay at home jobs, there's one sentence that nobody wants to hear anymore, and as you may imagine reading the name of this track, French artist Dorian Parano have is own way to cope with the pandemic. Hopefully, his cinematic piece makes things much easier using a synthetic voice and a dark futuristic aesthetic. This track will definitely be locked in your mind!

Awe Kid explores ideas of trans-humanism, evolution and digital immortality on Body Logic, a fantastically lush new album for Atomnation. The immersive 10 track record plays with organic, breathing textures punctuated by moments of digital unrealness to result in an album permeated with a dream-like quality. This contrast is mirrored by the artwork from Portugal's acclaimed The Royal Studio.

Awe Kid is an alias of Sine Language Records co-founder Rick Parsons. It is the product of years spent exploring a multitude of different music. From early days in post-hardcore groups and on to a love of 90s Warp, electronic jazz and more experimental niches, the multi-instrumentalist has now settled on his own unique fusion of breaks, ambient and left-field dance music. This deft studio wizard mixes up melodic nostalgia with forward-thinking sound design using whatever he can get his hands on, from analog and modular hardware, to samplers, field recordings to digital techniques.

Says Parsons, “I love working with digital processes because you get these unexpected moments where you dial something in, that somehow takes on a tangible, organic form in the real world. Searching for these sweet spots was the motivation for the album, contrasting natural textures against synthetic elements, and finding ways to create something that feels like it exists outside of the computer.”

While the album pays homage to dance music traditions, such as the broken beat of title track 'Body Logic', and full-throttle breaks of 'Zenith', these are assimilated and repurposed to create something that defies genre categorization. The listener's journey is perfectly paced, with broody but uplifting cuts of electronica giving way to shimmering, celestial melodies, and dusty breakbeats emerging from dense layers of atmosphere, only for the mood to be reset with soothing, suspenseful synths and haunting vocal samples. Elsewhere, devastatingly emotional ambient is followed by punchy grooves and propulsive melodies to make for a real ride.

 “As a human being it’s really important to feel and express
emotions whether happy or sad,” says Hiro Amamiya, the
Teleman drummer whose solo guise is Hiro Ama. “I sometimes
struggle to and so these are a collection of songs that explore
different emotions. I want people to feel something through my
music so I called this EP ‘Animal Emotions’.”
 Amamiya follows up on swiftly on 2020’s field recording-heavy
EP ‘Uncertainty’ with a record made in his bedroom and during
a time of introspection to create something even more personal.
“On ‘Uncertainty’ I was using sounds from everywhere and
whatever sounded good,” he says. “But for ‘Animal Emotions’ I
stuck with fewer instruments so the EP feels much more united.
I also used more acoustic instruments as I sometimes feel
electronic music in general lacks some organic and human
elements so I tried to make this EP as organic as possible.”
 However, buried beneath the warm electronics, gently pulsing
grooves, infectious melodies and immersive soundscapes - that
veer from disco strut to IDM via jazz-laced ambient - you’ll still
find some field recordings. “You might not hear them as
obviously as on my previous EP but field recordings are there,”
he says. “I like them because it's very spontaneous and gives
some human feel. It also adds some air to a recording which I
quite like.” On the opener ‘Free Soul’ - which marries funk bass
with subtle electronics and squelchy grooves - you can hear a
voice sample of a woman from Southeast Asia singing a lullaby.
 “I wanted to make an up-tempo and danceable song so I can
dance in my room during the lockdown. I got lost in Jazz music
the last couple of years and it really changed and opened up
the way I make music.” The moods, tones and emotions on the
EP shift as seamlessly as the genres, never quite settling into
one single place and constantly exploring and expanding into
new musical terrain. A process mirrored by Amamiya’s own
varied influences and tastes that were funnelled into the record,
from film soundtracks to IDM to spiritual jazz such as
‘November Cotton Flower’ by Marion Brown and ‘Harvest’ by
Pharoah Sanders.

If you’re looking for a raw, sugary blast of distorted pop, look no further than
‘Weird Nightmare’. The debut album from METZ guitarist and vocalist Alex
Edkins contains all of his main band’s bite with an unexpected, yet totally
satisfying, sweetness. Imagine The Amps covering Big Star, or the gloriously
hissy miniature epics of classic-era Guided by Voices combined with the
bombast of ‘Copper Blue’- era Sugar - just tons of red-line distortion cut with the
type of tunecraft that thrills the moment it hits your ears.
 These ten songs showcase a new side of Edkins’ already-established
songwriting, but even though the bulk of ‘Weird Nightmare’ was recorded during
the COVID-19 pandemic, some of its tunes date back to 2013 in demo form.
“Hooks and melody have always been a big part of my writing, but they really
became the main focus this time” he explains. “It was about doing what felt
natural.”
 To be clear: Weird Nightmare is not a ‘pandemic album’, but an album - some of
which had been gestating for quite a while - that just so happened to be recorded
during the pandemic. “I had always planned on finishing these songs, but being
unable to tour with METZ, and forced to lock down, really gave me a push.” After
days spent homeschooling his son, Edkins would drive to the METZ rehearsal
room and tinker deep into the night on these songs’ deceptively simple structures
and rich, static-laden textures. “It was a godsend for me,” he states about the
creative process. “The hours would disappear and I would get lost in the music
and record. It was a beautiful escape.”
 ‘Weird Nightmare’ is, in its own way, a study in extremes: Edkins’ melodic
instincts and penchant for dissonance are both turned up to the max throughout,
the latter reflecting not only the barn-burning tendencies of METZ, but Alex’s own
sonic predilections. “It doesn’t sound right to my ears until it’s pushed over the
edge.” He also cites other artists who are masterful at mixing the sublime and the
punishing - Kim Deal and Scout Niblett among them - as influences on his own
songwriting. “My favorite songs are the simple ones,” he explains. “I’ve never
been attracted to virtuosity or technicality. Certain songs have the power to lift
your spirits like nothing else can. I wanted to create that type of song.”
 A few guests pitch in on Weird Nightmare: Canadian alt-pop genius Chad
VanGaalen adds his unmistakable touch to the ever-escalating ‘Oh No’, while
Alicia Bognanno of Bully lends her distinctive pipes to the thrashing ‘Wrecked’, a
collaboration that effectively saved the song. “I almost didn’t put it on the album
because I thought it was missing something,” Edkins explains. “I sent it to Alicia
and she lifted it way up.”
 And taking risks and reaching out of Edkins’ comfort zone was the name of the
game when it came to making ‘Weird Nightmare’. “I found myself doing new
things I didn’t have the guts to do before, recording everything by myself and
trusting all of my musical instincts,” he states. “I think when music manifests
quickly, a certain amount of honesty automatically comes along with it. When it is
a purely instinctual creation, there is no opportunity to obscure the truth.”
 Loser Edition LP pressed on Coke Bottle Green transparent vinyl.

If you’re looking for a raw, sugary blast of distorted pop, look no further than
‘Weird Nightmare’. The debut album from METZ guitarist and vocalist Alex
Edkins contains all of his main band’s bite with an unexpected, yet totally
satisfying, sweetness. Imagine The Amps covering Big Star, or the gloriously
hissy miniature epics of classic-era Guided by Voices combined with the
bombast of ‘Copper Blue’- era Sugar - just tons of red-line distortion cut with the
type of tunecraft that thrills the moment it hits your ears.
 These ten songs showcase a new side of Edkins’ already-established
songwriting, but even though the bulk of ‘Weird Nightmare’ was recorded during
the COVID-19 pandemic, some of its tunes date back to 2013 in demo form.
“Hooks and melody have always been a big part of my writing, but they really
became the main focus this time” he explains. “It was about doing what felt
natural.”
 To be clear: Weird Nightmare is not a ‘pandemic album’, but an album - some of
which had been gestating for quite a while - that just so happened to be recorded
during the pandemic. “I had always planned on finishing these songs, but being
unable to tour with METZ, and forced to lock down, really gave me a push.” After
days spent homeschooling his son, Edkins would drive to the METZ rehearsal
room and tinker deep into the night on these songs’ deceptively simple structures
and rich, static-laden textures. “It was a godsend for me,” he states about the
creative process. “The hours would disappear and I would get lost in the music
and record. It was a beautiful escape.”
 ‘Weird Nightmare’ is, in its own way, a study in extremes: Edkins’ melodic
instincts and penchant for dissonance are both turned up to the max throughout,
the latter reflecting not only the barn-burning tendencies of METZ, but Alex’s own
sonic predilections. “It doesn’t sound right to my ears until it’s pushed over the
edge.” He also cites other artists who are masterful at mixing the sublime and the
punishing - Kim Deal and Scout Niblett among them - as influences on his own
songwriting. “My favorite songs are the simple ones,” he explains. “I’ve never
been attracted to virtuosity or technicality. Certain songs have the power to lift
your spirits like nothing else can. I wanted to create that type of song.”
 A few guests pitch in on Weird Nightmare: Canadian alt-pop genius Chad
VanGaalen adds his unmistakable touch to the ever-escalating ‘Oh No’, while
Alicia Bognanno of Bully lends her distinctive pipes to the thrashing ‘Wrecked’, a
collaboration that effectively saved the song. “I almost didn’t put it on the album
because I thought it was missing something,” Edkins explains. “I sent it to Alicia
and she lifted it way up.”
 And taking risks and reaching out of Edkins’ comfort zone was the name of the
game when it came to making ‘Weird Nightmare’. “I found myself doing new
things I didn’t have the guts to do before, recording everything by myself and
trusting all of my musical instincts,” he states. “I think when music manifests
quickly, a certain amount of honesty automatically comes along with it. When it is
a purely instinctual creation, there is no opportunity to obscure the truth.”
 Loser Edition LP pressed on Coke Bottle Green transparent vinyl.