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A pioneer of the home recording movement, Linda Smith released several collections of delicate, bewitching solo music on cassette in the 1980s and 90s. The 2021 release of Till Another Time: 1988-1996, Captured Tracks' compilation of Smith's work, has helped bestow rightful critical acclaim to the ahead-of-her-time artist. Now, Captured Tracks dives deeper into Smith's catalog with the release of two full-length companion albums, Nothing Else Matters and I So Liked Spring, available for the first time on vinyl & streaming formats. Recorded at Smith's home in Baltimore in 1995, Nothing Else Matters chronicles the tension between the mundanity of daily life and the creative impulse: Traffic noises on the charmingly boisterous "Little To Be Won" showcase this levity, as does the addition of playful hand claps and a laugh track to her striking cover of Young Marble Giants' "Salad Days." I So Liked Spring, recorded the following year, saw Smith experimenting with the unique challenge of putting another artist's words to music. She'd come across a biography of the English poet Charlotte Mew and found her wistful poetry rife for musical interpretation. The songs on I So Liked Spring are delightfully unpredictable, full of upbeat melodies and spellbinding vocal harmonies. This is perhaps best showcased on the title track, one of Smith's most popular songs to date, a lovelorn anthem that recalls the airy melodies of early dream pop. Both of these albums showcase the mesmerizing charm of Smith's songwriting, often compared to the likes of the Velvet Underground and Laurie Anderson. Home recording technology has come a long way since Smith first began recording demos on her tape machine, but her influence reverberates through the work of today's bedroom artists. The release of these two essential albums seeks to further illuminate this connection, welcoming a new generation of listeners to the work of this trailblazing artist.

The cinematic opening track Inthenever starts off as a film >> somewhere on a desolate coast, where everything has already ceased. This is going to be an album with a story and depth, a fearless tour of the barren shores of our days // or is it possibly just a mirage conclusion of their razor-sharp sound brutalism? Tittingur's third album, Epiphany, is here, pounding with waves they had not done before.

It seems as though this dyad has disposed of all the genre confines that had locked them in, and have grasped the sound of new subject matters, for which the moniker of experimental techno is finally too narrow. With utter urgency and candid to their emblematic, thunderous sound, Dominik's and Matus's deafening mallets collide in beats which are now, more than ever, drenched in a mass of palpable gloom and anguish. As though we could touch the rising levels of the oceans, and smell the melting of the glaciers themselves.

In one way or another, the music of Tittingur has always been about nature, its fierce essence, and its stark contrast with the post-era that we have found ourselves living in. However, whereas before, it was the sound of old, weather-stained concrete, and the pounding of abandoned, overgrown buildings, now it is, unavoidably, their most direct and honest return to nature landscapes, and to human, age-old traditions, referenced in the Slovak folk motives, recordings and found sounds.

On Epiphany, Tittingur's sound becomes yet more abstract, in a sound world that is ambiguous but also unified, and works on its own. The duality of nature and technology, of inland human folklore and the trenches of deepest oceans, invite us to come closer and observe the volatile obliteration taking place. Can we even attempt to re-assess our position with nature, or is this whole experiment doomed to fail?

Unsurprisingly, in the echoes, all the ingredients of the classic Tittingur sound are still present, distilled into new forms >> the ever-present over-saturation, the exaggerated, maximalist approach and megalomania >> the sound of impending climate change, doom, and near-apocalyptic visions, the scent of borovička mixed with the wild North Sea, the agony of contemporary urban life, and the adventure of wilderness: ferocious synths, monumental beats, aggressive basslines and crumbling noise-scapes built of a found-sound, music concréte-like, collagist approach.

At moments, it seems the means have changed. Just until you realise that the sentences of this story are spoken in a new language. If you dive deep enough, and listen to the essence that the music of Tittingur articulates, it's surprisingly easy to understand >> although the notions and emotions are difficult to put into words. The profound narrative of Epiphany is that of an endless inner struggle of society, anxiety, crises, and ambiguously easy // difficult solutions in the post-modern global chaos. It is the calm before a storm. It is the storm. Is it the calm. It is all of it, in itself. credits

First ever vinyl release of the album recorded in 1969/70 by UK prog-psych band Misty. Including their terrific mod-psych “Hot Cinnamon” 45.

A dazzling fusion of classically-inspired progressive rock and song-based psychedelic pop with an organ-based sound, in the vein of Procol Harum and The Nice.

“In October 1969, King Crimson released their debut, In The Court Of The Crimson King, Pink Floyd unleashed Ummagumma and Led Zeppelin put out their second LP. At the same time, Misty were in London’s Regent Sound Studios recording what turned out to be the only album of their career with producer, Adrian Ibbetson, who had cut his teeth as an engineer working with everyone from the Beatles to the Equals.

After only a handful of gigs, Misty signed a deal with Parlophone and began to gather momentum with the release of Hot Cinnamon. Although they received a lot of airplay, the single failed to chart and the band’s hopes of releasing their debut album were dashed. Reluctantly, Misty went their separate ways and the Here Again master tapes sat gathering dust on a shelf until Gelardi came across the original acetate and decided it was time for the album to finally see the light of day.

Bridging late psych and early prog, songs like Life Has Just Begun, Witness For The Resurrection and the title track were played with a perfect mix of high-flying experimentation and virtuosic musicianship. Blurring the fine lines between rock, jazz, classical and chamber pop, Here Again is a transcendent kaleidoscope of colour that is beyond definition.

Maybe you can tell an album is truly timeless when it takes half a century for it to be properly appreciated. Misty were a rare bird, a brilliant, truly original band who should have left an indelible mark instead of joining what now seems like the never-ending line of half-remembered and long-forgotten flotsam and jetsam of the psychedelic era.

Both the first and the final statement from a group who never really got their chance to be heard, Here Again is a slice of pristine psychedelic pop that so embodies the dizzying energy and the progressive spirit of the time, it’s astonishing that it stays afloat under the weight of its own intentions. But float it does, like mist in the air - a half-forgotten diaphanous dream slowly coming back to you after 50 years of silence.” – Jonathan Wingate

After a limited self-financed release this self-titled album can be seen as the proper debut by Indigo Girls. The album immediately boosted them up the charts, earning them a Grammy back in 1989, eventually reaching platinum in
1991. Featuring the complementing songwriting of Emily Saliers and Amy Ray and guest vocals by R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe, the album is a showcase for jangling folk-rock, beautiful balladry and poetic lyrics.

In the wake of the new acoustic song-based styles of Suzanne Vega, Tracy Chapman and 10,000 Maniacs, Indigo Girls would manage to garner respectable mainstream success and maintain their rabid core following throughout the three decades after this release.

Nächstes Jahr feiern Ipecac ihr 25-jähriges Bestehen. Um die Feierlichkeiten einzuläuten, veröffentlicht das Künstlerfreundliche Label das 2005er Album General Patton vs. The X-Ecutioners zum ersten Mal auf Vinyl..., in einer limitierten Silver Streak-Ausgabe.

Die Veröffentlichung bringt Mike Patton, den legendären Frontmann von Faith No More, Mr. Bungle, Tomahawk und vielen anderen, mit einer der angesehensten DJ-Crews des Hip-Hop, The X-Ecutioners, zusammen. Die Zusammenarbeit kam zustande, nachdem die beiden Gruppen einige improvisierte Live-Shows zusammen gespielt hatten. Der süße Duft der Chemie wehte schon bald durch die Luft, und so beschloss man, einen Schritt weiter zu gehen und gemeinsam an einem kompletten Album zu arbeiten. Das Ergebnis sind 23 Tracks, die einen direkten Zusammenprall zwischen Hip-Hop und der wilden und verrückten Welt von Ipecac darstellen.

- Ltd. Col. LP: (Silver Streak Vinyl; zum ersten Mal auf Vinyl erhältlich; mit einem 24x36 ausklappbaren Poster und einigen metallischen PMS Farben)

For the five members of Punchlove - multi-instrumentalists Jillian Olesen, Ethan Williams, Joey Machina, Ian Lange-McPherson, and visual artist Viz Wel - moving into a maze of a house in Brooklyn together was the transition that created the album they had been writing their whole lives. Quietly evolving from a bedroom project to a headlining live phenom, Punchlove has geared up a densely layered bed of emotionally serrated pain-pop songs that coalesce around a digitally-stimulated, emotional brand of modern neoshoegaze. Channels, out March 1st on Kanine Records, is an album of deeply prepared sounds, sharply honed instrumentals, and a band performing them that knows each other all the way through. Having met studying music technology in college, multiple members of Punchlove work mixing live bands at prominent NYC venues and in the studio. Using that expertise, the inhouse production, mixing, and recording is a palpable highlight; mastered by 2000s shoegaze stalwart Kurt Feldman (The Depreciation Guild), the record melds DIY recording and experimental sonic visions with studio quality. Punchlove is dedicated to pushing the envelope of experimental sonic practices in live performances, where they can be seen performing with real-time audio reactive analog visuals, executing real-time sampling and looping, self-mixing onstage, running radios and tape loops through effects, improvising, and playing guitar with everything from double bass bows to vibrators. In their home recording environment, experimentation is at the core of their creative process, where they integrate self-programmed digital signal processing systems, psychoacoustic phenomena, tailored feedback, elements of 3D audio, immersive field recording soundscapes, early electronic instruments, and experimental recording and mixing techniques into the greater backdrop of pop songwriting. FOR FANS OF: Radiohead, Wednesday, Hum, DIIV, my bloody valentine, The Smashing Pumpkins, bdrmm, A Place to Bury Strangers

« Tas Malonumas »
Lithuanian word
Def: meaning That Pleasure
Example: conversation between a young, inexperienced person and an elderly person who’s near death’s door. The old one is telling the young one how life is an unceasing search for pleasure.
Track: takes the form of a mental stroll that takes you far, far away.

« Room of Men Eaters »
Human expression of cannibalism
Def: absurd situation in which men and women eat each other in a room
Track: the contrast between the absurdity of the situation and the apparent normality of speech told by the vocoded voice of Shkema is just astonishing.

« Sarka Syrkaza »
From the future
Def: meaning “super sarcasm”
Example: one day you wake up in the morning and you feel that something within you has changed. All seems to be nonsense and you start to look at everything through the grey glasses of sarcasm. One might look enjoying oneself, but in reality this is an extremely draining state of mind.
Track: musical expression of that state of mind

« Je n’aime pas les fêtes »
World expression
Def: parties are boring
Track: Shkema remix of his friend Afrodelic is a wacky version that contrasts French lyrics talking about how disastrous parties feel with a beat that just makes you want to dance.

A pioneer of the home recording movement, Linda Smith released several collections of delicate, bewitching solo music on cassette in the 1980s and 90s. The 2021 release of Till Another Time: 1988-1996, Captured Tracks' compilation of Smith's work, has helped bestow rightful critical acclaim to the ahead-of-her-time artist. Now, Captured Tracks dives deeper into Smith's catalog with the release of two full-length companion albums, Nothing Else Matters and I So Liked Spring, available for the first time on vinyl & streaming formats. Recorded at Smith's home in Baltimore in 1995, Nothing Else Matters chronicles the tension between the mundanity of daily life and the creative impulse: Traffic noises on the charmingly boisterous "Little To Be Won" showcase this levity, as does the addition of playful hand claps and a laugh track to her striking cover of Young Marble Giants' "Salad Days." I So Liked Spring, recorded the following year, saw Smith experimenting with the unique challenge of putting another artist's words to music. She'd come across a biography of the English poet Charlotte Mew and found her wistful poetry rife for musical interpretation. The songs on I So Liked Spring are delightfully unpredictable, full of upbeat melodies and spellbinding vocal harmonies. This is perhaps best showcased on the title track, one of Smith's most popular songs to date, a lovelorn anthem that recalls the airy melodies of early dream pop. Both of these albums showcase the mesmerizing charm of Smith's songwriting, often compared to the likes of the Velvet Underground and Laurie Anderson. Home recording technology has come a long way since Smith first began recording demos on her tape machine, but her influence reverberates through the work of today's bedroom artists. The release of these two essential albums seeks to further illuminate this connection, welcoming a new generation of listeners to the work of this trailblazing artist.

First vinyl edition of the album Rhetorical Islands, originally released by Giuseppe Ielasi in 2012 as a limited-edition CD on his Senufo Editions label, with recordings made in 2011 as a commission for l’Audible Festival, Paris.

The album’s ten tracks have neither titles nor accompanying text, standing for themselves as what Ielasi himself has called “isolated sound worlds”. They are nonetheless unparalleled in their plasticity, acoustic events with a rare degree of tangibility. Ielasi evokes physical objects, some of which seem to have been constructed out of paper and cardboard, others based on a mechanics of elastic materials. Of course these objects are hallucinations, and precisely because Ielasi constructs them so masterfully there’s no need for any further information. Here’s to everyone creating their very own sculptures while listening to Rhetorical Islands!

The front and back cover features 0.058, a work on paper by the artists Thomas & Renée Rapedius. They make sculptures whose form and artistic inspiration are defined by their materials. Like Ielasi’s acoustic islands, their impact derives from self-referentiality, resulting in paradoxical objects that embody both a detailed material study and a potential for free association.

LYSISTRATA hat die Kurve zu ihrer dritten Platte mit einer unglaublichen Geschmeidigkeit gemeistert. Das Indie-Rock-Trio aus Saintes, Frankreich markiert den Übergang zum Erwachsenenalter, indem sie ihren Pop-Aspekt sublimiert. "Veil" - produziert von dem New Yorker Ben Greenberg (Metz, Algiers, Beach Fossils, DIIV usw.) - ist ein Album, das geschaffen wurde, um zu tanzen, zu singen und seine Gefühle bis zur Hingabe auszuleben. Ein verbindendes Album, das weit über den ersten Kreis der Fans dieser so ehrlichen Band hinaus richtig und stark berühren wird.

Since the early 80's Allan Crockford has been a major figure in Medway's garage rock scene, including playing for The Prisoners, Billy Childish's Thee Headcoats, the original line-up of the James Taylor Quartet, The Solarflares and many more. Since 2010 he has fronted his own band, The Galileo 7, as writer, guitarist, and lead vocalist. Their unique blend of powerful '60s garage rock'n'roll, psychedelic vocal harmonies and quality songwriting has now featured on no less than eight albums. Their ninth, You, Me and Reality, sounds like the work of a seasoned rock 'n' roll band dialling things up one and approaching its zenith. The group performances of the quartet of Allan Crockford, Viv Bonsels, Paul Moss and Mole ooze energy and dynamics - whether it's the garage ramalama of opener 'Can't Go Home', the woozy psychedelics of 'Slow Down', the chipper folk-rock of 'A Simple Man' or the '60s mod-pop stomp of the title track. As with 2019's last album proper, There Is Only Now, all four group members share lead vocal duties, with Viv's contributions adding an affecting indie-pop flavour that coyly suggests new directions. You, Me & Reality largely eschews its predecessor's predilection for ambling unplugged off the beaten path, instead sticking with up-tempo ensemble performances that showcase the players' musical chops and vocal interplay in the kind of warm, fizzy, analogue soundscape that's become a touchstone of many Medway bands.

Hailing from Brittany, historical center of France's industrial scene and in close proximity to Belgium's infamous rave and EBM innovations, Ekors set out to deliberately blacken and burn the sophisticated sounds emanating from Paris. With releases on Amsterdam's harsh Leyla imprint, fellow French hardcore iconoclast Umwelt's Flesh or Die, and JoeFarr's User Experience, the trio undoubtedly made their name in their lonely redoubt in the timberland, and Rant & Rave is honored to host their theme EP, Forest Killers, as our fifth release.

'Woodchip' conjures nightmares of dead bodies run through a woodchipper rather than more pastoral scenes, its distorted kicks, bone-crushing bass and blasted-apart leads chopping air and anyone unlucky enough to stand in its way. Title track 'Forest Killers' is murderous, the lurching breakbeat and shrapnel percussion approaching like axe falls ever closer until the horror score melody enters, then accelerating frantically as the killers close in. 'Evil Sapp' only seems subdued in comparison, its hammering techno pulse providing scant breathing room as industrial machinery fells nearby trees. Self-explanatory 'Chainsaw Requiem' ups the discomfort as the titular tool buzzes overhead, more Texas Chainsaw Massacre than weekend warrior woodpile work. Amidst squalling leads, ricocheting percussion, fearful blasts of noise, and pounding bass and kicks, Ekors escort us out of the haunted wood, sighs of relief and evil laughs joining in chorus.

dog-rose is an exploration of musical articulation and vocalization. Its themes can be felt gnawing at the surface of the world: people's clumsy everyday intimacies, the neverending pursuit of self-knowledge, God. Of foremost interest was the unreliability of memory as a tool through which we experience life, yielding an attempt to dismantle it into its minute elements.

"I arrived at a combination of diary entries in the form of field recordings, various, mostly acoustic, instruments through which I invoke different modes of memory // its associative functions, and my own voice, more an agent of introspection than any conventional vocal. The lyrics were originally written as pop-songs, but committed to the form of contemporary music they appear as field recordings made to be sung. They are field-songs."

"To me, musicmaking is a dialogue with sounds where I seek to understand their character and how to handle them. This is a performative process and admittedly also a projection – what I am actually discussing is myself. The recording took place at a remote cabin in the forests of Tribeč. Most of my work is created in isolation, regardless of the social distancing and lockdowns of the outside world."

Tomas Pristiak is a member of Tante Elze, Pain Palace (FKA Weltschmerzen), and dog-rose is his first solo album and the 11th release by contemplative label Weltschmerzen.

Hollow Coves are a dynamic indie-folk duo of Matt Carins and Ryan Henderson, who are brimming with their passion for travel and observing different shades of the world. The group's tender melodies and poignant lyrics have resonated with fans around the world with the band amassing over half a billion global streams to date. Hollow Coves have received acclaim from the likes of Billboard, Clash, Sunday Times, Ones To Watch, Under the Radar, and more and continue to connect with the hearts and minds of listeners across borders and time zones.

On their sophomore album, the earthy acoustics and breezy rhythms provide a soundtrack to the feeling of change. The essence of shifting one’s perspective is a theme Hollow Coves meditate on as they go through their own musical evolution. They invited friend and acclaimed Aussie artist Matt Corby to help co-produce and bring their new songs to life.

Nothing To Lose by Hollow Coves, released 1 March 2024, includes the following tracks: "Milk and Honey", "Harder to Fake it", "Purple", "Be Alright" and more.

This version of Nothing To Lose comes as a 1xCD in a(n) Digipak packaging.

We welcome the English creator from Manchester Mark Wilkinson aka Kid Machine to HC Records.This album of 12 songs on vinyl and 4 digital bonus tracks, already seemed historic to us at the time of closing the album, but now it seems like a real event as it is the last one that the artist will publish under the pseudonym KID MACHINE.

The eagerly awaited debut album from the London-based four-piece * At the forefront of the new generation of Black British guitar music with Big Joanie and Bob Vylan * Supporting Slowdive on their UK tour in February * Singles playlisted by BBC Radio 6 Music, Spotify and others Whitelands are Etienne, Jagun, Vanessa and Michael and they are ostensibly a shoegaze band ever since Etienne stumbled across Slowdive's KEXP session in his recommended videos on YouTube a few years ago. However, they come at the resurgent, Gen Z-soundtracking genre from a refreshingly different angle thanks to their mishmash of musical backgrounds. There's also the fact that their line-up is fully PoC in what is traditionally seen as a predominantly white genre. "There's an underlying narrative that it's OK for white men to be romantic, sensitive, emotional and make dreamy music and, by contrast, young Black men should be making angry music," says Vanessa. "We've all grown up with these stereotypes and therefore I think people are mystified when they see Whitelands." "I consume a lot of media," says Etienne of his wide range of influences. "Videogames, music, news, paintings, manga, animations and film are my go-to, especially anime. There is this drive to want to understand and feel the whole weight of an expression. So, the songs are based on other songs, pictures, aesthetics, 'vibes', an emotion someone else felt. Fundamentally, you are what you eat." As a result of this diet, the lyrics are stunning, dealing with everything from unbalanced relationships and vulnerability to depression, being diagnosed with ADHD and, on the new single 'Tell Me About It' (featuring vocals by Dottie from the band's Sonic Cathedral labelmates deary), trying to navigate love following that diagnosis. The album is bookended by two poetically political songs - 'Setting Sun' and 'Now Here's The Weather' - that deal with imperialism, racism and performative ignorance. "We've experienced tokenism, micro-behaviours, envy and resentment," concludes Vanessa. "So we feel we have to continually prove ourselves. We know we're making a positive impact, but I want Whitelands to really break some barriers."

Fire! have always been about finding the essence by getting to the core of the music. Their 8th album sees the trio - for the first time on record - stripped down to the bare-bones essentials; with no flutes, no electronics, no guests and no extras, recorded live in the studio to analogue tape - the Steve Albini way - with the master himself at the controls in Electrical Audio in Chicago. Thus, this album stands as a true testament to the group's expressive power and glowing intimacy. Musically, Testament can be seen as an extension of their previous full length album Defeat, released two years ago, to the month. A solitary bass figure from Johan Berthling, quickly joined by a stout drum groove, gets it all going in a familiar fashion before Gustafsson adds desolate cries and whispers from his baritone sax. This approach is even more honed on the second track, with the most simplistic groove you're likely to hear in jazz and Gustafsson shifting between extended, lonely, tortured lines, only once abrupted by a series of short bursts. The third track starts with loose and relatively lively drums that continue throughout, but the mournful saxophone maintains a subdued atmosphere. Track four is a real beauty with the trio slipping into a trance-like dream state before shifting gear halfway into its nine minutes. The final track is the most dynamic of the lot, shifting between bursts of energy and lyrical beauty. Fire's debut album, You Liked Me Five Minutes Ago, was released in 2009 to wide international acclaim. "The basic strategy of pairing the expressive energy of free jazz with a sturdy sense of groove has yielded something potent and self-contained" (New York Times). Between this and Testament there's been six albums, including collaborations with Jim O'Rourke (Unreleased?) and Oren Ambarchi (In The Mouth A Hand), as well as the Requies EP with Stephen O'Malley and David Sandström in 2022. Testament was recorded and mixed during a three-day stint at Steve Albini's Electrical Audio studio in Chicago in December 2022. Mats Gustafsson - baritone sax Johan Berthling - bass Andreas Werliin - drums.

"The Blinders make their return today with ‘Brakelights’, the first track to be taken from their forthcoming third album, Beholder, which is released on Friday 1st March 2024 via Funhouse Recordings/ EMI.
The perfect introduction to their new album ‘Brakelights’ drips with a dark atmospheric intensity which equally lurks across the albums other 9 tracks. The Blinders are an English alternative rock band originally from Doncaster, now based in Manchester, England. Beholder shares a frenetic energy with their previous albums but there’s a new depth both lyrically and musically to the album. With a visceral urgency live to more than match the likes of contemporaries IDLES or Fontaines DC, The Blinders take their brooding and intense live show, which recalls the dark atmospherics of The Bad Seeds or peak-period Bunnymen around the UK in March"

"10th anniversary product suite for Nick Mulvey’s debut album, ‘First Mind’.“Nick Mulvey’s debut is a charmingly simple and rarely produced album full of beautiful melodies, extensive guitar skills and exotic ryhthms – it feels like the missing soundtrack for the beginning of a perfect summer.” NBHAP
“A total package of pop hooks, instrumental genius and gorgeous rhythms, Mulvey presents us with an intelligent record that demonstrates his passion for sounds outside of insular scenes.” THE LINE OF BEST FIT
“‘First Mind’ is captivating, full of intricacies and influences that should see it celebrated as one of the great albums of 2014.” CLASH"