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Ireland based American songsmith Peter Broderick announces the release of Piano Works Vol. 1 (Floating in Tucker"s Basement) - a new comprehensive album of solo piano recordings out November 25. Shining a light on the artist"s ongoing piano-based compositions, this release offers an opportunity to celebrate his more intimate work. A comprehensive collection of Peter Broderick"s piano work to date, these recordings were originally captured in Berlin to accompany the 2017 sheet music book Piano Works Vol. 1. The book contains 20 pieces for solo piano and a download code to access new recordings of all 20 pieces. Up until now, the only way to hear these recordings was to purchase the sheet music book. This release sees the original recordings receiving further treatment and processing by Tucker Martine in the customised echo chamber of his studio in Portland, Oregon-the region where Broderick grew up. The clean and unaffected original recordings were intended for educational purposes, so for this release Erased Tapes founder Robert Raths suggested to "throw the recordings into the well", for a more dynamic and conscious listening experience. "We gave these recordings a bit of a makeover. We sent all the tracks over to legendary engineer/producer Tucker Martine, who processed all 20 of them with unique tape and reverb treatments, utilising the echo chamber of his Portland studio, Flora Recording & Playback," explains Broderick.

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Ireland based American songsmith Peter Broderick announces the release of Piano Works Vol. 1 (Floating in Tucker"s Basement) - a new comprehensive album of solo piano recordings out November 25. Shining a light on the artist"s ongoing piano-based compositions, this release offers an opportunity to celebrate his more intimate work. A comprehensive collection of Peter Broderick"s piano work to date, these recordings were originally captured in Berlin to accompany the 2017 sheet music book Piano Works Vol. 1. The book contains 20 pieces for solo piano and a download code to access new recordings of all 20 pieces. Up until now, the only way to hear these recordings was to purchase the sheet music book. This release sees the original recordings receiving further treatment and processing by Tucker Martine in the customised echo chamber of his studio in Portland, Oregon-the region where Broderick grew up. The clean and unaffected original recordings were intended for educational purposes, so for this release Erased Tapes founder Robert Raths suggested to "throw the recordings into the well", for a more dynamic and conscious listening experience. "We gave these recordings a bit of a makeover. We sent all the tracks over to legendary engineer/producer Tucker Martine, who processed all 20 of them with unique tape and reverb treatments, utilising the echo chamber of his Portland studio, Flora Recording & Playback," explains Broderick.

2022 Repress

Originally released in 2005, 'Insen' is the second collaboration album between Alva Noto and Ryuichi Sakamoto and the second installment of V.I.R.U.S.'s five albums series.

Remastered in 2021 in collaboration with Calyx Studio, the album's recordings are accompanied by an unreleased composition titled 'Barco.' Initially composed for Alva Noto and Ryuichi Sakamoto's 2005 'Insen' tour, the audio material used in this piece is based on the subtle sounds of Barco projectors, whose tonalities served as a ground for the artists' live improvisation. ?
In 'Insen', Alva Noto and Ryuichi Sakamoto explore the potential for interaction and tension between electronic and acoustic instrumentation. Across eight compositions, the echoes of the cascading piano combine, collide, and dissolve with the tapestry of digital breakages in sheer vibrancy. This relationship lies at the album's core. It subtly continues Vrioon's calm melancholia, becoming a vessel for all the emotions and memories nourished by the listener. As you hear the opening, lonesome notes of 'Aurora,' you realize that the pair have once again conceded an ambition to embed elaborate disciplines into an archetypal sound of soul-searching beauty.

Tape

Dur-Dur Band emerged in the 1980s, during a time when Somalia's contribution to the creative culture in the Horn of Africa was visible and abundant. Seeking inspiration outside the impressive array of Somali traditional music that was encouraged at the time, everyone from Michael Jackson and Phil Collins to Bob Marley and Santana were fair game. This recording, which was remastered from a cassette copy source, is a document of Dur-Dur Band after establishing itself as one of the most popular bands in Mogadishu. The challenge of locating a complete long-player from this era is evidenced bythe fidelity of this recording. However, the complex, soulful music penetrates the hiss. In a country that has been disrupted by civil war, heated clan divisions and security concerns, music and the arts has suffered from stagnation in recent years. Incidentally, more than ten years after Volume 5 (1987) was recorded at Radio Mogadishu, the state-run broadcaster was the only station in Somalia to resist the ban on music briefly enacted by Al-Shabab. Dur-Dur Band is a powerful and illustrative lens through which to appreciate the incredible sounds in Somalia before the country's stability took a turn.

Los Angeles Free Music Society (LAFMS) formed in the mid-1970s as a loose-knit experimental music collective and multimedia publishing vehicle. Founded by teenage Le Forte Four members Chip Chapman, Joe Potts and Rick Potts and soon joined by Tom Recchion of Doo-Dooettes, LAFMS incorporated free improvisation, modular synthesizers, tape music, sampling, musique concrète, homemade instruments, noise, mail art and avant-rock in permissive and anarchic sessions at the Raymond Building and Poo-Bah Record Shop in old Pasadena. Inspired by The Residents, LAFMS self-released records and periodicals, organized performances and connected with fellow outsiders via post in the years before punk. Their uninhibited, egalitarian ideal of music-making and DIY distribution would influence generations of underground musicians.

LAFMS primarily reached outside Los Angeles via word-of-mouth and the United States Postal Service, foreshadowing the self-publishing and cassette trading networks of post-punk and industrial subcultures. In 1976, Joe Potts solicited recordings from LAFMS affiliates and admirers to edit and compile I.D. Art #2, utilizing correspondence art's technique of "assemblings." (The first installment in this series was a magazine, and the third was a coloring book.) Potts received dozens of pieces by members of Le Forte Four, Doo-Dooettes, Smegma and Ace & Duce as well as painters, filmmakers and non-artists with few recording credits to their name, creating a delirious, winking sound-art collage of field recordings, voicemails and improvisations. Participants purchased time on the record and received one copy each of the finished LP, realizing the philosophy contained in LAFMS' motto: "The music is free, but you have to pay for the plastic, paper, ink, glue and stamps."

This first-time vinyl reissue is limited to 500 numbered copies. Comes with insert.

To Move is a new project by the trio of Anna Rose Carter (Moon Ate the Dark), Ed Hamilton (Dead Light) and Alex Kozobolis. Four-handed piano meets analogue manipulations to absolute wondrous effect from the London based friends.

We´re carried into a time and place not afraid to embrace a sense of optimism - even if it comes wrapped in a certain distorted shape. Transporting, blissful tones emanate free of concerns from the unifying keys; at least until the melodies are pulled and dragged from purity to become something wholly else – their own lived life; fitted with obstructions and unpredictability. The intertwining pianos linger like lovers in unison, full of drift, rhythm and life; all while analogue electronics and tape manipulations degrade and move them from their original form and closer towards earth itself.

The album came to light while Anna and Ed were temporarily residing in the English countryside between 2016 and 2019. Musical weekend visits from Alex turned into the fruitful collaboration presented here. 'To Move' is a compelling musical storyboard with a name that captures the essence of their music better than any written essay could do. This is music to resonate to, music to dance to, music to engulf your being. As for fans of the Sonic Pieces sound – if there is one – this record hits as close to home as it could do.

Los Angeles Free Music Society (LAFMS) formed in the mid-1970s as a loose-knit experimental music collective and multimedia publishing vehicle. Founded by teenage Le Forte Four members Chip Chapman, Joe Potts and Rick Potts and soon joined by Tom Recchion of Doo-Dooettes, LAFMS incorporated free improvisation, modular synthesizers, tape music, sampling, musique concrète, homemade instruments, noise, mail art and avant-rock in permissive and anarchic sessions at the Raymond Building and Poo-Bah Record Shop in old Pasadena. Inspired by The Residents, LAFMS self-released records and periodicals, organized performances and connected with fellow outsiders via post in the years before punk. Their uninhibited, egalitarian ideal of music-making and DIY distribution would influence generations of underground musicians.

In 1977, LAFMS released Blorp Esette, one of several compilations tracking the collective's growth and wild-eyed experimentation. Ace Farren Ford, an early LAFMS recruit from the Poo-Bah circle, produced the album and solicited cover artwork by Don Van Vliet (Captain Beefheart). Ford appears in various configurations alongside members of Smegma, Le Forte Four and "unknown artist" (as the credit for more than one piece reads). The Residents, showing their affinity with LAFMS, contributed "Whoopy Snorp" for their first non-Ralph Records release. Blorp Esette shows the artists grasping for new, non-idiomatic voicings and collaborative modes, anticipating LAFMS affiliates and offshoots such as Airway, Human Hands and Monitor. A second volume would come out in 1980, featuring Ford's punk band The Child Molesters. If you're looking for the missing link between mid-'70s art practice and outsider music, then look no further.

This first-time vinyl reissue is limited to 500 numbered copies. Comes with inserts.

2022 Repress

.For this from that will be filled is the debut album by Clarice Jensen, artistic director of the American Contemporary Music Ensemble (ACME). The album explores the variable differences between acoustic and electronic sound as well as depiction of the simulated and the unconscious. It was originally conceived as a collaboration between Jensen and the artist Jonathan Turner as an audio-visual work, but is here presented in it´s pure audible form.Building on a long and romantic tradition of solo cello repertoire, Jensen expands and confuses the familiar sound of the cello through the use of effects pedals, multi-tracking, and tape loops recorded at variable speeds, presented in works she has written for herself as well as a piece she conceived together with Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannsson. Also featured is Michael Harrison's Cello Constellations for multi-tracked cello and sine tones, written for Jensen, which meditates on long, sustaining tones.With For this from that will be filled, Jensen has made an incredibly strong first album that feels like a surreal and futuristic journey through an alternate timeline.

Originally formed in 1989 by mastermind Snorre Ruch, Marius Vold, & B
Yard Faust (Emperor), Norwegian band Thorns' has inspired a great
number of acts such as Satyricon, Mayhem, Dissection, & Emperor,
mainly due to Snorre's highly influential style of playing & creating riffs on
the early Thorns' demo tapes
So impressed was Euronymous of Mayhem, that Snorre became second guitarist
in the band for a while & his riffs were used in classic Mayhem tracks. Thorns'
was the band's debut (& only, thus far) full-length studio album. It was released in
2001 & is a cult slice of highly individual Norwegian black metal, including
experimental & sometimes industrial influences along with synth passages to
create a chilling yet clinical slice of extremity. The album was notable for
featuring Satyr of Satyricon on vocals, a duty shared between songs with the
vocal talent of Aldrahn (ex-D dheimsgard) & the recording line-up also featured
Hellhammer of Mayhem on drums. The outcome was a unique & original album
which is today considered a cult classic release by critics.This edition of 'Thorns'
is presented on single black vinyl, including printed inner sleeve with lyrics.

Brimming with breezy melodies, breakneck percussion, & electronic flourishes. Back in print 10th Anniversary, on Orange Vinyl. 181.8 k Spotify Listeners, 1.12 Million Streams. Recommended If You Like: Do Make Say Think, Explosions in the Sky, Ratatat, The Album Leaf, Mogwai, Positive/uplifting instrumental loopage ‘n riffage. Transitions is the 2012 album by post-rock duo El Ten Eleven. Bobbing and weaving from one time signature and tempo to another, the duo of Kristian Dunn and Tim Fogarty jolt the listener into new sonic territories with the delicacy of a tilt-o-whirl. Includes a cover of Duran Duran's "Tiger Tiger". Back in print on Orange Vinyl. A refreshing trifecta of compositional prowess, intricate riffage, and experimental pop melodies. --Premier Guitar // “El Ten Eleven is proof that live looping and programming can rock; and that instrumental tracks can captivate and hold a room’s attention as well as any vocal-led group.” --Tape Op! // Track Listing: Transitions / Thanks Bill / Yellow Bridges / No One Died This Time! / Birth / Tiger Tiger / Lullaby

Edition of 250 UNITS

English short Version
Almost five years after the inaugural compilation "El sol desde oriente", Passat Continu releases "El ser y el tiempo", the first solo recordings of the Tenerife musician Javier Segura, a set of seven
compositions that make up a true exceptionality in the panorama of Spanish experimental music and that have never before been uncovered for listening. This sound document recorded between 1976 and 1978 is presented remastered from its original tapes and with a bonus track, with the invaluable collaboration of Juan Belda.

panish Version

Casi cinco años después del recopilatorio inaugural “El sol desde oriente”, Passat Continu lanza “El ser y el tiempo”, las primeras grabaciones en solitario del músico tinerfeño Javier Segura, un conjunto de siete composiciones que conforman una auténtica excepcionalidad en el panorama de la música experimental española y que nunca antes han sido destapadas para su escucha. Este documento sonoro registrado entre 1976 y 1978 se presenta remasterizado de sus cintas originales y con una canción extra, con la inestimable colaboración de Juan Belda.
Existe cierto consenso en llamar transición española al período que va del fallecimiento de Francisco Franco, el 20 de noviembre de 1975, a la ratificación mediante referéndum de la Constitución, el 6 de
diciembre de 1978. Años de agitación y anhelo democrático que la población vive con gran intensidad. Aquejada por una larga enfermedad, la madre de Javier Segura fallece en 1976. El
tinerfeño tiene entonces 21 años y acaba de salir de su primera experiencia discográfica como compositor en el cuarteto Huellas. Como todo el mundo entonces, Segura se ha educado en un colegio
religioso. Es allí donde empieza a cultivar interés en la música, el cine y la filosofía “dentro de mí existía, y aún persiste, la idea de que somos un espejo donde algo o alguien se mira para reconocerse. Es una idea que surge de la lectura de “El ser y el tiempo” de Martin Heidegger.”
Con el objetivo de seguir dando forma a las ideas, Segura destina la totalidad de sus ingresos a la compra de equipamiento, experimentando en el desván de casa en los ratos libres. Se adentra en sesiones extenuantes utilizando la metodología de las músicas de corte concreto, grabando encima de un casete Sony, reproduciendo encima de otro al tiempo que mete más instrumentación por la entrada del micrófono. Así varias veces hasta sobreponer tres, cuatro y hasta cinco capas. En 1977 se hace con dos Tascam de carrete abierto de cuatro pistas. Las cintas grabadas en los casetes Sony se pasan al magnetofón para luego volver a encima del mismo, y así una y otra vez. En sus más de 40 minutos de duración, en “El ser y el tiempo” suenan flautas, saxos, un vibráfono, un piano, un violín, un arpa, un salterio turco, un Crumar DS-2, sintetizador monofónico de dos osciladores y de más de 50 kilos de peso popularizado por Sun Ra en los años 70 e incluso unas placas de metal.

Goodbye, Asshole is the first studio album by San Francisco scuzz-wave merchants Fuckwolf—its a rat’s nest of deep grooves, lost ’70s rock riff intentions and art punk damage. These conundrums of time inform Goodbye, Asshole, but they are hardly romanticized in its music. The band, Eric Park (bass, vocals), Simon Phillips (drums) and Tomo Yasuda (guitar) sound blazing and scuzzy, a tight low-fi energy blasted onto tape at renowned Bay Area indie studios summarizing the last twenty years of San Francisco’s wild artistic soul – one that is now hard to find much evidence of in the city itself, but impossible to miss in the band’s sound. Fans of OSEES, Pink Fairies, late ’70s NYC, Emotional Rescue-era Stones, trashy post-punk dub and solvent-huffing rejoice!

Never-before released Ahmad Jamal in the 1960s,
recorded at the Penthouse Jazz Club in Seattle.
Official release supervised by Ahmad Jamal. This is
Volume One.
Remastered audio transferred from the original tape
reels.
Includes an extensive booklet with previously
unpublished photos from Chuck Stewart and Don
Bronstein, essays by jazz writer Eugene Holley Jr. and
producer Zev Feldman, plus interviews with Ahmad
Jamal, Jon Batiste, Kenny Barron, Aaron Diehl and
Marshall Chess.
This will mark the first release from producer and ‘Jazz
Detective’ Zev Feldman’s new label venture, Deep
Digs Music Group, in partnership with Elemental
Music.
Featuring Ahmad Jamal on piano, Richard Evans on
bass and Chuck Lampkin on drums.

1976 planten ex-Yardbirds-Sänger Keith Relf und seine Schwester Jane, Jim McCarty, Louis Cennamo und John Hawken, die ursprüngliche Besetzung der Band Renaissance, eine Wiedervereinigung. Doch der damalige Sänger und Gitarrist Keith Relf verstarb, bevor das Projekt in dieser Form umgesetzt werden konnte. In der Folge übernahm Jim McCarty, die akustische Gitarre und einen Teil des Gesangs. Schlagzeuger der neuen Band wurde Eddie McNeill, dazu kam noch John Knightsbridge an der Gitarre. Da die Band Renaissance jedoch in komplett anderer Besetzung fortbestand, musste ein anderer Name gewählt werden. Die ursprünglichen Renaissance waren nun Illusion. Illusion veröffentlichte 1977 und 1978 zwei sehr schöne Alben auf Island Records. Sie werden nun erstmalig als LP wiederveröffentlicht.
Das Mastering von den original Tapes wurde im renommierten AIR Studio von Paul Samwell-Smith (für 'Illusion') bzw. Phil Kinrade überwacht. Beide Alben kommen mit teilweise Spotlack im Artwork sowie bedruckten Inner Sleeves!

Tehran-born, Manchester-based artist Parham Ghalamdar provides a suite of raw & candid amateur-performed Persian folk, pop songs and poetry - all pulled from the audio on his parents archive of homemade VHS recordings documenting intimate, joyous & illicit gatherings in turn-of-the-century Iran.

"Beautiful Apparitions is a collection of audio excerpts from digitized VHS tapes recorded by my parents in early-noughties Iran. The footage depicts the secret double lives of Iranians drinking, dancing, and singing to celebrate life when owning a VHS player was illegal in the Islamic Republic. The footage is an amateur performance of pop and folklore songs about love, loss and life. Although many Iranians must have recorded such vivid moments, they are rarely made available publicly. Such tapes would usually have been well hidden, lost, or purposefully destroyed."

— Parham Ghalamdar

Bad Colours is back with his sophomore album, "Always With U," out on Bastard Jazz Recordings in November, 2022. The London-born, Maryland-raised, Brooklyn-based DJ, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist - aka Ibe Soliman - continues to build on the well-deserved acclaim from his 2021 debut LP, "PINK," as well as a slew of standalone singles and collaborations with the likes of Shabazz Palaces, Jarv Dee, and Stas THEE Boss.

"Always With U" sees Ibe further develop his talents as a songwriter and producer, while maintaining the signature balance of banging dance music and dense bars that he's quickly becoming known for. The album expands Ibe's role to a collaborator, band leader, and all-around star-of-the-show; it's certainly still a dance record, but there's also so much more. Live instrumentation accompanies every track, with the notable contributions of Nigerian bassist Akin-Alade Ogo heard across the album, as well as the NY-based saxophonist Carras Paton on the jazzy, upbeat house number, "Heartache + U."

The lead single, "Maybe I Should Move to LA," sees the proudly Brooklyn-based Bad Colours contemplate a move out West – an idea that came about following a trip to LA for the 20 Years of Bastard Jazz anniversary party (which he DJed) in November last year. Bright pads, a thumping four-on-the-floor beat, and a catchy vocal line make it the perfect accompaniment to a top-down joy-ride up PCH. The album's second single, "You Don't Know," features frequent collaborator and PNW darling Jarv Dee, as well as KAS and JVDE who have both been making waves in the Brooklyn scene (KAS for his work with Grammy- nominated producer Harmony Samuels featured on BET, and JVDE as the lead-singer of alternative band Blind Benny). "You Don't Know" turns up the heat with Jarv and KAS trading dense, rapid-fire verses over a high-tempo beat and detuned vocal; the kick cuts out for the bridge, replaced by syncopated keyboard stabs and JVDE's stacked vocals. "You Don't Know" is high-energy hip house at its finest: Super catchy and irresistibly dancey.

The two singles are emblematic of the rest of the album, which largely alternates between vocal and hip house, sometimes jazzy, other times touching on R&B or dancefloor influenced pop. Dave Giles II and Cor.Ece (who recently both contributed to Beyoncé's chart-topping "Renaissance" LP and Honey Dijon's "Work" single) feature on "Flow," while Toribio (of the acclaimed Brooklyn band Conclaves) provides vocals for "Do Better;" both tracks are on the mellower side, reminiscent of late-90s New York mid-tempo garage. Rising artist N.O.V. features on the second track, "Ready," rapping over a bass-heavy beat; MarcusHarmon makes a return after appearing on "PINK," with smooth vocals on the romantic "Come Closer." Aforementioned JVDE can be heard throughout the album, contributing to "You Don't Know," "Flirtation Avenue," and "Easy Come, Easy Go."

While Ibe's career has spanned nearly two decades - as both a DJ (alongside the likes of James Murphy, Mark Ronson, and Q-Tip) and producer (for Kendrick Lamar, Faith Evans, Keyshia Cole, and Rick Ross, among others) - the Bad Colours name only came into being in early 2020, with the debut LP, "PINK," being released in February, 2021 on the Brooklyn tastemaker label Bastard Jazz. By tapping into his deep network of artist friends, Ibe compiled a treasure-trove of vocal samples, snippets, sketches, and fresh instrumental loops into a beautiful debut record that touches on hip-hop, house, and left-field electronic, while remaining danceable.

A slew of singles throughout 2020 and 2021 included "Feelin' Like," featuring the Seattle rapper Jarv Dee, has become an underground hit, popping up everywhere from Best Buy ads, Hulu's "Woke," celebrity Peloton instructor Emma Lovewell's playlist, and even as a soundtrack to the Mayor of Madrid's TikTok video. Most recently, "Feelin' Like" had a prominent placement in the #1 Netflix film "Spiderhead," directed by Joseph Kosinski ("Tron: Legacy;" "Top Gun: Maverick") and starring Chris Hemsworth, Miles Teller, and Jurnee Smollett. The breakout success of "Feelin' Like" further led to a collaborative EP with Jarv Dee, titled "BLAKHOUSE," which saw additional features from fellow PNW natives Shabazz Palaces ("Clouds," featured in Hulu's "Shoresy") and Stas THEE Boss ("Black Skin"). This year, Bad Colours dropped the early Summer banger "Hit The Breaks," and served as the musical director for the influential MADE New York festival, a two-day fashion, music, and arts event presented by Public School NYC and Paypal, that saw performances by Nas, Heron Preston, and Bearcat among others.

"Always With U" is a testament to Bad Colours' versatility as a producer and artist, which has allowed him to bring together such a diverse group of friends and collaborators. Yes, the house and hip-hop roots remain, but "Always With U" shows an evolution of the Bad Colours sound into masterfully crafted dancefloor sounds. It's a truly stunning follow-up from an artist undoubtedly on the rise. The album is out on all platforms, via Bastard Jazz Recordings, November 11th, 2022.

One of the rarest private pressings from the US, originally released in 1972 by this band from Mansfiel, Ohio. Psychedelic hard rock with a charming, homemade feel. Including the monster psych opus "Song Of A Sinner" plus more cool tracks with great guitar/organ interplay.

*Sourced from the original master tapes

*Hard cardboard sleeve + OBI

*Insert with liner notes by band member Steve Geary and photos

*Digital Download Card

"...one of the original legends of the private and local press scene..."
- Patrick Lundborg (Acid Archives)

Egg Meat is a new project from London based artists Tooth Rust aka Laurel Uziell and Georgie McVicar, their self-titled EP features poems spoken by Danny Hayward.

The EP features speech-jammed text skittering across insistent rhythms, clipped signals and buzzing, saturated grains. You hear the racket of gunshots, mechanical clutter and punctuating tones that ring out impatiently like an unanswered phone call. Hayward's words at times surfacing as meaningful utterances, at others buried under this dense sonic matter.

The manipulations of voice are also at times so extreme as to render them indistinguishable from the clattering electronics that engulf them. The speech shapeshifts, shudders, and shatters in the way a violin glides and trills above an orchestra. The EP ends with an ambiguous promise: "Don't worry", Hayward assures us, "we'll be back."

Special 10th Anniversary Edition In Brown Card Artboard Sleeve With Additional Lyric Print Insert

Slowdive singer and songwriter’s third solo album, which was originally released in November 2012. It is a stunning record and one which, upon its release, underlined the claims that Neil was one of the finest and most underrated British songwriters of recent times. It’s also a very special release in the Sonic Cathedral catalogue; the shoegaze label licensed the record from Jack Johnson’s Brushfire imprint for the UK and Europe and it was the start of a relationship that also gave us the Black Hearted Brother album in 2013 and, ultimately, brought about the reformation of Slowdive in 2014. But Palindrome Hunches is a very different beast. Both stately and understated, this moody and mesmerising collection of peculiarly British folk songs was made with the Band of Hope, a Wallingford, Oxfordshire based collective consisting of Ben Smith (violin), Drew Milloy (double bass), Paul Whitty (piano) and Tom Crook (guitar). Together with producer Nick Holton, banjo player Kevin Wells and backing singer Aimee Craddock, they recorded the album to tape over a few weekends in the music room of their local junior school. “At first we were going to record in a studio, but everything seemed too clean,” said Neil at the time. “We just went through the songs and recorded them live without very much rehearsal. We wanted to be spontaneous and simple and to keep the little mistakes that sneaked in.” This goes a long way to explaining the album’s humanity and intimacy, and also why it has had a quiet life of its own over the past decade, gradually growing in stature alongside Neil’s more high-profile activities with Slowdive; copies of the 2012 original and even the 2017 repress currently fetch up to triple figures on Discogs. The stunning opener ‘Digging Shelters’ was used to devastating effect in the posthumously released James Gandolfini movie Enough Said – a fitting home for a song that rubs shoulders here with ruminations about love and loss such as ‘Tied To You’ and ‘Spin The Bottle’ and, on ‘Wittgenstein’s Arm’, an Austrian pianist who had his right arm amputated in World War I and lost three of his brothers to suicide. The wordplay of the title track is almost light-hearted in comparison; “I wanted to write a song that was the same forwards and backwards, but it didn’t quite work out,” explained Neil, adding that he also chose ‘Palindrome Hunches’ for the album’s title because “I like the idea of things being reversible”. A couple years later, by reforming his old band, he proved that. And now, ten years on, it’s the perfect time to rewind to this understated, underrated classic. Side A 1 Digging Shelters 2 Bad Drugs and Minor Chords 3 Wittgenstein’s Arm 4 Spin The Bottle 5 Tied to You Side B 1 Love Is a Beast 2 Palindrome Hunches 3 Full Moon Rising 4 Sandy 5 Hey Daydreamer 6 Loose Change. Praise for Palindrome Hunches on its original release: ““Nope, it ain’t shoegaze as it's been codified and re-codified. But why be disappointed in someone following his muse to a logical conclusion when that path was always the one he walked on?” – Pitchfork An exquisite set of dark folk music” – The Times “Draws from the same understated, reflective well as John Martyn” – MOJO “‘Tied To You’ doesn’t merely evoke Nick Drake but withstands the comparison – evidence of the songs’ quality” – Financial Times “Halstead’s songs breathe the sort of honesty and goodness that’s harder and harder to find in the iTunes age” – The Independent “Given the chance, they could be songs that continue to enchant for many years to come” – The Line Of Best Fit

Blue Vinyl

The Outer Edge is proud to present the first ever vinyl release of "No Message" by Art P, a still lesser known and lost masterpiece from the P.A.P. archives. Art P (initially Art Programming) was an electronic music duo consisting of Jens-Markus Wegener and Frank Grotelüschen. On "No Message", originally released in 1985, we hear the band's most profound work, a detailed and unique mixture in between of Electro and the synth-laden edge of New Wave.

We initially discovered Art P on the tape compilation "berlincassette 2-85" a couple of years ago. Their contribution, the title track from their second and last album "No Message", blew us right away: punchy drum machines, heavy synths and cool female vocals delivering a serious, yet slightly ironic view on the meaninglessness in pop music having "no message". A couple of months later, when we finally were lucky to get hold of an original full length tape, we couldn't ask for more: powerful apocalyptic Synth Wave on "A Place To Fear", thrilling vocoder Electro Funk on "Polaroid", uptempo New Wave Synth Pop on "Sounds of the City", dreamy and melodic Electro on "Without Jackets", and other well produced tracks. It was an absolute necessity for us to get in touch with Art P and ask for permission to re-release their music on vinyl.

"No Message" was remastered from the absolute best original tape source and sounds incredibly well. The release is limited to 300 copies and will be pressed on blue vinyl. It contains an insert with lyrics and additional art. We think it is save to say, that this should not be missed!

As a side note it should be mentioned that Wegener later became a key figure in the German music market. He was the founder of companies such as Public Propaganda, Europe's largest and most successful promotion agency in the mid '90s, the publishing company AMV, the distributor PP Sales Forces, among others. As a freelance promoter for SPV and the PIAS label he was also responsible for establishing the term Electronic Body Music as a musical genre. Grotelüschen was active as a music journalist (e.g. for Spex magazine) and later became an important and well known journalist for science.