Rock & Indie 137 Items

The first in a series of mini compilations exploring instrumental Dub versions of sought after and long out of print titles from the world of Reggae, Disco, Boogie and House. Many of these versions still contain vocals, snippets here and there drenched in delay or reverb, a style you’ll recognise from many of the Jura Soundsystem edits on the label. The late Glen Adams & Finesse open proceedings with their Island Disco cover of Marvin Gaye’s classic, followed on the A2 by a super rare UK Boogie/Brit Funk mix of Tippa Irie’s ‘Panic Panic’ (shouts to Tippa for personally helping to push through the license) and the A side closes with the 80’s leaning ‘Yes I Do’ from Belgium’s Special Occasion. The first half of the B side comes from Carol Williams with the Special Club Dub mix of ‘Can’t Get Away’, originally a one sided promo only 10” from 1983 complete with spoken word intro from Carol thanking New York’s Metro DJs for their support of the song. The LP closes with a Jura Soundsystem Dubby Edit of La Palace De Beaute’s ‘Sin’ pulling back on the vocal and going heavy on the delay.

"I was in a dream, but now I can see that change is the only law." With a credo adapted from science fiction author Octavia E. Butler, an album title from a collection of metaphysical poetry, and an expansion in consciousness brought on by personal crisis, guitarist and songwriter Shana Cleveland learns to embrace a changing world with unconditional love on News of the Universe, the new full-length from California rock band La Luz. News of the Universe is a record born of calamity, a work of dark, beautiful psychedelia reflecting Cleveland's experience of having her world blown apart by a breast cancer diagnosis just two years after the birth of her son. It's also a portrait of a band in flux, marking the first appearance for drummer Audrey Johnson and the final ones from longtime members bassist Lena Simon and keyboardist Alice Sandahl, whose contributions add a bittersweet edge to a record that is both elegy for an old world and cosmic road map to a strange new one. But is there any band in the world more suited to capturing the chaos of change in all its messy beauty than La Luz? Formed by Cleveland in 2012, La Luz is beloved for their ability to balance bedlam and bliss, each new record another fine-tuning of the band's mix of swaggering riffs with angelic vocals borrowed from doo-wop and folk; a band so reliably great that it makes the huge step forward in confidence and sheer musicality that is News of the Universe all the more formidable. Cleveland, also a writer and painter, has developed into a truly original songwriter with her own canon of haunted psychedelia. Yet if Cleveland has spent years writing songs about ghosts, what lurks in the shadows of News of the Universe is nothing less than death itself. "There are moments on this album that sound to me like the last frantic confession before an asteroid destroys the earth," says Cleveland. The powerful sense of openness that permeates News of the Universe is at least partially due to the fact that it is a record made entirely by women-from the performing, writing, and producing all the way through to the recording, engineering, and mastering. Working with producer Maryam Qudos (Spacemoth), the all-female environment allowed Cleveland to feel safe tapping into difficult places and expressing hard emotions women are socialized to suppress. Unashamedly vulnerable, unabashedly feminine, and undeniably triumphant, News of the Universe is another knockout record from a band so reliably great that it has perhaps led people to overlook how pioneering La Luz really are: women of color in indie music forging their own path by following their own artistic star into galaxies beyond current musical trends, always led by an earnest belief in the cosmic power of love and a great riff. Never is that more true than on News of the Universe, which might be La Luz's most brutal record to date but also their most blissful.

Kora’s most innovative modern exponent bathes in communion with a re-imagined classical guitar, unveiling a new and previously unsuspected musical universe. In a meeting between instruments, not traditions, these maestros emerge from quite different and distant musical worlds. Ballaké Sissoko’s kora tradition and lineage traverse the once powerful West African empire known as Kaabu. South African Derek Gripper’s roots are in European classical guitar but infused with a unique jeli music mastery that takes guitar’s modern history in a captivating new direction.

But we are not hearing these traditions in dialogue: these masters meet on the sonic groundings of the kora, instrument of the griots, resonant vessel of the sacred and profane, sound carrier of history and wisdom. Through two decades of commitment and study, it is to this terrain that Gripper brings his guitar to meet its multi-stringed cousin.

The two men do not share a spoken language, but if it is true that music speaks universally, then they were already involved in profound dialogue long before they met for the series of London concerts which yielded this recording session – a session which matches deep communion with sparkling improvisation, which pushes a living tradition into brand new sonic spaces, and opens a live and direct channel of communication between kora and guitar. In the complex web of theme and variations spun by Sissoko’s twenty-two strings and Gripper’s six, a new African string theory is elaborated.

“Musically we tested each other,” says Sissoko, explaining that the most magical aspect of their encounters are spontaneity. “We have the mastery of our instruments, the technique and a good ear. Derek is very curious, that’s very important.”

“He’s just such a good listener,” says Gripper about Sissoko. “It’s not what he plays, it’s how he plays it. He’s an amazing interpreter, the prime master of timbre.”

Recording by Taylor Pollock at Platoon Studios, London. Mixed, edited and produced by Derek Gripper. Mastered by Murray Anderson at Milestone Studios, Cape Town. Produced for vinyl by Chris Albertyn and Matt Temple at Matsuli Music. Mastered for vinyl and lacquers cut by Frank Merritt at The Carvery, London. Vinyl pressed at Pallas GmbH, Germany. Sleeve notes by Francis Gooding, French translation by Paulo Goncalves. Cover design by Toby Attwell at Twoshoes, Cape Town.

Set sail with the third installment of Numero's ode to regional radio surveys. Broadcasting 44 minutes of uninterrupted yacht, easy-glide, AOR, and blue-eyed disco that'll rock your boat. These 13 selections are anchored in the deep blue waters of the American private press_a life preserver for any BBQ, birthday party, or bris. Let W3NG be the sonic wind at your back.

“Here We Stand.” It is a phrase that means a lot to the legendary UK punk band Cock Sparrer. It was the title of the band’s 2007 LP, which announced their arrival in the 21st century. It cropped up again as a rallying cry in the lyrics to their 2017 anthem “One By One.” And now it is the title and chorus of a brand-new single off the band’s farewell studio LP, Hand on Heart.

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

Set sail with the third installment of Numero's ode to regional radio surveys. Broadcasting 44 minutes of uninterrupted yacht, easy-glide, AOR, and blue-eyed disco that'll rock your boat. These 13 selections are anchored in the deep blue waters of the American private press_a life preserver for any BBQ, birthday party, or bris. Let W3NG be the sonic wind at your back.

Bill MacKay and Drag City are delirious with pride to announce the discovery of a new territory: Locust Land, a record which seeks to reflect the nerve-shredding consciousness run amok in our world today - and somehow allay it with sound. Bill"s music is a visceral crackling where it meets the air, and Locust Land can"t help but reflect its era more than any other in his discography.It"s been five years since the release of Fountain Fire - but in the interim, Bill has barely stopped moving, collaborating with artists across the spectrum, including cellist Katinka Kleijn, banjo player Nathan Bowles and keyboardist Cooper Crain. He"s also contributed to recordings by Steve Gunn, Ryley Walker, Bill Callahan & Bonnie Prince Billy (Blind Date Party), and Black Duck (on their self-titled record featuring Douglas McCombs and Charles Rumback). Forget five years - how"d he even get Locust Land squeezed out of his temporal lobes?Bill"s sense of music as art is constantly modulating - lifting off from where it is found and naturally migrating to some other place. Sometimes, that"s elsewhere - others, it"s simply to be found deeper inside the starting point. And so, the action of moving on informs the landscape of Locust Land. This manifests in several different ways.A restless energy and urgency is repeatedly felt - in the driving momentum of "Keeping in Time," "Glow Drift," and "When I Was Here" - while a dogged persistence radiates from the tone colors and percussion of "Oh, Pearl." Mating a dirge-like desolation with sparkling guitars, "Radiator" adds darkness and depth. The sense of searching, displacement and longing in vocal tracks "Keeping in Time," "Half of You," and "When I Was Here" speak literally to the tumult of current vibrations.Within the arrangements, there"s also departure from previous norms - in addition to the brilliant guitar work for which he is known, Bill plays a variety of keyboards, from piano to organ to synth, extending his music with the available voicings, while enric...

Hailing from Oslo, Norway, Oberst emerges as a compelling force in the metal scene. The dynamic quartet was bound by a shared passion for music rather than a specific genre, and their sound evolved finding common ground with bands like Mastodon, Baroness, Converge, and Cult of Luna. However, the band's unique imprint extends beyond these influences, drawing from individual members' diverse musical backgrounds, spanning classic rock and jazz to modern pop. The release of their self-titled debut EP in 2015 was met with critical acclaim and praised as "some of the best metal produced in Norway for a long time" -hissig. The singles from the 4-track EP got played and recommended on national radio and featured on the acclaimed Norwegian TV series "Unge Lovende". After the release of their EP, Oberst signed with Indie Recordings, and released the debut album “Paradise” in 2020. Oberst now sets the stage for their upcoming album, "Toil," set to release April 26th 2024. The album is a culmination of three years of dedicated effort, and it promises to deliver a fresh and exciting sound that transcends the boundaries of traditional rock and metal.

A sparsely documented yet iconic era for Ted Milton's psycho-funk afro punk fake no-wave pogo jazz group Blurt has been brought to life with an expansive collection of restored versions of live performances. Captured on early camcorders during the frenzy of counter-cultural activity that characterised Europe around the fall of the Iron Curtain, these recordings of Blurt, recently posted by fans on YouTube, are a visceral reminder of a scene whose influence is writ large on today's alternative music culture.

Ted Milton's trio have produced an impressive string of albums, not to mention his numerous solo recordings. Featuring 15 tracks spanning their extensive discography from their 1980 debut single – also the title of this collection – “My Mother Was A Friend Of An Enemy Of The People” to 1999’s “Eat Up Your House”, this live collection of performances have been digitised by whatever means available. The original sound captured by the inbuilt microphones of these camcorders and the videos concerned are in many cases the only documentation of an iconic era whose zeitgeist was so masterfully epitomised for many by Blurt.

Refurbished / restored/ repurposed using new AI tools there is a spectral roughness to them but surfing on these reconstructed waveforms, the inimitable machinations of Blurt ride out once again, emerging from a pixilated oblivion to put into perspective the peculiar absurdity of our human condition.

Since they shook up the scene with their "Space Mambo" ten years ago The Limboos haven't stopped touring and reinventing themselves. However, it is in their fourth album, 'Off The Loop', where they inaugurate a new cycle that confirms the restlessness and nonconformity of the band in the search for their own sound. How to define 'Off the Loop'? The nine songs and 35 minutes of music included here reflect this broad perspective: lysergic passages, baroque pop, and beautifully crafted psychedelia intertwine with cinematic atmospheres, fuzz guitars, galactic keyboards and unique arrangements. In short, The Limboos' sound has reached a place you never suspected. It's time for you to discover it.

Drunk Uncle isolated themselves into a cabin on an East Texas farm to write and record the follow up to their debut Look Up in 2022. The result "O, brittle weather!" is a thoughtful, probing album that explores a cacophony of sounds in a playful and whimsical way. The album feels like a telling of a great story- songs like pages colored with splashes of acoustic and electric guitars, floating bass, keys, horns, and percussion that ranges from a whole kit to a single tambourine that succinctly cues up the next chapter. Narrated by melodic vocals belting out emotional poetry, "O, brittle weather!" seems to plead with you to keep listening until the last word. Then, it begs you to listen again.Most bands are content to just collect a handful of songs and group them together as an album. Drunk Uncle strived to make something bigger than themselves. And wouldn't you know it, they succeeded."O, brittle weather!" comes out 5/24 on Count Your Lucky Stars. Available digitally and on vinyl.

Canadian cult songwriter Sean Nicholas Savage is renowned for his bittersweet ballads, and beautifully raw live performances, his singing delicate and brave, full of energy and space. Each new record is an adventure in sensitivity and nuance.'Trilogy' collects standouts from Savage's fan-favourite string of cassette releases: Magnificent Fist (2016), Yummycoma (2017), Screamo (2018). Now available on LP for the first time, this pressing commemorates a remarkable era in Savage's career.

Gold Nugget Vinyl.Clean Hands Go Foul (2009) generously offers more of everything: voluminousdrones, clashing dissonance, mysterious subharmonic swells, escalating terror, and environments drenched in heavy anticipatory dread.The final hour of the band's first decade sees Khanate, as always, making "music that, even in the realm of extreme music, is dark and distorted" (Pitchfork). Clean Hands Go Foul would be followed by the ultimate minimalism, as the Khanate entity sat shrouded in silence until the release of 2023's To Be Cruel.

Green Vinyl. Largely recognized as their breakthrough album, Khanate was confident enough by the two-song, forty-minute Capture & Release (2005) to peel back its layers of thick mossy droneand reveal the minimalist underpinnings, a change either interpreted as maturity or an implied threat. "It's a grim, avant-garde exercise in tension and paranoia. Dense, leaden drones fill up the spaces between O'Malley's sparse, deeply sustained guitar chords.Vocalist Alan Dubin's anguished vocals seem to convey the tortures of the damned as if there were not a shred of hope left for existence in this world. Capture & Release is not dissimilar to black metal in how it so violently conveys such a bleak and ultra-nihilistic world outlook. But while the standard tempo on a black metal album typically strays into the triple digits in terms of beats per minute, Khanate's plodding pace keeps the BPM soundly within the single-digit range." (Tiny Mix Tapes).

The relatively short life of San Francisco's Aluminum has sofar yielded a single (Spinning Backwards, 2020) and an EP(Windowpane, 2022), but their debut LP, Fully Beat,overflows with tenured confidence and a singular style thatdeftly comprises shoegaze, big beat, and jangle pop. Withinfluences ranging from Orbital, to Wipers, to TheAvalanches and Sly and the Family Stone, theirs is amultifaceted take on established forms, fed through fuzz andled by honeyed, male-female vocal harmonies from Bay Areapost-punk veterans Marc Leyda (of Wild Moth) and RyannGonsalves (of Torrey)."Smile" begins with deceptive sparseness, adding neon swirlsof stacked tremolo over a mesmerizing lyrical refrain, andhinting at the dynamism to come with understated grace andgrit. "Always Here, Never There" is Fully Beat's first pure hitof melodic pop: its liquid bass groove winds beneath amelancholy-sweet synth hook and Leyda's plaintive vocals,while drummer Chris Natividad's deep, pillowy snare andpropulsive style maintain a driving pace.Lead single, "Behind My Mouth", shifts gears into a big beatshuffle and howl of overdriven guitars, which relent toGonsalves' rolling bassline and playful, snarky vocal.Composed across several weeks of experimentation, it is aprime iteration of Aluminum's meticulous world of sound, whichnevertheless carries an air of wry nonchalance. Asking, "Doyou ever see behind my mouth?", Gonsalves notes that thesong "comes from a place of wanting to be understoodauthentically, and to communicate intentionally."This approach speaks to the album's broader theme ofexhaustion amid the demands of the modern grind: workingunfulfilling jobs to pay exorbitant rent, feeling society break atthe seams, and trying to maintain a meaningful personal lifewith the remaining scraps of morale. The response, then, mustbe to find joy. These songs were crafted over a half-dozenmonths in basements and practice spaces, creating anabundance of authentic passion and cathar...

For over three decades, Tolis brothers Sakis and Themis have carved a blackened path through the metal world. Architects of the Hellenic black metal, Rotting Christ have been blending histrionic atmospheres, mesmerizing choirs, and neo-classical arrangements for 35 years. Now, the Greek metal legends present their 14th studio album: ‘Pro Xristou’. Translating to “Before Christ” in Greek, this album is a fervent tribute to the last Pagan kings who stood resilient against the Christian tide, safeguarding ancient values and knowledge. Dive deep into the legacies of figures like Flavius Claudius Julianus and Nordic mythological kings through tracks such as "The Apostate" and "Ygdrassil". ‘Pro Xristou’ encapsulates the essence of Rotting Christ's signature style - a melodic symphony with moments of unyielding harshness.

"Monolith" is the second studio album by the British crust punk band Amebix, originally released in 1987 and now made available again by Back On Black on limited edition blood red vinyl!

Formed as "The Band With No Name", Amebix's original run was from 1978 to 1987, during which time they released three EPs and two full-length LPs. "Monolith", the band's second studio album, was originally released in 1987. Shortly after its release, Amebix disbanded, and "Monolith" would be their final studio album until they reunited in 2008. By being one of the first bands to blend anarcho-punk and heavy metal music, Amebix are often cited as one of the key bands that helped to create the crust punk genre. Such notable bands as Sepultura, Neurosis and Deviated Instinct have paid homage to the band.

Long overdue reissue of the debut 12” No Sorrow from Los Angeles’ early deathrock punks Legal Weapon. Recorded in 1980—first time back on wax. Seven tracks taken from the original analog master, plus two unreleased live tracks from the Mabuhay Gardens straight from the board. Includes an 8-page oversized booklet with never before seen photos by Edward Colver and a flier centerfold. Limited edition pressing of 500 copies.

Synthwave. Darkwave. Silhouettes is a strong debut album that captures the shifting perspectives of its five-year writing period, and the emergence of Yama Uba’s uniquely crafted sound. With Akiko Sampson's charismatic vocals and rumbling bass combined with Winter Zora's sweeping guitar and saxophone soaring over velvet synthesizers and synthpop beats, Yama Uba makes several nods to their post-punk and darkwave predecessors while creating a sound entirely their own. Throughout each track, Yama Uba emerges as a songwriting unit able to capture the complexities of the human spirit, as fragile as it is powerful, as it experiences its own evolution. States Sampson, ‘‘As a whole, Silhouettes is about personal transformation and self-discovery, and is a reckoning with the power of time.”

"Yama Uba’s modern-yet-nostalgic sound plays beautifully into the emotional cadences of Silhouettes, reflecting on personal growth and transformation with the cutting insight of the hard-won wisdom that can only come with age. The band’s nods to earlier darkwave movements evoke past eras and distant memories, but Sampson’s powerful lyrics and no-holds-barred delivery remind us that some wounds don’t heal with time, even as they make us stronger."

Noroth brings forth absolute chaotic putridity on their third full-length album, Sacrificial Solace! A triumvirate, born in the year 2019, Noroth focused on making their own trail of stench inspired by the likes of Bolt Thrower, Grave, Morbid Angel, and Rottrevore. Their first two albums, It Dwells Amongst Us and Harbinger, quickly helped establish them within the Pacific Northwest’s flourishing Underground Death Metal community, which eventually would allow them to support bands like Deicide, Suffocation, Incantation, and Miasmatic Necrosis. With Sacrificial Solace, Noroth seek to prepare audiences to a new pile of feral rotting darkness, inspired by those that have sonically pushed the limits before them. Recorded by Nick Emard (Cavurn, Cystic, Degraved) at 7 Hills Studio in Seattle, Washington, Mixed by Greg Wilkinson (Mortuous, Necrot, Vastum) at Earhammer Studio, and Mastered by Dan Lowndes (Cruciamentum, Funeral Leech, Mortiferum) at Resonance Sound Studio. Artwork by Thomas “Necromaniac” Westphal (Excarnated Entity, Infester, Plague Bearer).

Hässlig's wretched debut full-length disfigurement. A lurid audial assault conceived by enigmatic Spanish recluse D.B. (also mastermind of Negativa and Délirant), Apex Predator vomits forth thirty six minutes of atavistic, demented and necrotic raw black metal/punk filth conjured through the eyes of all criminals, serial killers, and of the absolute scum of this earth. A sickening and cruelty-worshipping audial delirium inspired by iconic punk-infused black metal bands like Bone Awl and Ildjarn, with subtle touches of Oi! punk and post-punk thrown in the mix to metastasize a disorienting and trance-like defilement of triumphant sonic squalor.

Vinyl reissue of debut full-length, originally released in 1987.

Zel Zele are thrilled to announce the debut album of silhouwaves. "ripples" is a solo project of London based Turkish multi-instrumentalist and producer Bora Dayanikli. Ripples is a DIY, guitar led album performed using a combination of pedals, drum samples and Bora"s elevating poetic vocals. At its core silhouwaves loops his guitar into infinity and creates a sentimental space echoing the mysteries of space and time. Ripples is inspired by 70s kraut, prog and psychedelic music. There are surprising eastern riffs throughout the album with kozmiche effects. Loops to ponder, edgy drum samples and perfectly produced modern vocal lines bring in a wow factor to the album. It feels like an old recording with a modern vocal edge.

Born in Beirut, Lebanon, Rami Gabriel has been a motive force in rock n' roll, jazz, Arabic, and experimental music communities across North America for over twenty years. In that time, he has released numerous projects across genres and under many names. On his debut LP for Sooper Records, Rami trips all the breakers. In his own name and voice for the first time, That's what I been sayin' is not so much a debut as a conflagration in Rami Gabriel's worldly underground. Drawing on Punk, Krautrock, Dub, No Wave, and lo- fi, the territory occupied by That's what I been sayin' is astringent, minimal, and buzzing with the sound of machines dancing in the wind."I'm used to putting out records based on genre," says Rami of his multiple endeavors. "I was listening to one of the `70s Brian Eno records where he took his experimental work and his songs and put it all together, and I was thinking, `Why don't I try to put all the different ways I've been working for the last couple years onto one record?'" That's what I been sayin' ignites this vision with an album that ranges from the motorik-driven krautrock of "Like a monk" to the unexpected trance-like pairing of "Buzuq synth." That's what I been sayin' is a furnace of Rami's insuppressible impulses, where he undertakes to ask and answer: what is left of punk but making do with what is at hand? At times direct and scorching, at others meditative and wandering, That's what I been sayin' compresses Rami's understanding as a composer, musician, and singer into a restless, 11-track love letter to the underground. For Fans of The Fall, Haruomi Hosono, Brian Eno, and Scientist.

Through his project Lionlimb, New York-based singer/songwriter/producer Stewart Bronaugh crafts unfurling soundscapes that feel mysterious and otherworldly, yet timeless and nostalgic at the same time. He presents his most ambitious vision of these inner vistas on his new album, Limbo, arriving May 24th on Bayonet Records. Inspired by a palette of '70s Italian film soundtracks, '60s girl group music, and funk and soul ballads, Bronaugh brings these influences together to invent an immersive sound all his own-with help from close collaborator Joshua Jaeger, whose live drums bring a rawness to Limbo's meticulously layered production.Led by the smoldering single "Dream of You," featuring Angel Olsen, Limbo taps into universal themes of romance, longing, and loss, while still offering a hazy escape from our present reality.Bronaugh penned the songs with "classic" songwriting in mind, transforming his personal struggles with grief and addiction into love songs. Using images inspired by nature (like the sun, moonlight, hurricanes, and deep water), he expresses being overtaken by a force greater than himself, as the psychedelic production evokes a sense of being plunged into this vast landscape. Limbo benefits from its eclectic influences, as Bronaugh overlays sitar-sounding guitar on top of funky basslines, melodramatic string arrangements, and fuzzed out guitar, making for music that could easily belong on Twin Peaks just as much as a Western cowboy film.An album of duets, Limbo features a host of female vocalists-Angel Olsen, Ewa Synowiec, to Bion augil, nderstad ocal periora ne Bill bout vocal sad ate another instrument*he explains. "When we first tried to have someone else sing, I liked it, because I felt more akin to a producer than a songwriter." There's a dreamy quality to how these singers trade off with Bronaugh, both parties expressing his inner emotions.Limbo is a culmination of Bronaugh's years of production experience, as he composed, produced, and mixed the project almost entirely by hi...

Demeters Döttrar is the new trio of Ida Skibsted Cramer, Charlott Malmenholt and Astrid Øster Mortensen. Søndag I Spejlet was mainly recorded in Gamlestaden, Gothenburg between 2022 and 2023 and consists of 8 tracks that lies somewhere in between 90's lo-fi experimental bedroom music and brash text-sound compositions channeled through the ever-inspiring cassette underground.

Listening to Demeters Döttrar is like stepping into a parallel universe; a tiny unexplored corner with paper-thin walls or a very delicate bubble that is about to burst any moment. The instrumentation is sparse and mainly consists of guitar, vocals, prepared tapes and occasional harmonica. The recurrence of rain in different forms throughout the recording almost functions as a percussive backbone at times, the one thing except for the sound of the actual room that sort of keeps it all together.

With one foot in Sweden and one foot in Denmark, the group is utilizing both countries' language in an uncompromising and peculiarly alluring way. The almost brutal intimacy brings the more mellow Deux Filles moments to mind, though music wise this owes more to Un, early Charalambides and at times groups like Dadamah. A daring, major statement and one of the most beautiful, strange and other-worldly debut albums we heard in quite a while.

Mastered by Lasse Marhaug. Gloss laminated covers, comes with insert. Edition of 500 copies.

San Francisco’s Sad Eyed Beatniks are back with their new album Ten Brocades. With the help of Mike Ramos (Tony Jay, Flowertown) and Karina Gill (Cindy, Flowertown), Kevin Linn creates a new passage into their incredible sound world. The songs on Ten Brocades explore encounters in short moments in time, fading memories, friendships, and relationships; all from personalities whose stories seem to interweave with one another. The title Ten Brocades is the literal translation of a Cantonese chop suey-like dish, subgum, which means “numerous and varied.” The merging of multiple identities and the image of many silken adorned fabrics helped guide which tracks ended up on the album. The songs on Ten Brocades explore encounters in short moments in time, fading memories, friendships, and relationships; all from personalities whose stories seem to interweave with one another. “When I was a kid, I would spend the summers with my father and stepmother at their apartment in a suburb just north of Stockholm. Most mornings, I would wake up to the smell of burning incense, the sounds of recorded shamisen & koto ensembles, and the sounds of my dad tending to his extensive orchid collection. One summer my dad gifted me a number of graphic novels that were translated and heavily adapted versions of classic Chinese novels for young readers; Journey To The West and Outlaws Of The Marsh were my favorites. The vast casts of characters, mythical adventures, and humorous situations that take place in these historical settings allowed me to connect to a culture of mine I always had a hard time accessing. Ten Brocades is like those comic books—but maybe these characters, adventures, and settings are a little more local.”—Kevin Linn aka Sad Eyed Beatniks.

"In July 2022 I was invited to open for the band Low who specifically wanted 'something weird'. I only had about 24 hours to come up with a set but decided to take up the generous offer. Recorded live to Tascam 8-track at the High-Noon Saloon in Madison, WI. Gear: Waldorf Quantum, Roland Rs202, Arturia Polybrute, Waldorf XTK, DSI Poly Evolver, and Korg Mono/Poly." - Vincent Presley (Those Poor Bastards, Zebras, Logan 5, Secret Creeps, etc). Live ambient, drone, experimental electronic. Side 2 can be played at 45rpm (how it was performed) or 33rpm (ultra slow gloom version). Hand-numbered edition of 115 copies.

Back in 1996 Swans released what was supposed to be their final album and declared themselves "dead". While Gira focused on Angels Of Light, Norman Westberg, Algis Kizys and Vinnie Signorelli paired up with Dan Joeright (The Rentals) and Kelly Burns for a project of "rock type music" under the name A/N. This project was recorded in 96-97 has never been released in any format. Limited hand-numbered edition of 275 copies on oxblood and black swirled vinyl.

Sometimes, the best things take time to finish. In 2012, two of the founding members of the seminal punk trio Bats & Mice stepped into the studio to start work on their follow-up to 2010's Back In Bat EP. Then, between babies and careers, life happened, and the project went dark for almost a decade. Bats & Mice is a band that has quietly crept through the music world. Three members of Sleepytime Trio originally formed the band: Jonathan Fuller (Engine Down, Denali), Dave NeSmith (Rah Bras, Committees) and Ben Davis (MileMarker, Committees). They began writing songs together in a new style that pursued their hardcore roots coupled with a more dark and winding sense of melody. However, the music still maintained the energy and drive of their previous efforts. This lineup produced Bats & Mice's first work, a self-titled EP released on Lovitt Records in the fall of 2000, to critical acclaim. Friends Daron Hollowel and Ash Bruce from the band 400 Years joined for a stint in which 'Bats' wrote and released the full-length album entitled, Believe It Mammals, on Lovitt in the spring of 2002. That lineup toured to support the LP across the US, playing with Fugazi, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, 90 Day Men, Denali, and Gregor Samsa. In 2004, Luke Herbst joined the band on drums, and the band toured Europe in support of a new EP titled A Person Carrying a Handmade Paper Bag is Considered as a Royal Person. Jonathan Fuller rejoined the group and helped write and record the Back In Bat EP, released in 2010. Soon after, Mark Oates (from Wailin' Storms) took over the drums for Jonathan and helped write new songs as the band headed into the studio to record the basic tracks for an LP in 2012. Bats & Mice then shelved the material as life, marriages, children, and Covid ate away the years. In early 2023, the band reconvened in Chapel Hill's Warrior Sound to rework the original tracking and finish a 10-song full-length record. Named PS: Seriously.

"Ogives Big Band is a riff powerhouse hailing from Bristol, UK. Initially forming as an instrumental trio with a view to expand the existing Øgïvęš solo material. The addition of an established and furious rhythm section warped the compositions and song writing process into a new beast entirely. Featuring polyrhythmic soundscapes crashing into brutal breakdowns, blistering riffs melting into luscious ethereal drones, & an all encompassing sense of drive & menace. 2020 saw the addition of a new vocalist which has transformed a previously instrumental setup into a much fiercer prospect. Replete with furiously yelled vocals, serene croons & abstract lyricism and wordplay. 2023 will see the quartet appear at Portals and ArcTanGent festivals as well as tours in support of their new album, set to be released late 2023/early 2024. The new album – entitled ‘Boisterous Love’ - will showcase a move into whole new musical territories of savage, angular, doom laden sludge, progressive metal and psychedelic stoner rock."

“We're old and familiar friends. These compositions represent the thing that happens when we get together. They aren't representative of one individual, one moment in time, or one chain of decisions. Some are ancient refrains, beginning life as habits and warm-ups, in-jokes; others are distilled jams; more still are refined from Midi sketches and ideas whistled into voice notes. On whatever terms these elements become something we're happy to stand in front of you and play, to put on record, so be it.” So Anta describe the process behind 2024's Organesson. Characteristic of the Bristolian Sci-Prog quartet, the record weaves together mesmerising, muscular riffs in insanely loud compositions that extend well into excess. Less typical is the polarisation at play, where granular polymeters will yield in an instant to passages of one or two-note simplicity. The record strides from one raging refrain to the next, lurching between devastation, joy, chaos, and stirring the themes accumulated along the way in exposition. “It comes down to those precious sweaty hours” the group suggest, “in which we get to vibrate these sounds into your face and chest, and you can dance and laugh with us. This is the stuff we remember and plan for, the moments we talk about the most when writing these songs.” Anta's live shows, ceaseless onslaughts of deafening riffs, have been notable for maintaining the same intense energy among festival crowds or to three people in a basement. Walls of amps going full-pelt. Pounding, ornate drums and metals, wherein drummer James King is relentless in discovering strange and mighty rhythms. Full-drawbar organs, electric pianos, piercing synths from keys-man Alex Bertram-Powell. Joe Garcia's growling bass that strides rather than walks. Ben Harris' all-encompassing, dizzying guitars. Hypnotic, communal, compelling, indefinite energy. Organesson is the latest effort to put this feeling on record.