Rock & Indie 440 Items

Second album from the Regensburger boys, which seamlessly follows on from their pretty well-celebrated (out of print!) debut! In the wake of the Hamburg Rachut bands (the vocals sometimes sound amazingly like Jens Rachut including his cryptic lyrics) things continue lively in terms of sophisticated, slightly scrappy punk rock with a lot of heart. Sometimes it reminds of Oiro, Turbostaat and Boxhamsters/EA80. There are enough hits with a tricky verse and the best chorus heard in a long time. In general, the album impresses with a lot of variety, and despite the comparisons mentioned, the 12 tracks are independent enough to create their own sound. Great band and great German-speaking punk rock record, no shit!

Zooparty has been called "Swedens finest punkband" according to Record collector (UK). If you like your punk catchy as hell then I can't recommend this enough" according to Maximum Rock'n'roll (USA). "No matter what you say" is there sixth album and contains 12 brilliant, timeless new songs. Special guest are Glen Matlock/Sex Pistols (and if you listen to "Elephants" it's like a flashback/ hommage to the "Holidays in the sun" times.), Hans Östlund (The Nomads) and the album include lyrics written with Stephen Straughan (UK Subs) and Gaz Moore (The Reverends).Produced by Chips Kiesbye (Sator, Nomads, Hellacopters, The Boys etc) and mastered by Henryk Lipp. They played the Rebellion festival in Blackpool, UK, three times. Toured the UK, Czec...

Zooparty has been called "Swedens finest punkband" according to Record collector (UK). If you like your punk catchy as hell then I can't recommend this enough" according to Maximum Rock'n'roll (USA). "No matter what you say" is there sixth album and contains 12 brilliant, timeless new songs. Special guest are Glen Matlock/Sex Pistols (and if you listen to "Elephants" it's like a flashback/ hommage to the "Holidays in the sun" times.), Hans Östlund (The Nomads) and the album include lyrics written with Stephen Straughan (UK Subs) and Gaz Moore (The Reverends).Produced by Chips Kiesbye (Sator, Nomads, Hellacopters, The Boys etc) and mastered by Henryk Lipp. They played the Rebellion festival in Blackpool, UK, three times. Toured the UK, Czec...

Analogue Productions (Atlantic 75 Series)

Celebrating the 75th Anniversary of Atlantic Records!

90125 from Yes featuring "Owner Of A Lonely Heart"

Hybrid Stereo SACD

Yes' 90125 was a departure from their progressive style but it introduced the band to a new generation of fans, reaching No. 5 on the Billboard 200 and No. 16 on the U.K. albums chart. The 1983 album remains their best-selling album with more than 3 million copies sold in the U.S. "Cinema" earned the group a Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance, while "Owner Of A Lonely Heart" was the band's first and only single to reach No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Named for its Atco catalog number, 90125, the album — the band's 11th studio effort — it was born out of the band's self-reinvention. Begun as Cinema, a new band by Chris Squire and Alan White, the project grew to include the slick production of Trevor Horn, the new blood (and distinctly '80s guitar sound) of Trevor Rabin, and eventually the trademark vocals of returning founder Jon Anderson. His late entry insured that Rabin and Horn had a heavy influence on the sound. The album also marked the return of prodigal keyboardist Tony Kaye, whose crisp synth work on "Changes" marked the band's definitive break with its art rock roots.

"Owner Of A Lonely Heart" was a huge crossover hit, and its orchestral break has been relentlessly sampled by rappers ever since. The vocal harmonies of "Leave It" and the beautifully sprawling "Hearts" are additional high points,

90125 is a significant and well-regarded album in the Yes discography.

Recorded live at London’s legendary Roxy Club on April 2, 1977 just five short months before the release of their iconic debut single, call to liberation, prototypic “Oh Bondage, Up Yours!”. Remastered audio & reimagined artwork plus exclusive sleeve notes from original pioneering saxophonist Lora Logic. Limited edition “Spittle White” vinyl.

We're all familiar with this story: the pandemic struck, and people found themselves confined to their homes, left alone with their thoughts. Amidst various musical projects, Shelby Cinca reached out to his former bandmates with the idea of creating and instrumental album in the style of FRODUS—a desire that had never materialized during the band's active years. Despite the challenges of life and logistics, the project began to take shape as Nate and Shelby brainstormed and organized their ideas. They recalled an offer from their fellow DC friend and prolific musician, Aaron DC Edge, to provide raw drum tracks. Shelby accepted Aaron's offer to kickstart a rhythmic foundation, and soon the project came to life. Some tracks remained faithful to the original demos, while others underwent substantial editing. Eventually, songs began to take form in an organic manner, despite the geographical distance between the collaborators. Conceptually, the group aimed to craft a soundtrack for a post-human world, inspired by a cryptic phrase hidden in the artwork of Frodus's last album: "when man dies, we become wolves again." These songs conjure images of overgrown and ruined cities, the return of wildlife, and the interplay of light and darkness, peace and savagery, coexisting in the after- math of humanity's downfall. Without the prominent narrative of anguished vocals, the vistas emerge in the mind's eye without barriers, allowing for a more subtle and profound exploration of the themes.

Big Hotel, the sophomore effort of Winged Wheel, is an evolutionary document. Core members Cory Plump (Spray Paint, Rider/Horse, Expensive Shit), Fred Thomas (Tyvek, Idle Ray), Whitney Johnson (Matchess, Damiana), and Matthew J Rolin (Powers/Rolin Duo, solo) expand their lineup to include Lonnie Slack (Water Damage) and Steve Shelley (Sonic Youth), and instead of the entirely remote method utilized to create their 2022 debut No Island, the far-flung party convened in person in Kingston, NY for a long weekend of live studio recording.

The results are undeniably compelling. The band’s signature cyclonic energy is simultaneously augmented and refined with the approach of real-time collaboration. After tracking three days’ worth of group improvisations, weirdly-born songs, and other spontaneous creations, the hours of material were edited with a similar intensity. Half-hour jams became three-minute ragers and fragments were looped into infinity, calling on the same spliced aesthetic as some of the most adventurous material by Can, Faust, or more recently the experimental production of the International Anthem camp. The stereo field has been torn apart and sewn together again, rerouted with strange and mesmerizing left turns. Vignettes of ambiguous construction, both tightly coiled and exploding, revolve around themselves, gathering intensity and mass, coalescing into something greater than the sum of its parts.

'Demonstrably False' swells into existence like a motorik tidepool, tossing fauna onto the shoreline where it sprouts legs with a steady gait lying readily in wait within them. The controlled frenzy of 'Sleeptraining' marks a determined dash to a patch of reeds that are given form by the propulsive and minimal 'Clean Blue Shelf,' where lush terror and the balm of shelter seem equally likely to dwell. 'Grief in the Garden' describes itself like the eventual, fleeting triumph of eyeing the sun as it rises to declare the end of a starless night.

'Smudged Textile' seems another gesture from the sun, where it begins its work of burning swaths of cloud away to uncover the stark and perfect sky; it is around here that the sensation of flight becomes all but irresistible. The aerial coolness of 'Aren’t They All' maintains a reassuring pace much more like a heartbeat than a flapping of wings, which flows naturally into 'Soft Hands,' a piece that widens and ultimately splits the perception, somehow evoking an even, landbound march even as it continues to narrate that endless, gliding flight. 'Short Acting' is blissfully ambiguous in its suggestion, managing to hint at the vault of heaven before descending unhurriedly but inevitably back to earth. 'From Here on Out Nothing Changes' completes the vast arc, teeming as it is with the wild and singular energy of conscious life.

Where No Island was born out of distance and murk, these songs breathe and erupt in close quarters. Though the band isn't necessarily concerned with finding new levels of clarity, there’s a newfound power in the steady drive of Shelley’s unmistakable rhythmic style, and the unexpected interplay that builds on this foundation. Big Hotel is the sound of what happens in the rare and intriguing moments when Winged Wheel are all in the same room."—Jen Powers, March 2024