Thrill Jockey Rock & Indie 141 Items

In celebration of the 20th anniversary of the release legendary singer/ guitarist Thalia Zedek's Been Here and Gone, Thrill Jockey is proud to present the album unlike it has ever been heard before: on vinyl, re-mastered by Sarah Register. Thalia Zedek has been one of the most enduring rock musicians of the past four decades. From her auspicious beginnings in bands Uzi, Live Skull, and Dangerous Birds to her wider recognition in Come, Zedek established herself as a singular voice accruing accolades from critics and contemporaries including J. Mascis, Kurt Cobain, and Bob Mould. Been Here and Gone, her debut solo release originally released on Matador in 2001 on CD, marked a turning point in Zedek's music. As Come was coming to a close, Zedek began exploring writing and performing as a solo artist, eventually backed by violist David Curry, pianist Mel Lederman (both of which went on to perform with Zedek for two decades), as well as former Come bandmates Chris Brokaw and Daniel Coughlin. The idiosyncrasies of her voice were laid bare for the first time, revealing an even greater depth to her unique songwriting. The more spacious and rich arrangements sprawl and whisper with powerful vulnerability. "There was definitely something magical about the making of Been Here and Gone," says Zedek. "I'm not sure if it was because it was made at a studio called Higher Power in a recently desanctified church in Stuyvesant, NY, or if it was because it was the end of a century, not to mention a millennium, the end of a decade of being in Come, the longest running band I'd had up to that point, and the end of 5 years of unhappy breakups and tumultuous relationships in my personal life." The eleven tracks that comprise Been Here and Gone embody that tension of uncertainty with a hopeful edge of renewal. Zedek's indelible resilience lifts even the somberest laments into triumphs. Even on the album's three cover tunes, including a haunting rendition of Leonard Cohen's "Dance Me to the End of Love," Zedek's voice and guitar color every note with raw emotion, making each passing gesture personal. Been Here and Gone channels the thunder and roar of Zedek's past into a fragile magnificence.

Available on vinyl for the first time in 10 years, with new cover design by Tim Rutilli, in limited edition ice age blue LP and on black LP, both with download card included Califone's earliest roots lie in the band Red Red Meat, from whence came Califone's founding members Tim Rutili and Ben Massarella and its longtime producer Brian Deck. The band's first release was a self-titled EP on Flydaddy in 1998, followed later by the full-length debut, Roomsound, in 2001 (later reissued on Thrill Jockey) and eventually the band's Thrill Jockey debut, Quicksand/ Cradlesnakes in 2003. After touring for the release of Roomsound, Califone had little time off to take in the impact of the music they were creating. In three years, they recorded four albums (two instrumental, two song-based including Heron King Blues) and toured heavily in between with Wilco, Modest Mouse, The Sea and Cake and others. After the tour for Heron King Blues in 2004, Califone finally took a breath and came back together in late 2005 to begin recordings. They worked on it in chunks at 4Deuces Studio in Chicago with Brian Deck, in Long Beach and Phoenix with Michael Krassner, and at home in Los Angeles and Chicago until May 2006. The time away and each member's individual work naturally brought new elements into the sound of Califone's music. Both Rutili's and Becker's soundtrack work are more atmospheric, however the challenge of enhancing a scene of film without cluttering it or overwhelming it informed their approach to the new recording. Similarly, the burglary of Califone's equipment during the band's last tour (including guitars, banjo, a 1917 violin, bells and more) altered the sound as they had to find new gear on a tight budget. The instruments are new partners, new sounds that forced them to stretch in new directions. Limitations, obstructions and darkness, and the new possibilities they illuminate; roots and crowns. "In that way", says Rutili, "this album is a conscious and resolved thing. It fully realizes ideas we touched on in the past and where we come from as a band, and takes us into our next phase of life."

Pelican and Thrill Jockey are proud to present a deluxe edition of the band’s acclaimed 2005 album: The Fire In Our Throats Will Beckon The Thaw, newly remixed, remastered, and featuring special bonus rarities including an early version of “Red Ran Amber,” (previously only available on a split with Mono) and demos of “Autumn Into Summer,” “Last Day of Winter” and “Sirius” The Fire In Our Throats established Pelican as indisputable masters of their craft. Pelican’s ability to alchemize their influences into a sound so wholly original and then expand on that sound into a work of captivating beauty remains a marvel. The album indelibly shifted the paradigm of heavy music and the ripples of that shift can be heard in the countless bands that have risen to prominence since its release. The genre-busting nature of the album’s melodicism and refined dynamics was a harbinger of things to come in a genre whose strict boundaries were rapidly being shattered; a fact recognized and cemented by the album’s critical reception, which engendered everything from an Album of the Year nod from Decibel, to pontifications about Pelican representing a rising wave of intellectualism in metal from the New York Times. Nearly two decades since the album’s release on Hydra Head Records, The Fire In Our Throats has stood as not just one of the band’s most celebrated releases, but as a watershed work of avant-metal. The album arrives with a fresh mix by its original engineer Greg Norman and mastering by Josh Bonati, imbibing the songs with a new ferocity while also granting increased clarity, highlighting the developing interplay between each member The refreshed mix brings an additional punch to the rhythm section of bassist Bryan Herweg and drummer Larry Herweg, bolstering the brightened melodicism and interlocking riffing between guitarists Trevor Shelley de Brauw and Laurent Schroeder-Lebec. The more articulate presentation of the album showcases the power of each individual player while buttressing Pelican’s distinct sound as a unified force.

"Hypermagic Mountain is Lightning Bolt's fourth, most well-oiled album: song-by-song it chugs into rockier Van Halen, Fucking Champs, or Orthrelm territory." - Pitchfork
Hypermagic Mountain, Lightning Bolt's 4th album has been unavailable for nearly a decade since it's 2005 release. Back as a double LP including a full drawing by Brian Chippendale as the D side Etching! The package includes a large scale 4-page book (previous pressings included a cd size book). Recorded at Machines with Magnets and Lightning Bolt's home by Dave Auchenbach. Lightning Bolt play with abandon that is unmatched and remarkably undiluted and this album is just one more example of that raw power and sound.
They are often called one of the loudest rock outfits in existence, both on record and on (or famously, off) the stage. Brian Gibson creates sounds that are unexpected and remarkably varied with his virtuosic bass playing and his inventive approach to the instrument, centered around melody rather than rhythm. The dizzying fury of Brian Chippendale's drums twist from primal patterns into disorienting break beats as his distorted, and echoing vocals weave more melody into the mayhem.
"Certain loud guitar rock records serve as brain erasers, a form of shock therapy zapping through aural inputs and (to mix metaphors) cleaning the proverbial clock. Lightning Bolt is one such thing." -LA Times

McCombs is one of the most highly regarded bassists/guitarists working today, known for his pioneering band Tortoise, his bass playing in Chicago"s Eleventh Dream Day, and his innovative instrumental group Brokeback. He has released albums with guitarist David Daniell, and collaborated with the likes of Tom Zé to Yo La Tengo, Stereolab to Daniel Lanois. In addition to being the touring bassist for The Sea and Cake, McCombs has somehow found time to form a new trio Black Duck with guitarist Bill MacKay, and percussionist Charles Rumback. Douglas McCombs" VMAKMcCombs" debut solo album is a mix of improvisation, textural explorations and recurring melodic themes. Taking after Brokeback"s classic Morse Code in the Modern Age: Across the Americas, "Two To Coolness" is a piece that McCombs refined through a series of improvised performances and features Calexico drummer John Convertino, as well as singer/guitarist/synth player Sam Prekop (also of The Sea and Cake). "Green Crown"s Step" was largely improvised working through melodies and patterns. The stately "To Whose Falls Shallows" reshapes three key themes that Tortoise and Brokeback fans will find to be signature McCombs, buoyed by fellow Brokeback member James Elkington (Tweedy), who also engineered and mixed the album. On the album, McCombs plays with spare instrumentation and primarily plays electric and acoustic guitars as well as the Bass VI, drawing out textures that stretch the scope of his instruments. McCombs" work is pastoral and expansive, his playing is refined and nuanced, and his melodies often bely his admiration for Ennio Morricone as his guitar imbues endlessly sprawling fields of the midwest with the same sense of magic. It is a true pleasure to hear him perform in such an intimate way. This is an absolute essential for followers of McCombs and newcomers alike, as the album lays bare his influence on each of his groups as well as firmly stakes McCombs as a force all his own.

Sam Prekop's boundless imagination is guided by his strong sense of melody. For more than 25 years, as a solo artist or as part of The Sea and Cake, Prekop creates a singular sound that is both inventive and warm. New album Comma takes Pekop's electronic music experiments in a surprising new direction. Working extensively with beat programming for the first time, Prekop uses rhythm as a narrative tool, tapping into electronic music's romantic and emotional qualities. Comma embraces the analogue synthesizer's often unpredictable nature, imbuing the record with a decidedly organic feel even while working within the relative rigidity of beat architectures. Prekop's creative process is a combination of preparation and improvisation. Writing sessions for Comma began with an open-ended exploration of sounds and textures from which the first fragments of songs would reveal themselves. The introduction of drum machines and additional synthesizer units to his modular setup shifted things in surprising new directions as he worked to bend them into more traditional pop song structures. Drum tracks and emergent rhythms provided the frameworks and narrative sketches to be fleshed out with lustrous widescreen synth pads and ribboning melodies. In approaching his writing with a completely open mind and letting himself be guided by the music, Prekop maintains a delicate balance between composition and chance, control and spontaneity. Prekop's wide-eyed sense of discovery guides his exploration of beat-driven music, pushing him to use rhythm as a narrative tool and to embrace electronic music's romantic and emotional qualities. With Comma, Prekop compiles an incredible breadth of ideas into a surprisingly coherent sound-world. It's a modern minimal pop album that taps into the experimental heritage of the synthesizer. The album places Sam Prekop's work squarely in the tradition of electronic music pioneers like Brian Eno and Yellow Magic Orchestra who brought together the unrestrained ambition of the avant-garde with the immediacy and accessibility of pop music.

In January 2011 Sam Prekop, Archer Prewitt, John McEntire, and Eric Claridge reconvened at Chicago"s Soma Electronic Music Studios to record their latest release The Moonlight Butterfly. This thirty three minute mini-album finds the band deliverying much more long form and cinematic pieces. The new songs lean upon the band"s more experimental tendencies, taking time to stretch the forms and in someways the new material relates to the way the band re-interpretes some of their songs live. With the band making a shorter than usual record they were allowed to take more chances and ended up with a release that leans a bit more towards the instrumental. Rather than having the vocals be the sole focal point the shifts in emphasis to other instruments facilitated a more open approach. The song "Weekend" from Car Alarm was kind of an unwitting blueprint for some of the new material. Especially the new song "Inn Keeping" where a synthesizer pattern became the armature for the song, a constant to play with and against. "Inn Keeping" is also quite a breakthrough for the band, sounding unlike anything they have done before and breaking the 10 minute mark.

Exploring the complexity of personal experience, emotions and our shared histories, Vade Mecum finds Jones painting his music in boundaryless colors, captivatingly vivid. Issued on black and limited-edition red vinyl, packaged in a gatefold jacket with image oriented across both sides in a classic 1970's Style. Package includes notes and tunings for each song and download card.

The title, nature morte, is the French term for still life paintings whose literal translation is "dead nature." Big|brave color the songs of nature morte with unease, creating an air of beauty in decay, chords suspended in contemplative stillness. Robin Wattie"s experiences structuring lyrics and song forms on The Body & Big|brave"s Leaving None But Small Birds informed her work on nature morte, creating stories that, like many folk tales, are at once specific and universal. Wattie"s voice manages to be commanding and vulnerable with impressive range and intimacy. Even her gasps carve their way through the tidal crash of Mathieu Ball"s distortion wail and the pummel of Tasy Hudson"s drums. The momentum of nature morte conjures the image of a beast collapsing beneath its own weight before resiliently staggering upright to thunder onward. Big|brave convey heft from silence as deftly as they do from swaths of feedback and distortion to cathartic ends. "Distortion is key," notes Ball The three members recorded primarily live over the course of a week at Machines with Magnets with Seth Manchester, pushing the potential of their instruments beyond expectations. For each song, the trio"s songwriting and attention to detail deliver its simple but devastating emotional power. Across the album"s six pieces Big|brave create a tension between immediacy and patience, invoking the essence of disquiet, while conveying anguish through inventive arrangements and nuanced performances. nature morte captures Big|brave at their heaviest and their mournful fury is at its zenith, an album where each moment is so immense and consuming that it possesses its own gravitational pull.

Tortoise has spent nearly 30 years making music that defies description. While the Chicago-based instrumental quintet has nodded to dub, rock, jazz, electronica and minimalism throughout its revered and influential discography, the resulting sounds have always been distinctly, even stubbornly, their own. One of the throughlines that create that distinctive sound is what might be called a pervasive element of group play, or ensemble-mindedness, as opposed to emphasis on a virtuoso soloist or frontman. Rhythms, Resolutions and Clusters follows in this line as Tortoise turned their iconic early songs over to their friends to play with. The remixes by other legends including Bundy K. Brown, Steve Albini, Jim O'Rourke, Brad Wood (Liz Phair), Casey Rice, Mike Watt (Minute Men), and Rick Brown (75 Dollar Bill) create a sense of community, and unlimited creativity. It's been out of print since 1995. Tortoise...have spent the past 25 years and seven albums fusing dub, jazz, prog, and indie into an instantly recognizable and much-loved trademark sound. - Pitchfork As with the best of Tortoise, these tracks can be enjoyed on many levels, but when listened to carefully, they reveal seemingly infinite sonic treasures. - Pitchfork

One Day You Will Ache Like I Ache is the first collaborative release from The Body and Full of Hell. Through their own respective recordings, both The Body and Full of Hell are internationally-revered as forward-thinking entities of harsh music, delivering their audio torment through incredibly intense and often unorthodox methods. The Body's 2010-released All The Waters Of The Earth Turn To Blood sophomore LP stands among the band's high points and remains on of the most groundbreaking and frightening albums in recent times. Their subsequent releases, including several LPs and more have continued to expand upon this seminal release. Similarly, Full of Hell rapidly became a favorite amongst hardcore, grind, death and noise metal fans upon their formation with an incredibly energetic and destructive live attack. Their 2013-released Rudiments Of Mutilation sophomore LP solidified them as one of the most damaging new acts going, and since its detonation, the band's intensity and hunger for experimentation continues to magnify. Both acts are proven collaborators, relishing the results of collective efforts to create life-numbing constellations of distortion and depravity. The two members of The Body have joined forces with arcane producer The Haxan Cloak (Bobby Krlic) for the I Shall Die Here long player, Louisiana's darkest sludge troupe Thou for You, Whom I Have Always Hated, as well as Nothing Passes with Braveyoung and a myriad of splits with artists as divers and detesting as Australia's Whitehorse, Japan's Vampillia, Rhode Island's Sandworm, and New Jersey's Krieg taking their virulent, insidious influence to unsuspecting destinations both stateside and abroad. Full of Hell made a huge impression on the ears of fans and those previously unfamiliar with the band with 2014's two-part alliance with internationally feared noisemonger Merzbow, which resulted in the Full of Hell & Merzbow LP and the subsequent Sister Fawn EP. Their discography is littered with noise sodden demos and splits that wrench Full of Hell in to fresh dimensions of heaviness and extremity, and their constant live actions never cease to stun.

Multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Dan Friel is unrivaled in his capacity to inject blistering noise and energy into ferocious pop songs. A champion and mainstay of the NYC underground, Friel the has played alongside the likes of Lightning Bolt and Black Dice as well collaborated with acclaimed string quartet Ethel. Upper Wilds channels Friel's unbreakably ebullient spirit into mountainous rock music dripping with molten fuzz. The trio's exploration of the interstellar expands in parallel to their increasing levels of bombast and precision. Venus synthesizes the experimentation of debut Guitar Module 2017 and the thunder of 2018's Mars into ten lean chunks of cosmic rock laden with scorching hooks. On Venus, Upper Wilds rocket lovestruck anthems centered around the planet named for the Roman goddess of love at full tilt from the moment "Love Song #1" makes liftoff. The album's incendiary opening trilogy crashes with a relentless vigor and addictive melodies. The rhythm section of bassist Jason Binnick (who also mixed the album) and drummer Jeff Ottenbacher tear through off-kilter riffs that pound with meteoric impact. Friel's guitar sputters and froths beneath his voice before soaring into frenetic leads that pack every moment with powerful melody. Alien croons and glitching spasms spill out of Friel's wild, filtered humming, amplified into oblivion. Venus' few moments of respite lay bare the raw efficiency and beauty of Friel's songwriting, like transmissions home to loved ones thousands of miles away slipping through the crackle and chaos of space. Venus traverses the havoc, mystery, and joy of humanity's countless follies in both space and love. Both cosmic and human, Venus is a deeply affecting celebration of the wonders of what is beyond comprehension internally and externally. Upper Wilds' Venus is an exhilarating odyssey of tremendous exuberance and a testament to human resilience in the face of the unknown.

Hot on the heels of the sold-out limited ep Was It Ever Real?, The Soft Pink Truth releases a super catchy, sexy contemporary disco banger Is It Going To Get Any Deeper Than This?, Throughout the ten songs of the album, the provocation to go "deeper" prompts promiscuous moves across the genres of disco, minimalism, ambient, and jazz, sliding onto and off of the dancefloor, sweeping higher and lower on the scale of frequencies, engaging both philosophical texts re-set as pop lyrics and wordless glossolalia. Throughout, Is It Going To Get Any Deeper Than This? aims for a kind of psychedelic poolside take on disco, using the steady 120 bpm rhythmic chassis of the music as a launchpad for reverie rather than big room EDM bluster. Sidestepping retro kitsch but paying homage to highly personal interpretations of disco such as Arthur Russell, Don Ray, Dr. Buzzard"s Original Savannah Band, and Mandré, or the jazz-funk of Creed Taylor and CTI Records. Its emphasis on slowly morphing deep house grooves will also appeal to fans of DJ Sprinkles, Moodymann, and Theo Parrish. At once catchy and spacey, poppy and perverse, Is It Going To Get Any Deeper Than This? shows a restless musician trying to square the circle of dance music and meditation, repetition, and change.

Colleen is an aboundingly inventive composer and artist. For two decades Cécile Schott, as Colleen, has crafted welcoming, enchanting, and bewildering music. The multi-instrumentalist and vocalist's timeless compositions make use of carefully selected tools to mold memories into transcendent splendor. The Tunnel and the Clearing finds Schott at her most vulnerable and confident, invoking contemplative and swirling organ processed through analog electronics, steady drum machine syncopations and her distinctive voice. On an album centered on processing the complicated washes of emotion through tribulations and revelations Colleen presents a vision of breathless clarity.

Trace is a masterclass in sound design. Alison Chesley"s formidable skill as a cellist and composer ground the compositions with rich organic sounds of cello and bow. Will Thomas"s equally deft hand-manipulated electronics, and keyboards create potent frameworks that bolster the sense of mystery and searching across the album. Chesley and Thomas"s unique voices as composers remain discernable and present throughout the album, but Trace is a celebration of the connection of collaboration with an acute sense of details and the power they convey. On Trace, the duo utilizes timbre, tone, and dynamics as essential tools in crafting stunning emotive narratives. Together, the duo wields sound with inquisitive aplomb, burrowing into each other"s sonic aesthetics and unearthing irrefutable beauty. Chesley is an unparalleled cellist and composer who has been making boundaryless music for nearly three decades under the moniker Helen Money. From her work in Verbow to her solo releases, extending to her work as a highly sought-after collaborator with Jarboe, Bob Mould, Steve Albini, Neurosis, and many more, Chesley has remained a singular voice and a pioneer in expanding the scope and perception of the cello. Will Thomas is an active composer for commercials, TV, and film (GvsE, CSI, The Haunted Swordsman). He has also contributed to several of Helen Money"s solo albums and an ongoing collaboration with Roger Eno.

Oozing Wound are both a subversive force in heavy music and key players in Chicago"s vibrant DIY warehouse scene. Their albums gleefully defy categorisation, delighting in contradictions and delivered with self-aware humor that sets them apart from their peers. No one is safe from their scathing gaze, not even themselves. Self-described as "a rock-band wolf in metal sheep"s clothing", this disparity has brought accusations of the band "not taking this seriously" in the deeply serious business that is entertainment. Beneath the blunt- force of the trio"s music lies a deep-set dedication to sonic experimentalism. Catalysts of Chicago"s underground, the trio of guitarist and vocalist Zack Weil, bassist Kevin Cribbin and drummer Kyle Reynolds are champions of irreverence, experimentation and unrelenting volume. Their impact on Chicago DIY can not be overlooked: Cribbin lived in and ran legendary performance space Situations, while Reynolds" Rotted Tooth Recordings was home to many of the scene"s essential artists. On We Cater To Cowards, Oozing Wound push their music further by turning metal into itself and with their scathing social observations they have produced an album that is devastatingly fierce and undeniably addictive.We Cater To Cowards is the band"s most daring and devastating album; it is a refreshing and exhilarating mutation of genres forging Oozing Wounds" own distinct path. As Weil aptly puts it: "we don"t care about propriety or the sanctity of TRVE METAL or any of that bullshit."

Hypermagic Mountain, Lightning Bolt's 4th album has been unavailable for nearly a decade since it's 2005 release. Back as a double LP including a full drawing by Brian Chippendale as the D side Etching! Recorded at Machines with Magnets and Lightning Bolt's home by Dave Auchenbach. Lightning Bolt play with abandon that is unmatched and remarkably undiluted and this album is just one more example of that raw power and sound.

Arbouretum's mystic folk-rock uses English folk, country blues, Americana and 70s psychedelia as touchpoints in their singular and distinctive sound and they've perfected the craft of storytelling, using a delicate interplay of melodies and prosaic lyrics. Let It All In is their most accomplished and evocative album yet. Guitarist and vocalist Dave Heumann's melodies and solos remain a central focus bolstered by the hypnotic rhythms of bassist Corey Allender and drummer Brian Carey, enhanced by Matthew Pierce's substantial yet understated keyboard figures. Each song a vivid scene or tale; Heumann's deep sense of spirituality and command of storytelling through myth and metaphor transports the listener to another world and time.
Let It All In is as instantly arresting as it is deeply reflective, with layers of sound and metaphor to unravel and interpret in their own way. It is a beautiful album that lives in and reflects the present moment while sounding as if it were forged in another era. Invoking nature as a backdrop for exploring humanity's relationship to time, history, and the present socio-political climate, often highlighting water as a ubiquitous if often unconscious presence in our lives. It acts as a subtle connecting thread through each piece's imagined landscapes, as well as taking on a symbol for change and spirit. The group has always centered around Heumann's remarkable voice and songwriting. His skill as a vocalist and guitar player have led to playing with artists such as Cass McCombs, Will Oldham, and many others. Let It All In is an invitation to jump into an album rich with timeless elegance. Their live shows and the otherworldliness of their music have made Arbouretum a cultish band. Their profound music endures and rewards fans both old and new. Arbouretum has added another exceptional work to their catalog that will weather changing fashions and reward those who explore their entirely unique world.

15 years after the album"s release, City of Echoes is now available in a deluxe 2xLP edition, newly remastered by Josh Bonati and featuring a full LP-worth of bonus material, including original album demos, alternate takes, and pieces originally only available on the rare Pink Mammoth EP. City of Echoes, originally released in 2007 by Hydra Head Records, marked a paradigm shift for Pelican. Coming off the heels of the glacial Australasia and their even more expansive and acclaimed follow-up, The Fire In Our Throats Will Beckon The Thaw, their third album is a study in precision. Inspired by their non-stop tour schedule following The Fire"s release, the quartet composed City of Echoes to be a lean powerhouse of non-stop melodic hooks and lurching rhythms that reflected the energy of live performance. With City of Echoes, Pelican defied expectations and set themselves apart from the single-minded thrum of retreading old ground. The more concise pieces trade breadth and rumination for a distinct clarity and a razor"s edge for hook-driven songcraft. Guitarists Trevor Shelley de Brauw and Laurent Schroeder-Lebec trade crisp riffs that twirl in opposition before thundering together in monoliths. The sheer amount of potent interplay between the two, often borrowing from disparate edges of rock and metal at a whim before completely transforming, is mind-boggling. Bassist Bryan Herweg and rhythm section compatriot/drummer/brother Larry Herweg lock into a wider array of grooves than ever before. Their considered bedrock guide the band"s dynamics into some of the ensemble"s most tender moments as well as their most ferocious. City of Echoes stands as a testament to Pelican"s ability to reconfigure the grandeur and force of their sound without ever repeating themselves.

Terry Gross is an engrossing trio composed of guitarist Phil Manley (Trans Am), bassist Donny Newenhouse, and drummer Phil Becker. The trio are also connected as owners and engineers at Bay Area recording spot El Studio, where they began improvising together as a way to test the boundaries and gear of the studio. Their loose, organic chemistry burgeoned into a deep camaraderie and a sound both expansive and exacting. The three experienced musicians crafted their first fulllength album through the pure joy of playing together with no expectations. With the tapes rolling on their rehearsals, the band captures the exuberance of live performance and elevates those recordings through a deft use of the studio as their collective instrument. On their debut LP Soft Opening, Terry Gross channels their cosmic powers and considerable chops into a gleefully mesmerizing odyssey fit for an arena. Soft Opening took shape over the course of 2016-2019, with Terry Gross writing and refining their songs. "Space Voyage Mission" and "Worm Gear" parallel one another as sinuous jams that pulse with adamantine fervor. Each mountainous epic churns spellbinding repetition and simplicity into dizzying gallops that take hairpin turns into sinewy riffing and elysian vocal melodies. Phil Manley's guitar takes on a constellation of tones across "Space Voyage Mission" with drifting delays soaring over the Newenhouse and Becker's driving rhythm section which all succumb to frothing overdrives that spin the song into entirely new pastures. The hypnotic throb of "Worm Gear" grows all the more enchanting as Newenhouse and Becker add subtle shifts to the single-chord barrage. "Specificity (Or What Have You)" contrasts these two in its more traditionally pop-oriented structure while retaining its predecessors wide-eyed energy and delves further into the album's lightheartedyet-earnest take on sci-fi tropes from space and time travel to the singularity. As Terry Gross, Phil Manley, Donny Newenhouse, and Phil Becker are sonic scientists traversing the borderlands of rock. Soft Opening captures the simple joy of a no-holds-barred trio in stunning detail, transporting the listener into the splendor and freedom of rock.

Debut album World Vision Perfect Harmony follows a decade of collaborations starting with The Body and Braveyoung's Nothing Passes. For their debut as a duo, Buford and Jones blend bracing and imaginative takes on rhythmic-centric forms from dub, breakbeats, hip hop and beyond for a phantasmagoria of bristling drumscapes. Manslaughter 777 pulls together a vast array of disparate percussive traditions and patterns into a veil of dark, propulsive energy. Recorded and mixed by Seth Manchester at Machines With Magnets, the album's mélange of live and sampled beats fizzle, splat and rupture with an edge. While there are sounds that could be at home on a record by The Body, Manslaughter 777 inhabits much more open spaces. The duo's music is based primarily on drums and eclectic samples, shifting melodic ideas to the overtones and resonances of their respective percussive thuds or clicks. Buford and Jones incorporate hybridizations of live, sampled, and electronic percussion obscuring their boundaries while highlighting their specific tonal and timbral qualities. An alchemical balance of detailed and dynamic production guides each element to the fore in steady waves of relentless momentum. Taken as a whole, World Vision Perfect Harmony is a cornucopia of rhythmic texture. Manslaughter 777 channels a deluge of kineticism into a web of syncopated grooves that are equally entrancing and provocative. Audacious sound architects, Buford and Jones built an album that passionately revels in the world of rhythm. Manslaughter 777's constructs glide as gracefully as they rumble. Together, they are a monument to the power of percussion.

"Hypermagic Mountain is Lightning Bolt's fourth, most well-oiled album: song-by-song it chugs into rockier Van Halen, Fucking Champs, or Orthrelm territory." - Pitchfork
Hypermagic Mountain, Lightning Bolt's 4th album has been unavailable for nearly a decade since it's 2005 release. Back as a double LP including a full drawing by Brian Chippendale as the D side Etching! The package includes a large scale 4-page book (previous pressings included a cd size book). Recorded at Machines with Magnets and Lightning Bolt's home by Dave Auchenbach. Lightning Bolt play with abandon that is unmatched and remarkably undiluted and this album is just one more example of that raw power and sound.
They are often called one of the loudest rock outfits in existence, both on record and on (or famously, off) the stage. Brian Gibson creates sounds that are unexpected and remarkably varied with his virtuosic bass playing and his inventive approach to the instrument, centered around melody rather than rhythm. The dizzying fury of Brian Chippendale's drums twist from primal patterns into disorienting break beats as his distorted, and echoing vocals weave more melody into the mayhem.
"Certain loud guitar rock records serve as brain erasers, a form of shock therapy zapping through aural inputs and (to mix metaphors) cleaning the proverbial clock. Lightning Bolt is one such thing." -LA Times

The Soft Pink Truth is Drew Daniel, who also forms one half of acclaimed electronic duo Matmos. Started as an outlet to explore visceral and sublime sounds that fall outside of Matmos' purview, it draws on knowledge of rave, black metal, and crust punk obscurities to subvert and critique genre expectations. On this record Daniel takes a bold and surprising new direction, moving beyond simple plunderphonic sampling and opening up a genuine dialogue with other musicians, Daniel left room in his compositions for moments of genuine surprise, capturing the freeform, communal energy of a DJ set or live improvisation session more than a recording project. It feels ethereal but full, both ambiently hypnotic, and deliciously danceable. Shall We Go On Sinning... began as an emotional response to the creeping rise of fascism around the globe. Daniel explains: "The election of Donald Trump made me feel very angry and sad, but I didn't want to make 'angry white guy' music in a purely reactive mode. I felt that I needed to make music through a different process, and to a different emotional outcome, to get past a private feeling of powerlessness by making musical connections with friends and people I admire, to make something that felt socially extended and affirming." Those musical connections make this record what it is; vocals provided by the chorus of Colin Self, Angel Deradoorian and Jana Hunter form the foundation of most of the tracks, sometimes left unchanged as with opening line ("Shall") or the sensuous R&B refrains on "We", other times shrouded in effects, morphing into new forms. Stately piano melodies written by Daniel's partner M.C. Schmidt as well as Koye Berry alongside entrancing vibraphone and percussion patterns from Sarah Hennies push tracks toward ecstatic and melodic peaks, while rich saxophone textures played by Andrew Bernstein (Horse Lords) and John Berndt are used to add color and texture throughout. The album's overall sound was in part shaped by Daniel hosting Mitchell Brown of GASP during Maryland Deathfest. Daniel borrowed Brown's Roland Space Echo tape unit which he then used extensively throughout to give the album a flickering, ethereal quality. The melodies, jubilance, and meditative nature of album provides a much-needed escape from the contemporary hell-scape. The process of creating Shall We Go On Sinning So That Grace May Increase?, in and of itself, is the Soft Pink Truth's way of championing creativity and community over rage and nihilism.

The Sea and Cake's sixth album One Bedroom is back on vinyl. Pressed on white color vinyl and packaged in a high gloss jacket with a free download coupon. The Sea and Cake's sixth album, One Bedroom, is elegant pop. Membrane-like layers of electronic tones, delicate synthesizers surround intricately woven guitars. Melodic bass lines punctuate these restrained and complex sounds. Songs are propelled by imaginative percussion lines and shaped by spare warm vocals. Prekop's lyrical style is poetic as opposed to narrative. Paradoxically, the resulting album of delicate precisely constructed songs sounds effortless. One Bedroom is a beautiful collection of creatively constructed and singular pop songs.

Lightning Bolt redefined what it means to be DIY. An utterly singular band in every way, unbridled creativity and energy propel them well past most categorical boundaries, the least of which is the boundary between band and audience. Theirs is an immersive experience - a sound so huge it can swallow us all. Earthly Delights is the metal album to Lightning Bolt"s genre-straddling discography, using the signature speed and volume reminiscent of past releases while centering around growling chords and monolithic rhythms commonly found in the foundations of metal. Amorphous songs feature a sort of gravitational pull, dragging listeners in and driving the pounding rhythms of Brian Chippendale into the brain until they are stuck in.Wielding the bass, Brian Gibson strays from his typical high-end runs, cramming thick chords between frantic beats, creating a brutal and grueling churn. Although this record is likely to wear you outwith unrelenting heaviness and elongated mega-jamming, we think fans will find this reissue of Earthly Delights quite- delightful...They are often called one of the loudest rock outfits in existence, both on records and on (or famously, off) the stage. Brian Gibson creates sounds that are unexpected and remarkably varied with his virtuosic bass playing and his inventive approach to the instrument, centered around melody rather than rhythm. The dizzying fury of Brian Chippendale"s drums twist from primal patterns into disorienting break beats as his distorted, and echoing vocals weave more melody into the mayhem. The impact that Lightning Bolt has had on underground music since its inception is immense, and remains pervasive beyond any genre tag that has been attached to them. Earthly Delights is the work of a band unafraid to challenge themselves, unbound by expectations, joyfully defiant, and possessed of the same inventive curiosity which set them apart on day one, and is still unmatched years later.

Ride the Skies is the 2nd album by Lightning Bolt, and this rerelease makes it available to fans for the first time since it's original release. Compared to their first album it's cleaner, tighter, recorded in studio rather than live. Which is not to say this is boring or sanitized in any way, Lightning Bolt never fail to make magic, filling a space with loud, raw sound. Sounds of synth or guitar turn out to be bass, and riffs become patterns, become a beat in the background, become a wall of noise, become a clear sound above it all. Lightning Bolt are known for the sound that truly comes into it's own in this album. Outside of their 7 acclaimed albums, they're known for frequent & exhilirating live shows, and this reputation has created a market for their older titles. Ride the Skies is rereleased with deluxe packaging featuring jacket art that was designed by Brian Chippendale for the original release but has never been realized until now. Recent Thrill Jockey Lightning Bolt re-releases seem to move as quickly as the Brians playing live, as old and new fans jump at the rare opportunity to finally get an old favorite in a shiny new jacket."