Rock & Indie 77 Items

"Look to the East, Look to the West", das neue Album von Camera Obscura, ist eine Offenbarung. Die von Tracyanne Campbell geleitete Band hat sich wieder mit dem Produzenten Jari Haapalainen zusammengetan und ein Album geschaffen, das daran erinnert, warum die langjährigen Fans sie seit Jahrzehnten heiß und innig lieben, und das gleichzeitig ihr bisher anspruchsvollstes Werk ist. Es ist auch das am härtesten umkämpfte Album in der Karriere von Camera Obscura. Nach dem Tod von Gründungsmitglied, Keyboarder und Freund Carey Lander im Jahr 2015 (an den der vorletzte Track "Sugar Almond" gerichtet ist), ging die Band in eine längere Pause. Sie blieben in Kontakt, aber ihr Status war ungewiss. Nachdem sie eingeladen worden waren, im Rahmen von Belle & Sebastians Kreuzfahrtfestival Boaty Weekender 2019 aufzutreten, kündigten sie ihre Rückkehr an. Donna Maciocia (Keyboards und Gesang) stieß bei diesen Shows zu den Gründungsmitgliedern Kenny McKeeve (Gitarre und Gesang), Gavin Dunbar (Bass) und Lee Thomson (Schlagzeug und Perkussion) und ist seitdem Songwriting-Partnerin von Campbell. Aufgenommen im selben Raum, in dem Queen "Bohemian Rhapsody" schrieb, fühlt sich "Look to the East, Look to the West" groß an, eine Breitwand-Neuinterpretation des Camera Obscura-Sounds, bei der die Band paradoxerweise zu den Grundlagen zurückkehrte - es gibt keine Streicher- oder Bläserarrangements, der Schwerpunkt liegt auf Klavier, Synthesizern, Hammond-Orgel und Drumcomputern, und, was vielleicht am auffälligsten ist, die Gruppe hat den Hallschleier fallen lassen, der ihre früheren Alben charakterisierte. Der Hauch von Country und Soul, der Camera Obscuras barocke Interpretation von Popmusik so bittersüß macht, war noch nie so offensichtlich - die Gitarren schimmern in die Ferne, die Tasten spuken, und Campbells Stimme sucht nach dem Herzen, reflektiert über Liebe, Verlust und den Lauf der Zeit. "Look to the East, Look to the West" ist Camera Obscura in seiner besten und eindrucksvollsten Form, ein Album, das den emotionalen Kern des Hörers völlig neu ordnet und ihn gleichzeitig traurig und beschwingt zurücklässt. Der Katalog von Camera Obscura ist voll von Liedern, die Menschen als lebensverändernd bezeichnen, Lieder, die sie ihr ganzes Leben lang begleiten werden. "Look to the East, Look to the West" hat 11 davon zu bieten.

Friday 5th April 2024 sees the re-reissue of Cranes über rare (cassette only) debut album Fuse on Dadaphonic. First time on vinyl and CD!

The Fuse album was remastered at Abbey Road in 2023. The album includes an extra unheard track from the period called New Liberty. Artwork is by Chris Bigg of V23.

The second in a series of archive releases by Cranes, Fuse was recorded in Portsmouth, their home town by siblings Alison and Jim Shaw. It originally appeared as a cassette album in 1986 on the Bite Back! label. With an initial run of only 200 copies, over the years this album, with its distinctive purple cover has been highly sought after amongst fans, often exchanging hands for more than £100.

Fuse showcases a sparser, darker and more industrial, post punk sound. From the hypnotic allure and rhythmic intensity of the title track to the ferocious and challenging beats of Wrench, the songs are just as mesmerising as Cranes' later, critically acclaimed releases.

Recorded in a garage on a 4 track porta-studio, the band spent many months experimenting and became obsessed with the recording process. Jim Shaw used a very early sampling pedal to create the drum sounds, which were all individually triggered. The only and first ‘industry’ person to hear anything by Cranes at this time was Martin Hannett (legendary producer of Joy Division and New Order). He was looking for unsigned bands to appear on a new music TV show in Manchester and so Ian Binnington from Biteback! sent him a compilation tape of many Portsmouth bands. Hannett picked out ‘Fuse - original version” by Cranes and told Ian that the track was ‘fucking great’.

Danny Paul Grody's position within the modern instrumental guitar underground is unique - he isn't a polymath or a virtuoso. What he is is someone who plays with extreme feeling and deep emotion, sensations that pour through his audio to anyone listening. It has been this way for his work in his former band Tartentel as well as his solo work over the past 15 years. 2023's "Arc of Day" saw Grody step into a new environment, one where an album bearing his name featured other players, prominently his old friend Rich Douthit on drums / percussion. That glorious album was such an emotional success for the two players that they quickly recorded a sibling album in a darker tone. "Arc of Night" was born. The nature of writing was such that they re-titled the project the Danny Paul Grody Duo as well. Whereas the prior LP focused on "daytime" sounds, such as they are, with bright and ringing acoustic tones, this LP focuses on the darker side. Deep, shimmering electric tones take hold and guide the listener through those hours that can enrich, enchant and haunt us all. Joined on some tracks by Chuck Johnson (pedal steel) and Trevor Montgomery (bass), this is an album that will make anyone tuned into material by Steve Gunn, William Tyler, Six Organs of Admittance, Jack Rose, Marisa Anderson, Eli Winter or Daniel Bachman quite excited. A great adventure that you and your inclined customers will not soon forget.

Danny Paul Grody's position within the modern instrumental guitar underground is unique - he isn't a polymath or a virtuoso. What he is is someone who plays with extreme feeling and deep emotion, sensations that pour through his audio to anyone listening. It has been this way for his work in his former band Tartentel as well as his solo work over the past 15 years. 2023's "Arc of Day" saw Grody step into a new environment, one where an album bearing his name featured other players, prominently his old friend Rich Douthit on drums / percussion. That glorious album was such an emotional success for the two players that they quickly recorded a sibling album in a darker tone. "Arc of Night" was born. The nature of writing was such that they re-titled the project the Danny Paul Grody Duo as well. Whereas the prior LP focused on "daytime" sounds, such as they are, with bright and ringing acoustic tones, this LP focuses on the darker side. Deep, shimmering electric tones take hold and guide the listener through those hours that can enrich, enchant and haunt us all. Joined on some tracks by Chuck Johnson (pedal steel) and Trevor Montgomery (bass), this is an album that will make anyone tuned into material by Steve Gunn, William Tyler, Six Organs of Admittance, Jack Rose, Marisa Anderson, Eli Winter or Daniel Bachman quite excited. A great adventure that you and your inclined customers will not soon forget.

High Roller Records, reissue 2022, black vinyl, ltd 400, 425gsm heavy cardboard cover, insert, poster, remastered by Patrick W. Engel/ Temple of Disharmony

B-side features “Torii Gates” on vinyl for the first time ever due to fan demand.

Acclaimed by outlets like Aquarium Drunkard and NPR, who praised his, “Cosmic country with a gentle sweetness, reminiscent of Beachwood Sparks and Silver Jews at their twangiest.”

- His rhythm section is drummer Dana Buoy (Akron/Family) and bassist Alex Chapman and enlists pedal steel player Connor Gallaher (Anna St. Louis, Lana Del Rey) to flesh out the songs.
- 2024 festival plays at Treefort, Kilkenny Roots, Otis Mountain Get Down, and west coast summer tour.
- Publicity campaign by Riot Act Media
- Recent touring with William Tyler, Fruit Bats, and more.

RIYL: JJ Cale, Mapache, William Tyler, Steve Gunn, Rose City Band, Amen Dunes, Jake Xerxes Fussell, SUSS, North Americans, Chuck Johnson

B-side features “Torii Gates” on vinyl for the first time ever due to fan demand.

Acclaimed by outlets like Aquarium Drunkard and NPR, who praised his, “Cosmic country with a gentle sweetness, reminiscent of Beachwood Sparks and Silver Jews at their twangiest.”

- His rhythm section is drummer Dana Buoy (Akron/Family) and bassist Alex Chapman and enlists pedal steel player Connor Gallaher (Anna St. Louis, Lana Del Rey) to flesh out the songs.
- 2024 festival plays at Treefort, Kilkenny Roots, Otis Mountain Get Down, and west coast summer tour.
- Publicity campaign by Riot Act Media
- Recent touring with William Tyler, Fruit Bats, and more.

RIYL: JJ Cale, Mapache, William Tyler, Steve Gunn, Rose City Band, Amen Dunes, Jake Xerxes Fussell, SUSS, North Americans, Chuck Johnson

Reissue of the classic 1987 LP by former Barracudas vocalist, Jeremy Gluck in collaboration with Nikki Sudden (Swell Maps + Jacobites) & Rowland S Howard (The Birthday Party + These Immortal Souls) with contributions from Jeffrey Lee Pierce (The Gun Club) and Epic Soundtracks (Swell Maps + Crime & The City Solution). The original LP track 'Hymn' has been removed (Jeremy never liked the vocal) and replaced with a different sounding reprise of the opening track 'Looking For a Place To Fall' at the end of side one, making it feel like a suite. New liner notes by Jeremy Gluck. Soviet Red Vinyl

“The alt-folk fixture returns to more traditional material.” Pitchfork

Originally released in 2010, now re-issued on vinyl. A live recording of “Las Canciones”; a visceral celebration of the persistence of popular anonymous song based on the work of legendary socialist poet Federico García Lorca, a Granada born literary pioneer. Featuring songs from his 1931 collection of mysteriously beautiful flamenco tunes.

A poetically rich collection created by Foster and Herrero for their acoustic band, formed while living in the Grenadine Sierra.

“Foster’s vocals, met by husband Herrero’s frantic and raw gypsy-band orchestration, demonstrates the sense of urgency in the music’s message well and carries ‘Anda Jaleo’ to an elevated state.” The Line Of Best Fit

Originally released in 2011, now re-issued on vinyl. Their follow up to the acclaimed ‘Anda Jaleo’. A document of Josephine Foster's magical partnership with Victor Herrero breathing new life into timeless traditional melodies, drawing from the Spanish-folk traditions of Castile, the Basque, Santander and the Costa Brava.

It feels like an infusion: the saline solution flows into you through the cannula, but is slightly cooler than your body temperature, which is why this pleasant cold spreads through you. Of course, this infusion is the 7" EP by MANTAROCHEN, this light-shy creature from the depths of Leipzig's underwater world.The hushed guitar, coarsely pixelated like a VHS tape from the 80s, flits through a labyrinth of melodic, organic bass lines. The rhythm machine drives the six songs mercilessly and nonchalantly towards the abyss. Strangely enough, the synths don't breathe in any additional coldness, but rather wrap the coldwave...

R'n'Cs is the contraction of "Rem and the Courbarians". made up of Rem (drums - Vox) and the Courbarians brothers, Saïd (Guitar - Vox) and Gui (Bass Guitar - Vox). they were formed in the Orléans region at the dawn of the second millennium, combining Punk / Hard Core with overdriven Garage Punk'n'Roll. giving birth to a Rock'n'Roll speed all their own!The years go by. but the cadence remains the same. they are and remain definitively addicted to feedback and BPMs. Their Rock'n'Roll remains fast and furious. You'd think the teats they feasted on from an early age were loaded with nitroglycerine! And these R'n'R aficionados never tire of it!Class, delicacy and refinement have nothing to do with it. even if some music lovers will enjoy it! Their music isn't a poem, it's an ode to sex, drugs and rock'n'roll. all at breakneck speed! Hang on to the handlebars, because no one escapes this infernal spiral that grabs you and sends you straight to the devil's entrails!They became a national benchmark for speed rock'n'roll. and were repeatedly asked to play with bands such as Nashville Pussy, Supersuckers, Discharge, GBH, Unseen, Guitar Wolf, New Bomb Turks, The Cellophane Suckers, The Butchers, Burning Heads, Etc..Over the years, R'n'Cs has always been backed, produced and supported by labels such as 442ème Rue, Beast Records, Guerilla Vinyl and of course Trauma Social.Their 7th Opus "Flytrap in the Murderhouse" released on Beast Records / Fly House Records (Trauma Social for the CD) saw the light of day in Spring 2024 and still remains in the tradition of Zeke, Peter Pan Speedrock, Mötorhead. This incendiary bomb will not differ from previous productions. Still in sweat, flames and Rock'n'Roll!!!! Hell Yeah!

After 10 years of activity, Regarde is releasing "Nothing, Again", a six-tracks EP produced by Maurizio Baggio at La Distilleria (Bassano Del Grappa, Italy).Working on this new EP, the band ventured into uncharted territories, exploring new sounds and pushing the boundaries of their music, adding heavy synths to their atmospheres. "Nothing, Again" is a reminder that even as we feel like strangers in this world, we are still capable of love, of connection, and of rediscovering ourselves in the ever-changing landscape of life.Illustrated cover artwork created by Paris-based artist Célestin Krier.

Mattin and Anders Bryngelsson are joined by Reynols' Anla Courtis on this fuzzed-out celebration of noise rock, their most furious exercise yet, burning down the genre to its embers, leaving a mess of distorted riffs, motorik rhythms and hypnotic, swirling feedback. Heavy as fuck!

Regler have already spent 12 volumes of their Regel series putting their grubby thumbprints on metal, techno, classical music, ambient and just about everything else you can think of, but it's here where they really hit their stride. They've roped in Argentinian original Courtis - co-founder of Reynols, no less - to assist, and it sounds as if they're truly relishing the opportunity to let loose. On the first side, a severe, almost hollow-sounding motorik beat provides the backbone, and the trio show their literacy with the sound by twisting blown-out riffs into fizzing, acidic fractals. If there's any low-end, it's swallowed whole by slashed amps and hoarse groans, but Mattin, Bryngelsson and Courtis offer us a breather, cutting to eerie, black hole rumbles at the 11-minute mark before raging towards relentless, searing feedback.

On the flip, the drums are eviscerated, leaving plenty of space for Regler + Courtis to push their gargling textures centre stage. Anyone familiar with Bryngelsson's tenure with Brainbombs is gonna be beaming at this one - it's a noise education, rubbing bubbling hotwired oscillators against strangulated axe screams and brickwall distortion. Even the feedback doesn't fully get a chance to flower until the third act, and when you can eventually make out the drums, they're drowned by razor-sharp, brittle nails-on-chalkboard groans and synthesized whirrs. Somehow, the trio keep building the intensity, the final few minutes sound as if they're physically burning through the speakers, foregrounding the kind of blistering, in-the-red grot that rarely makes it to wax these days.

Fast metallic virtuoso pop punk from Santa Barbara, RKL takes their sarcasm very seriously. On Rock N"Roll Nightmare, RKL delivers an album of irreverent songs, blaming every track on society!Originally released in 1987 this album by the legendary band RKL is now available again, limited to 500 copies on green/orange a-side/b-side.

Inspired by the strong storytelling sensibilities of 60s folk icons and making a sound that sits her snugly alongside the likes of Aldous Harding, Julia Jacklin and Waxahatchee.

Written after a relationship’s end, Rowena Wise’s Senseless Acts of Beauty is a stunning and searingly honest record.

A new yet accomplished artist, Rowena grew up in the Western Australian surf town of Margaret River perfoming in her family’s folk band. Now grown up and living in Melbourne, her electric solo live performances of recent years has seen a real word of mouth build around her.

A songwriter inspired by the strong storytelling sensibilities of 60s folk icons, Senseless Acts of Beauty delivers on the promise hinted at by her live show. Full of emotional depth, its ten tracks offer heady ruminations on love, loss, and alienation. And by electing to record them all live in the room, often in one take, the kinks and blemishes add weight to the lived experience of Rowena’s lyrics.

Grief doesn’t have an endpoint. No matter how much time passes or how much healing you can muster, the absence stays ubiquitous. But with patience and care, you can endure and live with it. Sour Widows know this. The Oakland-based indie rock outfit was formed in 2017 by bandleaders and best friends Maia Sinaiko and Susanna Thomson during personal upheaval and tragedy: Sinaiko’s partner died and Thomson’s mother was diagnosed with cancer. Their bond and their band anchored them through this time and the songs they wrote processed the death surrounding them. Their debut album Revival of a Friend is resonant indie rock about the spiritually purifying power of connection and love in the face of loss. Across 10 winding and potent guitar-led tracks, they channel their mourning into solidarity and comfort.

SRC was born out of a smashing up of two of Detroit’s brightest bands, The Fugitives and The Chosen Few (which also featured future Stooge Ron Asheton). The

new band gained a fanatic local following, eventually capturing the attention of Capitol Records.

On this record, the band shifts effortlessly from mountaintop introspection to wild distorted crescendos creating one of the most melodically heavy LPs ever made, an over-the-top psychedelic fuzz guitar masterpiece.

When it was released in the US in 1968, the LP created fan and critical excitement. Still, it was in the UK where the cultdom made its most significant impact, with John Peel playing the hell out of it on his radio show and even Genesis’ Peter Gabriel claiming that this first SRC album was one of his favorites, saying he “wore the record out” (and you can absolutely hear SRC’s melodies buried inside Gabriel’s musical DNA!).

This Record Store Day 2024 release was cut from the analog master tapes by Kevin Gray, in an All Analog Process (aaa).

‘San Vito’ is the new album from the Ivor Novello award-winning & multi-platinum selling UK indie-pop band The Feeling.

The album was written and recorded in Southern Italy and saw the band decamp there to self-produce the record as a band together. What began as a short writing trip, turned into a full album project with the Italian sun, food and culture seeping through into the sounds on the record. The band brought in local brass, strings and pizzica / tarantella percussion players – the result being very much an album by The Feeling but with a subtle Salento flavour mixed-in.

The title ‘San Vito’ is influenced by the name of the local town San Vito Dei Normanni where the band spent their time off from the studio soaking in the local culture, food and pizzica music. Highlights include lead single ‘The Right Wrong’ – a driving indie-pop anthem about freeing yourself from judgement, a gorgeous duet with US-based country singer Lucie Silvas & plenty of the flamboyant, upbeat 70s-inspired harmonised indie-pop that the band are adored for.

First vinyl edition pressed on Cirrostratus Cloud colored vinyl and includes a “Footlong” OBI.

Underground lifer Nick Sakes returns on the debut LP from Upright Forms. The tight-knit Minneapolis trio feels like the culmination of Sakes' varied and prolific career to date, bringing together the unhinged prog-punk ferocity of Dazzling Killmen & Colossamite with the careening chaos of Xaddax and the shout-along hooks and dynamic songcraft of Sicbay. Blurred Wires is skewed yet tuneful, challenging yet compulsively listenable, concise yet brimming with invention. The experience of a lifetime distilled to 33 rotations across a gripping 33 minutes.

Consider “They Kept on Living,” a song that first appeared in an earlier version on the SKiN GRAFT comp Sounds to Make You Shudder!. It starts off with a grinding 7/4 groove, with cryptic lines over scratchy noise-punk chords. After a brief build, the band explodes into a massive chorus, with Sakes shouting the title line against a fist-pumping riff.

The trio sound equally convincing digging into the pummeling aggression of “My Lower Self,” where Sakes’ vocals start off as a feral snarl and then soar triumphantly during the chorus, or the soothing indie-pop hush of the Paster-penned “Drive at Night.”

Various “tug-at-your-heartstrings” touchstones informed “Long Shadow”. Sakes channeled Television Personalities, cult heroes of melodic British post-punk, on “Animositine,” which he accurately labels “our prettiest song.”

Nearly 35 years into his career, Sakes is finding new ways to challenge himself — and in Paster and Westphal, he’s found two musicians who are equally comfortable with both the thorniest and the loveliest manifestations of underground rock. When they reflect on their chemistry, they agree that their openness to collaboration is, as Sakes puts it, “one of our superpowers.”

On Blurred Wires, that superpower yields dynamic, challenging and profoundly memorable results.

Fourteen new and previously unreleased tracks from some of the most exciting current bands from Seattle, Washington's vibrant alternative-rock underworld. Continuing in the spirit of regional compilation albums like 1988's Sub Pop 200, From Far It All Seems Small serves as a snapshot of the contemporary Seattle scene.

"From Far It All Seems Small jumps off the speakers with an onslaught of fuzz and an abundance of hooks. You might find yourself flipping the sleeve over, expecting to see a release date from the 1990's, but no, these are Seattle's finest here and now!" - Jackson Long (KEXP, HMS Studio)

"A wonderful document of the current moment of Seattle indie." - Ole Johnson (Painter Man Records)

"A collection of songs that will get stuck in your head by Seattle's best alt-rockers" - Ellen Rumel (PNW music photographer)

Quantity: 4500
Release type: RSD Exclusive Release

Wilco’s legendary 2011 album now on three LP’s. Expanded to include all related single, EP and bonus tracks - plus A selection from The Loft's archive of live in-studio performances and previously unreleased alternate mixes and demos. Includes Wilco classics "Art of Almost", "Dawned on Me”, "Sunloathe” . 3LP Box

Plunge into the boundless universe of WORMED, the ensemble hailing from the deep space of Sci-Fi Tech Death Metal. Masters of cosmic dissonance, they have triumphed in sculpting soundscapes that channel the infinite stretches of the galaxy. Omegon emerges as WORMED's latest masterpiece, a sonic voyage set against the backdrop of an ancient cosmic conflict where civilizations vie for the omnipotence of a substance beyond the mortal coil. Through the narrative of Krighsu, a hacker of timelines embroiled in cosmic manipulations, the album unfolds across nine tracks of technical precision and brutal elegance. Recorded at BlackStorm Studios and mastered by the adept hands of Colin Marston, Omegon is an auditory spectacle, weaving together the fabric of reality through layers of technical riffs, unearthly vocals, and narratives steeped in cosmic lore. Each track is a gateway to another dimension, promising listeners an experience that transcends the constraints of space and time. 1. Automaton Virtulague 2. Pareidolia Robotica 3. Protogod 4. Pleoverse Omninertia 5. Malignant Nexus 6. Virtual Teratogenesis 7. Aetheric Transdimensionalization 8. Gravitational Servo Matrix 9. Omegon

Plunge into the boundless universe of WORMED, the ensemble hailing from the deep space of Sci-Fi Tech Death Metal. Masters of cosmic dissonance, they have triumphed in sculpting soundscapes that channel the infinite stretches of the galaxy. Omegon emerges as WORMED's latest masterpiece, a sonic voyage set against the backdrop of an ancient cosmic conflict where civilizations vie for the omnipotence of a substance beyond the mortal coil. Through the narrative of Krighsu, a hacker of timelines embroiled in cosmic manipulations, the album unfolds across nine tracks of technical precision and brutal elegance. Recorded at BlackStorm Studios and mastered by the adept hands of Colin Marston, Omegon is an auditory spectacle, weaving together the fabric of reality through layers of technical riffs, unearthly vocals, and narratives steeped in cosmic lore. Each track is a gateway to another dimension, promising listeners an experience that transcends the constraints of space and time. 1. Automaton Virtulague 2. Pareidolia Robotica 3. Protogod 4. Pleoverse Omninertia 5. Malignant Nexus 6. Virtual Teratogenesis 7. Aetheric Transdimensionalization 8. Gravitational Servo Matrix 9. Omegon