Wax Nine HHV Records 6 Items

“I think it’s a mistake to equate ‘perfection’ with flawlessness. To be human is to be perfectly flawed,” Johanna Warren observes while describing the joys of analog recording. Her new LP Lessons for Mutants was tracked live with a band to two inch tape—a revelatory new way of working for Warren. “Tape forces you to commit to a performance, eccentricities and all. The little glitches and anomalies that we’re tempted to ‘correct’ are often what make a thing magical.”

Lessons for Mutants is the prolific songwriter’s sixth solo LP and her second for Wax Nine/Carpark Records. The album’s running theme of metamorphosis (the title of the closing track, “Involvulus,” is Latin for “caterpillar”) reflects major changes in Warren’s personal life: after a decade of relentless touring, as the world was closing its borders, the American multi-instrumentalist unexpectedly found herself quarantining in rural Wales, where she’s now permanently homesteading.

Though tracking for the new album began in New York in 2018 in tandem with the sessions for 2020’s Chaotic Good, the majority of Lessons for Mutants was recorded in the UK surrounded by sheep, cows and a forager’s paradise of wild edible plants—a far cry from the urban jungle of LA that Warren had most recently called home. The body of work that emerged from this dramatic about-face is Warren’s most dynamic to date, shapeshifting seamlessly from searing punk screams to sparkly psych-folk soundscapes, from the bootleg ambivalence of Dylan’s Basement Tapes to cosmic stoner grooves reminiscent of Black Sabbath’s acoustic moments.

“Sometimes I can relate to myself/ I disassociate more than I’d like to, but what can you do?” Warren croons in “Tooth for a Tooth,” a wistful piano ballad that conjures the grainy romance of some smoke-filled 1940s jazz club. This kind of to-the-bone lyrical honesty has always been one of Warren’s strong suits, but these latest reflections are especially unflinching. Being forced to stop touring brought no shortage of self-examination for Warren, who quickly came to view her history on the road as an addiction from which she’s been detoxing. This sentiment dances through opening track “I’d Be Orange,” a drum-driven indie rock number replete with Beatles-esque male backing vocals: “Thirst for power, hunger for fame/ Always was a junkie for pain,” Warren confesses. This exploration of masochistic ambition and artistic martyrdom overflows into grunge anthem “Piscean Lover”: “It’s alright, we’re not ok/ We burn out not to fade away.”

“There’s this unspoken rule in modern music—modern life, really—that everything needs to be Auto-Tuned and ‘on the grid,’” Warren concludes. “This record is an act of resistance against that. There’s beauty and power in our aberrations, if we can embrace them.”

The debut album of psychedelic, space-pop artist Spacemoth. »No Past No Future« is the reckoning point between nostalgia and nihilism: the struggle to hang on to a moment as it warps in time. The bulk of performance on Spacemoth songs comes from Qudus herself, who favors vintage synths like the Yamaha Cs-50 and Korg Polysix alongside fluttering tape manipulations; these create cosmic, lush soundbeds, drawing comparisons to beloved projects like Broadcast and Stereolab. Every track flows with Qudus’ low timbered vocals, in harmony with the watery, glowing synthesizers that anchor the album. The result is a record rich in intergalactic, avant-pop, radiating in astonishment at the vast, emotional landscape humans contain within ourselves, and in wonder at the preciousness of our time on earth.

Haunted Painting is the return to Sadie Dupuis' pop-oriented solo project Sad13. Previous releases include 2016's Slugger and a handful of tracks across compilations such as Adult Swim's Singles series. Since Slugger, Dupuis' other project Speedy Ortiz has released a new record and toured heavily and Dupuis has also published a poetry manuscript titled Mouthguard. It all finds Dupuis, already one of the sharpest lyricists of her generation, leveling up as an arranger and producer. Drawing inspiration from 1980s British pop-rock à la Tracy Ullman and Joan Armatrading, as well as the contemporary digital gloss of post-PC Music electronica, she calls Haunted Painting 'decidedly non-minimal,' mixing technicolor synth-pop and math-rock dynamism. The first track from Haunted Painting, 'WTD?', was also featured as part of the Adult Swim Singles series.

Haunted Painting is the return to Sadie Dupuis' pop-oriented solo project Sad13. Previous releases include 2016's Slugger and a handful of tracks across compilations such as Adult Swim's Singles series. Since Slugger, Dupuis' other project Speedy Ortiz has released a new record and toured heavily and Dupuis has also published a poetry manuscript titled Mouthguard.



It all finds Dupuis, already one of the sharpest lyricists of her generation, leveling up as an arranger and producer. Drawing inspiration from 1980s British pop-rock à la Tracy Ullman and Joan Armatrading, as well as the contemporary digital gloss of post-PC Music electronica, she calls Haunted Painting 'decidedly non-minimal,' mixing technicolor synth-pop and math-rock dynamism.



The first track from Haunted Painting, 'WTD?', was also featured as part of the Adult Swim Singles series.

Orange vinyl.

Rabbit Rabbit is the fourth studio album by Philadelphia-based Speedy Ortiz, and their first since 2018. Co-produced with Sarah Tudzin of Illuminati Hotties and recorded in the nearly-alien desert landscapes of Joshua Tree’s Rancho de la Luna and El Paso’s Sonic Ranch, Rabbit Rabbit reaffirms Speedy Ortiz’s desire to push themselves politically and musically, vital and surprising as ever. Since its inception in 2011, Speedy Ortiz has radiated exuberance and dynamism like few other rock bands, having produced an expansive and critically revered discography, toured worldwide, and inspired next generations of bands with inventive songwriting and advocacy to better the music industry. Songwriter, guitarist and singer Sadie Dupuis has remained busy as well, releasing solo music (and collaborating with the likes of Lizzo, The New Pornographers, Ben Lee and Backxwash) under the moniker Sad13, publishing two poetry books, and running the Carpark Records imprint and literary journal, Wax Nine (Spacemoth, Johanna Warren, Melkbelly). Rabbit Rabbit is Speedy Ortiz’s first album to feature longtime touring members Audrey Zee Whitesides (bass) and Joey Doubek (drums), who are now full time contributors alongside Dupuis and Andy Molholt (guitar).