2010s 243 Items

It was winter break at university in Madison, Wisconsin. There was a snowstorm that covered the city with a still white haze. Not a single person in the streets. I was sitting on my bed with a cheap keyboard and a computer, screaming into the void. I barely remember writing the songs. It was a chaotic point in my life. I had no time to think about process or intent. It was a purge. I do remember taking a break from recording, bundling up, and walking through the barren streets while listening to the demos I'd made. The world, at once, felt clear. These songs were a huge leap of faith back then. It was my first time singing without layers of distortion, echo, and reverb. It was the first time I peeled back the layers to find out what was at the core. I'm still on that path today, seeing how far I can push myself into unknown places, whether through clarification or destruction. It's like Stridulum's still here with me, underneath it all." -Nika Roza Danilova

Since Nika Roza Danilova has been recording music as Zola Jesus she's been on Sacred Bones Records for most of that time, and Okovi marked her reunion with the label. Fittingly, the 11 electronics-driven songs on Okovi share musical DNA with her early work on Sacred Bones. The music was written in pure catharsis, and as a result, the sonics are heavy, dark, and exploratory. With Okovi, Zola Jesus has crafted a profound meditation on loss and reconciliation that stands tall alongside the major works of its genre. The album peaks of tragedy with great wisdom and clarity. Its songs plumb dark depths, but they reflect light as well.

After a six year break Gorillaz return with Humanz and a huge list of feature guests including Grace Jones, Mavis Staples, Danny Brown, De La Soul, Pusha T, Kali Uchis, Kelela, Peven Everett, etc. Actor Ben Mendelsohn narrates the album's interludes.

Record Store Day 2021 Release. RSD Day 2021 sees the release on gold vinyl of the UK Number 1 album from 2015 by Jamie Lawson. Originally released on Ed Sheerans label the album features the hit single and Ivor Novello winning song Wasn’t Expecting That. Unavailable on vinyl for a while this new release has brand new gold artwork and gold vinyl and the inlay sleeve features never seen before photos of the album recording at Angelic Studios with new sleeve notes written by Jamie Lawson.

Chuck Prophet beschreibt sein neues Album "Bobby Fuller Died for Your Sins" als California Noir. “Das Land repräsentierte schon immer den Goldenen Traum, und es ist die Spannung zwischen Romantik und Realität, die unter der Oberfläche in allen Noir-Filmen und -Büchern lauert, und das verbindet die Songs. Verlorene Liebe, trostlose Einsamkeit, schneller Reichtum und wieder zurück in die Armut sowie Gewalt sind immer an der Tagesordnung an der Left Coast.“ Der Song „A Bad Year for Rock and Roll“ zeigt sich hier als eine Ode an all die großartigen Künstler, die wir im Jahr 2016 verloren haben. Das Album bringt ein Bündel an Chuck Prophet Songs hervor, die prädestiniert dafür sind, sehr bald zu Klassikern zu werden.

After a series of cassettes and one self released CD Così e Così has honed the dense and gritty textures of his deconstructed pop forays and sound experiments into a collection of poetry awash in subdued synths, bending tones, and sometimes frantic rhythms. Its efforts to dissect the constructs of time to overcome fleeting ideals in life and love make 'Impermanence In The Time Of Heavens' at once far-reaching and overwhelming, yet cathartic; a romanticism for an era of fragmented identities.

Music and extended poems throughout IITTOH sample from Vincent’s personal audio and lyrical collections dating back to 2004. Reworking the same loop in nearly every song until it's unrecognizable, and referencing other passages within, creates a work cut and scattered, yet bound by repeated motifs and moods of memory, loss, and rebirth. Recorded primarily in a log cabin in Manitoba, Canada, IITTOH was also recorded on a deserted beach town in Montenegro and a lakeside apartment in Macedonia, and completed in Montreal, Canada.

This double A-sided 7" features two new cool, sophisticated and funky melodic pop songs from Bank. Tight bass lines, multi-hued percussion, snappily intertwining guitars, yearning melodies and clever production touches abound. These Tokyo veterans evince their love of all varieties of funky pop from recent decades in these two sweet sides.

Cititrax is excited to present the first in a series of 4 song samplers showcasing the talents of some of the most innovative producers of the moment. Cititrax: Tracks Volume One features Amato, an edgy new project brought to you by The Hacker, Tzusing, a young producer from China known for his hard-hitting L.I.E.S. releases, our beloved Berlin based former New Yorker An-i, and Oliver Ho’s stunning Broken English Club. The overall sound can be described as modern, uncompromising and guttural. Each artist reinvents dance music by bringing their own unique vision to the floor. Artwork designed by Veronica Vasicka and sourced from Polaroids shot in NYC clubs in the 1980s.

Grandbrothers are Erol Sarp and Lukas Vogel. After meeting at university in Dusseldorf, Erol and Lukas formed Grandbrothers to tie together their respective musical backgrounds and disciplines: Erol is a trained jazz pianist, while by day Lukas constructs synthesizers at Access Music. Together, they create a sound that combines classical composition with modern, experimental production and sound design.

They use use a self-built system of electromagnetic hammers to trigger a grand piano and use it as a kind-of drum machine. In their music there are no synthetic sound sources, all comes from the grand piano.

After 6 Feet Beneath The Moon in 2013 and last year's A Place 2 Drown under his real name Archy Marshall King Krule return with a new album this fall.

“Drifting and seeping through the cracks of South London like the album title, King Krule casts an unflinching eye over his kingdom, transforming his observations of all the disorientation and heartbreak of his youth into piercing narratives and poetry that are both startlingly honest and brutally beautiful,” a press statement for the album reads. “With The OOZ, Marshall finally takes the crown as poet laureate for the dazed and confused generation, painting a bleak and sometimes harrowing picture of a rapidly splintering city.”

Colors is Beck's album number 13 created between 2013 and 2017 by Beck and Greg Kurstin including the singles Dreams,Wow, and Dear Life. Beck: "... these are complex songs all trying to do two or three things at once. It's not retro and not modern. To get everything to sit together so it doesn't sound like a huge mess was quite an undertaking."

LCD Soundsystem's first album in seven years recorded as last album ever at the original DFA studios.

Warp presents Take Me Apart, the debut album from contemporary R&B’s icon-in-the-making, Kelela. The long-awaited opus arrives at the tail end of an extended tour with The xx and scene-stealing guest spots on recent albums from longtime ally Solange, Warp’s gonzo rap star Danny Brown and most recently on Humanz from Gorillaz.

Having debuted in 2013 on Fade To Mind with the Cut 4 Me mixtape which saw a raft of the Fade & Night Slugs crews pushing forward a wealth of sublime instrumentals for Kelela to bring to life, catching the ear of everyone from Björk and Hudson Mohawke to Grimes and Arca. Quickly following this with a fire 12 Melba's Call with Bok Bok, her cutting-edge credentials were firmly set in stone. This set her up for her new partnership with Warp, debuting with the jaw dropping collision of soaring songcraft and experimental electronics of the Hallucinogen EP.

Kelela has enlisted a wealth of her contemporaries to craft out an album that shows both the classic appeal and futuristic possibilities of R&B music. Each track exudes a sense of excited exploration that makes Kelela's music stand head and shoulders above the glut of online static. The innovative sonics flow effortlessly around her voice, giving the strong impression that countless hours and many feelings have gone into the crafting of each piece, the whole set being absolutely sculpted to perfection for when it flows from speakers and into your mind.

“All The Light Above It Too” is the seventh studio album by singer-songwriter Jack Johnson.

Jack Hody Johnson (born 1975) is a singer-songwriter, musician, actor, record producer, documentary filmmaker and a former professional surfer from USA. Johnson is known primarily for his work in the soft rock and acoustic genres. In 2001, he achieved commercial success after the release of his debut album, “Brushfire Fairytales”. Johnson has reached number one on the Billboard 200 chart with his albums “Sing-A-Longs and Lullabies” for the Film “Curious George” in 2006, “Sleep Through the Static” in 2008, “To the Sea” in 2010, and “From Here to Now to You” in 2013. Johnson's “In Between Dreams” album also peaked at number 2 on the chart in 2005 and again in 2013.

Johnson is active in the ecology and sustainability movement, often with an ocean-centric focus. Johnson and wife Kim created the Johnson Ohana Charitable Foundation and the Kōkua Hawaii Foundation. In 2008 Johnson adopted the concept of greening (reduce and reuse), and donated 100% of the proceeds of the “Sleep Through the Static” tour to the Johnson Ohana Charitable Foundation. Similarly, the proceeds from the 2010 “To the Sea” album tour went to All At Once, a Johnson backed collaborative of greening charities promoting fan involvement.

Dark Entries is proud to release the latest offering from Bézier, a 3-track EP titled ‘Primes’. Bézier is the moniker of San Francisco based musician Robert Yang, who is also part of the Honey Soundsystem crew. A multi-instrumentalist, Robert planted his roots in San Francisco in 2005. Over the years in SF he has built an impressive analog synth-based studio, which also serves as the creative hub for his riveting live performances.

‘Primes’ represents the theme of primordial origins and creation with three tracks that explore disparate, sonic environments in each song. The title track flows and ebbs like currents in an oil slick. Out of something messy (like primordial ooze) arises organized chaos. “Stranger” is a moody dark electro/wave track for a sweaty night cruising on the west coast of Holland. Set against an underwater sound canvas the song features seductive guest vocals and lyrics by Nicole Ginelli. Doc Sleep of Jacktone Records provides additional production duties. The final track, “Imperial Tranz Am”, is an airy, ethereal slow burner clocking in at over 13 minutes. It originally appeared as the soundtrack to an experimental queer fantasy film of the same name by SF film maker Aron Kantor.

All songs have been mixed by Mark Pistel (Meat Beat Manifesto, Consolidated) at Room 5, San Francisco and EQed for vinyl by George Horn at Fantasy Studios. The vinyl comes housed in a jacket featuring a Quadtone pastel earthtone of pixelated celluar ooze designed by Eloise Leigh. Each EP includes a postcard with an image still from the ‘Imperial Tranz-Am’ movie. “Do I hear what I see, is it real or just a feeling, a vibration of N-R-G.”

Introducing Tess Roby, a 23 year old musician and photographer born in Toronto and now living in Montreal. "Ballad 5" is a song of love and loss in the humid Montreal summer—the sound of Parc Avenue in the blue light of dawn. Her music echoes the cascading pulse of Steve Reich, the drone of Stereolab, and the melancholic drift of Durutti Column, and her voice lands somewhere between Broadcast's Trish Keenan and Nico. On record she is accompanied by her brother ELIOT ROBY Roby on guitar. Limited Edition of 500 on ultra clear vinyl.

The internationally celebrated artist, award winning singer and composer Camille releases ‘OUÏ’ her fifth studio album and first for Because Music on June 2nd. Recorded over a year in La Chartreuse, a 14th century monastery-turned-artist’s residence in Avignon, France ‘OUÏ’ is a cornucopia thrumming with folk, hymns, ballads, pop, lullabies and breathtaking a cappella. “The story of the album is like this, moving from the arcane drums” - percussion is used throughout as the bedrock - “to the treble and harmonics and light in my voice.” An instrument of exhilarating range and phenomenal power, Camille’s voice provides all the vocal parts on ‘OUÏ’. “All the voices are telling a story,” she says, “and I am all the voices. Co-produced by Camille with two of her longtime collaborators, composer and multi-instrumentalist Clement Ducol and sound and mixing engineer Maxime Leguil, and featuring the versatile Moog analogue synthesiser, ‘OUÏ’ is a work with a pulse. “It really resonates,” says Camille, “On some songs there are no drums, just this sub-bass like a kick drum, which leads the way and gives it a beat.” While she sets out to write politically charged songs inspired by drum-driven French traditional dances, that reflect upon the country’s recent, tragic events, she was equally led to something peaceful, vowel-oriented and vibrational in her exploration of sound. The latter explains the album’s title, ‘Oui’ - ooo…eee - a playfulness with sounds and language, a breaking free from its oft imposed restrictions.

Solo debut of OneDirection's front singer.

Their 5th album titled, "The Fifth State Of Consciousness", is a double LP produced in Peaking Lights Dreamfuzz studio over the last two years. It's both a departure from the new and a return to the old with a whole new twist on the psychedelic dub-pop they've become know for. Self released...from the heart! Gatefold Sleeve. BIG TIP!
Sonically the double album shifts through many states from beginning to end, resonating deep, like a drive thru foreign landscapes where you're glued to the window as everything slowly changes around you. The flow and pacing of songs has a sense of
wonderment and each time you play it there's a whole new batch of lovely sounds and eccentricities within each of the players. While bringing together their love of Psychedelic music, House, Electronic and Reggae each song manages to live it's own life and yet still there is some magical thread that binds them together

Sóley is back with her third solo album, Endless Summer. Written over the period of one year together with her long-time friend and collaborator Albert Finnbogason, the new full-length sees the acclaimed musician from Iceland explore the more optimistic, sun-drenched corners of her songwriting.

For the first time on vinyl.

After a six year break Gorillaz return with Humanz and a huge list of feature guests including Grace Jones, Mavis Staples, Danny Brown, De La Soul, Pusha T, Kali Uchis, Kelela, Peven Everett, etc. Actor Ben Mendelsohn narrates the album's interludes.