Indierock | Alternative CD 422 Items

Better known as one half of Berlin-based super indie girl band Gurr, Laura Lee steps from its ashes and back into the furnace to spread her message to the world of love, hope, despair, regrets and dreams. Only this time, it's in the guise of her very own project Laura Lee and the Jettes. Coming from the french word for "to throw away", the Jettes assemble an array of outcasts, misfits, bandits but most of all a band and a brother/sisterhood backing Laura Lee. Releasing an EP and some singles under the previous incarnation Jettes, the band went on to quickly fill festival slots, airplay and made news stories across the music press in Germany. Notable performances in 2020 at Reeperbahn Festival and WDR Rockpalast confirmed the band as one of the new music projects to watch out for among a wave of outstanding new talent coming from Germany at this time. Now signed to Duchess Box Records who Laura had previously worked with on Gurr, Laura Lee & The Jettes step into 2021 with a plan for their debut album and a lot of rock n roll.

Hot off the metaphorical heels of our rousing Spirit Phone success, Needlejuice is delighted to bring you another Lemon Demon release. This time around we’re offering Neil’s 2012 Christmas EP I Am Become Christmas. Lightheartedly exploring such dark topics as a government-funded Santa Claus and seasonal affective disorder, this set of 5 spooky holiday songs hinted at the direction Neil was headed toward on Spirit Phone.

4-panel digipak. Remastered by Kramer. Enhanced CD with access to stems. From the Spirit Phones of fall to the I Am Become Christmases of winter, the seasons change as ever and bring a new Lemon Demon release from Needlejuice Records.

The summer affords us all the opportunity to frolic in the splendor of nature. The beautiful sun, the chirping birds, and Neil Cicierega’s 2014 EP Nature Tapes. Containing such classics as Brodyquest, Two Trucks, Jaws, and Goosebumps*, this set of 8 catchy electro-pop songs showcases Neil’s signature blend of deft humor set to a memorable melody.

*Goosebumps is being retroactively added to the official track listing because Neil forgot about it in 2014.

Disc 2 contains 13 bonus tracks. Enhanced CD with album commentary by Neil. Digipak case w/ art by Ming Doyle. 8-page lyric booklet. Needlejuice Records is proud to present Lemon Demon’s occult classic on CD, cassette, and 2 colored LP variants. Released digitally in 2016, this is the first time the album has been available on any physical format.

Spirit Phone is a collection of 14 deviously catchy pop songs that lightheartedly explore such macabre topics as haunted mansions, confectionery cannibalism, Lovecraftian romance and 1980s economics. Bringing to mind the playfully ghoulish work of new wave acts like Oingo Boingo, the album presents its dark themes with mischievous relish. Anthony Fantano of The Needle Drop included it in his Best of 2016 list with an 8/10 rating, praising its clever lyrics, high energy, and catchy songwriting.

Available now, Spirit Phone has been remastered by experimental sound guru Mark Kramer with new original art by Ming Doyle. Along with the 14 tracks that comprise the album proper, side 4 includes 5 bonus tracks. Download card contains full album, all 13 bonus tracks from the original release, and exclusive album commentary by Neil.

Multiple is the sixth full length record by the prolific maximalists known as LITE. Over the past 16 years, the Japanese quartet has established itself as one of the most influential groups across a host of subgenres. Though usually referred to by touchstones such as "math-rock" or "post-rock," LITE has developed an uncanny ability to fuse their influences into their own unmistakable dialect that defies generic genre classification.At times, Multiple's compositions find themselves at unlikely stylistic intersections. Conversating funk riffs will interweave with challenging rhythmic phrasing, blurring the lines between lead sections, obscuring where passages begin and end. LITE's distinct voice is emphasized in tracks such as "Double" and "4mg Warmth,"where melodies meander incessantly, constantly taking the listener to new territory.While many LITE songs unfold at breakneck pace, others entertain entirely different worlds altogether. In songs "Ring" and "Blizzard," the band tests the limits of their abilities with slowed-down, genre-bending forays into hip-hop and dub. On "Ring," LITE collaborated with rapper Maco Marets and singer Utena Kobayashi, where the latter's talents were also tapped for the song's ethereal steelpan section. As LITE has shown over nearly two decades, there exists no style that they cannot master or otherwise weave into their designs.

SAURUS came out as our second album in February 2007. The LP version was issued by Sitzer Records, the CD was released by Virgin/EMI. Rerelease October 2011 on Staatsakt/Rough Trade.
credits
released October 10, 2011

Written, performed and produced by LOCAS IN LOVE.
Björn Sonnenberg, Stefanie Schrank, Jan Niklas Jansen with Maurizio Arca on drums.
Mixed by Peter Katis.

Recorded between July 2005 and September 2006 at Maarweg Studio 2 and in our rehearsal space below by Niklas & Locas In Love, engineers for recording the drums on Sachen, Comandante, Straight and Egal Wie Weit: Alexander Breuer-Roelke and Daniel Klingen.
Horns recorded by Niklas & Locas In Love on May 7 2006 in the kleine Musiksaal of the städtisches Gymnasium Herzogenrath and on Sept. 24 2006 at Maarweg.
Choir for Mabuse recorded on Sept 17 2006 by Wolfgang Stach at Maarweg.
Strings recorded on Sept 19 2006 at Radio Buellebrueck Studio Berlin by Tobias Siebert.
Toy Piano recoded by Peter Katis on October 6 2006 at Tarquin Studios, Bridgeport, CT.
Strings on Honeymoon and horns on Comandante arranged by Peer Göbel.
While recording in the summer of 2005 Jens Bachmann and Arne Denneler were a big help, too.
Malcolm Middleton played and recorded his guitar on Honeymoon at Salvation Studios, Glasgow.

Mixed between Octoober 2. and 11. 2006 by Peter Katis, Tarquin Studios, Bridgeport, CT, Assistant: Greg Giorgio.

Polytechnic Youth’s enforced, quickfire pre-Christmas release schedule continues apace here with the wonderful debut full length from Lone Bison. As many small labels are discovering just now, one of the only viable alternatives to the current nightmarish world of vinyl pressing, is wandering back into yesteryear and -armed with a call from the PY devotees to ‘just keep getting the music out’- turning to the previously scorned upon compact disc. With ticks alongside the ‘cramming more music onto it’, having it look cool and charging £9.99 tops, we present this fabulous first Lone Bison full length. An incredible 13 track, electronic project for Ramsgate UK based Nick Bonell. Inspired by a love for ‘70s German electronic music and the current golden age of synthesizer based film soundtracks, it’s key theme as Nick says is “Repetition. I just like to lose myself in interlocking arpeggios which transport me away from the stresses of the day job. The tunes came out of me moving increasingly away from guitar and towards using hardware synths like the Korg Ms20, and, having made music as part of a band or a duo- I fancied something solo this time. The album was recreated very quickly, often with single takes and carefully choosing times when the family and neighbours were out!” Hugely recommended to fans of Tangerine Dream / Klaus Schulze or Edgar Froeses’ solo work as well as Cluster and lots on (label favourite) Sky records’ output. Musically, the album is wonderful but the sleeve is pretty neat too; Nick adds “I will be forever grateful for the amazing linocut cover art by Ieuan Edwards aka The Black Gold Press. I originally asked if I could use an existing print, but he insisted on a bespoke piece and chiselled lino all night to turn around the print in 24 hours. Then Jules Bigg (one of the original team behind the launch of Ramsgate Music Hall) did the photography and graphic design, the man is a wizard. I am truly lucky to live in an area where, if you chuck a rock in the air, it will land on an artist or musician. I had pretty much given up on making original music, after the untimely death of my songwriting partner some years ago. However, living in an area where new venues have mushroomed and great gigs are so plentiful, has inspired me to dig out the synths and fx pedals again”. Released in a one time pressing only of 500 with insert cards carrying more of Ieuan and Jules’ work, the album is released by Polytechnic Youth in December.

Paving the way for independent artists with songs about love, loss and life, Low Island release their highly anticipated sophomore album, Life In Miniature, promising more ‘delicious alt pop’ (Clash) as the group follow in the footsteps of fellow ‘Oxford bands Glass Animals, Radiohead and Foals’ (Rolling Stone Germany).

It comes fresh off the back of their debut album, If You Could Have It All Again, which placed #17 in the Official UK Album Sales Chart and won them plaudits from Gigwise (‘truly engrossing’), Line of Best Fit (‘arena ready’), Double J, Kcrw, Radio1, 6music and Zane Lowe, who described the bands ‘intellectual, soulful creativity.’ Their second album, Life In Miniature, sees Low Island continue to broaden the scope of their ambition, with a record that exquisitely balances stirring electronics, euphoric indie and infectious pop. It’s a record described by the band as a ‘timecapsule, a sonic photo album that captures three years of accelerated change that felt like a lifetime. Leaving home, falling in love, losing loved ones, trying to capture full complexity of emotion that all of those experiences engender.’

Setting that heartfelt lyricism against such a diverse range of sonic backdrops is something that Low Island have been devotedly fine-tuning over the years, firmly rooted in an independence that extends to everything from managing themselves and releasing their music on their own label, Emotional Interference. Its lead to an electrifying live show, which has seen them play festivals from Glastonbury to Lollapalooza Berlin, support synthpop legends Hot Chip and pack out their own shows everywhere from London to Berlin, Prague and Paris, prompting 6music’s Tom Robinson to prophesise that ‘we’ll have them rocking the Pyramid Stage yet, mark my words’.

CD comes in a soft case, instead of the original crystal case. All booklets included.

CD comes in a soft case, instead of the original crystal case. All booklets included.

CD comes in a soft case, instead of the original crystal case. All booklets included.

hardback book sleeve

CD comes in a soft case, instead of the original crystal case.
All booklets included.

CD comes in a soft case, instead of the original crystal case.
All booklets included.

CD comes in a soft case, instead of the original crystal case.
All booklets included.

CD comes in a soft case, instead of the original crystal case.
All booklets included.

CD comes in a soft case, instead of the original crystal case. All booklets included.

cardboard sleeve has a tear

CD comes in a soft case, instead of the original crystal case. All booklets included.

CD comes in a soft case, instead of the original crystal case. All booklets included.