Rock & Indie 95 Items

Sacd

The fourth studio album from DIIV—a strenuous four year effort that challenged the group professionally, personally, and artistically., The result is a sound that stretches well beyond territory they've explored in their previous works. The album title is a reference to a “Boiling Frog” in Daniel Quinn’s The Story of B. The band explains “If you drop a frog in a pot of boiling water, it will of course frantically try to clamber out. But if you place it gently in a pot of tepid water and turn the heat on low, the frog will sink into a tranquil stupor, exactly like one of us in a hot bath, and before long, with a smile on its face, it will unresistingly allow itself to be boiled to death.” The sound and lyrical themes of the record are well suited for this metaphor. A heavy catharsis drenches listeners as vocalist Zach Smith delivers hauntingly beautiful lyric. Lines such as “I say I'm not afraid, I’ve lived through pain, I’m learning to see through everything” penetrate deep as they float atop a lush wall of fuzzed out reverb and simple but effective groove. Conflicting feelings of sadness, pain, and comfort wash over listeners like a warm bath. Start to finish, this is a truly beautiful record that positions itself to stand the test of time. Pressed on limited melting amber vinyl in an edition of 500 copies with obi strip.

Hey there, human kids, lift your face out of the feed trough and pluck that feculence from your ears. Hark! A sonar blip from beneath the pile of bodies—the latest Oh Sees, Face Stabber! Boop, blip, ughhh….people churning like a boiling swamp. Man, this din is nauseating. The screen flickers for the first time this year with a transmission from two months in the future: “the internet has deemed guitar music dead and you are free to do whatever the fuck you like ….long live the new flesh!” This album is Soundcloud hip-hop reversed, a far flung nemesis of contemporary country and flaccid algorithmic pop-barf. No songs about money or love are floating in the ether. Just memories, echoes, foggy blurs, blip-blop goes the scope, heavy funk, dystopia-punk canons, long jams, bloated solos dribbling down your caved-in chest. Human cattle like a beef avalanche, right on your burned out face hole. Spider-legs fuzz crawling in your brain. Lots of curse words for your mom. You’ve gotten the over-population blues, so let’s have some art for art’s sake. What else are you gonna do? Stare at the sky? Please…fifty carbon copies of you look back at you as you walk the streets. Take a breath, you’re going to need it. Take drugs, you’re going to need those just to stand in line at the air and water reclamation center soon enough. There’s no fruit, buddy. You’re at the bleak-peak. They will squeeze you till you’re all squeezed out. For fans of fried prog burn-out, squished old-school drool, double drums, lead weight bass, wizard keys (now with poison), old-ass guitar and horrible words with daft meanings. If you don’t like it then don’t listen, bub. Back to the comments section with you! Easy—over and out.

“Wallsocket is a loose concept album about the American town of Wallsocket and the people that live in it. I first started making music purely on the computer, so my challenge for this album was writing the songs acoustically first and adding production afterwards. A lot of the themes of the project can be summed up by taking something natural and trying to sterilize it.

At the time of writing, I was obsessed with using the 'horseshoe theory' in an apolitical context. Where in our lives are we so one thing that we wrap back around and become its opposite? That theory is riddled throughout the album.” - underscores

Southern California punk rock quartet Plague Vendor are back and better than ever with their latest release, Rougher Than Rough. Songs that push, pulse, sway and groove; are all delivered with a distinct swagger that pulls from the greats of rock ‘n’ roll. This is a record not to be fucked with. Pressed on blood moon red vinyl in an edition of 300 copies.

Master and disciples who have mastered the art of folk music have teamed up to create a superb masterpiece of Okinawan folk music, finally available on vinyl to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the release of this album! Following the release of Seijin Noborikawa's "Spiritual Unity" LP, which was released in 2021 and sold out immediately, this album was also selected for analog under the supervision of Tadashi Fujita. This is the depth of a true, atmospheric, Okinawa island song a.k.a "Shima Uta".

Seira Kariya's first album "Always Fresh", released in 2022, is now available on long-awaited LP! This is their first full-length album after 7 years since her debut. The album tells a story of trying to hold on to the future while living through a difficult time with urban and danceable music, and is filled with heartbreaking melancholy and pop brilliance. Also includes a cover of tofubeats' "Suisei", a song with which she has a close relationship.

An exhilarating trek through head-nodding grooves, wispy instrumentation and quirky brilliance that harnesses 70s prog and modern stoner riffs!Mammoth Volume return with a new album that harnesses their absolute fluency with the somehow compatible genres of 70s progressive rock and modern stoner riffage. The result is an absorbing trek through head-nodding grooves, wispy instrumentation and quirky brilliance that's riveting. Mammoth Volume has made it their brand to go unexpected places and take constant delightful turns pretty much every time we think we've got them pegged, and Raised Up By Witches is a seamless and exhilarating new trip where they're basically the only vehicle on the road. 1. The Battle of Lightwedge2. Black Horse Beach3. Scissor Bliss4. Diablo III: Faces in the Water5. Lisa6. Serpent in the Deep7. Cult Of Eneera8. A Tale about a Photon9. Sången om Ymer

Charles Bals, the curator behind the America Dream Reserve compilation, continues his journey into a wasteland of obscure recordings sourced from previously unknown tapes and vinyl of the 70s and 80s. This collection is made for an overcast, rainy night. Where the nocturnal ramblings of wandering silent types can be heard over an endless stretch of asphalt.

This time, Bals has put together a compilation that contains a darker, more solitary narrative—a collection of reclusive, ‘sigh-chedelic’ folk. The anthology sources rare moments that feel like they were pulling-the-paisley-thread of a dying psychedelic folk movement. Although it passed from the mainstream, the genre continued to percolate in bedrooms, kept alive through unsigned bands and mysterious individuals. Despite recording in different countries, these artists found there way to a kindred feeling. When heard together, the feeling of an era’s aftermath comes into focus. Charles’ compilation brings out the potency of these disparate selections.

The wild greaser with an ever-broken heart, Cong Josie, is back! His eagerly anticipated sophomore album; Moto Zone, pulls up throbbing, revving, sweating and grinding hotter than bitumen on a summer day. It is a non-stop EBM’in’, synth-punkin’, rock ’n’ rollin’ and doo-woppin’ sizzler, in much the same vein as his 2021 debut Cong!. With this release however, Cong pushes his own M.O. even deeper. The throbs get bolder, the NRG goes harder, slow sleaze hip-grinding enters and the dream washes return to envelope all that hear them like a siren’s call.

On Moto Zone, Cong conjures the age of rock ’n’ roll, a world of motorcycle gangs and hot rods, leather, chains, backcombing and hair pomade, with an Aussie twist on greaser ‘cool’. Confessional lyrics tell tales of addiction and mental illness tracing the scars of a troubled past. Cong says the “Moto Zone” reflects his daily life and mindset. A life of ADHD, burning the midnight oil, living on black coffee, obsessively creating and revving through every day. Ultimately Cong is reaching for bliss, feeling connection and a new world in these songs.

Exhilarating? Anxious? Hedonistic? Dangerous? Beautiful? A lust for life? The record is all of the above.

The British rocker Dylan Kirk has attracted well-deserved attention within the 1950's rock 'n' roll circuit all over Europe. As a strong soloist, a skilled pianist and an energetic and charismatic performer, he definitely wrestles in his own league.The recordings on this new album are collected from his shows of 2024. The original and primal old rock 'n' roll is at its most authentic in front of a live audience, sweaty and caught up in the moment. As a documentary of this ritual, Havin' a Whole Lot of Fun is diamond-hard evidence. CD1. King of the Hop2. Put Your Cat Clothes On3. That's the Way I Feel4. Looking Back5. Sixteen Chicks6. Papa Lou and Gran7. I Dig You Baby8. Call Me Shorty9. Monkey Beat City/The Wild One10. Junkie11. Having a Whole Lot of Fun12. Bad Case Of Broken Heart13. I've Got My Eyes On You14. Down the Line15. School Of Rock 'n' RollLPA1. King of the HopA2. Put Your Cat Clothes OnA3. That's the Way I FeelA4. Looking BackA5. Sixteen ChicksA6. Papa Lou and GranA7. I Dig You BabyA8. Monkey Beat City/The Wild OneB1. JunkieB2. Having a Whole Lot of FunB3. Bad Case of Broken HeartB4. I've Got My Eyes On YouB5. You Made a HitB6. All RightB7. School of Rock 'n' Roll

Blue and green split vinyl with black splatter. Thotcrime, the intercontinental commotion causers seem to have stuck the landing with their intensely non-conventional cybergrind style. Solid instrumentals, chiptunes, synths, and some absolutely furious vocals all come together create something beautiful under the blipping, glitching anger that's itching to scream out under the very chantable melody.

Original inner sleeve.

Another unearthed ripper from St Louis MO recorded during the years 1968-1973 and never released until now! Over the course of about five years beginning in late 1968, several musicians living in eastern Missouri rocked the area clubs and festivals with a mix of cover and heavy original songs. The band’s name, Parchment Farm, came from a song on Blue Cheer’s debut LP, Vincebus Eruptum. In their first iteration, lasting from 1968 to 1971, they opened up for such acts as Sons of Champlin and Brian Auger & Trinity. Following a line-up change in 1971, the development of original songs ramped up and they began playing and recording them right away. Opening slots for ZZ Top, Ted Nugent & The Amboy Dukes, and the Velvet Underground & Brownsville Station followed. More line-up changes occured and more opening gigs for the likes of Canned Heat, The Hollies, Rare Earth, and REO Speedwagon. They disbanded in late 1973.

Another unearthed ripper from St Louis MO recorded during the years 1968-1973 and never released until now!

Minuit Machine is a duo from Paris known for their darkwave. Their 2013 debut EP Blue Moon showed a keen ear for using synth pads and harmonics to strike a melancholy mood whereas their first LP Live & Destroy showed them working with punchier and more up-tempo rhythms. Violent Rain is a reunion of all these musical genres. Influences are certainly worn on sleeves, and Minuit Machine are no exception, but what separates the wheat from the chaff is whether those classic sounds are being imitated or used as a toolset for exploring themes and ideas which are come by honestly. The emotion of Minuit Machine's music, rife with drama and gothic excess, leaves no question as to their motives.

Described by Uncut magazine as “One of the most charismatic and eccentric pop craftsmen of the past twenty years”, Liam Hayes has been making critically acclaimed records since the 90’s. His first single “Three-Quarters Blind Eyes b/w Found a Little Baby” released under the moniker Plush, was cited by the NME as being “..one of those rare records - and incredibly rare debuts - that instantly seems a classic..” Although he emerged from the Chicago indie-rock scene, Hayes is often compared with artists such as Jimmy Webb, Brian Wilson, Laura Nyro and Harry Nilsson. Like some of the best folk-pop or soft soul from the 1960’s and 1970’s there is a timeless quality to his music.

Re-release of debut album More You Becomes You is remastered from the original analogue tapes by Jason Hillier and recut for vinyl by Bob Weston, who also remastered the CD and Streaming formats. A deluxe 12 page full size booklet comes with the LP version (which also comes packaged as close to the original as possible, with a printed outer envelope/bag) put together by Liam and Jason Harvey, with Sleeve Notes by John Mulvey.

Kolida Babo is the collaboration between two Greek woodwind musicians from separate regions - Socratis Votskos is from Pella, and Harris P. is from Athens. Their self-titled debut album was recorded in improvised live-take sessions beginning on the night of the “Kolida Babo” folk rituals of music and dance in northern Greece in winter 2013. They explore the ancient music of Armenia and the folk traditions of northern Greece’s Epirus and Thrace regions alongside abstract electronics and free jazz. Their debut album was released by MIC Records (London) in 2019 to rave reviews. Other notable releases include the Jazzman Records jazz45 series and the soundtrack for the documentary ''Gospel of Michiel'' and "Loxy". Their music was supported by BBC 6Music, BBC Radio 3 - Late Junction, NTS, Soho Radio, WorldWide Fm as well as the Greek National Radio. Last but not least, they have performed in various places around Greece and Europe including festivals like CTM, Archipelago Festival and Vinterjazz Festival. In their second full-length album Spirits of Mauronoros set to be released in 27/09/2024 by Veego Records, Kolida Babo revisit an old forgotten place in northern Epirus Greece, near the Greek-Albanian borders. A spiritual music journey dedicated to the old village of Mauronoros (Black Mountain) and its people. This village is one of the many villages in Greece that is totally abandoned as a result of the economic crises and cultural changes that Greece faced in the last century. This profound depopulation of the area left behind ruins that echo its past trials and tribulations. However the traditional sounds of the village keep reappearing in urban centers like ghosts that haunt everyday life. This sonic dialogue between "modern" and "traditional", between "the peaceful countryside" and " turbulent urban centers" sometimes looks irrelevant and outdated but is of great consequence. It transports the listener in an unspecified time and place devoid of any cultural and geopolitical connotations and thus leaves them wondering for a freer and more authentic way of life.

Rose Main Reading Room, the fourth full length by Peel Dream Magazine, is a lush, inviting headphones record; the kind of album made to accompany city bus rides and rainy-day solo trips to accidental destinations. The band, whose name nods to the BBC Radio 1 legend John Peel — arbiter of all things underground, quality, and (it must be said) "cool" — has since its inception been a genre-hopping experiment, jumping from motorik krautrock to shoegaze and space age pop, and their newest work is a perfect starting point for the uninitiated, beckoning toward a newfound romance and nostalgia with their catchiest collection of songs to date. Across its fifteen songs, Rose Main Reading Room ultimately proposes a world of marvels and compelling complexity: “Oblast” cheekily prods at mutually assured destruction; “Ocean Life” explores the infiniteness within ourselves; while “R.I.P. (Running in Place)” unpacks an all too familiar stagnation. It’s all part of, and crucial to, Rose Main Reading Room’s transportive power, ever reaching for the wonder and magic of the world we live in.

A compilation to celebrate the release of the brand-new book - "To Ease My Troubled Mind: The Authorised Unauthorised History of Billy Childish" written by Ted Kessler. When the idea for the book was mooted Billy wanted to put a succinct double album compilation together to summarise his 47 years of making music. This is the result. My name is William Ivy Loveday, aka Steve Hamper, aka Guy Hamper, aka Jack Ketch, aka Billy Childish. I was born on the Medway, Kent, where I still live. I left school in 1976 when I was 16. Because I have no qualifications I was turned down by art school so went to work in Chatham dockyard as an apprentice stonemason. I later managed to get onto a painting course at St. Martin's School of Art on the basis of my paintings. Me, Bruce, big Russ, and little Russ formed The Pop Rivets in 1977 and made our first recordings. Our inspiration was punk rock, TV21 and The Swinging Blue Jeans. I learned to play guitar then in 1979 I worked for four weeks at Oakwood Mental Hospital as a ward porter, then me, Mick and Bertie formed The Milkshakes. Our inspiration was Link Wray, the Beatles Live at the Star Club LP, the track 'Gotta Get the First Plane Home' by The Kinks and our hatred of new romanticism. Then I was expelled from St. Martin's School of Art for writing what was described as "the worst type of toilet wall humour." I beat my father up on his release from prison for drug smuggling. We never paid ourselves in The Milkshakes and put all the money back into making our own records. I kept the money in a bank account under the name of Kurt Schwitters. I lived on the dole for 12 years. In 1985 we formed Thee Mighty Caesars. Our inspiration was Bo Diddley and The Troggs. I became a member of Greenpeace. In 1989 me and Bruce formed Thee Headcoats. Our inspiration being Son House and Downliners Sect. In 1999 me, Wolf and Johnny Barker formed The Buff Medways. Our inspiration was Jimi Hendrix in Beatle boots and The Who before Roger Daltry started wearing his nan's curtains. Ar...

The third album from beloved Nashville indie rockers The Medium, City Life is the first they’ve produced on their own. Recorded in their homes with the help of a few friends, this grassroots approach to recording captures them simultaneously at their most relaxed as well as their most airtight. Ironically, City Life presents the quartet sounding their most country yet – sonically embracing some of the musical territory of their hometown as well as lyrically wrestling with the challenges of its rapid changes. The band’s penchant for saccharine harmonies, hypnotic riffs, and earnest ballads cohere everything into a uniquely relevant take on a classic 70’s rock sound. The record envisions ‘city life’ as a call for a better world – a society driven by care over productivity; by community over profiteering.

10 years after its release, Lydia Loveless sits down at the piano for an intimate reimagining of her landmark album, Somewhere Else. Title track featuring guest vocals by Jason Isbell.

“Over the last 10 years I’ve been told by countless people, emotional and earnest, that their favorite record of mine is Something Else. I love that, and I nod in amused reverence to it here. The me of 2012-2013 was drowning in pain and insecurity and my own press, pissed off that nobody could see me for who I really was, what I had really been through, and how hard it was to be me. I was walled in by fears and worries that I would never be good enough. I was struggling with my voice after a debilitating virus and a six week tour. I had rented a little room in the Grandview neighborhood of Columbus and was plugging away on my splintered acoustic guitar with a tape recorder. I was frustrated as could be, not coming up with anything that I felt was 'me' or even remotely song like. One day, when I finally thought I had a nugget of something, I read the lyrics aloud to my then husband and he looked at me confused and said, 'what are you even trying to say in this, though? Who is the narrator?' I don’t remember what I said to that but I’m sure it wasn’t kind. When I went back into the studio with my friend Caeleigh Featherstone recording me this go round, she looked at me at one point and said, 'Were you singing these songs in front of old dudes? Like, your husband?' Yes, I was, I told her. We both shook our heads and laughed at the hubris on 22-year-old Lydia Loveless.” - Lydia Loveless

Black/White Swirl Vinyl, limited to 300 copies.Hannover based band RESOLUTIONS is back with their sophomore album "Monster Mirror" out May 24th, 2024 via End Hits Records, marking their 10th year as a band and the newest addition to the End Hits Records roster.Starting in 2013 and after releasing their demo, several 7"s and 2016's "Weightless" album while playing hundreds of shows across Europe, RESOLUTIONS return with 10 catchy songs combining elements of alternative and melodic punk rock bands from the 90s and 2000s.Growing through discomfort while aiming on keeping their sound true to songs and records they love, the five piece band created 10 highly energetic songs that formed a uniquely sounding album with lyrics focussing on the aspect of self-reflection and the lacking urge of constant 24/7 self-optimization in the world's current living pace.This very same discomfort pushed RESOLUTIONS to step out of their to date comfort zone of the genre's almost stereotypical trusty three chords and gruffy vocals to perform on a clean but powerful recording which was done by Alex Sickel at Tiny Pond Studios, who worked with the band already on their first LP - "Weightless".?"Monster Mirror" calls for fans of bands with somewhat dark and (over-) thoughtful lyrics, yet accessible and driving melodies like HOT WATER MUSIC, ALKALINE TRIO and JIMMY EAT WORLD.

Clear red vinyl, limited to 250 copies.Seeing the BellRays live is a revelation of what the rock music should be: an aggressive and soulful guitar-driven music that you feel in your guts. The BellRays have been channelling the true spirit of rock and soul since 1990, with this being their fourth blood-letting release. As expected this record oozes a genuine passion, combining the best of a 60s soul review with the fury of garage rock's greatest. Just imagine a young Tina Turner fronting the MC5 and you'll be getting close. But make no mistake, front woman Lisa Kekaula is no mainstream soul singer. Although her warm traditional R&B vocal stylings are big, lush and beautiful, her ferocity is uncompromising. When her rock growl rumbles the floor, you best pay attention, there are no options available. This is a band preaching the continuation of the rock'n'roll tradition in all its purity, anger and visceral power. The BellRays are on a self-professed mission to save rock music from itself and they need a witness.

"Every Tree Shall Fall: One", the debut release by Black x Sea, is a captivating 22-minute journey of five seamlessly connected tracks.

Chris Crisci of The Appleseed Cast and Gabriel Wiley of Mineral blend soothing dream pop with dynamic post-electronic elements, creating an immersive, ever-evolving soundscape.

LIMITED EDITION single-sided White Vinyl LP with screenprinted B-Side . US IMPORT .

Seeing the BellRays live is a revelation of what the rock music should be: an aggressive and soulful guitar-driven music that you feel in your guts. The BellRays have been channelling the true spirit of rock and soul since 1990, with this being their fourth blood-letting release. As expected this record oozes a genuine passion, combining the best of a 60s soul review with the fury of garage rock's greatest. Just imagine a young Tina Turner fronting the MC5 and you'll be getting close. But make no mistake, front woman Lisa Kekaula is no mainstream soul singer. Although her warm traditional R&B vocal stylings are big, lush and beautiful, her ferocity is uncompromising. When her rock growl rumbles the floor, you best pay attention, there are no options available. This is a band preaching the continuation of the rock'n'roll tradition in all its purity, anger and visceral power. The BellRays are on a self-professed mission to save rock music from itself and they need a witness.

Luxury Apartments have spent long enough pondering in the orb of creative frustration as art charged city dwellers and have alchemised a jagged piece of guitar work that calls on the past for a quick catch up before cracking on with their day as a witty, energised and wiry punk band. Formed before your favourite East London neighbourhood became full of high rises, cockapoos and pubs with Madri & Beavertown on Draft, there’s a whole swath of words you could use to describe Luxury Apartments, but doing so might draw too many parallels to estate agent listings wo we’re gonna let their track record and new LP do the talking… LA played with the likes of TOY, Telegram, Deep Tan, Es, The Chisel and Rifle before even having an LP. Mixing dry humour with a belting live show served them well while the guys were woodshedding and earnt them early fans such as Graham Coxon and Jamie Reynolds, who I can only gather shed a single tear of seeing where they came from with all the chaotic guitar-busting, skin-splitting, bottle-smashing madness of an early LA show. But we’re here talking about NOW and NOW is the time to get your pre-order for their first LP, a half hour of power smashing the atoms of 80s c86 indie on lead track ‘Energy’, 77 punk on ‘Wire’ and new garage rock explosions on ‘Taliban’ which morph in to a piece of black wax that’s 100% guaranteed to get the disenfranchised wiggling, the fed-up hurling half bricks through foxtons windows and the punk lifers flipping off yet another boss before carving out another fork in their paths of resistance.

`Think Differently' is the debut LP by the duo of Callahan & Witscher. Jeff Witscher has been one of the most daring voices in underground American music for two decades, highlighted by releases on Pan and NNA Tapes. Jack Callahan's focused, uncompromising approach to sound caught the attention of both Demdike Stare's DDS label and Swiss composer Jürg Frey, who took Callahan on as his first composition student. Fans of their individual work might expect opacity, disruption, or rhythmic irregularity from their collaboration, but `Think Differently' sounds like a pitbull in a convertible, a sand-kicking beach party, the dopamine hit you get from 311 or Smash Mouth. It's a punchy, crunchy, highly infectious record. How did Callahan & Witscher cut the path from the ghostly margins of avant garde musics to the gutters of post-grunge American hard rock? In the words of Callahan, "at some point, you start to need a stronger drug." The most potent characteristic of this stronger drug is the guitar. And not just any guitar, but a sassy, contagious, blithe guitar. Its presence is a drastic shift for two guys who've combined to make dozens of records over the years, not a single one of which has a recognizable guitar sound on it. Alongside the cool breezes and hyperactive fretwork of Callahan's guitar playing, the songs are backboned by strutting, groove-happy vocals: all bark, all bite. Every song is a careful collage, light but dense, ornate with gang choruses, soulful femme vocals, autotune and whisper scratches. This accumulation almost manages to hide the record's potent undertow of dread. `Think Differently' unfolds carefully, a slow-motion demolition that reveals the anxiety of second guessing, the exhaustion of tour, creative bankruptcy, willful misunderstanding, the pain of caring. Setting this lyrical cynicism against such sonic glee isn't a spoonful of sugar, it isn't a bait-and-switch, it isn't a prank. After all, the dumb bliss of Sugar Ray's "Fly" shades a song about Mark McGrath's mom dying. "All Star" is about climate change. Most Sublime lyrics are a bummer. But there's still room for a raised beer, for a dumb grin. Like these ancestors, Callahan & Witscher aim at maximum uplift, at sounds that warm and dazzle like a sped-up sunrise. In spite of overdraft fees, in spite of bad art, in spite of self-doubt.

Between outside musical projects, pushing past 50 years old and becoming a father for the first time, San Francisco psych-pop legend Kelley Stoltz has spent the past two years steadily writing and recording his 18th album, “La Fleur”. The dazzling 12 song collection will be released in June by Agitated in Europe/UK and Dandy Boy Records in the USA. “La Fleur'' finds Stoltz once again playing nearly all of the instruments on the album- though a new friendship with pop guru Jason Falkner has led to Falkner appearing on two songs, “Hide In A Song” and “Make Believer” respectively. There’s the requisite 60’s meets 80’s pop rock confections that Stoltz favors with a new focus on out front vocals and perhaps a bit shinier production. Pandemic era blues, politics and fatherhood are lyrical touchstones throughout. The album’s first single “Reni’s Car” is the jangle rock lead single based on an actual event of Kelley riding around Manchester in the Stone Roses drummer's car. The accompanying music video was shot (partially) on location. “About Time” marries Twin Peaks synths to Fleetwood Mac and Avalon era Roxy Music in a cautionary tale to Stoltz's young daughter. “Human Events” puts revolutionary prose to a Moody Blues strum that floats off into Osees territory …and do I hear a nod to Gershwin in there? During the 2010’s Kelley played live as a sideman with Rodriguez and Echo & the Bunnymen, as the 2020’s dawned he was invited to support Pavement on their big reunion tour. He’s also been heard playing drums live with Robyn Hitchcock as well as adding sitar to Hitchcock's last two albums. In 2022, Stoltz was championed with a live appearance on Marc Riley’s Bbc6 show. As producer, he has recorded the new album by Brigid Dawson formerly of the Ohsees. In my ears, Stoltz rarely does any wrong, and these comparisons are only just that little fruit to get you curious- he is still one of a kind. An under the radar hero to a few, and still after all these great songs, deserving of more. Climb on the bandwagon - as ever it’s quite pleasing here. - George Cloud San Francisco, CA 2024

"Cem Karaca, known as one of the founding fathers of Anatolian Pop, lived in exile in Germany for years. During that time, he never gave up making music. Preferring group music, he formed a band named Kanaken with his longtime bandmate Fehiman Uğurdemir from Kardaşlar. This LP features captivating live recordings from various shows following their debut album. It features newly arranged renditions of past classics such as “Dadaloğlu” and “Maden Ocağının Dibinde” as well as energetic variations of songs from their debut album. In addition, listeners will discover a previously unreleased original composition entitled “Silbermond.” An exceptional record that defies common misconceptions and shows the remarkable success of Cem Karaca's musical career during his vibrant years in Germany. A must-have for collectors. Bone Color, limited one time pressing of 500! Enjoy! "

The Caledonian Dream is a supergroup from Glasgow, Scotland. They bring you the single, "Shot at Glory", a rousing terrace anthem that will surely help the Scotland National Football Team win their Euro 2024 campaign in Germany. Tired of the dirge that is our sporting national anthem, "Flower of Scotland" by The Corries, and the depressing, negative tone of Scotland's previous official World Cup song, Del Amitri's "Don't Come Home Too Soon", three old friends - John 'Sponi' Murray, Dave Clark & Bruce Jolliffe - made the decision to shake things up with a stomper to get the national blood pumping again. They took to the studio, melded proud lyrics, conquering beats, and tear-jerking pipes to produce what surely should be Thee Scottish football song for AT Least the next 200 years - our very own trophy-lifting soundtrack. Now the boys hope the tune will go viral, go mental - so please share it FAR AND Wide!

The Hamburg-based label Last Exit Music continues the reissue series of the "German skatepunk pioneers", this time with the fourth NOT Available album Grandpunks from 2017. Founded in 1992, NOT Available are still active in 2022 and are often mentioned in the same breath as Venerea, Satanic Surfers or NO FUN AT ALL when it comes to the most popular bands of the genre in Europe. The guys from Baden-Württemberg have given themselves six years since the predecessor work "v8". Six years in which you can finally process what you have experienced on the numerous tours at home and abroad; six years to practice adult things. And six years to work on 5 Aces, which turns out to be a real stroke of luck after the first hearing. The songs have become more mature without despising the classic trademark sound. Seven years after that the band released record #5, NO Excuses! Three years later, Grandpunks, the band's sixth album, was released. The limited LP edition was sold out in no time at the time, which is why Last Exit Music has now re-pressed this gem again on blue vinyl. Limited to 200 pieces!

Nick Maurer’s Come On In! is the stuff of a modern American fable. The 20 year-old Cincinnatian’s first release on Happy Families feels wise beyond years but is equally moving in its innocent enthusiasm. Written while still in highschool and recorded using his cellphone, Come On In! is best enjoyed live, but even on vinyl or digitally, the album feels timeless, like you are stepping into a colorful picture book illustrated with a careful hand.

BBsitters Club is a rock band based in Chicago that features Doug Kaplan and Charlie Olvera on guitar and vocals, Max Allison on bass, and Paul Birhanu on drums. As the label’s de-facto in-haus band, BBsitters Club satisfies Hausu Mountain co-founders Allison and Kaplan’s urge to remain connected to the rock and roll music they grew up loving and playing — far across the spectrum from the experimental electronics featured on the lion’s share of HausMo releases.A solid four years after the one-two-punch releases of BBsitters Club & Party, the band’s 2020 debut studio album, and Joel’s Pick’s Vol. 1, the first volume in a series of audience-recorded live takes from shows around Chicago, we find the BBs reviving the Joel’s Pick’s series with Vol. 2. Charged with the energy of a close-knit group of friends willing to follow along with each other’s most outlandish ideas both in composition and live performance, JPV2 offers us a bewildering yet always tongue-in-cheek palette of ideas cherry-picked and mashed together into amalgams that both embrace “rock traditions” and defy them with a cherubic grin. BBsitters Club’s amorphous compositions land somewhere between the world’s most baked prog band and a jamband that’s never content to lapse into wheel-spinning complacency. On JPV2, BBsitters Club cartwheel between eras and styles of rock music with abandon — a TV stuck flipping channels after your dad falls asleep with one leg on the remote. We encounter the elliptical dueling guitars and autumnal atmospheres of midwest emo / math rock, the gregarious stomp of electrified country rock, blues rock that has melted from ingesting one too many hallucinogens, and fried Devo-style art punk that breaches into the realms of ska before melting into free-form noise rock flecked with the bizarro imitative instrument tones of Kaplan’s MIDI guitar.

Rose Main Reading Room, the fourth full length by Peel Dream Magazine, is a lush, inviting headphones record; the kind of album made to accompany city bus rides and rainy-day solo trips to accidental destinations. The band, whose name nods to the BBC Radio 1 legend John Peel — arbiter of all things underground, quality, and (it must be said) "cool" — has since its inception been a genre-hopping experiment, jumping from motorik krautrock to shoegaze and space age pop, and their newest work is a perfect starting point for the uninitiated, beckoning toward a newfound romance and nostalgia with their catchiest collection of songs to date. Across its fifteen songs, Rose Main Reading Room ultimately proposes a world of marvels and compelling complexity: “Oblast” cheekily prods at mutually assured destruction; “Ocean Life” explores the infiniteness within ourselves; while “R.I.P. (Running in Place)” unpacks an all too familiar stagnation. It’s all part of, and crucial to, Rose Main Reading Room’s transportive power, ever reaching for the wonder and magic of the world we live in.

A Restored Piece of Palestinian Sonic History

More than 50 years ago, teenager Zeinab Shaath recorded a set of revolutionary folk music — the first English-language songs to lift up the Palestinian cause to the wider world. Inspired by Vietnam-era protest music from Bob Dylan and Joan Baez, “The Urgent Call of Palestine'' record was intended to share the stories and messages of Palestinian resistance to an international audience.

The first song Shaath composed in her parents home was the titular “Urgent Call of Palestine,” with lyrics from the Indian poet Lalita Panjabi. At just 16 years old, she began playing folk music on a guitar that her sister brought back from studies in the U.S. As young people across the West took to the streets to protest the American imperialist war, Shaath saw parallels in the fight for Palestinian liberation and set out to celebrate that struggle in her musical poetry.

Shaath’s stirring performances of “The Urgent Call of Palestine” song galvanized leading Palestinian artists, intellectuals and youth. In 1973, Shaath was immortalized in a starry film shot by exiled Palestinian artist Ismail Shammout in the mountains of Lebanon.

Shaath recorded three other songs that drew on the poetry of luminaries such as Mahmoud Darwish, Mueen Biseso and Abd El-Wahab Bayati. The resulting 7-inch album was designed to reach the global stage at a time when artists, writers and musicians across the Arab world created art highlighting the Palestinian struggle. Armed with a guitar and her dulcet voice, Shaath went on to perform across three continents, carrying her hopeful message to young people across the world.

Record labels Discostan and the Majazz Project are honored to reissue a lovingly remastered version of “The Urgent Call of Palestine,” bringing Shaath's songs of protest and solidarity to the ears of a new generation. Shaath’s place in a global history of anti-colonial protest music has until recently been overlooked.

As the world again turns to the liberation of the Palestinian people, we invite you to listen to an far-reaching voice for the humanity of a people long oppressed, until the Palestinian flag flies in Jerusalem again.

---

The album is licensed from artist Zeinab Shaath. Any profits from the sale of the record will be donated to the continuing efforts of Majazz to create an archive of Palestinian music as well as relief efforts for the Palestinian people.

close to NM

Record is close to VG+.

Triple Gatefold has edge and ring wear.

Record is close to VG+.

Small light scuff on both sides.