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You’ve Changed Records presents a special limited edition first-ever vinyl pressing of Julianna Riolino’s debut EP “J.R.”. Previously available only through digital channels, J.R. predates her 2022 breakthrough full-length “All Blue”, feted by the New York Times, Pitchfork, Uncut, and NPRs Mountain Stage, among many, many others, as well as Julianna’s stint in Daniel Romano’s Outfit. For the most part, J.R. omits the county, americana, and folk influences heard on All Blue though there is a shock of recognition in the always surprising power and pure tone of her voice. Rich in melody and early confidence, Julianna Riolino here draws from classic girl-group pop and contemporary indie while establishing a characteristic song-writing template of interpreting foundational texts and iconography to portray uniquely personal experiences and emotional truths. “It’s like it’s who you are before you grow more” she says of J.R. now. It’s an important step in the formation of an important and thrilling artist, and one of today’s greatest singers.

There are songs that makes friends with anyone and do great at parties, doling out compliments left, right and center. And then there are those songs that just don’t seem to fit in, songs that knock over glasses and makes awkward comments to the host as they stubbornly refuse to adapt and adjust to whatever larger setting you needed them to work in; these are songs that seemingly insist on remaining outside your control no matter how many stylistic or production tricks you try to pull.

Usually, for a band such songs eventually fall by the wayside, are left behind or butchered for parts a few years later. But sometimes quite a few of them show up at the door, at the same time, unruly & ready to shake things up a bit. Sometimes there is trouble.

These are the songs that makes up Neigh!!* Not merely a companion piece to last year’s Yay!, not a collection of B-sides or simply leftovers from that same period, but a reaction, a party for those not invited to parties, consisting of troubled, sometimes weirdly clothed outcasts that refused to go away and instead languidly found their place in the post-plague world while the tunes from Yay! were being pampered and sing-along’ed by band and fans alike.

So, then, it’s not a Nay! These songs care not that the band didn’t notice their potential at first. They know who they are, what their purpose is and what they’re capable of. They proudly wear their ‘lo-fi/no-fi’ and ‘recorded in rehearsal room/home studio’ as embroidered patches on jackets you only now realize are pretty cool. Granted, they had a tough upbringing, some of them come from broken homes and they learned the hard way to ‘Turn a frown upside down’, but here they are, together + strong!

Neigh!! is an album of ‘songs that won’t fit on an album’ – the non-concept of all concepts – a home for strays and runaways perhaps, but more importantly a bunch of tunes Motorpsycho are finally happy with, that found their purpose and now have a home: songs that the band are proud to finally being able to present to the world.

- Dr. Th. Kneipp

A sense of destiny hangs over Sentir Que No Sabes, Mabe Fratti’s fourth solo-credited album released in a five year span. Her work has always possessed a finely tuned sense of drama capable of expressing a range of emotional states, and across this new album, she conveys the struggle to process various relationships or situations–and the actions that come next. Sentir Que No Sabes is urgent and clear, poppy, generous and approachable, while showcasing a considerable emotional hinterland. It is also, as Fratti is quick to mention, “groovy.”

Written and recorded with her partner, multi-instrumentalist, and co-composer Héctor Tosta (I.La Católica, Titanic), Sentir Que No Sabes is the result of an intense, detail-oriented process. Fueled by a new confidence gained in their collaborative project, Titanic, and its critically acclaimed 2023 LP, Vidrio, the two hunkered down in the familiarity of their studio (aka Tinho Studios) to bash out the initial sonic coordinates of her new record. “We talked and talked, and discussed ways of playing and recording, until things became inevitable,” Fratti explains. “We recorded a bunch of demos at our home studio and that meant we had a lot of time to re-edit and experiment. We really dug in. We were super focused on detail.” Tosta also took up the controls as producer and arranger-in-chief for all additional instruments. The album was later completed at Willem Twee Studios in Den Bosch in the Netherlands, and Pedro y el Lobo Studios and Soy Sauce Studios, in Mexico City.

For the final studio recordings, the pair were joined by drummer Gibran Andrade and trumpetist Jacob Wick to fill out and expand on Tosta’s percussion and brass arrangements. This small group of friends were able to work quickly and openly, and without fear: a testament to the exhaustive groundwork put in at Tinho Studios.

Sentir Que No Sabes is a record full to the brim with a modern pop sensibility, invoked by the sort of magpie spirit that ensnares anything it can find, repositioning sounds for the here and now. The keys and melody on the melancholy “Pantalla azul” (“Blue screen error”) transport us back to the glossy mid-1980s.

The lyrics, for their part, have a stop-start quality to them, and hint at the small, incremental emotional taxes we pay through just living our lives. They circle around the music like birds waiting to swoop. There is something of the spiritual in all of Fratti’s work that expresses itself in a form of yearning: she looks to new horizons while personal dramas find themselves internalized, contextualized, and then dealt with through metaphor.

So what to make of Sentir Que No Sabes? High gloss Pastoralism? The sound of a city-bound, post-post modern soulscape? No matter the emotions evoked, it's the work of an artist coming into their own, and creating a benchmark record.

The female-led discodelic soul band Say She She, named as a silent nod to NileRodgers (C'est chi-chi!: It's Chic!"), release their sophomore album `Silver' on theheels of an epic break-out year that grows brighter by the day.The three strong voices of Piya Malik (El Michels Affair staple feature, and formerbacking singer for Chicano Batman), Sabrina Mileo Cunningham and Nya GazelleBrown front the band.This harmonizing trio was formed in a classic New York taleof friends that met by following the music: the downtown dancefloors, through theLower East Side floorboards and up to the rooftops of Harlem.`Silver' wasentirely written and recorded live to tapeat Killion Sound studio inNorth Hollywood earlier this year and produced by Sergio Rios (of Orgone).Whilethese analog recording techniques help root Say She She's sound in a bedrock oftonal warmth that only tape can achieve, it is also their process of cutting the trackin the moment and capturing the magic of communal creativity that has seen theirsound described as"a glorious overload of joyful elation and spiritualelevation" (MOJO)and"infused with the wonky post-disco spirit of early'80s NYC" (The Guardian).Silver, the element, is known as the metal of self-confidence and the mirror of thesoul. With that, the16-song double-LPprojects not only their growth in writingwith confidence, but also reflects a deeper exploration into their punk-chic, femme-forward sensibility.Ultimately,`Silver' oozes with quirk and adventure and embraces themultifaceted nature of what it means to be a modern femme.The She She'sfully embrace their role as beauticians, actively reminding people of the inherentbeauty in the world. They skillfully employ double entendres and humor toencourage open dialogue and fearlessly address important matters that demandattention.

The Trip is the first solo album by N'Zeng, better known as Sébastien Blanchon. It has to be said that he hid behind his (hollow) nose to sniff out the right projects (ex Le Peuple de l'Herbe, member of Entourloop). His nose is hollow, but not for the trumpet, and yet it's with this instrument that he started out. And he reinvents it, giving it a subtle place on this musical road trip we call The Trip. A journey open to all, with no tolls and no filters, apart from the cinematic filter of this lover of original soundtracks and trip hop. Beautiful images flash before our eyes, and in our ears, the smooth voice of Charlotte Savary (Wax Tailor). An album, a very good trip for lovers of Portishead, Gorillaz, and well-felt scratches in the form of controlled skids. He's making a name for himself as N'Zeng, with his smooth arrangements.

N'Zeng's father played trumpet with his grandfather in the Feurs brass band in the Loire department. When he arrived in Saint Etienne, young Sébastien started out with a cornet à pistons at the Conservatoire. His teacher at the time, Marcel Heyte, had won a prize in Paris at the same time as a certain Maurice André.

His father took lessons in orchestral conducting, accompanying the offspring's budding musical career, which included a course at the Festival de Cuivre in Monastier-sur-Gazeille, where he met the soloists of the Radio France orchestra. A new awareness, a new confidence: off to Lyon, not for a soccer derby, but to "beef up his game". In 1997, he was awarded a gold medal for trumpet by a unanimous jury at the Conservatoire National de Lyon.

Lyon, capital of the Gauls, was the starting point for N'Zeng, who went on to become a member of the group Le Peuple de l'Herbe. 15 years later, with several successful records to his credit, a concert in 2003 at the Transmusicales with Beth Gibbons (Portishead), and a Victoire de la Musique award, it was time for N'Zeng to move on to other things.

Arrival in the City of Light, the place where dreams come true. Nzeng's dreams are not only sonic, but also visual, for Sébastien is not only a friendly presence and a talented musician, but also a cinephile. His knowledge of music theory, acquired during his years at the conservatory, enables him to tackle music for pictures.

He created a soundtrack for the cult film Alien - The 8th Passenger, and worked with musician Rone (collaborating with Baxter Dury) and his bandmates from Le Peuple de l'Herbe, composing 2 tracks for the soundtrack of Virginie Despentes's hard-hitting film "Baise-moi". On the album "Hollywood Hustlers", with the group "Mustang Force", he pays tribute to the soundtracks of Lalo Shiffrin, Ennio Morricone... The album is also well received by the critics. He conducts the arrangements and orchestrations for the Degiheuga Orchestra, and composes the original music for the Hôtel Bellevue dance show, another success!

2019 sees the birth of "The Trip" project. On this record, no masks, but a female voice, that of Charlotte Savary (Wax Taylor), laid on a carpet of strings. With this musical voyage, trip hop takes pride of place, with a balance between the body of the instruments and the mechanics of beatmaking.

There's no getting off track on this well-balanced record, with its silky orchestrations. N'Zeng accompanies us elegantly, with his trusty trumpet as GPS, here used subtly. The album cover is a photograph taken by Sébastien Blanchon's mother, in 1973, a year when Saint Etienne was about to become French champion for the 7th time.

Over atmospheric instrumentation expanded by cinematic structure and pacing, Pearlty presents Knifeplay somewhere between dream-pop influenced shoegaze and lofty slowcore, never fully committing to one or the other in its insistence on creating an immersive, organic world.

Originally released in 2019, Knifeplay’s vivid debut Pearlty documents songwriter Tj Strohmer’s expressions of early adulthood in what he describes as “the journey from innocence to experience.”

Written during a time of immense inspiration, Strohmer was able to peel himself away from detached nihilism, uncovering the physicality and therapeutic powers of songwriting. Newly emboldened by this discovery and the talented community surrounding him, Strohmer channeled this revelation into his work, taking Knifeplay from a bedroom experiment that merely wrote songs to a more substantial project with a purpose.

Pearlty’s various climactic passages, like those heard on the impressionist album opener “Tears”, envelop listeners in textured walls of distorted guitar and noisy breakdowns, a distinct hallmark of shoegaze – but Knifeplay’s compositions go far beyond such conventions.

Also featured are downtempo compositions – such as the tribute track “Angel” – that call on a range of influences, from grunge to lofi pop, all the way back to slowcore. Layers of Strohmer’s falsetto lilt adorn the songs with another dimension of sentimentality, while rounding out the sonic vastness of the group’s emotionally enrapturing style, lending impressive depth to the band’s debut full-length.

Inimitable post-rock outsiders A Burial At Sea return with `Close To Home', a soaring sonic love letter to the places and people that shaped them, the collective's first new music since the eponymous debut full-length in 2020, `Close To Home' is a breathtaking evolution of their unique, brass-led blend of shoegaze, math-metal and blissed out afro-jazz that draws inspiration, influence and insight from the rich Gaelic cultural heritage of their Irish homeland. First making waves in 2018 with unbridled bombastic creativity of `_And The Sum Of Its Parts' EP, A Burial At Sea turned the traditionally austere post-rock frown upside down. Quickly catching the attention of like-minded, international genre-benders And So I Watch You From Afar (asiwyfa), This Will Destroy You ,Caspian and Some Become Hollow Tubes (Godspeed You! Black Emperor), the band subsequently spent months on tour in support, honing their incendiary craft and gaining a loyal fan base across Europe in the process. Despite being landlocked by forces outside of their control, A Burial At Sea continued their adventure by looking inwards to produce `Close To Home': a staggering refinement of the band's already singular instrumental sound. The confidence, experience and sheer musical assuredness behind this album renders any generic labels of post rock immediately obsolete. `Close To Home' proves without a doubt that A Burial At Sea are indeed more than the sum of their parts; positioning the band on the crest of a truly progressive wave of uplifting, anthemic post-rock.

‘The Last of the 20th Century Girls’ is the storied second album from London-based artist Findlay - a full-fledged offering born of a personal journey that sees her at her most open, transparent, and introspective yet, drawing upon her own personal experiences since the release of full-length 2017 debut ‘Forgotten Pleasures’. With complex, fully-realised themes ranging from grief and loss to the struggle of losing and re-building one’s confidence, through to the challenges and pitfalls of the past couple of years, all serve to inspire a range of tracks across the album.

Mastered by five-time Grammy award winning engineer Antoine ‘Chab’ Chabert (Daft Punk, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Sebastien Tellier) and self-described as a “late coming of age story”, drenched in nostalgia, melancholy and the kind of strange experiences only a misunderstood millennial could have; the album effortlessly blends a diverse melting pot of breezy alt-indie, psychedelic pop, dreamy lo-fi chill, indie-rock and expansive cinematic sounds. It’s Findlay at her genre-melting finest, and a sharp, tasteful insight into her unique artistic psyche; a perfect representation of her impeccable alternative sound.

Melody As Truth founder Jonny Nash returns to action with his first solo album in four years.

Over the course of eleven mesmerising tracks, Nash points the compass gently inwards, casting aside any conceptual frameworks in favour of exploring an imaginative and idealised “personal folk music” that combines elements of traditional acoustic music with the producer’s richly immersive interpretation of ambient, a sound he has been developing for well over a decade.

From the smudged acid-folk bliss of ‘Theories’ and ‘Eternal Life’, to the layered acoustic guitars of ‘All I Ever Needed’ and the delay-soaked, Durutti Column-esque ‘Light From Three Sides’, a wide variety of musical textures weave their way throughout the album.

Point of Entry is much more than a mere ‘guitar album’ – it draws on a rich and diverse palette to achieve its purpose. The delicate saxophone work of ambient-jazz contemporary Joseph Shabason swells on ‘Ditto’ and ‘Light From Three Sides’. Cascading piano lines ripple through the crystal clear sonic waters of ‘Face of Another’, whilst echoes of Nash’s work with Gigi Masin and Young Marco as Gaussian Curve appear in the dancing synth sequences of ‘Ditto’ and ‘Golden Hour’. Nash’s reverb-laden voice also appears for the first time since 2016’s critically acclaimed Exit Strategies, used delicately throughout the album to conjure up a world of dusk and golden light.

Combining the delicate human touch and naivety of earlier Melody As Truth releases with widened scope and vision, Point Of Entry is arguably Nash’s most complete work to date – an album that’s as much a statement of his “personal folk” vision as a future ambient classic.

“Power” was the second Barrabás album, originally released in 1973. As well as their first album, this is another great example of funk-rock, but this time with glam, hard & psych touches, including some of their most celebrated songs: “Casanova”, “The Horse”, “Children”... After reaching international success with their first album, the line-up of Barrabas experienced some major changes: Fernando Arbex, more and more involved as songwriter and producer for other artists, leaves the drum kit, being replaced by drummer José María Moll (from Juan & Junior’s backing band). From now on, Fernando will focus on songwriting & production duties for Barrabas. Also, due to an accident, bass player / lead singer Iñaki Egaña is forced to leave the band. A new powerful singer is found: José Luis Tejada (from Los No, a legendary beat band from Barcelona). And finally original guitar player Miguel Morales switched to bass. For the album recording, Arbex decided to use the same studio where they recorded the first Barrabas album: RCA in Madrid. J. Cobos was again the sound engineer and Fernando was the producer and main songwriter. “Power” was the result, released in 1973 housed in a glam-tastic gatefold sleeve. Highlights are “Mr. Money” (pure funk-rock which entered the US charts); the atmospheric “The Horse”, the psych-funk of “Time To Love” or the catchy “Children”, which was a big hit in South America, especially in Venezuela.

Limited Black & White Swirl Vinyl.On December 29, 2012, three songs into Chastity Belt's first KEXP in-studio, something extraordinary happened: they shared "Black Sail" with the world.That year, I'd seen Chastity Belt play countless basement, bar, and DIY shows all over Seattle, but nothing could've prepared me for how my friends turned patience and quiet observation into something so affecting and effortlessly cool. Ten years later, "Black Sail" isn't just a fan favorite - it's practically a statement of purpose for the great albums that followed.But before those records, there was No Regerts: the sound of four friends evolving from a party band into a "real" one (whatever that means) in real-time. They're above it all on "Seattle Party," "Happiness," and "Evil," but remain the sirens of Whitman College's cursed frat houses - see the explosive choruses of "James Dean," "Healthy Punk," and "Pussy Weed Beer."When No Regerts came out in the summer of 2013, Seattle - and the world at large - took notice. I still hear these songs in surprising places, and they still surprise me - just as they did a decade ago. If you missed out the first time, this is your second chance.

Total speed metal rager Obnoxious Youth return with a new album out in October.

The Swedish-Finnish speed and thrash metal quintet Obnoxious Youth is back with a bang after a four year break. New album Burning Savage will be out in 18th October 2024.

-“A total speed metal rager manifesting the driving force behind the onslaught that is Obnoxious Youth. A sexual flame and a satanic force of nature. An urge to discover and embrace the primitive flame that grows inside. Succumb to the Burning fucking Savage” Affe ”Phantasma” Piran, the vocalist of Obnoxious Youth, manifests.

The sperm of Satan’s cock AKA the Obnoxious Youth was born in 2002 in Uppsala/Sweden. But the fully fledged and perverted behemoth that stands before you today was an international collaboration brought to life in 2009 by John ”Zeke” Finne, Affe ”Phantasma” Piran and Frans ”Cult” Utterström. But today Edde ”Shit” Aftonfalk and Lukas ”Spine” Häger are added to the live lineup of the band.

The purpose of the band was to break boundaries and to return to the time when extreme music didn’t have any rules or regulations. When there was no ”death metal” or ”thrash metal”, when there was just ”metal” or ”punk”. Just channeling the most insane music that was humanly possible. Using methods that was founded in the 80’s, Obnoxious Youth fully encloses itself and gets swallowed by the power of extreme music and getting influences from a feeling rather than other bands. Taking the listeners back to a time when heavy music was something to fear.

In 2012 the band received a Manifest Award for the debut album The Eternal Void and has since then released two EP’s (Suck On The Cross, 2013 and Mouths Sewn Shut, 2020) and one more full length album Disturbing the Graves in 2017. They have established themselves as a fierce live band that leaves no one unaffected.

Members of Obnoxious Youth has played in or currently plays in bands such as Vorum, Undergång, Endtime, Reveal!, Morbus Chron, Century, Tøronto, Degial, Begravningsentreprenörerna, Entombed and No Future.

Svart Records releases Obnoxious Youth’s new album Burning Savage 18th of October 2024 on black, transparent red and limited yellow/red/black marble vinyl versions – and of course on glorious CD. Pre-orders are now available on Svart Records’ webstore.

If last year's "Don't Fall In Love With Everyone You See" was the middle of the darkest night of the year, "Down The River Of Golden Dreams" is the earliest light of a morning that could either bring the first breeze of spring or a battalion of tornadoes. On it the band streches their wings, they shake off the fear and trepidation of the last record and try to look life in the face, emboldened by distorted blasts of Wurlitzer, guttural stabs of Hammond organ, urbane strings, and jaunty horns that cuold be the work of a shitfaced Canadian Brass. "Down The River Of Golden Dreams" combines with OKKERVIL's trademark melancholy a sense of drama and play at which the last album only hinted. It oozes the band's signature string-destroying folk-rock attack and umbilical chamber-pop swoon, but it also echoes the venomous cabaret of Jaques Brel, the off-kilter swagger of the FACES and Bob Dylan's "Blonde On Blonde" and the dusky balladry of Nick Cave. In addition, it displays a new confidence in frontman Will Sheff, whose concise, literary lyrics and emotionally direct delivery are rapidly distinguishing him as one of rock music's best new Songwriters.

Germany-based metal band Obscura launch trilogy concept on stunning new album “A Valediction”. The group’s first (sixth overall) album for Nuclear Blast pivots on many fronts. Advanced, elegant, and yet refreshing, “A Valediction” sums up past endeavors effortlessly as it gazes with purpose and conviction into the future. Obscura are fan-renowned and critically acclaimed for challenging and then expanding upon norms. From “Cosmogenesis”(2009) through “Diluvium”(2018), the band flourished and made significant progress in a musical genre unprepared for a creative shot of German invention. “A Valediction” spearheads Obscura into a new era of extreme metal. Welcome to the next level!

Translucent Pink Vinyl! A little drums, a little atmosphere, and it wails like this! Hotter than anything printed by a Hearst daily, the 12-song Version Especial of Redd Kross' Teen Babes from Monsanto - all art, no filler, direct from the source, pure from the tap - reissued by Merge Records. The album features specially designed packaging that allows you to choose between two different front covers with just a flip of the wrist! Experience vintage teenaged Redd Kross as presented by Monsanto: 100% genuine, chemically inspired brilliance fueled by processed junk food.

Parquets Courts' fifth album Wide Awake! - produced by Danger Mouse - is a groundbreaking work, an album about independence and individuality but also about collectivity and communitarianism. The songs, written by Andrew Savage and Austin Brown but elevated to even greater heights by the dynamic rhythmic propulsion of Max Savage (drums) and Sean Yeaton (bass), are filled with their traditional punk rock passion, as well as a lyrical tenderness. The record reflects a burgeoning confidence in the band's exploration of new ideas in a hi-fi context.

(Abbey Road master but in the original sleeve) When the mysterious masked collective calling themselves Goat first emerged in 2012, armed with an incendiary debut album ‘World Music’ – there was, and there still isn’t, anyone else on earth quite like them. With their enticing mythology, music full of sinuous grooves and manic explosions of fuzz, Goat were outliers from the very beginning. ‘World Music’, received an avalanche of acclaim with critics, psych heads, outernational crate diggers etc, all left enraptured by its thunderous intensity, conjured from a singular mix of sounds from across the globe. ‘World Music’ is brimming with tracks now seen as ‘classic’ Goat live favourites. Tracks that have been wowing audiences all over the world; the afrobeat stomp of ‘Disco Fever’, the fuzz abuse of ‘Goathead’, the post-punk groove of ‘Let it Bleed’, the sing-along repetitive pop of ‘Run to your Mama’... From the first note to the last, ‘World Music’ oozes with a sonic confidence rarely seen on a debut album. What Goat have is unique – they’ve managed to create a sound unrestrained by genre or any other boundaries. So if you haven’t done so already, then it is now time you joined the Goat commune. (Abbey Road master but in the original sleeve) When the mysterious masked collective calling themselves Goat first emerged in 2012, armed with an incendiary debut album ‘World Music’ – there was, and there still isn’t, anyone else on earth quite like them. With their enticing mythology, music full of sinuous grooves and manic explosions of fuzz, Goat were outliers from the very beginning. ‘World Music’, received an avalanche of acclaim with critics, psych heads, outernational crate diggers etc, all left enraptured by its thunderous intensity, conjured from a singular mix of sounds from across the globe. ‘World Music’ is brimming with tracks now seen as ‘classic’ Goat live favourites. Tracks that have been wowing audiences all over the world; the afrobeat stomp of ‘Disco Fever’, the fuzz abuse of ‘Goathead’, the post-punk groove of ‘Let it Bleed’, the sing-along repetitive pop of ‘Run to your Mama’... From the first note to the last, ‘World Music’ oozes with a sonic confidence rarely seen on a debut album. What Goat have is unique – they’ve managed to create a sound unrestrained by genre or any other boundaries. So if you haven’t done so already, then it is now time you joined the Goat commune.

Since the inception of Anxious in 2016, the band has always acted with purpose. This may seem like a simple premise, but for five kids still in high school at the time, it's quite an accomplishment. Early songs were packaged in limited run demo tapes with accompanying zines and hand-dyed t-shirts. Weekends were filled with regional runs of shows outside of their Fairfield, Connecticut homebase. With this amount of effort it's no wonder that within a few years of graduation, Anxious has built a solid foundation for their debut album to flourish upon.On Little Green House, Anxious explores what it feels like to enter adulthood in unflinching detail. The Connecticut band unpacks struggles, joys, and hard-earned realizations in a way that makes them feel wise beyond their years. Anthemic songs like lead single "In April" and guaranteed sing-along "Growing Up Song" thread the often difficult melodic-hardcore needle in a way that feels both nostalgic for the emo renaissance of yesteryear and precisely built for the current moment of genre defiant pioneering.

2lp Is Green Swirl Vinyl In A Gatefold Jacket.Ten Years After Its Release, Wye Oak's Civilian Remains A Raw, Sinewy Punch Of A Record _ Bleak And Intense And Lonely And Self-Assured All At Once. The Album Unravels With The Sort Of Selfquestioning And Uncertainty That Come With Youth, And Its Specific Confidence In Unflinchingly Probing All Of Those Emotions, Feeling Them To Their Deepest Extent Even When It's Tearing You Apart At The Seams. When Andy Stack And Jenn Wasner Released Civilian, It Marked Both The Ascension And Death Of Wye Oak, Or At Least A Version Of It. Now, A Decade Later, Civilian + Cut All The Wires: 2009-2011 Delves Back Into That Pivotal Record And Adds A Lost Album Of Unreleased Tracks And Demos To Civilian's Universe. Civilian Was Beloved Upon Release, Complete With Late-Night Tv Appearances, Sold-Out Concerts, And Glowing Reviews; It Was The A.V. Club's Favorite Album Of 2011. Cut All The Wires: 2009-2011, A 12-Song Collection Of Rare And Unreleased Tracks And Demos Culled From The Wye Oak Archives, Is An Extension Of The Bruised And Aching Civilian. Sonic Paradoxes Abound: The Mellow "Sinking Ship" Is Preceded By The Wall-Of-Sound Grunginess That Roars Through "Half A Double Man." A Pared-Down Acoustic Daytrotter Live Session Of "Two Small Deaths" Dovetails Into The Jangling "Holy Holy" Demo. The Closing Lyrics Over The Frenetic, Screeching Feedback Of "Electricity" Lend The Anniversary Release Its Title.

Here we have the third LP by the excellent Guy Hamper Trio, featuring James Taylor on Hamond organ, and Guy Hamper on guitar (sometimes called Childish) and what a first-class LP this is! 'Instrument of Evil' in particular has a very eerie vibe. We asked the man himself what was the inspiration for it? G.H. The track is the sequel to '7% Solution', which featured on the last Guy Hamper Trio LP (with Thee Headcoats standing in as rhythm section). A 7% Solution being the amount of morphine Dr Watson administered to Sherlock Holmes. For 'Instrument of Evil' I took Sherlock Holmes' later designation of his syringe as "an Instrument of Evil". This is originally a quote from the bible- "Wicked men do at times reject God's purpose for the state, transforming the good of civil government into an instrument of evil." Point of interest: Morphine addiction happens to tie in with another aspect of the song. In the section that nods to Elmer Bernstein's main title theme to the film of the book The Man With the Golden Arm, in which the main character is also a morphine addict. Another ingredient - we added six-string bass to that section in tribute to Jet Harris - he formerly of top group The Shadows, who recorded a great version of Bernstein's classic. To top it all off the record sleeve references the fine graphics of the great Saul Bass. The track also features contributions from Tom Morley (trumpet) and Anna Jordanous (sax) . Both Were a pleasure to work with. My job at the wheel is to basically make a playground and let Jamie, Anna and Tom loose in it with very little direction, apart from pointing out the swings and location of the roundabout. I told Tom "you're a Spanish trumpeter stood on a hill in Spain." For Anna, I think we said "go low and nasty." Other titles are taken from early poetry chapbooks I made in my youth. 'The First Creature is Jealousy' and 'Dog Jaw Woman' being examples. The title 'Incense Rising From a Censer' comes fromDostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov, a book I really recommend....

Since his first offerings began making the Internet rounds in 2009, Toro y Moi has proven himself to be not just a prolific musician, but a diverse one as well, letting each successive release broaden the scope of his oeuvre. Amassing nearly 150,000 copies sold, Toro y Moi’s third full-length album, Anything in Return, sees Chaz Bear blending funk, psych-pop and colorful, glitchy electronic sampling, locking in his unique sound that would push him to the forefront of alternative and chillwave music in the 2010s. To celebrate its 10-year anniversary, Anything in Return will be released for the first time on picture disc.

But the product of a move he made almost a decade ago, from South Carolina to Berkeley, CA and the subsequent extended separation from loved ones, is what put Anything in Return right in the middle of the producer/songwriter dichotomy that his first two albums established. There’s a pervasive sense of peace with Bundick’s tendency to dabble in both sides of the modern music-making spectrum, and he sounds comfortable engaging in intuitive pop production and putting forth the impression of unmediated id. The producer’s hand is prominent — not least in the sampled “yeah”s and “uh”s that give the album a hip-hop-indebted confidence — and many of the songs feature the 4/4 beats and deftly employed effects usually associated with house music. Tracks like “High Living” and “Day One” show a considerably Californian influence, their languid funk redolent of a West Coast temperament, and elsewhere — not least on lead single, “So Many Details” — the record plays with darker atmospheres than we’re used to hearing from Toro y Moi. Sounding quite assured in what some may call this songwriter’s return to producerhood, Anything in Return is Bear uninhibited by issues of genre, an album that feels like the artist’s essence.

Since his earlier releases, Toro y Moi has continued to make big waves across the music landscape — headlining international tours in the US, Europe, and Asia, producing tracks for major artists like SZA, performing on national television shows like Jimmy Kimmel Live and The Ellen Show, joining festival lineups like Coachella and Fuji Rock, and much more.

Written and recorded in Spring 2011 at Andy's grandmother's Chicago-area house while she was away on vacation, Gauntlet Hair is a subtle refinement of the sounds we've come to associate with the band - the trunk-rattling bass; the ecstatic, tinny post-punk guitar; the din of ecstasy. But what was once simply jarring in its audacity is now also bursting with new colors. It's music made with the sole purpose of losing yourself - both mind and body - inside of it. They take the listener into the red, evoking that unmistakable feeling of being squarely in front of the speaker as it is screaming blissfully loud melodies.

You may or may not know of Tony Joe White, but we all know his two most famous songs — "Polk Salad Annie" and "Rainy Night In Georgia". This record is up to the standards of those great numbers. So soulful, humid, rich and textured. Or as Tony Joe would say, »It's swampy«.
And because it's such a classic, such a southern musical touchstone, we've gone and upped the ante — making this standout a 45rpm double LP release. Veteran audiophiles know and hear the difference. With more LP real estate, inner groove distortion is reduced and tracking by your stereo cartridge is improved. That's a major sonic advantage! Mastered by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio from the original analog tape, this LP sounds phenomenal from the first note to the last fade out.
The last four songs on side two of this album are going to positively floor you. They are so sparse and bluesy and emotional. And the sound is as good as the music. With this new QRP pressing, the sound is so good it's tape-like. So solid and jet-black is the foundation from which the music just jumps. Ya gotta hear it to understand what we're trying to describe. It's one of those jaw-hit-the-floor, sit-in-stunned-silence, goose-bump-raising, tears-in-your-eyes records. You know, the kind we're all looking for as audiophiles?
When Chad decided to reissue this album, he knew that it wasn't going to be a top-seller. But it's one of his all-time favorites for music and sound, and we feel that whoever takes a chance on this one is going to be richly rewarded. We gotta figure this one is going to end up being one of the favorites of some of our customers, too. If you trust us at all, you can buy with great confidence.
"Homeade Ice Cream" was originally released in 1973 on Warner Bros. and was co-produced by White and legendary Atlantic producer Tom Dowd. It's White's sixth overall record and his third for Warner Bros. This is very much a back porch acoustic affair. The music has the space to breathe, one of the reasons for the life-like sound.

Superb 45 featuring two Hammond-led instrumentals!We caught up with Mr Guy Hamper for an insightful Q&A_ Q: What a cracking single this is! 'Instrument of Evil' in particular has a very eerie vibe. What was the inspiration for it?A: The track is the sequel to '7% Solution', which featured on the last Guy Hamper Trio LP with Thee Headcoats standing in as rhythm section. A 7% Solution being the amount of morphine Dr Watson administered to Sherlock Holmes. For 'Instrument of Evil' I took Sherlock Holmes' later designation of his syringe as "an Instrument of Evil". This is originally a quote from the bible: "Wicked men do at times reject God's purpose for the state, transforming the good of civil government into an instrument of evil." Point of interest: Morphine addiction happens to tie in with another aspect of the song. In the section that nods to Elmer Bernstein's main title theme to the film of the book The Man With the Golden Arm, in which the main character is also a morphine addict. Another ingredient - we added six-string bass to that section in tribute to Jet Harris - he formerly of top group The Shadows, who recorded a great version of Bernstein's classic. To top it all off the record sleeve references the fine graphics of the great Saul Bass. Phew!Q: The track features contributions from Tom Morley (trumpet) and Anna Jordanous (sax). What's it like working with them?A: They are great and easy to work with. I basically make a playground and let them loose in it with very little direction, apart from pointing out the swings and location of the roundabout. I told Tom "You're a Spanish trumpeter stood on a hill in Spain." For Anna, I think we said "go low and nasty." Q: On the flip side you have 'Incense Rising From a Censer'. A very evocative title for an evocative track. Do you have lyrics in mind for this for a possible later release?A: No lyrics have sprung to mind as yet - but it's always possible. The title is from The Elders observation in Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov, a b...

Why you'll love it...
Speedy Ortiz's 2013 debut studio album turns 10 this year. Major Arcana, with its whip smart lyricism, twisted guitars and brutal confidence, is celebrated here in a special 10th anniversary edition.

Limited to 1000 copies, the VMP exclusive version of Speedy Ortiz' Major Arcana (10th Anniversary) is pressed on "The Moon's Reflection" vinyl at Precision Record Pressing (PRP). The 1LP will arrive in a gatefold, direct-to-board, foil-stamped and numbered jacket with a download code. It was mastered by Emily Lazar and Chris Allgood at The Lodge

The Apotheosis Of Band Of Holy Joy's Bile Toward Today's Pathetic State Of Affairs Will Be Released Shortly - A Blistering Remix Of "The Devil Has A Hold On The Land" From Their Last Album, Neon Primitives. Remixed By Youth (Killing Joke Bassist, Paul Mccartney Collaborator, Producer Of Melanie C And U2!), Who Was So Taken By The Song As To Remix It Gratis, The Remix Will Be Part Of A Series Of 23 Discrete 7" 45s By Jon Langford Of The Mekons And An Assortment Fellow Travellers From Around The Globe. Dreams Take Flight Transitions From Political Discourse Into A Post-Virus Rebirth Of Human Relationship And The Inevitable Fumblings Of The Society's Psychological Reconstruction Over The Forthcoming Year. Have You Ever Wondered What Purpose Your Joy Or My Pain? All Those Moments Shared Together To Be Washed Away By The Rain . . . Have You Ever Doubted Our Super Hipster Being Love-In At All? Just A Pair Of Urbane Fools Passing Through Waiting For Our Call . . . Take A Leap Into The Great Unknown. Almost Perversely Heart-On-Sleeve, Johny Brown And Compatriots Have Never Fitted Well Within A Particular Scene - Nor Have They Ever Seem To Try. Although Recorded Under The Existence Of Quarantine And A Healthy Amount Of Paranoia, In Search Of The Joy Of Greatly Hindered Collaboration, The Band Has Opted To Turn Over Each Song To A Different Visionary Video Artist For An Exhibition Which Will Take Place For A Week At London's Gallery 46 Beginning At The End Of February And Open To The Public. The Video Exhibition Will Subsequently Be Available Online, Before The Album's Release.While Still Featuring Some Of The Band's Strongest Songs, Dreams Take Flight Has A Strange Film-Like Ambience In Parts, Almost As If Planned As A Soundtrack, A Thought Mirrored In Inga Tillere's Sublime, Dream-Like Sleeve, Best Seen In Real Life. "A Leap Into The Great Unknown" And "Notes From A Gallery" Will Likely Be Heard As Too Disarmingly Direct For Radio, And The Videos Will Likely Never See The Entry Door To Mtv, But Dreams Tak...

Rocket is Philadelphia-based artist Alex G’s eighth full-length release—an assured statement that follows a slate of humble masterpieces, many of them self-recorded and self-released, stretching from 2010’s RACE to his 2015 Domino debut, Beach Music.

Amid the Rocket recording process, Alex made headlines for catching the attention of Frank Ocean, who asked him to play guitar on his two 2016 albums, Endless and Blonde. More than any stylistic cues, what Alex took from the experience was a newfound confidence in collaboration. Rocket wears this collaborative spirit proudly, and in its numerous contributors presents a restless sense of musical experimentation - effortlessly jumping from distorted sound collage to dreamy folk music to bouncing Americana.

Rocket illustrates a cohesive vision of contemporary American experience; the cast of characters that Alex G inhabits have fun, fall in love, develop obsessions, get in trouble, and—much like rockets themselves—ultimately they burn out. Alex, though, in a collection of songs that’s both his tightest and most adventurous, is poised only for the ascent.

French epic, old-school metal of the highest order! France’s Meurtrières emerge with Ronde De Nuit, their first full-length. Stocked with seven songs of hard-charging, energetic old-school metal, Meurtrières shows they are one of French metal’s most promising young bands. Lyon, France’s Meurtrières has not strayed far from their original goal of writing old-school, epic heavy metal with medieval overtones on their newest effort, Ronde De Nuit. If anything, the band (consisting of new vocalist Fiona, the guitar tandem of Flo Spector and Olivier, bassist Xavier and drummer Thomas) has taken what they started on their well-received 2020 self-titled EP and added new layers of complexity and depth. It is the natural transition for a band gaining more confidence in its songwriting abilities. Yet the noticeable change starts in the vocal spot. Out is the original frontwoman Fleur and in her place is Fiona. Meurtrières wasted little time introducing Fiona — the band started playing live shows and writing new material with her right after the release of the EP, thus, giving Meurtrières ample time to hone its new material. And Fiona fits the band’s hard-charging, gallant music like a glove, coming away with a stronghold of fiery, epic choruses — all sung in the Meurtrières’ native tongue. The lyrical subject matter on Ronde De Nuit still spans the medieval domain but with increased emphasis on paintings by Rembrandt (The Night Watch) and Johann Heinrich (Füssli). The band aimed to make the songs “pictorial,” reflecting imaginary portraits to draw in the listener. Except for “Aucun Homme, Aucun Dogme, Aucune Croix” (which is a known French medieval legend about a real woman), the songs on Ronde De Nuit are based on fantasy with a desired fate: All the depicted characters are doomed to tragedy, for in the world of Meurtrières, there is no such thing as crowned kings and queens and even glorious warriors. Artwork by Ivan Brun rounds out a package that perfectly ties in thematically with the desperate and dark themes of the lyrics. It is a fitting component to an album laced with stunning visuals and epic, old-school metal of the highest order!

Lost & found studio recordings (1971-79) by US singer-songwriter SID Bradley including some of the sought-after 45 sides released with his band Erik in the early ‘70s plus fabulous previously unreleased tracks. This is serious stuff, folks!! Pro-sounding sound, ranging from fuzzed-out psychedelic hard-rock to psych-pop and proto-power pop. Master tape sound and insert with liner notes by Sid Bradley and Paul Osborne (Shindig!). A phenomenal and versatile songwriter (he has written hundreds of songs) Sid Bradley started to play in garage bands like The Cavaliers in the 60s and by the early 70s he was part of Erik, a group responsible for a couple of self-produced 45s, “Child Of The Sea” / “Nothing Is Easy” and “Sometime In Your Life” / “Rebel Woman”. These 45s were usually used for promo purposes and it was typical of Sid to load a few record boxes into his car and travel hundreds of miles, visiting all the radio stations, trying to pitch his music to the DJs. This one-man marketing operation actually worked fine, as Sid’s music was played in radio stations across the eastern US, Canada, England, and even Germany. And some of his songs were reviewed in Billboard, Record World or Rolling Stone. You may be familiar with the hard-psych sounding “Child Of The Sea” as it has been included on several psych comps and it was also part of the “Lodge 49” soundtrack. The flip, “Nothing Is Easy” wouldn’t sound out of place on any Rubbles volume. “Rebel Woman” is now considered a proto-metal cult classic and it was recently included on the “Brown Acid” series. After the demise of Erik, Sid continued recording his songs using different musicians. Most of these tracks remained unreleased until a few years ago, when Sid, encouraged by the interest on his old Erik 45s, decided to remaster them and put them available on several Digital only albums that caught the attention of mags like Shindig! We’re now very glad to present a selection of those tracks, collected for the first time on a vinyl LP. Includes insert with liner notes and photos and download card.

DRA is happy to announce another Shape Vinyl in their upcoming Shape Vinyl Series. We´re excited to offer this adorable collectors items of Metal and Hardcore Kings Hatebreed! Honor Never Dies and Own Your World are taken from the album "The Divinity Of Purpose" an unapologetic, furious and fiercely catchy cluster of tracks that perfectly and pit-worthily marry metal with hardcore.

Philly's Modern Baseball have been on every 2012 year-end list, and finally we have their debut full-length record SPORTS! The band's first full length is uniquely modern, capturing a sort of love and loneliness, as it conveys how it feels to be young and hopeless in modern America. Singer Brendan Lukens' words are presenting familiar narratives with clever, vivid images and put a contemporary twist on universal conflicts, love lost and love found, epic and disastrous nights, and the search for connection and purpose.

When Porridge Radio's Dana Margolin, one of the most vital new voices in rock, began to consider the themes of her new album, three vivid words began to emerge: joy, fear and endlessness. The artwork of the band's third full-length, Waterslide, Diving Board, Ladder To The Sky, is a surreal image that evokes the ducks and dives, slippery slopes and existential angst of life in recent times. "To me, the feelings of joy, fear and endlesses coexist together," says Dana. "You're never just happy or unhappy." Following Every Bad's release in 2020, Margolin was quickly becoming regarded as one of the most magnetic band leaders around. But if Every Bad established Dana's bravery in laying herself bare, her band's third record takes that to anthemic new heights. While there are moments of guttural release, she also finds soft power on songs. "I used to think I had to be loud to be heard," she admits, "but now I'm definitely less afraid of being gentle." The band's first new single, `Back To The Radio', sets out their stall, a lurching call to arms that contrasts Dana's lyrics of panic and closing herself off. This song is just one of example in Wdbltts that explores something that has long been an important part of Porridge Radio's process: playfulness. "I think the album needed to have that balance," Dana explains. Balance: that's the word the album seems to be eternally striving for - joy, fear and endlessness in harmony but also self-acceptance. Dana is more aware of how she's creating a persona as her star continues to rise, and how she's singing personal songs that now belong to other people which gives her purpose. She says, "I wrote these songs for myself, but I think everyone wants to feel like what they're doing is useful in some way. I'm ready to embrace it all now, whatever happens."

Stand Atlantic are a female fronted band from Sydney, Australia. Their fresh blend of melodic hooks and power-driven instrumentals allow them to sit atop of the genre. With their honest lyrical nature and relentless ability to move an audience live, the band are being tipped to be the next to break through the Australian scene. At the end of 2016 Stand Atlantic entered Electric Sun studio to record their new EP 'Sidewinder' with producer Stevie Wright (With Confidence). The EP shows the band mixing accessible song writing and exceptional musicianship, balancing out both the 'pop' and 'rock' aspects of their sound

Two and a half decades into a career that's never delivered the stardom forecast by legions of champions, John Hiatt has settled into a niche that's about as comfortable as a maturing singer-songwriter could ask for. No longer a major-label priority, Hiatt has hooked up with the stalwart folk label Vanguard for his 15th release. Crossing Muddy Waters adroitly captures Hiatt's comfort and confidence. Not so much blues as blusey, Crossing Muddy Waters features 11 new Hiatt compositions, half of which feel instantly familiar. The rambunctious "Lift Up Every Stone" sounds a little like some of Tom Waits's more accessible recent efforts, while "Take It Down" is a love-lost lament that's as heavy as a foggy evening. Crossing Muddy Waters was cut in three days and features only two accompanists--the uncommonly sympathetic Davey Faragher and David Immerglück. Just goes to show that Hiatt moves just fine when he's not dragging a lot of added weight and heavy expectations behind him.

Five years after the release of their last studio album, legendary UK musical institution, Soft Machine, return with a brand new CD/LP, Other Doors. Boasting new material and two numbers drawn from their extensive historical repertoire, Other Doors finds the band on their usual fiery form.

Featuring John Etheridge (guitars), Theo Travis, (saxes, flutes, Fender Rhodes piano, electronics), Fred Thelonious Baker (Fretless bass), John Marshall (drums), Other Doors also features two guest appearances from long-serving bassist Roy Babbington, who retired from the band in 2021.

Other Doors was recorded at Temple Music Studios, a facility owned by the late Jon Hiseman during July and August 2022. It’s a location of which the band is particularly fond, explains John Etheridge. “Working at Jon Hiseman’s studio was special, especially with Ru Lemer who is a brilliant engineer. He’s fantastically quick and that’s very good as we record mainly live in the studio. It’s come out really well and I think it sounds great.”

That ability to work quickly on takes as an ensemble has resulted in a fresh-sounding series of top-flight performances whose typically knotty and sometimes complex themes frequently give way to explosively discursive improvisations. As Theo Travis observes, “The interesting thing about recording free improvisations is you're not playing to a plan or a grid or a blueprint, so you don’t know what's coming, and you don't know what's coming until it's gone. At which moment you're thinking about the next thing.”

The album is brimming with that fast-moving creativity including the title track, whose outline was initially composed by John Etheridge in the Lake District during 2021’s lockdown. Crooked Usages’ ’ slow-weaving machinations and the prowling inquisitiveness pursued during Fell to Earth are similarly imbued with a dextrous yet melodic bite that defines much of the band’s approach. Within this framework, John Etheridge’s supple interrogations across the fretboard’s range coupled with Theo Travis' tightly focused sax and flute alongside his impressionistic keyboard washes encompass a musical language that can be as cerebral as it is emotionally direct.

The Visitor at the Window, The Stars Apart, and the elegiac Back in Season unfurl into more reflective states of being, variously contrasted by mediative percussion, flute, solo guitar, or swarms of electronica and echoing clusters of electric piano. All coalesce to build into the beguiling atmospherics which forms a vital layer within the Soft Machine sound world. It’s been a kind of tradition with the group to include new arrangements of older Soft Machine numbers from the band’s illustrious back catalogue. These have included numbers as varied as Chloe and the Pirates, Kings and Queens, Out-Bloody-Rageous, etc.

On Other Doors they’ve revisited the very first album, originally released in 1968, to include Kevin Ayers ‘Joy Of A Toy. Fred Baker, makes his studio debut with Soft Machine. A well-known figure on the Canterbury Scene not only is he the perfect choice for the group but he’s also is a long-term fan of the repertoire.“The way I look at it is that this is all great music which we’re continuing to preserve and keep alive as we play it but also we’re adding to it all the time,” he explains. The idea for revisiting the number was Theo Travis’ he says and has been part of the band’s live setlist for a while. “I’ve added some extra harmonies and other things to it, so it’s got my stamp as well as going back right down to Kevin Ayers's original. It somehow fitted in with all of the new material as well as the older tracks we do. It’s amazing the amount of young people coming along to gigs who are liking the wide range of music we play.” The album also contains Penny Hitch, a track originally heard on 1973’s Soft Machine Seven. This features the first of two appearances of Roy Babbington who provides the bass lines underpinning Karl Jenkins’ composition while Fred plays the sinuous lead melody on his fretless bass. The pair also worked together as a duo on Now! Is The Time, a number originally based on a theme Babbington brought into the sessions, with Fred and Roy both adding and expanding the scope of the piece.

If the album ushers in a new member in the shape of Fred Baker, it also acts as a fond farewell to drummer John Marshall, who joined Soft Machine midway through the recording of 1972’s Fifth. At the age of 81 Marshall has decided to retire making Other Doors his final studio album with the group. “I’ve known John since 1975 when I first joined Soft Machine and of course, we’ve worked through the years together intermittently ever since. His drumming always meant a lot to me,” says Etheridge. “We worked over three days in the studio and John played great. It sounds terrific.” Indeed, Marshall is on whip-cracking form throughout the album bringing his trademark musicality and decisive presence. With Other Doors, he brings his distinguished career to a rousing conclusion.

Intense, celebratory, and consistently impressive. Other Doors is the sound of a group determined to press forwards with an integrity and sense of purpose that’s quintessentially and definitively Soft Machine.

If 2022’s The Children Of Scorpio was the debut album that turned people onto the world of Project Gemini aka Paul Osborne, Colours & Light is the body of work that will be buried deep into their hearts. It is a majestic album, bringing together the worlds of folk rock, psych soundtracks and hazy cinematic funk. A growing confidence and ease emanate from the writing and production of this sophomore LP, bolstered by the reception to his standout debut. “It’s a more layered and diverse record” Paul mentions, “with a more outward-looking, global sound, born out of the records I was listening to and the musicians I was lucky enough to collaborate with”. It feels relaxed yet self-assured, with a kaleidoscope of sounds that twist together in a mesmerising fashion. The theme of the album developed naturally through the lyrics Paul began writing. A creative process both plagued and fed by insomnia, nourished by relationships, entwined in emotions, nights out, nights in and the after-effects on the human condition. Relatable themes yet seen through the prism of a soundscape that takes in many a different culture and scene. From acid folk to psych-funk, Francophile elements to Anatolian and Eastern inspirations, all interlocking and rotating as one. Drawing inspiration from those he admires, Colours & Light radiates with collaborations. The title track, which tips its hat to a live 1973 TV version of Pentangle’s ‘Wedding Dress’, features the folk rock, guitar brilliance of Jack Sharp from Wolf People/Large Plants. Elsewhere, two tracks are blessed by the sultry, smokey French vocals of Gloria’s Wendy Martinez, ‘Extra Nuit’ and ‘Entre chien et loup’. The former echoes Paul's love of classic French psych-pop from the late ’60s and early ’70s and artists such as Laurance Vanay, Calcium, Leonie, and Serge Gainsbourg. Martinez's sublime vocal work nestles perfectly within Paul's psych-folk-funk productions, as her Gloria partner, Alexis Morel (aka Kid Victrola) sprinkles a dose of entrancing guitar line magic on proceedings. The list of collaborations extends further with Raz and Markey Funk, drummer Tony Coote and percussionist Paul Elliott all featuring. Regular collaborator and underground icon Barrie Cadogan (Little Barrie) returns along with Bert Page from The Cromagnon Band, who between them provide a hit of whacked-out, fuzzed-up country guitar and Moog madness respectively on ‘Lost In The Woods (Bacchanal)’. Rounding off the record Paul’s daughter, Olivia Osborne, supplies the keyboard intro on the penultimate track ‘Twilight’. Dorian Conway from The Soundcarriers (whose bandmate Paul Isherwood returns on mixing duties) then layers echoing heavy flute parts to magically capture the psychedelic sunrise images brought to mind. Balancing light and shade on this record, there is beauty and tension all wrapped up in Paul’s vivid and visceral, storytelling gift.

"Howling songs" is the magnificent third and last part to the "songs trilogy". We are
back to this slavonic tune, without any definite frontier, whose only and constant
heritage finds its roots in European music. This is a very haunted and personal piece of
music which is the testimony of a unique talent where moving melodies follow other
moving melodies balancing between ballad songs and folk music, madness and reason,
revolt and despair. "Howling songs" sympathises with the surrounding world, it is a
definitive observation in which one can feel, throughout the songs, an outraged
sensitivity which is the signature of the artist. It is all the more sensitive that Matt's
voice is sometimes present without any chorus in the background, bringing to the
whole both confidence and unquestionable heat. "Howling songs" is, without a doubt,
the most introspective album by Matt Elliott and the one which carries best his
musical personality.

’Hot Thoughts’’ is the bravest, most sonically inventive work of Spoon’s career. With all due respect to earlier efforts that have made the quintet both critically acclaimed and a commercial contender, preconceptions about this band are about to be obliterated. That’s not to say ‘Hot Thoughts’ doesn’t have a requisite supply of infectious earworms but there’s a lyrical bent that’s as carnal as it’s crafty, and a newfound sense of sonic exploration that results in the genresmasher Spoon have flirted with in the past but not fully consummated.
Co-produced by Spoon and Dave Fridmann and reunited with Matador (third time’s the charm), let's acknowledge that Britt Daniel’s spot in the pantheon of rock’s genius songwriters was well established a ways back, but with the crackling, incandescent, multi-dimensional backdrop conjured on ‘Hot Thoughts’, the lines between accessible and experimental become non-factors for once and all. It’s pop as high art, delivered with total confidence and focus.

The iconic, game changing Modern Sounds in Country And Western albums, combined into a single release for CD in the 2000s, will be restored and released individually, as originally intended. The significance of these records cannot be overlooked. They are proof that great country music is malleable, and open to interpretation.

Volume 1 quickly became one of the best-selling albums recorded by a Black musician of the time, as well as one of the best-selling country albums. It topped the Billboard Pop Album Chart of a month, and spawned four hit singles, including “I Can’t Stop Loving” which reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100, R&B, and the Adult Contemporary Charts, was nominated for Record Of The Year, and won the GRAMMY for Best Rhythm & Blues Recording at the 5th Annual Grammy Awards in 1963. “You Don’t Know Me” met with similar success. Ray Charles remains the first and only Black performer to earn a GRAMMY Award and a #1 Billboard Pop Chart Hit with a country and western song as he did with “l Can’t Stop Loving You.”

Volume 2 followed its predecessor by just six months, and is widely regarded as just as strong, if not stronger than the first - the second made with the confidence that this formula or country & soul works. With three hit singles on both the R&B and Pop charts, including the #1 hit You Are My Sunshine, both volumes changed the course of popular music and remain a testament to the genius of Ray Charles.

The iconic, game changing Modern Sounds in Country And Western albums, combined into a single release for CD in the 2000s, will be restored and released individually, as originally intended. The significance of these records cannot be overlooked. They are proof that great country music is malleable, and open to interpretation.

Volume 1 quickly became one of the best-selling albums recorded by a Black musician of the time, as well as one of the best-selling country albums. It topped the Billboard Pop Album Chart of a month, and spawned four hit singles, including “I Can’t Stop Loving” which reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100, R&B, and the Adult Contemporary Charts, was nominated for Record Of The Year, and won the GRAMMY for Best Rhythm & Blues Recording at the 5th Annual Grammy Awards in 1963. “You Don’t Know Me” met with similar success. Ray Charles remains the first and only Black performer to earn a GRAMMY Award and a #1 Billboard Pop Chart Hit with a country and western song as he did with “l Can’t Stop Loving You.”

Volume 2 followed its predecessor by just six months, and is widely regarded as just as strong, if not stronger than the first - the second made with the confidence that this formula or country & soul works. With three hit singles on both the R&B and Pop charts, including the #1 hit You Are My Sunshine, both volumes changed the course of popular music and remain a testament to the genius of Ray Charles.