Suche:night in wales

Following his ‘You Are the Music’ EP for Euphoric State, and the reissue of the underground classic ‘Voices’ by Jewellery, David Inglesfield returns with a second EP by PersistentRain – and the first release on his own label, Precipitation.

‘All Time Is One’ is a meditation on the passing – yet continuity – of time, whether across multiple decades, or just in the transition from one day to another.

Opening track ‘Farewell’ brings disparate voices and sounds from the past back to life in an intense, transcendent journey, all driven by a pulsating bassline.

‘The Night Is Done’ features a solid beat and lush array of synths, with the vocal by Bristolian Christine Hulbert the icing on the cake.

On ‘This Place (Displace)’, Inglesfield, a Londoner from birth, but recently moved to South Wales, turns to consider a corner of his beloved native city, where a once-legendary musical theatre was swept away, to become a makeshift car park in the 1960s, then the site of a brutalist block in the 1970s, now torn down yet again. ‘The first place we’re going to stop at … seems to be NOWHERE!’

‘I Remember’ closes the EP, with fragments of Fender Rhodes and strings fluttering like memories over a moody, minimal sub-bass and insistent kick.

“The high priest of country cool” - Rolling Stone

“I like him very much. He’s very special. He’s singing with a voice I never heard before” - Townes Van Zandt

“A conscious, soulful brother” - Horace Andy

“He’s a brother to me - one of the best singer/songwriters I’ve ever met” - Adrian Sherwood

“Unearthed mine of gems from inner Wales - a songbook of ideas - that's Jeb!” - Gilles Peterson

Jeb Loy Nichols is a bonafide Country (Got) Soul legend. The Music Maker presents 21 incredibly deep, grooving and soulful songs from the cream of Jeb's catalogue; from its earliest days to his latest unreleased gems via countless rare and unbelievably good lost-classics. This 2LP set is presented in a gatefold sleeve complete with freshly commissioned artwork courtesy of Jeb himself.

In collecting these uncut, under-heard gems, we hope to do justice to Jeb's jaw-dropping artistic brilliance. A man who, in working with Adrian Sherwood, Dennis Bovell, Dan Penn, Larry Jon Wilson and countless other legendary characters, has crafted some of the most deeply affecting folk, country, soul, funk, blues, dub, reggae, gospel, rap and electronic music, ever heard.

The first music Jeb really felt a connection with was southern soul: "I used to listen to the radio at night and fell in love with Bobby Womack and Al Green, The Staple Singers and Joe Simon – that whole Nashville/Memphis/Muscle Shoals thing.” But Jeb was so much more than a soul boy, Indeed, he "went to bluegrass festivals with my dad and come home and listened to jazz records with my mother.” And, when he was fifteen, he heard his first punk record: "God Save The Queen" by The Sex Pistols. “That and The Ramones completely changed me.” In 1979 he got a scholarship to go to art school in New York: “A great time. Punk was over but hip-hop was starting and I got into that in an obsessive way.”

His first recording, in 1980, was an unreleased rap song called "I’m A Country Boy". If that isn't an insight enough into Jeb's kaleidoscopic path through music, in 1981 he visited friends in London and found himself living in a squat with Adrian Sherwood, Ari Up (from the Slits), and Neneh Cherry. “Adrian put me to work immediately, moving boxes of records all across London. It was Adrian that was and is my biggest influence – in his complete disregard for genre purity.” So, presumably you're getting the picture? A veritable musical magpie with a voracious appetite and unimpeachable taste.

"Mine has always been a meandering career. I've done what I've done, and made the music I've made, due to chance meetings. I'm not particularly ambitious; it's more important to me that I work with friends and like-minded people. I've been a big fan of Be With for years. Everything they release is essential. When they asked about rereleasing "Countrymusicdisco45" I was both pleased and flattered. We began talking about how we'd do it; two years and twenty-one tracks later, here we are. I've always thought of the music I make as Country Music. Music conceived in the country, written in the country, recorded in the country. I left London and moved back to the country so I could live among the trees, the grasses, the animals, those things that don't go to war and get greedy. This compilation is the story of that life. Hand made, lo-fi, ramshackle, stripped down, real deal music. Heartworn and funky. Music made in the kitchen, not in the studio. As the great Skip Mcdonald said, Perfect ain't perfect. It's great to see all these tracks gathered together. It feels like a family reunion. Some older members of the tribe, some newer arrivals."

Opener "countrymusicdisco45" is a song Jeb wrote about how his crew lives, tucked up blissfully in the hills: "House parties full of country folk dancing to disco, reggae, soul, country, hip-hop. All night. I recorded it at home under the influence of Stevie Wonder." It's one of the funkiest records you'll ever hear. "Sometimes Shooting Stars" was recorded in Nashville and mixed by the legendary Dennis Bovell. It's deep, dubby, majestic. A thing of fragile, melodic beauty. The party ramps back up again with the undeniable groove of "Short Cut Home" before the profoundly moving "Disappointment" arrives. One of many songs he's recorded with good buddy Benedic Lamdin (aka Nostalgia 77): "We were going for a Leon Thomas meets Richard Brautigan meets Alice Coltrane kind of thing". We think they nailed it. "Days Are Mighty", like a lot of the tracks on this collection, "started life as a demo, an attempt to get something down while it was fresh. No frills, nothing fancy, just feel." And what feels!

The irrepressibly funky "Don't Dance With Me Tonight" is a deeply moving, slow-mo organ-drenched head-nod-funky country-ballad. Next up, the breezy "You Got It Wrong" was recorded in Wales with some of Jeb's good friends and neighbours, The Westwood All Stars, featuring Clovis Phillips and Will Barnes. Skanking fiddle-flecked gem "Ring The Bells" was the first thing Jeb recorded when he moved to Wales. A combination of all his loves; country, reggae, soul. It's followed by "Let's Make It Up", a truly sumptuous string-drenched emotional groover. "When Did You Stop Loving Me" is another Nashville track, written and recorded during a time Jeb was spending a lot of time with the Muscle Shoals crew, Donnie Fritts, Spooner Oldham, George Soule and Dan Penn: "It shows, I'm sure, their influence." Oh, you bet it does!

The swaggering country-funk of "Just Beginning" should grace many groove-focused DJs' sets whilst "Wintering Of The Year", again made with Clovis, is pastoral, campfire soul. The glacial, gorgeous "Let It Rain" is from an unreleased record Jeb made with the great British jazz bass player Andy Hamill and "We Tell Each Other Who We Are" is freaky country-soul made by a man with a love for strutting, wonky hip-hop stylings. Rounding out the side, "Trip To You" is pure, uncut amphetamine-propelled drum-machine soul.

The spare, beautiful "Dirt" is from an EP Jeb made with Julian Moore in his house in South London: "All first takes, straight to tape." Swoon! "Heaven Right Here" was a very minor league hit in America: "It was produced by the brilliant and much missed Wayne Nunes. It was started in the countryside of Missouri, finished in the countryside of Wales, and recorded in the countryside of Sussex." Double swoon! "If Later Ever Comes" is electronica meets J.J. Cale business whilst "Remember The Season" is truly wonderful and breezy guitar soul. "A Little Love" was made with Wayne Nunes as well, after a night of listening to Studio One and Northern Soul. Bouncy dub closer "Weary Traveller" was written by Bill Monroe, the hero of Jeb's youth: "Monroe's music was heavily influenced by black southern churches; I've tried to keep some of that feral feel." This was the final recording by Jeb's 1990s Country-Dub band, Fellow Travellers.

The name of this compilation comes from a time when Jeb lived in Peckham, south London and he used to DJ and sometimes perform at a local bar: "The owner of the bar, a Jamaican named Count Percy, once asked me what I called my music. I told him I wasn't sure, I guess just pop music. He thought about it for a minute and then said, 'no, more like mom and pop music'. Rather than call me a country singer or a folk singer he always referred to me as The Music Maker."

With the long overdue deluxe overview of his beloved music, we hope to finally shine a light on the unheralded genius of Jeb Loy Nichols. RIYL Larry Jon Wilson, Townes Van Zandt, Bobby Charles, country got soul artists, dub, deep soul, disco, dancing, heartbreak. This deluxe collection, spellbinding from beginning to end, should hopefully go some way to ensuring Jeb reaches an ever bigger, ever more appreciative crowd of followers. Mastering for this special double vinyl edition was overseen by Be With regular Simon Francis and it was cut by the esteemed Cicely Balston at Abbey Road Studios to be pressed in the Netherlands by Record Industry. The artwork has been lovingly put together by The Music Maker, himself, Jeb Loy Nichols. "Be With is the perfect home for this mongrel music. I am forever in their debt." The pleasure is all ours, Jeb.

DJ Support: Axel Boman, Coyote, Rune Lindbaek, Dr Rob (Ban Ban Ton Ton), Lefto, Johan Blende, Feel Fly, Marco Gallerani and many more

Secret Soul Society, aka South Wales's Cal Gibson, continues his red-hot streak of form with four original jams for Hell Yeah that effortlessly weave decades of influences into intimate, unusual sounds that go from Balearic daydreams to after-hours soul burners.

Gibson was one-half of Nottingham's deep house and downtempo outfit Neon Heights back in the 2000s, a collective that label head Marco has long admired. He has landed here before with the superb Keep The Mystique in 2023, a 15-track collection of brand new curveball cuts built from lovingly sourced samples. Since then, he has continued to collide jazz, funk, Afro, beats, dub, soul and reggae on Paper Wave and Magic Wand.

'To Be Happy' opens with gentle, sun-soaked grooves, swirling keys and dreamy pads that evoke a hazy Mediterranean sunset. Nostalgic soul samples tug at the heart while the track’s laid-back vibe is perfect for golden-hour moments. 'Orange Surprise' is a magical slice of downtempo bliss with hints of romantic vocals. It's built on soft broken rhythms and drifts between ambient soul and laid-back electronica, perfect for introspective moments or late-night winding down.

'Keep On Trying' flips the script with more texture. The synths are crystalline, the pads are sugary, and the meandering bassline unfolds in wonky fashion while soft male vocals bring a steamy edge. Last but not least, 'What You Do To Me' is funky and slow motion disco with 80s synths and reverb that drowns you in good vibes.

This EP is Secret Soul Society at his most expressive and emotive.

Gwenan takes us on an unusual excursion on her new EP, marking the sixth release on Snaretrade Records. Through four windows, we peek into scenes from an unknown script, cleverly disguised as club fare. The A-side starts out bustling and hasty, then takes us out for a melancholy moment in the sun. The B-side has us pause at home in a little skit brewed on a modular rig, before sliding off into the depth of night, where brooding thoughts come out to show their teeth. A remarkable and playful journey, in which Gwenan pays homage to her favourite author, with nods to her youth growing up in Wales.

The Alarm 40th Anniversary release History Repeating is new Double CD and LP collection. The CD features 44 of The Alarm’s biggest singles and greatest songs and the double LP features 27.
Spanning all eras of The Alarm Timeline, History Repeating brings together all of the band’s ‘Crown Jewels’, including a brand new and previously unreleased recording of the title track.
History Repeating features all of the keynote tracks that have helped create The Alarm’s phenomenal and loyally dedicated following. The Double CD comes in a replica LP gatefold sleeve configuration and is the most comprehensive ‘Best Of’ ever released by the group since 1998’s Best of The Alarm and Mike Peters.
The Double LP comes in a gatefold configuration and is the first ‘Best Of’ compilation to appear on vinyl since 1990’s Standards. This is the record every single Alarm fan will want to own with its distinctive Red Poppy cover and beautiful depiction of The Alarm family across the inner gatefold.
Upon release, lead singer Mike Peters will be hosting a series of completely SOLD OUT Alarm Rock and Roll Staycations in the band’s hometown while telling the story of The Alarm through thealarms internet broadcast platform
The Big Night In, that will feature weekly shows dedicated to every single year of the band’s history.
In 2022, a major touring itinerary begins with the already SOLD OUT official 40th Anniversary Concert in St. David’s Hall, Cardiff Wales on January 21st 2022 followed by an international 40th Anniversary concert schedule all the way through to 2023.

»Low Tide, Hi Grypus!« is the new live-iteration of JC Leisure as JC Leisure Group. Documenting an encounter and a communication between human improvisers and atlantic grey seals. The record presents responsive improvisation as a form of cross-species collaboration.

The project began on Porthdinllaen, Wales, where Leisure recorded seal vocalisations from a local colony at low tide. Back in their Liverpool studio, Leisure developed a performance system that translates human musical gestures – pitch, timbre, rhythm, density, presence - into triggers for these seal expressions. The resulting system is dual-active, as in it simultaneously acts and is acted upon in the horizontal instance. It creates a new-music non-linear threshold that cannot be replicated.

»Low Tide, Hi Grypus!« was recorded live at 1210 Berlin and captures one instance of this concept. Local improvisers were invited to encounter the performance system. Recorded in one take, pedal-steel, woodwinds, strings, piano, organ, and electronics gradually learn to listen and respond to the marine voices. This interspecific group moves from intimate duets (that's human, seal) into full ensemble works (humans, seals) over the course of one night.

Rather than treating field recordings as static material, the extensive seal archive functions as an active collaborator: shaping form, pacing, and interaction in real-time. Now that’s marine biology meets human communication!

JC Leisure has previously released work on Sun Ark, Warm Winters Ltd, Not Not Fun and collaboratively with Dialect as Raft of Trash. He has composed a radio play commissioned and broadcast by BBC Radio.

The Eves celebrate the first anniversary of their acclaimed EP Both Sides with
a special vinyl edition to be released in November 2025
Produced and co-written with Dan Gautreau (Alicia Keys, Paolo Nutini) Both Sides was
released only on CD and digital in 2024. The new vinyl edition of the EP features a
previously unreleased bonus track The Silence produced by Mark Morrow (wrest,
Swim School). Title track Both Sides features prolific drummer and percussionist Ash
Soan (Snow Patrol, Tori Amos, Del Amitri). The EP showcases the duo's distinctive
songwriting style that encompasses smooth vocal harmonies and thoughtful
production, culminating in a fresh yet timeless sound that delivers their signature
blend of melodic pop.
The Eves have been played across BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio Scotland, BBC Introducing.
Their song Brand New Day has over 137k streams on Spotify and spent 5 weeks on
the BBC Radio 2 playlist. It was also made 'Single of the Week' on BBC Radio Scotland,
played on Bauer Media's Forth 1 radio station, reached No. 6 and No. 15 in the iTunes
pop charts and iTunes main download chart respectively, charted in the Amazon 'New
Hot Releases' UK Chart, and made an impressive debut in the UK Official Charts
Company download and single charts in the top 65. The song also features on an
episode of 'The Kardashians' on Disney Plus and Hulu across America.
'Big Love' was adopted as the official anthem for Scottish Women's Football for the
2022/2023 League Season, and was the pair's first release as a co-write, written with
Jim Duguid (Paolo Nutini) and producer Lewis Gardiner (Ellie Goulding, Nick Jonas).
The track was also featured on BBC Scotland's most popular football show 'Off the
Ball' with Tam Cowan and Stuart Cosgrove.
The pair are seasoned performers having opened for major artists at sold out shows
including Belinda Carlisle, Sister Sledge and The Shires. They've toured extensively
with Skerryvore and Horse across the UK, opened for Callum Beattie, and have
performed at festivals including TRSNMT, Country to Country, Edge Fest, Tiree
Festival, Moonbeams and Fringe by the Sea, sharing stages with Wet Wet Wet, Sophie
Ellis-Bextor, Gabrielle, Tony Hadley and Heather Small.
Other highlights include performing at the Guinness Six Nations rugby for Scotland v
Wales at BT Murrayfield, recording a live session for BBC Scotland's 'The Quay
Sessions', and several TV appearances on BBC Scotland's 'The Edit' on national TV
and BBC i-Player and STV's 'What's On' and 'The Braw and the Brave' chat show.

Legendary postmodern, post punk, post human, past caring collective Mekons return with a brand-new album for 2025. Their first release on Fire Records, ‘Horror’ a collection of songs written in late 2022 but providing a horribly prescient reflection of the world in its current miasma and how we got here. ‘Horror’ looks at history and the legacies of British imperialism with mashed up lyrics set against a typically eclectic sound that amalgamates everything from dub, country, noise, rock & roll, electronica, punk, music hall, polka and you can even take your partner for a nice waltz on ‘Sad And Sad And Sad’. The roots of their global sound reflect their nomadic journey through time and space from Leeds to California in the West and Siberia in the East and is woven into the fabric and intricacies of their song creation… Sounding like The Chills and R.E.M circa the I.R.S Records years, ‘Mudcrawlers’ sees just about the whole band joining Jon Langford on vocals speaking of Irish famine and refugees journeying to Wales. ‘War Economy’ shivers in the cold of such Boroughs spiked one-liners: “Clinical coercion will not achieve dominance!” Sounding like its straight off a Jenny Holzer neon sign (she of Abuse Of Power Comes As No Surprise), it’s held together by a disgruntled swaggering riff that underpins an explosion of disquiet. Meanwhile, Rico takes the lead on the maliciously luscious ‘Fallen Leaves’ an appalled and appalling Hammer Horror take on climate breakdown reminiscent of Rolling Thunder Dylan, that recalls The Pogues at their most introspective, its Celtic twilightism augmented by Susie Honeyman’s keening violin as the dying sun sinks down and the river Styx flows on in the pitch black night. Almost 50 years in the making, these Mekons continue to astound, their sound, sentiment and method of delivery blended to perfection by bass player and studio wizard, Dave Trumfio. The Mekons are Jon Langford, Sally Timms, Tom Greenhalgh, Dave Trumfio, Susie Honeyman, Rico Bell, Steve Goulding, and Lu Edmonds. "Effortlessly eloquent post-punks" Pitchfork // “The Mekons are still vital” Rolling Stone // “The most revolutionary group in the history of rock ‘n’ roll,” Lester Bangs // UK Tour 8-15 May 2025 (including London, Manchester, Glasgow, and more).

In 2012 Gruff Rhys embarked on a solo 'investigative concert tour' through the heart of America following the route taken by his distant relative John Evans. Every night he presented songs augmented by a power point presentation that detailed his relative's unbelievable history, along with any new piece of information that had come his way during the day. He was ultimately looking for Evans's lost unmarked grave. Along with many major cities, the tour took him to play shows at the Mandan and Omaha tribe reservations, a Missouri vineyard, villages that no longer exist and lay at the bottom the Mississippi river and a New Orleans bordello. What transpired from that ‘investigative concert tour’ was a 2014 album, American Interior, plus a book, film and exhaustive tour of the same name. With the aid of the dusted-off power point presentation, Gruff Rhys and a full band revisits the project in 2025 to perform the songs that formed both the album, and the soundtrack to the film.

Gruff says of the reissue -

“Revisiting American Interior 11 years later, feels very prescient. In following the unusual story of explorer John Evans (1770-1799) it becomes clear that faked narratives can have profound and unpredictable consequences in real life. His barely believable journey of verification in searching through continental scale wilderness for a fictitious Welsh speaking tribe believed to be living on the Great Plains of North America (an ancient folk tale perpetuated by the Elizabethan court following the subjugation of Wales, to make colonial claims on behalf of the British on the Americas) had a dramatic political effect on the fledgling USA and a devastating impact on himself and some of those who helped him on his way. I wrote an album of songs inspired by his life; American Interior, which also served as a soundtrack to a documentary film based on a book that detailed his journey, intertwined with my own investigative concert tour, all three of which I worked on simultaneously during a 2-year fever 2012-14. By far the most ambitious undertaking I’ve ever attempted. Living with one foot in the 18th century, wearing the same clothes (for cinematic continuity) for that entire period, left me pretty exhausted. (Imagine a cold extra from The Revenant movie). It took me a while to process the whole experience and its lessons and feel I owe it to my former self to take these songs back on the road for a couple of months and re-tell the story for a new decade. To celebrate it further Rough Trade will reissue a remastered version of the album with previously unreleased tracks.”

In 2012 Gruff Rhys embarked on a solo 'investigative concert tour' through the heart of America following the route taken by his distant relative John Evans. Every night he presented songs augmented by a power point presentation that detailed his relative's unbelievable history, along with any new piece of information that had come his way during the day. He was ultimately looking for Evans's lost unmarked grave. Along with many major cities, the tour took him to play shows at the Mandan and Omaha tribe reservations, a Missouri vineyard, villages that no longer exist and lay at the bottom the Mississippi river and a New Orleans bordello. What transpired from that ‘investigative concert tour’ was a 2014 album, American Interior, plus a book, film and exhaustive tour of the same name. With the aid of the dusted-off power point presentation, Gruff Rhys and a full band revisits the project in 2025 to perform the songs that formed both the album, and the soundtrack to the film.

Gruff says of the reissue -

“Revisiting American Interior 11 years later, feels very prescient. In following the unusual story of explorer John Evans (1770-1799) it becomes clear that faked narratives can have profound and unpredictable consequences in real life. His barely believable journey of verification in searching through continental scale wilderness for a fictitious Welsh speaking tribe believed to be living on the Great Plains of North America (an ancient folk tale perpetuated by the Elizabethan court following the subjugation of Wales, to make colonial claims on behalf of the British on the Americas) had a dramatic political effect on the fledgling USA and a devastating impact on himself and some of those who helped him on his way. I wrote an album of songs inspired by his life; American Interior, which also served as a soundtrack to a documentary film based on a book that detailed his journey, intertwined with my own investigative concert tour, all three of which I worked on simultaneously during a 2-year fever 2012-14. By far the most ambitious undertaking I’ve ever attempted. Living with one foot in the 18th century, wearing the same clothes (for cinematic continuity) for that entire period, left me pretty exhausted. (Imagine a cold extra from The Revenant movie). It took me a while to process the whole experience and its lessons and feel I owe it to my former self to take these songs back on the road for a couple of months and re-tell the story for a new decade. To celebrate it further Rough Trade will reissue a remastered version of the album with previously unreleased tracks.”

Legendary postmodern, post punk, post human, past caring collective Mekons return with a brand-new album for 2025. Their first release on Fire Records, ‘Horror’ a collection of songs written in late 2022 but providing a horribly prescient reflection of the world in its current miasma and how we got here. ‘Horror’ looks at history and the legacies of British imperialism with mashed up lyrics set against a typically eclectic sound that amalgamates everything from dub, country, noise, rock & roll, electronica, punk, music hall, polka and you can even take your partner for a nice waltz on ‘Sad And Sad And Sad’. The roots of their global sound reflect their nomadic journey through time and space from Leeds to California in the West and Siberia in the East and is woven into the fabric and intricacies of their song creation… Sounding like The Chills and R.E.M circa the I.R.S Records years, ‘Mudcrawlers’ sees just about the whole band joining Jon Langford on vocals speaking of Irish famine and refugees journeying to Wales. ‘War Economy’ shivers in the cold of such Boroughs spiked one-liners: “Clinical coercion will not achieve dominance!” Sounding like its straight off a Jenny Holzer neon sign (she of Abuse Of Power Comes As No Surprise), it’s held together by a disgruntled swaggering riff that underpins an explosion of disquiet. Meanwhile, Rico takes the lead on the maliciously luscious ‘Fallen Leaves’ an appalled and appalling Hammer Horror take on climate breakdown reminiscent of Rolling Thunder Dylan, that recalls The Pogues at their most introspective, its Celtic twilightism augmented by Susie Honeyman’s keening violin as the dying sun sinks down and the river Styx flows on in the pitch black night. Almost 50 years in the making, these Mekons continue to astound, their sound, sentiment and method of delivery blended to perfection by bass player and studio wizard, Dave Trumfio. The Mekons are Jon Langford, Sally Timms, Tom Greenhalgh, Dave Trumfio, Susie Honeyman, Rico Bell, Steve Goulding, and Lu Edmonds. "Effortlessly eloquent post-punks" Pitchfork // “The Mekons are still vital” Rolling Stone // “The most revolutionary group in the history of rock ‘n’ roll,” Lester Bangs // UK Tour 8-15 May 2025 (including London, Manchester, Glasgow, and more).

"Every night we've been listening to RATTLE. They have a stark yet deep trance percussion vibe that is both holistic and rocking." Thurston Moore
“Quietly dramatic and loudly intimate.” The Quietus
“Two drum sets. Two voices. One great idea.” MOJO
Rattle are Katharine Eira Brown and Theresa Wrigley, they formed in 2011 after meeting on the live circuit whilst both playing in other bands. Katharine was a guitarist who had recently started playing drums in the band Kogumaza, whilst Theresa was the drummer in Nottingham band Fists. They’ve since released two long-players, 2016’s self-titled debut album Rattle (Upset The Rhythm / I Own You) and 2018’s Sequence (Upset The Rhythm) to much critical acclaim in the music press, and with James Acaster discussing the debut on his BBC Sounds podcast Perfect Sounds!
Rattle have honed the four songs that make up ‘Encircle’ by playing them live over the last few years, adapting and stretching them into endlessly inventive new shapes, playing with the concept of time and expectation. ‘Encircle’ was recorded at Foel Studios, Wales, produced and mixed by Mark Jasper, and mastered at Liminal Audio by Shaun Crook. The stunningly colourful artwork was created by Martha Glazzard, who was also responsible for Rattle’s other mesmeric covers.
‘All Burning’ opens the album, a live favourite of cyclical tumbling and evolving wordplay. ‘All Burning’ was built up gradually layer by layer with Theresa’s cumulative snare work and Katherine’s urgent calls for action: “hold your doctor, hold your daughter, hold your horses”. If ‘All Burning’ represents fire, then it’s accompanying 12-minute long track on Side 1, ‘Argot’, is informed by the air. ‘Argot’ is a song about uncertainty, with Katherine singing wordlessly across the majority of the track. “I prefer to sing wordlessly often because it feels a bit more expressive and universal” asserts Katherine. The track feels truly epic with a satisfying release that comes with the eventual introduction of the bass drum and snappy hi-hat section.

Side 2 also pairs a shorter song with a long-form composition. ‘Ritual’ is worked up from a simple snare drum pattern which becomes more and more overlapped into an elliptical form of waltz. Katherine considers ‘Ritual’ as “very earthy song - lots of low lying mist on the ground swirling around and the drums coming together to summon something”! ‘Ritual’ was inspired by a visit to the ruins of Boleskine House so multi-dimensional themes and occult practice loom large. ‘Your Move’ is a step-up gear change with the band wanting it to feel like the tape had suddenly started to spin faster, urging movement, venturing action. Clocking in at over 15 minutes, ‘Your Move’, is mesmeric and boundless, hypnotic in its minimalism of doubled-drums and almost tribal vocal cycles.
With ‘Encircle’ Rattle have grown again, these songs are alive with elemental power. They build-up and disintegrate, existing in two places at once, embracing the nuance, tracing the circle’s edge. These are modes of song as pure gesture and eternal imagination, refined in mirrors after midnight.
Rattle has performed at The Barbican, London and toured the UK with Animal Collective and Thurston Moore Group and Europe with The Julie Ruin and Protomartyr, and performed with Hot Snakes, Bill Orcutt Quartetand Codeine.

"Every night we've been listening to RATTLE. They have a stark yet deep trance percussion vibe that is both holistic and rocking." Thurston Moore
“Quietly dramatic and loudly intimate.” The Quietus
“Two drum sets. Two voices. One great idea.” MOJO
Rattle are Katharine Eira Brown and Theresa Wrigley, they formed in 2011 after meeting on the live circuit whilst both playing in other bands. Katharine was a guitarist who had recently started playing drums in the band Kogumaza, whilst Theresa was the drummer in Nottingham band Fists. They’ve since released two long-players, 2016’s self-titled debut album Rattle (Upset The Rhythm / I Own You) and 2018’s Sequence (Upset The Rhythm) to much critical acclaim in the music press, and with James Acaster discussing the debut on his BBC Sounds podcast Perfect Sounds!
Rattle have honed the four songs that make up ‘Encircle’ by playing them live over the last few years, adapting and stretching them into endlessly inventive new shapes, playing with the concept of time and expectation. ‘Encircle’ was recorded at Foel Studios, Wales, produced and mixed by Mark Jasper, and mastered at Liminal Audio by Shaun Crook. The stunningly colourful artwork was created by Martha Glazzard, who was also responsible for Rattle’s other mesmeric covers.
‘All Burning’ opens the album, a live favourite of cyclical tumbling and evolving wordplay. ‘All Burning’ was built up gradually layer by layer with Theresa’s cumulative snare work and Katherine’s urgent calls for action: “hold your doctor, hold your daughter, hold your horses”. If ‘All Burning’ represents fire, then it’s accompanying 12-minute long track on Side 1, ‘Argot’, is informed by the air. ‘Argot’ is a song about uncertainty, with Katherine singing wordlessly across the majority of the track. “I prefer to sing wordlessly often because it feels a bit more expressive and universal” asserts Katherine. The track feels truly epic with a satisfying release that comes with the eventual introduction of the bass drum and snappy hi-hat section.

Side 2 also pairs a shorter song with a long-form composition. ‘Ritual’ is worked up from a simple snare drum pattern which becomes more and more overlapped into an elliptical form of waltz. Katherine considers ‘Ritual’ as “very earthy song - lots of low lying mist on the ground swirling around and the drums coming together to summon something”! ‘Ritual’ was inspired by a visit to the ruins of Boleskine House so multi-dimensional themes and occult practice loom large. ‘Your Move’ is a step-up gear change with the band wanting it to feel like the tape had suddenly started to spin faster, urging movement, venturing action. Clocking in at over 15 minutes, ‘Your Move’, is mesmeric and boundless, hypnotic in its minimalism of doubled-drums and almost tribal vocal cycles.
With ‘Encircle’ Rattle have grown again, these songs are alive with elemental power. They build-up and disintegrate, existing in two places at once, embracing the nuance, tracing the circle’s edge. These are modes of song as pure gesture and eternal imagination, refined in mirrors after midnight.
Rattle has performed at The Barbican, London and toured the UK with Animal Collective and Thurston Moore Group and Europe with The Julie Ruin and Protomartyr, and performed with Hot Snakes, Bill Orcutt Quartetand Codeine.

Nilüfer Yanya veröffentlichr ihr neues Album ‘My Method Actor’ auf Ninja Tune!

Während sie am neuen Album schrieb, zog sich Nilüfer mit ihrer kreativen Partnerin Wilma Archer (Sudan Archives/ Celeste) ins Studio zurück. Sie war ein Jahr lang mit ihrem zweiten Album „PAINLESS“ auf Tournee und befand sich in einer Phase des Übergangs, zwischen Alben, zwischen Plattenfirmen und zwischen Wohnorten. „My Method Actor“ hat viel mit der Idee zu tun, von einem Lebensabschnitt in einen anderen zu wechseln. Die Samen für „My Method Actor“ wurden Anfang 2023 gepflanzt, aber erst im Frühjahr desselben Jahres begannen die ersten Triebe zu sprießen. Als die Songs zu entstehen begannen, zogen sich Yanya und Archer von der Welt zurück. „Dies ist in dieser Hinsicht das intensivste Album.“, sagt Yanya. „Weil es nur wir beide waren. Wir haben niemanden sonst in diese Blase gelassen.“ Sie schrieben und nahmen in kleinen Sessions auf, verteilt über London, Wales und Eastbourne. Die Atmosphäre des Albums spiegelt diesen Kokon kreativer Energie wider: Es umhüllt die Hörenden mit cineastischen Schwüngen und wirkt gleichzeitig intim, indem es ihn in die kleine Welt einlädt, die sie geschaffen haben, und seine Geheimnisse preisgibt.

Nilüfers vorheriges Album, „PAINLESS“, wurde durchweg als eines der herausragendsten Alben des Jahres 2022 gefeiert, mit glühenden Kritiken von The Guardian (Album der Woche), The Sunday Times, Crack Magazine, NME und anderen. Das Album enthält die herausragenden Tracks, „anotherlife“, „stabilise“ und „midnight sun“, die Nilüfer in der „Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon“ performte. Nilüfer trat auch in „Late Night with Stephen Colbert“, „Later with Jools Holland“ und in der Tiny Desk-Konzertreihe von NPR auf.

Sie hat Adele, The xx und Mitski auf ihrer Tournee begleitet, war Headlinende im Londoner Shepherd's Bush Empire und hat Shows in ganz Europa, Australien, Japan und den USA ausverkauft. Yanya wurde auch von Sampha, King Krule und Little Dragon geremixt und hat mit Bombay Bicycle Club und Liss zusammengearbeitet.

Nilüfer Yanya veröffentlichr ihr neues Album ‘My Method Actor’ auf Ninja Tune!

Während sie am neuen Album schrieb, zog sich Nilüfer mit ihrer kreativen Partnerin Wilma Archer (Sudan Archives/ Celeste) ins Studio zurück. Sie war ein Jahr lang mit ihrem zweiten Album „PAINLESS“ auf Tournee und befand sich in einer Phase des Übergangs, zwischen Alben, zwischen Plattenfirmen und zwischen Wohnorten. „My Method Actor“ hat viel mit der Idee zu tun, von einem Lebensabschnitt in einen anderen zu wechseln. Die Samen für „My Method Actor“ wurden Anfang 2023 gepflanzt, aber erst im Frühjahr desselben Jahres begannen die ersten Triebe zu sprießen. Als die Songs zu entstehen begannen, zogen sich Yanya und Archer von der Welt zurück. „Dies ist in dieser Hinsicht das intensivste Album.“, sagt Yanya. „Weil es nur wir beide waren. Wir haben niemanden sonst in diese Blase gelassen.“ Sie schrieben und nahmen in kleinen Sessions auf, verteilt über London, Wales und Eastbourne. Die Atmosphäre des Albums spiegelt diesen Kokon kreativer Energie wider: Es umhüllt die Hörenden mit cineastischen Schwüngen und wirkt gleichzeitig intim, indem es ihn in die kleine Welt einlädt, die sie geschaffen haben, und seine Geheimnisse preisgibt.

Nilüfers vorheriges Album, „PAINLESS“, wurde durchweg als eines der herausragendsten Alben des Jahres 2022 gefeiert, mit glühenden Kritiken von The Guardian (Album der Woche), The Sunday Times, Crack Magazine, NME und anderen. Das Album enthält die herausragenden Tracks, „anotherlife“, „stabilise“ und „midnight sun“, die Nilüfer in der „Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon“ performte. Nilüfer trat auch in „Late Night with Stephen Colbert“, „Later with Jools Holland“ und in der Tiny Desk-Konzertreihe von NPR auf.

Sie hat Adele, The xx und Mitski auf ihrer Tournee begleitet, war Headlinende im Londoner Shepherd's Bush Empire und hat Shows in ganz Europa, Australien, Japan und den USA ausverkauft. Yanya wurde auch von Sampha, King Krule und Little Dragon geremixt und hat mit Bombay Bicycle Club und Liss zusammengearbeitet.

Das dreiköpfige Grunge-Rock/Punk-Trio The Pleasure Dome aus Bristol (Großbritannien), bestehend aus Bobby Spender (Gesang und Gitarre), Loz Fancourt (Bass und Backing Vocals) und Alex 'Bert' Elvin (Schlagzeug) gründete sich im Juli 2019. Sie sind bereits ausgiebig durch Europa und Großbritannien getourt und waren Anfang des Jahres Headliner bei Supersonic in Paris, wo das Publikum vor ausverkauftem Haus Schlange stand, um ihre Live-Show zu erleben. EQUINOX wurde im Februar 2023 in Wales in den abgelegenen Mwnci Studios aufgenommen. Produziert wurde EQUINOX von einem Freund der Band, Tom Smith, gemischt von James Trevascus (Beak, Billy Nomates) und gemastert von Jack Endino (Nirvana, Mudhoney).

Black + White Haze Vinyl. With a sound that was swampy, primal and modern-urban all at once_as much in the tradition of rock n' roll and punk rock as it was a rejection of those things, the Scientists' formula was as universal as it was specific to their own experience. The themes of getting wasted, driving around in hotted-up cars, being trapped in crap jobs, and paranoia were their subject matter. Machine throb bass and drums with jagged car-wreck guitars were their modus operandi. Fitting into no place or time they spurned all but the most rudimentary and elemental of rock structures to create a sound all their own. Quadruple CD includes their complete studio recordings, live recordings, and a previously unissued set from Adelaide UniBar, plus dozens of previously unpublished photographs, discography, and fold out Perth Punk family tree. Double LP version boils the box down to 22 essentials, plus unpublished photographs, discography, and fold out Perth Punk family tree.




















t 20 THIS IS MY HAPPY HOUR LIVE AT ADELAIDE UNIBAR
u 21 FIRE ESCAPE [LIVE AT ADELAIDE UNIBAR]
[v] 22 WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE [LIVE AT ADELAIDE UNIBAR]
[w] 23 RAVER [LIVE AT ADELAIDE UNIBAR]
[x] 24 THE SPIN [LIVE AT ADELAIDE UNIBAR]
[y] 25 CLEAR SPOT [LIVE AT ADELAIDE UNIBAR]
[z] 26 REV HEAD [LIVE AT ADELAIDE UNIBAR]
[xa] 27 SET IT ON FIRE [LIVE AT ADELAIDE UNIBAR]
[xb] 28 BURN OUT [LIVE AT ADELAIDE UNIBAR]
[xc] 29 THIS LIFE OF YOURS [LIVE AT ADELAIDE UNIBAR]
[xd] 30 SOLID GOLD HELL [LIVE AT ADELAIDE UNIBAR]
[xe] 31 BLOOD RED RIVER [LIVE AT ADELAIDE UNIBAR]
[xf] 32 DON'T LIE TO ME [LIVE AT THE LOFT]

[xh] 34 MELODRAMATIC TOUCH [LIVE AT STOREY HALL]
[xi] 35 SLOW DEATH [LIVE AT STOREY HALL]
[xj] 36 STRANGERS IN THE NIGHT [LIVE AT THE SYDNEY UNI]
[xk] 37 I'VE HAD IT [LIVE AT LE TOTE]
[xl] 38 GONNA MAKE YOU [LIVE AT THE PRINCE OF WALES HOTEL]
[xm] 39 WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE [LIVE AT SYDNEY TRADE UNION CLUB]
[xn] 40 GHOST TRAIN [LIVE AT THE PRINCE OF WALES HOTEL]
[xo] 41 THE OTHER PLACE [1985 FLEXI DISC]
[xp] 42 SHE CRACKED [1985 FLEXI DISC]

Thugwidow AKA Alex Lowther-Harris is a Jungle producer currently living in North Wales. Productions range from Hardcore rave tracks to more Ambient Tecky Jungle.

Thugwidow makes his Bukva debut with "An Otherwise Perfect Sky EP", these tracks and remixes represent the culmination of years of work, in honing his sound, working on production and grinding away. This record is a typical Thugwidow sound, the kind of tunes he loves making and listening to. With remixes from some of Thugwidows favourite artists Tim Reaper, Response & Pliskin. This record should be perfect for late nights, early mornings and perhaps the more chilled out moments when there's too much going on in your head.

A travelogue that unites physical and inner space, a series of trance states rendered in vivid colour, a delirious portal into the ether.
Marlene Ribeiro’s first albumunder her own name is all of this and much more. Toquei No Sol is a fresh new chapter for this unique artist, by far the most melodic and transcendent outing yet for her hypnotic dreampop.

This is only the latest release in a long history of sonic experimentation for Marlene, which includes her previous work as Negra Branca across a series of releases on labels such as Tesla Tapes and Zamzam and a long period as a member of audial iconoclasts and Rocket mainstays GNOD, not to mention collaborations with the like of Valentina Magaletti and Thurston Moore.

Toquei No Sol is also a record with a very distinctive and potent sense of place, paradoxically despite having been woven together from recordings made in Ireland, Wales, Portugal, Madeira and Salford.
It’s genesis came via a visit to Marlene’s maternal grandmother Emilia, whose influence as well as the sounds of her kitchen in Portugal.
can be heard on the album’s first track ‘Quatro Palavras’.

“Emilia ended up getting excited about me being able to record things there and then and - total news to me - told me she used to sing a lot when she was younger to the point of getting offered studio time but refusing it as she was fearful of what that could imply in those times” relates Marlene “From that point I planned to include her in this record as sort of the chance she never had of getting her voice out there.”

Elsewhere, a disarmingly catchy and irresistible grace is married to
a utilitarian approach to sound and texture. The ritualistic “Sangue De Lua de Lobo” (first released on a Sofia records compilation Songs Of The Lunar Eclipse) contains random objects from Marlene’s then-garden in Ireland, whereas on the drifting, beatific ‘Forever’ the percussion tracks are constructed from the sounds of pots and pans in her own Salford kitchen.

Yet at all times her fleet-footed approach to melody rings through even as the tracks conjure visions of heat-hazes, meditative spaces and late-night epiphanies. Although listeners may hear echoes of the
loop-driven psychedelia of Panda Bear’s Person Pitch or the incantatory ululations of Pocahaunted in these beguiling soundscapes and magick-strewn mantras, the truth is that the aesthetic here is
very much Marlene’s alone.

“It’s all a big misty haze of nostalgia, playfulness, self-reflection and hopefulness” is what Marlene reckons herself. Yet Toquei No Sol
is also a transporting vision from an artist both returning to her roots
and looking out to new celestial horizons.

ACID KLAUS, the new collaborative solo project from songwriter-producer and Northern England cult leg-end, Adrian Flanagan (The Moonlandingz, International Teachers of Pop, Eccentronic Research Council & lots more) announces his debut concept album co-produced with his music partner in the ERC, Dean Honer titled Step On My Travelator: The Imagined Career Trajectory of Superstar DJ & Dance-Pop Producer, Melvin Harris which will be released on Yard Act"s ZEN F.C. label. The album features contributions from Adrian"s long-time collaborators and friends including actress, Maxine Peake, US musician and video director, Charlotte Kemp Muhl (Ghost of a Sabertooth Tiger), Maria Uzor from Sink Ya Teeth and the Bradford-born pop-noir singer (currently singing in The Specials), Hannah Hu who is joined on lap steel guitar on a track by Richard Hawley. The album is completed by a whole host of fresh and exciting artists (as well as the aforementioned Lieselot Elzinga) - there"s the enigmatic Queen Bee of the Calder Valley, solo artist, Bianca Eddleston who goes under the name Soft Focus and finally from South Wales (and the current talk of the South London scene), the incredible welsh language singer-songwriter, Cat Rin.

ACID KLAUS, the new collaborative solo project from songwriter-producer and Northern England cult leg-end, Adrian Flanagan (The Moonlandingz, International Teachers of Pop, Eccentronic Research Council & lots more) announces his debut concept album co-produced with his music partner in the ERC, Dean Honer titled Step On My Travelator: The Imagined Career Trajectory of Superstar DJ & Dance-Pop Producer, Melvin Harris which will be released on Yard Act"s ZEN F.C. label. The album features contributions from Adrian"s long-time collaborators and friends including actress, Maxine Peake, US musician and video director, Charlotte Kemp Muhl (Ghost of a Sabertooth Tiger), Maria Uzor from Sink Ya Teeth and the Bradford-born pop-noir singer (currently singing in The Specials), Hannah Hu who is joined on lap steel guitar on a track by Richard Hawley. The album is completed by a whole host of fresh and exciting artists (as well as the aforementioned Lieselot Elzinga) - there"s the enigmatic Queen Bee of the Calder Valley, solo artist, Bianca Eddleston who goes under the name Soft Focus and finally from South Wales (and the current talk of the South London scene), the incredible welsh language singer-songwriter, Cat Rin.

In four short years of existence, Green Lung have risen from the murk of the UK heavy underground to become a true cult band with a devoted following. Debut album Woodland Rites, released independently in early 2019, quickly garnered attention, resulting in a single being named ‘Track of the Week’ in the Guardian, plays on Daniel P. Carter’s Radio One Rock Show, a tour with fellow UK heavies Puppy and festival appearances across Europe. This brought the band to the attention of the wider music industry, and after multiple offers (including one from a major label) the band decided to stay true to their roots and sign with the Finnish audio wizards at Svart Records, home to several of their doomy inspirations including Reverend Bizarre and Warning. Svart’s deluxe reissue of the album, and the preceding EP Free the Witch,sold out several runs. Two years later, the folk horror-obsessed fivesome have re-emerged from their mulchy catacombs armed with dozens of freshly-whittled riffs. Black Harvest, the sequel to Woodland Rites, is a more colourful, widescreen reimagining of the band’s sound - Dawn of the Dead to its predecessor’s Night of the Living. Recorded at Giant Wafer Studios in rural mid-Wales over the course of two weeks with longtime producer Wayne Adams (Petbrick, Big Lad), it’s a more expansive and textured record than anything the band have done before, boasting a cinematic quality and more attention to detail.

Clear Vinyl

Laila Sakini and Lucy Van’s sought after 2017 EP Figures resurfaces on a newly expanded and remastered edition, deploying taut poetry and creeping electro-pulses for an alchemical suite of slowly encroaching trip hop x dub-pop.

Long before releasing her slow-burn classic ‘Vivienne’ and last year’s compelling Princess Diana of Wales album, Laila Sakini was at work with acclaimed poet Lucy Van for an impromptu session for a local noise and spoken word night in Naarm, Australia. Those initial ideas marinated and eventually resulted in ‘Figures’ - an EP that was originally released on tape via Purely Physical Teeny Tapes, offseting Sakini’s minimal production against Van’s text, spoken in a carefully enunciated dialect lifted and wrapped around Sakini’s nocturnes. It’s the sort of thing that reminds us of Tin Man & Rashad Becker’s ‘Wasteland’ sessions, fused with the spirit of the contemporary Naarm/Melbourne scene.

For all those references, Sakini and Van’s songs are displaced from the contemporary wellspring too. The dusky blue waltz of opener ‘Those Who See’ comes off like a lighter Leslie Winer or melodic, early AFX, as Van dryly intones “...all my enemies in an orgy, of IQ to body ratio,” while ‘Deep End’ sees them nudge into more claustrophobic introspection, before shoring up a dank sort of trip hop sleaze with the title song, slithering with a similar energy to early 90’s Autechre as the narration echoes to a blur.

The three previously unreleased songs flesh out the release into the full album it always should have been, cut of equally rare, hand-spun fabric. With its post-Sleng Teng B-line and noctilucent chords, ‘What You Need’ feels like an Eski rhythmic bump accompanied by sub-aquatic synth bass, and the opalescent, gumtree-shaking shimmer ‘Rough Desires’ secretes its intimations with an absorbingly hypnagogic slow-burn that pools into the perfect curtain closer; ‘Trees Make Me High’.

Das 10-Track-Album mit dem Titel "Real Rare Whale"
zeigt Australiens Dune Rats in ihrer punkigsten,
witzigsten und lustigsten Form. Songs über die
Veränderung der Welt ('Space Cadet'), Couch-Surfen
('Dumb TV'), Teenage-Schwärme ('Pamela Aniston') und
Australiens liebste Freizeitbeschäftigung ('Drink All Day')
sorgen für ein klassisches Dune Rats Album. "Real Rare
Whale" ist die vierte LP der Dune Rats und folgt auf ihre
aufeinanderfolgenden Nummer 1 ARIA-Alben "Hurry Up
And Wait" (2020) und "The Kids Will Know It's Bullshit"
(2017). Für die Aufnahmen mit dem gefeierten
Produzenten Scott Horscroft zog die Band zum
Höhepunkt der Pandemie für drei Monate nach Eden an
die Südküste von New South Wales und machte sich
daran, ein Album zu schreiben, welches im Kontrast zu
der Negativität in der Welt steht. Das Ergebnis ist ein
Album voller Spaß und melodischem Rock'n'Roll.

This is the second Haress album, a five piece from Shropshire. They channel the sounds of Fairport Convention, Lungfish, Papa M, Earth, Robert Wyatt, John Fahey, and Talk Talk. Taking influence and making it their own. The first vinyl press comes with a bonus flexi disc telling the story of the week the band spent recording the album, the weirdness, the positively supernatural happenings. On this album the core duo of Elizabeth Still and David Hand are joined by David Smyth (Mind Mountain, Kling Klang) on drums, Chris Summerlin (Hey Colossus, Kogumaza) on guitar, Thomas House (Sweet Williams, Charlottefield) on vocals and Nathan Bell (Lungfish, Human Bell) on trumpet. In early 2020 the group travelled to a disused water mill in North Wales for a week to record with engineer Phil Booth (JT Soar) and his mobile studio. The stories of what occurred are told on the flexi disc that accompanies the LP but the group’s plans for a relaxing break in the country were scuppered by events that were either highly unusual, or positively supernatural (depending on your own beliefs in such things). Well-made plans were abandoned and the recording was forced to develop according to the location it was being made in. Chance and accident were welcomed as a collaborator rather than a saboteur and the group exited the sessions extremely freaked-out but with the makings of an album. Ghosts is an incredible piece of work and posits Haress on their own when it comes to developing new approaches to traditional musical forms. The music contains many moments of immediate joy - the relative pop of House’s vocals on White Over, the wild horns of I Think I Think, the rush of warmth as Time To Drink morphs into focus. But it also stretches the sound Haress have carefully developed almost to breaking point with sections of music that feel like somebody - something - else is steering the ship. The 2 final songs – Litres Into Metres and Sussurus – are joined together by a collage of site-specific sound. It was decided to add the output from a detuned long wave radio to this section on the final night of recording. Static hissed from the device but as soon as the record light illuminated, a rich male baritone voice sang loud and clear from the radio, taking a solo right where it was needed and then disappearing into space forever like the Ghosts of the title.

First Word Records is very proud to welcome back Don Leisure, with a brand new 25-track album 'Shaboo Strikes Back'.

Five years have passed since the first 'Shaboo' album was released. A collection of beats and pieces that documented the road trip of Don's youth - hip hop music interspersed with Asian radio station jingles of old, dedicated to Bollywood actor, Nasser 'Shaboo' Bharwani - Don Leisure's late uncle.

This album was heralded as "the best album of its kind since J Dilla's 'Donuts'" and deemed "unmissable" by the folks at Piccadilly Records. It also had strong support from BBC 6 Music's Tom Ravenscroft ("very, very good this indeed"), Huey Morgan ("my beat of the week"), Worldwide FM's Lefto ("defo down with this"), Rob Da Bank ("this is wicked") and the likes of Mathieu Schreyer (KCRW, LA), Alex Ruder (KEXP, Seattle), Kid Fonque (5FM, South Africa), Om Unit, Jon1st, Mr Thing, Rob Luis (Tru Thoughts), Dom Servini (Wah Wah 45s), Tim Parker (NTS) and tons more from across the globe.

Don Leisure is a DJ and producer based in Cardiff, Wales, sometimes known as one half of Darkhouse Family, along with Earl Jeffers. He's been a prolific beat-maker for many years, releasing under a variety of monikers for labels such as Metalheadz, International Anthem, Fat City, Izwid, Earnest Endeavours and Group BraCil. His most recent release was a remix for Gruff Rhys, which was released on Rough Trade.

In 2020 he was nominated for the Welsh Music Prize for his 'Steel Zakusi' project, and has dropped several releases for First Word, including the acclaimed 2019 'Halal Cool J' album and various Darkhouse Family projects, including collabs with artists as diverse as Charlotte Church, Om'Mas Keith and Children of Zeus's Tyler Daley, additionally to remixes from DJ Spinna and label-mate, Kaidi Tatham. As a DJ he has provided mixes for BBC 6 Music, NTS, Rinse FM, Solid Steel and Boxout FM in India, as well as performing at The Jazz Cafe, Fabric and on Boiler Room.

'Shaboo Strikes Back' is a much-awaited sequel to the 2017 smash, and again features a modest 25 tracks. Psychedelic fuzzy samples and phat beats aplenty, Don Leisure once again takes us on a far-out trip across soundscapes. A real tapestry of flavours, from jazz to reggae, and from the soulful to the spiritual, this time round he's invited a few special guests to join him on his travels - most notably Welsh legend Gruff Rhys provides the vocals on 'Neon Drizzle (Hotel Shaboo)', whilst acclaimed multi-instrumentalist Angel Bat Dawid and Jazzman-signed harpist Amanda Whiting lend their talents to 'All Praises Due'. There is even a special cameo appearance from his young daughter, (aka Shaboo's great-niece!), Naima, on 'Naima's Dream'.

Once again, this is a journey into sound.

'Shaboo Strikes Back' is released on vinyl & digital by First Word Records, March 2022.

Dedicated to Nasser 'Shaboo' Bharwan
























x 24: Neon Drizzle (Hotel Shaboo) feat. Gruff Rhys

Annie Booth is an Edinburgh-based artist with a gift for mood-painting
and storytelling - A seasoned modern folk singer, performer and
songwriter - with a fair for the nostalgic and the melancholy - she wields
a unique voice in Scotland, bridging genre and infuence with ease, her
restless live performance and songs never cease to capture the listener
with their haunting melodies and infectious arrangements
Recorded over several months at Chem19 Studios and Green Door Booth's debut
album An Unforgiving Light (Last Night From Glasgow/ Scottish Fiction) was
released in 2017 to critical acclaim. It was lauded as Roddy Hart's Record of Note
(BBC Radio Scotland), featured in Vic Galloway's Best Albums of 2017 (BBC
Radio Scotland) and was praised by Jim Gellatly (Amazing Radio). 2018 saw her
perform at the BBC's Quay Sessions and festivals such as XpoNorth, Celtic
Connections and the Kelburn Garden Party.
Adopting a more introspective and atmospheric approach, Booth's 2019 EP
Spectral (Last Night From Glasgow/ Scottish Fiction) displays her poignant
lyricism and haunting vocals at their most raw. The EP was championed by BBC
Radio Scotland, The Skinny and The List, with Booth appearing for a live session
on the BBC's Janice Forsyth Show. Booth was subsequently nominated for a
Scottish Alternative Music Award in the Best Acoustic category late 2019.
The singer-songwriter is also known for her enthusiasm for collaboration. From
2015 to 2020 she performed backing vocals and guitar with prolifc dark- folk
collective Mt. Doubt, touring across Scotland, England and Wales and recording
on numerous records. 2020 saw the release of Clean Living (Last Night From
Glasgow) under the moniker Slow Weather: a vintage-infused EP of alt-rock cowritten with producer extraordinaire Chris McCrory. The release garnered praise
and spins from Steve Lamacq (BBC Radio 6), BBC Radio Scotland and Amazing
Radio as well as features and airplay in the US. Over the years Booth has also
collaborated on tracks with artists such indietronica outft Out of the Swim and
indie pop quintet Wojtek the Bear.

Annie Booth is an Edinburgh-based artist with a gift for mood-painting
and storytelling - A seasoned modern folk singer, performer and
songwriter - with a fair for the nostalgic and the melancholy - she wields
a unique voice in Scotland, bridging genre and infuence with ease, her
restless live performance and songs never cease to capture the listener
with their haunting melodies and infectious arrangements
Recorded over several months at Chem19 Studios and Green Door Booth's debut
album An Unforgiving Light (Last Night From Glasgow/ Scottish Fiction) was
released in 2017 to critical acclaim. It was lauded as Roddy Hart's Record of Note
(BBC Radio Scotland), featured in Vic Galloway's Best Albums of 2017 (BBC
Radio Scotland) and was praised by Jim Gellatly (Amazing Radio). 2018 saw her
perform at the BBC's Quay Sessions and festivals such as XpoNorth, Celtic
Connections and the Kelburn Garden Party.
Adopting a more introspective and atmospheric approach, Booth's 2019 EP
Spectral (Last Night From Glasgow/ Scottish Fiction) displays her poignant
lyricism and haunting vocals at their most raw. The EP was championed by BBC
Radio Scotland, The Skinny and The List, with Booth appearing for a live session
on the BBC's Janice Forsyth Show. Booth was subsequently nominated for a
Scottish Alternative Music Award in the Best Acoustic category late 2019.
The singer-songwriter is also known for her enthusiasm for collaboration. From
2015 to 2020 she performed backing vocals and guitar with prolifc dark- folk
collective Mt. Doubt, touring across Scotland, England and Wales and recording
on numerous records. 2020 saw the release of Clean Living (Last Night From
Glasgow) under the moniker Slow Weather: a vintage-infused EP of alt-rock cowritten with producer extraordinaire Chris McCrory. The release garnered praise
and spins from Steve Lamacq (BBC Radio 6), BBC Radio Scotland and Amazing
Radio as well as features and airplay in the US. Over the years Booth has also
collaborated on tracks with artists such indietronica outft Out of the Swim and
indie pop quintet Wojtek the Bear.

“And now for a gentleman who’s come all the way from Kingston, Jamaica and a place called Cling Cling Avenue. We present to you the one and only, the Originator, the Godfather, Daddy U Roy!”

U Roy had visited Brighton before but there was something special about that balmy night in August 2017, when he walked out on stage at the Komedia to a hero’s welcome and immediately got the crowd cheering and dancing. There was so much warmth and excitement generated that night, and it’s all captured on this final live album of the reggae superstar’s illustrious career.

U Roy wasn’t quite the originator, but he was the first Jamaican deejay to dominate the Top 3 places on both radio stations and turn his predecessors’ simple exhortations into an artform – one that evolved into a global phenomenon. It was his performances on King Tubby’s Hometown Hi-Fi that made him the talk of Jamaica and led him to Treasure Isle studio, where he voiced hits like Tide Is High and Wear You To The Ball. From then on his catchy, uplifting rhymes could be heard on radios and jukeboxes throughout the island, as well as from behind the control tower of his King Stur Gav sound-system, where MCs like Josey Wales, Brigadier Jerry and Charlie Chaplin learnt their craft. The veteran deejay, who died in February 2021, continued recording and touring into his late seventies, and without abandoning either his musical standards or Rastafarian beliefs. At his peak, U Roy voiced for Jamaica legends like Lee “Scratch” Perry, Bunny Lee and Channel One, in addition to several European labels. What most of his recordings have in common is a sense of hope and often joy, because even Get Up Stand Up is delivered with optimism. They are the qualities that come across on this life-affirming set, recorded in front of an appreciative audience, and backed by some of the UK’s finest reggae musicians.

In four short years of existence, Green Lung have risen from the murk of the UK heavy underground to become a true cult band with a devoted following. Debut album Woodland Rites, released independently in early 2019, quickly garnered attention, resulting in a single being named ‘Track of the Week’ in the Guardian, plays on Daniel P. Carter’s Radio One Rock Show, a tour with fellow UK heavies Puppy and festival appearances across Europe. This brought the band to the attention of the wider music industry, and after multiple offers (including one from a major label) the band decided to stay true to their roots and sign with the Finnish audio wizards at Svart Records, home to several of their doomy inspirations including Reverend Bizarre and Warning. Svart’s deluxe reissue of the album, and the preceding EP Free the Witch,sold out several runs. Two years later, the folk horror-obsessed fivesome have re-emerged from their mulchy catacombs armed with dozens of freshly-whittled riffs. Black Harvest, the sequel to Woodland Rites, is a more colourful, widescreen reimagining of the band’s sound - Dawn of the Dead to its predecessor’s Night of the Living. Recorded at Giant Wafer Studios in rural mid-Wales over the course of two weeks with longtime producer Wayne Adams (Petbrick, Big Lad), it’s a more expansive and textured record than anything the band have done before, boasting a cinematic quality and more attention to detail.

If you are passionate about local music scenes as much as we are you might already know about the current brood of great bands going on in Cardiff, Wales.
Chain Of Flowers were the first to hail from the Welsh capital, followed by related side projects such as Night Thoughts, more recently came Private World of which the two boys we’re about to introduce are also live members of.
A new wave/synth act from the same city called Plastic Estate is emerging this year.

The duo composed by Nicholas James and Stanley Fouracres have released a few digital singles in 2019 as they’ve opened for The Murder Capital at Sŵn Festival and played alongside the likes of M!R!M, Josiah Konder and The Love Coffin. This Place is their first physical release and it’s due on 7-inch vinyl and digital on June 19.

On the two songs that compose the single, Plastic Estate clearly draw influence from the best UK new wave and pop artists such as Dave Gahan, Paddy McAloon, Roddy Frame and yet there is a sophisticated casualness and an innate freshness in their songwriting that makes them not sounding dated at all.
Amazing composition skills for such a young band and a perfect balance between electronic dance elements and acoustic instruments allow them to pay homage to the above-mentioned masters and to be a perfectly contemporary group at once.

Although it’s possible to pick out some darker lyrics, the overall feel is up-beat and breezy. It’s a contrast that runs through a lot of their music – like a dichotomy between dark, melancholia and happier, brighter feelings.
Whether it’s a happy pop synth riff mixed with sombre lyrics or vice versa, the young Welsh duo is delivering the best 80’s-inspired modern pop craft.
RIYL: Echo & The Bunnymen, Prefab Sprout, Depeche Mode, Orange Juice, Wild Nothing.

Black Truffle is pleased to announce a new solo album by Eiko Ishibashi, her first for the label, following on from the duo recording Ichida alongside bassist Darin Gray. Hyakki Yagyō (Night Parade of One Hundred Demons) was produced for the ‘Japan Supernatural’ exhibition at The Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney focusing on ghost stories and folklore from the Edo period onwards. As with The Dream My Bones Dream (Drag City, 2018), the album is a response to troubling questions about Japanese history, and the influence of the past upon the present, but finds Ishibashi shifting further away from her earlier piano-led songwriting and showing a deepening interest in electronics and audio collaging.

The two sidelong parts of Hyakki Yagyō feature layered synthesisers, acoustic instrumentation, recited verse and field recordings, at times densely mixed but always with a subtle interplay of changing elements. The influence of European and American forerunners as diverse as Alvin Curran, David Behrman and Strafe Für Rebellion can be traced, yet at the same time Ishibashi evokes the flute and string sounds associated with Japanese storytelling, and draws directly on the subversive literary tradition of Kyoka (‘mad poetry’) with a verse by the 15th-century poet Ikkyū Sōjun repeated throughout the album. Revisiting what has gone before, re-thinking what is possible musically, as a way of articulating what else might be possible in the future.

As Ishibashi’s liner notes make clear, the album reflects an attention to persistent dangers, myths and evasions in Japanese culture – as well as the lurking uncertainties that might threaten positive change. This would seem to be manifested in the emerging melodies soon met by dissonance, erratic collisions and near silence, as well as the eerie manipulation of the double-tracked vocals. Ishibashi’s underlying concerns ring true more widely of course. Hyakki Yagyō is a work of multiplicities, and mystery, a landscape where nothing is as it seems at first, and everything is vulnerable to sudden violent interruptions.

The album was produced with regular collaborators Jim O’Rourke (double bass) and Joe Talia (percussion), and features dancer and choreographer Ryuichi Fujimura performing Ikkyū’s satirical tanka. O’Rourke’s immersive mix creates a three-dimensional effect, with Ishibashi’s various sound sources enmeshing and interacting in captivating ways.

Pressed on coloured vinyl and presented in a deluxe package with an inner sleeve featuring and artist portrait and liner notes from Eiko Ishibashi. Cover and label design by Shuhei Abe.
Back cover design by Lasse Marhaug. Mixed and mastered by Jim O’Rourke.

key selling points:

- Black Truffle is pleased to announce a new solo album by Eiko Ishibashi, her first since her acclaimed 2018 Drag City release The Dream My Bones Dream.

- This album finds Ishibashi shifting further away from her earlier piano-led songwriting and showing a deepening interest in electronics and audio collaging.

- Hyakki Yagyō (Night Parade of One Hundred Demons) was produced for the ‘Japan Supernatural’ exhibition at The Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney focusing on ghost stories and folklore from the Edo period onwards and is a response to troubling questions about Japanese history, and the influence of the past upon the present.

- Produced with regular collaborators Jim O’Rourke (double bass) and Joe Talia (percussion), O’Rourke’s immersive mix creates a three-dimensional effect, with Ishibashi’s various sound sources enmeshing and interacting in captivating ways.

- The two sidelong parts of Hyakki Yagyō feature layered synthesisers, acoustic instrumentation, recited verse and field recordings, at times densely mixed but always with a subtle interplay of changing elements, hinting at an influence of European and American forerunners as diverse as Alvin Curran, David Behrman and Strafe Für Rebellion.

- Pressed on coloured vinyl and presented in a deluxe package with an inner sleeve featuring an artist portrait and liner notes from Eiko Ishibashi. Mixed and mastered by Jim O’Rourke.