Pop & Rock News

Recorded and mixed by Bunsho Nisikawa
Recorded at Soto, Kyoto JP
Mastered and cut by Rashad Becker at Dubplates & Mastering Berlin

Photographs by Mayumi Hosokura
Graphic design by Shun Ishizuka

Kukangendai:
Junya Noguchi - Guitar, Vocal
Keisuke Koyano - Bass
Hideaki Yamada - Drums


Kukangendai is a kick ass rock trio from Kyoto (Tokyo transplants). When I first hear this band live I was instantly transfixed by their minimalist yet illusory primitive, polyrythmic and structural, memory evoking rock narratives. Their energy is completely and transparently palpable yet handled with restraint of the pleasure of a disciplined form dealing with time and articulation. They are a power trio of bass, drums and guitar but the music they play is as much the limbic system of a forest than it is a geode. They started in 2006. They left Tokyo to Kyoto and started the cult venue Soto ("Outside") "to listen to music they hadn't heard yet" a few years later. They collaborated with Ryuichi Sakamoto last year. They reminded me of James Brown on a heavy binge of Bastro, there's a deep current of both archaic musical tastes and the human desire for articulating that archaism in there, but you shake your ass and get the shouting in... in a punk basement ... 13th century version of Breadwinner, the bare soul version. I'm honoured and proud to work with this tribe, and to count them amongst friends.-Stephen O'Malley, February 2019, Paris

Swazi Gold have created a debut album that shimmers like the coast. There are six songs, two created by each member; through pure collaboration and participation. Swazi Gold are a true democracy.


Formed by the chief songwriters from Melbourne bands Crepes, Dreamin' Wild and Sagamore, this new band brings old friends together. Chris Jennings and Sam Cooper grew up in the Victorian coastal towns of Barwon Heads and Ocean Grove, while TimKarmouche was an inland man, hailing from Ballarat in the state's north-west

"We've been playing together for so long; in different mediums and in different bands. We've played our own key roles, but now we know what each other wants. Swazi Gold shows off our relationship from over the years, which is really cool," says guitarist and bassist Jennings.



Swazi Gold's other guitarist and bass player, Cooper, has a theory about the unifying power of their regional origins:

"It's this kind of small town thing where you strive to be different and creative. Because you're more isolated, you focus on your creativity and align yourself to similar people. I think growing up down the coast has meant I've continued to be drawn to people from other isolated places," he says.



It's this togetherness that's at the heart of Swazi Gold's debut album,Jehovah's Whispers.Recorded in a single weekend in 2017 at the Cooper's family home in Ocean Grove (affectionately termed the "Cooper Ranch")Jehovah's Whisperscaptures a musical intimacy and deep friendship between the three members.



"The bond with all the tracks on the album isn't necessarily lyrical, but it's 100% sonic. The simplicity of the instruments we use and the set-up we have is what's really rad," says Jennings.

"It's a fantasy of what we imagined Jehovah might be whispering in your ear," he adds, grinning.



Drawing from their collective love of African music, American funk, and quirky, melody-driven pop music, the album explores the space between conventional genres and styles of production.

"Using drum machines has made the song-writing process a lot quicker and opened up a whole new avenue stylistically.

A band's third album usually tells you whether they're in it for the long haul or a flash in the pan. On Age Hasn't Spoiled You, Greys prove that they are undoubtedly the former. The Toronto post-punks eschew their trademark frenzy for a more cerebral and cinematic affair. This widescreen approach loses none of the impact of their early material, instead employing space and dynamics to propel the listener toward even greater payoffs when they decide to switch back into high gear.

When we last left them, days before the 2016 US election, Greys had just finished a year of touring with the likes of Bully, White Lung, Japandroids, Preoccupations and more after releasing their sophomore record, Outer Heaven, and its companion piece, Warm Shadow. The following year saw the quartet taking some much needed downtime with members pursuing solo projects and moonlighting in other bands. As their city surrendered to gentrification and the world abroad descended further into chaos, the four men spent most of 2018 in the studio channeling these feelings of displacement and alienation into songs that reflect the state of panic and confusion prevalent in our news feeds. 'We wanted to push as far away from what our perception of a 'rock band' could be while still retaining certain characteristics that sound like Greys,' says frontman Shehzaad Jiwani.

What results is a richly textured experience that draws influence from krautrock, industrial, hip hop, dub, jazz, ambient, drone and more, sometimes within the same song. That their blend of disparate sounds never obscures the album's sharp focus is a testament to the group's mastery of both songwriting and production. This is evident on lead single "These Things Happen," which jumps from big beat psychedelia to CSNY harmonies and back again while Jiwani considers privilege, apathy, drug use, and content fatigue in one verse. Elsewhere, on 'Kill Appeal,' electronic drums pound and pummel before caving into a free jazz freakout, only to return for the song's climax with a lyrical allusion to the writings of James Baldwin. The stylistic sprawl recalls classic third albums like Check Your Head, To Bring You My Love or Fear Of Music - records where artists reinvented themselves as something far beyond what was previously thought possible for them. With Age Hasn't Spoiled You, Greys strive to exist in a similar echelon of bands that seek to shatter the boundaries that contain them.

This guy again. The Godfather of DIY home recording. Hundreds of self-released albums over the past 50 years. Dozens issued on countless indie labels since 1976. Pop craftsman, crafty grandpop, notorious curmudgeon. Blah blah blah blah blah. Most recently teamed with Jason Falkner on the album Make It Be (Bar/None, 2017).

Since R. Stevie can't make a decent living on his music, he's trying to accomplish the task in the Afterlife. This album is an upgrade from the lo-fi, damaged-equipment home recording process for which RSM has become legendary. With a career-long sweep, R. Stevie took some of his best home-recorded lo-fi songs and re-recorded them with full-studio sparkle. All recordings were made in the past 15 years, with tracks captured in five U.S. states. Some compositions date from the 1970s to the 1990s, and there's a few newer tunes. The album lacks one thing: filler. Lou Reed famously said about his final Velvet Underground album: "I gave them an album loaded with hits," then he walked away. Afterlife is R. Stevie's Loaded—an album full of hits. He's walking away with a cane, a bum knee, and cataracts.

Afterlife was compiled and produced by Irwin Chusid (who oversees the musical estates of Sun Ra, Raymond Scott, and others). Chusid, a WFMU DJ since 1975, has been a compatriot of RSM since they met in 1978 after R. Stevie relocated to New Jersey from his native Nashville (to which he returned in 2010). It's often been pointed out that RSM's daddy Bob played bass with Elvis. But we won't dwell on that here.

Afterlife features sideman work by Ariel Pink, Jason Falkner, Lane Steinberg, and Chusid. It was mastered by veteran producer-musician Kramer (who has previously recorded with RSM). There's a biopic in the works. It's called Cool Daddio: The Second Youth of R. Stevie Moore (Spring Films), and with luck it might hit the cinema circuit in 2019.

R. Stevie will not be touring to promote this album. He's sick of traveling, his misanthropy's been acting up, and he prefers the comforts of his messy nest. But he will talk to journalists on the phone or via email. Just don't ask about his daddy. It's a worn-out topic. Sorry we brought it up.

Keys are Benedikt Frey and Chris Cox, the front and rear covers of a lucid
narrative of an incomprehensible nature. Substance induced Hara-kiri, a human
consciousness leaving it's temporary and insignificant vessel, a motorcycle ride
through the sands of a desolate Martian desert or a twisted eternity dissolved
inside Pandora's Box. These are just a few of the scenes effortlessly evoked by
the epic yet somehow erotic omnibus of slow-motion electronica that is Voltage.
In a time dominated by robotic beat and melody, this 8 part expedition away from
the dancefloor may surprise, disorientate and hypnotise. Allow Keys to seal you
in their infinite vacuum of flirtatious melancholia.

Conceived over a bucks fizz binge in Birmingham UK early 2018, Cherry Pickles comes at you like the base-ment band you always wanted to start. Priscila B brings from Brazil her love of early Tropicalia and the kind of 'let's be bad' attitude that can only come from a land chock full of Catholic guilt. Mimi B brings her love of stripped down, bare essential rhythm. If two drums are good enough for Peggy O'Neill then they should definitely be good enough for you. Together they bonded over a mutual love of 50s malt-shop-pop, 60s minimalist garage, no wave, fuzz and all forms of outsider art. 'Art damaged' isn't a slur, it's a compliment. Anything lost in translation with this transatlantic duo only doubles the charm.Played entirely on thrift store instruments with the kind of enthusiasm and naiveté severely lacking in a lot of today's music this is not some clever re-imagining or ironic take on lo-fi, this is the real deal! Technique and skill be damned, the message comes through strong and that message is 'Don't think about it, just cross the line and enjoy it.' All rolled together with gum, glitter and stickytape in the studio by fellow Bir-mingham noisemakers Black Mekon, the result is slightly wrong-sounding but infectious one-minute-ga-rage-pop with gusto. One guitar, 2 drums, the basement band you always wanted to start. Cherry Pickles' debut LP Cherry Pickles Will Harden Your Nipples will be released on April 5th 2019 via PNK-SLM Recordings (ShitKid, Les Big Byrd, Miss World etc) following the band's US debut at SXSW

The Beths' Warm Blood is a strong contender for the catchiest record you've never heard. Formed when four jazz students at the University of Auckland bonded over their shared love of the pop-punk sounds of their youth, The Beths bring new energy to the genre. This 5-song debut EP, a deliriously pleasurable statement of purpose, comes crammed with enough blissful hooks to carry through most bands' careers.

Listeners for whom the tag 'New Zealand indie rock' brings to mind the Flying Nun sound of bands like The Clean and The Chills may be surprised to find Warm Blood's five unstoppable tunes landing closer to artists like Slant 6 and The Breeders. The nimble guitar work here moves from heavy riffing reminiscent of Sleater-Kinney to hazily bending lines that would make Stephen Malkmus and Mary Timony beam, while the joyous vocal harmonies from all four members bubble and swell to ecstatic crescendos that channel The Zombies' Odessey and Oracle.

With impeccable production from guitarist Jonathan Pearce and stellar musicianship across the board, Warm Blood is a non-stop delight. Tracks like leadoff track and first single 'Whatever,' the ridiculously addictive standout 'Idea/Intent,' and 'Rush Hour 3,' a playful ode to romance in this era of download-and-chill franchise films, take delight in the challenge of breathing new energy into the limitations of the 3-minute pop song. 

Radio plays for lead single 'Flying High' already on Steve Lamacq, Gideon Coe, Janice Long, John Kennedy, Absolute Radio & Amazing Radio

Very limited edition coloured vinyl

After a break of two years, Zefur Wolves return with a brand new album, beating a path to the promised 2019 follow up to their acclaimed debut. The three-piece's distinct brand of languid, emotive, alt-rock takes the commanding role with Truth is in the Stars, released on Strangetown Records on Friday 29 March.
The band have once again teamed up with M h of human consciousness and empathetic resistance to injustice. r. Kobo who hasn't disappointed with the beautiful and intricate sleeve artwork and lovingly presented by Mark James Works. For the audiophiles the gorgeous deep berry coloured vinyl will be a feast for the eyes as well as the ears.
Studio sessions helmed by producer and former live band member, Super Furry Animal's Cian Ciarán, have driven the band to greater intricacy and an audible sense of playfulness, toying with compositional and recording technique. Having crafted their debut album in California, evocative of their cited inspirations including Spiritualized and Beach House, the upbeat trailblazing first single Flying High, recorded at Strangetown Studios in Caridff, suggests new and fertile creative ground has been found to 'one up' an already glinting reputation.

In January of 1980 Joy Division kicked off a tour of The Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany with a show at the legendary Paradiso Club in Amsterdam. Little did anyone know that in less than 6 months, Ian Curtis would be dead, and the brief, brilliant run of the group would be over. This is a particularly heavy and deep set, with the band performing at their angular best, and Curtis in top form vocally. Essential live broadcast for any fan of Joy Division.

Peripheral Minimal is proud to present, collated for the first time, all three of Naked Lunch's 7" singles, repackaged into a stunning 12" E.P., with printed inner sleeve.

Naked Lunch are an English band formed in 1979, by Tony Mayo. Later joined by, Mick Clarke. In preparation to play live further members were advertised for and Tim Yorke, Paul Nicholas Davies and Cliff Chapman joined and then, in 1981, by Mark Irving who replaced Tim.

The band was one of the first fully synth based groups, and as such were featured on the Some Bizzare Album alongside, Depeche Mode, Soft Cell, Blancmange and The The.

A brief history of the band includes the fact that as early as 1979 they performed in a show alongside the likes of Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft, Cabaret Voltaire, Fad Gadget, B-Movie and Clock DVA, organised by the band and Stevo Pearce (Some Bizzare Records). The band undertook the Naked Lunch's 'Electronic Indoctrination Tour' in 1980 which included a show at Leeds Futurama Festival. Naked Lunch then set about helping Pearce find artists and recordings to make up the Some Bizzare Album to which the band itself contributed "La Femme" (a song originally called "Le Femme" but Phonogram who released the album was licensed to change it to the grammatically correct French, missing the point of the androgyny of the electronic music scene and that the song was about that).

After a parting with Pearce, Naked Lunch became managed by Ramkup with the now 'infamous' single, "Rabies" being released, though it suffered from a ban on daytime radio play due to the title, it received good airplay and support from the likes of John Peel and Nicky Horne on their nighttime shows. Line-up changes continued before the band split in 1981 with Mayo retaining the name Naked Lunch. A second version of the band emerged as a live act until 1985. Naked Lunch were then resurrected in 2010 and continue to this day!

TRACKS A1 + A2 Taken from the 7" 'Rabies / Slipping Again'. Originally released on Ramkup Records 1981 CAC003.

TRACKS A3 + B1 Taken from the 7" 'You Tie Me Down / Laugh Your Mind Away'. Originally released on Pleazure Records Ltd. 1984 PLZS341.

TRACKS B2 + B3 Taken from the 7" 'Make Believe / Breathe'. Originally released on Pleazure Records Ltd. 1984 PLZS843.

"In the Dark" is the second studio album from Icelandic electronic dream-pop band Vök, due out 1st March. Produced with James Earp (Bipolar Sunshine, Fickle Friends, Lewis Capaldi). Lead by the unmistakable Margrét Rán, "In the Dark" is the band most accomplished work to date, exploring exciting new musical territories as they expand on their pop sensibilities further with hook-laden singles "Night & Day" and "Spend the Love".

W. H. Lung have allowed this album to naturally gestate over the course of two years . The result is a remarkably considered debut - the production is crisp and pristine but not over-polished, the synths and electronics radiate and hum with a golden aura and the vocals weave between tender delivery and forceful eruptions. There is a palpable energy to the songs, as experienced in 10 glorious minutes of opening statement 'Simpatico People'.
'I think it's important to erase the distinction between 'high' and 'low' culture,' states Joseph E. This colliding of worlds not only exists in the potent mix between whip-smart arrangements, lyrics and seamlessly danceable music but also in the fact that they are named after a cash and carry in Manchester. As Tom P. explains, 'I thought it was funny juxtaposing those kind of austere associations with W. H. Auden and other initialed poets, writers, artists, etc. with the fact that it's really just a Chinese supermarket.'

Partisan Records are proud to release the upcoming 7' from
Fontaines D.C., titled 'Too Real'. Fontaines D.C. met as a quintet
in Dublin, influenced and driven in equal measure by the rich
history of their hometown's counter-culture, their response has
been to make concise and immediately authentic indie punk
that has done anything but fall on deaf ears.
The last six months have seen Fontaines D.C. release three
hotly received double A-side singles, both of which were named
as Single Of The Week by many retailers and garnered early
support from the likes of Steve Lamacq and others on 6 Music,
as well as earning feature space from every major Irish
publication. Similarly, the band have played a number of shows
across Europe, Ireland and the UK earning a reputation for
their brooding and trenchant live performances, supporting the
likes of The Horrors, Girl Band and The Lemon Twigs, as well as
playing festival slots at Electric Picnic, Hard Working Class
Heroes and Other Voices.
Previous singles such as 'Liberty Belle', 'Hurricane Laughter' and
'Chequeless Reckless' call to mind the likes of the Modern
Lovers, The Fall, Iggy Pop and The Strokes, seamlessly
blending immediate lyrical hooks with melodic golden-era indie
instrumentation and 70s Stooges punk thrust, all of which is
strewn with defiant rock and roll overtones.
'The energy, the urgency and the emotion of these brilliant
new songs made me stand up and take notice that this is the
band I've been waiting for' - John Richards (KEXP, Seattle)
'Snarling, Swaggering Post Punk' - Stereogum
'This is one of the best gigs I've seen in quite a while' - Steve
Lamacq (6 Music)
'Fontaines D.C. are a band on the rise' - So Young Magazine
'Ireland's latest greatest export' - Dork
'Fontaines D.C find beauty in hardship' - DIY Magazine

- 180 GRAM AUDIOPHILE VINYL
- INCLUDING INSERT
- FEATURING THE CLASSIC HIT SINGLE 'UNDER THE MILKY WAY'
- LIMITED EDITION OF 1.000 INDIVIDUALLY NUMBERED COPIES ON WHITE VINYL

The Church were founded in 1980 in Canberra, Australia. Their jangly guitar pop, combined with emotional and smart lyrics, proved an immediate smash 'down under' and beyond. Their 7th album Starfish was recorded in Los Angeles with producers Waddy Wachtel and Greg Ladanyi, both longtime veterans of the L.A. studio scene. When released in 1988, it rightfully became the breakthrough of The Church in the United States. The album peaked at #41 in the Billboard 200, no small feat for a non-US act. 'Under The Milky Way' was released as a single and nearly topped the Mainstream Rock charts, topping at second place, and reached #26 on the Billboard Hot 100. 'Reptile' was released as a second single.

Available as a limited edition of 1.000 individually numbered copies on white vinyl.

'Liv' - which preceded 'Minus' by several years - is
a previously-unreleased studio album, recorded
over three days at Sarm West (Bob Marley,
'Exodus') live from start to finish (with additional
vocals and saxophone added at a later date) by
Daniel Blumberg on Steinberger guitar, harmonica
and vocals; Billy Steiger on violin; Kohhei Matsuda
on monosynth and Tom Wheatley on double bass.
LP format includes digital download code.

In October of 2018, ten years after the launch of their hit HBO
series, musical comedians Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement
returned to HBO for an all-new comedy special. 'Live In
London' was taped before a live audience at the Eventim Apollo
and featured the Conchords performing songs from the sold
out UK and Ireland edition of 'Flight of the Conchords Sing
Flight of the Conchords Tour'.
New Zealanders McKenzie and Clement debuted on HBO in
2005 in an edition of the comedy series 'One-Night Stand',
returning to the network in 2007 for the debut season of their
acclaimed, Emmy-nominated series 'Flight Of The Conchords',
which followed fictionalized versions of their lives in New York
City.
The duo also signed a worldwide deal with Sub Pop Records for
their recorded music, going on to release the Grammy-winning
EP, 'The Distant Future', in 2007, followed by two full-length
albums - their self-titled debut in 2008 and 'I Told You I Was
Freaky' in 2009.
The Conchords have also enjoyed individual success. Clement's
film credits include the 'Rio' movies, 'Men In Black 3', 'What We
Do In The Shadows' and 'The BFG' and he's also been seen in
his role in FX's 'Legion'.
McKenzie was the music supervisor for 'The Muppets', which
won him an Academy Award for Best Original Song for 'Man Or
Muppet' and 'Muppets Most Wanted'.
2CD in gatefold jacket with dust sleeves.
3LP in wide-spine single-pocket jacket with custom dust sleeves
and etching on side 6. Includes digital download coupon.

'Be Content' is the long-awaited debut album from
Indoor Pets, following a string of much-loved singles
for Alcopop!, East City Rockers and Wichita. Their
album proper is finally ready.
Produced by the band's lead guitarist and Kris Harris
and mixed by Claudius Mittendorfer (Ash, Yak, Parquet
Courts), this is a fourteen song riot of urgent, tightly
crafted rock songs with endless undeniable melodies
and choruses that will be stuck in your head all day
long - think Weezer's debut, think FIDLAR's debut and
add Kent's Indoor Pets to that list of classic first
albums.
The band recently shared the first taster from the
album 'Hi', a hook-laden blast of power pop stylings,
fuzzed-out riffs and infectious melodies, which picked
up support from the likes of Annie Mac, Huw Stephens
and Jack Saunders at Radio 1, Lauren Laverne at
6Music and Amazing Radio.
LP pressed on white vinyl housed in gatefold sleeve
with digital download code

40 years after disbanding comes 'Fond Reflections', the
debut album that never was from cult 4AD band Rema
Rema.
Rema-Rema featured former members of The Models
and Siouxsie and The Banshees and their much-loved
'Wheel In The Roses' EP (1980) was among the first
records to be released on 4AD. Their only contribution
to the label's storied history, they split-up before its
release, going on to form or join bands as diverse as
Renegade Soundwave, The Wolfgang Press, Mass and
Adam and the Ants.
The debut album that never was, 'Fond Reflections'
comes almost forty years after their debut EP and has
been culled from the band's rich archive of reel-to-reel
and cassette recordings, with member Gary Asquith and
mixing engineer Takatsuna Mukai painstakingly working
on them to make the album as cohesive as possible.
The ten tracks pretty much reflect the band's live set
and is the closest to what their debut album could have
sounded like. Worth noting too that although all their
1980 EP tracks are present on the album, they are all
from different recordings.
The 2CD edition comes with a second disc entitled
'Extended Wheel In The Roses'. As its title suggests, it's
the four EP tracks as they were plus 'Entry' (taken from
the same studio session as the EP's A-side of 'Feedback
Song' and 'Rema- Rema') and 'No Applause' and
'Murdermuzic', two more tracks recorded at the same
1979 Albany Empire, London show as the EP's B-side,
'Instrumental' and 'Fond Affections'.

Los Angeles-based artist SASAMI announces her
self-titled debut album.
If you've ever drafted an overly long text to
someone and decided against sending it, then
you'll probably hear something of yourself in
SASAMI. Los Angeles based songwriter and multi
instrumentalist Sasami Ashworth wrote the album's
ten tautly melodic rock tracks over the course of a
year on tour, playing keys and guitar with Cherry
Glazerr, tracking the thrills, disappointments and
non-starters of a year spent newly single and on
the road.
With featured artists Dustin Payseur (Beach
Fossils), Devendra Banhart and Soko, this is a slice
of 90s distorted guitar pop wonderment you won't
want to miss.

'exciting dark pop-electronica and organic Americana' - Rolling Stone
'driving, heartening and meditative' - Consequence of Sound
'effortless and infectious' - Line Of Best Fit
'where Britain's Madchester meets Springsteen Americana' - The
Guardian
'free-wheeling, free-spirited' - NME
'spirit, passion, melodies and a Madchester dance soundtrack' - Les In
Rocks
'Future Perfect, Present Tense', the sophomore album from Ten Fé via
Some Kinda Love / [PIAS], is a poignant, uplifting meditation on
everything that's brought the band to this point and all they've left
behind in getting here.
The pair holed up in a derelict office block in Walthamstow resolving to
write a simpler sort of song that would connect them to the songbook of
their days busking on the London Underground. Without losing the
infectious pop of their debut, the songs off 'Future Perfect, Present
Tense' seem to come from a deeper place with the two songwriters
pushing themselves to be more vulnerable and honest. The Stones and
Orbison influences can be heard woven into 'Caught On The Inside',
Springsteen and The Cure into 'No Night Lasts Forever' and the deeply
romantic, blissed-out Americana of their debut has been honed further.
Recorded in Oslo as a band with Rob Shipley, Johnny Drain and Alex
Hammond - the friends with whom they had toured the first album - this
album showcases the new sound. As heard in the first offerings, 'Won't
Happen' and 'Not Tonight', the band have matured and captured a more
close-knit, lush sound of five people playing together in a room. Intricate
CSNY-influenced four-part harmonies that were honed on the road fuse
with the energy they captured in their live shows to create a sound that's
anthemic but rooted in personal chemistry.
Their latest track, 'Echo Park', premiered with Flood Magazine ('80s-era
breezy rock, seamlessly incorporating influences from Patti Smith to
Neu!').
The band have just announced their biggest-yet tour of the UK, Europe
and US in Spring 2019 to promote their new release.

Sophomore album from the Swedish / Anglo /
American group marrying noisy aggro indie with
soaring shoegaze-y pop.
Follow up to 2016's 'Means' and a great leap
forward in terms of song craft and production, with
highlights 'More Than Ever', 'Paradiso' and
'Business Man'.
Will appeal to fans of The Wytches, Toy, Flat
Worms, Ulrika Spacek, Sonic Youth

Restored from the original analogue tapes, presented on
HD audio.
Pressed on dark green vinyl.
Originally released in 1982, 'I, Assassin' is Gary Numan's
sixth studio album and fourth under his own name.
Combining fretless bass with heavy rock drumming,
Numan further refined his dark, sparse, funky-electro style,
mixing it with impenetrable, slurred vocals.
Numan recorded and wrote most of the music between
January and March 1982, following his infamous round
the-world trip in a light aircraft and a near-death crash
onto a British road while co-piloting a spiralling Cessna.
Three of the album's songs made it into the UK Top 20.
According to Numan, who was still only 24-years-old at the
time, 'the round-the-world flight, the plane crash, these
were big things that helped me shape a new opinion of


myself. Those experiences gave me a self-confidence, a
genuine strength that I hadn't had before.' Twenty years
later, the singer enthused, 'I still think it's one of the best
albums I've made.'
I, Assassin's heavily percussive approach led to several
tracks becoming unexpected intruders on American
dancefloors, notably the 12' single of 'Music For
Chameleons' and a specially remixed US version of 'White
Boys And Heroes'.
'I, Assassin' stands out as a record fiercely propelled by
powerful rhythms in songs laced with an earthy cynicism.
''I, Assassin' also utilizes the warped elasticity of fretless
bass lines underneath his customary monotone vocalising
and abstract lyricism. Highlighted by the upbeat synthetic
funk of 'We Take Mystery To Bed' & 'White Boys', 'I,
Assassin' is an in-depth examination of genuine dance
music roots.' - URB Magazine

Meg Duffy grew up in a small town in Upstate New York and they cut their teeth as a session guitarist and touring member of Kevin Morby's band. The Hand Habits project emerged after Meg moved to Los Angeles; it started as a private songwriting outlet but soon evolved into a fully-fledged band with Meg at the helm. Hand Habits' debut album, Wildly Idle (Humble Before The Void), was released by Woodsist Records in 2017. The LP was entirely self-produced and recorded in Meg's home during spare moments when they weren't touring. Wildly Idle (Humble Before The Void) is a lush, homespun collection of folk songs that found Meg in an exploratory state as an artist moving out on their own for the first time. Two years later, Hand Habits has returned with their sophomore album, placeholder. To make this album, Meg chose to work in a studio and bring in collaborators, entrusting them with what had previously been a very personal creative process. Over the course of 12 tracks, Meg emerges with new confidence as both a bandleader and singer. This album is as tender and immediate as anything Meg's ever written, but it's also intensely focused and refined, the work of a meticulous musician ready to share their singular vision with the world.

The name placeholder stems from Meg's fascination with the undefinable. Their songs serve as openings -- carved-out spaces waiting to be endowed with meaning. As a lyricist, Meg is drawn to the in-between, and the songs on this new album primarily confront the ways in which certain experiences can serve as a stepping stone on the road to self-discovery. 'A big aspect of my songwriting and the way I move through the world depends on my relationships with people. The songs on placeholder are about accountability and forgiveness,' Meg says. 'These are all real stories. I don't fictionalize much.'

Meg describes these songs as their most direct to date, crafted with clear intention, and unlike Wildly Humble (Idle Before The Void), placeholder doesn't meander. 'It's less of a submerged landscape and more a concise series of thoughts,' Meg explains. Instrumentally, placeholder can be situated alongside some of Meg's folk-adjacent contemporaries like Angel Olsen or Big Thief, and the guitar work on this album proves that Meg continues to be one of the finest young musicians working today. placeholder is another entry in the Hand Habits songbook, but it's also a valuable testament of our time. While placeholder inspires a sense of ease, simple questions rarely beget easy answers and Meg honors the indescribable joy and profound sorrow that comes with figuring things out, one step at a time.





[E] 5. yr heart [reprise]

*SHIPS FOR FEB 15TH*Holiday Ghosts are back with their second LP West Bay Playroom, the follow-up to their acclaimed self-titled debut album from 2017. Originally starting out as a solo project from The Black Tambourines' Sam Stacpoole the band evolved into a partnership with Katja Rackin, before turning into a full band with the debut album - showcasing a primitive rock 'n' roll sound that's been compared to The Modern Lovers and The Velvet Underground alongside current garage rock acts, and praised by the likes of The FADER, Stereogum, BrooklynVegan and KEXP. For West Bay Playroom the band's refined their sound, offering a cleaner and more focused set of songs while breaking new ground and experimenting with influences from country, blues, spaghetti western soundtracks and more.

David Byrne's Nonesuch Records debut album, Grown Backwards, first released in 2004, makes its vinyl debut almost fifteen years later. The vinyl edition comprises the original album plus six previously unreleased tracks, including a duet with Caetano Veloso on their song 'Dreamworld'. The double LP was mastered for vinyl by Greg Calbi at Sterling Sound and pressed on 140g vinyl at Record Industry in the Netherlands and comes in a metallic sleeve. 'It fits alongside the best of his career and adds another solid release to a solo catalog which will hopefully become more cherished in time,' said Pitchfork in its review in 2004. 'In 20 years, as we straighten our faces with botulism, braces, and stem cells, the album will stand up'. Mojo gave Grown Backwards four stars, finding that 'some of Byrne's most deliciously quirky lyrics ensure an event-packed listen.' The Guardian called the album 'one of Byrne's most rewarding experiments yet. These are wonderful exercises in songcraft.' The Daily Telegraph said: 'This must surely be Byrne's most satisfying album. An unexpected delight.' Uncut named it among the Albums of the Year, and the Sunday Times declared: 'Really rather wonderful.'

Byrne took a different approach to writing Grown Backwards - perhaps the most personal and emotionally expressive album of his storied career - than he had previously used. He worked from the "top down," humming melodies into a micro-cassette recorder and later unscrambling them to create songs - a significant change from his usual practice of starting with improvised textures and grooves and later adding tunes. The result is a richly melodic set of songs that feature strings, rhythm section, and guitar. In addition to the eleven songs by Byrne, the original album includes two opera arias ('Un di Felice' from Verdi's La traviata, and 'Au Fond Du Temple Saint' from Bizet's The Pearl Fishers, which features a duet with Rufus Wainwright); Byrne's cover of the Lambchop song 'The Man Who Loved Beer'; and the bonus track 'Lazy', Byrne and X-Press 2's 2002 hit song re-arranged by Stephen Barber based on arrangements by Dan Foster, Steven Hussey, and Anu Pillai for Freeform Five

In describing some of the additional tracks, Byrne says: ''Ausencia' is my version of an arrangement of this beautiful Cape Verdean song that was originally done by the Bosnian composer Goran Bregovic for Cesária Évora. The title means 'absence', and the lyrics are in Portuguese and Creole." And in the song 'Show and Tell', he explains: "Cherry Hill is across the river from Philadelphia ... a very funky part of town."

"'Dreamworld' was a collaboration with Caetano Veloso for a compilation album, Red Hot + Lisbon, created by Red Hot Organization, a not-for-profit dedicated to fighting HIV/AIDS', he continues. "I began writing with a club girl in mind, like those I would have seen out and about in New York, and Caetano mirrored that with lyrics that referred to Carmen Miranda, the great singer and performer - later caricatured in Hollywood - who was actually Portuguese. Marco de Canaveses, referenced in the song, was the town she was born in."

Arranged by Stephen Barber, Grown Backwards was produced by David Byrne and Patrick Dillett and features longtime collaborator Mauro Refosco on percussion and mallet instruments, Paul Frazier (Chic, Imani Coppola) on bass, and the Tosca Strings from Austin, Texas. Additionally, Carla Bley's jazz band plays on the song 'Empire'.

David Byrne's latest album, American Utopia, was released on Nonesuch and Todomundo Records in 2018 and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Alternative Album; a follow-up EP, '...The Best Live Show of All Time' - NME, was released in December and contains six live tracks from the acclaimed American Utopia tour.

Only You Can See It is a devastatingly beautiful collection of prismatic pop songs reckoning with the complexity of self-possession. Following the release of her acclaimed 2013 full-length Olive Juice, Reo spent five years writing, recording, arranging, producing and mixing these ten songs—at her apartment in Brooklyn, and at various studios and friends' homes around New York.It's her most intricate web of poetry yet, with prismacolor melodies winding through a vast pop vision. Reo employs her classical vocal training more than ever, her sweeping falsetto delivering doubletime verses brimming in metaphor and mesmerizing layered soundscapes alike.

For over a decade, Reo's vocoder pop songs have played with the space between natural and metallic sounds—with every turn of her voice sounding sweeping, symphonic. Recording and touring independently since the release of 2009's Minha Gatinha, she's continuously released a slow drip of pop experiments via artist-operated imprints. On her 2016 single 'Spell,' Reo grappled with all-consuming anxiety, numbness and isolation; here, throughout her latest album, with alternating grace and playfulness, she maps out a constellation of lived experiences that brought her back to feeling herself—facing loss, heartbreak, and death, but also fighting for her health and independence.

Reo's songs have always been imaginative, and here she considers the space between imagination and truth with a heightened sense of tension that seems to have been bubbling under the surface for a lifetime. There are self-combusting soaring synth riffs, sparseness and then engulfing chaos. Melodies that unfurl into melodies (some of which came to her in dreams). On 'Candy', she continues her inquiry into the artificial versus the organic, a song about digitally-facilitated relationships; through robot sounds, she wonders about the confusion of feeling close to someone through a screen, sung from the perspective of someone falling in love with a machine.

'Balloon' is the record's most patiently unfolding mini-epic, one bursting with the enormous energy of an expanding heart; an ode to intuition and growth. It's a song that eventually floats upward as Reo's vocals criss-cross like a hypnotic choir-of-one, meditating on navigating multiple relationships, and the necessity of self-reliance as a prerequisite for them.

These are the first songs that Reo filled out with the help of a live band, multi-instrumentalists Jack Greenleaf and Felix Walworth, adding a visceral energy throughout, with unexpected builds and breaks. Featuring select additional collaborators, namely Warren Hildebrand (Foxes in Fiction) and Julian Fader (Ava Luna, Gravesend Recordings), Reo's singular vision grew illuminated by additions of live drums, guitar, bass, piano, synth, harp, theremin, and sax.

'Ghosting' is her most personal song to date - as she sings about tracing her anxiety and sobriety, her words are clearer than usual, like a voice that has been yearning to escape. 'It outlines my experience with mental illness - depression, anxiety, OCD - and how it made me unable to live even though I was alive,' Reo says. 'It's about feeling trapped inside your mind, not living your life, not knowing if you're really living, if this is what your life amounts to.' So often, the experiences, anxieties and illnesses that define us aren't visible to anyone else; only you can see it. Later, 'Counterspell' is about overcoming the illness she laid out on 'Spell', using the latter track's repurposed vocals to show 'how anything can be reversed.'

In contrast, the buoyant side B opener 'Strawberry' feels all the more powerful, a feminist banger about everyday condescension under the gaze of patriarchy, about navigating fragile male egos in music scenes and beyond: 'Wish you had earned that PHD! In R-E-S-P-E-C-T! How many girls in this city are getting T-I-R-E-D' she belts out. Against the backdrop of 'Ghosting' and 'Counterspell,' it feels like a victory—the thrill of hearing an artist coming into her own voice. Only You Can See It honors what can be the most challenging sight to see: to truly recognize yourself.

More stunning live material to come out of the vaults...Ian Curtis & company recorded this live at the legendary Les Bains Douches in Paris on December 18th, 1979. Containing great versions of "Love Will Tear Us Apart," "Shadowplay," "Atmosphere," "Transmission", and more, this is one of the most classic live sets of the group's storied career.

You'll Know is a collection of songs by Roslyn Steer written over a few years and recorded over a few days in her home in Inniscarra Co. Cork. Another discovery from the ethereal, fragile, yet mesmerizing contemporary Irish scene.

Recorded on
10th March 1980 (Tracks 1, 3, 8, 9, 10)
16th March 1980 (Tracks 1, 2)
1st April 1980 (Tracks 2, 4, 5, 7, 9)

Produced: B.C. Gilbert : G. Lewis

Engineer: Eric Radcliffe.
Asst. Engineer: John Fryer
Recorded at Blackwing Studio

B.C. Gilbert: Voices, Guitars, Bass, Percussion, Tapes, Drums
G. Lewis: Voices, Guitars, Bass, Percussion, Tapes, Synthesiser
A.M.C.: Voice: Cruel When Complete

Floating-point re-master by Russell Haswell, August 2011
Cut at Dubplates & Mastering by Rashad Becker, August 2011

New artwork and layout: Dave Coppenhall

With the demise of the group Wire in 1980, founder members Bruce Gilbert and Graham Lewis joined forces to create Dome. With the assistance of engineer Eric Radcliffe and his Blackwing Studio Dome took the ethic of "using the studio as a compositional tool" and recorded and released three Dome albums on their own label in the space of 12 months: DOME (July 1980), DOME 2 (October 1980) and DOME 3 (October 1981). A final fourth album, WILL YOU SPEAK THIS WORD: DOME IV was released on the Norwegian Uniton label in May 1983.

These albums represent some of the most beautifuly stark and above all timeless exercises in studio experimentation from early 1980s alternative music scene.

Previously issued in the out of print DOME 1-4+5 box set in 2011. Now available as standalone LP with download card.

'Bobbie Gentry's The Delta Sweete Revisited' is
Mercury Rev's committed and affectionate
resurrection of an album that anticipated by three
decades their own pivotal expedition through
transcendental America, 1998's 'Deserter's Songs'.
From their recording lair in New York's Catskill
Mountains, the founding core of Jonathan
Donahue and Grasshopper with Jesse Chandler
(previously in the Texas group Midlake) honour
Gentry's foresight and creative triumph with
spacious invention and hallucinatory flair.
Gentry's stories and original resolve are brought to
new vocal life and empowerment by a vocal cast
from across modern rock and its alternative paths:
among them, Mazzy Star's Hope Sandoval; Laetitia
Sadier, formerly of Stereolab; Marissa Nadler;
Margo Price, the fiery new country star with a
punk rock heart; and Norway's Susanne Sundfør,
who cuts through 'Tobacco Road' with arctic-Nico
poise. Phoebe Bridgers, whose first record was a
softly stunning 2015 single for Ryan Adams' PAX
AM label, hovers through the acid-western
suspense of Gentry's 'Jessye Lisabeth' with floating
calm, like a comforting angel.

Fifth album on Columbia Records from Kentucky (now UK based) indie/alt/rock six piece. A 13 track album available on vinyl and CD. Radio support for lead single "Ready To Let Go" across R1, Beats 1, 6Music, Radio X, Virgin, Absolute, ILR. Streaming support across all platforms. Ads, features, interviews and reviews across all press. Online/social media activity. UK tour dates in June. Poster campaign and database mailout.

Fémina channels blissed out, harmony-soaked soul music with a purpose. Lyrically poignant with hip hop and Latin influences, 'Perlas & Conchas' is the group's third album proper and unlike previous long players, is primarily an electronic statement, recorded and produced by British producer and musician Quantic - the first ever creation at his Selva Studios in New York - and features Iggy Pop.
 
Made up of Clara Miglioli and the two Trucco sisters, Sofia and Clara, the group's roots are in San Martín de los Andes in the Patagonian mountains, where they grew up together sharing a love of '90s hip-hop imported from the US - as well as the occasional Spanish-speaking rapper from Mexico or Spain. They took a musical side-step when Clara Trucco joined, and began drawing more from vocal harmonies and playing live instruments - a process that led them toward their unique style: a combination of soul, hip-hop and traditional Latin American music.
 The title 'Perlas & Conchas' translates to 'Pearls and Shells', a reference to the process through which a pearl is created: a speck of dirt, encased in a shell, turned into an object of wonder. They want to do the same thing with their music: to take dark, difficult situations and tun them into positivity.

By popular demand, Analog Africa is repressing a high quality LTD edition of 1000 copies of Rob's first legendary 'Funky Rob way' album - comes in a gatefold cover and a 60x30cm poster !

Rob "Roy" Raindorf, born on the 13th of May 1949 in Accra, is definitely one of the most enigmatic artists to come out of Ghana. He appeared from nowhere with a unique and twisted sound. An admirer of American artists Otis Reading, James Brown, Wilson Pickett and Ray Charles, Rob began his trade by learning the piano at a music school in Cotonou, Benin. One off pressing - tip!!

When his education ended, he ventured out to make what money he could by getting gigs with the movers and shakers of the Beninese music scene, namely Orchestre Poly-Rythmo as well as the Black Santiagos. Absorbing and learning the intricacies of music composition, Rob returned to Ghana where he began to write his own songs and eventually sought the backing of a band, specifically one which possessed horns.

In 1977, a young Rob travelled to the city of Takoradi in western Ghana to approach an army band named Mag-2 whom he had seen perform in Accra. Mag-2 had an entire section of its ensemble dedicated to horns and some of the sophisticated music equipment available in Ghana at the time - Hofner guitars, Yamaha keyboards and the like.

Belonging to the "magnificient" second battalion of the Takoradi-based army unit, original founder Amponsah Rockson decided to aptly name the band "Mag-2." Joining the army during the 1970s was often an easy decision, particularly for musicians, since the army provided not only good music equipment but basic services such as food and medical care.

Mag-2 was essentially filled with the best elements of "The Parrots," a highlife band in which Amponsah was the lead guitarist. Their primary task was to entertain soldiers and with the army tour bus, perform from town to town as well as in reputable venues in the captial. Enticed by the style of music Rob had proposed, Mag-2 backed the Ghanaian sensation on two of his most astonishing records - his first and second albums -"Funky Rob Way" and "Make it Fast, Make it Slow," both of which were recorded at Essiebons studios in Accra.

Despite Rob's training and musical education, Amponsah was responsible for the vast majority of the compositions, such as building the chord progression and arranging the horns that Rob craved. Rob would even wait for the Mag-2 maestro's cue to begin singing. Despite early successes, a once-unflinching interest in Afrobeat began to wane by the early 1980s and Disco Boogie rapidly became the vogue style around which label owners and music producers sought to capitalize upon. The style Rob had shaped his career around was in decline and an adequate income consequently became a major concern, forcing him to travel to Hamburg, Germany in search of a financial backer.

Formed in Los Angeles in 2013, Andy Frasco & the U.N. consists of Frasco (lead vocals, piano), Andee Avila (drums), Shawn Eckels (Guitar), Ernie Chang (Saxophone), and Chris Lorentz (Bass). Their sound has been described as 'rock fueled by reckless abandonment and a disregard for the rules.'

To date, Andy Frasco & the U.N. has released a number of studio albums including Half a Man (2014), and Happy Bastards (2016). Last year, they released their first live album (CD and DVD) entitled "Songs From The Road" which was recorded in August 2016 at the Tucher Blues and Jazz Festival in Bamberg, Germany.

Formed in Los Angeles in 2013, Andy Frasco & the U.N. consists of Frasco (lead vocals, piano), Andee Avila (drums), Shawn Eckels (Guitar), Ernie Chang (Saxophone), and Chris Lorentz (Bass). Their sound has been described as 'rock fueled by reckless abandonment and a disregard for the rules.'

To date, Andy Frasco & the U.N. has released a number of studio albums including Half a Man (2014), and Happy Bastards (2016). Last year, they released their first live album (CD and DVD) entitled "Songs From The Road" which was recorded in August 2016 at the Tucher Blues and Jazz Festival in Bamberg, Germany.

Du Blonde may sound like a band, but in fact it is, and always has been, the work of just one person. Beth Jeans Houghton.Her new album Lung Bread For Daddy delves even deeper into self sufficiency, seeing Beth take the reigns on production, instrumentation, album artwork and direction of music videos. This project is entirely her own. 'I know exactly what I want my record to sound like and apart from drums, I have the ability to play all the instruments, so I did' Houghton states.True to form, the first peak of the new album is the self directed video (Houghton has also made videos for Ezra Furman, Red Hot Chilli Peppers and LUMP) for lead single 'Buddy' which also stars a bathtub, 3 bottles of vegetable oil and 37 packets of spaghetti.

Du Blonde may sound like a band, but in fact it is, and always has been, the work of just one person. Beth Jeans Houghton.Her new album Lung Bread For Daddy delves even deeper into self sufficiency, seeing Beth take the reigns on production, instrumentation, album artwork and direction of music videos. This project is entirely her own. 'I know exactly what I want my record to sound like and apart from drums, I have the ability to play all the instruments, so I did' Houghton states.True to form, the first peak of the new album is the self directed video (Houghton has also made videos for Ezra Furman, Red Hot Chilli Peppers and LUMP) for lead single 'Buddy' which also stars a bathtub, 3 bottles of vegetable oil and 37 packets of spaghetti.