Pop & Rock News

Building off the sultry electronic art-pop blueprint of her acclaimed 2013 debut 'Everlast', Perera Elsewhere returns with her sonically adventurous, dystopian second full-length 'All Of This'.

Apostille is a man who's torn through enough sound-systems to know the difference between gesture and meaning. Alongside running his own acclaimed DIY record label NIGHT SCHOOL RECORDS , Glasgow native, Michael Kasparis has spent the last few years making forays into the realm of hardcore punk with his groups Anxiety and The Lowest Form.
Throughout all this, his solo electronic venture, Apostille has continued to evolve with each twist and turn of the world. What started off as a quest to whip up a mood and force that into a song has steadily become more of a mission in communication.
His audacious 2015 debut album 'Powerless'  self-released through Night School set the template by hooking up his honest delivery to some manic expositions in electronic pop. At once minimal and courageous with intent to connect, Apostille songs race off with unchecked abandon, skittering drum machines, thick walls of sequenced synth and decidedly elastic basslines. The resultant live shows, noted for their frenzy and ragged vision, soon left Kasparis wanting to reach out in a more imaginative way than through volume and conflict

'Choose Life' is both the album Apostille chose to make and had to make. He dialled down the clown, built up a new-found confidence in his voice and melody in general and began to feel more at home in the refuge of pop music (with a capital P). As Kasparis explains 'Choose Life began as a chronicle of a bad time. Many of the songs were written as some sort of catharsis, an escape from a tumultuous couple of years. The album title was intended as ironic at first but as the writing process went on the album began to feel more playful, I was finding revelatory threads in it I hadn't intended. Choose Life became an imperative.' All the truest pop music speaks to us of escape and through this new album Apostille allows its transformative power to fully manifest. It's an album full of life and energy, as disobedient as it is heroic in its pursuit of liberation.Recorded with Lewis Cook (of Happy Meals, The Cosmic Dead) at his home studio Full Ashram, 'Choose Life' came together in serial fashion through 2017 with Kasparis calling in when each new song was ready to commit to tape. Cook in turn engineered the recordings and in some instances helped produce the material. The subsequent final mixes were then mastered by Mikey Young in early 2018. 'Fly With The Dolphin' opens the album like a cork rocketing from a bottle, dashing to the horizon with a rampant beat, synth pop throttle and acidic edge. Kasparis implores us to swim, walk, drive and fly away, even resorting to pressing the ejector seat on everything he wants to leave behind. Melody and purpose is pushed to the fore, backed to the hilt by some brutish rhythmic production. 'Feel Bad' is similarly equipped, with Kasparis sounding more himself than ever. Nothing is cloaked in reverb, obscured or distorted, this is Apostille in the broad daylight, ambitious, open-armed and vulnerable. 'If there's something I know, it's that I'll see you again, I'm losing everything I know, I would walk into the ocean just to give you a rest' confesses Kasparis in his sleek setting of glossy drum programming and buoyant refrains in the melancholic key. This is pop music as redemption, the drawing of a line, songs that step anew unto the dawn.In parallel to this emergent resolution there's also an acknowledgement of dissonance and 'black-sky thinking' employed in many of the tracks, including 'The Mordant', 'Without Me' and 'In Control', that turn a cracked mirror back onto Kasparis. The effect is often nightmarish and threatens to overwhelm, yet as the songs advance a certain deadpan humour leaks through the exaggeration leaving the punch cushioned. 'Thirteen Minutes' relies on a similar transgressive approach, 'let the bomb drop' demands Kasparis, daring the worst whilst triggering the countdown. The electronic hand claps sting, the bassline continues mercilessly ever forward. Kasparis is using the song to make himself uncomfortable. This is fight or flight made sound, it's forcing us all to make that jump. It dares to test extremes of emotion until they become caricatures and lose their power to constrain. Kasparis affirms this further with his realisation upon completing the record that he used the experience 'to grab life by the throat', having wanted to transcribe in music that stupor that comes with feeling too much. 'I wanted to write a song that sounded like you were full but hadn't had enough, so 'Choose Life' is eight of them' admits Kasparis. This act of always becoming, never arriving is at the heart of Apostille, the project only exists in a state of flux, mutable and moving in both senses of the word.

Recorded with his band in Manchester at Marr's Crazy Face studios, 'Call The Comet' is the third solo record from the Smiths guitarist and follows 2013's critically acclaimed The Messenger and 2014's Playland, both of which made the UK top 10. Call The Comet is set in the not-too-distant future' says Marr, and is mostly concerned with the idea of an alternative society. It's my own magic realism.' Songs include Actor Attractor, Walk Into The Sea, Bug, and recent live favourite Spiral Cities. The characters in the songs are searching for a new idealism, although there are some personal songs in there too. It's something that people like me can relate to.' Says Marr.

Recorded with his band in Manchester at Marr's Crazy Face studios, 'Call The Comet' is the third solo record from the Smiths guitarist and follows 2013's critically acclaimed The Messenger and 2014's Playland, both of which made the UK top 10. Call The Comet is set in the not-too-distant future' says Marr, and is mostly concerned with the idea of an alternative society. It's my own magic realism.' Songs include Actor Attractor, Walk Into The Sea, Bug, and recent live favourite Spiral Cities. The characters in the songs are searching for a new idealism, although there are some personal songs in there too. It's something that people like me can relate to.' Says Marr.

- Audiophiles 180g Vinyl
- Inkl. Einleger
- Inkl. der 5 Singles: Superman's Dead, Clumsy, Automatic Flowers, Carnival & 4am
- Limitierte Erstauflage von 500 nummerierten LPs auf WHITE/BLACK MARBLED Vinyl!

Clumsy ist das zweite und mit über 2 Millionen verkauften Tonträgern gleichzeitig das erfolgreichste Studio-Album der kanadischen Alternative-Rockband Our Lady Peace. Die
Veröffentlichung dieses mit Spannung erwarteten Albums fand in der zweiten Hälfte der 90er Jahre statt, als der Alternative-Rock die wichtigsten Elemente des Grunge-Sounds für sich in Anspruch nahm. Dieses Follow-Up Album zum Debüt Naveed von 1994 konzentriert sich inhaltlich auf die In-Live-Erfahrungen sowie die persönlichen Ziele und Ansichten der Band.
Our Lady Peace werden als eine der erfolgreichsten Bands Kanadas für ihren einzigartigen Sound und ihre verschiedenen musikalischen Ansätze bis heute gefeiert. Nach 25 Jahren ist die Band immer noch aktiv, so dass die Rock'n'Roll Show auch nach den vielen Auszeichnungen, die sie im Laufe ihrer Karriere bekommen hat (darunter 4 Juno's und 10 Much-Music Video-Auszeichnungen) weiter geht.
Clumsy ist als limitierte Auflage von 500 nummerierten LPs auf weiß/schwarz marmoriertem Vinyl erhältlich.

* Still Circles announce the release of their debut album, 27:36, available March 30th via Killtone Records.

* Currently at 7 in the chart on the Josh Hannen show Amazing Radio

* Session for Alan Raw BBC Introducing on Sat March 3rd 2018

* Comprised of Natalie Kolowiecki and Jack Donnison, the Bradford based duo bridge the worlds of trip-hop and ambient music: splicing slo-mo beats, grainy atmospherics, haunting melodies and soft-wax drones. Their first single, 'Only Noise' is testament to this - with its manipulated vocals, heavy bass line and lurching percussion, the track's stark surrealism evokes the thrum of their northern English town.

* Upon the surface, 27:36 has the indelible markings of the band's influences: Brian Eno, Poliça, Adrian Sherwood (to name a few) - but the duo never settle into pure pastiche. Instead, they contort the sounds of these artists into something all their own. 27:36 is an alien vision of what pop music could be.

Hear Nothing, See Nothing, Say Nothing, the debut album from Discharge originally released in 1982, is widely considered to be a defining statement of hardcore and punk in general. Coming on the back of several well recieved EP's and singles, with this album Discharge laid down the blueprint for a new sound in punk rock. The songs are short, played at a constant high speed, abrasive and minimalist. Riffs were a near constant wall of ferocious strumming, aided by a constant, monotonous percussion that would become quickly known as 'D-beat'. Lyrically Discharge were leftist in nature, dealing with anarchist and pacifist morals that, when coupled with Cold War era fear, created nihilistic and alienating themes. Discharge were true originals on the punk scene who are now credited with helping to the shape the sound of everything from thrash metal to crust punk and grindcore. Another 80s UK punk classic reissued on Radiation!

Confidence Man, das Pop-Quartett aus Brisbane, Australien schickt sich weiter an, in diesem Jahr der heißeste Export aus Down Under zu werden. Nicht umsonst bennent triple j die Band schon als "the best up-and-coming live band in Australia". Seit fast einem Jahr bringt die australische Band fantastische Videos raus, lässt sich remixen oder remixt selbst. Einen Namen haben sie sich aber vorallem mit ihren Live-Shows gemacht! Nun ist es endlich soweit, die elf Songs des Debütalbum Confident Music For Confident People erscheinen am 13. April 2018 auf Heavenly Recordings.

Incubus carved their own musical niche and earned a huge following by tireless touring and releasing ever-improving quality albums.
A Crow Left Of The Murder came out in 2004, and hit the album charts at number two. The album was produced by Brendan O’Brien, who’s known for his Pearl Jam production work. O’Brien shaped an album that Incubus needed in this stage of their development: crisp and clean, but still heavy enough to allow for an effective variation between heavy riffing and fine acoustics.

A Crow Left Of The Murder is available as a limited edition of 2000 numbered copies on transparent red coloured vinyl.

Renowned for their trademark indie guitar sound and distinctive Celtic tinged lilting vocal style, The Cranberries rise to global fame in the early-90s was nothing short of meteoric. Home to the omnipresent singles "Linger" and "Dreams," their 1993 debut album Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We sold over 5 million copies in the U.S. alone and was No. 1 in several territories across the globe including the U.K. It re-entered the UK album charts in 1994 at No. 1, with The Cranberries being one of only four performers ever to achieve this major feat. First widely available vinyl release after being out of print on vinyl for over 24 years. Cut from the original stereo tapes by Sean Magee at Abbey Road Studios. 180g LP plated and pressed at QRP. Housed in a Stoughton old style tip-on gatefold jacket.

No band captures the DIY punk ethos better than The Mekons. As one critic wrote of the group, "Those who couldn't play tried to learn and those who could tried to forget."Their debut EP first appeared on Fast Product in 1978, featuring the collective's original six-piece lineup and delivering three startlingly original songs - "Never Been In A Riot," "32 Weeks" and "Heart And Soul" - that never appeared on any of their albums. Like fellow Leeds misfits Gang of Four and Delta 5, The Mekons form a rowdy and illuminating piece of the UK post-punk puzzle, fusing everyday political concerns with a no-holds-barred approach to performance.This first-time vinyl reissue comes with the original sleeve design. Limited edition clear vinyl.

RSD 2018, ltd. edition incl. Flexi Disc (2 tracks), incl. mp3

The Feelies percussionist, Dave Weckerman, takes center stage as the primary singer / songwriter for Yung Wu, a 1987 Feelies side project that includes all of the Good Earth era members plus John Baumgartner, keyboardist for The Trypes and Speed the Plough. Shore Leave leans towards more acoustic guitars and simplified drumming that trades the Feelies' neurotic intensity for a more pop gentleness.

Produced by Glenn Mercer and Bill Million and originally released on Coyote Records, it was largely overlooked at the time but is considered among Feelies enthusiasts to be an important part of their discography. Shore Leave is a minor classic of 80s jangle pop ripe for rediscovery.

Limited edition LP + Flexi Disc contains 1980 Dave Weckerman single with the original version of the title track "Shore Leave" along with a rare b-side "Out of Baby's Reach".

- 180 GRAM AUDIOPHILE VINYL
- INCLUDES INSERT
- FIRST TIME ON VINYL
- LIMITED EDITION OF 1000 NUMBERED COPIES ON SILVER VINYL

The in 1994 formed music act Amen combines elements of punk, heavy metal and hardcore in their ongoing rock riffs. Their self-titled second album is a collection of punk-metal songs with uncompromising lyrics on serious topics. In comparison to the 1994 debut album Slave the sound is less heavy and leans towards nu-metal. The rawness is to be found in the intensity of the songs, like the crushing finale of Resignation / Naked and Violent' and the galloping drums of the title track Coma America'. All the aggression they put in their music is both audible in their harsh and expressive songs and the more on punk pop focused songs.


The album is available as a limited edition of 1000 numbered copies and will be released on silver vinyl.

- 180 GRAM AUDIOPHILE VINYL
- INCLUDES INSERT WITH SONG LYRICS AND CREDITS
- FIRST TIME ON VINYL
- LIMITED FIRST PRESSING OF 1.000 INDIVIDUALLY NUMBERED COPIES ON GREEN VINYL

Hoobastank is an alternative 4-piece rock band from California (USA), formed in 1994 and the three remaining original members are still performing, recording and touring to this day. Their self-titled certified platinum debut album was released in November 2001 and the first single Crawling In The Dark' was a breakthrough hit. The youthful enthusiasm is hearable in the modern rock songs of the album. The second single Running Away' reached No. 44 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 2 on The Modern Rock chart. Hoobastank toured internationally in support of their LP and gained a huge following in Europe and Asia. They sold over 10 million albums and recorded their iconic smash hit The Reason'.


Hoobastank is now available for the first time on vinyl, exclusively mastered for vinyl, pressed on 1.000 individually numbered copies on green vinyl and includes an insert with song lyrics.

- Legendary performance at the Paramount Theater, Seattle
- Includes the entire KNOD-FM broadcast
- Digitally remastered for enhanced sound quality
- Background liners and rare images
- Strictly limited to 2000 copies
- 3-sided, White Coloured Vinyl with Etched Fourth Side

Nirvana, live at the Paramount Theater, Seattle on October 31st 1991.

A month after the release of Nevermind, Nirvana returned to their hometown to perform this thunderously energetic set at the Paramount Theater on Halloween in 1991. Capturing them at the peak of their early power, just before they became superstars, it features remarkable performances of tracks from Bleach and Nevermind, as well as an early, slow rendition of Rape Me. This legendary set, originally broadcast on KNOD-FM is presented here in full, together with background notes and images.

Das erste Album von Chris Carter seit 17 Jahren! Als Gründungsmitglied von Throbbing Gristle - gemeinsam mit Cosey Fanni Tutti, Peter 'Sleazy' Christopherson und Genesis Breyer P-Orridge -, spielte Chris Carter eine signifikante Rolle in der Entstehung elektronischer Musik, eine Reise, die Carter als Teil von Chris & Cosey und Carter Tutti respektive Carter Tutti Void und in seinen Soloarbeiten bis heute fortsetzt. Die Verknüpfung von traditioneller Musik und Elektronik sind jene Momente, die die Musik von CCCL Volume 1 an das Schaffen von Throbbing Gristle rückbinden.

The Psychos are back, mate!
Australia's most legit export since Crocodile Dundee have announced the release of their eleventh studio album, 'Loudmouth Soup'
out APRIL 2018 on GO THE HACK Records for Australia and SUBWAY Records for the rest of the World!!! WATCH OUT!!!
Australia's most legit export since Crocodile Dundee have announced the release of their eleventh studio album, 'Loudmouth Soup' .
They've also got a ripper new vid for your eyes to devour in the form of'Feeling Average'. And frankly, after singing about beers for more than solid three decades, it's no surprise that the Psychos have finally delivered a song about the hangover from hell. You can get a glimpse of this tribute to the big spit below.

The Psychos are back, mate!
Australia's most legit export since Crocodile Dundee have announced the release of their eleventh studio album, 'Loudmouth Soup'
out APRIL 2018 on GO THE HACK Records for Australia and SUBWAY Records for the rest of the World!!! WATCH OUT!!!
Australia's most legit export since Crocodile Dundee have announced the release of their eleventh studio album, 'Loudmouth Soup' .
They've also got a ripper new vid for your eyes to devour in the form of'Feeling Average'. And frankly, after singing about beers for more than solid three decades, it's no surprise that the Psychos have finally delivered a song about the hangover from hell. You can get a glimpse of this tribute to the big spit below.

Sorcerer Records is proud to announce the first ever vinyl edition of this long-out-ofprint classic from 1995, originally released on CD by the Dog Meat label. Tendrils sees Joel (Hoss, GOD, Melonman, Dark Horses, etc.) and Charlie (New Christs, Beasts Of Bourbon, Tex, Don & Charlie) engaging in a series of intimate, loose and downbeat folky duets.
With sonic similarities to the likes of Richard Thompson (there's a mind-melting cover of his Night Comes In' track here, too) and John Martyn, as well as more contemporary troubadours such as Ben Chasny (Six Organs Of Admittance) and Steve Gunn, Tendrils often feels like it's on the verge of musical collapse, but pulls itself together with delicate and intricate guitar work, gentle vocals and occasional percussion lending it a steady pulse.
The duo released one more CD, this one under the Tendrils moniker, in 1998 on the Half A Cow label, before parting ways. We think this is a very special release which deserves a new appreciation and a 21st-century audience. Both Joel and Charlie are still very active in music (Joel's other band, Hoss, will be releasing their first album in 20 years on Sorcerer in 2018), but with Tendrils you get to hear the magic they made together circa 1995.
This edition comes newly remastered by Mikey Young with fresh artwork design from Luke Fraser and is limited to 500 copies worldwide.

Producer/singer/songwriter Neko Case has won a large and loyal audience for her smoky, sophisticated vocals and the downcast beauty of her music. Now more than 23 years into her musical calling, Case is the consummate career artist--fearless and versatile, with a fierce work ethic and a constant drive to search deeper within herself for creative growth. On June 1st, Anti- will release Neko Case's 'Hell On,' an indelible collection of colorful, enigmatic storytelling that features some of her most daring, through-composed arrangements to date. Produced by Neko with help from Bjorn Yttling (Peter Bjorn & John), 'Hell On' is simultaneously the most accessible and most challenging album in a rich and varied career that's offered plenty of both. Rife with withering self-critique, muted reflection, anthemic affirmation, and her unique poetic sensibility, the 12 tracks of 'Hell On' — which features collaborations such as Joey Burns, Beth Ditto, Kelly Hogan, KD Lang, AC Newman, Paul Rigby, Laura Veirs, and more.

No Need To Argue' is the sophomore effort by Irish group The Cranberries that was originally released in 1994. Propelled by the hit song Zombie' about the Irish conflict, the album was a worldwide smash and helped make the band one of the biggest of the 90s. With a more mature approach to songs and subject matter the album features many highlights including "Ode To My Family", "Yeats' Grave" and "Ridiculous Thoughts" with a more lively rock sound than their much mellower debut album. Limited edition of 1,500 copies on clear & pink vinyl in a gatefold cover with printed inner sleeve that includes the lyrics.

Somewhere between utopia and dystopia The Longcut have constructed their own monolithic world. Impossible to place but undoubtedly familiar, on their new record Arrows, Manchester's sonic architects have carved out their own Upside Down within the crevices of the North, sublimely sweet, bittersweet and bleak, where concrete blockades loom large, but songbirds emerge from clouds overhead.

Much of Arrows was born out of frustration with the whole process,' reveals the band's vocalist and drummer, Stuart Ogilvie of the album's brutal leanings. Like even when you know good things are happening in your life, other situations can get you down. That balance or imbalance is felt by everyone so hopefully people can hear this journey and relate.'

7 years in the works but much less time in the making, several cuts of each song and two versions of the album later, Arrows embodies aggravation. Sliced, diced and layered up again for the 21st Century, Arrows shows strength from struggle through its stark contrasts, We were going to call it 'Monuments' because of this process of chipping away and adding things,' tells bassist, Jon Fearon. Eventually we settled on 'Arrows', it'd be easy to read too much into it but really, it's about people. 'Arrows' was also the track that pushed us to finish the record, even when it was tough.'

Chiselled from chopped up loops, original demos, welding together long improvisations then building, re-recording and fine-tuning, Arrows captures many moments in time. Not least, the whisky-fuelled home recording sessions where kitchen shelves were rearranged to re-amp bass parts at full volume and bedrooms were transformed into control rooms strewn with amps and microphones. It may have taken its time, but throughout the record's walls of sound, tortured beauty lies within, You can go from nothing to something very quickly when you eventually get going,' says guitarist, Lee Gale.

Behemoth of a lead single 'Deathmask' is the perfect case in point. Energetic, menacing and mesmerising, the words came together very quickly. I was walking home in a pretty shitty mood and this really ominous weather front came over,' recalls Stuart. The sky went dark and there was this static electric feeling in the air, powerful and foreboding. That's where the line Under the gathering sulphur' comes from. It got me thinking about escapism, not to some sunny uplands, but to a place where the natural order was breaking down too.'

Weaving in and out of apocalyptic swells of visceral white noise and razor-sharp riffs from guitar strings sawn with a drum-stick, as Stuart proclaims on 'Kroqd' Ashes are falling from the sky and I'll keep singing,' the tour de force of the record is in the astute voyeurism of the lyrics. It's taken time to write because so much has happened,' he hints. Reflecting life and what happens to people rather than dwell in self-deprecating misery... I try to take my feelings of those and abstract them, it's that idea of something ongoing being constantly re-evaluated, which can account for a lot of the record's ambiguities and contradictions.'

Elsewhere the trio's hefty homage to the basslines of beatmakers J Dilla and Flying Lotus' 'LTWXRMX' which samples the 1950s IBM advert soundbites of Raymond Scott's track 'Lightworks' also threw up a few creative demons. We had this mad loop of Scott's stuff for 'Punches', all these arpeggiated sounds before realising we had to completely re-do the track because those samples were copyrighted,' tells Jon. Clearly no artistic endeavour will go unpunished.'

Whilst previous albums A Call and Response (2006) Open Hearts (2009), and 7-track EP Broken Hearts (2010) were formulaic in structure, Arrows was formed from the rolling approach of no clearly-defined beginning, middle or end. Through its single-word titles which stack upon each other like steel girders, order is brought to the recordings, mixed by studio boffin and The Earlies live guitarist/multi-instrumentalist Tom Knott, who provided 'Popic's live brass sounds. He transformed our sprawling recordings into a coherent whole and his contribution is one of our favourite parts,' Jon says. Meanwhile on the sleeve, Arrows takes its shape with angular artwork created by long-time artistic collaborator Liam Palmer.

Raw, brutal, pounding the senses and always from the heart, The Longcut are ready to launch Arrows into 2018's bleak and beautiful horizon.

A Certain Ratio aus Manchester repräsentieren nachgerade beispielhaft die Ästhetik und Kultur der Postpunk-Explosion der späten Siebziger - Mute schickt sich nun an, den Katalog der Band in einer mindestens länger währenden Veröffentlichungsoffensive erneut verfügbar zu machen- die Reissues sind Teil der bereits laufenden Zusammenarbeit zwischen der Band und Mute, die ihren Anfang mit The Graveyard And The Ballroom, To Each und Force im letzten Jahr genommen hatte.