Pop & Rock News

Joss Stone has revealed details of her first album release in almost three years, Water For Your Soul. The LP - Stone's seventh studio release - is set for UK release on July 17 via Stone'd Records.

His second record as 'Michael Head and the Red Elastic Band' has just been released on his own label, Violette - 'Velvets in the Dark' 7 inch single. Shack's 1990 single 'I Know You Well' opens 'Perfect Motion', Jon Savage's 2LP compilation as 'a musical return-trip to these fondly remembered years spanning 1988-93'.

Plus, Megaphone is set to reissue 'The Magical World of The Strands' in its original form, with the addition of a 20-page booklet, including new liner notes by Michael Head himself and photographs testifying to the album's sleeve work-in-progress.

The CD version will come with 2 bonus tracks - the B-Sides to the 1998 NME and Melody Maker Single Of The Week 'Somethin' Like You'. 'Green Velvet Jacket' is an acoustic solo piece by Michael Head. And Queen Matilda (demo) was recorded in early 1993 and produced by the band's friend and live engineer Ian Eastwood on a 4-track Tascam cassette recorder.

Alongside the reissue comes 'The Olde World', an exclusive new album of recordings from the same sessions.

Last but not least, Michael plans his first gigs as 'Michael Head & The Strands' promising to play his classic album 'The Magical World of The Strands' in full.

His second record as 'Michael Head and the Red Elastic Band' has just been released on his own label, Violette - 'Velvets in the Dark' 7 inch single. Shack's 1990 single 'I Know You Well' opens 'Perfect Motion', Jon Savage's 2LP compilation as 'a musical return-trip to these fondly remembered years spanning 1988-93'.

Originally slated for release on the Spinney label after they rescued the '..Diamond Day' album, 'Some Things Just Stick In Your Mind - Singles and demos 1964 - 1967' will now be re-issued by Branch Music on June 26th.

Following the amazing success story of Vashti Bunyan's re-emergence as an artist after an exile of over 30 years, we are proud and excited to re-issue 'Some Things Just Stick In Your Mind', a comprehensive compilation of early recordings dating from the period prior to Vashti's classic 'Just another Diamond Day' album which was originally released1970.

A complete collection of Vashti's existing early recordings, the album is divided across two discs and features 25 tracks - mostly rescued from a number of old acetates and quarter-inch tapes Vashti's brother John had found in his attic a few years ago.

The first disc gathers together the early singles (two of which were unreleased) and a set of taped demos recorded between 1965-67. Discovered by Rolling Stones manager/guru Andrew Loog Oldham, who gave her a Jagger/Richards song, ('Some Things...') Vashti was put in the studio to record the song accompanied by a full orchestra. The B side was her own 'I Want To Be Alone' and released as her debut single on the Decca label in May 1965. Despite a whirlwind of promotion, the single flopped and Vashti left to pursue more pared-down ambitions, recording 'Train Song'/'Love Song' for Columbia, with just voice, guitar and cello. Again foundering with no publicity upon its release in June 1966, Vashti left again, this time returning to Andrew Oldham and the Immediate label he had just started. She recorded three more singles ('Winter Is Blue' / 'Coldest Night Of The Year' / 'I'd Like To Walk Around In Your Mind') between 1966 - 1967, yet each again remained frustratingly unreleased, leading to Vashti's disenchantment with the industry and disappearance, bound for the Isle of Skye and a colourful if obscure existence in which she would not pick up a guitar again for over 30 years.

Deliberately separated off from this first disc the second disc comprises the entire, unaltered contents of a long-forgotten tape discovered at the last minute before mastering, whilst Vashti was searching for one of the master reels for disc one. Featuring just Vashti's voice and guitar, unadorned and with no overdubs, the twelve songs here were rattled out one after another with spoken introduction in one hour of time she'd borrowed the money for and booked at a studio in central London in 1964. Four of these songs were then run out to a 7' acetate (since lost/destroyed) which would serve as her demo. These were the first recordings Vashti had ever made of the songs she had written aged eighteen and nineteen. Considering they sat gathering dust in a shed and then in an attic for nearly forty years, the tapes are amazingly well preserved, and after baking reveal a stunning set of raw, pure, intimate recordings. At times it almost feels like you're in the room with her; that these are songs sung for your ears alone.

Originally slated for release on the Spinney label after they rescued the '..Diamond Day' album, 'Some Things Just Stick In Your Mind - Singles and demos 1964 - 1967' will now be re-issued by Branch on June 26th.


Tracklisting:

CD1 - early singles / demos
1. Some Things Just Stick In Your Mind - Decca single, 1965.
2. I Want To Be Alone - Decca single, 1965.
3. Train Song - Columbia single, 1966.
4. Love Song - Columbia single, 1966.
5. Winter is Blue - unreleased single, 1966.
6. Coldest Night Of The Year - unreleased single as 'Twice As Much and Vashti', 1966.
7 I'd Like To Walk Around In Your Mind - unreleased single, 1967.
8. Winter Is Blue - Acetate demo, 1966.
9. Girl's Song in Winter - John Bunyan's tape, 1966.
10. If In Winter (100 Lovers) - John Bunyan's tape with Mike Crowther, 1966.
11. Wishwanderer - Restored acetate demo 1967.
12. Don't Believe - John Bunyan's tape 1966.
13. 17 Pink Sugar Elephants - John Bunyan's tape 1966.

CD2 - 1964 demo tape
1. Autumn Leaves
2. Leave Me
3. If In Winter (100 Lovers)
4. How Do I Know
5. Find My Heart Again
6. Go Before The Dawn
7. Girl's Song In Winter
8. I Don't Know What Love Is
9. Don't Believe What They Say
10. Love You Now
11. I Know
12. Someday

First new album in 4 years. One of the true pioneers of modern electronic music. Features guest collaborations with Sam Dew (Wale, Roc Nation,Jessie Ware), Rob Crow (Pinback), Milo & Busdriver (Hellfyre Club), Helado Negro. It has been 4 years since Guillermo S. Herren released anything significant from his most famous and respected moniker, Prefuse 73 (though he has certainly kept busy with live shows, collaborations, and remixes). That's a long time for virtually any artist, but it's an eternity for Herren, whose first three Prefuse 73 albums dropped in the span of under 4 years. As if to make up for lost time, 2015 will see the release of not one, but 3 major works from Prefuse 73. After several albums that saw Herren progressively drift away from the beatmaking prowess that made him synonymous with emotionally resonant, damaged hip-hop, he's found himself reinvigorated. Rivington Não Rio revels in the kind of compassionate complexity that marks Prefuse 73's greatest works, with a profound new element added to the mix: Patience. Herren's ability to marry the manic to the melodic has always been uncanny, but here it feels downright magical as the songs inhale with his trademark sense of urgency... then exhale in longer, more revealing breaths. The prismatic textures that have long been a staple of Prefuse 73 are bound to beats and melodies with the spirit of hip-hop and the subtlety of modern minimalism. The album's guests treat the material with a hushed respect: Roc Nation songwriter and Jessie Ware collaborator Sam Dew turns "Infrared" into a sublimely soulful, dimly-lit portrait of inverted R&B, Milo & Busdriver's vicious, rapid-fire verses contrast a pastoral downbeat to brilliant effect, and elsewhere, Pinback's Rob Crow and Latin electronic-folk crooner Helado Negro navigate splintered tropics with passive grace. As a stand-alone album, Rivington Não Rio ranks extraordinarily high in the Prefuse 73 canon. As a centerpiece to an epic triptych that includes the Forsyth Gardens and Every Color of Darkness EPs, it's a new peak from a pioneer who appears to only just now be hitting his prime. For an artist who has played an undeniably integral role in the careers of so many influential artists, it's not just refreshing to hear him return to top form... it's revelatory.

Jamaica's national motto, 'Out Of Many One People', could well be applied to the music that shaped the island's national sound, with modern reggae the result of many different musical forms being brought together to form a wonderfully unique 'one'. Fantastic Voyage's highly popular Sound System Classics series has already celebrated the American jump blues favoured at Jamaican dances in the pre-ska era, but contrary to widespread belief, US rhythm & blues and the indigenous style of mento were not the only types of music enjoyed across the island prior to the development of Shuffle Blues and Ska. In fact, the diversity of sounds that exerted a direct influence on popular Jamaican music throughout the 20th Century is astonishing, taking in gospel, blues, jazz, vocal groups, country, pop, film music and exotica, hailing from Cuba, Puerto Rico, Southern Africa and the British Isles, as well as America. Now the full extent of these influences is demonstrated by Out Of Many, One Music! which features original or key versions of songs that have played a significant role in shaping the development of Jamaican music.

But of course the small West Indian island has not just taken from others musically - as through its pioneering use of talk-over DJs and stripped down 'version' rhythm tracks it has been key to the development of the now globally dominant music form, hip hop. Over the years, the Jamaican music-loving public has demonstrated that it has a keen ear for sweet and sentimental music and that factor is far more important than the musical genus to which any given recording belongs. What becomes apparent from the music featured on this set is the Jamaican talent for reinvention. Rather than simply attempt to copy 'foreign' recordings, as 'do over man songs', performers and musicians have taken elements of the original and changed them into something entirely different.

And to prove this point, as you experience this extremely diverse and satisfying musical journey, consider the Jamaican versions that resulted from these recordings. There is no doubting of course that they provided the original source of inspiration, but the Ska, Rock Steady and Reggae that followed were far from simple, straight-forward covers, as we are sure you will agree. This 2LP vinyl edition features 28 cuts selected from the 81-track 3CD set.

One of the rarest double A-sided singles recorded under the direction of Ernest Ranglin, who was the musical director of Federal Recording Studio at the time. While this jazzy instrumental features superb trumpet and alto saxophone solos, Ernie leads this minor track from the beginning to the end and showcases his mighty guitar playing. On the flipside, remarkable trumpet and alto saxophone solos are again featured on a bright mid-tempo track. The original 7inch format is almost impossible to find. These recordings are simply elegant Ska instrumentals.

Alicia Bay Laurel is well known as the writer and illustrator of one of the classic books of the back-to-the-earth movement, the 1970 Living On The Earth, a hand-written guide to living the good life, but she is also a very accomplished singer, songwriter and guitarist, the latter skill honed by studying with John Fahey.
The songs on Music From Living On The Earth were composed concurrently with the writing of the book, permeated by the
sun and soil of the commune life, bright and earthy paeans to the natural world, featuring ABL's pure, strong and uplifting voice atop her fluid, confident and deft steel-string acoustic guitar fingerpicking, her style showing that she learned well from Fahey. She also collaborated with San
Francisco Tape Music Center co-founder Ramon Sender Barayon, who contributes the 40-voice choral arrangement for the closing track. Although these songs were written as the sixties became the seventies, Music From Living On The Earth was actually recorded in 2000 and first issued as a
self-produced CD, then later issued in Japan on EM Records and is now out of print. This 15th anniversary first-time vinyl version, with new liner notes by the artist as well as English and Japanese lyrics, allows listeners to again
hear ABL's blues, jazz and Indian music influences meld with folk roots to glorious effect.

Limited to 150 ! 12" blue colored vinyl - 2 tracks :

Originally released in 1970 on Polydor, Drosselbart's s/t album is an example of early German heavy psychedelic rock, in a style akin' to early Tomorrow's Gift and The Doors. Expect clever German lyrics in 13 excellent tracks (including 2 bonus tracks), digitally remastered from the original tape and with informative insert.

Compared to the debut, Rufus Zuphall's second album 'Phallobst' (recorded at the famous Dierks-studios in Cologne, 1971) was more polished and had a wider dynamic and instrumental range (mellotron, clavinet, and acoustic guitars were added). It showcases the group members as well-educated musicians playing their own compositions with passion and energy. Digitally remastered from the original tape and with informative insert.

DELUXE REISSUE. The Glass Family released their LP 'Electric Band' in 1968, an acid-, folk- and blues-rock album, with distorted guitars, swirling organ and dirty vocals, that since then has never been reissued until now. Along with a nice remastering of the original LP, this double vinyl package also includes a second disc full of never before heard unreleased tracks from their initial 1968 recording sessions. Standout tracks from the second disc that has a far rawer sound are 'Where'd You Get That Smile' and 'Two x Two' and includes an alternate take of 'House Of Glass'. Within the gatefold packaging of this double LP are unique band photos and a biography of the band's experiences in psychedelic 1960s Southern California. The Glass Family where a part of the 1960s cultural revolution playing gigs and hanging out with people who are now legends. A very relevant release for fans of US '60s psychedelia.

Black Halo the second full-length release from Jon DeRosa, following up 2013's A Wolf In Preacher's Clothes (Rocket Girl). After moving from Brooklyn to Los Angeles in early 2014, DeRosa began frequenting Joshua Tree and other sparsely populated nature destinations in California. His spiritual attraction to and fascination with the solitude and openness of these new landscapes, combined with his penchant for 60's pop songwriting and orchestration, largely inspired the vast "West Coast" sound of Black Halo.
Though the amply bearded, heavily-tattooed DeRosa looks the part of Hells Angel- meets-Source Family member, his striking baritone is more in tune with the Golden Age of crooners, 1950's Nelson Riddle arrangements and 1960's teen love songs. Known for his dreamlike ambient-pop work as Aarktica, DeRosa integrates those signature otherworldly elements into the songs on Black Halo, combining a certain kind of occult mysticism with a refined orchestral sound. His ability to successfully blend such disparate elements is what makes his music so strikingly original and DeRosa such a singular character. But then again, this is the kind of thing that can happen when your past includes studying under minimalist pioneer La Monte Young, making records with Alan Sparhawk of Low, collaborating with Stephin Merritt, and touring Europe with Lydia Lunch.
For the recording of Black Halo DeRosa returned to Brooklyn to work with his musicians and long time collaborator and producer Charles Newman (The Magnetic Fields, Soko, Gospel Music). The two returned to Los Angeles for further tracking and vocals, and to work with multi-instrumentalist Brad Gordon (The Weepies, Dan Wilson) on the orchestral arrangements (Brad also co-wrote "Blood Moon" with DeRosa). The record features vocal contributions from the exquisite Carina Round (Early Winters/Puscifer), as well as the DeRosa/Round co-written duet "Dancing In A Dream." Finally, a most notable collaboration comes in the shape of "When Daddy Took The Treehouse Down," which DeRosa co-wrote with the inimitable Stephin Merritt (The Magnetic Fields).

LP: incl. mp3
Dropout Patrol is one of those bands whose concerts are always interrupted at some point by someone who starts talking at the top of their voice. Why Maybe it's because the music is so quiet, so reserved. Like something from the days when Cat Power was still making Indie rock, Jason Molina was still alive, and Geoff Farina's exceptional band Karate was still in existence. But that makes it sound as if everything was better then, when really, it was rarely ever as good as here and now.

Having previously worked as a songwriter around France, London and Dublin, Mark McCambridge played his first show as ARBORIST in early February 2013, opening for James Yorkston in Belfast. A solo tour of Ireland followed before impressive performances led to notable support slots alongside Low, Cat Power, Mark Mulcahy and Alasdair Roberts. Now based out of Belfast and surrounded by a band of well-travelled musicians, Arborist's music is measured and mature while remaining starkly modern. Centred around McCambridge's soaring vocal and unique lyrical style, it speaks of bleak truths (Leonard Cohen, Bill Callahan, Jason Molina) but delivers them with an assured soulfulness (Sam Cooke, Al Green). Twisted Arrow is their new single and features the unmistakable harmonies of KIM DEAL. Her hushed and plaintive vocal adds weight to a familial tale of detachment and is the perfect counterpoint to McCambridge's sharp delivery. It was recorded during dark winter nights in Belfast and Dayton, Ohio - the latter as the new year arrived - and you can feel it in the lyrical violin and lean, crisp production. Twisted Arrow is released as a limited edition 7" and download on 4th May 2015. The harmony part was always there, from the moment the song was written and recorded here in Belfast. But it needed a unique voice. Fancifully, we drew-up a shortlist of desirable candidates with Kim far and away top of the list. So, we contacted her - as you do - and after a short period of silence she came back in early January saying, in so many words, 'it's done'. It has been this relaxed throughout. "Kim recorded her part on new year's eve in Dayton, Ohio, working through some mild interruptions from a neighbour's party. She liked the song and, through the marvels of the modern world, had been swayed by some shaky footage of an Arborist solo show. "As big fans of the Pixies and the Breeders for many, many years, we're obviously delighted to have Kim involved. Though crucially, the tone of her vocal was exactly what the song needed and it's turned out better than we could have expected.' "This guy's a master songwriter..his muse is an earth-bound one - full of scruffy moments and care-worn emotional truths. His development will be one of the most intriguing story strands of the year." - Colin Carberry, Hot Press Magazine.

Follow-up to critically-acclaimed Melbourne LP (Fat Possum, 2013). Lead single Pacify' debuted on NPR and has been praised by Noisey, NME, DIY, and more. Out of the modern musical abyss comes Jackson Scott, a 22-year-old artist living in Asheville, NC. Finding pure metaphysical euphoria within the depths of cassette recorders and guitar pedals, he enjoys the simple things in life such as playing music with friends and falling into existential voids. After touring extensively in 2013 for his debut album Melbourne, released on Fat Possum Records, Jackson returned home to record an album that he could listen to in absolutely any negative or positive state of mind. His second album Sunshine Redux is a translation of this paradoxical psyche, a kaleidoscope of sounds ranging from 60's flower power to 90's hip-hop production techniques. Veering from nihilistic punk rock explosions to gentle sonic nightmares, it is his most cohesive musical undertaking yet.

Debut solo album from founding member of beloved collage-pop pioneers, The Books. RIYL: The Books, Animal Collective, The Microphones, Akron Family. Paul de Jong is best known as the cofounder, cellist and resident found sound savant of the beloved, defunct collage-pop duo, the Books. Five years after that band delivered their final album, The Way Out, to much acclaim, de Jong delivers his first solo album. IF sets the Books' early albums (particularly The Lemon of Pink) as a starting point, and elevates that beguiling sense of wonder and amazement to genuinely transcendent new heights. De Jong's ability to find the musical in the mundane has always been uncanny - it is part of what made the Books so magical - and that gift is what makes IF such a marvelous curiosity, and such a true pleasure to hear. In de Jong's world, everything around him is a potential instrument: his mind-bogglingly vast collection of forgotten private press regional folk records, spoken-word oddities of indeterminate origin unearthed in discarded thrift store piles, and various everyday household utensils that we tend to take for granted. One man's trash is de Jong's tool to craft yet another treasure. Featuring a handful of friends and family as musical guests, IF steers a course from joyously eccentric folkpop to humorously inside-out jazz, resulting in a refreshing piece of outsider art with a replay value that's off the charts.

Vinyl+MP3. There's an innate stillness and depth to Andy Shauf's music—a quiet, riveting strength that subtly steals its way into a listener's bones. He's a storyteller: a singer of heartbreak and regrets, isolation and loneliness, small-town legends and smaller-town killers. Throughout his forthcoming album The Bearer of Bad News he studies the universal through two to five-minute microcosms, spinning tales as few others can, where accidental, redemptive victories ( Hometown Hero') stir alongside evocative, heartrending tales of self-doubt and lost loves ( I'm Not Falling Asleep'). The Saskatchewan native's tender, singular tenor guides the way over muted instrumentation of softly-strummed guitars, dampened drums, weathered piano, and clarinet, which lends its unique timbre to frequently brighten—or hauntingly underscore—the songs' darker undercurrents. Meticulously written over four years and recorded over one in a makeshift studio set up in his parent's basement, Shauf, whose delivery at times reminds of Elliott Smith or Paul Simon, plays nearly every instrument on The Bearer of Bad News. The album was crafted on his grandfather's timeworn guitar and heavily influenced by the aforementioned—and newly learned—clarinet, which was a Christmas gift from family. In spite of his modest recording set-up, Shauf imbued The Bearer of Bad News with an enduring warmth and redolence that lingers long after the album ends. The Bearer of Bad News may be a sad, introspective album, but Shauf's lyrical poeticism and multidimensional musicality are what sets it apart from others of its ilk. // As one of the most outstanding talents we've heard in quite some time, Canada's Andy Shauf offers up a timeless mix of melody, voice and lyrics that as comfortable as it is impressive. The mature-before-his-years cliche might very well have been invented for Shauf and long-player The Bearer of Bad News engenders the same feelings in us as Fleet Foxes' first record.' - Line Of Best Fit // "Andy's Shauf's acoustic songs made me think of the late Elliott Smith's beautiful music in that they sound intricate and ghostly." - Hue Stephens, NME / BBC Radio 1 // Andy Shauf is the kind of artist that makes you upset it took so long for their music to reach your ears." All Music // Dates : May 12th Coventry - Tin Angel, 13th London - Slaughtered Lamb, 14th Brighton - The Great Escape, 15th Brighton - Audio, 16th Brighton - Great Escape //

LP: incl. mp3
Jason & Theodor are Berlin's Sonja Deffner and Dorothee Leesing. Their first LP is about making music anywhere and with anything: field recordings from Philadelphia public busses, songs crafted in Austrian cabins, recorded and carefully arranged in bedrooms and an abandoned East-Berlin broadcasting complex with electro-acoustic composer and producer Tadklimp of Morr Music's 'Fenster' fame. In a stunning simultaneity of complexity and repetition, all at once chillwave, post-punk's minimalism, Washington-style indie rock, 90s RnB and even IDM come to mind - Jason & Theodor's transgressive aesthetics rely neither on virtuosity nor on sonic brilliance, even though they could clearly claim both. Like the speakers of verlan, they have immersed themselves in the ephemeral grammar of a secret language that operates from within a hegemonic discourse and marks an attitude of subversion - which the gender political dimension implied in their name play also hints at.

'SERGE GAINSBOURG et Le Cinema' is an original compilation featuring legendary tracks from his early productions for the cinema in a precious LP, 45RPM audiophile quality.

Limited edition of 500 copies.

I Am All Your Own is Ahmed's most direct work, with his vocals brought to the fore and unobscured. Written and recorded entirely on 12-string and electric guitars and recorded fully analog for an intimate and homespun atmosphere

Ilyas Ahmed has been a key figure in the international experimental underground for the past decade
Full press campaign being run with early confirmations from Pitchfork and FACT Magazine

Music video for 'Come On' made by filmmaker Paul Clipson (Barn Owl, Jefre Cantu-Ledesma, Tarentel) will be fully serviced Ilyas Ahmed has collaborated with Liz Harris (Grouper) and Golden Retriever

LP edition with two sided insert and download card. Limited supply on red vinyl. Cassette edition on chrome plus tape, free download

On I Am All Your Own, his first album in three years, Ahmed employs strategies gleaned
from experimental and ambient musicians, such as Lawrence English and Fripp & Eno, and applies them to song-based guitar music. Building slowly and purposefully, each individual track adds to the album's overall, scrupulously-forged contour.

His most direct work, Ahmed's voice is brought to the fore and unobscured. Like the best work of his friend and collaborator Liz Harris (Grouper), as well as classic touchstones such as the Velvet Underground's self-titled third album and David Crosby's 'If I Could Only Remember My Name,' Ahmed's songs exist in a sublime moment of suspended animation, calmly dwelling in between modes of music making both timeless and contemporary - deeply imbued with stillness and peace.

'Ilyas' music is in service to dream investigation, at once still and impermanent as an August cloud and then sweeping like a strange breeze through your thoughts. I Am All Your Own will wrap you in serenity but is aware that any second now you may escape. Music of a sweet morning, and unforgettable.' - Thurston Moore, London
'a pristine bit of late-fall melancholy, all traipsing acoustics and droning organ... an ecstatic and strange haze, like the last night of a hot summer's lost weekend' - Pitchfork







[G} 7. I Need To Fix My Body So I Can Light My Mind On Fire Again

Es schien ja beinahe so als hätten wir bei dem ganzen Slackdiving unseren Familiennachwuchs aus den Augen verloren. Stimmt nicht! Gut Ding braucht Weile und so ein Schwesterlein macht sich eben nicht von ganz alleine. Am Ende zählt das, was rauskommt und dies hier ist Besonders Gut. 300 handverpinselte und in müsliger Kleinstarbeit bekleckerte Scheiben, »Bravo«!

Überglücklich und mehr als stolz präsentieren wir unsere neue Luettje: »Mit Uns« - »Champagne For The Champs Pain«. Zweimal ganze Sieben voll mit ausgedachten und gesungenen Lieders con Cornelio Del Vogel, Davide Di Ehrenfeld und Paolo El Ketzo, ihrerseits alle hinlänglich bekannt seit mindestens Montagssorbet#4. Aufgenommen während ihrer 24-monatigen Welt- und gleichzeitiger Abschiedstournee enttäuschen die Stücke auf musikalischer Ebene vollends. Macht aber gar nichts, denn das blitzblanke Aussehen einer der zwei Dreien schallt noch bis in die letzte Rille.

Apologia is the 'lost' first solo guitar recording by James from 2003, which self-released on CD-R in an edition of 30. Now released on vinyl in a limited edition of 500. "'Apologia' was written on a cheap Yamaha guitar with a ridiculously high action over the course a couple of months in 2002 and recorded in February 2003, a few months before I picked up a 12-string guitar for the first time and wrote and recorded my first release, 'Celeste'. I'd just started fingerpicking and had gotten comfortable enough with some techniques to experiment with open tunings of my own devising and write my own compositions, which were at that time very inspired by the musicians I adored - John Fahey, Robbie Basho and lots of old country blues players like Mississippi John Hurt, Blind Blake and Reverend Gary Davis. I burned about 30 CD-Rs with homemade covers in jewel cases, gave most to friends and family and sold a few in the record shop I used to work in Soho. I felt for some time afterward like I was only just starting to find my own voice with 'Apologia' - the songs are shorter and more straightforward and the cyclical structures and appreciation of drones and overtones really came to the fore later on, as did my appreciation of adding other instrumentation and experimenting with sounds generally. Plus, I wasn't entirely happy with the sound of the recording (some small EQ changes and reverb was added for this edition) and let's just say the situation in the studio was far from ideal, but that's another story. For that reason, I never chose to reissue 'Apologia'. Now, almost 12 years later, I'm hearing them in a different way, realising the songs' charms rather than simply concentrating on the flaws. It doesn't sound quite like anything I've ever done since and there's a simplicity and raw energy about them that I've grown to appreciate. It's an interesting snapshot of where I was then and how things have changed. It is an absolute pleasure for me to work with Bladud Flies! to release 'Apologia' as a limited edition LP now - something I would never have dreamed of back in 2003." - James Blackshaw.

2 x 12'' LP in Gatefold Sleeve with CD included for the first Time!

2 x 12'' LP in Gatefold Sleeve with CD included for the first Time! Produced by Beck.
January 26th, 2010 marks the Because Music / Elektra release of Charlotte Gainsbourg's third studio album titled IRM. The title is derived from M.R.I, which reflects the medical procedure Charlotte had to go through after suffering a head injury in a water skiing accident in 2007. The album is Charlotte's most personal to date, and is produced by acclaimed Grammy nominated artist/multi-instrumentalist Beck. What started as a brief recording session between Charlotte Gainsbourg and Beck ended up to be the body of work that is IRM. Over the course of a year and a half of writing and recording together, Beck's role grew to encompass all aspects of the creative process. He worked seamlessly with Charlotte co writing the lyrics and produced and mixed the recording. (This is the first time he has ever been so involved in another artist's work.)

For his Carpark debut, Saint Pepsi takes a step away from the more genre-shuffling styles of his Internet releases to focus his skills on high-power pop. The title track of the "Fiona Coyne" 7-inch is an uplifting tribute to fantastical romance and the joyous dreams pop culture can provide

'Little Rock' is the seventh and latest release from Oklahoma-born UK-based songwriter Bob Collum and his band The Welfare Mothers. It was produced by long time collaborator Pat Collier (The Soft Boys, Robyn Hitchcock) and features guest appearances from Peter Holsapple (The dB's, REM), Martin Belmont (Ducks Deluxe), and MG Boulter (The Lucky Strikes).

The band will be touring steadily throughout 2015 in support of the album, previous tours have seen them supporting the likes of John Hiatt, Ron Sexsmith, Peter Case, Wilko Johnson, Dave Alvin, and Otis Gibbs.

Bob Collum & the Welfare Mothers have received airplay thoughout the world including BBC Radio 2, BBC 6 Music, NPR, and countless regional and digital broadcasters.

Editions Mego presents the first recordings by Edvard Graham Lewis released this century. Having made his name in legendary punk/experimental outfits Wire, Dome and He Said Lewis has developed an exceptional voice with ceaseless exploration of a wide variety of musical forms.

For Fans of: HTRK, Tim Hecker, Tamaryn. 'Melt Into Nothing' is Ensemble Economique's most lucid seance to date. The prolific Humboldt County musician has stripped layers off of his trademark haze but retained the beautiful desolation that's earned him a rabid fanbase. The solo project of former Starving Weirdos member Brian Pyle, Ensemble Economique has crossed a land bridge from apocryphal world music and dusty soundtracks to gauzy 4AD-style atmospherics. Trellises of guitar embolden Pyle's whispered, threadbare lyrics. On 'Hey Baby', the itinerant tone feels like an update on Neil Young's stark and beautiful soundtrack for Jarmusch's 'Dead Man'. 'Melt Into Nothing', like that beautiful film music, evokes the great American expanse. Field recordings slip in and out of the mix. On 'Fade for Miles', Pyle's adroit effects and backwards tape manipulation make the long trail on his vocals fade into waves on a rocky beach. Pyle combines minor-key organ and spacious string synths on 'Never Gonna Die', recalling the grey grace of the releases on Factory's gothic cousin, Benelux. Thunder accentuates the dubbed-out machine drum programming as Pyle's dulcet tenor floats in storm clouds. The full-length also features contributions from Toronto artist DenMother and Parisian artist Sophia Hamadi, also of dark-wave Opale. This music is not excessively dark or severe. Rather, the record explores the internal dialogue of solitary walks. 'Melt Into Nothing' is for making sense of humanity in nature's unforgiving face. Ensemble Economique has made his most accessible record yet, but the complex emotion behind these tracks remains resonant and ultimately mysterious. CD: digipak. Vinyl: thick covers + thick printed inner sleeves, 180g vinyl, different vinyl colours, free download.

For "Yearling" ORCAS members Benoît Pioulard and Rafael Anton Irisarri (The Sight Below) teamed up with Martyn Heyne (of Efterklang) on guitar and piano, and Michael Lerner (Telekinesis) on drums to built upon the subdued ambience of their self-titled debut, adding a huge dose of analog warmth to their hazy pop leanings.

TEEN have found their voice: Teeny Lieberson's voice is starkly highlighted, but the whole album is a conversation between minimalist drumming, lithe, sinuous bass lines, and irresistible synth hooks. The music is filled with overlapping countermelodies of vocals and synth lines; even Katherine's drums are hooky, so that the songs become ingenious interlocking sonic mantras. Imagine an integration of playfully off-balance rhythms and orchestrated dissonance, spaciously filtered through TEEN's distinctive musical vision. And listen closely: the tracks are filigreed with all kinds of fascinating events buried deep in the mix.

'I sometimes wonder if I'm going in reverse, having started with the larger, more free improvisational ensembles and now getting down to a vocal pop band, but it's one thing I was always aiming to do,' says Bill Wells on his current position with the National Jazz Trio Of Scotland. And if one is to take heed of the age-old advice of not judging a book by its cover, then it's wise to also apply that caution to CDs, for the group is neither jazz nor a trio, although it is at least partly Scottish.

THE NEST was established in 2011. Comprising of Christoph Clöser ("Bohren & der Club of Gore"), Tycho Schottelius ("Desmond Denker"), Thomas Mahmoud and Gerald Mandl (both "Tannhäuser Sterben & das Tod"), they have created their own blend of electro-acoustic, jazz and noise.
SAYWEENJOY is more danceable than John Zorn, but clunkier than Madonna.

* Contextualizing essay by Michael's wife, Andru Chapman, featuring unseen archive photos

* Remastered from the original tapes

* LP housed in a deluxe Stoughton gatefold 'tip-on' jacket

Every artist has a piece of work that niggles them—something that they wish they could redo, given the chance. It's why Paul McCartney once reproduced Let It Be and why Kate Bush re-recorded Wuthering Heights for her best-of album. For the prolific Michael Chapman, that album is Window, the missing link in the series of Chapman's early albums being reissued by Light In The Attic Records. Window sits just after the previously released Fully Qualified Survivor and Rainmaker, right before Wrecked Again.

In 1970, signed to the hip Harvest label (home to Kevin Ayers and Syd Barrett, among others), Chapman was still an artist waiting for that first big success, perpetually skint and permanently touring to make ends meet. With that in mind, he aimed to make Window in as little time as possible because being in the studio meant not being on the road. Producer Gus Dudgeon-who'd been working with Elton John-had other ideas and booked Chapman and his band into one of the UK's most expensive studios, Trident.

The singer-songwriter and prodigious guitarist was in transition from his folkier origins to his heavier future and heading for a whole mess of trouble with the same year's Wrecked Again. Given the touring bust-ups and tortured recording sessions to come, Michael's wife Andru Chapman remembers the recording of Window was noted for a 'lack of hiccups. No one threw their toys out of the pram, unlike Wrecked Again.' Recorded with U.S. guitar player Phil Greenberg, violin player Johnny Van Derek, and pianist Alex Atterson, the album has a blend of electric and acoustic instruments, both traditional and experimental at once, synthetic sounds melding with finger-picked guitars.

The trouble came later. Immediately after recording finished, Michael took the band back out on the road with the understanding that as soon as he got back, he'd put the final acoustic guitar tracks down to replace what he's always said were only guide tracks. Unfortunately, Harvest's parent label decided the album was finished and pressed it up anyway. And Chapman, as a result, hates it. Indeed, 34 years later he even set out to right the wrong, re-recording parts of the LP and noting it was a strange experience listening to 'dead people on the between-track studio chatter' (Dudgeon, engineer Robin Cable, and drummer Richie Dharma have all since passed).

As part of Light In The Attic's revival of Chapman's early career, however, the album is presented as was originally released, with Michael's blessing and albeit with two CD-only bonus tracks. Andru notes, "Warts and all, it is an important part of the Michael Chapman: The Early Years story.' Michael has been less diplomatic in talking about the album. "It is a piece of my history for those interested in that, even though I think it sounds like a piece of crap,' he says.









[I] 9. She Came In Like The '6.15' And Made A Hole In The Wall

Vocal driven electronica, pop sensibilities and a touch of melancholia is a tried and tested recipe of SILENCE MUSIC cuisine. A new release titled My Holy Senses is no exception. This creative venture joins together a renown Lithuanian multi-instrumentalist and composer Vygintas Kisevicius, an up-and-coming singer and songwriter Markas Palubenka and a versatile SILENCE producer Few Nolder. Original acoustic versions come under the name of Kurak, a project which Vygintas started a couple of years ago with a goal of bringing together some of the most talented young Lithuanian singers and songwriters for something new and exciting. And indeed they managed to produce some well worthy musical material generating quite a few waves of interest and success back home. Few Nolder picked out a couple of tracks from an ever-expanding Kurak's repertoire and threw them onto the sweaty dance floor. Included in the package are two DJ friendly adaptations from David Krasemann aka Dave DK and Vidis. My Holy Senses is a short modern day Love story about Acoustics giving an adoring kiss to Electronica in a dim light of a nightclub.
- Early support from Âme, Tim Paris, Alex Barck, Michael Rainboth, Hannes Fischer and many others

* 180 gram audiophile vinyl

Terry Callier's What Color Is Love (1973) is an essential Soul Jazz album that should belong in anyone's record collection. This record was produced by Charles Stepney, whose work with Cadet / Chess records, Rotary Connection and Earth, Wind & Fire earned him popular acclaim. Filled with Funk, Rock, Folk, Jazz, and even Classical influences, vocalist Callier can be heard on this album to the most intriguing heights.

"Dancing Girl" opens the album with Stepney's majestic orchestration. Songs like "What Color Is Love" and "Ho Tsing Mee", an elegant antiwar prayer of confusion, somehow avoid clichés or take them to another level.

"You Goin' Miss Your Candyman" was featured in the French movie,Intouchables.

Callier's passionate voice captures the sweeping drama of the human condition. A lost romantic amid "concrete frond yards," this album is a must-have for any music connoisseur.

Rare and sought-after UK Psych-folk album from 1971. Formed in Ireland by Tiger Taylor (Ex Eire Apparent), their album makes one think of what the Byrds would have sounded had they been British. Mostly original songs, although they do a brilliant cover of "So you want to be a Rock'n'Roll star", the record combines melodic folk tunes with other guitar-drenched rockers; great voices and delicious original songs. If you like the Byrds but are a fan of British psychedelia, this is for you.Limited edition of 500 copies with original artwork.