Absolutely one of the most stacked weeks for the new stuff that we’ve had in ages. Salad days!

Here In The Pitch is the beautiful new album from Jessica Pratt. She has always had such a spooky quality, but on this new album she sings as clearly as a bell amongst all the reverbing wooze and it really hits. A lo-fi take on Californian bossa nova, this is honestly such a beautiful album. Record of the Week and highly recommended too.

+ Available on exclusive Brown colour vinyl.

Tuareg rock and roller Mdou Moctar returns on Matador with Funeral For Justice and it really whips and crackles. The album’s origin is rooted in political turmoil and its vast human effects, and you can feel such palpable frustration as it lashes through every riff. Furious and vital, it’s not always easy going but it’s both important and vitalising.

+ Available on Blood Red colour vinyl.

Another beautiful voice is Charlotte Day Wilson, who releases the graceful Cyan Blue on XL Recordings. Such smokey melancholy, her tone is languorous but succulently so. A soul record with great soul, we really love this one.

+ Available on Coke Bottle Clear colour vinyl.

Another of the week’s epic returns is Kamasi Washington and the hugely impressive new Fearless Movement. The record is absolutely stacked with guests (actually too many to mention), and everyone brings something special to the mix, but testament to Kamasi as a bandleader, the album is very much about himself as the central focus. It has so many absolutely stand-out moments and it also creates such swirling and wondrous moods as it progresses. From the minute to the cosmically maximal, this one is spectacular.

+ Available on double Blue / Red colour vinyl.

Pull The Rope is the scorching new LP from London afro-funk band Ibibio Sound Machine. In some of the most electronic moments they have produced, it’s a lush mix of clicking beats and synths against hazed base grooves. Eno Williams sounds amazing too. Ten minutes of sunshine and this one is right in the car CD wallet of summer drive bangers.

+ Available on a stunning looking Purple/Blue/Black Swirl colour vinyl.
+ We have signed 12” prints to give away with all LP orders.

Brothers Brian and Michael D’Addario are in absolutely resplendent form as The Lemon Twigs on A Dream Is All We Know, their second for Captured Tracks. The production and musical athleticism is really second to none, the most vintage of hues with blasts of happy and sad across the stereo. They even risk (to great reward) flying about as close to the Brian Wilson Sun as anyone would dare. Cheeky, insatiable and hugely gratifying. Pop music geniuses giving it the flex. Can’t stop playing this one.

+ Available on Ice Cream coloured vinyl.

Scottish indie pop icons Camera Obscura make a very welcome return with the all-new Look to the East, Look to the West. Although it’s about as dreamy as it comes, there is a refined energy to this album that gives it a lovely lightness. Synth tones, Country Tones and about as much saccharine melancholy as the heart can handle. Really lush.

+ Available on Blue and White Galaxy vinyl.

The week’s biggest “do not miss this” moments come on Karate Boogaloo’s ludicrously tight Hold Your Horses on Colemine Records. The Melbourne funk band are just one hundred percent in the pocket, cine-soul, dub and spiritual atmospherics swaying around like a lava lamp. This is the vibe.

+ The LP sleeves are absolutely lush. They are housed in limited-edition laser-cut jackets that reveal an optical illusion when removed.
+ Available on Camo Green colour vinyl.

LA-born songwriter Hana Vu releases Romanticism on Ghostly International, and we tell you what… if enough people hear this, it’s gonna be huge! Smart production, nothing is over fussy, a richness of voice, epic and brooding anthems. It’s really charming. One we have played quite a bit already.

+ Available on Ruby colour vinyl.

Also this week, we shall be giving more spins to; super-powerful 9 piece Nubiyan Twist and the new Find Your Flame. Rising jazz star Jasmine Myra and the Matthew Halsall-produced Rising on Gondwana Records. The richly dark new Sublimation from Girls In Synthesis, which gave us some serious chest-pound on the stereo. The much-hyped Nourished By Time releases the Catching Chickens EP on XL. Synthesizer dreams from Dan Rincon with Spotlight City on Castle Face Records which is a late night treat. Epic country with Red Clay Strays’ Moment of Truth. We also have the fourth instalment of Lost Themes, with Noir from John Carpenter, Cody Carpenter and Daniel Davies.

Lastly this week, Penny Arcade is the new project from James Hoare, previously of Veronica Falls and Ultimate Painting. Rich in all the analogue hues that you’d hope and expect, but a lot more immediate and very much his voice. This debut, Backwater Collage, really is beautifully produced, a lush balance of homespun balladeering and plenty of vintage psychedelia to really take it somewhere evocative. Bold and honest.

+ Available on Yellow colour vinyl.

James will be launching Backwater Collage with a very special instore show at Drift around 6pm today. So do come and join us!

What did we say, eh? SALAD DAYS AT THE RECORD SHOP!