Oh my, what a week! Twenty new (and not new) things just about fitting into the racks. We're feeling plentiful.
Hello, Friends.
Record of the Week is Happy In The Hollow, the new LP from TOY. We've always loved these guys (Sea Change alumni amongst other accolades) and we were so hyped to work with them on a special Dinked Edition of the new album. Our exclusive edition is pressed on transparent vinyl, alternative inverted light artwork, hand numbered (of just 700 copies) and including a bonus 7" single (also clear!) with two secret tracks. It's a real treat, it has those gloriously propulsive moments that they have always brought so well, but there is such a lot of warm, sepia sunshine going on; some very pretty finger-picked moments that move them away from any of the kraut revivalists and takes a trip somewhere altogether else. Played it a lot, liking it more and more.
+ Don't miss out on the Dinked Edition, last copies on the website and in the shop... now!
Temporal is the stunningly elegant new album from cellist/composer Julia Kent. There are some really overwhelming moments, drones and filmic textures. Its a beautifully dreamy companion or you can really dial into what she's doing and marvel at the complexity of it all. Very special stuff.
+ Strictly limited run of 500 copies on white vinyl for independent stores only
William Tyler returns with his new LP - Goes West - on Merge and it is a real treat. He has such a naturally chill style as a player (even in his most cosmic moments), and this latest album is so sunny, it's beautifully paced and really easy to get totally lost in. Still spiritual, still conveying feelings but just ambling along. Lush.
+ Limited Indie version on green vinyl
Tim Presley returns today on Drag City as White Fence (his seventh under White Fence) with I Have to Feed Larry's Hawk. All the hallmarks of his psychedelia, but a more fragile end of the texture pool this time, with really lush hazy songs that slowly unfold. He is always essential, but '...Larry's Hawk' adds more credence to Presley being one of the most sonically adventurous writers about. Dig in.
FIDLAR return with their third LP Almost Free. They've always had a ton of energy (they have written loads of songs about getting loaded and the name its self is an acronym of 'F*ck It Dog, Life's a Risk'), but this new third LP is an expansion of what they do. Some of the experiments veer into uncharted waters, but when they are on point, they are still pretty euphoric.
+ Limited Indie LP pressed on coloured vinyl.
Also... FIDLAR have given us a custom skateboard... and we're going to give it to you! Buy the album in the shop or online this week and we'll pick one of you out of a hat and say so on our @driftrecordshop socials.
The latest addition to the James Holden archive is an album of solo synth work originally written to accompany the critically-acclaimed documentary A Cambodian Spring. Fourteen new tracks of pulsing melancholy and foreboding drone. His ability to control pace is remarkable, he really is quite a wonder.
Rock Action this week release Future Ruins, the brand new album from British alt. rock legends Swervedriver. It's got loads of crunch to it, rattles along at a great pace and sounds like a fiercely invigorated band, there is no nostalgia at play here. Right good!
+ Limited, Indie shop only red coloured heavyweight vinyl.
Blood Red Shoes return - after falling out horribly! - with new LP Get Tragic. More synths than before and they really use them well. Weird moments and some pop bangers.
Available as a limited LP+7" edition with an alternative sleeve and green and black vinyl.
Pavo Pavo return on Bella union with their second album Mystery Hour. Dramatic pop with some really lovely warm moments. Vocally it is really special, Eliza's high soprano against the waves of strings and synths.
Sneaks, a.k.a. Eva Moolchan, emerges from the male-dominated Baltimore-Washington punk scene, joining the resistance forged by queer black feminists who create, explore, empower, conquer, and play bass! Highway Hypnosis is really lush, taking hip hop way off into its own space and the production is equal parts smart and naive.
+ Also pressed on limited, Indie-shop-only Green coloured vinyl
New York Trio Sunflower Bean release a new EP King Of The Dudes. It was produced by Justin Raisen (Sky Ferreira, Charlie XCX, Angel Olsen) and finds them at their most sparkling.
Merge release Mike Krol's new LP Power Chords. Fuzzy power-pop with loads of heart, serious but totally fun.
+ Limited Clear Vinyl with Poster and Download. 1000 Copies Only.
David Vassalotti - lead guitarist for Merchandise - releases his third solo LP Guitar Dream. Way more intimate and stripped back than his day job and really shows his abilities as a songwriter. Quite sad, but very addictive stuff this.
Brownswood Recordings release No More Normal from Swindle. Bridging the lines between grime, jazz and funk, the London-raised producer really has laid out the map of his own musical world.
Following the release of Encores 1, Nils Frahm releases of Encores 2, the second in a series of EPs following the release of the universally acclaimed album, All Melody.
Gum Takes Tooth also release Arrow this week on Rocket Recordings. Our stock is due shortly, but what we've heard so far is RIGHT up our street. Also landing over the weekend is Outer Peace from Toro Y Moi... jammed full of pop bangers.
We've also been listening to Michael Clark's Something To Be Won EP a lot this week, he's really got a good thing going on here.
Soul Jazz release the third part of the STUDIO ONE Black Man's Pride series with None Shall Escape The Judgement Of The Almighty.
Mute reissue Learning To Cope With Cowardice, the groundbreaking debut solo album by visionary post-punk iconoclast Mark Stewart. Available as a double CD and limited edition double clear vinyl (with a percentage of the vinyl sales going to the Mercy Ships charity). Includes The Lost Tapes, a newly discovered cache of unreleased material.
Some of today’s most exciting up-and-coming and established jazz artists (Keyon Harrold, Brandee Younger, Shabaka and The Ancestors, Onyx Collective, Antonio Sanchez...) pay homage to the iconic Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band with A Day In The Life: Impressions of Pepper.
Looking back at stuff we've been after for ages, essential reissues this week with The Phantom Band's Checkmate Savage on Chemikal Underground, Yo La Tengo's Summer SUN on Matador, the debut UNKLE LP Psyence Fiction, a BLUE vinyl pressing of Joni Mitchell'sBlue and Dominique Guiot's L'Univers De La Mer on WRWTFWW.
Phantasy Sound issue a special 10th-anniversary edition of Late Of The Pier's cult debut album Fantasy Black Channel. Produced by Erol Alkan, this new release includes a hyper-limited lenticular edition that looks amazing.
Lastly today, Domino release 40th-anniversary editions of Buzzcocks seminal first two albums Another Music In A Different Kitchen and Love Bites. Deluxe silver and white vinyl editions that been lovingly restored and re-mastered from the original ¼” tapes for the first time and come packaged in the original Malcolm Garrett designed sleeves with lavish 8 page booklets containing unseen images and extensive liner notes by famed writer, broadcaster, music journalist and cultural commentator Jon Savage.
Especially sad timing as Pete Shelley passed away since the reissues were announced and before tomorrow's release... but they sound bloody good and that's about as fitting a tribute as anyone could wish for.
Hope you enjoy spending some time with this lot...