There used to be a time where November’s release schedule was sparse…
We absolutely love this week, it is peaches all round.
We have been impatiently waiting for all-time guitar supremo Marnie Stern to make her comeback, and she does indeed come back this week, with The Comeback Kid. She remains one of the most supreme shredders we’ve ever heard, a fast and furious dance up and down the fretboard with yelps and screams. So few people manage to create something entirely different via the six string, but Marnie does and her tapping boils the endorphins. A proper thriller.
The Twits is the second album released this year by London trio bar italia and it is another one that has really taken us aback. The arrangements are quite economical, lots of space with the rhythm section really clicking and hazed vocals coming in and out of focus. Sparse and spooky, but not without it’s moments of crackle and pop. Record of the Week.
+ Available on limited Silver colour vinyl.
LXXXVIII is the return of Actress on Ninja Tune and it really is one to behold. The album is inspired by game theory, a form of mathematics frequently associated with economics and chess, with each track named for a particular piece. Meticulously constructed electronic music with so much mystery and subtlety, really masterful stuff.
+ Available on double Deep Blue colour vinyl.
+ Available on limited triple Crystal Clear colour vinyl.
Some eleven months after we first told you about it, we’re absolutely delighted to have Caroline Polachek’s Desire, I Want To Turn Into You in the building and very much on the stereo. The production is fantastic, an absolute pop odyssey with so many amazing tones and styles whirled into an epic but never bloated sound. She uses her voice so well, which makes the whole thing so much more alluring.
+ Available on exclusive 'Tigers Eye' colour vinyl.
+ Also available on ‘Metallic Copper’ colour vinyl.
I DES is the first album in seven years from HRH King Creosote and it is absolutely lovely. It sounds like he is doing very simple things, but the production is actually really quite special with such a lot going on to create a warm and euphoric buzz. His vocals are a real joy with rich close harmonies and tones of emotion with just enough burr on the notes. Very autumnal, very highly recommended.
+ Available on limited Gold colour vinyl.
Our November Record of the Month is out this week too, with the crackling Cartwheel LP from Hotline TNT. Pop here to read more about that one, our Record of the Month club and to buy it now on limited Third Man Conch Street Splatter Vinyl.
It’s a 4AD debut this week for Zimbabwean-born, Australian-raised, Los Angeles-based rapper Tkay Maidza with Sweet Justice. She has such a rich voice, it’s really sultry and when she steps up the pace her flow is mesmerising. The production is really impressive (including Stint, Kaytranada and Flume), with pop stylings but lots of different changes of pace and direction.
+ LP copies include a limited bonus 7".
512 is the new LP from famed photographer William Eggleston. A gorgeous and otherworldly set of piano meditations and field recordings. It really feels like you’re in the room, a great vibe.
+ Available on limited Clear vinyl.
London-based duo Jockstrap release I<3UQTINVU, a fully remixed version of their Mercury Prize shortlisted 2022 album I Love You Jennifer B by the band’s Taylor Skye. It is available as a special edition that is pressed on Red vinyl and has a perfume-scented inner sleeve. We also have tats!
Also this week; Empty Country II is the new LP from Cymbals Eat Guitars Joseph D’Agostino under the Empty Country name. We have limited signed prints. One Little Independent Records release Delilah Holliday’s two Invaluable EPs. London-based dance duo Joy Anonymous release Cult Classics on Island. Los Angeles duo ill peach release THIS IS NOT AN EXIT on Hardly Art. Los Angeles is the collaborative LP from The Cure’s Lol Tolhurst, Budgie from Siouxsie & The Banshees and producer and multi-instrumentalist Garret ‘Jacknife’ Lee. The James Murphy guest vocal is pretty darn good. We’re delighted to have Tara Clerkin Trio return with a new EP called On The Turning Ground on the World of Echo label. We also have the really beautiful Hidden Beauty from Sign Libra on RVNG INTL.
Lastly today, Pioneer Works Swing (Live) is a blistering live set from our man Hailu Mergia. Amazingly, it is the first live album in the Ethio-jazz icon’s remarkable fifty plus year career. It was recorded at venerable Brooklyn non-profit cultural centre Pioneer Works on July 1, 2016 and shows how Hailu and band can start slow and finish wild, or vice versa… It’s just all good vibes!
We will have The Beatles Now and Then on the counter at some point tomorrow. Trippy man.
- Drift
