Light and air through to the darkest doom, it’s a right old new-not-new Monday!
Hello, Friends.
The flames have been well and truly fanned over at Drift HQ on a bright and chilly Monday, with the absolutely belting reissue of African Voodoo from the much-loved Cameroonian musician Manu Dibango. This 1971 banger is so full of life, the rich results of just three days in the studio with the initial goal of creating atmospheric background music for French TV and radio shows. Twelve genuinely masterful cuts of Afro Soul, Jazz and Funk, this really is a vibe.
Glasgow twin institutions Chemikal Underground and Mogwai look back to the earliest rumbles of the band’s epic discography this week with essential reissues of the debut Mogwai Young Team LP and iconic second album Come On Die Young. Such amazing energy, it’s quite mind blowing stuff and sounds as epic, dark and slowly evolving as it did the first time around. We’ve been playing these really loud over here.
+ Both are pressed on limited colour vinyl.
Beggars Arkive reissue the self-titled Tubeway Army LP this week. It was the first of only two LP’s before the band’s leader Gary Numan became… well, Gary Numan! Well worth checking out for the rich analogue clunks.
+ Available on exclusive Marbled Blue colour vinyl.
Liars eponymous fourth album is next in the band’s recycled coloured vinyl reissue series and available again via Mute. Also repressed after ages is Saint Etienne’s Good Humor on Heavenly Recordings. A very nice looking transparent green, dark green and white splatter colour pressing too!
Not easy on the wallet, but Craft Recordings celebrate the 30th anniversary of The Pharcyde’s absolutely iconic Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde with a new ‘23 pressing. A double LP on very limited Clear with Yellow & Purple Splatter colour vinyl. It does feel reassuringly expensive in hand.
And lastly this week, lay down your weary head… Third Man Records have gone back to the original master tapes for the first time ever and bring us the motherload with Sleep’s Dopesmoker. If you have even a passing interest in heavy, doom, drone rock music, this really is the high water mark. An hour of transcendentally heavy music that slowly ebbs and flows like no other.
There must be a fantastic feature out there (anyone?) about this iconic album; talking about the different album iterations, the legal wranglings, incredibly loud custom-built amps, the limitations of reel-to-reel tape machines and A LOT of weed.
Man, I love this album!
- Drift