Tellyer what, this week-full is going to still be on the stereo long into 2023.
Hello, Friends.
On Grace & Dignity is the new LP from the GOLDEN DREGS, the nom de plume of Cornish balladeer Benjamin Woods. The storytelling is so engaging and his rich baritone vocal is both commanding and soothing, he really has found quite the sound. It’s a really assured debut for 4AD and another fine addition to a very impressive discography. Record of the Week.
+ Available on exclusive Transparent vinyl.
+ Benjamin joins us to play live this Saturday 11th February at 1pm.
Raven is the return of Kelela on Warp and, my word, it’s fantastic! Her voice is just amazing, a sweet but poised hush. The songwriting is smart and vital, never repeating itself. The production is crisp but full of life. Individually, its core components are all impressive, but in unison it really is something special. A commanding album of R&B and low tempo electronic beats, it is just so assured.
+ Available on Exclusive Clear colour vinyl.
We’re absolutely delighted to have Drift favourites Quasi back this week with Breaking The Balls Of History, their tenth studio LP arriving a full ten years since we last heard from them. The duo - Sam Coomes and Janet Weiss - are proper rock and roll institutions and this new set is a proper treat. Weird and sprightly songs that bubble with ideas. Highly recommended.
This Friday brings the release of Yo La Tengo’s absolutely amazing new album, This Stupid World. It’s our February Record of the Month and you can read more about it here.
+ Available now now now on double Transparent Blue colour vinyl.
Earthling On The Road To Self Love is a real country psych woozer from Baby Cool, the latest project from Nice Biscuit co-front woman Grace Cuell. Psychedelic pop with folk roots, it has such a great vibe, full of hazy Brisbane sunshine.
We were delighted to work with Baby Cool and Bad Vibrations Records to bring you the album as an exclusive Dinked Edition. We just popped our last copies in stock now, that Pink and Blue platter sure does look impressive!
Canadian singer-songwriter Andy Shauf returns this week with a high concept LP called Norm. The titular and eponymous Norm is the central character and Shauf’s storytelling is really engaging, sometimes surreal and way darker than the beautifully melodic delivery first suggests. Entirely self produced, it’s a bit of a masterclass in subtlety.
+ Available on exclusive ECO vinyl.
Barefoot on Diamond Road is the return of Amber Arcades and her first album with Fire Records. Working with producer Ben Greenberg, sonically it is quite a departure from the jangling indie vibes of her early albums into an intense and more dramatic sort of soundscape. It’s an album, album.
+ Available on Exclusive Silver colour vinyl.
In Embudo is the long-time-coming debut album from Mary Elizabeth Remington, with help from friends Adrianne Lenker, Twain's Mat Davidson and Big Thief's James Krivchenia. Her voice is absolutely fantastic! Graceful, characterful and smooth. No fuss, this is such a lush album.
All Of This Is Chance is the Rough Trade Records debut for Irish folk singer Lisa O'Neill. She is absolutely white-hot right now (receiving five BBC Folk Awards nominations and also the 2019 Guardian Folk Album of the Year amongst other accolades), respectfully bringing a new dimension to traditional music. Her voice is extraordinary and there have been few albums as transfixing this year. It really is one to spend time with.
+ Available on Exclusive Silver colour vinyl.
Counter Melodies is the fifth studio LP from the much-loved Maps. The Mercury-nominated James Chapman has constantly made meticulous and rich electric music, but this new album is all about raising the tempo, a proper upbeat set. We’ve been playing this a lot already.
Taken By Force is the new album from Melbourne-based punks, Civic. It has a lush balance of pure rawness and considered melody, a driving collection that has its roots very much in the 1970’s for both sonic and creative inspiration. We’re enjoying this muchly.
+ Available on limited Red colour vinyl.
Recorded between 2020 and 2021, The Brian Jonestown Massacre return with their 20th full-length studio album, The future is your past. As ever, it sounds like themselves and dozens of other things at the same time, a tapestry of tones and styles under the gaze of leader Anton Newcombe. A couple of right bangers!
+ Available on 180 gram Clear colour vinyl. The LP includes a pack of 6 colour pencils so that you can colour in your own album cover.
+ The CD edition is available in two different designs.
New Era is a collaboration between Jazz band Ishmael Ensemble and lyricist and MC Rider Shafique. It’s a bass-heavy new direction and their musicianship really wraps around Shafique brilliantly. This is another one we’ve stuck on a few times here.
Lastly, today, an album that we are hugely excited about. The Wreckage is the new LP from the ever-so talented Sweet Baboo, the recording name for musical polymath and all-round mensch Stephen Black. It is just such a wonderfully characterful album, wistful, funny, sweet, smart and always like you have the man himself singing directly into your ear. He very much leads the album, but it also benefits from some lush collaborations, with Paul Jones of Group Listening on various keys; Jodie Marie and Georgia Ruth on additional vocals, Davey Newington of Boy Azooga on drums and percussion and Huw Evans, aka H. Hawkline, on bass and electric guitar. It is a swooner and we honestly can’t recommend it highly enough.
A reminder that his Sweetness will be playing live for us just up the road next month. Tickets and info here.
Quite the week, no? The week’s reissues will follow in good time to include; Mogwai, Manu Dibango, The Pharcyde and a right old slab of Sleep.
Drift
