Some bits released today that we've been really looking forward too... twenty summin' others too! Ended up being a huge old week in the end.
Record of the Week is a real joy, tense and kind of dystopian techno with an utterly hysterical protagonist. Marie Davidson - who releases Working Class Woman today on Ninja Tune - is such a brilliant conductor here, her French-Canadian accent is so addictive as she recounts a handful of the inane things people have said to her after gigs. It is smart dance-floor music that is sexy and full of weird turns, pounding beats through to some very subtly constructed tones. Very highly recommended.
Multi-instrumentalist Laura Kidd releases Brace for Impact today under the name She Makes War and it is full and euphoric music. Her vocals are really lush but she is backed brilliantly by crunching riffs and some pretty cavernous production. There are moments of quiet too with some really lush post-punk quiet hues.
+ Available on three different limited pressings, clear, white or black vinyl.
After a five year hiatus, Phosphorescent return with C'est La Vie, a mellow seventh LP of contemporary Americana. It's pretty sumptuous stuff, the production is as glossy as he has ever sounded, but it does have plenty of space. Everything sounds nice and clear and in it's own zone. Warm and meandering but with some really pretty moments and a few cheeky pop hooks to boot!
+ Available on an Indie shop clear vinyl pressing.
The most marvelous Chan Marshall returns today with a new Cat Power LP - Wanderer - and it's a fine addition to her amazing body of work. It is a subtle record, fairly primitive instrumentation, but it does a brilliant job of placing her vocal in the foreground, as much in focus as she has perhaps ever been. The big single - Woman - features a guest appearance from Lana Del Rey and is the most radio-friendly moment, but the real beauty is in the more wistful moments. A real grower - even with the inclusion of a cheeky bit of vocoder - and we've enjoyed getting to know this a bit.
+ Also available on an Indie shop clear vinyl pressing.
Self-titled The Other Years LP is released today on No Quarter and it is very special indeed. Two beautifully complimentary voices finding new space in some very traditional music. Anna Krippenstapel (Joan Shelley’s longtime fiddle player, also with Freakwater) and Heather Summers recorded it in just three days with Daniel Martin Moore, it is natural and very live. They really do sound quite amazing together. Already lost in this.
Ron Gallo is a really interesting guy. His new LP today on New West - Stardust Birthday Party - is a kinda schizy and nervous take on garage rock. Vocally he has a really great whoop to his voice, almost Devo territory. There is load going on and never at the detriment fo a really enjoyable listen.
Toronto punks Fucked Up return with Dose Your Dreams today and it is marvelous. It is euphoric, both ethereal and pretty, but also in its white-knuckled adrenalin ride. Frontman Damian Abraham's howl is as gloriously deranged as ever, but he is accompanied perfectly (and counterbalanced) buy guest vocals from Miya Folick, Jennifer Castle, Lido Pimienta and more. This record is huge... like... FUCKING HUGE but the delivery is so beautifully considered, they threw everything at it and painted something really beautiful. Going to need to listen to this dozen of times before we can ever hear all of it.
First Flower is the eagerly anticipated new LP from Molly Burch on Captured Tracks. The most lush hushed vocals and modern country reverbs, could pretty much listen to her sing the phone book.
Plainly Mistaken is the fourth LP from North Carolina's Nathan Bowles, experimental bluegrass with plenty of freakiness. Really into this.
Echo & The Bunnymen have regrouped and re-recorded thirteen of their most memorable tracks as The Stars, The Oceans & The Moon. Some lovely moments actually.
+ Luminous Coloured Double Vinyl edition.
BAFTA award-winning actor Matt Berry looks to his formative years in this fascinating and unique take on the TV themes that have influenced and inspired him in his life. Whether he is joking or not we're not sure, but it's really good fun... and sexy af.
Just five months after the release of her debut album, Madeline Kenney traveled from Oakland, California to the woods outside of Durham, North Carolina to record her sophomore album - Perfect Shapes - with a new collaborator, Wye Oak’s Jenn Wasner. Hazey and muted and really lovely.
+ Available on limited Coke Bottle Green Vinyl... but it is due next week.
Throwing Muses' Kristin Hersh releases her 10th studio solo album Possible Dust Clouds on Fire today. She sounds great and there is a lot of grit to this... guitars sound lush too.
In September 2017, Josh Tillman stopped by Third Man Records' Nashville headquarters on an otherwise ordinary Tuesday afternoon and surprised them all with a lunchtime solo, acoustic set before his sold-out Ryman Auditorium Father John Misty performance. TMR, of course, had their 1955 Scully Lathe warmed up and at the ready to capture the occasion. We only have a couple left, more to land shortly.
Exploded View (the international music project of Annika Henderson, Hugo Quezada, and Martin Thulin of Mexico City and Merlin) release Obey on Sacred Bones Records and we are REALLY into it. Dark and brooding but with some really lush New Wave tones.
+ Limited indie colour vinyl.
Drenge release the silver "Robot-Coloured ® Autonomy EP.
Jim James returns with Uniform Clarity, a new companion piece to his acclaimed 2018 album, Uniform Distortion.
The shifting dimensions of Masana Temples is the brand-new fourth album from psychedelic explorers Kikagaku Moyo. Any of your psyche heads are gonna want to check this, we've been swimming here a lot.
Philadelphia's Swearin' release Fall Into. BIG full indie rock and roll with crunching riffs, plundering basslines, thumping drums and some lush big stops.
+ Limited Indie LP on Coke bottle coloured vinyl.
Solipsism is an archival release of music from Mike Simonetti's tenure as owner of Italians Do It Better Records, spanning from 2006-2013. During that time Mike wrote a lot of music. Some of it was used for films, some for TV commercials, some for fashion shows and he even released a record or two. this is SO GOOD. You know we love IDIB, but still! LP due shortly.
Not huge amount of reissues today (although the Kate Bush stuff has just hit the website to preorder), but an NYC theme running through them with two absolute classics. We have a forty-one-and-a-half year pressing of Television's Marquee Moon released on double blue vinyl, with the original album plus an additional LP of bonus tracks that featured on the 2003 remastered CD. The alternative title track is LUSH.
We were hammering it last Saturday-night at the bar funnily enough!
Also utterly essential is a fresh '18 repress of Arthur Russell's Calling Out of Context. Twelve extraordinary tracks recorded by Russell at his home and various studios between 1973 and 1992. We really love this collection.
Man... who needs a Drink?
