Hot glimmering light returns and the racks are heavy with new tones.
B-E-A-U-ooooootful!
Hello, Friends.
Record of the Week is the gorgeous debut solo LP from Daughter of Swords. Alexandra Sauser-Monnig is one third of the magnificent Mountain Man, but here on Dawnbreaker it is all very much about her and her songs. Whereas the three vocals of Mountain Man require almost no backing at all, Dawnbreaker is a beautifully arranged album, loads of simple, warm tones ringing through. In part a break-up album, but throughout it is honest and laid bare. She has such a stunning voice it's easy to just float away. Special stuff.
Night Moves return on Domino with the new LP Can You Really Find Me. A brilliantly summery album of bubbling poppy psychedelia. It's got a certain nostalgic twist to the arrangements, a sort of John Hughes big ballad with MGMT's shimmering tones. Loads to keep you interested, windows-down-cruising this is.
+ Available on heavyweight translucent neon orange vinyl
There is a stunning new collection on Soul Jazz Records this week, featuring music influential to the artist Keith Haring. The art of Keith Haring is today one of the most recognisable of any visual artists of his generation, defining 1980s New York. Haring’s musical inspiration took in the punk/dance downtown sounds of clubs, disco through to the early days of hip hop and electro. The collection has such a vibe to it, It all feels thrillingly different, whilst all kicking in the same direction. Proper vibes. All formats of the album feature original photography, extensive sleevenotes and interviews.
+ We have a limited 3LP Triple Vinyl edition with Bonus 7" and Download.
Mega Bog is the fluid musical moniker of songwriter Erin Elizabeth Birgy, who has spent the last ten years channeling, capturing, and releasing her unique sci-fi pop experiments. Dolphine, her fifth LP features members of Big Thief and Hand Habits and crafts a beautifully weird and intricate web.
Let’s Rock... damn right. Black Keys release their ninth studio album this week and it's a big return to the more straightforward rock of the singer/guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney’s early days as a band.
The magnificent Carwyn Ellis (Bendith, Edwyn Collins, Colorama) releases JOIA! this week... and it really is a Joy! Carwyn travelled to Rio de Janeiro to record with two distinguished crazy local artists like Domenico Lancellotti and Kassin. It is a sunny, melodic, catchy and brilliantly out-there non-explicit plea against the Brexit. Ticks all of our boxes.
Skepta's Ignorance is Bliss lands on vinyl today, I think the CD and download were already out? It's the follow-up to 2016's Mercury Music Prize-winning Konnichiwa. Might not be as immediate as it's predecessor, but Ignorance is Bliss is a very different beast. The self analysis is brutally honest and in that way, a lot more interesting. A big creative step forward.
+ Vinyl format is a double LP housed in a gatefold sleeve, with heat sensitive artwork manufactured with liquid crystal, echoing the album's cover art! It's touch sensitive, the heat signature from your fingers will reveal a spectrum of colours when you touch it.
Couple of real blink and you'll miss them releases...
Daphni (aka Caribou’s Dan Snaith) is back with a new release the Sizzling EP. We also have our last few copies of Sufjan Stevens' Love Yourself / With My Whole Heart. Both are super exciting.
Magpie Bites and Other Cuts is a collection of rare gems and oddities (released from 2004 to 2018) from Tunng. As ever, delicious woozy beats and strums, they really do create such a sonic purr. Available as 2CD in a gatefold sleeve and on 2LP Clear vinyl.
Originally released on Animal Records in 1982 and produced by Chris Stein of Blondie, Zombie Birdhouse is something of a lost classic from the Iggy Pop vaults. Limited Indie shop version pressed on orange coloured vinyl with new sleeve notes by Irvine Welsh!
Double Bowie week. Firstly there is the next 40th Anniversary 7" Picture Disc edition with D.J. Then, as part of the ongoing celebrations marking 50 years since David Bowie’s first hit, ‘Space Oddity’, The Mercury Demos are ten early Bowie recordings captured live in one take to a Revox reel to reel tape machine in David’s flat in spring 1969, with accompaniment from John ‘Hutch’ Hutchinson on guitar and vocals. The version of ‘Space Oddity’ from the Demos, originally released with edits on the Sound & Vision boxset, is presented here in its true context for the first time. The other nine recordings on the album are all previously unreleased.
AAAAAAANNNNNNDDDDD.... just announced, Dinked Edition No.23 is a massive return from Moon Duo. Stars Are the Light is the luminous seventh album by the American psych explorers on Sacred Bones and our exclusive includes;
+ 500 only pressing
+ Exclusive yellow vinyl
+ Custom OBI strip
+ Bespoke hand numbered print
These are already flying out, so do get involved and have a browse of the Dinked collection.
Have a nice weekend, make sure that whatever you do, you do it to a great soundtrack.
- Drift