Releases
STEPHEN MALKMUS - TRADITIONAL TECHNIQUES LP / CD IN STORES MARCH 6
Stephen Malkmus has announced his new album, Traditional Techniques, out March 6th via Matador,
lead single “Xian Man,” and a North American tour.
Traditional Techniques, Malkmus’ third solo LP without the Jicks (or Pavement), is new phase folk music
for new phase folks, with Malkmus as attuned as ever to the rhythms of the ever-evolving lingual
slipstream.
It’s packed with handmade arrangements, modern folklore, and 10 songs written and performed in his
singular voice. An adventurous new album in an instantly familiar mode, Traditional Techniques creates a
serendipitous trilogy with the loose fuzz of the Jicks’ Sparkle Hard (2018) and the solo bedroom
experiments of Groove Denied (2019).
Centered around the songwriter’s 12-string acoustic guitar, and informed by a half-century of folk-rock
reference points, Traditional Techniques is the product of Malkmus and engineer /arranger Chris Funk
(The Decemberists).
Playing guitar is friend-to-all-heads Matt Sweeney (Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Chavez, too many others to
count), who’d previously crossed paths with Malkmus on the opposite end of the longhairs’ map of the
world, most lately gnarling out together back east in the jam conglomerate Endless Boogie.
Malkmus will embark on a North American tour this spring with an entirely new band (more shows will
be announced in the weeks to come). The Traditional Techniques live band is Malkmus (vocals, guitar),
Funk (pedal steel, keys), Sweeney (guitar), Brad Truax (bass), and Jake Morris (drums), joined at times
by Qais Essar (rabab) and Eric Zang (kaval, udu, daf). The band hits Montréal April 16th ((L’Astral) and
April 17 at Toronto Danforth Music Hall.
“An excellent solo career marked by a warmth, humor and generosity.” – Rolling Stone
“Few artists can write a hook as immediately infectious or distinctive as Stephen Malkmus.” – NPR
“He’s remained one of the most consistent musicians working today, delivering muscular melodies and
loose precocity to the acclaim of every project he touches.” – Noisey
It’s called folk music, and it’s taking the country by storm. Stephen Malkmus is only the latest popular
artist to apply this old new approach to their rock and roll sounds.
Created in the spontaneous west coast style adopted so infectiously by young American musicians in this
time of global turmoil, Malkmus took on Traditional Techniques as a kind of self-dare. Conceived while
recording Sparkle Hard with the Jicks at Portland’s Halfling Studio, Malkmus had observed the variety of
acoustic instruments available for use. The idea escalated within a matter of weeks into a full set of
songs and shortly thereafter into a realized and fully committed album. When he returned to Halfling,
Malkmus drew from a whole new musical palette—including a variety of Afghani instruments—to support
an ache both quizzical and contemporary. Stephen Malkmus isn’t one of those “hung up” musicians one
reads about so frequently these days, sequestered in a jungle room of the heart. The jukebox in
Malkmus’s private grotto remains fully updated. Not only is the artist present, but he’s on Twitter.
It’s hard to call Traditional Techniques “long awaited,” because Stephen Malkmus just put out an album
last year, but it’s also exactly that. While he may have taken his sweet time in jumping on the folk music
boom, surely there are those among us who have fantasized about how lovely it might sound if SM would
just get with the times. And it sounds like all that and beyond. Set a day or two aside to transcribe the
lyrics like the Dylanlogists of yore and vibe on the shape of folk to come with Stephen Malkmus.
Selections:
1. ACC Kirtan
2. Xian Man
3. The Greatest Own in Legal
History
4. Cash Up
5. Shadowbanned
6. What Kind Of Person
7. Flowin’ Robes
8. Brainwashed
9. Signal Western
10. Amberjack
KING KRULE - MAN ALIVE! RED VINYL LP/LP/CD IN STORES FEB 21
King Krule has announced the release of his forthcoming album Man Alive!, due Feb 21 via True
Panther/Matador Records.
Archy Ivan Marshall has the world at his feet. After two feverishly received albums as King Krule, plus
another low-key outing under his own name, this extraordinarily gifted 25-year-old from Peckham in
South London adds further depth and substance to his oeuvre with his new, wondrous long-player, Man
Alive!.
It arrives packed full of his trademark sonic ambition and compositional skill, as well as the now-familiar
corrosive lyricism and lurid social observation. Marshall has emerged as a pack leader amongst his
peers, leading the charge in a fearless blurring of genre divisions.
The album was written as a direct reaction to the non-stop energy of touring The Ooz, and then partly
recorded at Shrunken Heads in Marshall’s native stamping ground of Nunhead, with Ooz co-producer
Dilip Harris. Increasingly self-sufficient in the studio, he manned most of the instruments himself, except
for the saxophone, which was played by his trusty Argentinian amigo, Ignacio Salvadores.
Midway through those sessions, however, Archy found out he was going to become a dad for the first
time, and he decided to move up to the North West to be near the mother’s family, ready for the baby’s
arrival.
Archy Marshall’s longstanding love of cinema seeps out in his first foray into directing, with a video for
“(Don’t Let The Dragon) Draag On” that pulls influences from Carl Theodor Dreyer’s classic The Passion
Of Joan Of Arc while still creating a typically wry King Krule visual.
Man Alive! will be available on CD, standard black vinyl, indie record store exclusive red vinyl.
“A masterpiece of jaundiced vision from one of the most compelling artists alive.” – Pitchfork, 9.0 review
of The OOZ
.
“Timelessly cool.” – The New York Times
“He is the kind of storyteller who knows what makes a memorable story: a blend of the everyday and the
unexpected, relatable situations told with perfect timing.” – The New Yorker
Midway sessions for the new album, Archy found out he was going to become a dad for the first time,
and he decided to move up to the North West to be near the mother’s family, ready for the baby’s arrival.
“I should’ve had it all wrapped up before my daughter was born,” says Marshall today with a sheepish
grin, during a return visit to his favourite public house in Nunhead, right across the street from Shrunken
Heads. Impending parenthood came at a felicitous moment for him, as he was beginning to feel trapped
in South London’s suburban lifestyle of all-eclipsing drunkenness and depression, which existing fans will
know was a recurring theme in his earlier music.
“It was just the easiness of it,” he reflects today. “There really is nothing else to do here, especially when
it turns to winter. Everyone I know has jobs, whereas I’d sit on my arse all day sometimes not doing
anything, then I’d go to the pub with them when they finished work. It became a bit habitual. Then, right in
the middle of the record, this big change came in my life that I didn’t really comprehend initially. It was
like, ‘Oh, I’d better get my shit together!’ To be honest, I was really glad to get away from all that so I
could focus on more pressing matters – like keeping a child alive and stuff.”
The new album’s title, he explains, “is an exclamation, about the times we live in. Like, ‘Fucking hell,
man!’” He stole the title from a CD that his uncle gave him back in 2013 with some of his uncle’s own
music on it, and originally planned to use it for his last album. “But The Ooz really summed up that
record,” he reasons, “just this splurge of everything I love – messy and with no direction. I thought,
anyway, ‘Nah, I can’t steal it off him’, but now I’m like, ‘Fuck it, I’m gonna use it!’ I haven’t really spoken to
him about it actually. I just liked the idea of it as an exclamation. It’s kind of like, ‘Oh shit!’, but I didn’t
wanna call it that, I wanted it to be ‘Man Alive!’ – super-Americanized, like a saying from Adam West as
Batman.”
Selections:
1. Cellular
2. Supermarché
3. Stoned Again
4. Comet Face
5. The Dream
6. Perfecto Miserable
7. Alone, Omen 3
8. Slinky
9. Airport Antenatal Airplane
10. (Don’t Let The Dragon) Draag On
11. Theme For The Cross
12. Underclass
13. Energy Fleets
14. Please Complete Thee
Gil Scott-Heron - We're New Again - A reimagining by Makaya McCraven LP / CD in stores Feb 7
In February 2010, the late, legendary musician, poet and author Gil Scott-Heron released his thirteenth,
and last, studio album. First conceptualised in 2005, and ultimately produced by XL Recordings head
Richard Russell during New York recording sessions that commenced in January 2008, I’m New Here
was Scott-Heron’s first album in thirteen years and found him sounding as vital and insightful as ever
before. It was, and still is, a record that reveals something unexpected at every turn; one that found
Scott-Heron pushing, probing and testing the limits just as he always had; always looking forward, still
challenging conventions and expectations.
To mark the tenth anniversary of I’m New Here’s release, XL Recordings will release a unique
reimagining of the album by the acclaimed Chicago-based musician Makaya McCraven, whose work
Russell first discovered after hearing McCraven’s “Above & Beyond,” from 2017’s Highly Rare album.
Equally renowned and revered as a musician, drummer, sampler, beat-maker and producer, McCraven
is widely regarded as one of the most exciting and original voices in modern jazz via a run of records that
were at once genre-defying and redefining such as Universal Beings, Highly Rare and Where We Come
From (CHICAGOxLONDON mixtape) for the highly influential Chicago label International Anthem. As the
New York Times states: “Makaya McCraven has quietly become one of the best arguments for jazz’s
vitality.”
On We’re New Again – recorded and produced in the main at his Chicago home studio with a host of
close-knit musicians – McCraven fuses the kind of killer, improvised live musicianship and electronic,
sample-based approach to recording he’s renowned for with that vocal – the deep, stop-you-inyour–
tracks, worldly-wise voice of Gil Scott-Heron – to enormously powerful effect.
The resulting record is a sonically rich, totally original yet deeply respectful accompanying piece to
Scott-Heron and Russell’s original work and is the latest stage in the evolution of a record that was
previously remixed by Jamie xx in 2011 for the ground-breaking collaborative album, We’re New Here.
“Mr. McCraven, a Chicago-based drummer, producer, and beat maker, has quietly become one of the
best arguments for jazz’s vitality.” – New York Times
Makaya McCraven tour:
January 10th
NYC Winter Jazzfest Marathon, Webster Hall, New York, NY, USA Makaya McCraven “In These Times”
January 11th
NYC Winter Jazzfest Marathon, Webster Hall, New York, NY, USA Makaya McCraven “We’re New Again,
A Tribute To Gil Scott Heron”
January 15th New Morning, Paris, France
January 16th l’Aeronef, Lille, France
January 17th Brussels Jazz Festival, Brussels, Belgium
January 18th We Jazz, Helsinki, Finland
It all began, of course, with Gil Scott-Heron’s birth in Chicago in 1949. A new 2020 chapter is also rooted
in that city, with drummer, beat scientist and multi-instrumentalist Makaya McCraven and We’re New
Again, McCraven’s bold, reimagining of I’m New Here.
Richard Russell is the curator and constant throughout the whole process, pulling out threads and ideas
that shine a light back on Gil’s music. Makaya McCraven appeared on Russell’s always on-point radar in
2017 with the release of Highly Rare, an album made in McCraven’s signature style of sampling his own
live improvisations and remaking the music through Ableton.
Hearing McCraven’s music ahead of the imminent 10th anniversary of I’m New Here gave Russell an
idea: to approach the drummer about remaking the record in his own style. “I would never have gone out
and looked for someone to do this record. If it wasn’t Makaya, it wasn’t going to be anyone,” he says.
Selections:
Special Tribute (Broken Home
pt.1)
I’m New Here
Running
Blessed Parents
New York is Killing Me
The Patch (Broken Home pt.2)
People of The Light
Being Blessed
Where Did the Night Go
Lily Scott (Broken Home pt.3)
I’ll Take Care of You
I’ve Been Me
This Can’t Be Real
Piano Player
The Crutch
Guided (Broken Home pt.4)
Certain Bad Things
Me and the Devil
The Pale Saints - The Comforts Of Madness Ltd Ed Clear Vinyl 2 LP / Standard LP / 2 CD IN STORES JAN 17
4AD’S FIRST ALBUM OF THE NINETIES, THE COMFORTS OF MADNESS BY PALE SAINTS, IS RECEIVING A LONG OVERDUE
REAPPRAISAL ON THE OCCASION OF IT’S 30TH ANNIVERSARY. THE REISSUE INCLUDES REMASTERED AUDIO AND A BONUS DISC
OF RARITIES.
On the eve of a post-Thatcherite Britain, the Pale Saints, alongside the likes of Lush, Ride and Slowdive, were ushering in a new wave of British
indie. And in 4AD, they found a perfect home for their music – an exciting & undeniable meld of noise and dream-pop.
Their 1990 debut album, The Comforts of Madness, didn’t disappoint, now standing as one of the best of its era. Pitchfork placed it in their recent piece on The Best 50 Shoegaze Albums Of All Time saying, “There’s a restless urgency, particularly when the volume swells and the rhythms intensify. That energy not only keeps (it) vital, it emphasizes Pale Saints’ inventiveness, how they channelled softness and rage into something distinctive.”
30 years later, and The Comforts of Madness is finally getting the reissue treatment. A faithful LP repress is being released as well as a double CD edition and a limited, one-time press double LP edition on clear vinyl, both coming with a bonus disc of previously unreleased demos and the band’s only Peel Session, recorded in 1989.. All formats include remastered audio.
Pale Saints were formed in Leeds in 1987 by singer/bassist Ian Masters, guitarist Graeme Naysmith and drummer Chris Cooper. Part of a new generation of ‘shoegazing’ groups inspired by My Bloody Valentine, Ivo sent them into the studio with producers Gil Norton and John Fryer; the result was the three-song EP Barging Into the Presence Of God, released in September 1989. The debut followed in 1990.
“The Pale Saints’ quirky legacy rests in their debut; the variety and freshness of The Comforts of Madness, makes it a shoegazing classic.” – Spectrum Culture
“Ian Masters and the crew successfully combine dream-pop, rock, pop, and shoegaze all into one mix and come out with a loud of fuzzy hooks and catchy melodies.” – Sputnik Music
Selections:
LP
A1 Way The World Is, A2 You Tear The World In Two, A3 Sea of Sound, A4 True Coming Dream, A5 Little Hammer
B1 Insubstantial, B2 A Deep Sleep For Steven, B3 Language of Flowers, B4 Fell From The Sun, B5 Sight Of You, B6 Time Thief
Limited 2xLP / 2xCD
A1/1 Way The World Is, A2/2 You Tear The World In Two, A3/3 Sea of Sound, A4/4 True Coming Dream, A5/5 Little Hammer
B1/6 Insubstantial, B2/7 A Deep Sleep For Steven, B3/8 Language of Flowers, B4/9 Fell From The Sun, B5/10 Sight Of You, B6/11 Time Thief
C1/1 Sight Of You (Original Woodhouse Studio Version) *, C2/2 Way The World Is (Woodhouse Studio LP Demo) *, C3/3 Language of Flowers (Woodhouse Studio LP Demo) *, C4/4 You Tear The World In Two (Woodhouse Studio LP Demo) *, C5/5 Fell From The Sun (Woodhouse Studio LP Demo) *, C6/6 A Deep Sleep For Steven (Woodhouse Studio LP Demo) *, C7/7 Time Thief (Woodhouse Studio LP Demo) *
D1/8 Sea of Sound (Woodhouse Studio LP Demo) *, D2/9 Insubstantial (Woodhouse Studio LP Demo) *, D3/10 Little Hammer (Woodhouse Studio LP Demo) *, D4/11 True Coming Dream (Woodhouse Studio LP Demo) *, D5/12 She Rides The Waves (John Peel Show Version) *, D6/13 You Tear The World In Two (John Peel Show Version) *, D7/14 Way The World Is (John Peel Show Version) *, D8/15 Time Thief (John Peel Show Version)
- = previously unreleased
ALGIERS - THERE IS NO YEAR INDI EXCL LP / LP + 7" / CD IN STORES JAN 17
On the back of their much-acclaimed standalone piece “Can The Sub_Bass Speak?,” Algiers return in
2020 with their third album ‘There Is No Year’, set for release January 17.
Under the direction of producers Randall Dunn [Sunn O))), Earth] and Ben Greenberg (Zs, Uniform [as
featured on Twin Peaks season 3]), There Is No Year encompasses future-minded post-punk R&B from
the trapped heart of ATL, where they began, industrial soundscapes à la 4AD-era Scott Walker or Iggy &
Bowie’s Berlin period and something like the synthetic son of Marvin Gaye and Fever Ray.
The album was recorded over the past year by childhood friends and Atlanta natives Franklin James
Fisher, Ryan Mahan and Lee Tesche, as well as drummer Matt Tong, in New York.
Those aware of the ideals of this outspoken four-piece will find their latest direction on There Is No Year
traversing unprecedented ground. Coming off two years of nonstop world-touring for their critically
acclaimed second album, The Underside of Power—including Central and Eastern Europe, the Baltic
States and the Balkans, where they have established a rabid following; an extended stint opening for
Depeche Mode in huge stadiums such as the 75,000-capacity Olympiastadion in Berlin; as well as
Glastonbury 2019—There is No Year solidifies and expands upon the doom-laden soul of their
foundation, toward an even vaster, genre-reformatting sound, one somehow suspended in the amber of
“a different era,” as described by guitarist Lee Tesche.
The clip for album track Dispossession was filmed in the Noisy le Grand commune in the eastern
Suburbs of Paris amidst modern architectural landmarks such as Le Palacio d’Abraxas and Les Arènes
de Picasso – and including images from the band’s visit to Algiers during the uprising in March 2019—
“Dispossession” captures one thread of Algiers’ expansive, future-oriented new body of work. The song
features additional vocals from Cleveland’s Mourning [A] BLKstar.
Beginning a global tour in Feb. 2020, the band return to Canada April 6th for a date in Toronto ( Baby
G’s) and April 7 in M o n t r é a l (Bar Le Ritz).
Formed in London in 2012 by Fisher, Mahan and Tesche, friends from Atlanta who had been playing
music together since childhood, the band recruited drummer Matt Tong (ex-Bloc Party) and signed to
Matador in 2014. Since, they have toured relentlessly and released two massively acclaimed albums,
2015’s self titled and their breakthrough 2017 sophomore LP The Underside of Power.
From the instant synth-pulse of the opening seconds of There is No Year, it’s clear that Algiers have set
out to stake new ground, internally as much as sonically. At the forefront of this evolution is the centrality
of power housed in Algiers’ multi-instrumentalist lead vocalist, Franklin James Fisher, whose voice and
words provide the backbone of the album, his lyrics sourced entirely from an epic poem, “Misophonia,”
composed during his search for meaning amidst a protracted personal period of anxiety and lack.
“What I wanted to do is create a negative space wherein I can exist and engage but at the same time not
be so exposed,” Fisher explains. He speaks of the record’s perspective as not only a political apparatus,
but an intimate, responsive evocation of his understanding that “nothing is ever what you expect”, that
what might seem for now to be well known or assured is not always so, that there is no safety net. The
effect, as felt on the record, is undeniable: Fisher sounds like he is singing for his life—for all our lives,
really—baring his soul while the walls disintegrate around us.
The pool that he draws on is at once penetrating and exhilarating, wielding its anguish like a mirror at
Medusa, full of hell. Whether he is lilting over post-Lynchian synth-whorl like a spot-lit bandleader, as on
“Unoccupied,” or reincarnating the spirit of thrumming 80s R&B into a proto-no wave dancefloor classic
straight from 2046, as on “Chaka,” there is a tangible emotional electricity to Fisher’s delivery, a personal
valence that makes you want, more than anything, to believe, even while not quite knowing where we’re
headed.
Selections:
1. There Is No Year
2. Dispossession
3. Hour of the Furnaces
4. Losing is Ours
5. Unoccupied
6. Chaka
7. Wait for The Sound
8. Repeating Night
9. We Can’t Be Found
10. Nothing Bloomed
PINEGROVE - MARIGOLD INDIE EXCL LP / LP / CD IN STORES JAN 17
Pinegrove have revealed plans for their new album, Marigold, released on Rough Trade Records
January 17th, 2020.
The band quietly released the album’s first single, “Moment”, in August and Marigold has been eagerly
awaited by the band’s dedicated and rapidly expanding fanbase ever since.
Details of its release come just days after Pinegrove wrapped a coast-to-coast tour of North America -
performing to sold out theatres in front of their largest audiences to date, including stops in Vancouver,
Toronto and Montreal.
Marigold marks their debut album for Rough Trade Records and offers what leader Evan Stephens Hall
calls a “heart-first” perspective. The album begins with a breath and ends with a shimmering exhalation.
In between is an urgent, multivalent meditation – and an expanded take on the blend of alt-country, indie
rock and cerebral humanism that’s inspired the band’s ardent fan community. Those familiar with
Pinegrove will recognize signature elements of the band’s sound: literary yet conversational lyrics,
geometrically interlocking guitars, the dynamic shifting shadows of rhythm and structure.
Formed in 2010 in Montclair, NJ by childhood friends Evan and drummer Zack Levine, Pinegrove have
released three previous albums – Everything So Far (2015), Cardinal (2016) and Skylight (2018) – to
massive critical acclaim, garnering them a widespread and devoted listenership.
Hall named the band after a “beautiful and regulated, yet natural and messy” grid of pine trees on his
college grounds. ‘The Pinegrove’ was a place of introspection, repose and spiritual serenity, and a place
he had established to be creatively fertile. That influence – the peace found in nature and contemplation -
is a theme in his songwriting.
While there is room for ambiguity in Evan’s hypnotic storytelling, its thesis is anchored as always in
radical empathy. This is music that makes a humble yet confident case for inclusiveness and community,
for tenderness and patience in a world that sometimes seems to have other plans. “This is a lifelong
project,” Zack says, “We’re always thinking about how to be better humans and humanists. It’s about how
to keep going, and to respond to the world as it is right now.”
“Pinegrove (recall) some of the most consistently likable rock bands of the past 20 years in their most
easy going phases: There’s the rootsy shamble of early Wilco, the wiggly guitar solos and general
guilelessness of pre-prog Built to Spill. But beneath the amiable surface is an intense work about one of
the most important things imaginable: how to make our friendships really matter.” – Pitchfork
“There’s a confessional quality to the songs of Pinegrove that feels reassuring. The problems that swirl
around Evan Stephens Hall’s head feel universal.” – NPR
Though Marigold was recorded in the same space as 2018’s Skylight—Amperland, the living-roomturned-
studio in the house Evan shares with multi-instrumentalist Nick Levine in rural upstate New York—
the process was markedly different. The band took their time isolating instruments and reaching for a
more high fidelity result. Marigold is designed to sound cleaner, simplified, immediate.
Without the extra noise, Evan hopes the songs can be “more emotionally direct.” He began writing from
“a place of patience,” and the songs became in part about living in that space, about diligently
documenting resolution’s long arc. This is music carved from the earnest tradition of artistic inquiry: a
humble, wide eyed embrace of mystery and beauty in equal measure. It is music that is comfortable
walking the path toward self discovery.
Zack describes Pinegrove as a constellation of “soulmates.” At 30 years old, Zack and Evan have known
each other for 25 years and been playing music together for twenty, communicating via a “telepathic
musical connection.” Nearly everyone they work with are friends and collaborators from way back.
Marigold features Evan, Zack, Nick, as well as Josh Marre (who, outside of his usual guitar duties,
doubles on bass for this record), Sam Skinner, Nandi Rose, Evan’s dad Doug Hall, and Zack & Nick’s
dad Mike Levine. Sam also engineered and co-produced the record, as he has on every Pinegrove
recording since 2015.
Selections:
Dotted Line
Phase
Spiral
Endless
The Alarmist
Alcove
No Drugs
Neighbor
Moment
Marigold
Hairpin
b4 greatest hits vol. 1 - Limited Edition LP IN STORES DEC 6
b4 greatest hits vol. 1 is the very first physical release of the first 10 artists signed to the label plus a
special bonus track from HAWA titled “IPHONE”.
b4 is a future-facing label launched in 2018 that serves as a home for tomorrow’s most relevant artists
founded by Briana Cheng. The music on b4 is a reflection of the genre-smashing landscape, where prior
categories no longer apply. The roster includes singles from HAWA, EVA, BC Kingdom, Velvet Negroni,
Andrea Valle, Skinny Malone, Jelani Aryeh, Gemma Dunleavy, Cubby, Jazz Ingram, Bebi Monsuta, Syv
de Blare, and more to announce.
“b4 – the 4AD sub-label fast becoming a solid spot for forward-thinking hip-hop and R&B.” – Clash
HAWA: Her debut 2018 track “Might Be” garnered immediate attention everywhere from Pitchfork to
FADER (“straightforward slap”) to Pigeons & Planes (“a subtly complex hit”). The track set HAWA’s
strong, direct voice apart from her peers and established her as a contender for NYC’s next rap
superstar.
EVA: You might not recognize Eva Tolkin’s name, but you’ve likely heard her vocals thanks to her
collaborations with Blood Orange and gigs singing backup for Solange and Charli XCX. The Canadian-
“Touch Me,” is a bright, catchy ode to self-love.
Velvet Negroni: The creative alter-ego of Minneapolis’ Jeremy Nutzman, creates raw, experimental R&B
centered on the level of intimacy his voice evokes hybridizing classic soul and West Indian elements. In
the last year, his music was sampled by Kanye West and Kid Cudi on KIDS SEE GHOSTS – “Feel The
Love (feat. Pusha T)” graced Pitchfork playlists and BBC Radio 1 airplay, and he joined musical mentor
Bon Iver on tour.
BC Kingdom: “The future of R&B is dark and moody, and Los Angeles based BC Kingdom is headlining.
This duo is comprised of the effortlessly cool Logan and Chris, who have worked with Solange, collabed
with Mila J, and written and produced for artists including Kelly Rowland.” – Flaunt
Andrea Valle has already caught the attention of everyone from Vogue to Wonderland to FADER for her
soulful R&B with sublime vocals. Additionally, she’s shared the stage with The Internet, Ravyn Lenae and
BJ The Chicago Kid, and has starred in campaigns for H&M and in Black Thought’s recent “Conception”
music video.
Skinny Malone: Hackney rapper Skinny Malone has this sort of magnetism around him. Live shows are
absolute bedlam, with his electrifying persona linking to fan adoration to create mosh pits wherever he
lands.”We Don’t Know Him’ blasts back against the sort of people who dial him up at the 11th hour
demanding space on the guest list.” – Clash Music – Track of the Day
Cubby feat. Madge: This new cut shows just how well they’re able to meld together, demonstrating a
clear swagger throughout the three-minute cut.” – Variance
Jelani Aryeh: “Union Station,” is an ode to leaving suburbia and finding home, not only in a new place,
but in the people you take with you. The 18-year-old artist seamlessly melds Hip Hop, indie rock, R&B
and pop on the bright-eyed and heartfelt track, which is produced by Jack Kolbe. The pair are members
of the rising global collective Raised By The Internet, all of whom met on a Brockhampton subreddit.
Gemma Dunleavy has worked with UK duo Swing Ting, Murlo, DJ Sharda, has written a score for Inside
The Wolf, a contemporary dance piece premiered in Trois C-L – centre de création chorégraphique in
Luxembourg, as well as songwriting features on former Cocteau Twins member – Simon Raymond’s new
‘Lost Horizons’ album.
Jazz Ingram: Rochester-born, Atlanta-raised artist Jazz Ingram has blessed us with his jovial new single
“blue gatorade” – a mellow, summery track packed full of the rapper’s versatile flow.
Selections:
A1 HAWA “Might Be”
A2 EVA “Touch Me”
A3 Velvet Negroni “First Time”
A4 BC Kingdom “Yung Stunna”
A5 Andrea Valle “No More”
B1 SKINNY MALONE “We Don’t
Know Him”
B2 Jelani Aryeh “Union Station”
B3 Gemma Dunleavy “Better 4 U”
B4 Cubby feat. Madge “Bing
B5 Jazz Ingram “blue gatorade”
— HAWA “IPHONE”
Jóhann Jóhannsson - Fordlândia LTD ED 2 LP in stores Dec 6
4AD will release their first vinyl pressing of Fordlândia by Jóhann Jóhannsson on December 6th 2019. Initially released in 2008, this edition is complete with previously unpublished album notes written by
the late and much-missed composer.
Released just as Jóhann’s star was rising in the world of modern composition, Fordlândia is a beautiful
meld of strings and electronics, with two themes running throughout; “This album is like a film with two
separate story lines that at first don’t seem to have a lot to do with each other, but actually they do,” said
Jóhann at the time.
The idea of failed utopias is the album’s main thread, with the title a reference to the Fordlândia rubber
plantation in Brazil that Henry Ford built with grand plans in the mid-1920s but abandoned after a mere
eight years at a huge personal cost and without a single tire for one of his cars having been produced.
The collision of mysticism and rocket science is the other theme explored – made apparent by song titles
such as ‘The Rocket Builder (Lo Pan!)’ and ‘Melodia (Guidelines for a Space Propulsion Device Based on
Heim’s Quantum Theory)’ – a topic Jóhann was fascinated by at the time of writing this album, keenly
studying the leftfield works of John Whiteside Parsons and Burkhard Heim.
Previously only available on vinyl as a small run pressed by Jóhann himself on his NTOV label, this
new pressing comes spread across two 180g pieces of black vinyl and is housed in a beautiful gatefold
sleeve. This pressing has been mastered by Bo Kondren at Calyx and the artwork has been adapted
from his original design by Chris Bigg.
“The second installment in Jóhann Jóhannsson’s trilogy of albums about technology and iconic American
brand names, Fordlandia expands on IBM 1401, A User’s Manual by chronicling, among other things, the
failure of Henry Ford’s Brazilian rubber plant with the power of a 50-piece string orchestra. IBM, which
included recordings of its titular computer, could have been gimmicky or overly conceptual, but the results
were remarkably moving and personal. While Fordlandia is slightly more straightforward musically, its
concepts and emotional impact are much more involved and ambitious. Fittingly, ambition is one of the
album’s major themes, along with failure, mortality, immortality, and technology’s potential for creation and
destruction. Jóhannsson depicts these dualities with portraits of great heights and, mostly, deep losses.
Ford’s doomed project — which he envisioned as a utopia but ended in disaster, with rioting workers and
the development of synthetic rubber, ultimately costing him millions of dollars — provides the thematic
backbone for the album’s major pieces. “Fordlandia”‘s strings and subtle electric guitars are never less
than majestic, but move gradually and naturally from hope to bittersweet doubt over the course of 13
minutes, keeping the intimacy that Jóhannsson’s work has shown since Englaborn. That bittersweetness
wells into sorrow on “Fordlandia — Aerial View”; recorded in a Reykjavik church with no edits, its aching
strings and low-rumbling percussion sound equally devastated and beautiful.
Fordlandia also tells equally fascinating stories of creation and destruction that are less well known than
Ford’s: “The Rocket Builder (Lo Pan!)” takes its inspiration from self-taught chemist, rocket propulsion
researcher, and occultist Jack Parsons, building from strings to precise electronics that overtake the track
with a tense, slightly sinister beauty that deepens into dread thanks to doomy guitar chords. Its foil is
“Melodia (Guidelines for a Space Propulsion Device Based on Heim’s Quantum Theory),” inspired by
German physicist Burkhard Heim, who, despite being blind, deaf, and having lost his hands in a World
War II accident, devised a theory for space travel faster than the speed of light. Named after a research
paper based on his work, the piece soars skyward on a looping pipe organ melody and streaming synths
and strings, offering some hope among the rest of Fordlandia’s gloom. “The Great God Pan is Dead” —
which alludes to Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s poems about the demigod who embodied creation and
destruction for her — crystallizes these dualities, as well as the album’s profound sense of loss, with
choral vocals and rain.” – AllMusic
Selections:
A1. Fordlandia (13.43)
A2. melodia (i) (1:56)
B1. The Rocket Builder (lo Pan!)
(6.25)
B2. melodia (ii) (1.49)
B3. Fordlandia (Aerial View) (4.33)
B4. melodia (iii) (3.12)
C1. Chimaerica (3.22)
C2. melodia (iv) (2.45)
C3. The Great God Pan Is Dead
(4.56)
C4. Melodia (Guidelines for a
Space Propulsion Device Based
on Heim’s Quantum Theory) (9.04)
D1. How We Left Fordlândia
(15.24)
lapsley - These Elements 12" Vinyl LP in stores Dec. 6
These Elements is Holly ‘Låpsley’ Fletcher’s brand-new EP, set for release on November 22, 2019 via
XL Recordings. It is Låpsley’s first new music since Long Way Home, her acclaimed 2016 debut album, a
record that distilled the yearning and heartache of teenage love and cemented Låpsley’s position as one
of the most exciting new artists around the globe. The album was hugely influential (not least on Billie
Eillish, who namechecked it as a major influence on her sound) and would spawn one of the biggest club
tracks in recent years (DJ Koze’s remix of ‘Operator’).
These Elements shows Låpsley leaving behind her teenage years and entering adulthood. Newfound
confidence abounds in the EP’s lead single, “My Love Was Like the Rain,” one of three tracks made with
XL’s in-house engineer, Theo Brown. Its clarity and self-awareness, artistically and personally, is the
product of Låpsley’s years spent honing her craft as a songwriter and producer. It comes accompanied by
a Camille Summers-Valli directed video.
Four years; four elements; four songs. In Låpsley’s own words: “Emotional love, physical desire,
depression and self-worth. Everything I’ve gone through in the last four years is in these four songs.” A
powerful statement on womanhood, These Elements begins to establish Låpsley as a voice of her
generation. It is a glimpse of the brave new direction her life and work are taking.
She says of her forthcoming EP, “Emotional love, physical desire, depression and self-worth. Everything
I’ve gone through in the last four years is in these four songs.”
UK import 12” vinyl comes in a screenprinted reuseable poly bag sleeve, with photography by Maisie
Cousins.
“Låpsley dropped one of the best albums of 2016, the still-great Long Way Home, and then disappeared
into the ether. It turns out, the Brit has spent the last three years living a (so-called) normal life, and she
has the emotional scars to prove it. Holly Fletcher (her real name) returns this week with an evocative
synth-pop anthem called “My Love Was Like The Rain.” While Joe Brown’s production is blissed-out and
ambient, Låpsley’s razor-sharp lyrics make it clear that this is anything but a love song.
Remember when you said my love was like the rain,” the 23-year-old begins. “Not the sweet sound after
the drought, but the pain of it hard on your back in a storm.” The “Operator” hitmaker continues to turn
barbed words into armor as the track progresses. “Remember when you said my love was like a rose,”
she sings. “Not the sweet bloom, but the pain as it scratches your hand.” That leads to an epiphany of
sorts: “So I embodied these elements.” That lyric is particularly significant. So much so, in fact, that
Låpsley named her upcoming EP after it.” – Idolator
Selections:
1.My Love Was Like The Rain
2. Eve
3. Ligne 3
4. Drowning
Jack Penate - After You - Indie LP/Standard LP/ CD In stores Nov. 29
Jack Peñate has announced the release of his third album ‘After You’. Over a decade in the making, the
album is set for release on the 29 November and was produced in collaboration with Paul Epworth, Inflo
and Alex Epton.
Jack Peñate recently issued the debut single ‘Prayer’, his first official music in a decade since his
second album ‘Everything is New’ was came on XL Recordings in 2009.
Jack took time away from releasing music to experiment with writing and production, collaborating with
others along the way (including David Byrne’s ‘American Utopia’).‘Prayer’ was written and recorded in the
space of one day when Jack met the producer Inflo. They immediately jumped in a car and drove to
Jack’s garage-converted studio in Oxford where ‘Prayer’ was born, before being finished in New York with
Alex Epton.
World-renowned British artist Eddie Peake created the artwork and directed the music video. It was
shot in the lecture theatre at the Royal Academy of Arts in London with Eddie’s team of dancers,where
they spent a morning improvising and shot the one-take video on an iPhone that afternoon.
‘Murder’, the second track to be taken from the album, is a song of forgiveness and redemption and
another indication of what to expect from the forthcoming release.
With a video directed by artistic collaborator Eddie Peake(who also created the album art) and shot on
iPhone, the video was filmed in Dorset at Winspit quarry (where the stone was taken to create St. Paul’s
cathedral).
““Prayer was made for and with my family and friends. It’s a piece about the unifying nature of loss and
the thread of hope that survives throughout.” – Jack Peñate
The journey to After You was not a straight forward one. Ten years ago, as he finished touring his
second album Everything is New, the south London born songwriter, best known for his hit Torn On The
Platform, walked off stage, got home and realised that he was physically unable to record another album.
All he owned in the way of equipment was a small recording setup and the instruments accumulated
while touring. Having spent almost a year sitting in a studio with Paul Epworth, Peñate was made aware
that there was so much for him to learn to become self sufficient in production skill. He felt he was unable
to fluently speak the language of his art form. “I wanted to be able to walk into any studio and be able to
express what I wanted to achieve using the language for the technical aspects,” he says. Something
clicked inside him. He knew that if he wanted to achieve longevity as an artist, he had to be able to
control the audio narrative of his work.
Many of his influences were writer-producers: Todd Rungren, Shuggie Otis, Arthur Russell and at 27, he
knew it wasn’t too late to learn. He found a windowless and disused boiler room in East London and
spent a month painting it then filling it with his instruments while borrowing what he could to create a
rudimental studio. This was the start of the learning process and he spent his time working out how to
make the sound of a feeling.
The studio became the genesis of a big moment in music. Label-mates Sampha, SBTRKT and The xx
worked there, as did Wild Beasts and other friends and artists who dropped by the open house studio.
Although he had set the canvas for a handful of other artists, he decided not to enjoy the fruits of his
labour. “I played a show with The xx in New York and just didn’t come home.”
Where the studio had been social, New York allowed Jack to strip himself back to his original place of
creativity. Growing up he was insular, writing songs in his bedroom with just a guitar and a four-track. In
New York he moved around, always finding apartments with pianos in them, diving into a loneliness that
encouraged him to find a creative sweet spot. Once back in London he bought a flat, and continued to
be alone, turning it into a tiny studio. A few of the songs written here have made it onto After You – in a
new iteration at least.
If Peñate’s ambition was to be able to make a sound that sounded like a feeling felt, and to be able to
master studio production, and to be able to have longevity in his career, then it’s safe to say that with
After You, that ambition has been realized.
Selections:
1.Prayer
2. Loaded Gun
3. Round and Round
4. Cipralex
5. Murder
6. Gemini
7. Let Me Believe
8. GMT
9. Ancient Skin
10. Swept To the Sky
FKA twigs - MAGDALENE Indies Excl Coloured Vinyl / Black Vinyl / CD in stores Nov. 8
FKA twigs has ended months of speculation by announcing details of her highly anticipated second
album. Titled MAGDALENE, the album is released on 8 November 2019 and is the follow up to her
critically acclaimed Brit Award and Mercury Prize nominated debut LP1 (2014, Young Turks).
Created in a period where her confidence was knocked following heartbreak and laparoscopic surgery,
MAGDALENE is the sound of twigs reconfiguring, emotionally and physically. As she sings on ‘Mary
Magdalene’, the MAGDALENE album track that opened her highly-praised, sold-out live shows earlier in
the year, “A woman’s time / A woman’s work / A woman’s time to embrace / She must put herself first”.
MAGDALENE is produced by FKA twigs and, as with LP1, the recording process has been directed by
her at every stage. It was recorded between London, New York and Los Angeles over the last three years
and, as previously reported, features major contributions from Nicolas Jaar alongside a host of other
collaborators. MAGDALENE sees FKA twigs creating a whole new artistic universe and it is, without
doubt, her most masterful, innovative work to date.
Coinciding with the MAGDALENE news, FKA twigs released the second single. Titled ‘holy terrain’, it
features Atlanta superstar Future alongside production from FKA twigs, Skrillex and Jack Antonoff.
Continuing a run of past and forthcoming rap collaborations, it’s set to build on the huge global success
of her appearance on A$AP Rocky’s ‘Fukk Sleep’ (from his 2018 Testing album); a track for which she
co-directed the music video, amassing over 16 million views to date. ‘holy terrain ft. Future’ is the second
track to be lifted from the album, following lead track ‘cellophane’ earlier this year, and is another
seductive glimpse of what fans can expect from MAGDALENE.
Meanwhile, FKA twigs recently announced an extensive set of North American MAGDALENE tour
dates. Originally launched with a run of sold out shows in Los Angeles, New York, Berlin, London and
Sydney in May 2019, the MAGDALENE live experience weaves a tapestry of sound, performance,
costume, pole dancing, Wushu, set design and lighting, and sees FKA twigs cementing herself as one of
the most creative and experimental artists, performers, and directors of her generation.
Dates include November 2 and 3 at Vancouver’s Vogue Theatre and November 17 at Rebel in Toronto.
Currently on the cover September’s i-D Magazine, there is a multi-page feature in Vogue’s October
issue, television appearances and more.
Twigs is a cultural figure outside of the music realm as well: appearing in the feature film “Honey Boy”
out 11/8/19, being named a creative director for Nike, and starring in a viral Spike Jonze-directed Apple
ad.
“FKA Twigs didn’t just launch a sound, but a way of moving through it. The British singer, dancer and
producer charges industrial noise with a titillating current, slinks around the dirty edges of pop, and
contorts hymns to a slow-burning ecstasy. Her output has been sporadic, but nevertheless rich.” – NPR
“Since the start of her career, FKA twigs – less a singer than a very modern sort of audiovisual artist –
has drawn on ballet and R&B, on fetishism and body modification. But nothing this outre tunesmith has
done – not even her recent comeback single, Cellophane, and its eye-popping pole-dancing video – can
quite prepare you for the start of this visually intoxicating comeback show.” – The Guardian
A note from FKA twigs
“I never thought heartbreak could be so all-encompassing. I never thought that my body could stop
working to the point that I couldn’t express myself physically in the ways that I have always loved and
found so much solace.
I have always practiced my way into being the best I could be, but I couldn’t do that this time, I was left
with no option but to tear every process down.
But the process of making this album has allowed me for the first time, and in the most real way, to find
compassion when I have been at my most ungraceful, confused and fractured. I stopped judging myself
and at that moment found hope in ‘Magdalene’. To her I am forever grateful”
– FKA twigs, September 2019
Gene Clark - No Other UK Import Original Album Remastered on Black Vinyl, Remastered SACD, Limited Edition Double CD In Stores Nov. 8
On the eve of what would have been American singer-songwriter and Byrds founding member Gene Clark’s 75th birthday comes the reissue of one of his finest works, No Other.
Released in 1974 on Asylum Records, a year after the Byrds short-lived reunion, Gene reached for the stars with No Other; a psychedelic rock,
folk, country and soul record that famously cost a small fortune to make. Although received warmly by critics, it flopped and was soon deleted, a failure Gene never came to terms with.
However, as The New York Times wrote around the record’s 40th anniversary in 2014, “hindsight has burnished No Other, as it has redeemed other albums that went on to be reconstructed as rock repertory, like Big Star’s Third/Sister Lovers and Lou Reed’s Berlin,” with the album now being increasingly recognised as one of the greatest of its time, if not all time.
45 years on and recently remastered at Abbey Road, 4AD are giving No Other the reappraisal it deserves. The original eight track album is being released on both CD and LP, while a limited run double CD edition in a hardbound book cover is also coming which includes a bonus disc of alternate studio versions of each track plus a recording of “Train Leaves Here This Morning” (an Eagles hit in 1972, written by Gene and Eagles founding member Bernie Leadon).
Selections:
No Other (Remastered)
1. Life’s Greatest Fool, 2. Silver Raven, 3. No Other, 4. Strength Of Strings, 5. From A Silver Phial, 6. Some Misunderstanding, 7. The True One, 8. Lady Of The North No Other (Sessions 1)
1. From A Silver Phial (Version 4), 2. Silver Raven (Version 2), 3. Some Misunderstanding (Version 3), 4. Life’s Greatest Fool (Version 2), 5. Train Leaves Here This Morning (Version 2), 6. Lady Of The North (Version 2), 7. The True One (Version 2), 8. Strength Of Strings (Version 2), 9. No Other (Version 2)
No Other (Sessions 2)
1. From A Silver Phial (Version 1), 2. Life’s Greatest Fool (Version 1), 3. No Other (Version 1), 4. Lady Of The North (Version 1), 5. Some Misunderstanding (Version 1), 6. Silver Raven (Version 1), 7. Train Leaves Here This Morning (Version 1), 8. The True One (Version 1), 9. Strength Of Strings (Version 1), 10. Life’s Greatest Fool (Single Version), 11. Silver Raven (Single Edit)
“No Other is a visionary recording that employs every available studio means to illustrate the
power in Clark’s mercurial songwriting. There are no edges on No Other, even in the labyrinthine,
multi-tracked title track that juxtaposes guitar-driven psychedelia and out jazz saxophones and
flutes with lush vocal harmonies. Even its tougher tracks, such as “Strength of Strings,” that
echoes Neil Young’s “Cowgirl in the Sand,” melodically, delivers an alluring, modal. No Other
remains ripe for continued (re)discovery by succeeding generations of music fans.” – AllMuisc
Gene Clark - No Other Limited Deluxe Boxset w/ Silver Vinyl LP, 7”, 3 SACDs, Blu-ray & 80 Page Hardbound Book Instores Nov. 8
“One of the greatest albums ever made. Initially celebrated for its obscurity, No Other is now celebrated for its magnificence. It was in every way a magnum opus: epic, sprawling, poetic, choral, rococo.” – The Guardian UK
On the eve of what would have been American singer-songwriter and Byrds founding member Gene Clark’s 75th birthday comes the reissue of
one of his finest works, No Other.
Recorded at the Village Recorder in West Hollywood and produced by Thomas Jefferson Kaye, No Other was originally released in 1974 on Asylum Records. Reaching for the stars, Gene delivered a visionary record of psychedelic rock, folk, country and soul which famously cost a small fortune to make. Although warmly received by critics, No Other was a commerical failure and was subsequently deleted shortly after.
However, as The New York Times wrote around the record’s 40th anniversary in 2014, “hindsight has burnished No Other, as it has redeemed other albums that went on to be reconstructed as rock repertory, like Big Star’s Third/Sister Lovers and Lou Reed’s Berlin,” with No Other now being increasingly recognised as one of the greatest of its time, if not all time. Another sign of the album’s enduring charm came that year when feted Baltimore duo Beach House decided to “spread awareness” of Gene’s master work by enlisting friends – most of whom weren’t born when
No Other was released – from bands such as Fairport Convention, Fleet Foxes and Grizzly Bear to tour the album note-for-note in both the UK and the US.
45 years on and recently remastered at Abbey Road, 4AD are giving No Other the reappraisal it deserves. Here is an ultra rare, super deluxe boxset edition that has been lovingly curated and is the edition that fans have been waiting decades for.
An extremely limited item, the box contains the LP pressed on silver vinyl, three SACDs (the original album in an authentic Japanese vinyl replica sleeve plus two more discs of session mixes), an exclusive 7” featuring a recording of “Train Leaves Here This Morning” (an Eagles hit in 1972, written by Gene and Eagles founding member Bernie Leadon), a comprehensive Blu-Ray disc which includes HD versions of all tracks, a stunning 5.1 surround mix of the album, the original 1974 vinyl master and an exclusive documentary by Paul Kendall (the director responsible for
the acclaimed 2013 film, The Byrd Who Flew Alone: The Triumphs and Tragedy of Gene Clark), and a hardbound 80 page book which features essays, extensive liner notes and previously unseen photos.
A stunning 5.1 Surround mix of this album created for the first time (done by Neil Wilkes and B.J. Cole), and both the in the studio and promotional photoshoots have been located. Furthermore, all the studio takes have been forensically worked on and mixed by the duo of Gene Clark aficionado, author and Long Ryders frontman Sid Griffin and John Wood, the producer famed for his work with the likes of Nick Drake,
Sandy Denny and Squeeze. More than just bonus material, these tracks offer fans an insight in to how Gene approached recording No Other; no track has been edited or composited in any way, allowing for things to be heard exactly as they went down in the studio and before any overdubbing took place.
Selections:
No Other (Remastered) 1. Life’s Greatest Fool, 2. Silver Raven, 3. No Other, 4. Strength Of Strings, 5. From A Silver Phial, 6. Some Misunderstanding, 7. The True One, 8. Lady Of The North
No Other (Sessions 1) 1. From A Silver Phial (Version 4), 2. Silver Raven (Version 2), 3. Some Misunderstanding (Version 3), 4. Life’s Greatest Fool (Version 2), 5. Train Leaves Here This Morning (Version 2), 6. Lady Of The North (Version 2), 7. The True One (Version 2), 8. Strength Of Strings (Version 2), 9. No Other (Version 2)
No Other (Sessions 2) 1. From A Silver Phial (Version 1), 2. Life’s Greatest Fool (Version 1), 3. No Other (Version 1), 4. Lady Of The North (Version 1), 5. Some Misunderstanding (Version 1), 6. Silver Raven (Version 1), 7. Train Leaves Here This Morning (Version 1), 8. The True One (Version 1), 9. Strength Of Strings (Version 1), 10. Life’s Greatest Fool (Single Version), 11. Silver Raven (Single Edit)
Documentary
The Byrd Who Flew Alone:
The Making of No Other by Paul Kendall
Exclusive 7”
A. Life’s Greatest Fool (Single Version)
AA. Train Leaves Here This Morning (Version 1)
Lankum - The Live Long Day Double Vinyl LP / CD in stores Oct 25
Rough Trade Records are excited to announce that Dublin four-piece Lankum will release their new
album “The Livelong Day”, on October 25th.
“The Livelong Day”, recorded and produced by John ‘Spud’ Murphy in the Meadow and Guerrilla
Sounds studio, through March and May of 2019 successfully blends alternative folk and psychedelia.
Lankum are about to fully cement their reputation as one of the most unique and talked about groups to
emerge from Ireland in decades.
Lankum honour the sacredness of traditional Irish tunes, but allow them to metamorphose, to grow and
breathe like the heavy, ancient breath of the Uilleann pipes which seethe beneath the tracks of their third
studio album (and second with Rough Trade) The Livelong Day. “Drone is a big part of traditional music
because the Uilleann pipes are indigenous to Ireland, so we’re ramping up that history and taking it as far
as we can.” says band co-founder, Daragh Lynch.
This is the idea found at the core of the universe created in The Livelong Day; expanding and
emboldening, that which is already playing out in history. Alongside the traditional songs on the record,
there are two originals, the haunting ‘Young People’ and the tragic beauty of ‘Hunting The Wren’. The
latter was composed by Ian as part of a writing challenge with Lisa O’Neill, in which Ian gave Lisa the
subject of Violet Gibson, an Irish woman who went over to Rome and skim-shot Mussolini on the nose (it
features on her album Heard A Long Gone Song).
Lisa gave Ian the song subject of the Wrens of Curragh. Mirroring these marginalized women, who
were described as ‘free-thinkers, prostitutes, alcoholics, vagrants, ex-convicts and harvest workers’ and
created their ‘nests’ out of furze in the rough plains of Curragh, County Kildare, is the wren – a bird
hunted and tyrannized in Irish folklore.
Made up of brothers Ian and Daragh Lynch, Cormac MacDiarmada and Radie Peat, Lankum have
gained worldwide acclaim for their first two albums and captivating, often euphoric live performances.
Winners of Best Group and Best Original track for BBC Radio’s 2018 Folk Awards.
It is effortless to connect with the songs of The Livelong Day because it is an album devoid of ego.
Despite the intensive historical and musical research that goes into selecting, writing and arranging these
songs, the rare knowledge that they may have or their intricate musical skill, these songs are never
indulged or overfilled. There is an understanding that If you can play one note, just one note and let it
drag its feet with the weight of feeling, it can make a song even more affecting in its sparseness. “In this
album compared to last, we wanted more percussive elements, more rhythm, more movement but at the
same time we were more confident just going into the studio and seeing what happens, and leaving
space open for experimentation.” While there isn’t a theme or concept as such, there is a tone that runs
through it: “it’s a combination of being desperately depressing and hopeful at the same time.”
Praise For Lakum’s previous Album ‘
Between The Earth And Sky’:
5/5 The Guardian
5/5 fRoots
5/5 RnR
5/5 Record Collector
5/5 Songlines
8/10 UNCUT
4/5 MOJO + MOJO FOLK ALBUM OF THE YEAR 2017
4/5 The Independent
9/10 Louder Than War
4/5 Long Live Vinyl
4.5/5 The Sun
Desert Sessions Vols. 11 & 12 DLX LP / CD in stores Oct. 25
In 1997, Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age) and a handful of friends retreated to the desert of Joshua Tree, CA in order to isolate themselves from the distractions and comforts of their everyday lives. What began as a casual writing and recording session amongst friends has since become a project of legend. Spanning twelve volumes over the course of two decades, Desert Sessions has featured some of music’s most cherished icons stepping out of their comfort zones and collaborating with one another to create some of the most exciting music of their careers.
Ending a 16-year hiatus since its last installment, the most mythical, longest running rock n roll mixtape odyssey in existence, Desert Sessions returns this October with the most ambitious entries yet in its expansive and elusive catalog.
Vols. 11 & 12 (a/k/a respectively as Arrivederci Despair and Tightwads & Nitwits & Critics & Heels) is out October 25 on Matador Records. A limited edition first vinyl pressing includes a one of a kind custom mix & match body swap booklet.
Vols. 11 & 12 were recorded mostly in a six-day span in December 2018 at Rancho De La Luna studios in Joshua Tree, CA, with Queens of the Stone Age founder and Desert Sessions ringleader/producer Joshua Homme enlisting a cast of players including Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top), Stella Mozgawa (Warpaint), Jake Shears (Scissor Sisters), Mike Kerr (Royal Blood), Carla Azar (Autolux, Jack White), Les Claypool (Primus), Matt Sweeney, Matt Berry (What We Do in the Shadows, Toast of London), newcomer, Libby Grace and Töôrnst Hülpft.
The results are eight new songs that embody the legacy of freedom from expectations and inhibitions that stretches back to 1997, when Homme led a first retreat to the Joshua Tree desert. What began as a casual writing and recording session amongst friends—isolated from daily distractions and comforts—has since become a possibly infinite body of work.
Now spanning 12 volumes over the course of two decades (and a total of two documented live performances), The Desert Sessions has featured some of music’s most cherished icons—past players have included Polly Harvey, Mark Lanegan, Josh Freese, Dean Ween, among many others— deliberately removing themselves from their comfort zones and working together to create some of their most relaxed yet challenging work.
For a glimpse into the various players’ reactions to the completed work, check out a Liam Lynch-directed exclusive video interview with Homme at https://desertsessions.ffm.to/voicemails
The tracklist for Desert Sessions Vols. 11 (Arrivederci Despair) and 12 (Tightwads & Nitwits & Critics & Heels) is: Move Together (lead vocal: Billy F. Gibbons), Noses in Roses, Forever (lead vocal: Joshua Homme), Far East for the Trees, If You Run (lead vocal: Libby Grace), Crucifire (lead vocal: Mike Kerr), Chic Tweetz (vocals: Töôrnst Hülpft, Matt Berry), Something You Can’t See (lead vocal: Jake Shears), Easier Said Than Done (lead vocal: Joshua Homme).
Given the project’s emphasis on collaboration and inspiration, Homme previously explained to Consequence Of Sound, “At Desert Sessions, you play for the sake of music. That’s why it’s good for musicians. If someday that’s not enough anymore, or that’s not the reason behind you doing it — that’s not your raison d’être — then a quick reminder like Desert Sessions can do so much for you, it’s amazing. It’s easy to forget that this all starts from playing in your garage and loving it.”
“One of the project’s most impressive lineup of players”—THE NEW YORK TIMES
The tracklist:
Move Together (lead vocal: Billy F. Gibbons)
Noses in Roses, Forever (lead vocal: Joshua Homme)
Far East for the Trees, If You Run (lead vocal: Libby Grace)
Crucifire (lead vocal: Mike Kerr)
Chic Tweetz (vocals: Töôrnst Hülpft, Matt Berry)
Something You Can’t See (lead vocal: Jake Shears)
Easier Said Than Done (lead vocal: Joshua Homme).