Releases
Starcrawler - Devour You - Red Vinyl LP / LP / CD in stores Oct 11
Devour You is the barnstorming sophomore album from Starcrawler, available world wide October 11
from Rough Trade.
Produced by Nick Launay (Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, L7), Devour You takes the
feral intensity of their 2018 self-titled debut and twists it into something grander and more gracefully
composed. With its more elaborate and nuanced yet harder-hitting sonic palette, the album came to life
at the famed Sunset Sound, where the band spent their downtime playing H-O-R-S-E at the basketball
hoop and drinking lots of Mexican Cokes.
Adorned with so many unexpected flourishes—choir-like backing vocals from a local Girl Scouts troop,
tuba and trombone riffs courtesy of guitarist Henri Cash (the band’s 18-year-old musical polymath)—the
result is a selection of songs radiating both raw sensitivity and untamable power.
Heavy and swinging and brutally catchy, “Bet My Brains” shows the psychic kinship at the heart of
Starcrawler’s songwriting. “That song came from thinking about the mole people in New York and Vegas
and the Catacombs in France, and the underground village of people who live in the sewers of the L.A.
River,” says vocalist Arrow de Wilde. “I was fascinated with the fact that there’s a whole other world
happening right under our feet.”
Elsewhere on Devour You, Starcrawler drifts from the dreamy piano lilt of “No More Pennies” to the
rock-and-roll disco of “You Dig Yours” to the pure punk vitriol of “Toy Teenager” (a song about de Wilde’s
refusal to be abused by the fashion industry, and about how “people look at my body and just want to put
me on a platter”). And on “Born Asleep” the band lets their love for country music shine, slipping into a
modern-day murder ballad spiked with pieces of hazy poetry (sample lyric: “I remember when you cut
your lip, sippin’ on a soda can/And the time when you fell and tripped, screaming at the ice cream man”).
As an antidote to the toxic mildness overtaking so much of the city, Starcrawler’s live show has only
become more outrageous over the years. Prone to spitting fake blood and slapping phones from the
hands of crowd members, de Wilde has proven to be a once-in-a-lifetime performer, captivating enough
to command a room with just the widening of her eyes. “We want to put on a real show and give people
some kind of escape from all the shit going on in the world,” she says. “And with the album, I want
people to put it on and feel excited, and hopefully get goosebumps. I always want there to be a dramatic
response.”
The band return to Canada this fall with dates Oct. 8th Vancouver (Fortune Sound Club), Oct. 19th
Toronto (Horseshoe Tavern) and Oct. 22nd M o n t r é a l (Bar Le Ritz).
“Los Angeles’ Starcrawler are retro scuzz-rockers led by freakshow frontwoman Arrow de Wilde, a
bloodthirsty banshee with shock-rock attitude.” – Revolver Magazine
“It’s an aggravated yet alluring impression that presents Starcrawler as a strutting, flailing caricature of
scuzz-rock; one that’s so hyperbolic but somehow accurate, you can’t help but applaud the spectacle,
even if you’re soaked in beer and backwash.” – Vanyaland
“Combining gleefully catchy power pop with sludgy punk rock, Starcrawler carry their own distinct oldschool
identity.” – SF Weekly
Born on the streets of Los Angeles, Starcrawler is a band possessed by the spirit of its own hometown,
every movement charged with a manic electricity. Since forming in 2015, vocalist Arrow de Wilde,
guitarist/vocalist Henri Cash, bassist Tim Franco, and drummer Austin Smith have gone from bashing out
classic-punk covers in the garage to winning the love of such legendary artists as Shirley Manson and
Elton John. They’ve also opened for the likes of Beck, Foo Fighters, Spoon, and MC5, bringing their
unhinged energy to an already-fabled live show—a spectacle that’s simultaneously lurid and glorious and
elegant as ballet. On their sophomore full-length Devour You, Starcrawler captures that dynamic with a
whole new precision, revealing their rare ability to find a fragile beauty in even the greatest chaos.
Selections:
A1. Lizzy
A2. Bet My Brains
A3. Home Alone
A4. No More Pennies
A5. You Dig Yours
A6. Toy Teenager
A7. Hollywood Ending
B1. She Gets Around
B2. I Don’t Need You
B3. Rich Taste
B4. Born Asleep
B5. Tank Top
B6. Call Me a Baby
Big Thief - Two Hands - Peach Vinyl LP / LP / CD in stores Oct 11
Hands, a completely new, fully-realized, 10-song album by Big Thief, arrives just five months after
their breakthrough U.F.O.F., one of the most acclaimed albums of 2019.
In sharp contrast to the wet environment of the U.F.O.F. session, Two Hands had to be completely
different— an album about the earth and the bones beneath it. The songs were recorded live with almost
no overdubs. All but two songs feature entirely live vocal takes, leaving Adrianne’s voice suspended
above the mix in dry air, raw and vulnerable as ever.
Where U.F.O.F. layered mysterious sounds and effects for levitation, Two Hands grounds itself on driedout,
cracked desert dirt.
Anybody who has borne witness to Big Thief in the wild will find songs they recognize here. Much of the
album’s tracks (“The Toy”, “Those Girls”, “Shoulders”, “Not”, “Cut My Hair”) have been live staples for
years. Two Hands has the songs that I’m the most proud of; I can imagine myself singing them when I’m
old,” says singer/songwriter Adrianne Lenker.
With raw power, intimacy, and honor, Two Hands folds itself gracefully into Big Thief’s impressive
discography. This body of work grows deeper and more inspiring with each new album.
Extensive touring is planned for this Fall 2019 and into 2020, including Oct. 15th M o n t r é a l at La Tulipe,
Oct. 16th at The Phoenix in Toronto, which has already sold out, and Oct. 25th at the Vogue Vancouver.
Big Thief had only just finished work on their 3rd album, U.F.O.F. – “the celestial twin” – days before in a
cabin studio in the woods of Washington State. Now it was time to birth U.F.O.F.’s sister album – “the
earth twin” – Two Hands. 30 miles west of El Paso, surrounded by 3,000 acres of pecan orchards and
only a stone’s throw from the Mexican border, Big Thief (a.k.a. Adrianne Lenker, Buck Meek, Max
Oleartchik, and James Krivchenia) set up their instruments as close together as possible to capture their
most important collection of songs yet. Where U.F.O.F. layered mysterious sounds and effects for
levitation, Two Hands grounds itself on dried-out, cracked desert dirt.
In sharp contrast to the wet environment of the U.F.O.F. session, the southwestern Sonic Ranch studio
was chosen for its vast desert location. The 105-degree weather boiled away any clinging memories of
the green trees and wet air of the previous session. Two Hands had to be completely different — an
album about the Earth and the bones beneath it. The songs were recorded live with almost no overdubs.
All but two songs feature entirely live vocal takes, leaving Adrianne’s voice suspended above the mix in
dry air, raw and vulnerable as ever.
Engineer Dom Monks and producer Andrew Sarlo, who were both behind U.F.O.F., capture the live
energy as instinctually and honestly as possible. Sarlo teamed up with James Krivchenia to mix the
album, where they sought to emphasize raw power and direct energy inherent in the takes. The journey
of a song from the stage to the record is often a difficult one. Big Thief’s advantage is their bond and
loving centre as a chosen family. They spend almost 100% of their lives together working towards a
sound that they all agree upon. A band with this level of togetherness is increasingly uncommon.
Selections:
1. Rock And Sing
2. Forgotten Eyes
3. The Toy
4. Two Hands
5. Those Girls
6. Shoulders
7. Not
8. Wolf
9. Replaced
10. Cut My Hair
Kim Gordon - No Home Record LP / CD In stores Oct 11
Multi-disciplinary artist Kim Gordon‘s first solo album, No Home Record is being released worldwide
October 11th on Matador Records.
Among its nine tracks, No Home Record features the new single “Sketch Artist” accompanied by a video
directed by Berlin-based experimental artist Loretta Fahrenholz and includes a cameo from actress and
writer Abbi Jacobson.
Fahrenholz notes, ‘Sketch Artist’ is a haunted car ride. Kim drives as ‘Unter’ Pool summons passengers
throughout nighttime LA. The city drifts by, passengers intermingle in the back seat and Kim’s deadly
stare shocks pedestrians along her route.”
It makes sense that this “American idea” (as Gordon says on the agitated rock track “Air BnB”) of
purchasing utopia permeates the record, as no place is this phenomenon more apparent than Los
Angeles, where Gordon was born and recently returned to after several lifetimes on the east coast.
It was a move precipitated by a number of seismic shifts in her personal life and undoubtedly plays a
role in No Home Record’s fascination with transience.
The album opens with the restless “Sketch Artist,” where Gordon sings about “dreaming in a tent” as
the music shutters and skips like scenery through a car window.
Songs discover themselves as they unspool, each one performing a test of the medium’s possibilities
and limits. Her command is astonishing, but Gordon’s artistic curiosity remains the guiding force behind
her music.
“Even Earthquake,” perhaps the record’s most straightforward track embodies this mood; Gordon’s
voice wavering like watercolor: “If I could cry and shake for you / I’d lay awake for you / I got sand in my
heart for you,” guitar strokes blending into one another as they bleed out across an unstable page.
Front to back, No Home Record is an expert operation in the uncanny. You don’t simply listen to
Gordon’s music; you experience it.
No Home Record was produced largely by Justin Raisen (Charli XCX, Ariel Pink, Sky Ferreira) at
Sphere Ranch in Los Angeles, along with contributions from Shawn Everett (Jim James, The War on
Drugs) and composer/filmmaker Jake Meginsky (L’appel Du Vide, ‘Milford Graves Full Mantis’). Gordon’s
solo debut album’s title is a nod to the French-Belgian director Chantal Akerman’s film No Home Movie.
““The godmother of grunge.” – T: The New York Times Style Magazine
““Sketch Artist” reinforces Kim Gordon as a malleable artist who, nonetheless, sounds only like Kim
Gordon.” – NPR
“On “Sketch Artist,” Gordon never fights the noise that engulfs her anodyne monotone—instead, she
accepts the disquiet.” – Pitchfork
‘Why a solo record? And why now?,’” Gordon mused of the upcoming solo debut. “I don’t know, but it
wouldn’t have happened without the persistence of Justin Raisen. Living in LA the last few years it feels
like home, but the transience of the place makes it feel sometimes like no home.”
Since co-founding Sonic Youth in 1981, Kim Gordon has remained at the nexus of music, fashion, art and
(more recently) books and film. In the past few years alone, Gordon has debuted in the #1 spot on the
NY Times Bestseller List with her 2015 memoir Girl In A Band, acted alongside Joaquin Phoenix and
Jonah Hill under the direction of Gus Van Sant (in 2018’s “Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far On Foot”),
released music and performed as one half of Body/Head alongside Bill Nace, and opened multiple soloexhibitions
at internationally renowned museums.
Selections:
1. Sketch Artist
2. Air BnB
3. Paprika Pony
4. Murdered Out
5. Don’t Play it
6. Cookie Butter
7. Hungry Baby
8. Earthquake
9. Get Yr Life Back
Girl Band - The Talkies Indie Excl LP / LP / CD in stores sept 27
Girl Band are happy to announce their new album “The Talkies” releasing through Rough Trade
Records on September 27th, 2019. The album was produced by the band’s own Daniel Fox and recorded at Ballintubbert House, Ireland.
This is the follow up to their debut album “Holding Hands with Jamie” that came out four years ago almost to the day.
“The Talkies” was recorded in November 2018 at Ballintubbert House, a stately home on the outskirts of Dublin “a few pay grades above what we’re used to”. The alien construction of Ballintubbert and its corridors help to navigate Girl Bands cataclysmic sound within a world of its own.
Bandmember Alan Duggan underlines this thought: “In many ways the idea behind the album was to make an audio representation of the house” -Daniel continues – “We recorded all the drums twice: once on the landing and once in the cellar, and during production we could actually cut in between both these sounds.”
Daniel with his feet in both camps as musician and producer explains: “After we cancelled the last tour we weren’t really writing together as much anymore so we were more into demoing and writing down parts then cutting them up, collaging them together in the computer and reconfiguring them that way”.
The first track released from the album is Shoulderblades, which made it to NPR ‘s Best Song’s of 2019 So Far. Sonically, the track’s landscape vacillates from a dissonant, distant horizon to a threatening “shh!” in your ear. The dark vocal line groove loops back on itself, building an unsettling momentum, caught up by the chugging snare with the ascending / descending snakes and ladders noise rock guitar that is so distinctively Girl Band.
The video for Shoulderblades is directed by long-time collaborator Bob Gallagher, whose previous work with the band won him Best Irish Music Video at the Cork Film Festival and he was nominated for best director at the 2016 Berlin Music Video awards.
Bob on the video “I think it’s a real testament to the creative spirit of the band that they encouraged me to go outside my comfort zone and attempt to make something with no props or set dressing or conventional narrative, and to try and articulate an idea with dance and movement. In Oona we found an incredible co-conspirator, I couldn’t imagine any other dancer being able to bring that combination of beauty and violence to the video.”
““This one is a return to their all-consuming form, and its gnarly, acetic underbelly makes most other “indie” rock feel like child’s play.” – Stereogum
Selections:
A1. Prolix A2. Going Norway A3. Shoulderblades A4. Couch Combover A5. Aibophobia A6. Salmon of Knowledge
B1. Akineton B2. Amygdala B3. Caveat B4. Laggard B5. Prefab Castle B6. Ereignis
Efterklang -Altid Sammen LP / CD in stores Sept. 27
Seven years after their last album release, Efterklang make a welcome return with a fifth studio record
Altid Sammen. The album is prefaced by lead single ‘Vi er uendelig’.
Altid Sammen (meaning “always together”) is deep and sonorous, steeped in the sonic experimentation that has long been their trademark since Tripper, the Danes’ 2004 debut. As bold and ambitious in scope as their last collection of songs, Piramida, Casper Clausen (vocals), Mads Brauer (synths, electronics) and Rasmus Stolberg (bass) have taken another creative U-turn, this time fusing baroque instrumentation with their signature expansive sound.
The video for Altid Sammen album opener ‘Vi er uendelig’ (“We are infinite”) was directed by Andreas Koefoed (behind the band’s film The Ghost Of Piramida), and features a fellow Dane, the model and photographer Helena Christensen. The clip is an homage to an iconic Johnny Hallyday TV performance from 1964.
In support of Altid Sammen, Efterklang will perform the album in its entirety the day after release during a sold-out headline show at Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie.
Touring continues for the remainder of 2019 with North American shows coming in early 2020.
Press confirmed in NPR, Pitchfork, The New York Times and more.
Efterklang’s last release, Piramida, centred around a ghost town in the Arctic, was a grand and all- encompassing project that spawned a movie, live album and a series of unforgettable shows (including a live debut at the Sydney Opera House). Their final performance in Sønderborg – the southern Danish town where the band grew up – marked a closing of a chapter, for Piramida and for Efterklang.
“We needed a break from the album and touring routine, and we needed a break from Efterklang,” says Clausen. “After the Sønderborg show, things felt very exciting – and a bit scary too. We could think freely, and move in new directions again, just focusing on the things that excited the 3 of us.”
That break saw the trio explore projects outside of the group’s confines. Together they co-wrote and performed an opera with friend and composer Karsten Fundal (LEAVES, The Colour Of Falling) as part of the Copenhagen Opera Festival. Meanwhile, Clausen, Brauer and Stolberg reunited with Efterklang’s touring drummer Tatu Rönkkö for a new band, Liima. In sharp contrast to Efterklang, they scaled down the music process, creating songs in a day, and released two records of icy, grand electronic pop, ii (2016) and 1982 (2017).
What lured them back as Efterklang was another off-kilter collaboration, this time with B.O.X, a Belgian ensemble founded by lute player Pieter Theuns that performs new music with baroque orchestration. Initially invited by Theuns to compose music for a joint performance, the experience inspired and invigorated the trio to return to the studio for a new Efterklang album proper. For perhaps the first time in the band’s history, they took a less-is-more approach to Altid Sammen, engaging on a more primal and emotional level. The album also sees the trio break from tradition with Clausen singing in his mother tongue some of his most personal lyrics thus far.
“Altid Sammen’s songs are about belief and togetherness,” Clausen says. “Not in a religious way – none of us are believers of a defined religion. The words are searching for meaning in intimate relationships, in nature, in death and eternity. The bonds we create; to gather, hold hands, sing or share a moment together. We’re all connected, across nations, age, sex and gender. We come together with all of our backgrounds, and we move apart in all sorts of directions, always together.”
Selections:
A1 Vi er uendelig
A2 Supertanker
A3 Uden ansigt
A4 I dine øjne
A5 Hænder der åbner sig
B1 Verden forsvinder
B2 Under broen der ligger du
B3 Havet løfter sig
B4 Hold mine hænder
Velvet Negroni - Neon Brown LP / CD in stores Aug. 30
Minneapolis-based experimental R&B vocalist and songwriter Velvet Negroni has announced his
forthcoming 4AD debut album NEON BROWN out August 30th.
Velvet Negroni is the alter-ego of creative polymath Jeremy Nutzman. Raised in an outer suburb of the
Twin Cities, Jeremy – a black kid adopted into a white evangelical Christian family – split his formative
years between classical piano lessons and late night jam sessions.
That duality permeates every corner of his music, with forthcoming album NEON BROWN thriving in the
borderlands between indie rock and R&B.
Since touring with close friend Bon Iver, Nutzman notched writing credits for Kanye West and Kid Cudi
ahead of his debut single releases on NYC label b4 in 2018. Now, alongside prolific co-producers
Psymun (Young Thug, Juice WLRD, The Weeknd) and Tickle Torture, Nutzman’s new releases transcend
the borders between his often polarised influences, bringing R&B slow jams and nods to hometown hero
Prince with guitar licks and full band energy.
With ‘CONFETTI’, Nutzman’s first reveal from the album is a reflective, slow-burning R&B track, pairing
warm ambient synths with downtempo percussion and haunting vocal performance alongside visuals
directed by Isaac Gale & Velvet Negroni.
Velvet Negroni will be on the road throughout 2019, including dates supporting Tame Impala that kick
off Toronto July 26th at The Budweiser Stage.
If you were to trace the sonic contour of Velvet Negroni’s debut album, NEON BROWN, you might end
up with something resembling a map to his island of one. It’s a singular place, with the squeak and thrum
of guitar strings looped over drum machine beats accented by steely marimbas, all creating a pocket for
one of the most authentic and original artistic voices ever committed to tape.
“Lush in its atmosphere but brutally cold in its delivery, “CONFETTI” is a warped invitation into the
gorgeous contradictions of Velvet Negroni.” – FADER
“Nutzman’s vocals fluctuate between a choppy Reggae-inspired delivery and a smooth, enveloping
melody. The juxtaposition of man and machine is transfixing.” AFROPUNK
“Things should get very interesting moving forward.” – Star Tribune (Minneapolis)
In the last year, his music was sampled by Kanye West and Kid Cudi on ‘Feel The Love (ft. Pusha T)’,
graced Pitchfork playlists and had BBC Radio 1 airplay, and he has joined musical mentor Bon Iver on
tour. On NEON BROWN, Velvet Negroni is a griot relaying the life and times of his own island of one as
he rhymes in double time, or hiccups and la-las through a break, or croons from a room down the hall, as
it unfolds into another story of lost love, or another joke about lost drugs, as it tries to make sense of a
life spent in the (sometimes harrowing) pursuit of communion. Longtime collaborators Psymun (Future,
Young Thug, Juice WRLD, The Weeknd) and Elliott Kozel (Tickle Torture) produced the album in
Minneapolis. Last year, Velvet Negroni released a pair of singles – ‘First Time’ and ‘Crybaby’ – which
earned an Artist To Watch spotlight from Soundcloud.
Turns out what sounds like a lonely island is in fact the city of Minneapolis. Velvet Negroni grew up in an
outer suburb of the Twin Cities as Jeremy Nutzman, a black kid adopted into a white evangelical
Christian family. His fundamentalist missionary of a mother drove him to virtuosity, both as a classically
trained concert pianist and a competitive figure skater, but he had to climb out his bedroom window to
play guitar in his first band. When he finally made it out of the church and into Minneapolis’ music
community, he acted out, becoming a full on enfant terrible. Before he was Velvet Negroni, he performed
under a schizophrenic rotation of various aliases, consciously trying to freak out the city’s over-conscious
backpacker rap scene. He spent years getting kicked out of clubs, living in squatter’s apartments and
practice spaces, crashing on couches on cold three season porches, hustling to get by, whether selling
his own ink drawings or someone else’s dime bags. Through his extended delinquency he became the
coolest dude on the scene: He developed an inimitable fashion of derelict chic, and always found a place
to hang, even if he had to literally sing for his supper.
Selections:
1. ONE ONE
2. WINE GREEN
3. KURT KOBAIN
4. POSTER CHILD
5. CONFETTI
6. U.DUNNO
7. CHOIR BOY
8. SCRATCHERS
9. NESTER
10. FEEL LET
11. ECTODUB
Thom Yorke - ANIMA Dlx lim Ed 2 LP in stores Aug 16
A BEAUTIFUL HARDBACK BOOK CONTAINING BOTH THE LYRICS AND MANY STRANGE DRAWINGS DONE IN PENCIL BY STANLEY DONWOOD & DR TCHOCK. >>
ORANGE 180 GRAM DOUBLE VINYL WITH AN ADDITIONAL 10TH TRACK (LADIES & GENTLEMEN, THANK YOU FOR COMING). >>
A 9 TRACK DOWNLOAD (320K MP3, 16 OR 24-BIT WAV) WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE ON 27TH JUNE. >>
PRINTED ONTO ITALIAN FEDRIGONI SPECIAL BROWN MATERIAL PAPER AND SECTION SEWN, THE BOOK IS MADE UP WITH AN EXPOSED ORANGE CLOTH SPINE AND ORANGE GILT EDGING AND FINISHED WITH BODONIAN BINDING. >>
Selections:
1. Traffic
2. Last I Heard (…He Was Circling the Drain)
3. Twist
4. Dawn Chorus
5. I Am a Very Rude Person
6. Not the News
7. The Axe
8. Impossible Knots
9. Runwayaway
The bonus track “(Ladies & Gentlemen, Thank You for Coming)” is available exclusively on the vinyl release of the album.
Spoon - Everything Hits At Once - The Best Of Spoon LP/CD in stores Aug.2
Spanning a career well into its third decade, Spoon has announced a greatest hits compilation to coincide with their enormous North American amphitheatre tour alongside Beck and Cage The Elephant. In addition to the 12 classics assembled onto this single LP, Spoon enters a new classic into the canon: “No Bullets Spent.”
“No Bullets Spent” joins classics from the Spoon catalogue on ‘Everything Hits at Once: The Best of Spoon’, the greatest hits compilation coming out August 9th.
Jimmy Kimmel Live! performance will assist in promoting this specially priced LP and CD.
“No Bullets Spent” showcases Spoon in full creative forward momentum, with its staccato rhythms and spooky film-noir guitar. The inimitable vocals of magnetic frontman Britt Daniel kicking off at the first note, Spoon’s signature is stamped on the track immediately while another level is achieved in Daniels’ seemingly infinite hot streak as a songwriter.
Blending with the percussion wizardry of Spoon co-founder Jim Eno, the song is propelled from the doors of his own Public Hi Fi studio in Austin, TX and is produced by Mark Rankin. Alex Fischel (keyboard) and Gerardo Larios (guitar) add their own dimension to the band whose recent recording sessions point to, perhaps, a forthcoming new album.
“No Bullets Spent” will also be available as a limited edition 7”, with the ‘A Series of Sneaks’ era rarity “Shake It Off” on the B-side. Limited to a small pressing worldwide.
Spoon returun to Toronto on Aug. 11 along with Beck, Cage The Elephant at The Budweiser Stage.
“Spoon are still one of the most forward-thinking rock bands around, and we’re still very lucky to have them.” – Drowned In Sound
“Spoon have been together for over 20 years now, yet it’s clear from this ninth full-length that their inspiration remains plentiful. In fact, Hot Thoughts is a surge of vivid creativity that veers between straightforward indie-pop and more experimental art pop.” – Record Collector
How many rock bands from the past 25 years could get away with a greatest-hits album? Spoon stand alone, with a career-spanning retrospective culled from all over their unique songbook. It’s a flawless compilation of their best-known, best-loved tunes, yet it’s still full of surprises—the only thing you could expect from a band that’s spent their whole career taking people by surprise.
“The idea of doing a best-of came to us a couple times,” Britt Daniel says. “First I wasn’t sure how I felt about it but at some point I remembered that when I got my first Cure record it was ‘Standing on a Beach’. When I got my first New Order record, it was ‘Substance’. That was how I met those bands, and I moved backwards from there but I still listen to those comps. I love a greatest hits LP when it’s done well. It can be a thing unto itself.”
If you were the betting type in 1996, and you were taking odds on which bands would still be on top of their game in 2019—still thriving, creating, evolving, sitting on top of a catalog so rich it could produce a compilation like this—it’s safe to say you could have bought a house betting a quarter on Spoon. They did not seem the likeliest band to make history. Yet they’ve achieved this by refusing to concede a thing to fashion, refusing to pander, declining to repeat themselves, resisting the impulse to play it safe. When they dropped ‘Kill the Moonlight’ in 2002, it already seemed bizarre this underdog band had turned out to be so freakishly prolific and creative. But Spoon were just getting started. They have kept going their own way, moving past their original blueprint and building something new one album at a time.
Selections:
I Turn My Camera On
Do You
Don’t You Evah
Inside Out
The Way We Get By
The Underdog
Hot Thoughts
I Summon You
Rent I Pay
You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb
Got Nuffin
Everything Hits At Once
No Bullets Spent
THOM YORKE Not The News Limited Edition Rmx EP Avail Aug 2
August 2 Thom Yorke releases an EP of remixes for the track “Not The News” from his recently issued
new album, ANIMA.
The UK import white label 12” is limited to 3000 copies.
Accompanied by a “one-reeler,” also entitled ANIMA, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson and available
exclusively via Netflix, Thom’s 3rd solo offering was released July 19 on CD and black double vinyl and is
followed August 16 by a deluxe limited edition 180g heavyweight orange double LP with sewn orange
cloth spine and includes a 40-page book of artwork from Stanley Donwood and Tarik Barri. It also
includes a bonus track, (Ladies And Gentleman Thank You For Coming).
Amina debuted at #1 on the Vinyl chart and #5 overall in Canada, it features several songs debuted live
over the course of Thom Yorke, Nigel Godrich and Tarik Barri’s Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes performances,
ANIMA was written by Yorke, produced by Godrich and features the London Contemporary Orchestra on
all tracks.
Thom Yorke, Nigel Godrich and Tarik Barri recently completed a series of live dates throughout Europe,
Japan, and Korea. They return to North America in September. Andrea Belfi, who supported on the
European shows, will also be joining the North American tour as Special Guest.
Fall dates begin in Canada on Sept. 26th in Laval, PQ (Place Bell) followed by Toronto on Sept. 27th
(Scotia Bank Arena) and Vancouver October 21st (The Orpheum).
- * Yorke said he made Anima after a period of “dreadful writer’s block.” “Things slowed down for a while
and I’m happy I can work again and come back into focus,” he said. “I seemed to spend a lot of time in
my basement, in the studio for two years, and suddenly everything that was kicking around in there is
starting to come out.”
ANIMA marks Yorke’s third official solo album, following 2006’s The Eraser and 2014’s Tomorrow’s
Modern Boxes. Last year, he released his soundtrack score for Luca Guadagnino’s film Suspiria.
“The blinking electronics of “Not the News” round into greater form, with heavy reverb and dramatic
strings, burying a subtle resampling of a drum part from Yorke’s Atoms for Peace band.” Exclaim 8/10
“The third solo album from Thom Yorke is the first one that feels complete without his band behind him. It
floats through the uneasy space between societal turmoil and internal monologue.” – Pitchfork 8.3 – Best
New Music
“Thom Yorke Fully Realizes His Electronic Vision on the Bleak, Beautiful ANIMA.” – SPIN
“If you’re wondering whether Anima is worth your time and money, the answer is a no-brainer. It’s yes, of
course.” – Toronto Sun
Selections:
A1. Not The News (Extendo Mix
by Thom Yorke and Nigel Godrich)
A2. Not The News (Mark Pritchard
Remix)
B1. Not The News (Equiknoxx
Remix feat. Time Cow &
Gavsborg)
B2. Not The News (Clark Remix)
Thom Yorke - ANIMA 2 LP/Indie Excl 2LP/CD in Stores July 19
Thom Yorke releases his new album ANIMA digitally on Thursday 27th June, at midnight. The physical release will follow on Friday 19th July.
Featuring several songs that were debuted live over the course of Thom Yorke, Nigel Godrich and Tarik Barri’s Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes performances, ANIMA was written by Thom Yorke and produced by Nigel Godrich. The album features 9 tracks, with an extra track exclusively on vinyl.
The double LP sets and CD released on 19th July will be followed by a deluxe limited edition 180g heavyweight orange double LP with sewn orange cloth spine, and includes a 40-page book of artwork from Stanley Donwood and Tarik Barri on August 16
Thom Yorke will be performing live across Europe, Japan, Korea this year. North American dates begin in Canada on Sept. 26th in Laval, PQ (Place Bell) followed by Toronto on Sept. 27th (Scotia Bank Arena) and Vancouver October 21st (The Orpheum).
The album’s digital release is accompanied by a “one-reeler,” also entitled ANIMA, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson and set to three tracks from the new album. The “one-reeler” will be available to watch exclusively via Netflix on June 27th. The short film has a run time of approximately 14 minutes. There will be multiple sneak previews of the one-reeler at IMAX Theaters globally on the eve of 26th June.
Yorke said he made Anima after a period of “dreadful writer’s block.” “Things slowed down for a while and I’m happy I can work again and come back into focus,” he said. “I seemed to spend a lot of time in my basement, in the studio for two years, and suddenly everything that was kicking around in there is starting to come out.”
ANIMA marks Yorke’s third official solo album, following 2006’s The Eraser and 2014’s Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes. Last year, he released his soundtrack score for Luca Guadagnino’s film Suspiria.
Yorke defines a one-reeler as “a motion picture, especially a cartoon or comedy, of 10 -12 minutes duration and contained on one reel of film; popular especially in the era of silent films.”
Yorke and Anderson have collaborated several times in the past on various Radiohead music videos, including the 2016 clip for “Daydreaming.” Yorke’s Radiohead band member Johnny Greenwood has composed the original scores for Anderson’s features “There Will Be Blood,” “The Master,” “Inherent Vice,” and “Phantom Thread.” The latter earned him his first Oscar nomination for Best Original Score.
Selections:
1. Traffic
2. Last I Heard (…He Was Circling the Drain)
3. Twist
4. Dawn Chorus
5. I Am a Very Rude Person
6. Not the News
7. The Axe
8. Impossible Knots
9. Runwayaway
The bonus track “(Ladies & Gentlemen, Thank You for Coming)” is available exclusively on the vinyl release of the album.
black midi - Schlagenheim 180 gram vinyl / CD Cassette in stores June 21
Enigmatic London-based black midi bring you their debut album Schlagenheim via Rough Trade
Records on June 21st.
Since forming just over a year ago, black midi — Geordie Greep (vocals/guitar), Cameron
Picton(bass/vocals), Matt Kelvin (guitar/vocals) and Morgan Simpson (drums) — have quickly cemented their reputation as one of the hottest new underground bands, following a string of sold-out UK live dates and surprise shows punctuated by constantly shifting sets and blistering musicianship.
They bonded over shared musical enthusiasms, or “liking messed up things” as Kelvin puts it, including an appreciation for rapper Danny Brown, Death Grips, Deerhoof, Miles Davis and Talking Heads, who they like so much they called a song… Talking Heads. Greep says that “we’ve always tried to make it heavy but danceable, melodic but good rhythms. It is accessible music, there are experimental aspects that we’ve taken from when we went crazy at the beginning, we’ve just reigned it in to make something that is pop music.”
These new tracks were recorded in an initial burst with Speedy Wundergrund producer Dan Carey. In November, black midi retouched older recordings, and laid down eight songs in just five days. Drawing comparisons to groups like Shellac, Can, This Heat, & Slint, that’s only half the story to this deeply uncategorizable music. These songs are slippery creatures, the sparks from a musical unit that’s constantly in a state of flux and development.
Recently, the band played their first North American live shows, were named a standout act at SXSW and sold out several dates in the Northeast, including their first two shows in New York.
black midi will return stateside this July for Pitchfork Fest and more touring.
black midi’s minimal online and press presence, coupled with their uncompromising youth, has caused the music world to gravitate towards them and their indefinable sound. They are impossible to put your finger on, but equally impossible to ignore.
The album is available as a UK import 180 Gram vinyl offering in a gatefold sleeve with lyrics on the centre + collage, slim jewel case CD w/ J-Card insert plus a bonus fold out poster featuring lyrics and collage and a limited edition cassette.
“In the past year, black midi have gone from pub-circuit eccentrics to figureheads of a reputed British rock vanguard, characterized by anxious hooks and lyrics tetchy at London’s transformation into a business class playground.” – Pitchfork
“Almost every song Black Midi performs unfolds in surprising ways, one riff quickly switching to another, one mellow passage blooming into caustic screams and dissonant guitars, songs constantly collapsing in on themselves and being born again.” – Stereogum, “Band To Watch”
“They were one of the most talked about groups at SXSW this year, and for good reason—Black Midi laid waste to every stage they stepped onto and damn near burned the city to the ground.” – Paste, “The 20 Best Acts We Saw at SXSW 2019”
“[black midi is] a group of four prodigiously talented musicians, applying their anarchic internet-age sensibility to their country’s long and proud tradition of intellectual noise-splattered punk.” — SPIN
“The originality, virtuosity and sheer, impossible-to-categorise oddness of Black Midi is a breath of fresh air.” – The Times
“Black Midi are like lightning in a bottle. A rarity. A multifaceted band fully deserving of the furore
surrounding them; from their impeccable musicianship to the originality of their mystique.” – Gig
Wise
“…sometimes they’re post-punk, psychedelic, noise, prog, rock, indie or blues. But they are none of the above, something indefinable and new.” – The Quietus
PICAPICA - TOGETHER & APART LP / CD IN STORES JUNE 7
Rough Trade Records joyfully introduces Together and Apart, the debut album from gorgeous acoustic
outfit PicaPica.
PicaPica features the vocal interplay of Josienne Clarke and Samantha Whates, dual front women who
create powerful harmonies atop layers of texture created by Adam Beattie, “Scotland’s king of softspoken
chanson” and MOBO/Mercury nominated producer Sonny Johns, a tiding of magpies picking
shiny moments of tone and timbre from 60s west coast, sunshine pop, and indie folk.
PicaPica are not consigned to one style or genre, and any preconceptions we may have towards semiacoustic
pop-folk is discarded as we hear their voices overlap in a modern, atonal way, the track having
been influenced by both Brian Eno and Meredith Monk whilst mimicking the tradition of Nordic a cappella
choral music.
It manages to sound both like the ancient echoes of a distant past, with the eerie, futuristic
reverberations of a modular synthesizer.
Together And Apart is about health and heartache, spring and shade, love and loss and life, and
PicaPica are able to balance life’s joys and sorrows beautifully, effortlessly and in continuous harmony,
viewing life’s coloured photographs as imagined through their silvery negatives.
RIYL: Gillian Welch, First Aid Kit, Free Design, Laura Gibson, The Association, Mamas & Papas.
As the old saying goes, one for sorrow, two for joy, and given that PicaPica is the Latin name for magpie,
the absolute stylistic freedom of the album denotes both a melodic bliss and an earthy ache as it pinches
and steals from across genres allowing these eclectic musicians to “build our own musical nest.”
Josienne and Samantha met on London’s acoustic scene over a decade ago, often having to sit through
some pretty painful performances under the hatches of the capitals dimly lit pubs and clubs. They stood
out to one another as two shining lights in the pre-internet gig circuit, “the only way to be seen and heard”
in what now seems like the dark ages.
Rather than being an album informed by ego, the writing partnership of these two musical magpies
allows them the freedom to, in Josienne’s words, turn away from melancholy, letting the songs be a
“lighter and more joyous entity” and “groove and pulse lead.” According to Samantha there is total joy
within the music and anything is an option: “to be free of the confines of an instrument to flail my arms
about and smile and sing with Josienne is a revelation!” From the innocent, playful lyrics of 60s style
prom ballad ‘Teeth and Chin’ (when you’re too open/ the light comes in/ when you’re too open/ all teeth
and chin) to the ravaged, distraught sonic landscape of ‘Opposite Song’ that “drops to a Utopian
situation unspoiled by human ego”, PicaPica can hold the medley of life’s experiences within the most
simple of melodies. Similarly, while ‘SeeSaw’ is the peak of Pica-joy: light, pure and knowing, we swing
then to ‘To K(no)w One’ with its steady, brooding drums, and honing in on Sonny’s bass playing and
production, you can hear how PicaPica’s otherworldly compositions are encapsulated within a seriously
grounded sound.
In short, Together And Apart is about health and heartache, spring and shade, love and loss and life, and
PicaPica are able to balance life’s joys and sorrows beautifully, effortlessly and in continuous harmony,
viewing life’s coloured photographs as imagined through their silvery negatives.
Selections:
Together & Apart
On the Wing
Cast in Stone
Familt, Friends & Lovers
Sucker Punch
Teeth & Chin
Opposite Song
SeeSaw
Village Kids
To K(no)w One
Day to Date Parade
The Weather
Stones
PIXX - SMALL MERCIES LP / CD IN STORES JUNE 7
Hannah Rodgers returns with a new Pixx album, Small Mercies, on June 7. She offered a taste of
things to come with first single ‘Disgrace’.
“This song is about growing up in an ultra-conservative Catholic school which was restrictive and
oppressive,” Rodgers explains. “I think there is a lack of humanity in the way that system works, rather
than teaching empathy and kindness it forces people into a dangerous self-loathing cycle. This is an ode
to anyone trapped in a place they don’t feel they belong.”
Although love lives at the heart of the BRIT School graduate’s second album, it has little to do with
romance. Small Mercies is absolutely not a heartbreak record, nor is it a celebration of new love, or
sisterly call-to-arms or vengeful catharsis. Instead, it is a series of poetic examinations of love across the
experiential spectrum, from the micro (self-love) to the macro (devotional faith-inspired love, love for this
planet), set to a soundtrack that mixes electronic pop and grungy guitar rock with aplomb.
Small Mercies follows the 23 year-old’s debut album, The Age Of Anxiety (2017) – an unsettling synthpop
record fuelled by Pixx’s own debilitating experience of angst – and 2015’s forlorn and folk-edged Fall
In EP. Co-produced by Simon Byrt (who worked on both her EP and debut album) and Dan Carey, it sees
Pixx assuming different personas to examine the damage done by religion, gender-based power
hierarchies and stereotypes, the tipping point of Earth’s destruction and love.
*Summer and fall North American tours confirmed with her Canadian debut at The Horseshoe Tavern on
August 3rd.
“I felt more of a drive to write about certain subjects with this album,” Pixx says. “Man negotiating with
God, God negotiating with man and man negotiating with the planet. I find it hard to have an
understanding of relationships in general – I think everyone does – and the addictive tendency that we
have to look for something that’s eternal is something that intrigues me. So, if you love God maybe what
draws you to that is the idea of something that’s never going to end and that really intense love often
takes place in human relationships, too.”
Selections:
Andean Condor
Bitch
Disgrace
Small Mercies
Peanuts Grow Underground
Funsize
Dirt Interlude pt. 1
Mary Magdalene
Hysterical
Eruption 24
Dirt Interlude pt. 2
Duck Out
Blowfish
SONIC YOUTH - BATTERY PARK, NYC: JULY 4th 2008 - LP IN STORES JUNE 7, 2019
Initially released as a bonus “Buy Early Get Now” addition to the 2009 release of their final album, The Eternal, Battery Park, NYC: July 4th 2008 features material culled from their show at Battery Park’s River to River Festival.
The tracks found on this live release span the group’s thirty year career, available to retailers as a stand alone package for the first time.
“Lee Ranaldo broke guitar strings, bassist Kim Gordon howled and sneered, Thurston Moore stumbled and blinked as he coaxed massive, sustained squeals from his guitar. Electrifying.
The New York noise legends – joined by Pavement’s Mark Ibold on bass – started the night with 1982’s She Is Not Alone before playing lotsa tunes from their newest, The Eternal. Gordon, on her knees and stretching her pale arms toward front-row fans, moaned, “You make me feel so good. You make me feel so crazy.” The sentiment felt genuine… and mutual.[rssbreak]” – NOW Magazine
“In Sonic Youth world little changes. Thurston Moore is a 52 year old man trapped in lanky 20 year old’s body and Kim Gordon is also ageless. They are the sex couple of the noisenik fringe and they still ooze a highbrow NYC cool as they preside over their sprawling noise empire. Thurston still sings with that cool hipster sneer and Kim’s voice is pure sex.The stage set is simple, just bright piercing lights and the band dressed down apart from the effortless glam of Kim Gordon who looks perfect swinging her bass with a toxic cool.” – Louder Than War
“Just when we thought the band was settling down with its last few records, it reaches back to the “Daydream Nation” days with a new album, “The Eternal,” that blends well-placed, drifting melodies with its traditional noise-punk, and slams our ears by playing almost the entire new record on stage. That’s a sure sign that a band is more concerned with moving forward: proudly presenting the new stuff and getting people on the same page with the 2009 version of Sonic Youth. With a band like Sonic Youth, it’s almost impossible to really get into a new record until you see them play it live, because CDs just can’t replicate their live power. Even though Sonic Youth is a guitar band, drummer Steve Shelley really drives the new material. There was lots of tom beats and tempo pushing on “Antenna,” which was a necessary grounding of the song while Moore went crazy sliding his guitar up and down his amp.” – East Bay Times
Selections:
01. SHE IS NOT ALONE
02. THE SPRAWL
03. WORLD LOOKS RED
04. JAMS RUN FREE
05. HEY JONI
06. THE WONDER
07. HYPERSTATION
08. BULL IN THE HEATHER
09. 100%
10. MAKING THE NATURE SCENE
HOLLY HERNDON - PROTO LP / CD IN STORES MAY 17
Holly Herndon’s third full-length album PROTO, out May 17, isn’t about Artificial Intelligence, but much
of it was created in collaboration with her own A.I.‘baby’, Spawn.
For the record, she assembled a contemporary ensemble of vocalists, developers and an inhuman
intelligence housed in a DIY souped-up gaming PC to create a record that encompasses live vocal
processing and timeless folk singing, and places an emphasis on alien song craft and new forms of
communion.
PROTO makes reference to what Holly refers to as the protocol era, where rapidly surfacing ideological
battles over the future of A.I protocols, centralised and decentralised internet protocols, and personal and
political protocols compel us to ask ourselves who are we, what are we, what do we stand for, and what
are we heading towards?
You can hear traces of Spawn throughout the album, developed in partnership with long time
collaborator Mathew Dryhurst and ensemble developer Jules LaPlace, throughout the album, and even
eavesdrop on the live training ceremonies conducted in Berlin, in which hundreds of people were
gathered to teach Spawn how to identify and reinterpret unfamiliar sounds in group call-and-response
singing sessions; a contemporary update on the religious gathering Holly was raised amongst in her
upbringing in East Tennessee.
Since her arrival in 2012, Holly has successfully mined the edges of electronic and Avant Garde pop
and emerged with a dynamic and disruptive canon of her own, all while studying for her soon-to-becompleted
PhD at Stanford University, researching machine learning and music. Her LP Platform closed
out 2015 by gracing year-end lists from Pitchfork, The Guardian, NME, and The Wire. In the
aftermath, Radiohead hand-picked her to open up their European tour.
Just as Platform forewarned of the manipulative personal and political impacts of prying social media
platforms long before popular acceptance, PROTO is a euphoric and principled statement setting the
shape of things to come.
“Shaping the future of A.I.” – CNN
“Ambitious.” – FADER
”There’s a raw, newborn quality as it hums and sputters like a swarm of glitching bees, just trying to find
its mother.” – NPR on “Godmother”
“Multilayered, glitchy beatboxing, human input dispensed with inhuman timing.” – NY Times on
“Godmother”
Holly Herndon operates at the nexus of technological evolution and musical euphoria. The acclaimed
performer and composer revealed in her new single ‘Eternal’, a ghostly transmission inspired by ideas of
eternal love through mind uploading; a modern-day vampire story. Punctuated by grandiose orchestration
and the voices of her Berlin-based vocal ensemble, the accompanying video was constructed from
footage processed from the perspective of an intelligent machine, analysing and searching for a face,
yearning for a connection.
“There’s a pervasive narrative of technology as dehumanizing,” says Holly. “We stand in contrast to that.
It’s not like we want to run away; we’re very much running towards it, but on our terms. Choosing to work
with an ensemble of humans is part of our protocol. I don’t want to live in a world in which humans are
automated off stage. I want an A.I. to be raised to appreciate and interact with that beauty ”
Selections:
1. Birth
2. Alienation
3. Canaan (Live Training)
4. Eternal
5. Crawler
6. Extreme Love (with Lily Anna
Hayes and Jenna Sutela)
7. Frontier
8. Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt
9. SWIM
10. Evening Shades (Live
Training)
11. Bridge (with Martine Syms)
12. Godmother (with Jlin)
13. Last Gasp
