recommendations 
Thursday, 16 May
*Double CD gatefold digipak* "New York, 1990. Guitarists Thalia Zedek (Live Skull) and Chris Brokaw (Codeine) both relocate (separately) to Boston from New York, where a year earlier, bassist Sean O'Brien (Kilkenny Kats) and drummer Arthur Johnson (Bar-B-Q Killers), had moved from Athens GA. These parallel tracks (sub)merge and, fittingly, make beautiful music together. Soon after the four play their first show together, Sub Pop releases the "Car" 7" as part of their Singles Club series. Following a heated game of rock/paper/scissors with other competing labels (Google it), and for Europe, Glitte… Read more
**Jim Jarmusch, Carter Logan, and Shane Stoneback's debut as Sqürl. Deluxe, hand-numbered picture disc edition of 1000 (500 for Europe). Includes photo postcard art taken from Luc Sante's Folk Photography book and download code redeemable from the label** "* SQÜRL is an enthusiastically marginal rock band from New York City who like big drums and broken guitars, cassette recorders, loops, feedback, sad country songs, molten stoner core, chopped and screwed hip-hop, imaginary movie scores…SQÜRL began in 2009 when Jim and Carter teamed with producer/engineer Shane to record some original music for the film … Read more
Stefan Jaworzyn, the legendary underground figure with Whitehouse and Skullflower on his CV, revives his Shock label - home to stacks of releases by Coil, NWW, Ramleh in the '90s - with a discombobulated analog assault on the weirdest dancefloors. Two sides unfurl a barrage of modular bleeps and mescaline flash electronics equally inspired by the linear hypnotism of minimal techno and free jazz aesthetics. A-side 'The Fucker' is driven by a a rugged breakbeat through bracing, atonal maelstrom of sheer, screeching, crisply contoured modular madness; 'Dr Smegmatic' is perhaps more restrained, balli… Read more
Mark Ernestus' fruitful relationship with Senegalese group Jeri-Jeri rolls out a fifth 12" of infectious "talking drum" rhythms, this one voiced by the legendary Baaba Maal, and starring famous griot, chief drum major, Doudou Ndiaye Rose. A-side features the fluid hip slink of lathered drums on 'Gawlo' featuring emotive vocal from Baaba Maal knit with tidiest guitar licks, plus Ernestus' sensitively dubbed version. B-side barrels out with the hi-tempo bounce of 'Lignou Mome', and dazzles with the flurried percussions of 'Ndeye Gueye' featuring master drummer, Doudou Ndiaye Rose - total gold for any drum fetishists.
Sweetly mystical steppers dubs of Om's 'Adviatic Songs' from Alpha & Omega. Spectral traces of the original vocal and guitar licks are propelled by massively swollen subs in two heaving dub version, one vocal, one strickly in dub.
Niche with a Reese bassline? Yes please! Royal T goes large with extra sweet 'n sour synth sauce on his 2nd single for Rinse Recordings. Up top is the club-slaying speed garage rhythms and darkside Reese bass drops of 'I Know You Want Me', and flipside comes with the trapped out lean of 'Koopa Shell', plus the wicked and wild 'Saints' featuring grime hero, D.O.K.
*Includes two newly remastered Fela albums in one package*
**Hand-stamped label and jacket** The Dark Sky trio make an unexpected yet successful detour into deep house avenues for the label wing of New York's Mister Saturday Night parties. With a lightness of touch and experimental bent not normally found in the often staid and hermetic genre, they nimbly realign the sound with classy vision, resulting breezier European styles reminding of Lawrence with 'In Brackets', while '5AM swings wide' with almost 2-stepped garage flair. Flipside, the sparkling-but-dusty jazz percussion and quicksilver edits of 'Voices' recalls classic Pepe Bradock and Shake, but … Read more
Mag // £4.50June 2013 issue of the monthly essential pits their writers in "decoding the word in underground music…from Fluxus to Footwork, John Cage to Corrupted, meta-pop songs to punk mantras, and beyond". There are also features on the upcoming and hugely promising Mississippi Records tour of Europe and a fascinating piece on the fog horn performance at Souter Point lighthouse in Newcastle, England. Jaap Blonk doing the Invisible Jukebox, besides more on the reissue of London Posse's 'Gangster Chronicle' reissue, an interview with etheric Japanese singer, Sachiko, and the noise scene in Newcastle. NSW. All usual news, reviews and listings also included.
"Stripped of partnerships both musical and personal, self-reliance became a survival technique for Scout’, following a period spent searching for liberation and emotional freedom. Over the course of 46 minutes and nine songs, ‘It’s Up To Emma’ simmers, storms and cascades through tales of domestic emotional crises, all of which are immaculately rendered in Scout’s distinctive songwriting style. The dark news that the record brings is good news for Scout’s fans, who look to her to get under the skin and, as if in a trance, live through these songs in an attempt to get everyone a bit of cla… Read more
"Stripped of partnerships both musical and personal, self-reliance became a survival technique for Scout’, following a period spent searching for liberation and emotional freedom. Over the course of 46 minutes and nine songs, ‘It’s Up To Emma’ simmers, storms and cascades through tales of domestic emotional crises, all of which are immaculately rendered in Scout’s distinctive songwriting style. The dark news that the record brings is good news for Scout’s fans, who look to her to get under the skin and, as if in a trance, live through these songs in an attempt to get everyone a bit of c… Read more
FELA KUTI
Johnny Just Drop (JJD) / Unnecessary Begging
Knitting Factory Records
CD // £9.99
Cat. Number: KFR-1014
*Includes two newly remastered Fela albums in one package*
VARIOUS / SOUNDWAY
Kenya Special: Selected East African Recordings from the 1970s & ‘80s
Soundway Records
3LP + 7" // £21.99
Cat. Number: SNDWLP046
*Triple LP with bonus 7" and 8 page full size booklet, plus download code with an extra 8 tracks redeemable from the label* "Soundway Records present Kenya Special: Selected East African Recordings from the 1970s & ‘80s - a treasure-trove of rare and unusual recordings from East Africa. It follows on from Soundway’s much acclaimed African ‘Special’ series that to date has focused on the highlife and afrobeat output from 1970s Nigeria and Ghana. Kenya Special is a collection of 32 recordings (most of which were only ever released on sm… Read more
Bristol's Footwork fiend Addison Groove fuses with its D&B hero, DJ Die on a pair of propulsive riddims. AG takes the lead on 'Keyhole', setting the tempo to 135bpm and banging out a lean, whirring ride melding traces of Dutch Bubblin' and UK Bass. Die takes the lead on 'Hydropump', a funked-up mix of old skool UK hip hop/hardcore and up-to-the-minute bass work.
Kingdom collects the fruits of his recent labour in a mini-album sized shot dancefloor pressure. Easing in with the 4/4 swagger of 'Fukin Jaker', he offloads an in-demand remix of Ciara's 'Goodies', the menacing minimalism of 'Okay To Dance VIP', and his ballroom slayer, 'Stalker Ha (Rap Mix)' for the playas, alongside the R&B lean of 'Timesup VIP Dub' (check for Total Freedom's incredible remix!) and his pirouetting remix of The Dream's 'Appetite'. Yeah mayne, tru story…
The final segment of the Section 25 jigsaw, this is the fourth album which Factory managed to sit on for two years, until in 1988 the record was released out of context, mis pressed and with the usual lack of support from the label. This swansong was pretty well created by Larry Cassidy after the band split in 1986, and there are feelings of dislocation everywhere in this music. From the sad visit to Satie’s Gymnopedies, to the tripping fancy of "Guitar Waltz" via the Kraftwerk inflections of "Shit Creek No Paddle", the sound is still prescient and wonderful, but a lament for what might have been,… Read more
**Purple Vinyl** Mindset come correct with three lean and funky tech-house trax by Goldffinch. Stealthily evolving the styles heard on his Numbers and Audio Culture aces, the Belgian producer squares the tightly tucked, swinging and rolling torque of 'Digital Dysfunction' on the A-side, and gets down to a tuffer techno style almost reminding of Marcel Fengler with the concatenated drive and late night pads of 'Pixel Perfect', while '828' delivers a payload of pendulous subbass swing and minimal percussion reminding of Wolfgang Voigt's Studio One classics.
**First CD issue of this obscure 1981 post-punk obscurity with wicked elements of minimal wave, raucous punk and worldly influence. Includes bonus tracks not heard on the original LP** "An errant project of suburban Los Angeles art collective World Imitation Productions, Monitor was the sonic outlet of four young artists grappling with their terror and amazement in the convergence of the late 1970s punk scene and Southern California's consumerist decadence. As with the collective's visual artwork and events, Monitor blends archaic influences with modern technology into one of the era's most curious a… Read more
VARIOUS / SOUNDWAY
Nigeria Special: Modern Highlife, Afro-Sounds & Nigerian Blues 1970-76 (Part 2)
Soundway Records
2LP // £15.99
Cat. Number: SNDWLP009B
**Gatefold double vinyl edition, features 14 tracks from the source compilation** As this compilation on Brighton's Soundway label adeptly illustrates, Nigeria in the 1970s was a melting pot of different cultural influences, both from African sources and the wider influence of music from other corners of the world - most notably jazz and blues. This double-disc sized compilation draws together 14 tracks that have never before been reissued, offering a unique slant on how we think about Africa's contribution to what has previou… Read more
**Blue Vinyl** Wes Eisold's Cold Cave brandishes two souped-up industrial pops for Deathwish, Inc., the label run by Jacob Bannon of Converge. Much like his opinion-cleaving 'Cherish The Light Years' LP, both tracks are unabashedly arena-sized pop monsters, powering up the heart-racing drum machines and sly jock rock guitar pomp of 'Oceans With No End', and a more swaggering, almost lusty goth rocket called 'People Are Poison'. Quite right.
Handy piece of dreamy, driving techno by the lauded producer and recent Eno collaborator. Working somewhere between Four Tet's more rugged dancefloor gear and the neo-kosmiche techno of the Border Community crew, but with his classy compositional touch, 'Open Eye Signal' hits an uplifting stride primed for heads-down and hands-in-the-air club use or innercity headphone stomps. It's your call.
FELA KUTI
Opposite People / Sorrow Tears & Blood
Knitting Factory Records
CD // £9.99
Cat. Number: KFR-1018
*Includes two newly remastered Fela albums in one package*
VARIOUS
Overdose Of The Holy Ghost Compiled By David Hill
Z RECORDS
2LP // £19.99
Cat. Number: ZEDDLP028
**Ten tracks tracing the "sound of Gospel through the Disco and Boogie eras" courtesy of The Clark Sisters, Sharon Johnson, Dan Greer, Ricky Womack, Elbernita 'Twinkie' Clark, Kristle, The Young Delegation… Double vinyl in gatefold jacket** "Gospel music has often followed the prominent trends in secular music, probably in the hope of widening its audience by giving the subject matter a sprinkling of cool. In the 60s it happened with R&B and then funk-flavoured gospel, the 70s brought sweet soul crossovers, and by 1975 the sounds of early disco had started to… Read more
**Blue Translucent Vinyl - Ships Friday** Lean, atmospheric tech-steppers from the master of his sound. 'Polemic' twysts out a moody 303 sequence with low-riding subs and pointillist hi-hats to guide your flex. 'Oracle' tilts forward with almost Mala-styled halfstep drum programming and sparingly used dub chords at fine slow/fast 'step.
Hard-nosed yet playful experiments with dancefloor rhythm from Japan's Aoki Takamasa, recommended if you like Mark Fell, NHK, etc. Despite its forbidding exterior and opaque, joyless track titles ('Rhythm Variarion 01', 'Rhythm Variation 02', etc), Takamasa's computer constructions are very lush indeed, with luminous, melodically advanced synth patterns and skippy, club-ready rhythms that variously invoke Skam's North-West b-boy roll, Sensate Focus's juddering Chi-house-derivations and, on the awesome 'Rhythm Variation 04', a space somewhere between hip-hop, techno and 2step garage. 'Rhythm Variation… Read more
Oosh; a proper glam garage trident from the Sic Alps straight to your pop heart. 'She's On Top' is an almost giddy high of jaunty riffage, perfectly recorded percussion and sexed-up vocals beamed direct from the '70s; B-side 'Carrie Jean' works stalking bassline and unpredictable, angular riffs with a noirish vibe and stomping drums; 'Biz Bag' shovels coal in the engine and cuts loose with inimitably-timed stop-start sputter.
FELA KUTI
Shuffering And Shmiling / No Agreement
Knitting Factory Records
CD // £9.99
Cat. Number: KFR-1019
*Includes two newly remastered Fela albums in one package*
After well received editions for Mister Saturday Night Records and Well Rounded Individuals, New York's jazz/house/'tronica trio have coined their own label to issue these four groovers. Coming off like Falty DL's music school cousins, their 'Sly Gazebo' EP blends richly layered instrumentation with limber house grooves , taking in the almost Reichian freshness of 'Avocado Roller' featuring Becca Stevens and the bustling shuffler 'In The Room' on the A-side, backed with an extended, jazz-wise electro-stepper titled 'Sly Gazebo' and the nimble neo-classical meets IDM arrangement of 'Nancy's Library' feat. 5150 Sound on the flip.
**Edition of 250 copies with insert** Acutely contrasting split from two noisy and gothic coldwave sirens. Vancouver, Canada's //Zoo gives four cuts of her self-described "Fu*k Music", a brace of black metal guitar atmospheres, emaciated drums and gothic croon at times recalling Zola Jesus and at her best in the HTRK-like 'Softcore'. Flipside is Petra Schelm's turn. The solo project of Funerals' Mollie Wells from Columbus, Ohio, who takes inspiration from the Baader-Meinhof Group in four slightly cheesy crooners...
