Billow Observatory's second Extended Play in less than a year, Soliton maximizes the compact format by further illuminating lesser-traveled paths. Contemplation and exploration weave harmoniously through five mysterious tracks. Influenced by a wide range of styles and sounds, such as Japanese ambient, the muted dissonance of Pharoah Sanders, and the chilly dub of the Scape catalog, Soliton evokes visions of lonely night drives punctuated by bright moments of bliss.

The Calque EP from January 2023 saw them pursuing the minimal electronic side of their work even further. The opening track, "Kottbusser Tor,” showcases a conspicuous absence of the processed guitars that characterize most of their work, and instead explores sequenced filters, tape delays and analog synth patterns for eight minutes. On "Ammosel", they dive directly into dubby soundscapes, with crackling electronics and deep basslines, while "Kiyosumi" and "Fade Into Air" pay a visit to more familiar ambient territory. A darker undercurrent pervades on this EP, but one that goes particularly well with the coldest of seasons and its frosty air.

The duo, consisting of Jason Kolb (Michigan, US) and Jonas Munk (Denmark) started working together in 2006, sending each other tracks across the Atlantic, eventually resulting in a full-length release on Felte in 2012. What started out as a side project to their respective main projects (Auburn Lull and Manual) have slowly become the main activity for both artists, now with a total of four full-lengths under their belt. Their music has also evolved and matured over the years, reaching a level of perfection that’s only granted producers who've been in the game for decades. Billow Observatory have by now established themselves as purveyors of highly refined ambient music and the Soliton EP sees them elegantly blend new and old, electronic and organic, into a gently drifting, enveloping whole.

90 Day Men spent a decade boldly in conflict with the world, catering to no one and careening toward its own abyss. Forged by Midwestern teens amid a late-90s spike in angular indie rock, the band wrote itself into the lexicon of Chicago music history. Eschewing trend and time, 90 Day Men was as ornate as it was alienating, transcending genre and embracing the strange. This 5LP set, remastered by Heba Kadry, collects the band’s three studio albums and a previously unreleased 2001 Peel Session, plus EPs, singles, and outtakes, all detailed within a 68-page oral history curated by Joan of Arc’s Tim Kinsella.

Spirituals is Santigold's first full-length album since 2016's 99¢,and was mostly recorded during the 2020 lockdown. "All of a sudden there I was with three small children out of school-just-turned-two-year-old twins and a six-year-old-I was cooking, cleaning, doing laundry and changing diapers from morning to night, with three little kids coming in and out of my bed throughout each night like musical chairs. I was losing touch with the artist me, stuck in a part of myself that was too small. I felt the other parts of me were shrinking, disappearing."Santigold struggled but succeeded in defining a space in which she could center herself and collaborate virtually with producers and contributors: Rostam, Boys Noize, Dre Skull, P2J, Nick Zinner, SBTRKT, JakeOne, Illangelo, Doc McKinney, Psymun, Ricky Blaze, Lido, Ray Brady, and Ryan Olson. "Recording this album was a way back to myself after being stuck in survival mode. It wasn't until I made the space to create that I realized I wasn't only creating music but a lifeline," she says. California was on fire, we were hiding from a plague, the social justice protests were unfolding. "I'd never written lyrics faster in my life. After having total writer's block, they started pouring out. I decided to create the future, to look towards where we are going, to create beauty and pull towards that beauty. I need that for myself, but it's also there for whoever else needs it."

Things are looking up for The Harlem Gospel Travelers, who return here with a new album, a new lineup, and a new lease on life. Produced by Eli Paperboy Reed, LookUp! marks the group’s first full-length release as a trio, as well as their first collection of totally original material, and it couldn’t have come at a more vital moment. The music still draws deeply on the gospel quartet tradition of the ’50s and ’60s, of course, but there’s a distinctly modern edge to the record, an unmistakable reflection of the tumultuous past few years of pandemic anxiety, political chaos, and social unrest. The songs are bold and resilient, facing down doubt and despair with faith and perseverance, and the performances are explosive and ecstatic, fueled by dazzling vocal arrangements punctuated with gritty bursts of guitar and crunchy rhythm breaks.

Born out of a non-profit music education program led by Reed, The Harlem Gospel Travelers—singers Thomas Gatling, George Marage, and Dennis Bailey—released their debut LP, He’s On Time, to rave reviews in 2019, with Pop Matters hailing the album’s “musical transcendence” and AllMusic praising it as “dreamlike and joyous.” The record charted on Billboard, earned the Travelers high profile fans like Elton John (who invited them to appear on his Rocket Hour radio show on Apple Music), and landed them festival slots everywhere from Pilgrimage to Telluride Jazz.

For Upstate, the past three years have been a litany of transitions as members Mary Webster, Melanie Glenn, Harry D’Agostino and Dylan McKinstry patiently navigated the unfolding hurdles presented by some of life’s most pivotal moments. Amid a whirlwind of marriages, babies, funerals, spiritual awakenings, mourning and celebration, was a long, uncertain pause. Amid the passage, Upstate embraced the chance to make a record that could touch on every corner of their lives, a deeply honest portrait. Indeed, You Only Get A Few, the band’s third studio album due March 31 on Royal Potato Family, is  a collection of lilting indie folk—ten songs blossoming from uncertainty and creative collaboration. Shedding old expectations, the album is most authentic to who the group is now, as each member leaned into their most authentic expression of themselves.

Beginning with a long exhale, You Only Get a Few leads into the lo-fi scratchy tape opening of “Lovers & Friends” that feels almost archival, as if we’re dusting off something half-forgotten. The song itself is about recognizing the preciousness of friendship. Many of the album’s songs are set with field recordings made by the band, drawing us into the space from which the songs were created. The simple and elegant arrangement of “Catalpa” begins with the backdrop of spring rain that subtly transitions into the familiar sounds of a summer night. Glenn and Webster’s voices glide over a serene acoustic guitar, singing “Cold march, and I dream of June.” It’s a song about memory, the seasons, and moments of life that aren’t quite solid enough to grip. “Auntie” serves as a reminder to listen to the advice of others and ourselves. It’s drenched in harmony and bold, driving rhythms complemented by the hypnotic, colorful swirl of electric guitar, low-bellied bass, hammond organ, synthesizer, and clarinet. And while much of You Only Get A Few is inspired by the band’s real-life experiences, there are also moments of spontaneous fiction, an idea propelled into something tangible. The Harry D’Agostino-penned “Patty’s Diner” is one such instance, as he tells the story from the perspective of a grieving sister, intent on realizing her late sibling’s dream.

On their third album, Upstate prods and searches, stews and savors, and they let go of as much as they carry throughout each transition. It’s as if there’s a collective breath, and, just as the album begins with an exhale, You Only Get A Few ends with one, too.

Indie Exclusive * 50th Anniversary Edition * When Jodorowsky wanted, in his words, “another kind of music—something that wasn’t entertainment, something that wasn’t a show, something that went to the soul, something profound,” for the soundtrack to The Holy Mountain, jazz legend Don Cherry and crack studio musician (and one-time member of the Archies) Ron Frangipane came forward to share composing and, along with Jodorowsky, conducting duties. The result was a score that is every bit as hallucinatory as the fantastic visual imagery in the film itself. A cornucopia of musical styles that range from deep, primordial chants, to sitar folk melodies, to blaring orchestral riffs and romantic string arrangements provide the perfect aural accompaniment to a film that follows the philosophical and spiritual journey of its protagonist.

Drive-By Truckers released The Unraveling on Jan 31st 2020 and set out for what was supposed to be a full year of touring. Needless to say it did not go as planned. "The New OK" is a phrase Patterson Hood found himself saying a lot these past few months. This new album, made up of songs left over from The Unraveling sessions and new ones written and recorded since, hopefully balances out the darkness of our current situation with a hope for better days and nights ahead.

Walk Through Fire, the debut album from Yola, establishes her as the queen of country soul from the first note. The Dan Auerbach-produced album is a contemporary twist on a traditional sonic tapestry of orchestral strings, fiddle, steel, and shimmering tremolo guitars. Walk Through Fire is a career-defining and genre-bending release from one of the most exciting emerging British artists in music today. Yola's arresting vocals captivate with sincere tales of heartache and loves lost, forgotten, and broken.

In 2018, David Gordon Green’s Halloween, starring icon Jamie Lee Curtis, slaughtered the box office, earning more than$250million worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing chapter in the four-decade franchise and setting a new record for the biggest opening weekend in history for a horror film starring a woman. The film had the distinction of being the first film in the series with creator John Carpenter’s direct involvement since1982’sHalloween III: Season of the Witch. Carpenter served as an executive producer, a creative consultant, and, thrillingly, as a soundtrack composer, alongside his collaborators from his recent solo albums, Cody Carpenter and Daniel Davies.

Now the scream team is back for the highly anticipated follow up, Halloween Kills and Carpenter has returned to the studio with son Cody Carpenter and godson Daniel Davies to further expand on the iconic score that forever changed the course of horror cinema and synthesizer music. The2018Halloweenmovie soundtrack received unanimous praise and brought a rich and ominous depth to the original theme music that was famously recorded on a shoestring budget in1978. The trio utilized an array of software synths, vintage analogue equipment, and live instrumentation including a Dave SmithOB-6, bowed guitar, Roland Juno, Moog, Roland System1, Roland System 8, different guitar pedals, mellotron, and piano. Now with the Halloween Kills score director Green has pushed the musicians to be more experimental and take their modern sound to a chilling new level.

Standout tracks like “Unkillable” and “Rampage” feature skittering synths over deep four on the floor bass that create a full psychosis of dread before the guitars smash into the song like a semi creating a confusion over whether to headbang, dance, or run for you life. More tragic songs like “Michael’s Legend” and “Strode’s at the Hospital” showcase exquisite and delicate piano playing and prove the range of orchestration this team is capable of executing with mastery and vision. Like all of Carpenter’s legendary soundtracks Halloween Kills features incredible standalone music that like their Lost Themes trilogy of music made for imaginary films can be enjoyed thoroughly with or without the context of the film.

"Heartless Bastards’ career-defining album Arrow turned 10 this year, and Partisan is celebrating by re-releasing the LP on black and gold galaxy vinyl. This special edition release will be limited to 2000 copies that have been numbered in gold foil.

Produced by Jim Eno from Spoon, Arrow features Erika Wennerstrom on guitar and vocals, Dave Colvin on drums, Jesse Ebaugh on bass, and Mark Nathan on guitar. This album showcases a band at the height of their powers. They are synthesizing the best of bar rock, Alt-country, classic rock, and the blues into something vital, unfiltered and all their own. The seamless sound achieved on Arrow was the result of 2 years of nearly non-stop touring; on the road the band developed an astonishing musical telepathy, with all four players intuitively able to craft Wennerstrom’s songs into maximum form."

Found Light may be Laura Veirs' 12th studio LP, but it also, in many ways, feels like her debut. If 2020's My Echo - written and mixed just prior to her 2019 split from her longtime husband, her longtime producer, and the father of her two sons - was her divorce album, Found Light is about what comes after.

Debut album from Cleveland born, NYC-based multi-instrumentalist, producer, singer-songwriter, and artist Cautious Clay. Deadpan Love, which includes previously released singles “Roots,” “Dying In The Subtlety,” and “Agreeable,” warps influences from R&B, Hip Hop and Indie Pop in Cautious’ trademark sophisticated songwriting and jazz- and blues-inflected instrumentation. “Deadpan Love explores the ways I cope with the worst of what humanity has to offer,” says Cautious. “It’s about opposites—having an outer layer that’s tougher, this “deadpan” state, and an inner layer of compassion, where you’re open to being there for the people you care about. It’s this warring compassion and cynicism that has empowered me to express myself through this medium.”

The Chicago based Post Animal takes us into an alternate-universe created at Sleeping Village.  The gardens of distorted mirrors lend itself to the 70 minute psych-pop journey you’re about to embark on! "We recorded this modern blend of our work, some old, some new, live at Sleeping Village in Chicago. The grass was truly greener on the inside. Brought to you by the source of creativity excelsior (ever upward)!" - Post Animal.

It’s been four years since Cherry Glazerr released their resplendent third album Stuffed and Ready, but Clementine Creevy has been in no rush. “I’ve spent these years taking a hard look at myself, at my relationships, and writing about it,” she says. “I guess I’m coming to terms with a lot of my bullshit.” Cherry Glazerr has been on the road more often than not since Creevy was still in high school, and when the pandemic hit, she immersed herself in a static existence she’d been deprived of. 

Creevy describes Cherry Glazerr’s ambitious new album, I Don’t Want You Anymore, as some of her most personal, raw music to date, a collection of songs that elaborate on this period of self-reckoning. It’s the first she’s produced since Cherry Glazerr’s garage rock debut, Haxel Princess, released nearly a decade ago when Creevy was a teenager.

Earthling, the third studio album from Eddie Vedder, features the singles “Long Way,” “The Haves,” and “Brother The Cloud.” In addition, the album features collaborations with music legends including Stevie Wonder, Ringo Starr, Elton John, Chad Smith, Andrew Watt, and Josh Klinghoffer. Available from Seattle Surf/Republic Records. Indie Exclusive translucent blue/black marble vinyl in a gatefold jacket with lyric booklet.

Mute are excited to announce the release of José González’s fourth studio album Local Valley, out September 17th on limited edition indie exclusive green vinyl, black vinyl, CD and digital formats.

Local Valley is a natural continuation of the styles that José has developed over the years both solo and with his band Junip. The album strikes a balance between stripped back arrangements—just Jose’s intimate vocal and exquisite nylon string guitar work—and tracks driven by groovy drum machine loops and other percussive elements.

With songs sung in English, Spanish and Swedish, Local Valley invites us to look beyond our tribal instincts and join together in a more harmonic state. The album explores our shared humanity and the scientific-based existential questions we face together on our quest to understand ourselves and our place in the cosmos.

José González has tallied over 1 billion streams, 150+ licensed TV, film, and video game uses, and has a major presence at radio stations around the globe. This year, he has been selected by National Geographic to be an Earth Day Ambassador alongside Willie Nelson, My Morning Jacket, Yo Yo Ma, and more.

The album cover and physical packaging of Local Valley showcases the beautiful hand drawn artwork of Swedish designer Hannele Fernström.

José plans to tour with Rufus Wainwright in the Fall of 2021.

Sons of Kemet returns in 2021 with their new album Black To The Future, the follow up to 2018’s Mercury Prize nominated breakout release Your Queen Is A Reptile. This release finds the UK-based quartet at their most dynamic – showcasing harmonically elegant arrangements and compositions, coupled with fierce, driving material that will be familiar to initiated fans. This is their 4^th record, and 2^nd on impulse! This album features prominent UK vocalists and a strong emphasis on lush compositions and arrangements. Guest artists include Kojey Radical, Moor Mother, Angel Bat Dawid, Joshua Idehen, D Double E and is part of the impulse! records “impulse 60!” 2021 campaign

Merlot Wave Vinyl. Guccihighwaters is the artistic persona of 21 year -old, artist/producer, Morgan Murphy. Since his debut single in 2017, Murphy has exploded in the cloud rap community and his music has been streamed over 200 Million times. His new album, joke's on you, is his debut for Epitaph Records and will be his first available on vinyl. Guccihighwaters is the keystone to the label's dedication to this sound that we feel is the future of Alternative music. Spending his formative years growing up in rural Ireland, Murphy was shy and when his family returned to their native New York, that shy 15 year-old turned to home recording/bedroom production and starting making his own beats. He began to indulge his musical vision by exploring community on the internet, finding a place to belong that he had not found prior. As a singer, Murphy was a bit of an outsider to the SoundCloud rap world he'd begun to orbit. "I was grouped in because of the time and place and platform," he says. His use of original piano with a classic touch and his angelic singing gave him an original voice within the scene's crowded world. Even if he wanted to blend in, he didn't know how. With Jokes On You, he says, "basically my goal was to make it sound like me. " Some members of that community, like Powfu and nothing, nowhere, feature on the album, adding their voices to Murphy's signature sound. Guccihighwaters is a top digital artist in the Indie Pop/Cloud Rapspace, releasing his music on vinyl for the first time. Album features include lo-fi sensation powfu , top emo rapper Convolk and popular alt/hip hop artist, nothing, nowhere. For Fans of powfu, Lil Peep, nothing, nowhere and Lund

Sorry Girls have danced out of the darkness into the light. Since forming in 2015, the Montreal duo of Heather Foster Kirkpatrick and Dylan Konrad Obront have transformed an eerie, dreamlike sound into lush, pleasure seeking pop. Expanding upon their debut album, Deborah, the band’s deftly arranged sophomore LP, Bravo!, sings to the back rows of the stadium, drawing listeners inward with a newfound focus on personal lyrics.

Four years after releasing their Merge debut, Frozen Letter, Spider Bags return with an LP that ascends to new levels of aural punch and perspective. The years that elapsed between records were crucial in enabling that progress to take place.

Recorded in Memphis at Bunker Audio by Andrew McCalla (who also engineered 2012’s Shake My Head), Someday Everything Will Be Fine leverages the limitations and glory of the Tascam 388, a vintage recording/mixing device that’s acquired a mythos via its association with legendary records by Dinosaur Jr. and others. Unlike the error-erasing editing software Spider Bags frontman Dan McGee has favored in the past, the Tascam’s charms are more immediate, and it has a visceral resonance all its own.

Someday Everything Will Be Fine, which is about the importance of saying f**k it and dancing to a rock and roll record, is an album only Spider Bags could make.

This Night Falls Forever, set for release on August 24, 2018 via Concord Records, is DeVotchKa’s most ambitious album yet with more detailed arrangements, more people involved including full orchestras and an overall bigger sound. The band’s sixth studio album features 10 tracks written and produced by frontman Nick Urata. The vinyl edition features 3 sides of music and an exclusive vinyl etching on the 4th side.

As lockdown approached in 2020, Chicago-based singer Lili Trifilio was wrapping up a tour in support of Beach Bunny's debut album, Honeymoon. Suddenly, she found herself back at her parents' house, coping with her new reality. To deal, she retreated into sci-fi stories and her always-active imagination. She envisioned new places to travel in her mind, thus dreaming up big, bombastic pop sounds to construct Beach Bunny's highly anticipated sophomore album, Emotional Creature. Simultaneously about personal growth, Emotional Creature is a collection of highly relatable songs that capture the highs and lows of new relationships, the joys and vulnerabilities of letting someone in, the gut-wrenching realities of experiencing anxiety, leaving toxic relationships, and seeing yourself through the eyes of the one you love. These complex feelings are expertly contrasted with ultra-poppy melodies, anthemic choruses, and a slight punk edge. 'The songs have grown with me over time,' Trifilio explains. 'Some of them were written in various stages of life, and I think as we go through different experiences and hardships, you come out stronger. I've grown as a person, so the songwriting reflects that.' With its openhearted, vulnerable themes and progressive, hook-filled take on pop rock and pop punk, Emotional Creature only further cements Beach Bunny and Trifilio's well-earned reputation as a leading voice of their generation.

‘Who Am I?’ is the second album from indie-pop icons Pale Waves, due for release on February 12th 2021. Recorded in L.A. over early 2020 with Rich Costey (Muse, Biffy Clyro, Sigur Ros), and led by the unabashedly huge lead single ‘Change’, it finds the Manchester band stepping up once more, fulfilling the promise of that widely-lauded debut album and striding towards pop megastardom. Translucent Green Indie Exclusive.

Following 2019’s critically-acclaimed sophomore album, I Spent the Winter Writing Songs About Getting Better, Proper. is making their return with The Great American Novel.

“The Great American Novel is a concept album about how Black genius, specifically my own, goes ignored, is relentlessly contested, or just gets completely snuffed out before it can flourish,” says vocalist Erik Garlington (he/him). “This record is a concept album that’s meant to read like a book; every song is a chapter following the protagonist through their 20s. Imagine a queer, Black Holden Caufield-type coming up in the 2010s.”

The result is an album that is both lyrically and musically heavy, the former something fans have come to expect from Garlington’s unflinchingly honest lyrical content, but the latter something that’s refreshingly new. Channeling the heavier music he listened to during his adolescence—from post-hardcore outfit At the Drive-In to progressive metal band System of a Down—Garlington and the rest of Proper.—bassist Natasha Johnson (she/her) and drummer Elijah Watson (he/they)—push themselves in ways they haven’t before, culminating in an ambitious project that showcases the new sonic territory the band is heading in.

Produced and recorded by Bartees Strange and mixed and mastered by Brian DiMeglio, The Great American Novel clocks in at fifteen tracks including “Huerta,” which explores Garlington’s Mexican heritage, and “Red, White and Blue,” a commentary on the imbalance between the United States’ everyday citizens and elite class. The songs reflect the overall tone of The Great American Novel:abrasive, powerful, and beautifully poignant.

“At the end of the day, what I wanted to do with this record is take Proper. in a direction that would surprise people on first listen, but end up making complete sense on the second or third listen. I think a lot of bands tend to go more pop but I wanted to make something both challenging and undeniably catchy,” Garlington said. “It all goes back to Black genius and how it’s ingested by the predominantly cishet, white male crowd. If they’re going to be a voyeur to the Black experience, I wanted to strip away all the cheeky song titles, lyrical inside jokes, and optimistic singalongs. I want them to hear this record and learn about our identity crises, our aimlessness, how many friends and family we know that are dead or in jail by 25. How, at eight we were told we were gifted but by 11 we were told we’re dangerous.”

On the honey shores of Cape Cod in a beach shack, Courtney Marie Andrews found self-love and her voice.  Every morning, she’d walk 6-8 miles around the back trails of an island and meditate on her life, perusing old memories and patterns like browsing a used bookshop. That summer of introspection led her to a joyous sense of beginnings and ends. When she let love for herself in, she therein let the outside love in, too—the summer feeling, the swaying cypress, the full moon, and the possibility of healthy love. This phase came only right after one of her darkest, though, where being alone with oneself was the most terrifying thing you could do. After more than a decade on the road, the Phoenix-born songwriter, poet, and painter finally had the space to process all the highs and lows of a life of constants. She was finally ready to make a record of triumph, while not completely forgetting the years that made her. 

That record is Loose Future.

Written and recorded over the past year, Penny and Sparrow’s remarkable new album, Olly Olly, is a work of liberation and revelation, a full-throated embrace of the self from a band that’s committed to leaving no stone unturned in their tireless quest for actualization. The songs here are fearless and introspective, embracing growth and change as they reckon with desire, intimacy, doubt, and regret, and the arrangements are similarly bold and thoughtful, augmenting the duo’s rich, hypnotic brand of chamber folk with electronic flourishes and R&B grooves. The duo—Andy Baxter and Kyle Jahnke—produced Olly Olly themselves, working on their own without an outside collaborator for the first time, and the result is the purest, most authentic act of artistic self-expression the pair have ever achieved.

“Andy and I talk about the process of making this record like a sort of musical Rumspringa,” Jahnke says. “It was an opportunity to truly become ourselves, to evolve outside of the roles we’d been put in—or put ourselves in—because of the way we’d grown up.”  

Texas natives Baxter and Jahnke first crossed paths at UT Austin, where they developed a fast friendship and a deeply symbiotic musical connection. Jahnke was a gifted guitarist with an ear for melody, Baxter, an erudite lyricist with a mesmerizing voice and crystalline falsetto, and the duo quickly found that their vocals blended together as if they’d been singing in harmony their whole lives. Beginning with 2013’s ‘Tenboom,’ the staunchly DIY pair released a series of critically lauded records that garnered comparisons to the hushed intimacy of Iron & Wine and the adventurous beauty of Bon Iver, building up a devoted fanbase along the way through relentless touring and word-of-mouth buzz. NPR praised the band’s songwriting as a “delicate dance between heartache and resolve,” while Rolling Stone hailed their catalog as “folk music for Sunday mornings, quiet evenings, and all the fragile moments in between.” The duo’s most recent album, 2019’s Finch, marked a turning point in their career, pushing their sound to experimental new heights as it wrestled with notions of masculinity and religion and transformation in deeper, more personal ways than ever before. The record debuted at #2 on the Billboard Heatseekers Chart and was met with a rapturous response from critics and audiences alike, racking up more than 40 million streams on Spotify and earning the band their biggest headline tour to date. 

Neil Gust and Elliott Smith arrived in Portland, OR together in the summer of 1991 to start a new band with drummer/producer Tony Lash. Within a year of adding bassist Brandt Peterson on bass, they were playing across the West Coast and demoing dozens of songs for their first LP. Six of these tracks were self-released on the cassette titled “The Music of Heatmiser” which was sold at shows, local record shops, and handed out to record labels. The sound of the band changed a lot over 3 LP’s, but this is Heatmiser right out of the gate. New, energetic, excited, moving quickly through styles, totally broke and making it work in whatever way possible. It’s guitar rock, full-blast, through 100 watt Marshall half stacks, when grunge was ascendant in the Pacific Northwest and the Portland scene was exploding. Fast, tight, loud, fun.

The follow up to FKA twigs’ critically acclaimed Brit Award and Mercury Prize nominated debut LP1 (2014, Young Turks). Widely regarded as one of the best albums of 2014 and selling over 340,000 records globally. Top-40 rapper Future appears on the album’s second single “Holy Terrain”, continuing a run of rap collaborations including an appearance on A$AP Rocky’s ‘Testing’ LP. Twigs will tour the US in November with a theatrical performance that debuted in May to universal acclaim as well as several major festivals (Afropunk Brooklyn and Atlanta, Flog Gnaw) Press campaign includes September i-D cover, multi-page feature in Vogue 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

Few artists are storytellers as deft and disarmingly observational as Andy Shauf. The Toronto-based, Saskatchewan-raised musician’s songs unfold like short fiction: they’re densely layered with colorful characters and a rich emotional depth. Like he’s done throughout his career, Shauf wrote, performed, arranged, and produced every song on his new album Wilds at his studio space in the west end of Toronto.

Over the course of a year-and-a-half, Shauf had written more than 50 songs, and pared down this massive body of work, into a single album’s worth of material, which became 2020’s highly acclaimed The Neon Skyline album. These songs focused on a theme by intertwining the individual characters stories of a group of friends who gathered for one night at the same local bar. Wilds includes songs from those same writing sessions, that did not fit into the Skyline storyline and had their own singular identity apart from that album, though he does revisit with his old friends Judy and Jeremy in this outing.

Leo Bud Welch, the deceased delta bluesman, spent his life honing his musical craft. The Mississippi native and 30-year lumberjack performed as a gospel singer in his small hometown for years before he made his first record when he was in his seventies. The influence of the region he called home, his years of musicianship, and his welllived life blended together to create music that is as unique as he is. The album was produced by Dan Auerbach at his Easy Eye Sound studios in Nashville just before Leo’s death December 2017. On this album, we salute Leo Bud Welch of Sabougla, Mississippi and his gospel-soul-blues singing soul. We do hope you enjoy it as much as we enjoyed making it. It was an honor to work alongside Bud during the recording sessions – to have an opportunity to learn directly from the source is an experience that becomes rarer with each passing year. Bud shared with us the songs that he’s been signing his entire life, some that are older than the Delta itself. We sure do wish he was here today so we could personally hand him a copy of this record, but at the same time we’re pretty sure he’s happy right where he is – surely after a long life spent praising His holy name, Bud now has it made-in-the-shade in the sweet hereafter. I bet he’s got a mansion all to himself up there. Thank you, Bud. -Yours Dreamily, Dan Auerbach

'Nurture' is an album about hope, overcoming despair, faithfully pursuing a sense of purpose, and trying to prove that it's worthwhile to try. This album came about during a period of intense creative and emotional struggle. I had structured my life around the expectation that the only thing that made me happy was writing music. But it was exactly that obsession and imbalance that made writing music an impossibility for me for years. I wanted it too much, was highly self-critical, and I was so scared that I wouldn't ever be able to write music again. And the more desperate I became to write music, the harder it became. Only by accepting that I might never be able to do it again, and by embracing and trying to find happiness in aspects of life outside of music, was I able to slowly claw my way into being able to do it again. And on the other side of all this fear and anxiety, I found this life-giving sort of light and beauty. I felt a gratitude towards real life that I used to only feel towards fiction. I'm really, deeply glad that I wrote this album. It's my favorite music I've ever made, and it made me feel purposeful and happy to write music again. I want to write music that tells people that an earnest and sincere effort to overcome that thing you're struggling with is the best path forward. There's no shortage of fuel for despair and nihilism, but I've found that those things don't help. I want the listener to know that even when it seems impossible and insurmountable, it's worthwhile to do your best, that there's no shame in hope, and that purpose and meaning are worth pursuing.

Kadi Yombo, published in 1989, is the most successful album in the quest for a fusion between tradition and modernity in Bwiti harp music of the Tsogho people of Gabon. Combining beating rattles with a layer of synthesizers, Papé Nziengui blends in a contrapuntal dialogue characteristic of harp playing: male song in appeal and female choir in response, male voice of the musical arc and rhythms of female worship. But above all it’s Tsogho ritual music and modern studio orchestration. The result is an initiatory itinerary of 10 musical pieces which are all milestones likely to be simultaneously listened to, danced, meditated on, and soon acclaimed. In the years since, Nziengui has traveled he world from Lagos to Paris, from Tokyo to Cordoba, from Brussels to Mexico City to become a true icon, the emblem of Gabonese music.

Like Bob Dylan, "electrifying" folk and Bob Marley mixing rock with reggae, some purists have criticized Nziengui for having distorted the music of harp by imposing a cross with modern instruments. They even went so far as to claim that Nziengui was just an average harpist covering his shortcomings with stunts that were only good for impressing neophytes; like playing a harp placed upside down behind his back or playing two or three harps simultaneously. Sincere convictions or venomous defamations, in any case, Nziengui never gave in to such attacks, imposing himself on the contrary to pay homage to the elders (Yves Mouenga, Jean Honoré Miabé, Vickoss Ekondo) while instructing the maximum of young people. He is thus the promoter of many young talents, the most prominent of which is certainly his nephew Jean Pierre Mingongué. In a conservative society where the sacred is confused with secrecy, exposing the mysteries of Bwiti in broad daylight can be punished by exclusion or even execution.

Papé Nziengui has always claimed that he faces such risks because he never felt enslaved to a community that governs his life, that regulates his conduct, that has a right of censorship over his activities. Like Ravi Shankar, the famous sitarist, Papé Nziengui is a man of rupture but also of openness, a transmitter of culture. As proof, he has established himself in Libreville, Gabo’s capital, as the main harpist for sessions and concerts, accompanying the greatest national artists (Akendengué, Rompavè, Annie-Flore Batchiellilys, Les Champs sur la Lowé, etc.) as well as foreign artists (Papa Wemba, Manu Dibango, Kassav', Toups Bebey, etc.). In 1988, he was the first harpist to release an album in the form of a cassette produced by the French Cultural Center (Papé Nziengui, Chants et Musiques Tsogho). At the same time, he created his own group (Bovenga), combining traditional music instruments (musical bow, drums, various percussion instruments, etc.) in the framework of a true national orchestra, which gave the first concert and the first tours of a traditional music that was both modern and dynamic, thus "democratizing" the harp, to the dismay of certain purists.

On the other hand, in modern music, dominated by the logic of profit or even commercialism, artistic creation must often be adjusted for a specific audience based on reason rather than heart. But instead of allowing himself to be distorted, Papé Nziengui has always tried to produce music that is not a caricature, worthy in its expression as in its content, of the sacredness and transcendence of the music of the Origins. This is what makes Nziengui—not only the musician, but the man—someone whose age hasn’t altered any of his freshness or authenticity

The collection of 56 songs went far beyond a simple career retrospective. It dipped back as far as 1984 with the bulk of it’s songs hailing from the mid-nineties onward. Over 2/3 of the material had never been heard when originally released in 2006 and had 30 newly recorded songs. Orphans also featured a number of songs finding a home on a Waits’ album for the first time. They included Waits’ unique interpretations of songs by such diverse talents as The Ramones, Daniel Johnston, Kurt Weill & Bertolt Brecht and Leadbelly. These outtakes, rarities and the previously unreleased material were separately grouped into themes and named, Brawlers, Bawlers, and Bastards. And now these titles will be released individually. Brawlers is a collection of raucous blues and full-throated juke joint stomps Bawlers is a collection of Celtic and country ballads, waltzes, lullabies, piano and classic lyrical Waits’ songs Bastards is a collection of experimental music and strange tales.

Me Neither is a 29 track double album of instrumental guitar music. While juggling a number of other projects James Elkington began writing "music for which there was no purpose." It became a new way of working for him - waking up each morning and improvising and recording the first thing that came into his head. "The only rules I gave myself were that I should make most of the sounds with a guitar, changing the speed or processing the recordings afterwards to get the effect I was looking for." Before long he had an albums worth of material. About mid-way through the second album Elkington had a liberating thought: he was making his own version of library music "if you're writing library music, you don’t have to know what it's for - that can be someone else's job."

The Detroit trio’s fifth album is eight tracks of what we’ve come to expect from the always in form group – a cinematic blend of twangy industrial rock, metal, noise, baritone vocals, and macabre lyrics – but with an immediate urgency not yet seen from the band on past albums. It’s their most focused album to date.

A new live record from the San Diego 3-piece! Seven tracks total (eight on digital), “From the West” is a collection of new live material from the band’s recently released “Black Heaven” album (Mar 2018) as well classic Earthless tracks like “Acid Crusher” and more! CD & digital by Nuclear Blast

In 2015, Dan Auerbach entered the studio with Leon Michels, Nick Movshon, Homer Steinweiss, and the late Richard Swift (who passed away in 2018) to record The Arcs' debut album Yours, Dreamily in a handful of freewheeling sessions over two weeks. Now, more than 7 years later, those same sessions became the bedrock on which the surviving members fleshed out the anticipated follow-up album, Electrophonic Chronic, a collection of psychedelic rock, gritty funk, and heady, soulful grooves.

Inspired by a love of artists such as Bill Evans, Lester Young, Chet Baker and Vince Guaraldi, Dustin Payseurre imagines some of his greatest hits from the Beach Fossils catalog alongside a group of formally trained jazz musicians. A rich and mellow mix of piano, saxophone, upright bass and brushed drums explore the contours of familiar songs, soaring Payseur’s melancholic harmonies to new heights.

SCRATCHING THE DOOR highlights tracks recorded by The Flaming Lips’ original line-up, which featured Wayne Coyne’s brother Mark on vocals. The album includes the band’s first and second cassette demos, in addition to The Flaming Lips first self-released EP, and marks the first time all of these recordings have been collected together on a single release. Among the other featured tracks are covers of The Who’s “Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere,” Led Zeppelin’s “Communication Breakdown” and the theme song from the 1960’s Batman television series, which previously appeared on Rykodisc’s 2002 compilation, Finally The Punk Rockers Are Taking Acid.

Deafheaven’s monolithic second LP Sunbather, was not only a massive success in 2013, it created a radical shift in heavy music culture, an acceptance of the genre by previous outsiders, and a trailblazing sound that heretofore hadn’t been heard outside of learned circles. It was a reville introducing the changing of the guard in metal, featuring phenomenal reviews across the board, and breaking the mold used by buttoned-up indie types and false-flag musical dilettantes intent on keeping the status quo. A maverick release in every facet, the cornerstone for the triumph that is Sunbather truly lies in its world class songwriting. From the opening anthem “Dream House,'' it's clear to see that Deafheaven was soaring triumphantly into the unknown, through the emotional highs and lows, the fire and rain, and onto the unseen road ahead. Lyrically, Sunbather examines themes of existentialism, diving headfirst into the abyss, and the pursuit of self-discovery. The album's title itself is similar in scope, representing the embrace of the light and movement out of the dark unknown. Sunbather takes influence from the majesty of early Emperor and underground US heroes Weakling, the dark beauty of France’s Alcest, the introspective nature of post-rock and shoegaze gods like Mogwai and Slowdive, as well as the DIY spirit of punk ranging from Fugazi to Man is the Bastard to create a new realm for their emotional and expansive epics. The result is the nihilism and icy darkness found in black metal melding perfectly with the pensive, ethereal nature of shoegaze and the expansive dramatics of post-rock to create a new landscape. By juxtaposing propulsive and harsh blast beats and riffs against soaring melody, Deafheaven had refocused the blind-hate nature found at the kernel of black metal into a melancholic and singular journey to explore the unknown. Considering metal’s staunchly negative relationship with the press, Deafheaven’s Sunbather was nothing less than a true triumph. An immediate success at the time of it’s release, Sunbather blasted through the glass ceiling that limited so many other heavy music bands before them. Lauded by virtually every major critical outlet, Sunbather is the picture perfect ideal of a music darling– leading to sold out shows around the globe in increasing numbers. Sunbather would eventually become a year end favorite, repeatedly named one of the best albums of 2013 and landing on top 10 lists that were previously alien to heavy music– outlets like Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, the New York Times and the like. And while the critics were dogpiling on the compliments, the conservative nature of heavy metal could not help but spin things in the opposite direction. As the saying goes, ‘the first one through the door catches all the bullets.’ “The easy answer was it was totally positive and overwhelming,” says founding guitarist Kerry McCoy with a bit of a chuckle when asked about his feelings about the response to Sunbather. “But in actuality it was also kind of frustrating. We were grateful for the positive notes, but there were people who thought we were the worst thing to ever happen to metal and others who thought that we claimed to invent the genre. Neither were true.” In addition to the game-changing musical approach, the band’s aesthetics were nothing if not utterly controversial as well. Designer Nick Steinhardt’s striking cover with use of a highly stylized font and a pale pink as the chosen color is not only a masterstroke in contemporary design, it was a true middle finger to the black metal establishment– one that prided itself on a lo-fi black and white aesthetic. The bright and easily recognizable cover openly positioned the album as a true outsider unafraid to duck genre boundaries. Formed in 2010 in San Francisco, California with the core duo of George Clarke and McCoy, the pair completed their debut demo with Jack Shirley, who would eventually helm Sunbather, releasing it on limited cassette. The cassette became an underground phenomenon, leading to a record deal with Deathwish Inc who released the cassette in limited numbers on seven-inch. After recruiting a live band, the five piece recorded their debut LP Roads to Judah and embarked on a series of shorter tours to promote the release. When the time came for the follow-up, the band slimmed back down to the original duo and added drummer Daniel Tracey– creating what many believe to be one of the most important musical statements of the ‘10s. The release would be their third with Jack Shirley. “Honestly, Sunbather gave us a career,” says McCoy with candor. “Before then we were working jobs and had these grandiose dreams, but that was the record that turned us into a real band. Because of that record, we ended up meeting a lot of people around the world that changed our lives and set us on the path we’re on now.” Ten years later, Deafheaven is nothing less than a mammoth and live touring juggernaut, with fans across the far reaches of the earth and a flawless live lineup of Shiv Mehra on guitar (joined in 2013) and Chris Johnson on bass (2017) in addition to Clarke, McCoy and Tracey. One of the most important and original rock bands of the past fifteen years, the long-awaited reissue of this pivotal release celebrates its tenth anniversary with a fresh shine and coat of paint– a newly remixed and remastered sound by original producer Jack Shirley with available spacial audio, an updated look to the packaging in all formats courtesy of the album’s original designer Nick Steinhardt, and deluxe color vinyl that includes a gatefold jacket with spot UV printing and 2 full-color printed inner sleeves. Whether a newbie to this colossal record or a familiar party, the anniversary edition is a crucial addition to the collection of any erudite music fan.

“Wild” is drawn from Spoon’s forthcoming full-length, Lucifer on the Sofa. The song captures the band at its most visceral and vivid, with rough edges intact and a guitar solo perfectly slotted into the middle eight. This 7” single version comes backed with an alternate mix by British reggae innovator Dennis Bovell and is limited to 3,000 copies worldwide. 

"Wild"/"Wild Remix"

Globetrotting Texan trio Khruangbin are set to release 'Hasta El Cielo', the band's glorious dub version of their second album 'Con Todo El Mundo'. The full album has been processed anew along with two bonus dubs by renowned Jamaican producer Scientist.

The band's exotic, spacious, psychedelic funk aligns with the dub treatment particularly well. Indeed, keen fans won't find this a surprising release. Dubs of tracks from their first album 'The Universe Smiles Upon' appeared on limited vinyl releases of 'People Everywhere' for Record Store Day 2016 and 'Zionsville' on the BoogieFuturo remix 12". The especially eagle-eared will have caught a dub of 'Two Fish And An Elephant' playing over the credits of the track's celebrated video. 

Formed of Laura Lee on bass, Mark Speer on guitar, and Donald "DJ" Johnson on drums; Khruangbin's sounds are rooted in the deepest waters of music from around the world, infused with classic soul, dub and psychedelia. Their 2015 debut album 'The Universe Smiles Upon You' was heavily influenced by 60's and 70's Thai cassettes the band listened to on their long car journeys to rehearsal in the Texan countryside. 2018's follow up 'Con Todo El Mundo', which received hugely positive critical reactions and radio play around the world, took inspiration not just from South East Asia but similarly underdiscovered funk and soul of the Mediterranean and the Middle East, particularly Iran. 

"For us, Dub has always felt like a prayer. Spacious, meditative, able to transport the listener to another realm. The first dub albums we listened to were records mixed by Scientist featuring the music of the Roots Radics. Laura Lee learned to play bass by listening to Scientist Wins the World Cup. His unique mixing style, with the emphasis on space and texture, creates the feeling of frozen time; it was hugely influential to us as a band. To be able to work alongside Scientist, a legend in the history of dub, is an honor. This is our dub version of Con Todo El Mundo."