Back catalogue: All genres

Review: The story of this one revolves around San Diego native Anthony "Antone" Williams. He was one day alone in a studio, messing about with the gear and before he knew he it lay down the haunting rhythm that underpins the tune now presented here by the good folks at Athens of the North. It's a sinister, restless one that got released as a hugely limited 7" on Unity Records with otherworldly soul production and a pained vocal up top. Post punk soul, some call it, and that's a fitting descriptor. A remix appears on the flip but the allure of the original is hard to beat.

Review: Following on from their widely acclaimed album Afraid To Leave, Berlin's beautiful maudlin post-punk outfit Bleib Modern presents a compilation of remixes and reworks by esteemed artists from across darkwave, post-punk, and EBM. From IV Horsemen's club-worthy rendition of 'Bitter Smile' to M!R!M's dreamy synthpop take on 'Into The Night' via Dune Messiah's crooning 'Loony Voices, 2 Afraid 2 Leave: Remixed Reimaged Reloaded Part 2 offers truly diverse interpretations. With contributions from luminaries like The KVB and Blind Delon, it provides a fresh perspective on Bleib Modern's sound and serves as an exciting interlude that showcases the band's versatility and paves the way for future creations

Review: KC

Review: Tokyo-based post/math-rock noodlers Toe have a habit of cleansing the palette of each subsequent full-length they release with a follow up EP. Just like 2005's debut album The Book About My Idle Plot On A Vague Anxiety was followed up with 2006's New Sentimentality EP, the group would return three years on from their stellar 2009 sophomore effort For Long Tomorrow with 2012's The Future Is Now. From the twinkling emo-inflected shoegazing noodles of 'Run For Word' to the more acoustic-driven psych-jazz of 'Ordinary Days', the four cuts purposefully meander and fuse differing elements from the band's arsenal whilst somehow increasing the dense technicality to absurd, near impenetrable levels.

Review: This is a special and unique coming together that sees Turnstile join forces with the brilliant Toronto jazz ensemble and production team BADBADNOTGOOD. They have worked on reimagining songs from the former's well-received 2021 album Glow On and the results bring all new perspectives and dynamics to tunes like 'Mystery', 'Alien love Call' featuring Blood Orange and 'Underwater Boi.' Both Turnstile and BADBADNOTGOOD are untouchable in their fields right now with rave reviews for their records as well as their live shows. This is another standout project.

Review: The legendary Talk Talk was one of a kind. Not only did they craft exceptional studio albums rich in melodic details but they were top in the live arena too. This sublime broadcast from 1984 finds them in Utrecht in the Netherlands playing for a live FM Broadcast recorded at the Muziekcentrum Vredenburg on 27th May. The group formed by Mark Hollis is in dynamic form and they worked through all their hits to date alongside cuts from the two albums which they had already put out at that time. Experimental rock, jazz and free improv all defined this most artful band.

Review: Despite emerging as a synth-pop outfit, Talk Talk's sound evolved considerably in a short space of time. By 1986, when their third album The Colour of Spring hit record stores, they'd ditched the synth-pop of their debut and the free-jazz-influenced post-rock of its sequel in favour of a more traditional indie sound - albeit one still infused with some electronics and bags of aural invention. The performance captured on this CD (originally recorded for a radio broadcast) dates from 86 and mixes interpretations of tracks from The Colour of the Spring with new takes on earlier singles and classic cuts. Highlights include a rushing version of 'It's My Life', the concert-opening 'Talk Talk' and a decidedly Balearic, harmonica-sporting 'Living In Another World'.

Review: Originally established as an outlet for founder and core member John Dwyer to explore home recordings, The Oh Sees soon grew into a full live band, who quickly picked up acclaim not just for their excellent musical abilities - straddling garage, post punk, noise, art rock and more - but also aesthetic wit, prolificacy, and deft ability to keep switching things up without looking like they were lost.
In 2013, it was announced that a hiatus was coming, but this lasted very little time at all - a record followed in 2014, and the group toured as a three-piece, sans Dwyer, for a little while. He then rejoined in 2015, driving that when something is good it's hard to say no. Skip to today, and they've released well over 20 LPs, but while studio work is quality, it's the live shows that really make an impact. Here's one, which proves exactly what we mean.

Review: Ten years after she made her debut on Greco-Roman, singer-songwriter Tirzah drops her third studio album, a collection of imaginative and sugar-free love songs crafted with the help of frequent collaborator Mica Levi. Trip9Love, which was recorded over the course of a year at their homes and "various studios around South-East London and Kent", is relatively minimalistic in terms of the musical elements employed - think looped piano motifs, beats that sit somewhere between lo-fi hip-hop and hyper-pop, and Tirzah's now familiar voice - but still sounds surprisingly "big". It's a great example of a simple idea, executed brilliantly, with standout cuts including the infectious 'You All The Time', the ambient pop style 'Their Love', the gritty and crunchy 'Stars', and the flash-fried '2 D I C U V', where Polly Jean Harvey-esque guitars catch the ear.

Review: Japanese math/post-rock outfit Toe have become renowned for their virtuosic blend of jazzy, hyper-technical math-rock blended with emo shoegazing and tropical Balearic vibes. Originally released in 2006 as follow up to the band's 2005 debut full-length The Book About My Idle Plot On A Vague Anxiety, and beginning their trend of intersplicing each album cycle with an EP, New Sentimentality offers up four lengthy cuts running the sonic gamut of almost every water they wade within. Trading off noodling twinkles with acoustic pluckings, while abrasive jazz drum-fills clatter over the weaving gentle cacophonies, this is what happens when the emo kids become the new prog nerds.

Review: Anyone familiar with Tokyo, Japan's predominantly instrumental math-rock prodigies Toe, should already be clued into the fact that the member's prolific nature prevents them from resting on their creative laurels for long, with each full-length they drop bookended by an EP. 2005's debut LP The Book About My Idle Plot On A Vague Anxiety was followed by the 2006 EP New Sentimentality, while after 2009's outstanding For Long Tomorrow came The Future Is Now in 2012. At the time of writing, 2018's aptly titled Our Latest Number currently sits as the group's most recent EP; sandwiched in between 2015's sonically transformative Hear You and 2021's latest output DOKU-EN-KAI. Furthering the experimentation of its preceding full-length, the EP strays from their signature twinkling, mathy noodles and emotive shoegazing, and instead embraces elements of minimalism and trip-hop, whilst expanding their acoustic-driven nu-jazz flourishes, and even sprinkling some ethereal vocals into the mix.

Review: "This LP is a compilation of songs from five different digital-only demo collections I released on Bandcamp between 2021 and 2023. I relied on the ears and judgment of my old friend Dom at Feral Child to curate this comp, allowing him to choose his favorites from over 60 songs," James Toth says of Demon Stations. "While I might have chosen an entirely different batch of tunes, I was happy to defer to Dom, as I've never had much perspective when it comes to assessing my own material." With every track recorded at home, many on the same day they were written, and mostly first takes used, there's an audible quality to this collection of archive material that's every bit as honest as the artist's own explanation as to how the final package came about. An atmosphere entirely befitting the open-hearted folk and Americana dominating the release.

Review: Jupiter were kings of the middle of the road indie sound that dominated back at the turn of the millennium. If you don't remember the name you will remember the music as they topped charts and got heavy TV play, not least for most notable single 'I Wish You Would'. All in all this is an album of heartwarming and emotional indie pop niceness you're likely to fall head over heels for again, hence the fact it has been covered by innumerable stars since its initial release. In many ways, once you know the story the track takes on a very different form - far less amorous and much more about longing and lamentation. This latest reissue comes in red and black marble vinyl.

Review: Australian alt rockers The Triffids were destined for greater things than their homeland realised at the time. While enjoying some success Down Under between the late-1970s and late-80s, it was in the UK and Scandinavia that they really seemed to resonate. A decade-long love affair defined by some very 1980s singles (in the best possible way - 'Wide Open Road', 'Bury Me Deep In Love'), long before all that they put out Treeless Plain, a record that nodded to their future but was a far more DIY sounding thing. Suffice to say, when it arrived in 1983 the record made an impact, critically if not necessarily in mainstream consciousness. Blending folk with an altogether edgier and artier guitar sound, the songwriting and structure are still commendable. Listening back now, 40 years on, the evidence is clear - here's a band we should always list among the best of Antipodean weird-pop.
c

Review: By the time 2024's Pendulum landed, Twin Tribes had been building up a vehemently passionate following among members of black-nailed, dark-hearted subcultures for nine years. Also known as Luis Navarro and Joel NiNo Jr., the pair clocked up underground wins with two preceding records, Ceremony and Shadows, garnering attention among fans of cold wave and post punk. Now they take the whole concept to even higher - icier - heights. One wrong step and you'll be cast down the mountainside, it's dizzying at times. Chunky basslines drive us into yearning, strangely subdued-yet-soaring melodies that seem to speak to despair and hope in equal measure. It's hugely evocative stuff that rarely lets up in terms of intensity, 'Caldron of Thorns' among the tracks at the lower end of tempo scales, and even then it's not really hanging about.