Back catalogue: All genres

Review: If the debut EP from art rock ensemble Ugly seems recognizable, it's because most tracks have previously been released as singles over the past couple of years. However, experiencing them as a cohesive project feels immensely satisfying. The EP feels remarkably polished and confident, showcasing well-crafted arrangements. The opening track, 'The Wheel', is a sprawling seven-minute piece that shifts through various phases. It begins with a stunning acapella before transitioning into an Animal Collective-inspired section with frenetic, quirky vocals and an energetic drumming performance that drives the momentum. 'Sha' offers a refreshing, laid-back change with its country influences, featuring smooth guitar lines and subtle harmonies. The unreleased 'Icy Windy Sky' shines with its entrancing fingerpicked guitars and soothing, tight vocals, building to an epic crescendo. Closing track 'I'm Happy You're Here' wraps the EP beautifully, combining serene vocals with intricate arrangements, creating a nostalgic and fulfilling finish. Despite familiarity, 'Twice Around The Sun' shines as a warm and ambitious collection.

Review: Dark-edged progressive rock from 70s Belgium-formed Univers Zero, heavily influenced by - and yes, you did read that right - 20th-century chamber music. What really stands out on this record, a reissue of a 1983 LP, is the tension between chaos and control. You get the sense that the artist is both recklessly in command and completely at the mercy of the music. There's a thrilling danger to how the sound pulses forward, stumbling but never quite falling over. Tracks drift between intense, unsettling moments and spacey, reflective passages like a psyche caught in a constant tug-of-war. But that's the beauty of it: it's impossible to pin down, never comfortable but always compelling.

Review: Originally conceived in 2019 during a tour with industrial hardcore purveyors Uniform, Japanese psychedelic noise-rock juggernauts Boris would invite their co-conspirators on stage to reimagine the trio's classic "Akuma no Uta" as part of their encore, with the resulting chemistry inspiring both acts to begin crafting a fully collaborative album. Many years of exchanging ideas from one home studio base to another has finally bore fruit in the form of the hideous yet glorious Bright New Disease. Combining almost every nuance of each group's genre-less machinations, the project swells and extends in every sonic direction from harsh walls of screeching noise to retrofitted Japanese D-beat hardcore, with time in between for aquatic, shoegazing serenity and mechanized industrial venom.

Review: Back in 2019, Japanese post/noise/psych-rock giants Boris toured with industrial hardcore purveyors Uniform, in what felt like somewhat of a strange bedfellows type of show. During this run, Uniform were invited to team up on a reimagined version of the Boris classic "Akuma no Uta" as part of their encore, and the resulting chemistry from those performances inspired both acts to begin work on a full collaborative project. Years of bouncing ideas from one another's home studio bases has finally resulted in the beautifully ugly Bright New Disease. Taking practically every facet of both act's previous genre explorations, the album runs the gamut from oppressive walls of screeching noise to Japanese D-beat retro hardcore, and all the way down to watery, shoegazing euphorics and mechanized industrial bedlam.

Review: Celebrating its 30th anniversary this Record Store Day, 'Original Soundtracks 1' is a bold, imaginative collaboration between British ambient pioneer Brian Eno and Irish band U2 under the moniker Passengers. Blurring the line between ambient experimentation and cinematic storytelling, the album features 15 tracks that were all conceived as soundtracks for fictional films. Highlights include the haunting 'Miss Sarajevo' with Luciano Pavarotti and contributions from Howie B and Holi and this remastered anniversary edition comes on recycled black vinyl. An adventurous 1995 release that stands up now as an atmospheric, genre-blurring work and a rare and inspired detour in U2's discography.

Review: Uchu Nekoko's 2019 album Kimi No Youni Ikiretara is their second album and the first since vocalist Kano joined their roster. Laying thorough claim to a floaty, transparent dream pop sound with a contemporary twist, the now-trio has come a long way since their formation in 2012; despite its release as a free download, the LP's physical edition here is testament to the forward-facing nature of Japan's foremost contemporary indie musicians, whom are able to capitalise on both cloud digitalia and physical desiderata. In addition to this 180 gram heavyweight edition, this encore pressing will include an A4-size clear file folder with the original cover design by Tomoko Oshima.

Review: Soft Abuse brings you Ulaan Khol's, 'Ulaan Khol 1'. Steven R. Smith has had a hand in creating some of the most compelling and singular instrumental psychedelic music of the past ten years. As Ulaan Khol, Smith digs in deep with a palette of drums/guitar/organ to craft a monolithic and expansive free form, feedback-heavy atmospheric din that bonds the disparate realms of Fushitsusha and High Rise with Popul Vuh and Flying Saucer Attack. Smith has planned a maximalist three-part suite, 'Ceremony.' In the first instalment of the trilogy, I, the tone is overwhelmingly bleak as the pieces (all untitled) caterwaul, moan & crumble

Review: Generally considered the most avant-garde and surreal auditory experience within Ulver's extensive catalogue, House of Mythology shares the exclusive 2024 reissue of Ulver's essential 2001 EPs, Silence Teaches You How to Sing and Silencing the Singing, now available together on one double LP. Newly remastered and repackaged as a special edition, this textural, droning album still remains among the lesser-known works in Ulver's catalogue, but that hardly accounts for the quality of its stellarly alien soundworld. Between its post-rock cutups, gutturally pedal-tastic groans, fluttery white noise bursts and jolting moments of - you guessed it - silence, we end our listen well-equipped with a thorough idea of just what kinds of sound-thoughts might hallucinogenically emerge from *too much* silence.

Review: Underscores (real name April Harper Grey) would presage the essence of an era on her debut album Fishmonger (2011). Existing among an unlikely few artists dominating net-space with their ultra-slickly-produced fusions of emo rock, trap, punk, and hyperpop, Grey's music is now considered the cream on the top of an arrestingly difficult-to-classify, immanentist genre of music, whose expression of digi-versal attention deficits and hyperreal enjoyment-surpluses pervade the Z-psyche of a vectoral youth underclass. This new DeadAir edition inflates the multi-stylistic helium balloon further, adding an expanded experience of five remixes (including by who else than brostep dextro Virtual Riot and post-trap thizz plug Lunice?!) and two bonus tracks ('Ur Not Really 'Bout It', 'Stick the Landing') to an ironic cobalt blue repress.

Review: Univers Zero's new album follows the lineage of its ten-years-older predecessor Phosphorescent Dreams, originally released only on CD in Japan in 2014, and reissued as an LP on the Sub Rosa label in 2019. Lueur is the fruit of two years' work and reflection, the foundations of which were laid by Daniel Denis (keyboards, drums, percussion...), then enriched by the contributions of Nicolas Dechene (guitars), Kurt Bude (clarinet / bass clarinet) and Nicolas Denis (bass, percussion, vocals), all three present on this new project. With this reduced line-up, Lueur offers a dense journey, rooted in the balance between power and calm, raging and serene sound. A balance struck between complex arrangements and more contemplative moments, this album continues the avant-rock tradition of Univers Zero, and features both long and short pieces, vacillating between electronic, tribal and haunting hallmarks.

Review: Univers Zero's Lueur marks a triumphant return after nine years away and continues their tradition of richly arranged, densely composed music, featuring a slightly trimmed-down lineup but no less intensity. Daniel Denis' compositions, featuring vocals and relatively shorter tracks, maintain the band's sophisticated melodies and fascinating structures. While keyboards play a more prominent role, guitars and woodwinds add depth and variety. Tracks like 'Cloportes' and 'La Tete a l'Envers' offer bright, engaging moments, while 'Migration vers le Bas' and 'Axe 117' delve into eerie, atmospheric realms. Lueur stands as a superb addition to Univers Zero's discography, reaffirming their status as pioneers of modern avant-rock.

Review: "War Stories" is the latest album from James Lavelle's world renowned group - Unkle. "War Stories" features collaborations with Josh Homme (Queens Of The Stone Age), Ian Astbury (The Cult), 3D (Massive Attack), The Duke Spirit, Autolux and Gavin Clark (Clayhill).

Review: "War Stories" is the latest album from James Lavelle's world renowned group - Unkle. "War Stories" features collaborations with Josh Homme (Queens Of The Stone Age), Ian Astbury (The Cult), 3D (Massive Attack), The Duke Spirit, Autolux and Gavin Clark (Clayhill).

Review: "War Stories" is the latest album from James Lavelle's world renowned group - Unkle. "War Stories" features collaborations with Josh Homme (Queens Of The Stone Age), Ian Astbury (The Cult), 3D (Massive Attack), The Duke Spirit, Autolux and Gavin Clark (Clayhill).

Review: "War Stories" is the latest album from James Lavelle's world renowned group - Unkle. "War Stories" features collaborations with Josh Homme (Queens Of The Stone Age), Ian Astbury (The Cult), 3D (Massive Attack), The Duke Spirit, Autolux and Gavin Clark (Clayhill).

Review: Unsane's self-titled debut album was made instantly famous for its inclusion of a horrifically gory image on its front cover. It's a time-honoured method of achieving quick success, if the blueprint provided by Norwieigan church-burners Mayhem was anything to go by. Let's not let that distract us, though, because this isn't black metal. Rather than bathing in atmosphere, Unsane embraces noise, distorted vocals, classic rock progressions, doomy riffs, and fill-heavy rhythm tracks. Officially reissued in 2022 but flying off our shelves now, be sure to catch this utmost-quality remaster while you still can.

Review: Washington, D.C. post-hardcore noisemakers Unwound came up in the early 1990s with a DIY ethos and a penchant for making every instrument screech. The 1995 album Unwound was intended as their core statement of intent (not to be confused with their first ever cassette of the same name), finding them inspired divinely by tropes from krautrock and jazz. For a punk band, there are a relatively high number of wide power chords throughout this one, contrasting to the raw, centred and raspy vocals from Justin Trosper. A monumental achievement, filled with pace changes and soul-ripping drops into oblivion.

Review: Founded in Tumwater and Olympia, the latter, amazingly, is the Washington state capital, Unwound enjoyed 14 years of unfettered creativity between 1988 and 2002, and yet you'd probably struggle to find many outside the US, even in rock clubs, that would cite them in a list of favourites. Thankfully, A Single History presents the case for reappraisal this group deserve. Not that they ever wanted to court attention and reverence. Often categorised as post-hardcore, Unwound make the kind of angular, gritty, dissonant rock that celebrates unusual guitar tones, walls of sound, and garage-y rhythms. There are elements here that betray just how much they helped paint the scene into which grunge emerged, there's plenty owed to punk in the truest sense, while the pared back minimalism contrasting louder moments speaks to post punk and art rock. Analysis aside, it's all just so good.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Record ever so slightly warped, otherwise in excellent condition***


Washington, D.C. post-hardcore noisemakers Unwound came up in the early 1990s with a DIY ethos and a penchant for making every instrument screech. The 1995 album Unwound was intended as their core statement of intent (not to be confused with their first ever cassette of the same name), finding them inspired divinely by tropes from krautrock and jazz. For a punk band, there are a relatively high number of wide power chords throughout this one, contrasting to the raw, centred and raspy vocals from Justin Trosper. A monumental achievement, filled with pace changes and soul-ripping drops into oblivion.