Back catalogue: Post Rock/Experimental

Review: Experience two of Joy Division's iconic post-punk tracks like never before with exclusive 7" vinyl from Numero Group. Codeine's 1994 rendition of 'Atmosphere' captures the essence of solitude with a melancholic yet melodic twist that marked the iconic Manchester band's poignant farewell. Meanwhile, Bedhead from Dallas offers a fresh perspective on 'Disorder' and transforms it into vibrant indie rock. Encased in a sleek black and silver sleeve adorned with embossed braille lettering, these twin readings pay homage to Joy Division's enduring legacy while inviting listeners to explore new interpretations of their timeless classics.

Review: Acclaimed Japanese artist Cornelius is back with a new three-song EP, Bad Advice/Mind Train, featuring a collaboration with Arto Lindsay. The EP's first single, 'Mind Train,' is an epic nine-minute track inspired by Yoko Ono which blends ethereal space-pop with minimalist structures and bursts of exhilarating chaos. Cornelius describes 'Mind Train' as a symbol of spiritual and inner exploration that is designed to prompt self-reflection. The accompanying video, created by renowned visual stylist Keita Onishi, enhances this journey with stunning retro-futuristic graphics that allow you to explore your own interpretations.

Review: Recorded for BBC Radio In Concert during Can's 1973 UK tour, this exceptional live performance showcases the cult favourite band at their peak. The five-piece group did their usual trick of expertly weaving together repeating themes and riffs while responding to each other in real-time. The dynamic interplay between keyboards from Schmidt, guitar from Karoli and Suzuki's vocals is driven by the powerful Czukay and Liebezeit rhythm section. Featuring comprehensive sleeve notes and full recording details, this release includes all tracks written by Can members Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt and Suzuki, all of which were captured live at The Paris Theatre, London on February 19th. A great bit of Can history.

Review: RECOMMENDED
You always feel like you've pushed through the other side of the mirror when it comes to CAN. A mysterious, groove-laden, funk-infused yet utterly lucid place where guitar hooks seem to come out of the walls, rhythmic hypnosis draws listeners ever-deeper into a place that, while perhaps not entirely theirs, is one which they helped build in the outer limits of late-1960s surrealist rock.

Laying the foundations for early progressive and krautrock with an avant-garde approach to songwriting, by the time this Stuttgart gig took place they had almost a decade of work to go at, and yet as the tracklist suggests the band always had improvisation at their core in a live setting. Concerts that would transport crowds far beyond the venue, into thick layers of melody, hooks and strange effects, every single recording of every show is a genuine moment in history never to be repeated again.

Review: The third full length from Hawaii-born, LA producer singer/producer Jess Labrador, operates in a sweet pot between the dreamy and the nightmarish, atmospheres shifting without warning and genres fused and abused, particularly focussing on joining the dots between between electronics and classic songwriting. Labrador's sonic skills - her day job is as a professional mastering engineer - is very much evidence on what is her first almost completely DIY production, with every note and frequency in its place for maximum devastation and emotional resonance.

Review: .By its very nature, Tenkiller is a very different beast to Chat Pile's other releases. Recorded in the winter of 2020 to be the soundtrack to Tenkiller, an indie movie about the lives of ordinary people in small-town America, it sees the noise-rock/post-hardcore combo focus on mood and tone, rather than form and function. As a result, fuzzy and forthright cuts of the sort you'd expect come supplemented by dystopian, industrial-influenced soundscapes, lo-fi alt-country, guitar-laden mood pieces, low-slung and effects-laden creepiness, intense electronica and the kind of slow-burn ambient-not-ambient that was once the preserve of cult bands such as Labradford.

Review: When most people think of mid-1970s San Francisco, The Visitation is the kind of sound that likely springs to mind. Released in 1976 by a then-fledgling band called Chrome, the record is packed with the kind of psychedelic rock that invokes borrowed fantasies of floating high above the Gold Gate City, wings gifted through hallucinatory intake. Or in the throes of a tripped out party, waiting to board Jefferson Airplane. In reality, this was nought but a fleeting moment in the group's history, and what followed betrays a very different side to Frisco at the time, one defined by punk and post punk, giving rise to outfits like The Units. Relish in The Visitation then, because Chrome's brief flirtation with this sound is unarguably incredible and all-too rare.

Review: Recorded in Stockport and Stockholm between 2016 and 2017, Jon Collin's The Nature is still just as beautiful more than half a decade on. Captured inside and outside, "with and without electricity", on the face of it this is a collection of captivating slide guitar improvisations that feel altogether timeless. Tunes that were born in a specific moment, but could have been conceived in countless others. That's all very impressive, but in many ways what really makes The Nature so enthralling are the minutiae, the imperfect details, ambient noises that were captured during the process of these tunes being laid down. Those elements add a three dimension quality to the listing experience, rendering the work and artist in vivid detail, transporting us to the times and places this project came from.

Review: Pascal Comelade's Le Non-Sens Du Rythmefinds the French artists play almost all of the many instruments it features. He has been active since the 1970s, crafting ever evolving and ways moving rhythms from a mix of toy instruments, French chanson, folklore and underground sounds. The sometime painter has worked with the likes of PJ Harvey, Robert Wyatt and The Liminanas ever since goring up as a child of the frenzied rock sounds of there 60s. Here he fuses the Rickenbaker e.bass, Indian harmonium, keyboards and a tin can into something utterly unique and strangely compelling.

Review: Loren Connors and Alan Licht's collaborative journey spanning 30 years culminates in their eighth album, At The Top Of The Stairs, is a great example to their enduring partnership and musical evolution. Recorded live in 2018, the album features two side-long pieces that showcase the duo's ability to create ethereal, abstract soundscapes with intricate arrangements. Throughout their collaboration, Connors' ghostly blue tones and Licht's meticulously crafted feedback and harmonic patterns have formed the core of their unique sound. At The Top Of The Stairs captures the duo's ascent through layers of atmospheric tension, punctuated by Connors' thunderous waves of effects. Connors and Licht have left an indelible mark on the experimental music landscape.

Review: The fables around this one are strong. To say the least. Corker & Conboy's album, In Leith of that Learnt Later was apparently recorded in a converted carpark in Battersea. Melding together cinematic post-rock, adult lullabies, dub-by folk, and new age, it's a marvel of escapist listening that transports you far from the brutality of the concrete London it was born into, out to some field in England or other, and then onwards to plains we are yet to become familiar with. On this two-tracker that sense of adventure remains very much in tact. Purelink steps up with a remix that could be the soundtrack to your next sensory depravation tank prep or cacao ceremony. All earthy bubbles and light, loose, tribalistic percussion. On the flip, find one of the originals from the LP - the lackadaisical guitar motifs of 'On The Dust and The Haze'.

Review: Cosmic Jokers recorded some now legendary jam sessions back in the 70s. They were split up and made into two compilations, Planet Sit-In and Sci Fi Party, and were both put out in 1974. Amongst the high-class talents who were part of those seasons were legends of the kraut scene like Manuel Gottsching, Klaus Schulze, Jurgen Dollase, Harald Grosskopf and Dieter Dierks. It was Dierks who took care of the recordings, arrangement and mixing as well as being a musician in the seasons. These have been transferred from the original analog tapes and remastered for the first time.

Review: This is the latest album from Berlin-based French producer Cosmo Vitelli and California-based Dutch experimental electronic musician Truus de Groot, who is well known for her work with Plus Instruments. Following their successful collaboration on Vitelli's 2022 album Medhead which featured de Groot's lyrics and vocals on several tracks, the two artists decided to join forces once more and the result is a blend of Vitelli's production skills and de Groot's distinctive voice and lyrical style. It is another fresh, experimental approach to modern electronic music.