Latest new releases on vinyl record, CD and cassette tape

Enigmatic Canadian country singer Orville Peck follows his 2019 debut LP ’Pony’ with an EP ‘Show Pony’. There are guest appearances here from none other than Shania Twain, as well as Duncan Hay Jennings of Canadian indie rock band FRIGS. The record also features a cover of Bobby Gentry’s 1969 song ‘Fancy’.

Motorpsycho have been going for pretty much forever, releasing a slew of psych-rock of various different shades. 'Behind the Sun', their 2014 LP, was another concept album that went from heavy Led Zeppelin riffing to gentle ballads that recall the Laurel Canyon folkies of the '60s and '70s. Truly, Motorpsycho are an entire genre to themselves. Re-issue on Rune Grammofon. 

The fourth studio album from Californian alternative rockers The Neighbourhood, ‘Chip Chrome & The Mono-Tones’ expands the group’s trademark moody, low-tempo rock to embrace a number of different influences. Notably, there are some synthesisers and other electronics on this thing - lesser-heard tones in the band's discography prior to now. It’s easily Jesse Rutherford and the guys’ most ambitious album to date.

'Szabodelico' is the sixth album by Causa Sui, the Danish psych-rockers led by Jonas Munk. With each release the band look to progress their sound, and this one is no exception. It took form through some loose, high-spirited jams before Munk mixed and added a few - but not too many - overdubs to make the final album. 

With Lamentations, William Basinski has created a work of great depth and beauty. He leaves his usual subjects of death and decay behind here, but not unlike his 2002 classic Disintegration Loops, there’s an arc of grief over the album. The songs are shaped from tape loops of Basinski’s own archival material dating back to 1979.

Congolese-Belgian DJ Melika Ngombe Kolongo - a.k.a. Nkisi - presents the first of a new series of releases known as ‘Initiation’. The three-track 'INT001' continues Nkisi’s experiments in fusing pan-African percussion to hard-edged techno and industrial tones. The results are bracing, reminiscent of both L.I.E.S. Records and Serpente.

After the global pandemic prematurely ended Big Thief’s tour the band's singer, songwriter and guitarist Adrianne Lenker decided to make some new music. 'songs and instrumentals' is two separate albums being released as a double-LP and double-CD. The 'songs' bit features - guess what - eleven new songs, whilst 'instrumentals' features - that's right - two instrumental pieces. Both records were written and recorded in April 2020, the early days of lockdown, and both exhibit the incredible balance of strength and fragility that has seen Lenker proclaimed as something of a modern-day Leonard Cohen.

Reflecting on a rich, industrious career that stretches back to the mid-Eighties, American singer-songwriter Anton Barbeau presents one of his most personal albums ever in the shape of ‘Manbird’. Beginning with his childhood in Sacramento to his life now in Berlin, the themes of escaping your hometown and the pull of the familiar and comfortable are set to gently psychedelic folk-pop.

A Romance With Violence is the fourth album by Denver, Colorado black metal band Wayfarer. It sees the band fine-tuning their unique sound to create a deep and thoughtful work - which may sound very un-metal - but don’t worry, the riffs are plentiful and really bloody forceful. On Profound Lore.

‘Face The Facts’ is the result of a collaboration between producer and DJ Nick Moore - better known as Linkwood - and Scottish artist Other Lands. Recorded just before the first Coronavirus lockdown and conducted in an improvised spirit, the record features the intricate guitar work of Other Lands laid over Linkwood’s blends of post-punk, house and electronica.

Gorgeous classic house tune from Floating Points unleashed on vinyl at last. Gotta love those electric synth squiggles and haunting synth pads. Pure electro-jazz. It comes backed with Farukx  - seven minutes of summery electronic vibes and stellar strings. It's winter at the time of writing but there's some seriously off kilter summer sounds here to keep us warm.  

Following the success of their ‘Ghosts & Galaxies’ EP from earlier in 2020, dubstep outfit Two Rangers make their debut on DEEP MEDi MUSIK with another, self-titled four-track 12”. ‘Two Rangers’ is an exercise in outre dubstep, full of twitchy beats and alien soundscapes.

The third and final instalment of Death Is Not The End’s series of cassette compilations documenting the doo-wop and R&B records coming out of Jamaica in the late Fifties / early Sixties. ‘If I Had A Pair Of Wings: Jamaican Doo Wop, Vol. 3’ provides a snapshot of the island’s burgeoning independent scene transforming cover versions of American singles into proto-reggae diamonds.

Here we have a reissue of Bruno Nicolai’s music for ‘Geminus’, an Italian television mini-series originally broadcast in 1969. On his diverse and eclectic score, Nicolai pulled together influences from contemporaneous pop to experimental/progressive rock styles. Features extensive liner notes from film critics Francesco Cesari and Roberto Curti.

‘Occulto’ represents another dive into the archives of Italian film soundtrack composer Giuliano Sorgini. Selected from a range of different, low budget horror movies made in the 1970s, these atmospheric DIY scores, performed and recorded entirely by Sorgini at his Cat & Fox Studio in Rome, show the invention that often comes from necessity and restraint.

A first-ever release on vinyl for M.I.A. (The Complete Anthology), a full career retrospective of influential punk act Germs. Originally released in 1993 on CD only, Porterhouse Records replicates the compilation in its entirety, right down to the original liner notes, making for a fitting tribute to this influential first-wave punk outfit. 

'Salute To The Sun' is the 8th album by trumpeter, composer and Gondwana Records boss Matthew Halsall. He has a new band behind him on this one made up from some of Manchester’s best young jazz musicians, although Halsall's long-time aide Gavin Barras features again on bass. The album balances playfulness and earthiness, inspired by ambient field recordings of jungles and rainforests - represented here by various percussion instruments.

A remastered reissue of ‘Freefloater’, the 1995 sophomore album from Bobby Bird’s Higher Intelligence Agency. With this new edition overseen by Stefan Betke (Pole), the overhaul has revealed previously hidden depths and details to 'Freefloater', giving new life to what was already a minor classic in the IDM genre.

There he is. A man alone at the piano. Sir Nick Cave. Just like every other musician, Sir Nick couldn't tour during the Covid mess - but unlike every other musician, Cave donned his blackest suit and streamed himself playing without an audience in a big, empty room at Alexandra Palace. The results were, of course, breathtaking - Cave gave a sombre performance which straddled output from his entire career. And now you can own it, under the name of 'Idiot Prayer - Nick Cave Alone At Alexandra Palace', on double-LP or double-CD.

Although he sounds like the sort of bloke who might have sold you a dodgy used car, Fat Tony is a Houston based regular in the rap game with appearances on ASAP Rock mixtapes and on Vice TV. His latest is an eclectic, ambitious work where a scan through the list of influences sees Kenny Rodgers rubbing shoulders with Outkast rubbing shoulders with Scritti Politti. How can this not be interesting? 

‘Ecstasy Rhymes’ is the first proper album from Kentucky-via-Oslo outfit The High Water Marks in over a decade. Associated with the Elephant 6 collective - lead singer Hilarie Sidney was one of its co-founders - The High Water Marks' latest record is laden with infectious, quirky pop hooks and warm, lavish arrangements.

‘The Sessions III’ is the third album of improvisations by kosmische music icons Tangerine Dream. In their latter years the band's live performances have returned to their founding principles of spontaneity, rendering passages which bear little resemblance to their studio recordings but remain thrilling and unique nonetheless. This series of albums picks out the best of these in-concert noodlings.

A summer love story set in a Normandy port town that recalls the acclaimed 'Call Me By Your Name', Été 85 (trans: ‘Summer of 85’) is a film directed by François Ozon. The film features an original score from JB Dunckel, which isn't a million miles away from the stuff he makes as part of Air, and comes bolstered by the inclusion of The Cure’s ‘Inbetween Days’.

'Holding Our Breath' was the third EP released by celebrated shoegazers Slowdive. It preceded their debut album, 1991's 'Just For A Day', by a couple of months and features the album track ‘Catch The Breeze’ along with three other tunes - fan favourite ‘Shine’, the atmospheric ‘Albatross’ and a cover of the Syd Barrett song ‘Golden Hair’. 

The Acid Lands is a piece of music featuring the words of William Burroughs, taken from his novels The Western Lands and Junkie. It was originally performed by Opening Performance Orchestra, Martina Potucková and narrator Pavel Z in 2014 to celebrate what would have been Burrough’s 100th birthday. This studio version was recorded in 2019 which featured Iggy Pop as narrator and Bill Laswell on bass. The record also features a Bill Laswell remix.

Some classic psych-folk here that has existed largely under the radar since the late ‘60s. Trees released two albums in their lifetime - The Garden of Jane Delanwey in 1969 and On The Shore in 1971. They are being reissued as one box set, Trees (50th Anniversary Edition), and include two discs of BBC sessions, outtakes and alternate mixes. Includes book with new liner notes by founding member David Costa and folk-loving comedian Stewart Lee. 

John Hiatt's 2003 LP ‘Beneath This Gruff Exterior’ was his first LP for the New West label and the first which credited his backing band The Goners front-and-centre. A consistent and polished collection of well-written rock, it contains all of the key characteristics of Hiatt’s work - bluesy rock I guess?

I mean seriously ... wash your mouths out. Inserting swear words where there really is no need for them are Kings of the Fucking Sea, a group which includes members of The Little Killers and Immortal Lee Country Killers but not the actual The Killers. Sort-of-live album 'In Concert' - it was recorded straight to Tascam, but it's unclear if the band did so 'In Concert' or just 'Played At The Same Time To No Audience' - is described as MC5 and Black Sabbath having a baby together ... which is a nice thought. There are 500 fucking copies of 'In Concert' with a bonus fucking poster for the first fucking 200. 

Awww that's a really lovely print of a tree. Gorgeous sleeve aside, Tambourinen is the project of Grant Beyschau - the man in The Myrrors. 'Wooden Flower' was previously released on limited-run cassette, but it now hits vinyl courtesy of Wakefield's Cardinal Fuzz. The album is a swirl of kosmische, Krautrock and deep bubbling grooves written, recorded, played and (we hope) personally delivered to Norman Records by the man himself.  

The third album of psychedelic, heartfelt folk from American singer-songwriter Buck Curran. Recorded in northern Italy at the start of 2020 as that part of the world was being laid low with the Coronavirus, ‘No Love Is Sorrow’ is rendered both acoustically and electrically. Loss and isolation are the predominant themes, but 'No Love Is Sorrow' is also shot through with hope. 

Brooklyn-based independent label Captured Tracks breaks into the world of compilations with the aim of exhuming forgotten or obscure music from the Seventies to the Nineties that has informed the label’s aesthetic. ‘Strum & Thrum: The American Jangle Underground 1983-1987’ explores the DIY rock scenes of small cities and towns across the States during the mid-Eighties. Golden-age college rock fans, assemble!

Paul Weller’s 2010 studio album ‘Wake Up The Nation’ is remastered for its tenth anniversary. Featuring guest spots from My Bloody Valentine’s Kevin Shields and - together for the first time since 1982 - Weller's former Jam bandmate Bruce Foxton, the record was nominated for the 2010 Mercury Music Prize. Here 'Wake Up The Nation' finally gets a mixdown that the Modfather himself is satisfied with.

‘Hark!’ sees US multi-instrumentalist Andrew Bird embracing the Christmas spirit with an album of festive songs. The varied LP brings together seasonal originals and covers including John Cale’s ‘Andalucia’ and ‘Souvenirs’ by John Prine. It also includes his childhood favourite ‘Mille Cherubini in Coro’, a tune famously belted out by Luciano Pavarotti once.

Hauling themselves out of a downward spiral caused by burnout after their rapid initial success, Peterborough-based indie act The Wytches self-release their third studio album, Three Mile Ditch. Studded amid the loud, hard-edged rock tracks are signs of the more classic songwriting that have always influenced the group, from Dylan to Chilton. 

Micko & The Mellotronics is a new vehicle for the unique, quick-witting lyrical stylings of Micko Westmoreland, known for recordings under his own name and also as The Bowling Green. This off-beat punk collection '½ Dove - ½ Pigeon' features several guest appearances, not least from The Specials’ bassist Horace Panter. 

Workaround is the debut album by Beatrice Dillon. She has taken her love of the UK club scene, mixed it with afro-carriebean influences and samples from guest musicians such as Kuljit Bhamra on tabla, Jonny Lam from Pharoah Sanders Band playing pedal steel guitar, Laurel Halo and Batu at synth & vocals and samples respectively along with Kadialy Kouyaté playing kora and Lucy Railton on cello. It makes for a refreshingly innovative blend of rhythm and sound.

The hard-rockin' Clutch started releasing newly recorded versions of their own songs digitally via Weathermaker Music. 'The Weathermaker Vault Series Vol. 1' is the first physical release, featuring ten tracks - two of which are previously unreleased. There’s a version of 'Passive Restraints' with guest vocals from Lamb of God’s Randy Blythe, a version of 'Algo Ha Cambiado' by Argentinian punk legend Nolberto Napolitano and the band’s hard-rocking version of 'Fortunate Son', which was originally recorded by Creedence Clearwater Revival.

Cicatriz (scar en Espanol) is the debut album by British / Chilean musician Kamixlo. He’s been making waves with his bass-heavy dance tracks over a few EPs, but now expresses himself in the album format, influenced by all sorts from Japanese wrestling to Limp Bizkit. Features guest spots from Felix Lee and Swedish producer Woesum.

Thief is a 1981 crime drama starring James Caan. It was the directorial debut of Michael Mann who went on to make such classics as Heat, Manhunter and Collateral. Electronic pioneers Tangerine Dream composed and performed the score, which started a bit of trend for electronic music being used to score films. It was also the first of over twenty scores composed by the German band.

The original version of Dark Days appeared on the 2016 album Sunlit Youth by Los Angeles indie rockers Local Natives. The new version of the song features the vocals of Amelia Meath, one half of North Carolinian electronic pop duo Sylvan Esso who also wrote a new additional verse for the song. 7" on Loma Vista.

The final word for Amy Winehouse fans, 'The Collection' is a 5xCD box set gathering up the late, great singer's entire official recorded output. Featuring the studio albums 'Frank' and 'Back To Black' plus posthumous compilation 'Lioness: Hidden Treasures', there’s also a live album recorded at London’s Shepherd’s Bush Empire in 2007 and a disc of remixes from artists such as Hot Chip.

Released in 2015 to overwhelming critical praise, Ted Geoghegan’s horror film 'We Are Still Here' was deeply emotionally affecting in no small part due to Wojciech Golczewski’s masterful soundtrack, essaying the grief and torments of the central couple. That score, which moves between moody ambient music and grinding industrial drone, is now presented on vinyl here.

Five remixes from Paul Weller’s recent fifteenth studio album ‘On Sunset’ make up this EP. The artists re-working the songs here were given the stamp of approval by The Modfather himself - they include The Coral’s James Skelly (under the moniker Skeleton Key), Senegalese drummer Seckou Keita and singers Le SuperHomard, Jane Weaver and Gwenno.

As someone who was occasionally taught by nuns, I can confirm they are anything but casual. Noise rockers Casual Nun hail from London but their origins lie in Greece, for three of them, and California for the other one. Resort For Dead Desires sees them mixing psychedelics and speed, it would seem, in the form of both music and recreational drugs. On Hominid Sounds.  

Chart-topping banjo-botherers Mumford & Sons release a six-track EP on 12” vinyl documenting the mammoth world tour behind their fourth studio album ‘Delta’, an LP which was released back in 2018. Contains a rousing rendition of ‘With A Little Help From My Friends’ - by, obviously, The Beatles - taped in London, where that sort of thing tends to happen.

'12 Things I Forgot' is the latest track to be taken from Steven Wilson's 'The Future Bites' album. It's a tune which sees the former Porcupine Tree man concern himself with consumerism and dystopian futures. The prog-lord hails from Kingston-upon-Thames, which is where I'm from - I wonder which school he went to?

Doves were of course once Sub Sub who had an enormous hit with *that* song 'Ain't No Love (Ain't No Use)' but in a twist in the usual guitar band picks up synths career pattern put down their 303s and picked up guitars to become a decent big league emotional rock act as Doves. 'Lost Souls' is their debut album. Originally released in the year 2000.

Most bands follow the well worn trajectory of starting off all guitary and ending up adding dance and electronica influences into their work. Not Doves. They emerged out of Sub Sub who had an enormous dance hit in 1994 with Aint No Love. Doves were (and are) a totally different beast writing big emotional indie-rock that like their previous incarnation was remarkably successful. The Last Broadcast was their second LP from 2002.

The album that incontrovertibly transformed Bob Marley & The Wailers to international superstardom, 1977’s 'Exodus' gets a half-speed remastered reissue on vinyl. Housing several of Marley’s most famous moments - the entire second side, essentially, are signature songs, in addition to the mesmerising title track - it’s devoted to spirituality and politics. 

The final album released in his lifetime, 1980’s 'Uprising' directly spoke to Bob Marley’s Rastafarian beliefs in nearly every song, culminating in the beautiful acoustic closer ‘Redemption Song’. A poignant and spiritual experience which saw Marley backed once more by his Wailers, the LP is now remastered with half-speed cutting techniques for reissue on vinyl. 

Arguably the most famous Studio Ghibli movie of all, 2001’s Spirited Away is regarded as a masterpiece in every aspect. No less striking is its soundtrack, composed by the studio’s regular collaborator Joe Hisaishi and performed by the New Japan Philharmonic. It’s presented here over three sides of vinyl (side D is blank) and packaged in a gatefold sleeve with an OBI strip. 

The soundtrack to Studio Ghibli's wonderful adaptation of Diana Wynne Jones's 'Howl's Moving Castle'. Who else but Joe Hisaishi could capture the magic and the whimsy of an actual moving castle? Of course, as with most of their films, there's more to it than that, director Hayao Miyazaki has said this film was partly influenced by his opposition to the 2003 Iraq war.  

Classic Studio Ghibli animation Spirited Away was originally released in 2001 and was directed by Hayao Miyazaki, who seems to be responsible for the famed animation studio’s best films. The image album was conceived by Joe Hisaishi using the director's notes. It features the vocal talents of U-MI, Sizzle Ohtaka, Tsunehiko Kamijo, Mosieur Kamayatsu and RIKKI. Japanese import LP with OBI strip.

Much like concept art, image albums, or in this case an 'Image Symphonic Suite', help provide some extra colour to a production. This one is for Studio Ghibli's 'Howl's Moving Castle', one of their strangest and most endearing works, whose cast features a scarecrow and a very nice dog. As you might expect Joe Hisaishi is on soundtrack duties, his compositions as key to the film's magical mood as any other component. 

Produced with the help of Sam Slater, composer / violist Marta Forsberg and sound artist Fågelle, Andreas Dzialocha delivers an audiophile’s dream with new studio album For Always. With human, acoustic and machine elements all in harmony yet pushing to be heard, it’s a record to completely lose yourself inside. 

For those not yet aware, The William Loveday Intention is yet another musical vehicle for the singular musical imagination of English auteur Billy Childish. Full of reliably ramshackle garage-rock, ‘Will There Ever Be A Day That You're Hung Like A Thief?’ is the second of a series of four (FOUR!!) albums that the group will release - one per month - in the winter of 2020. 

Grim Humour was a UK underground fanzine which ran between 1983 and 1993. If you missed out at the time then you can look back with love at the sheer breadth of music, film, art and other ephemera they covered. A quick thumb through reveals the likes of Crass, Virgin Prunes, Nick Cave, Sonic Youth, Coil, The Fall and loads more important people of the era all featured. 300 page hardback book. 

The Paranoyds are an LA punk band with one foot in a 1990s post-grunge world. Here we find live favourite ‘Pet Cemetery’ (which I'm pretty sure isn't a Ramones cover) backed with ‘Hotel Celebrity’, a song that takes a swipe at the sort of shallow Hollywood types you'd imagine The Paranoyds see a lot of in their home city.

The duo of Tomi Leppänen and Jussi Lehtisalo present their sixth studio album as Pharaoh Overlord. Consisting of brooding electronic panoramas that sound like a more torrid take on Rival Consoles, and featuring dazzling contributions from Aaron Turner (SUMAC), '6' seems grimly appropriate for the insane times we find ourselves living through.

Private Meaning First is the second album by French outfit The Psychotic Monks. The band squeezed themselves into a small house, hidden away in the French countryside to create a suffocating habitat before unleashing all that claustrophobic awkwardness on their instruments. They are inspired by the likes of The Jesus Lizard, Sonic Youth, Girl Band and Throbbing Gristle, so if you like any of those bands you know what to do...

A twenty-one-track selection (fewer on the vinyl, though these are full-length versions) taken entirely from vinyl and laid down at their log cabin home/studio space in New Hampshire, American DJs Eris Drew and Octo Octa (co-owners of the T4T LUV NRG label) deliver a fabric presents mix. Their blends contains obscure classics of house, hardcore and trance, as well as a couple of exclusives from the artists themselves. 

With ‘Neuzeit’, German electro-acoustic songwriter (and former Brian Eno collaborator) J. Peter Schwalm links with Norwegian trumpeter Arve Henriksen, a player noted for the flute-like sound he’s capable of generating with his instrument. 'Neuzeit' takes on the weighty concept of Western civilisation in the times of enormous crisis that it faces at the time of writing.

Coldharbourstores have been churning them out recently after a long lay off between their first album proper 'More Than The Other' (2002) and it's follow up 'Wilderness' (2018). 'Dearly Devoted' is the band's third LP in three years and is again produced by Graham Sutton (Bark Psychosis). Here we have an album of soaring indie-pop which would appear to be the group's most ambitious and emotional record to date.  

'Rhythm & Soul' was the first album by mod revivalists Makin’ Time, originally released in 1985. Among their line up was vocalist Fay Hallam, who has gone on to have a solo career, Mark McGounden who went on to form The Upper Fifth and The Deep Six and, perhaps most notably, Martin Blunt who went on to play bass with The Charlatans. 'Rhythm and Soul' is out on Acid Jazz.

Mac Blackout is the recording moniker of Mark McKenzie. 'Love Profess' sees him moving away from the KBD-meets-sci-fi-punk style of his previous output. Here, he has stripped his sound right back to reveal analogue synth-led pop. A surprise inclusion of some free-jazz and avant-garde influences enlivens 'Love Profess' still further.

With his last studio album Song For Alpha coming out only two years ago and with recent collaborations with Alessandro Cortini and Roman Flügel (as Noun) relatively fresh in our mind, another full-on solo record from Daniel Avery comes as a bit of a surprise right now. Love + Light, however, is a coherent and moving musical statement of positivity. 

One of the most definitive - and quiet - records of the post-punk era, the one and only studio album by Cardiff-based Young Marble Giants gets a fortieth anniversary re-release. Recorded in under a week, ‘Colossal Youth’ has influenced artists as diverse as Kurt Cobain and Stuart Murdoch. This release represents the chapter-and-verse take on Young Marble Giants' brief career. 

‘Plan 9 Records July 13, 2006’ by Drive-By Truckers is a live album recorded at the titular record shop in Richmond, Virginia. It sees the southern rockers run through favourites such as the country blues number ‘Daddy’s Cup’, strained rock monster ‘18 Wheels of Love’ and the Neil Young-influenced crunch of 'Let There Be Rock’. Now a successful solo artist, Jason Isbell was a member of the band at the time. of this record's taping.

Solidifying the sound of hardcore, east coast hip hop, Mobb Deep’s ‘Hell on Earth’ is back on vinyl where it belongs. Get on Down Records have repressed this archetypal N.Y. street rap record. Economical beats made from three note basslines, taut snares and 8-bar piano loops, dense verses and classic guest spots make it one of the most influential records of the 1990s.

Kristin Hersh’s legendary art-rock band Throwing Muses return for their 10th studio album. A change in direction from their last outing Purgatory/Paradise seven years ago, a fidgety and restless affair, Sun Racket is becalmed and monolithic, characterised by rising and fading walls of guitar noise. 

Fresh from saving lockdown courtesy of his online listening parties, Tim Burgess is back with a six-track EP 'Ascent Of The Ascended', which follows on from his 'I Love the New Sky' long-player. Tim had always wanted to work with This Heat's Charles Hayward so simply rang him up, and there he is on 'Yours. To Be'. There's another new track 'Ascent Of The Ascended' and the rest is collected from a Paste session recorded prior to lockdown. Also features a version of 'The Only One I Know'.

Hip-hop supergroup Quakers are releasing a mammoth thirty-three-track album (!) called 'II - The New Wave'. Made up of Supa K (fka Katalyst), 7STU7, and Fuzzface, aka Geoff Barrow (him of Portishead and BEAK> fame), this production powerhouse churned out one of 2012's best hip-hop albums in the form of their debut record. Expect short songs, booming beats and plenty of studio chops.

Released to critical acclaim, 'Vampire: The Masquerade – Shadows of New York' is the latest in the 'Vampire: The Masquerade' series, one of the most well-received video games in recent memory. Pressed to violet-coloured vinyl is Resina’s haunting soundtrack - part chamber music, part grinding industrialism.

John Bence presents the final in a trilogy of works that explore his previous addiction to alcohol and subsequent recovery. He returns to the piano - the instrument he initially composed on - and explores the emotional qualities of the instrument on this album. The result is a wandering record, slightly avant-garde and slightly Romantic, which hopefully provides a soothing soundtrack to help the healing process. 

One of the titans of Ethiopian pop/funk/soul, Ayalew Mesfin’s music was largely captured on 7” singles and reel-to-reel tapes. ‘Mot Aykerim (You Can't Cheat Death)’ is another in Now-Again’s series of albums compiling his work for modern audiences, coming with a sixteen-page book detailing Mesfin’s role in Ethopian music. 

Valentina Magaletti (of Tomaga and Vanishing Twin, among others) and Marlene Ribeiro (Gnod and Negra Blanca) collaborate on ‘Due Matte’. This is a striking bricolage of DIY sounds recorded on phones at Porto’s Hysteria workshops last year which were then shaped into soundscapes that alternate between alarming and restful. 

Songwriter and disability awareness campaigner Paul Hawkins gets his band The Awkward Silences back together for the outfit’s fourth studio album, and first for half a decade. Inspired by the outsider art of songwriters such as Daniel Johnston and the lysergic, scattered energy of the likes of The Flaming Lips, ‘The Awkward Silences’ is both insistently catchy and highly personal.

New York electro post-punks The Vacant Lots follow up their ‘Interzone’ album with a remix of ‘Departure’, a long-standing live fan favourite. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club bassist Robert Levon Been is tasked with reworking 'Interzone' here, and he amps up the mixture of aggressive electronics and stylish guitars.

1990’s Goo was considered to be Sonic Youth's most accessible album to date: it does, after all, contain the popular tunes ‘Dirty Boots’ and ‘Kool Thing’, virtually pop hits for Sonic Youth and it was their first for a major label.  Still, they kept their underground credentials with the classic sleeve art from Raymond Pettibon!

'Nerve Net' was one of many slightly different experiments Brian Eno conjured up towards the end of the 20th century. Deeming his pure ambient compositions to have had a good run, he turned to a few other musical standards: jazz and rock 'n' roll were his two preferences on this release, which saw Eno in much chirpier spirits than usual. And hey, his good pal Robert Fripp is about to shake proceedings thoroughly up.

Out on All Saints is the new reissue on vinyl LP and CD of Brian Eno's '92 droner The Shutov Assembly - Expanded Edition. Made primarily for his artist pal Sergi Shutov, TSA is akin to Eno's earlier capacious work's, yet it develops into a slightly more sinister and angular persona. Perhaps this is the reason TSA appears more personal and less benign than his other ambient creations.

Artik moved from the southern islands of sunny Spain to Berlin in order to immerse himself in the perfect atmosphere to make music of dystopian ambience and pummelling beats. His EP ‘The Robots At Dawn’ takes inspiration from the Isaac Asimov novel of the same name. It opens with the oppressive ambient track 'Solaria' before focusing on the dancefloor and closing with some body-contorting funk. Pure brutalised techno naughtiness - think Belief Defect.

Disco producer Patrick Cowley, sadly died in 1982. He was a pioneer of electronic disco along with Giorgio Moroder. His best known production was 'You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)', a 1978 hit for Sylvester. 'Some Funkettes' is an archival collection of covers he recorded between 1975 and 1977 which come from a huge body of work he left behind. On Dark Entries.

You know when an album has the word 'chronicle' in the title it's going to be interesting. Mountain Caller are a London-based group who are reportedly a "rich amalgam of progressive rock, post-metal and doom". Their debut record 'Chronicle I: The Truthseeker' is based around a character called The Protagonist (Chris Nolan's obviously been taking notes) who sets "forth on an Odyssean journey to rediscover her memory and her voice". Intrigued? Out on New Heavy Sounds. 

Acclaimed as one of the most skilled guitarists in the world and the subject of documentary film 'Agadez, the Music and the Rebellion', the talents of Tuareg musician Omara ‘Bombino’ Moctar are captured in the live arena on his first-ever concert album. Recorded at Melkweg in late 2019, 'Live In Amsterdam' is a real treat.

The Sensible Gray Cells is a project which will be a treat for any discerning fan of The Damned as the two main protagonists here are that band's Captain Sensible and Paul Gray. The duo are joined by drummer Marty Love on an album which showcases their songwriting prowess away from their parent group. 'Get Back Into The World' is The Sensible Gray Cells' first offering for seven years and so should be lapped up like a bowl of milk placed in front of a kitten. 

The seventy-first issue of Electronic Sound salutes Cabaret Voltaire on ‘Shadow Of Fear’, the outfit’s first album release in over a quarter of a century.  Richard H. Kirk is interviewed, while the 7” single included with the magazine features remixes by Mute label boss Daniel Miller of two tracks from the record - ‘Vasto' and 'The Power (Of Their Knowledge)'. Tunng, Laibach and Working Men's Club are among the issue's other spotlighted acts.

Finally a vinyl edition of this debut album (originally released in 2019 on FTP) that has been high on many electro fiend wishlists. It trims the digital versions twelve tracks down to a lean eight cuts - pressed loud for maximum impact. As followers of this Helsinki producer will know - his productions for Natural Sciences, Warning, Émotsiya etc. are super crisp and immaculate. These gleaming tracks unfurl with all the graceful, celestial elegance of Gerhard Hansen's ERP productions. Dedicated to Detroit's Erik Travis whom he samples on a coupla tracks. Top drawer electro.

Enigmatic label Light Sounds Dark release a characteristically mysterious record by Crossed Wires. Apparently retrieved from an archival cassette of raw, previously unheard productions by an avant-garde/electronic experimentalist, it’s released on vinyl and cassette. We suspect these tracks are actually by an artist that's currently active but are certainly in keeping with LSD's vintage/analogue/psychedelic aesthetic.

For their first release, fledgeling label Euphonic Rhythms launches with a 2LP fundraising compilation featuring the cream of the underground electronic music community. Artists featured include; Import, Christoph De Babalon, FARWARMTH, Gillie Mc Pherson, Ondness, Kepla, Jiinx + Sunun, Ausschuss, Withdrawn + Birthmark, Bobby Jewell, Best Available Technology, Proc Fiskal and Mya Gomez. The label states: 50% of the profits will go to the Trussell Trust, Migrants Organise and Resourcing Racial Justice...the rest for artists. All fees donated to the NAACP LDF.

Electronic musician Edward Upton makes music under lots of different names. This time he’s using his DMX Krew moniker to bring us 'Turn It On' EP of Level 42 cover versions. This may sound like an odd thing to do but his reasons are incredibly honourable. The record is dedicated to Level 42 guitarist Rowland ‘Boon’ Gould who sadly died in 2019.

The iconic Danny Wolfers presents a new five-track Legowelt EP. 'System Shapeshift' is released on the newly re-activated Lapsus sub-imprint C.E.E., and it's a record which sees Wolfers return to his more traditionally club-orientated sounds after some dalliances abroad. This is half an hour of hard-edged techno, house and shape-shifting electro. 

'Neunachi EP' is the new two-tracker by Germany-based Chilean producer and DJ Ricardo Villalobos. You know how it goes with Mr. Villalobos these days - hypnotic minimal techno grooves, little flushes of sub-bass, pregnant atmospherics and the like - though 'Neunachi's B-side does find him operating at a somewhat higher bpm than we're used to.

'Could Divine' is the work of Ana Rita de Melo Alves aka anrimeal, an artist who makes what she describes as "computer folk" inspired by the likes of Eva Hesse and other minimalist practitioners. The album was quietly snuck out on Bandcamp during that there Coronavirus lockdown, but here is your chance to get 'Could Divine' on actual vinyl. 

Following two highly inventive EPs in the shape of ‘Goodbye Dinosaur…’ and ‘A Playground For Sad Adults’ since their formation in 2016, Bristol’s Phoxjaw release their long-anticipated debut album. ‘Royal Swan’ is as typically difficult to categorise as you’d expect, its sound having as much in common with Slayer as it does with mid-Noughties indie rock.

Baltimore's Oxes were well known for their metal 'tone poems', a style which saw guitarists Marc Miller and Nat Fowler produce performance art-influenced instrumentals. This twenty-year anniversary pressing of their debut LP 'The Fourth Wall' also contains the group's first Peel session as well as unseen photos and new text outlining the history of the group. True fact: I once bumped into these lads in the street as they were about to perform at Brudenell Social Club. They won't remember.

Andersens are a Japanese psych/folk band who are contemporaries of Tenniscoats and Maher Shalal Hash Baz. They are led by Kiyokazu Onozaki, who also goes by the name of Tusby. 'There Is a Sound' is a compilation compiled by Tusby and The Notwist's Markus Acher that will introduce the band to the world (Andersens have previously been pretty much unknown outside of Japan). 

Irish band Kodaline initially released their fourth album One Day At A Time digitally. It has been streamed over 160 million times over various platforms, which is a lot. It is now being issued as deluxe CD and Vinyl editions. The album has produced four singles - 'Wherever You Are', 'Sometimes', 'Saving Grace’ and 'Say Something' along with ‘Everyone Changes’, their collaboration with English singer / songwriter Gabrielle Aplin.