Latest new releases on vinyl record, CD and cassette tape

Coming off the back of his 100-song marathon set on NYE in Los Angeles, Robert Pollard certainly doesn’t intend on slowing down in the new decade. Surrender Your Poppy Field is the 30th (thirtieth!!) Guided By Voices album, and something like the 105th Pollard has released overall. Phew. Furthermore, it stands to be one of his most adventurous yet, mixing shiny hook-laden psych-pop with lo-fi, spontaneously recorded efforts. 

Lord knows where Night School have dredged this up from but its a fascinating curio from Kiev underground stalwarts Svitlana Nianio & Oleksandr Yurchenko. Though the duo have worked separately both in bands and as solo artists, Znayesh Yak? Rozkazhy (Know How? Tell Me) is their most realised collaboration. The sound is disconcerting and atmospheric soundscapes topped off with operatic vocals that recall Liz Fraser. One for fans of Dead Can Dance and Nico. 

Musician, DJ and synth enthusiast Keith Seatman’s sixth album, Time To Dream But Never See is his first for Castles In Space. The album is an evocative sound collage, skillfully assembled to bring sounds from the past into the present, finding a new purpose for them as part of a historical narrative.

Here's a treat for fans of the Dunedin underground. A double LP which contains every single morsel of sound made by Dadamah. The short lived band comprised Peter Stapleton (also the Pin Group) alongside Kim Pieters and Janine Stagg and most notably Roy Montgomery. They released three 7"s in their lifetime which showcased an ethereal droney sound that referenced the Velvet Underground and Pere Ubu. 

Every year we all sit down and watch the Eurovision Song Contest but it's always a bit of a disappointment isn't it? Maybe Euro Noize was a better idea  - a host of underground noise people playing at the Scala in London all playing one new song in front of the audience. It doesn't say who won but the whole shebang has been pressed onto vinyl for your listening joy. Get in some crisps and beer and play the game for yourself. 

Mental Cube were Future Sound Of London in their early years. This eponymous EP was originally released in 1990. Over the four tracks you will find some funky 909 work outs, classic house and the bass heavy In The Mind of A Child, which was intended to be released back in the day as a Mental Cube track, but was released under the name Indo Tribe.

I Think I’m Good is the second album by rising star Kassa Overall. Through a seamless fusion of jazz and hip-hop, the Brooklyn-based musician tackles America’s prisons, personal relationships and mental health. Features guest spots from Brandee Younger and Theo Croker, newbies Joel Ross and Morgan Guerin and activist Dr. Angel Davis. On Brownswood Recordings.

RFG Inventions for Cello and Computer does, more-or-less what it says on the tin. The interesting thing here is, however, that it’s not the kind of thing you see written on ‘the tin’ very often, if ever. Peter Zinoffieff is an inventor and computer enthusiast who has created an orchestrated piece with a computer using fragments of cello improvisations by Lucy Railton. Lucy added more cello over the top. 

West Bank Songs 1978-1983: A Best Of by The Undertones is a career spanning double LP, pressed on purple and white vinyl, no less, featuring 30 tracks, compiled by the band. They are one of the most successful acts to come out of Northern Ireland. Includes the hits Here Comes The Summer, My Perfect Cousin, Jimmy Jimmy and the John Peel favourite, Teenage Kicks.

The final instalment of Italian minimalist composer Ludovico Einaudi’s Seven Days Walking album project, released in seven parts and each focussing on a separate day. ...Day 7 is now released on white vinyl, bearing a sense of spontaneity and authenticity, reflecting its recording process in a small, cut-off hut in the middle of the Alps. 

As frontman of The Afghan Whigs and The Twilight Singers, Greg Dulli has always been a keen student of the extremes of the human condition. Forged in the aftermath of the Whigs’ last album In Spades and the death of their drummer Dave Rosser, he presents his excellent first solo album, Random Desire. 

The Staggering Girl is a new film directed by Luca Guadagnino (A Bigger Splash, Call Me By Your Name). It stars Julianne Moore and Kyle McLachlan. In a very sensible move, he’s asked renowned, multi award-winning Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto to score the film, because, well, why wouldn’t you? In his lifetime, Sakamoto was a founding member of Yellow Magic Orchestra and has worked with David Sylvian, among others.

Before Liverpool band The Boo Radleys were one of the most played bands on British radio with chart hits like Wake Up Boo! they were a much loved, if lesser known, shoegaze band signed to Alan McGee’s Creation label. Everything’s Alright Forever was their second album, originally released in 1992.

In another example of a jealousy-inducing lifestyle by way of press release, we hear that Daniel Herrmann and Kristina Kristoffersen live in a wonderful mountain home outside Frankfurt warmed by a crackling fire. Here they make some truly meditative soundscapes as Herrmann Kristoffersen taking in ambience, late night techno and ghostly loops. The whole situation sounds absolutely marvellous. 

Japanese Television are a psychedelic space-surf band influenced by the likes of Hawkwind and King Gizzard. This does-what-it-says-on-the-tin release collects together their long sold out first EPs and adds in tracks from a Marc Riley session. Expect heavy motorik rock and sunny day surf on an album that serves as a nice stop gap before they furnish us with a debut LP. 

Rejoice - a new Real Estate album! The New Jersey band’s knack for guitar jangle and glorious melodies has cemented their status a favourite around these parts over the years. Their new album, The Main Thing, is inspired partly by the Roxy Music song of the same name, simply because 5 albums into their career they need to be making music that sounds that good. Features a guest appearance by Sylvan Esso on the album’s first single Paper Cup.

You’re probably familiar with the ‘C’ series of compilation albums that were inspired by the era-defining NME C86 cassette. C90 is the latest is that lineage, compiled by the guys at Cherry Red who have a whole heap of indie box sets under their wings. C90 contains tracks by bands that went on to become household names such as The Charlatans, Manic Street Preachers, Ocean Colour Scene, Boo Radleys, Spiritualized and many more.

Recurring Dreams is an album of reworked classics by the current line-up of German electronica and ambient trailblazers Tangerine Dream. The band now consists of Thorsten Quaeschning, Ulrich Schnauss and Hoshiko Yamane. Among the reworked classics on offer are Phaedra, Stratosfear, Tangram and Yellowstone Park

I've just blathered about how the Wants album artwork matches the title of the album but here it's hard to see what a melting foot has to do with a good time. Bullion however has struck gold with the press release which tells us that Nathan Jenkins made this after returning from the coast of Arrábida to a new home studio situated behind the grand hotel setting of Wim Wenders’ Lisbon Story. How nice for him. The music is a fascinating kind of danceable chamber disco pop inspired by journeys to shopping malls in an old Renault. 

Written and recorded in double-quick time to strike while the iron’s still hot following the success of last year’s debut Silver Dollar Moment, The Orielles return with their sophomore album. Inspired by their time on the road, Disco Volador benefits from the addition of a fourth member on keyboards and the drones and delays brought to the mix by producer Marta Salogni. It should be another triumph for a band who’ve marked themselves out as one of the country’s finest newcomers. 

Released on Aïsha Devi’s Danse Noire imprint, Quelque Chose Tombe is an exceptional collection of modern electronica from French-Canadian producer Racine. The intricate, beautiful compositions are serene yet anxious, reflecting our modern state of having to continually hold it together despite worries and finding fleeting moments of respite. 

Opium Crop Airstrikes is a curious new project from Prurient’s Dominik Fernow, operating under the name Vatican Shadow. Following his techno-based ventures as Ostgut Ton and Ancient Methods, this vinyl edition of a previous cassette-only release is a masterclass in the generation and maintenance of atmospheric terror and dread. 

Featuring extra remixes from the likes of Lechuga Zafiro, Ikonika, and Hakuna Kulala’s Don Zilla, Arthropods from 33EMYBW makes its debut on a physical format following its debut in 2019 around the time of her appearance at Poland’s Unsound festival. Full of futuristic, intricate electronica and quaking beats. 

German composer Niklas Paschburg took himself off to the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard to write his second album of the same name. The album has a mournful tone which is down to the location. The effects of climate change are on his mind and are visible in the changing landscape there. He composed on piano, accordion and electric harmonium. The songs were finished with the help of Andy Barlow from Lamb in Brighton. 

Gowanus Sessions II reunited American pianist and post-punk vocalist Thollem McDonas, Wilco’s Nels Cline and American double-bass player, poet and composer, William Parker. This has been in the works for 7 years. The trio began work immediately after Gowanus Sessions I was released in 2012. Another interesting exploration of guitar, bass and piano.

WaqWaq Kingdom consists of Japanese musicians Shigeru Ishihara of DJ Scotch Egg / Seefeel fame and Kiki Hitomi (ex-King Midas Sound) and they make something they like to call 'minyo footwork'. To the layman this means adventures in sound that combines such disparate things as afro-beat, contemporary electronica, techno and Jamaican dancehall. The result is a wildly creative, intoxicating brew of sound.   

Disintegration was The Cure's 8th studio album and one of their bleakest. After a few years of commercial success, the band returned to their gloomy gothy roots on an album that - despite it's lack of actual tunes - has since become somewhat of a classic. Despite it's unrelentingly somber mood it still contains future the Cure staples as Lullaby, Plainsong and Lovesong. One way or another it is a true artistic statement from Robert Smith and his long running collective.  

The Tartelet imprint begins the 2020s by collaborating with the family of iconic Danish composer Lotte Kærså and her backing band Græsrødderne to re-issue Jubiiilæum. Originally released in the early ‘80s and now a sought-after treasure, it compiled tracks from Kærså’s first two albums (1979’s Jeg Har Set Det Selv and 1981’s Hjemme I Vores Gade. 

Tokyo-born composer Leo Takami releases a brand new studio album Felis Catus & Silence, arriving three years after his last release Tree of Life and representing yet another evolution in his sound. While jazz and classical music are the main strands of Takami’s music, ambient has always been an underpinning factor, which is now brought to the fore on these eight gently mesmerising tracks. 

The Weight of Hope is the debut album from Brighton-based singer and songwriter Hayley Ross, and everything about it suggests a future classic. Four years in the making and informed by a host of rock and alternative classics ranging from Dylan to the Velvets during a childhood surrounded by music and creativity, it was mixed by John Leckie at Abbey Road studios. 

Composer and musician Daniel Davies makes his recording debut for the Sacred Bones label. Signals evolved out of a period of collaboration with visual artist Jesse Draxler, and the eight tracks here are sculpted from guitars and keyboards, with melodies looming out of (then receding back into) haunting soundscapes of drone and synthesiser. 

Horn of Plenty was the debut Grizzly Bear album released in 2005 but at that stage Grizzly Bear was really just the bedroom recordings of Ed Droste assisted by the aptly named Chris Bear. They've come a long way since then but listening to the origins of the project is always fascinating. This new edition comes with a digital download for the full album plus a remix album featuring Ariel Pink and Efterklang amongst others.  

Dan Snaith AKA Caribou returns with his first album since the majestic Our Love in 2014. Suddenly may surprise a few fans as it doesn’t necessarily stroll down the usual Caribou path. However, one listen to the brilliant R&B/Hip-hop flavoured single, Home and you’ll be hooked! On City Slang.

Color Theory by Soccer Mommy (AKA Sophie Allison) is the follow up to 2018’s rather marvellous Clean. Here she lays herself bare to listeners through unflinchingly honest lyrics that detail her struggles with mental health and her family. It seems that writing about these issues has been a cathartic process for the resilient 22 year-old.

Running a veritable gauntlet of indie sub-genres ranging from jangle-pop to gently grooving shoegaze, Philadelphia-based group Gladie present their debut studio album. Taking its title from lead singer Augusta Koch’s record of personal poetry, Safe Sins is an all-encompassing shelter for those seeking respite from shame. 

To Cy & Lee: Instrumentals Vol.1 by Alabaster De Plume was made when the saxophonist, composer and activist was working with the Manchester-based charity, Ordinary Lifestyles. De Plume was assigned with helping two of the charity’s clients Cy and Lee to socialise. He did this through helping them create music which, in turn, enabled them to express themselves in a way they hadn’t done before. The tracks within were developed from impromptu sessions involving Cy, Lee and their friends.

St. Vincent’s 2018 album Masseduction has been released in a couple of guises so far - it’s original form and in a reworked, acoustic guise under the title MassEducation. Here we have another - Nina Kraviz Presents MASSEDUCTION Rewired - on which the Russian DJ and producer curates a selection of remixes from the original LP. Nina Kravitz provides a remix of New York whilst Emika, Pearson Sound, Mala, EOD, Laurel Halo and Batu take a track each and remould them in their own vision.

Tiny Star is a band formed by members of jazz band The Blasting Company. The idea for Tiny Star has been in the works for some 6 years now and goes back their time recording the soundtrack to the TV series Over The Garden Wall. The creator and illustrator of which have contributed the artwork to this project. What we have here is not jazz, however. Its five slices of catchy synth pop.

JPEGMAFIA aka rapper Barrington DeVaughn Hendricks. All My Heroes Are Cornballs is his third album. It follows the critically acclaimed Veteran (2018). The album is experimental hip-hop taking in influences from glitch, ambient, industrial and noise music. It even finds the Baltimore-based rapper screaming, when rapping or singing just won’t cut it. 

Carmen Villain scored a critical hit in 2019 with her album Both Lines Will Be Blue, a work of electronic majesty. Capitalising on its success, she releases a five-track remix mini-album of the LP’s cuts, picking the likes of Parris, Karima F., DJ Python, D.K. and Jay Glass Dubs to re-wire the originals. 

The atmospheric soundtrack to 2019 third-person shooter Gears 5, scored by ‘Game of Thrones’ and Iron Man composer Ramin Djawadi, is presented here in a double-LP package with artwork courtesy of British designer Luke Preece. The game’s protagonist Kait’s epic journey across haunted wastelands comes to life over 18 intricate tracks.

Ace Records work with Square-Enix and Eidos-Montréal to release the soundtrack of 2018 video game Shadow of the Tomb Raider, by composer Brian D'Oliveira, on orange and blue vinyl. Spread over 28 evocative tracks, D’Oliveira’s work won Best Original Soundtrack and Best Interactive Score at 2019’s Game Audio Network Guild Awards. 

Known as a fine trumpet player, Chet Baker can also sing, as the title of his 1956 studio album, Chet Baker Sings confirms. Whilst this is an end-to-end classic album, it’s worth it just for his velvety rendition of My Funny Valentine. Musicians backing Chet are Russ Freeman, Carson Smith, Joe Mondragon, Jimmy Bond, Bob Neel, Larance Marable and Peter Lipman.

Blue Note re-issues a long-lost gem from the hard-bop era. Recorded in 1962 but not seeing the light of day until 1980, Nigeria was a masterwork from guitar legend Grant Green, recorded with a star-studded backing band that included pianist Sonny Clark, drummer Art Blakey and bassist Sam Jones and featuring inspired covers of Cole Porter and George & Ira Gershwin. 

Beginning with the weaving jazz-infused melodies of 'Flow', The Fantasy Orchestra's debut offering is a sprawling collaboration of no less than 160 creative's energy. 'The Bear and Other Stories' is a fantastic slab of DIY ingenuity, a community project full of covers, homages and a wealth of personality.

Velocette is the long running project of producer Jason Williams. The name makes me think of indie-pop music for some reason but this is a collection of dreamy ambient suitable for after hours chill out and starlit home dreaming. Recommended to fans of Klaus Schulze and Stasis, this small run edition of 250 comes in reverse sleeve with liner notes. 

Mission Bells by The Proper Ornaments comes a mere 9 months after their last long-player 6 Lenins. Musically they are tweaking their Velvet Underground-influenced formula by adding a Moog and electronics to their sound. The band are led by James Hoare of Veronica Falls and Ultimate Painting. Mission Bells is their 5th album.

If you frequented the New York clubs Danceteria or Paradise Garage in the early ‘80s then the vibes laid down on Two by Norfolk duo Sink Ya Teeth will bring back some nostalgic feelings. I’m going to go out on a limb and say it’s unlikely many of you did frequent those clubs, but if you want a blend of melancholic deep house, post punk and joyous disco then this could well be the album for you.

Chicago band Ratboys return with their third album, Printer’s Devil. They also have a new line up, which sees them growing from a duo to a four piece. They are essentially an indie rock band but are prone to throwing in some stripped back folk and alt. Country tunes along the way. The song's themes reflect what the band have been through in the three years since their last LP, with upheaval and change being at the forefront.

The brainchild of French electronic pioneer Franck Zaragoza, Ocoeur, is back with quintessential fresh produce - 'Everything'. Typically enamoured with such electro royalty as Aphex Twin and Brian Eno, the tracks glide and swirl across expansive and dreamy soundscapes. Perfect stuff for candle-lit bedrooms.

Nothing to do with Kurt Kobain's lot, this is a collection of the early recordings from Swedish Death Metal band N2K2. It is jam packed with demos, rehearsal tapes and rarities from a band often compared favourably with the likes of Entombed and Dismember. If you are into your Death Metal then you will know that this is a very good thing indeed. 

Bardo Pond's back catalogue is so vast and sprawling that it is hard to know where to begin. Three Lobed have been helping fans make sense of it all with a series of reissues and Adrop/Circuit VIII is a vital component. The two records were initially issues separately as EPs but now come together on a 2LP set that perfectly encapsulates the band's brand of exploratory space-rock.  

Daptone Records present a delightful set of rarities from their friends and family. Acts including NYC Afrobeat legends Antibalas, Daptone stoner-soul favourites The Budos Band, Africa 70 member Pax Nicholas and Moroccan gnawa trailblazer Innov Gnawa all contribute some unreleased/lesser-known nuggets to ‘Rhythm Showcase Vol. 1’.

Now apparently feeling 100 years old although he’s only 37, Manchester singer / songwriter Jim Noir releases his first album in 5 years, A.M. Jazz. You may remember Jim, real name Alan Roberts, from his success in the late ‘00s with The Beatles sampling song My Patch, other catchy Beatles-esque pop and for wearing a bowler hat. He’s chucked away the hat now and replaced it with a pair of slippers. You can judge the affect this has on his music by clicking 'add to cart'.

Ned Franc and Jon Moody are electronic duo Franc Moody. The band came out of the warehouse rave scene in London and hold disco funk sounds close to their hearts. Dream in Colour is the follow-up to their 2018 debut, Dance Moves. If you like Jungle and Daft Punk, this is definitely for you. On Juicebox Recordings.

A dreamy and ethereal listening experience for fans of vintage synths and drum machines, Doctor Fluorescent is a new project conceived of by Californian artists Scott Gilmore and Eddie Ruscha. Doctor Fluorescent tells the story of a mad scientist who creates soundtrack music from discarded electronic instruments. 

Rope Memories is the second album by NYC musician Brion Starr. Not only is it the follow-up to Global Identity, but it is it’s sister album, too. Musically it sits where the Glam of Roxy Music mixes with a slight punk edge. It was recorded in the Kinks’ Konk studio and features musical help from Robbie Wood of Swim Deep and Lida Fox fame and Matthew McAuley from New York’s ARE Weapons.

Animals As Leaders is the metal / jazz / prog project led by virtuoso guitarist Tosin Abasi, also known for his role in Washington DC metalcore band Reflux. Weightless was their second album and first as a trio, after their debut which was recorded by Abasi alone. It was originally released in 2011. Here we have a reissue, and on purple vinyl to boot!

Veteran Canadian collective Broken Social Scene get the Third Man treatment, with a brief, five-track live set being captured, mixed and mastered in real time via the label’s completely unique live venue and direct-to-acetate lathe cutting studio. Live at Third Man Records is thus the iconic band’s first widely available live album. 

With reference points from Nuggets to Os Mutantes, Melbourne-based Bananagun are far from your average band of garage-rock revivalists. Off the back of last year’s scintillating debut single ‘Do Yeah’, they release its follow-up ‘Out of Reach’, presented with another new track in ‘Takostubo’. 

As absolutely incredible it is to have Close Lobsters back I'm not feeling that artwork... and the title is certainly a mouthful but it's the sounds inside that count. The band first came to prominence on the legendary C86 album and their jangly indie-pop went down well on both sides of the atlantic ocean. There have been reformations over the years but (deep breath) Post Neo Anti (Arte Povera In The Forest Of Symbols) is their first album since 2009. 

The debut album from Animals As Leaders back in 2009 was a triumph of progressive metal, crowned by its frontman Tosin Abasi's incredibly technical guitar work. 2019 has seen a tenth anniversary commemorative tour of North America, and Animals As Leaders is getting a CD and limited-edition vinyl re-issue. 

German musician Gerhard Trede can play 50 instruments. He is also known as Victor Cavini, maker of the supreme library music album, Japan. The album has been very hard to track down, but the good folks at Be With have found it and reissued it. It is a sampler’s treasure trove featuring traditional Japanese music as played by a western musician in 1983.

Lavender Flu (sounds quite pleasant actually) is the project of brothers Chris and Lucas Gunn, Scott Simmons and Ben Spencer. Here on their first studio-based album they continue their long term pursuit of perfect biker rock. It's both their most aggressive and confrontational album but also showcases a more sensitive side. Just like bikers themselves - it's as soft as teddy bears.   

Ellen Fullman was notable for creating drones out of a long stringed instrument and recorded one full length LP and a couple of cassettes. This archival release from Superior Viaduct contains the music from the two cassettes plus a previously unreleased piece. The music is gorgeous ethereal long form drones with a glowing radiance unheard in other such minimal ventures. Fullman's output was sporadic so this is an important release of some of the most unique music of its time. 

HOLY (his capitalisation) is the solo project of Stockholm's Hannes Ferm. Previous work has been upbeat glam-influenced psych but using the adage less is more, Ferm has stripped things back somewhat on his third album to create a glistening low key synth record full of ear snagging melodies. Kitchen sink not included.  

American minimalist composer Jon Gibson is a contemporary of Steve Reich and Philip Glass, Terry Riley and La Monte Young. He has also worked with Arthur Russell, Barbara Benary and Julius Eastman. It is the later trio of musicians who feature on this collection, Songs & Melodies 1973-1977. A very worthwhile listen.

If you wanted a musical duo to make a record that would blow your mind from the opening chord, perhaps you would pair Ty Segal and Brian Chippendale of Lightning Bolt together. The thing is, they’ve done it themselves and are known as Wasted Shirt. They got together after finding themselves recording with their respective bands in the same studio. Fungus II is their debut album and has all the riotous rock ‘n’ roll seeping from its pores that you would expect. It’s also worth mentioning that it has the approval of Henry Rollins, so you’d probably best buy it.  *All pre-orders will gain you an entry to win a test pressing of the album. There’s only 20 of these about in the UK and we’ve got our lucky hands on one of them!*

Reggie Watts and John Tejada return with their second Wajatta album Don’t Let Get You Down, via Flying Lotus’ Brainfeeder imprint. If the new single (and title track) is anything to go by, it’ll be poppier and friendlier to a wider audience than their debut - something that perhaps comes from Watts’ day job, the bandleader for James Corden’s US chat show. 

Return To Never: Home Recordings 1979 - 1986 Volume 2 follows on from 2019’s compilation All The Mirrors In The House documenting the home recordings of Warren Defever aka His Name Is Alive. The recordings were made when Defever was a teenager and show his experimental side was their from the off, making echoey, ambient guitar pieces mixed with field recordings, drone and lo-fi noise pop.

The Thames isn't all discarded jellied eels and knives. Some of it is pretty nice and as you travel up the eastern Estuary you are likely to stumble on all kinds of nature as you heard on past he old oil refinerys and onto the sea. Ian Rawes has spent his life documenting this area by way or aural recordings and here presents the results - an ever changing world of sound. 

Following the release of his acclaimed fifth studio album Weather last year, Tycho - a.k.a. American musician and composer Scott Hansen - re-works the previously vocal-led tracks as instrumentals. Wringing new drops of originality from familiar material, Simulcast is another example of Tycho’s restless creativity. 

Klein Eiland, named after a place in Brussels,  comes out of the blue as it seemed Belgian electronic group R.O.T. had, inexplicably, all but stopped playing. No shows and certainly now recordings to show. But here they are anyway. This album is the last to feature multi-disciplinary artist Floris Vanhoof. 

Intriguing and exciting split 7” single here from Endless Boogie and Weak Signal. Endless Boogie expand their ranks for their track, Jerome, to include Stephen Malkmus and Matt Sweeny, both adding serious lead to the minimal blues jam. On the flip, Weak Signal, featuring Mike Bones, bring their economic chug on Rolex.

As one half of Electroscope and as a solo artist, Gayle Brogan has been a key figure in the British experimental music scene for nearly three decades. Her latest album under her Pefkin moniker, Celestial Navigations, consists of five spacious tracks that came about when Brogan was asked to play the Øy Festival on the Scottish island of Papa Westray back in 2018. 

Music For Empty Rooms is the fourth full-length record from the acclaimed Portland-based band Lowered, and explores the nature and expressiveness of echoes - how dissonant noise can reverberate in a space and interact with silence. Comes in a limited edition CD run presented in a mini-vinyl LP sleeve. 

Stevie Jones is known for his work with El Hombre Trajeado, Arab Strap, Emma Pollock and Alasdair Roberts. He also makes some pleasingly lush, tumbling, folky acoustic music under the name Sound of Yell. On his second album, Leapling, he collaborates with fellow Scots Alex Neilson of Alex Rex / Trembling Bells, Stevie Jackson of Belle and Sebastian, Alasdair Roberts and Vicki Morton of Muscles of Joy / Rev Magnetic. 

Wrangler are a supergroup who probably don’t want the tag of supergroup. They are made up from Ben Edwards from (Benge/The Maths), Stephen Mallinder of Cabaret Voltaire and Phil Winter from Tuung. They make new music from old gear. They have had two previous albums, 2014’s LA Spark and 2016’s White Glue. They also formed Creep Show with John Grant. A Situation is their new album.

Translated as the Swedish word for ‘and’, the little-known and mysterious Och release II, their debut album for the Rocket Recordings label. Available on fluorescent yellow and black spatter vinyl, it consists of eight lengthy workouts in electronica, recalling the trance-like soundscapes of artists like Popol Vuh. 

The Heliocentrics draw on a combination of James Brown, Sun Ra, Ennio Morricone,David Axelrod, Pierre Henry and Can to make their powerful and epic, expansive, psychedelic funk. Their latest album Infinity of Now is released on Madlib Invazion, the label owned by one-of-a-kind hip-hop producer Madlib.

The second album from the Indiana singer-songwriter Kevin Krauter sees the artist explore his childhood and religious upbringing to discover what makes him tick in adulthood. A navel-gazing project for sure but one which has spiritual and poetic results particularly in Krauter's soaring falsetto. A record to languish in and one to soothe both artist and listener. 

Harmonic sisters the Secret Sisters return with their fourth album Saturn Return. They've had a topsy turvy career having been nominated for a Grammy and faced bankruptcy but have overcome everything on an album where they try to make a positive impact on a negative world empowering women like themselves to be strong and inclusive. Lovely close harmony pop compared to the Everly Brothers and the Andrews Sisters. 

The Professionals Instrumentals presents the musical bare bones of The Professionals’ newly released album, a collaboration between esteemed rapper Madlib (who’s worked in the past with the likes of MF DOOM, J Dilla and Georgia Anne Muldrow) and his brother / fellow artist Oh No. Now you can enjoy the album's 13 tracks of clipped, hard-hitting yet psychedelic hip-hop without having to also focus on 'Lib's brilliant rapping.

Laurin Huber is a big noise in Switzerland. He has played with and produced acts such as Wavering Hands, Frederik or legendary Swiss institution Krankenzimmer 204 and more recently released a solo album under the name R.E.R. through the label he owns with Rolf Laureijs, Edipo Re. Juncture is his latest solo venture, this time using his actual name. It’s an album that, in a time of division, seeks to bring the world together by drawing its influences from around the globe.

A beautifully surreal album of industrial and ambient soundscapes from Electric Sewer Age, now the solo vehicle for experimental musician and sometime Coil affiliate Danny Hyde. Contemplating Nothingness is the third release from the project, originally started by the late Peter Christopherson, and consists of six wildly oscillating yet striking tracks clocking in at just over half an hour. 

Mndsgn (Mind Design) is the moniker of L.A.-based producer Ringgo Anchetta who seemingly sees little need for vowels. ObliqueKitchn was originally released in 2012 on a run of 30 cassettes he copied himself. The music, now on LP,  contained within melds mid-tempo rhythms, loops and virtual synths. On Mndsgn Ltd.

Heart Bones is a new collaboration between former A Giant Dog star Sabrina Ellis and a certain Sean Tillmann, whom those with long memories will recall is the real name of early Noughties independent figurehead Har Mar Superstar. Hot Dish sees the two friends explore their mutual love of classic male/female duos from pop history and forge their influences into new compositions.

Danish musicians Frederik Valentin & Loke Rahbek come from a background where experimental noise and industrial music were their bread and butter. Previous album Buy Corals Online, set a rather different path however. Elephant continues and expands on that sound, mixing acoustic instruments and synthetic sounds to make the kind of music you may hear in your dreams.

It's always hard to guess what Harbinger Sound might release next but the ex home of Sleaford Mods like a surprise. This latest release is from a Barcelona-based duo who make a kind of minimalist post-punk using just keyboard bass and a drum. Keeping things simple they emerge with an eerie sound that will appeal to fans of early '80s minimal synth stuff. 

San Franciscan alternative outfit Cold Beat deliver their debut for James Murphy’s prestigious DFA label with their fifth studio album Mother. Aptly titled, as lead singer Hannah Lew (ex-Grass Widow) was pregnant during its creation, she and Kyle King have never sounded as united in common cause as they are here, thematically concerned with sustainability and survival. 

Composer and bandleader Bobby Previte, keyboardist Jamie Saft and Nels Cline of Wilco, among other things, have joined forces to make an album that they hope will last as a document of our current time for future generations. The album takes influences from all genres leading up to now and was improvised with each musician playing the organ. It was recorded live whilst on tour in the US.

Extradition Order have members who hail from the bustling metropolis of Warrington as well as members from that there London place. They mix post-punk and Motown, and in the case of new album American Prometheus, make music you can dance to about J. Robert Oppenheimer, the inventor of the Atomic Bomb. For fans of The Pop Group, Dexys Midnight Runners and Black Country New Road.

The latest studio album from Kinematik, Murur al-Kiram sees the group operating with a completely different methodology to their last outing Ala’. The band’s four main musicians now no longer restrict themselves to one primary instrument, injecting their charming melodies and tricksy rhythmical interplay with a sense of spontaneity and freedom. 

Virginia brothers Gene and Terrence Thornton form rap duo Clipse. You may know them better individually as No Malice and Pusha T. They signed to Star Trak, the label owned by The Neptunes (Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo). Lord Willin’ was their - now classic - debut album, originally released in 2002. They brought some serious Virginia game to the rap world. The album was also produced by The Neptunes.

Cellist and composer Rebecca Foon is a big, albeit gentle, noise in the Montreal music community. As well as being a solo artist under her own name and as Saltland, she was a member of Silver Mt. Zion and chamber ensemble, Esmerine. Her new solo LP, Waxing Moon, sees her writing some haunting songs that are both despairing and hopeful, concerned with climate change and personal heartbreak.

Modern pop from Ashnikko who is the definition of a modern pop person. She's a sexually liberated American-British-Latvian who doesn't give a flying hoot. She grew up on a weird mix of country, hip-hop and Slipknot and has channeled all three into a kind lo-fi anthemic electronic pop. This is her third EP featuring the song Stupid that did really well on tick tock. 

Graham Coxon as you may know by now is the guitarist from Blur. He's also done solo stuff and is now dipping his toe into the lucrative world of soundtracks. The End of The F***ing World isn't a look ahead to what will happen in.. oooh about 2022 but a darkly comic tale about a pair of runaways. Coxon has already released the soundtrack to the first season, now courtesy of the aptly named Graham Coxon Records is Season 2. 

Fuck Yo Feelings is the latest studio project from the prestigious Robert Glasper, multiple Grammy-winning pianist and record producer. The result of a two day-session in which Glasper’s musician friends contributed in spontaneous improvisation, it has a refreshingly unplanned ‘mixtape’ feel. 

The title alone says all you need to know about where Helicon are coming from with their second LP. Yes it's the mess everything is in. Helicon have turned their external anger into a rebellious album which questions what the hell is going on and why is it happening and what we can do about it whilst at the same time giving listeners some escapism with some kraut rock heavy on the synths and guitars. Seriously pissed off but seriously good. 

Grimes is back with her first album in five years and third for 4AD. Miss Anthropocene contains the singles 'Violence' and 'So Heavy I Fell Through The Earth', which you may have heard on t'wireless. It is the follow up to the brilliant Art Angels - an album so good that former Normanite, Robin, gave it a 9/10 review back in 2015. Features collaborations with 潘PAN & i_o on some proper pop bangers.