Latest new releases on vinyl record, CD and cassette tape

Dave Bloody NYZ. The Australian based, UK born scientist of noise returns with an archive release of some of his oldest bleeps. This is a 2LP worth of vintage tunes from the '87 to '93 period which pre-dated similar noises coming out of Autechre, Aphex Twin and the Rephlex laboratories. A wide ranging blast of techno, acid, hardcore and breakbeats from a leader in his field. Essential. 

A 20th anniversary re-issue for Vocalcity, the debut album from Vladislav Delay under his Luomo moniker. Previously renowned for dealing in dub-influenced techno, the album was a surprise to his fans, revealing a set of soulful deep house featuring Johanna Livanainen’s occasional vocals. It now gets a new life on this triple-vinyl set. 

A split edition from Bernard Fort spanning almost forty years. The first side is given over to Fractals (1981) - a series of endless music pieces that Fort intended to be approached from any angle the listener wants  - forwards, backwards, at different speeds. Over on the flip is Brain Fever improvisations using analog synthesisers and feedback devices inspired by South India and recorded in 2018. 

Disruptions of Form is the latest album from enigmatic Manchester-based producer Echium. He is known for his hermit ways and making some precise ambient electronic music. This album is no exception, mixing ambient pop and cosmic electro-acoustics in a painstakingly arranged manner. It’s his first album for sferic since 2017’s Synthetic Space. It sees him rejoin a stable that also includes Space Afrika, Perila and Jake Muir.

A pioneer of noisy techno as one half of the iconic Smersh alongside Chris Shepard in the Eighties, Mike Mangino is still putting out quality material in the 2020s. Coisas is released on Joachim Nordwall’s iDEAL imprint and is a superb coalescence of dub, deeper shades of house and techno. 

The press release describes Ringo Deathstarr as shoegaze pioneers. That's funny as I can't remember them being around in 1988 when Kevin Shields was making good use of his guitar pedals.  The truth is, Ringo Deathstarr make sounds you've heard before but that doesn't mean they aren't good at what they do. They blend new shapes into the genre injecting psychedelia and ambience into their familiar sound. 

Vancouver-born Serbian singer Dana Gavanski  releases her debut album, Yesterday is Gone. It was recorded with Toronto psychedelic musician Sam Gleason, who was apparently responsible for the tunes and Mike Lindsay of Tuung and Lump who developed the sound of the record. A beautiful psych-folk affair that lands somewhere between Cate Le Bon and Weyes Blood.

New History Warfare Volume 1 is the third album, and first for Aagoo, by American saxophonist and firm Norman favourite Colin Stetson. Stetson’s career as a musician has seen him dabbling in various genres from jazz to avant garde to experimental and indie rock with Arcade Fire and Bon Iver. All this feeds into the genre defying songs and musical virtuosity on this album.

Baltimore quartet Horse Lords have been seen as kind of wandering minstrels of experimental music. Taking in influences as disparate as Albert Ayler, the Ex and Glenn Branca they follow an idiosyncratic path marked by a strong political ideal. The Common Task is their fourth album and continues the studio experiments and hypnotic rhythms of 2016's acclaimed Interventions. 

Sweden’s Hollow Ship gave us a hint of their psychedelic rock built on a foundation of fractured funk in 2019 with their debut single We Were Kings. Now they arrive with their debut album, Future Remains. It sees the band bring a fully formed and original sound that seamlessly blends retro with some sort of weird future. It was produced by the band along with Mattias Glavå who has worked with Swedish giants Dungen.

Mmmm wine. The Wine Dark Sea is a phrase that coms from the writings of Homer (not that one) who described the sea as such leading to speculation he didn't fully understand colour. The Wine Dark Sea is Christopher Bissonnette's fifth album and sees the artist move away from a purely synth-based approach to using more acoustic instruments and textures. Very limited edition on Dronarivm. 

Piano Textures is a series that Argentinian pianist Bruno Sanfilippo has been working on throughout his 20 year career. Here we have Piano Textures No. 5 which explores patterns in contemporary classical music, minimalism, the beauty of quietness and reflection. The Piano Textures series is the work most representative of Sanfilippo as an artist. As usual with his albums, we expect this to be very good.

Irma Vep - a play, a film and the musical project of Glasgow-based Edwin Stevens. His fourth album, Embarrassed Landscape, was recorded in two days with regular collaborators Ruari Maclean and Andrew Cheetham. Clattering indie rock with nods to The Velvet Underground, Pixies and mid-’70s Bob Dylan filtered through Glasgow’s very musical veins.

Cellist Clarice Jensen has already collaborated with the late composer Jóhann Jóhannsson amongst others on earlier work but for her second album goes it alone on a record which uses the cello and nothing else as a sound source. The album uses the instrument to create loops and electronica that veer far in the direction of more dance-orientated practitioners like Actress. Seems she's doing for the cello what Colin Stetson has done for the sax. 

If You’re Dreaming is the second album by Detroit singer / songwriter Anna Burch. She started out as a touring member of Frontier Ruckus before quitting music to return to college. It wasn’t long before music got her back. If You’re Dreaming follows her 2018 debut Quit The Curse. Her music is ‘60s influenced indie-pop / folk-rock. She has previously cited Elliott Smith and Alvvays as influences.

New Zealand hard rockers The Datsuns will soon be releasing their seventh album. While we wait for that to be unleashed, we have a reissue of their fourth album from 2008, Headstunts. The observant smarties among you will already have noticed that the title is, in fact, an anagram of The Datsuns. Contains the singles So Long and Human Error.

Four years after their debut EP Object Relations comes the first full-length album from the immensely promising London-based DIY four-piece Es. Dealing in dark, mutated synth-punk, Less of Everything was recorded last summer after the band were briefly split between England and Scotland, and should be one of 2020’s most exciting debuts. 

Jarv Is is the new band Jarvis Cocker formed along with Serafina Steer, Andrew Mckinney from James Taylor Quartet, Jason Buckle from All Seeing I and Adam Betts from Three Trapped Tigers. When they first performed House Music All Night Long it caused Jarvis Cocker to crowdsurf for the first time in his life. This has now become a habit. Oh, and Jarvis Cocker used to be in a band called Pulp. 

Singer / songwriter Ren Harvieu was discovered via MySpace when that was a thing. She was nominated for the BBC Sound of 2012 which is also the year she released her first and until now, only album, Through The Night. It’s taken a while due to a horrific injury but now she’s back with Revel In The Drama. The album was co-written by Harvieu and Romeo Stodart of The Magic Numbers, so you can expect a catchy tune or two.

Nearly five years after we last heard from them, Megan James and Corin Roddick announce their third studio album as Purity Ring. Womb, with a loose thematic thread of a search for comfort and peace, finds the duo forging cutting-edge production techniques with their irrepressible knack for melody and harmony. 

Following up on the brilliant reception afforded to their 2017 debut album Glue, Andrew Ferguson and Matthew McBriar return with a new Bicep track on 12”. A six-minute exploration of undulating synth lines that traverse broken-beat landscapes interspersed with cut-up vocals, ‘Atlas’ is an unmistakable banger. 

New York's Josh da Costa and Jamen Whitelock were doing pretty well for themselves as Regal Degal but were preferring the after show dancing to the actual performances so they aligned their music accordingly, made a swift name change to CMON. The resulting debut album aligns their old band's atmospherics with a kind of kinetic four to the floor dance music reminiscent of Drugdealer or Mild High Club. 

Friday Forever is the follow-up to the Mercury Music Prize nominated eponymous debut by Everything Is Recorded. It is released through XL Recordings, which is rather convenient as the man behind this particular mask is XL head honcho Richard Russell. There are guest spots for some new artists such as Aitch, FLOHIO and Berwyn, Maria Somerville, Kean Kavanagh, A.K. Paul, James Massiah, Infinite Coles and well-known names such as Ghostface Killah and Penny Rimbaud of Crass - a varied bunch. I think you’ll like this. Yes, you, reading this.

Heaven To A Tortured Mind is the fourth album by Yves Tumor, aka American experimental electronic producer, Sean Bowie (no relation). It is the follow-up to his critically lauded album from 2018, Safe In The Hands of Love, which was his debut for Warp. They thought it was so good that they’d let him make another, and we're delighted. I think It’s worth noting that he has also performed under the name Yvsie Ray Vaughan.

Finally delivering a proper sequel to his massively acclaimed debut album Hud Dreems from back in 2015 (on top of the gargantuan number of mixtapes released over the last ten years), Grammy-winning hip-hop producer Glen Earl Boothe (known under his moniker Knxwledge) releases the much-anticipated 1988. 

Will Archer, previously known under the name Slime, returns with a new album and recording moniker, Wilma Archer. The album, A Western Circular, has been cooking for the past five years or so as Archer has been a busy fella. He has contributed to albums by Sudan Archives, Nilüfer Yanya,Celeste and Jessie Ware. Here, he builds up from his acoustic beginnings making an album influenced by artists as disparate as Frank Zappa, Robert Wyatt, Yasuaki Shimuzu and Arthur Russell. 

Viscerals by Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs, or Pigs x 7 if you prefer, is the band’s third album, following 2018’s King Of Cowards and their 2017 debut Feed The Rats. The album sees the heavy psych-rockers really hitting their stride. A leaner, more direct sound with catchy songs built on rocking riffs. Viscerals is an apt title.

Inner Space was made by Sven Libaek to soundtrack a 1973 documentary series on whatever it is that lurks under the sea. It started what became known as 'underwater jazz' - a swirling aquatic take on jazz exotica that is beautifully melodic. The soundtrack got a second lease of life in 2004 whebn several tracks were used in The Life Aquatic With Steve Zizzou.

Esterno Notte is the name given to a series of compilations that explore through the lost backwaters of Italian cinematic groove music, lost jazz funk and urban disco. Volume three contains tracks from some names you'll know from the Italian underground including Alessandro Alessandroni, Pippo Caruso (as performed here by Goblin) and Stelvio Cipriani. 

Bernard Parmegiani was a French experimental composer who, by the looks of photographs of him, regularly thinks hard into his beard.... probably about avant-garde music. This selection of 1960s and early 1970s performances is a perfect example of how he uses breaths, minimalist microsonic sounds and field recordings to push forward his theories. This edition comes cut by Rashad Becker with layout by Stephen O'Malley of Sunn O))).

The Pathfinders were a couple of guys from Manchester Polytechnic in 1981 who after seeing the Human League play bought some primitive synthesizers and goofed around with them in their flat to no particular end. Cut to nearly 40 years later and we can now hear what they came up with. It's playful early day synth recordings with nods to Cluster and Throbbing Gristle amongst others. 

Illusion of Time is a collaboration between acclaimed electronic producer Daniel Avery and Nine Inch Nails collaborator Alessandro Cortini. The project has come together over a number of years. Before they’d even met, they had communicated the idea that they wanted to work together and started working separately, without theme or deadlines. The album came together when they were both part of the Nine Inch Nails touring set up in 2018.

An associate of the iconic Sleaford Mods before embarking on his own career a few years back, John Paul releases his second solo record on Harbinger Sound. More abrasive than previous album No Filter and produced by UK scene veteran Ratman, Subjects provides a wry, scathing insight into Britain’s decaying society and infrastructure. 

Will Baxter Dury ever escape from being described as Ian Dury’s son? Not here. He has, however, made a significant contribution to music. His new album, The Night Chancers, is his sixth. The album tackles subjects such as social media stalking, bloggers, insecurity, those that lack awareness and self-deluded types.

Fu Manchu are among stoner rock's most eminent sons. Their strident vocals, thick distortion, and mammoth riffs rightfully earned them a place in the rock pantheon alongside groups like Sleep and Kyuss. Their classic third album 'In Search Of...' has been given a shiny new limited edition reissue + never before seen photos + a bonus red/black splatter 7”. 

The lofty American guitarist and experimentalist Sir Richard Bishop (Sun City Girls, Rangda et al.) or Sir Rick to his friends, returns after fives years of travel and exploration with Oneiric Formulary. It is his first album since the rather brilliant Tangier Sessions. His last two albums have been based around specific themes. Here the theme is much looser as he creates a collection of dream states, using different instruments on every track, drawing on different sounds from around the world.

Marla Hansen has moved out from the shadows of Sufjan Stevens, The National and My Brightest Diamond to put herself in the spotlight with Dust. Her move to Berlin has played a part in how Dust sounds too. There’s her Americana influences mixed with the strings of the Oriel Quartett, the synths of Barabara Morgenstern and the drums of The Notwist drummer Andi Haberl. 

Definitely in the world's top three Basils (alongside Fawlty and Brush) is legendary sound manipulator Basil Kirchin. Those intrepid folk at Trunk have found a bunch of unheard 1960s and 1970s era recordings by the great man and here are three separate and very different tapes pressed onto vinyl. Perhaps the most exciting thing is that there are further found archives to come.  

Trimeter Records presents Family Songbook, the latest record from Tanya, Petra and Rachel Haden. As its generation-spanning title might suggest, it includes four recently excavated tracks from the triplets’ grandfather, Carl E. Haden, recorded and written during the Great Depression, on top of new originals from their brother Josh, takes on Americana standards and even a Kanye West cover... 

Loads and loads of Karen Dalton here in this handsome box, which is attractively designed to look like an old studio tape box. Three LPs and Three CDs contain beautifully remastered versions of the live album Cotton Eyed Joe, the home recordings of Green Rocky Road, and a tantalising collection of previously unreleased (!) home recordings. Plus a book of treats from the Dalton archives and a T-shirt. Get stuck in.

Two excellent artists who love an extended psychedelic guitar jam have teamed up to indulge each others fantasies. Chris Forsyth, who hasn’t had the same line-up backing him for quite a while now, has chosen New Jersey jam band Garcia Peoples to be his backing band for and LP they’ve called People Motel Band. 

The Skatalite is a twelve track collection taken from the archives of popular Jamaican group the Skatalites. Not intended to be a 'best of' as such, the album is more like a sampler featuring the prime cuts from the career of the much heralded ska and reggae band. A perfect place to begin for the new and curious listener. 

Originally released in 1994 and arguably representing the pinnacle of Alison and Jim Shaw’s gothic minimalist aesthetic, building in elements of alternative rock, shoegaze, dream-pop and darkwave, Cranes’ excellent third studio album Loved is re-issued on blue-and-gold marbled transparent vinyl. 

Composer extraordinaire Jóhann Jóhannsson had been working on Last and First Men since 2010 but at the time of his untimely death in 2018 had yet to finish it. Berlin composer Yair Elazar Glotman helped to finish the piece which is a multimedia project with a film and narration by Tilda Swinton. An ambitious work which serves as a perfect epitaph.  

Sufjan Stevens takes a step into the world of New Age music with Aporia. It is a collaborative album made with Lowell Brams of Carrie & Lowell fame who co-owns Asthmatic Kitty records and also happens to be Sufjan Stevens’ stepfather. What we have here is the soundtrack of a non-existent sci-fi film that takes its cues from the likes of John Carpenter, Wendy Carlos and Mike Oldfield. This isn't something Sufjan Stevens has made on quiet weekend when he had nothing else to do, this is a proper, fully realised work.

Manchester’s Slow Readers Club get themselves back to the recording studio following their Live From Festival No. 6 LP for their fourth album proper, The Joy Of The Return. The album was written whilst on tour, a change in method for them, which allowed more time for the songs to evolve. Rest assured, the pulsating drums, searing guitar lines and sky-reaching choruses are all present and correct.

Although he’s not released a new album of originals in over half a decade, Andrew Carthy is still very much active under his much-beloved Mr Scruff alias. Incredibly, this is his first DJ-Kicks mix, and it marks the 25th anniversary of !K7’s fabled series. Carthy’s 31-track selection also includes one brand new and exclusive Mr Scruff track! 

Patrice Rushen was perhaps better known as an arranger and pianist who worked behind the scenes with other artists at the time of her 1980 album Posh but she had released a series of low key records under her own name throughout the 1970s. She was working with a small group of musicians who she trusted and it is through loose jamming that the ideas for Posh would come about. She went on to be better known for her subsequent hit Forget-Me-Nots. A classic if ever there was one and a record that Posh paved the way for. 

Boston band Vundabar return with Ether Light, the follow-up to 2018’s Smell Smoke. It sees the band, a traditionally an off-kilter indie rock band prone to wig-outs, trying out some new sounds. They dabble with drum machines, loops, samples and synths and used the vocal talents of Slow Pulp’s Emily Massey too. It was produced by Patrick Hyland who has worked on the last three Mitski albums.

Her fixation with all things science-fiction, as well as the distinctive Scouse brogue of her vocal delivery, have made her one to watch over the last year or so, and now singer-songwriter Zuzu presents her latest EP, How It Feels. Presented on 12” vinyl, her latest effort houses her four most recent singles, including the brand new one ‘Skin And Bone’. 

Having signed to Gilles Peterson’s Brownswood label a couple of months back, London-based musician Forest Law introduces his self-titled debut EP for the imprint. Just like the work that generated such attention initially, the three tracks here are sonically eclectic yet warm and human, with Brazilian influences laced throughout. 

4 Mosche Di Velluto Grigio (Four Flies On Grey Velvet) is a 1972 film by Dario Argento. The soundtrack was composed by the legendary Ennio Morricone. It is in turn, manic, tense and discordant with moments of jazz rock. It was orchestrated by Bruno Nicolai and features the vocals of Edda Dell’Orso. A fantastic late night listen.

A long-awaited vinyl re-issue of Super Liminal, the debut album from Afrolatin collective Penya which was originally released at the start of 2018. While the band are in the studio working on a follow-up album, they deliver a new EP in collaboration with Msafiri Zawose alongside this timely re-pressing of their debut, a whirlwind of rhythms and different production techniques. 

Released at the height of the music press’s fascination with ‘trip-hop’, George Evelyn’s second Nightmares On Wax album Smokers Delight gets a lavish 25th anniversary re-issue, a minor masterpiece that passed under the radar in commercial terms back in ‘95 but which remains a cult classic to this day.

Stumbleine is the musical project of producer Peter Cooper. Sink Into The Ether is his 7th album and the music within provides the perfect soundtrack for doing just that: hazy, dreamy and melodic. One for lying down and not doing much to. Features guest vocals from Midas Fall vocalist Elizabeth Heaton on a surprising cover of the Hole track Malibu.

Jackie Lynn is a band made up of Cooper Crain, Rob Frye and Dan Quinlivan of Bitchin Bajas and Haley Fohr of Circuit des Yeux. Their self-titled debut album from 2016 promised much, with the electronics of Bitchin Bajas melding with the song-orientated approach by Haley Fohr. Everything had seeming gone quiet, but now they return with a second album, Jacqueline. Lead single Casino Queen takes the electronics of the first album and injects them with a blast of steroids for a pumped up motorik sound.  

Warm Digits is a lovely, comfortable, cosy name for a band, don’t ya think? The Newcastle-based duo return with Flight of Ideas. Bouncing synths, a blizzard of guitar and some day-glo jittering funk are topped off with guest vocals from Paul Smith of Maximo Park, The Lovely Eggs, The Orielles, Rozi Plain and Emma Pollock.

The long-awaited second studio album from tētēma, the collaboration between Faith No More’s Mike Patton and Australian composer Anthony Pateras. Half a decade after their debut, necroscape grew naturally from Pateras’ tape loop and analogue synth compositions and mixed with Patton’s distinctive vocals. 

The first Sun Araw full length album to be recorded live-to-midi, drummer Jon Leland, synth player Marc Riordan and frontman Cameron Stallones have outdone themselves on Rock Sutra. Concerning the subjectivity of how we experience life, it’s a truly epic achievement in the field of space rock. 

After they were shortlisted for the 2018 Welsh Music Prize for their debut Trunks and bagged support slots with IDLES and The Lovely Eggs, big things are rightly expected of Seazoo’s second album Joy. Specialising in grin-inducing, heart-leaping indie pop, their exceptional live form has accurately been captured by producers Ben Trow and Mike Collins. 

Flat Worms return with their third album in around four years, and on Antarctica, the group’s already punishing sound continues to get harsher and more brutal. Recorded in just six days with the help of Ty Segall and Steve Albini, it seeks to provide bleak yet darkly humorous commentary upon the state of the world today. 

German composer Ulrich Schnauss has a number of claims to fame under his belt - there’s his highly respected musician status, of course, he’s currently a member of German electronic legends Tangerine Dream, and he was sampled (illegally, as it turned out) by Guns N’ Roses. Now he’s remastering his whole back catalogue. The latest installment is his 2001 album Far Away Trains Passing By. Fans of Brian Eno, Tycho and Jon Hopkins, take note.

Vinnie Paz is a Sicilian born rapper once known as Ikon the Verbal Hologram and about a thousand other aliases. Now trading under a more easy speak moniker he is onto his fifth album of gritty, politically aware rap. As Above So Below follows on from 2018s The Bridge and the Abyss and contains 18 collaboration-heavy tracks. 

German electronic music master Ulrich Schnauss has remastered and re-tooled his 2013 studio album A Long Way To Fall (subtitled Rebound) after recently getting back the recording rights to most of his back catalogue. This double-LP edition comes with re-imagined new artwork from long-term collaborator Nat Urazmetova. 

Carly Paradis is a world-renowned composer. Nothing is Something is her third album. It is an epic, powerful ride with strings that soar and lyrics languishing on subjects that need urgent attention such as the climate crisis. Her other work has seen her compose the score for dramatic BBC show Line of Duty and collaborate with Clint Mansell.

Loose Fit are a band started by experimental music enthusiasts namely Kaylene Milner (Drums) and Anna Langdon (Vocals & Sax) who made lo-fi bedroom recordings together. They then fleshed out their sound with a guitarist and bass player and here we are. They take their influences from post-punk giants such as Public Image Ltd, Maximum Joy, A Certain Ratio, James Chance and Bush Tetras as well as Talking Heads and B52’s. Self-titled 5-track EP on Fat Cat.

A frequent collaborator and a part of Hrns, Purga and the 00:Nekyia group, Portuguese artist Afonso Ferreira delivers his debut solo album as Farwarmth for the Planet Mu label. Momentary Glow finds Ferreira in his element, its seven tracks built up over years of improvised recording sessions with friends and family members. 

Arriving on ‘snot green’ coloured 7” vinyl and adorned with artwork from Casey Raymond, ‘Still Second Rate’ is the second single to be released from The Lovely Eggs’ upcoming sixth album I Am Moron. Steeped in humorous contempt for modern culture, it includes a recreation of the Working Tax Credit Hotline hold music. 

Erik Nervous follows his 2018 album, Assorted Anxieties, by teaming up with a backing band, The Beta Blockers, and importing influences from The Minutemen, Bogshed and Andy Gill of Gang Of Four. There is also an underlying influence hardcore punk running through Erik Nervous and the Beta Blockers with some Saints and Pere Ubu thrown in for good measure. 

Motorik beats, melodic and discordant. Agitprop Alterna is the second album album from Peel Dream Magazine. I can only say that it must be good because the loose collective, helmed by New York musician Joe Stevens, have been likened to Yo La Tengo, My Bloody Valentine, Stereolab and Sarah Records bands. How very exciting!

Formed in Los Angeles half a decade ago by Sofia Arreguin, Nicole-Antonia Spagnola, Justin Tenney and Taylor Thompson, P22 are one of the most accurate and spirited bands to channel the original spirit of West Coast punk. Their 12” EP, Human Snake, consists of material written over the course of nearly three years. 

Holly Ross and David Blackwell return with a very much needed new Lovely Eggs album, after two years of a stale industry blithely soundtracking the collapse of civility in Britain. Working again with Dave Fridmann, the bluntly titled I Am Moron adds an even more psychedelic aspect to the duo’s already distinctive take on folk and pop. 

Classic Nurse With Wound re-issued on this album which sees mainstay Steven Stapleton collaborate with legendary electronic mind Colin Potter. The duo use a huge range of instruments and sounds to create an album of hypnotic beats, drones, chants and some completely unidentifiable sound sources. One of their best productions now available on 2LP with bonus track. 

No McDonald and Loggins this time but Thundercat follows up the expansive, at times baffling 'Drunk' with another tour de force of his nimble-fingered funk, soul and hip-hop. Fifteen more tracks of blissful, laid back sunshine vibes topped off with his distinctive sweet vocals and virtuoso bass playing. He's roped in a tantalizing array of artists, here working with Childish Gambino, Steve Lacy, Steve Arrington, Ty Dolla $ign, Lil B, Zack Fox & Louis Cole. Four (count 'em) different vinyl versions to choose from at the time of launch. Released through Flying Lotus' esteemed Brainfeeder label (naturally). 

The incomparable Nils Frahm presents the third and final instalment in his Encores series of EPs, with all three of the compositions available as an 80-minute album titled All Encores. Conceived of as “musical islands” off of the mainland of 2018's album All Melody, the third part is more percussive and electronic than the previous EPs that focussed on piano and ambience. 

Eupnea is the fourth album by British rock band Pure Reason Revolution. Their influences range from Nirvana to Justice and Pink Floyd to Porcupine Tree. Their albums up to this point have seen them separately tackle prog rock, widescreen soundscaping and dark synths. What better thing to do on your fourth outing than to combine all of your previous ideas into one new sound? That’s just what they’ve done. 

It did well for Lizzo, so Born Ruffians thought they’d piggy back her success by calling their new album Juice. Of course, the Canadian four-piece play an angular brand of indie rock and not scantily-clad flute pop. This album has a more polished approach from the band and sees them mining the mid-70s for  sounds.

The Garden was the third album by chillout electronica types Zero 7. It was originally released in 2006. The album was notable for featuring guest vocals from Jose Gonzales and Sia. The CD version of this special edition features even more tracks, and those include more tracks featuring the aforementioned stars which have only previously been available digitally.

If you want a bit of guitar pop with literary lyrics and sublime hooks, then look no further, I Feel Alive is the fourth album from Canadian band, TOPS. The album has a defiantly ‘80s sound with a soft rock feel that, in terms of production, occasionally veers into Like A Virgin-era Madonna (remember that album was a Chic production). This could well soundtrack your summer.

The Monochrome Set were an arty post-punk band with eyebrows permanently arched as they brought a bit of sophistication and poetry into the racket of the day. They were highly influential and you can hear their sound in the likes of the Smiths and Franz Ferdinand. Love Zombies was their second album from 1982 and here gets a limited re-issue on Tapete. 

The 1980-released 'Strange Boutique' is the debut studio album by Camden post-punks The Monochrome Set. It's almost impossible to pigeonhole. Contrary guitar riffs and madcap drums swirl across the record unexpectedly aside Bid's (lead) crooning vocals. Their legacy as cult classics is still firmly intact, in this statement debut you'll see why.

M. Ward has released some wonderful albums over the years. For his tenth record, Migration Stories, he took himself up to Montreal, Canada to see some guys from a band called Arcade Fire and use their studio. Tim Kingsbury and Richard Reed Parry were more than accommodating and even lent him their producer, Craig Silvey.

Canadian musician Ellis aka Linnea Sigglekow follows her debut EP Fuzz from a couple of years ago and support slots with Soccer Mommy and Alvvays with her full length debut, Born Again. She is being touted in various places as one of the artists to watch in 2020. She plays a kind of shoegazey / dream pop / folky / soft-psychedelic music - melodic and ethereal. On Fat Possum.

Andi Otto & F.S. Blumm basically got together to entangle things. Whether that be acoustic guitars, harps, bass or cello, they used the natural instruments to make a peaceful album of electronica and neoclassical bliss outs that showcase elements of spaced out dub, vintage synth lullabies and ambient beauty. Sounds absolutely delightful. 

Another sonic whirlwind of punk, raging disco tempos and krautrock hypnotism from Stockholm’s Viagra Boys. Following the success of their 2018 debut album Street Worms, this brilliant group are back to poke more fun at masculinity and have tremendous, gross-out fun into the bargain on Common Sense.

Waxahatchee re-emerges as a full on indie rock star on Cerulean Salt, crafting songs with small flourishes and delicate melodies that work around a proper band structure. The same emotions of relationship grief resonate as did on the sparse American Weekend, but this record shows a maturer and more precise songwriter.

Well this is on Daptone so you know what to expect right? Modern day soul that sounds like the vintage stuff. The James Hunter Six have already made five albums of this stuff so are now well in the groove and Nick of Time doesn't disappoint showcasing beautiful mid tempo soul tracks with hints of the timeless melodies of Burt Bacharach beneath stunning vocal performances that stand up to the great records of the past. 

This sounds rather exciting. Yammerer have already been getting plaudits from the likes of Tom Robinson and Clash magazine and play an energetic full-throttle style of post-punk that recalls the Fall and Gang of Four. It may be discordant but it is also kinetic and if you have feet then they will be moving by the end of the first track here. I predict big things.   

Legendary Seattle-based rockers Pearl Jam emerge from hibernation for their first studio album in seven years. Their 11th effort overall, Gigaton promises to be a politically and ecologically aware experience, indicated by Canadian photographer Paul Nicklen’s image of a Norwegian ice cap melting to the extent that it’s created a waterfall. And fear not, PJ fans, there’s another of the band’s iconic world tours on the way as well! 

Translated as ‘Houses Are Silent’, Belarussian trio Molchat Doma built on their local reputation in 2018 with the release of their second album Etazhi (its Anglicised title), which performed impressively on YouTube and Bandcamp. Dealing in a Depeche Mode-esque mixture of post-punk, new wave and synth-pop, the album now finds a wider release on Sacred Bones. 

In calling out Morrissey for racism waaay before it become blindingly obvious he had some pretty unsavoury views, being a multi-ethnic indie band in the white boy dominated '90s, having an actual number one hit with Brimful of Asha, Cornershop have already done it all. Yet 30 years after forming, they still have a commitment to the cause with the release of their ninth studio album England is a Garden. Expect the usual splicing of styles including disco, funk, Indian raga and glam rock. 

‘Deep listening’ Belgian trio Razen give us their latest double-LP Robot Brujo, which finds the band exploring their talents for improvisation on six compositions spread across four sides of vinyl using keyboards, wind and string instruments. Anybody who’s seen their mesmerising live performances can attest to Razen’s unique power, something that’s replicated accurately here. 

Roger Eno and Brian Eno - brothers together again, naturally. Each Eno sibling is renowned for their trailblazing solo ambient works, and being brothers they also have a lot in common. Here the common ground is found with sound and colour. Mixing Colours is a new LP, their first for Deutsche Grammophon, that sees them in a rare collaboration for the first time since the late ‘80s. 

'Pop Crimes' was Australian songwriter Rowland S. Howard's second and final album. Released two months before his untimely death in 2009, ‘Pop Crimes’ includes covers of Talk Talk and Townes Van Zandt numbers. Whilst retaining the noir-tinged, bluesy post-punk grit of the previous classic 'Teenage Snuff Film', this one is a much more introspective listen. Rowland left us with a haunting classic that's for sure.

Teenage Snuff Film was the first solo album by the legendary Rowland S. Howard. It was originally released in 1999.  There’s a cover of Billy Idol’s White Wedding and Bad Seed Mick Harvey contributes his instrumental talents. Of Course, Howard had a rich musical history behind him by this time with The Birthday Party, Crime & The City Solution, These Immortal Souls and various collaborations with the likes of Lydia Lunch and Fad Gadget. Reissue on Mute.

Post-rock-inspired outfit FACS formed in Chicago a little over three years ago, in the aftermath of the break-up of Disappears. Guitarist Brian Case and drummer Noah Leger have come a hell of a long way in that time, already on their third (and, again, different-sounding) full-length. Void Walker is arguably their most melodic and direct to date, while remaining faithful to the post-punk minimalism of previous efforts. 

Melbourne's fierce and distortive three-piece continue their ascension the politically-focussed 'Far Enough'. The 8 track record, including bangers such as 'Tell Them Where To Go' and 'Sandcastles', is characterised by its pulsating rhythms and 70s hard rock influences. Eyebrow-raising stuff from the trio. 

Now that they have their own label the New Black, Roll The Dice's Peder Mannerfelt & Malcolm Pardon have issued some of their more collaborative work as Assimilarity. Here they hook up with the likes of Alessandro Cortini, and El Perro del Mar on a collection which drifts from dream-pop to kraut to noise and back again.  Here's a joke to cheer you up in these terrible times... What's the name of that guy from Roll The Dice.. Malcolm...?  Pardon.  I SAID WHAT'S THE NAME OF THAT GUY FROM ROLL THE DICE...etc etc.  Thank you. Goodnight. 

After a seemingly interminable wait since their 2015 full-length debut, Swiss noise-rock outfit Massicot unleash their second album. Dealing in alternating passages of aggressive volume and hypnotic calmness, Kratt forges together Middle Eastern-inspired polyrhythms and European folk with post-punk. 

American soul and R&B legend Jerry Williams Jr., at the grand age of 77, returns to his Swamp Dogg psych/soul persona once again for You Couldn’t Make It. Backed by a 14-strong band and a cast of guest stars that includes Bon Iver, John Prine and Jenny Lewis, the album follows the heart-warming success of his Ryan Olson-produced 2018 hit album Love, Loss and Auto-Tune.