Hello you. We're back! Not that we went anywhere! I'm sure there's laods of exciting news to tell you but I can't remember any of it. Let's see.... there's a Make Mine Music promotion going on exclusively through Norman Records where if you buy any CD at all on the MMM label you get a free copy of MMM050. If that isn't exciting then I don't know what is. The first Fuck Buttons LP is repressed and is back on vinyl...! There's a bunch of limited lathe cuts on the Alt Vinyl label here. There's a brand new Northerner CD, new CD by Fieldhead on Home Assembly featuring a super limited bonus remix CD!, new Japanese Ian Hawgood CD, a Bad Lieutenant spanky box thing, Nirvana Bleach deluxe reissue job on vinyl, The Klaxons are back with Alan Vega, Life On Earth soundtrack on Trunk, a new new Horrors 7", Lightning Bolt wax, Peter Wright Japanese CD on Spekk (there's 2 more in this week on the label), a ton of used gear and barrels more. A veritable booty tastic week!! Oh the 3rd leyland Kirby LP arrived and shipped but it sold out before it hits the new in pags. The triple CD will be here next week! Read on....

Oh and a massive big up to Ant who's tying the knot today and getting all married everywhere. What a great start to the weekend!!
P x

Well as dream collaborations go, Le Lendemain is a pretty fine start, this duo being comprised of Library Tapes' David Wengrenn & man of the moment Danny Norbury. 'Fires' is actually their second combined effort (the first being LT's beautiful 'Sketches') and is a CD on ambient/drone/neo classical behemoth Home Normal. Some of the intertwining cello work on this magical CD recalls Dirty Three or Godspeed's more tranquil moments while sombre piano exploration, Dulcitone embellishment and brittle swathes of field recordings tinker busily below the surface, hardly audible. As far as contemporary classical albums go, 'Fires' is by far one of the most evocative & free-flowing. You'd swear there was a multitude of chamber players at work here by the way the strings have been edited & layered - the sheer grace & fluidity, the way it all segues & flows, as a cello stroke starts to fade, another swoops in leaving you feeling touched by magic. Seeing how much I love the work of Arvo Pärt & Max Richter, this wonderful, atmospheric collection will no doubt be filed lovingly alongside them when I retire to my peaceful lakeside cottage in the isolated far North. A very precious blending of talents! Ltd to 1000 for the world. El Brian x

It's nice to see Angular still keep on going ploughing the spiky post-punk thing even though it's not as fashionable as it used to me. That means they're doing it for the love and not for a quick buck and that's always admirable. Wetdog have a new 7" out on Angular called 'Lower Leg' this week which is great. I've not heard 'em before but immediately I get bits of The Slits and The Raincoats. The song itself reminds me of a Young Knives song and it's annoying me senseless that I can't remember which one it is. Cocks..... Well this is far from cocks. It's great spiky pop music which sounds like it's falling to bits but it somehow manages to stay in one piece relatively unscathed. It's a fantastic pop tune bursting with energy and I'm already in my fifth spin... I will not leave this tune alone. Total single of the week if I ever heard one!!! P x

Brian is tired of his name and hankers for his old moniker back. Here's Alfonso the Cretinous!

Lies, all lies. Press releases are often like a word ocean of dishonesty condensed into heinous paragraphs of deceit. Three Trapped Tigers just about live up to portions of their sly old press burble by successfully thieving much of Squarepusher's eerie, dystopian signature synth sound and hyperactive bass squiggles for the opening track to their new EP2. However they merge these distinctive electronic staples with brooding, futurist instrumental post-rock phrasing, real frenetic drums & breezy ad libbing to create a fresh progressive rock sound. Along with mid period Trans Am, Liverpool's brilliant Kling Klang & new players such as Eat Lights Become Lights & Zombie Zombie, they've learned how to fuse the dynamic elements of classic virtuoso prog with an innate understanding of today's cutting edge technology and end up sounding something like Muse remixed by Fuck Buttons & Otto Von Schirach when they're at their most berserk, like on the insane, breakneck track three, '8'. They've got talent dripping from every pore these boys but their possessed cyber rock can get a little intense for these tired old ears, I can finally breathe a sigh of relief when the EPs closer, the tender, downtempo prettiness of '9' with its morphing, emotive bass & oriental chiming that has me thinking of Mochipet's sweeter outpourings.

Fieldhead is Paul Elam from Leeds collective The Declining Winter. Paul currently sports a curious style of beard and is quite often spied in & around the various beer hostels of West Yorkshire with a friendly smile on his chops seeking, or hosting, quality live entertainment. His debut CD proper - 'They Shook Hands For Hours' - is out now, courtesy of the charming Home Assembly crew and it is quite an impressive listen. Merging his love for drone & contemporary sound design with melodic electronica & glitch, this CD pulls you in from the off with the stripped back beats & drowsy phasing of 'This Train is a Rainbow' to the drifting, spectral drone/ambience of 'Half Names' & the looped, atmospheric eeriness of the title track. He's certainly been studying hard has Paul, his love for melancholy electronics, field recordings & ponderous neo-classical movement is most apparent, his pieces are lovingly structured and flow quite beautifully and his feel for both space & rhythm is well considered making this a treat to listen to. For fans of everyone from Max Richter & Four Tet to Jasper TX & Machinefabriek. We have a limited number of copies with an accompanying CD of remixes from the likes of Machinefabriek, Jasper TX, Seaworthy, The Declining Winter, Northerner, Library Tapes, Pausal, Glissando, James Yates, Yuri Lugovskoy and Matthew Collings. These are limited so be quick!

Tetuzi Akiyama & Toshimaru Nakamura are a pair of improv dwelling familiars from Tokyo, Japan and 'Semi-Impressionism' is their first collaborative release. I've no idea how to review the sound of rumbling friction textures picked up by a strategically placed microphone, sparse, deconstructed meandering folk, minimal steel string plucking, intermittent bursts of tape hiss, shuffling glitch, chirruping tones & crazy whirring frequencies only dogs can properly hear. It sounds quite lovely in places but if I were to attend one of their live performances you'd no doubt also be able to hear me discreetly clearing my throat, shuffling my feet awkwardly, picking my nose & blinking loudly. Suppose it would add to the general aura innit! CD in posh-pack through Spekk.

Another chappie from those exotic Eastern shores is Teruyuki Nobuchika. We have a lovingly packaged CD called 'Morceau' through Schole for your delectation. 12 tracks of totally blissed "folk-tronica" underpinned with warm, woozy field recordings that sound like they've been taken in a park or a nature reserve on a lazy, sunny day - birds twittering happily all over the shop - and the swaying, lullaby guitar is most harmonious, he must be playing his heart out to all the animals! I can see this highly tuneful album appealing to fans of Ulrich Schnauss & Lemon Jelly, twinkly, dreamy, melodic & hazy even on the more beauty & euphoric 'Piano Bit' which reminds me of prime Orbital & The Field! A stressbuster of an album indeed, one for those fantasists who eternally wish for languid summers to bathe in the luxuriant light & heat!

Cold Wave electro prodigies Cold Cave aka Wesley Eisold (& friends) has his debut LP proper ‘Love Comes Close’ fully released on Matador this week. I heard a 7" single on Hospital months back and just adored the dark, blurred lo-fi fog obscuring these darkly emotive electro pop gems. Once again the "Dutch" sound of 1982 is relevant & fresh again. Cold Cave's songs owe as much to the bleak beauty of Factory records as they do the sad analogue chords of Trumpett records of Holland (check out Eurolegends such as The Actor & Ende Shneafliet), music that is both beautifully evocative and icily nihilistic. The early New Order influence is inescapable on the title track, but doesn't seem typical of much of the album. There's quite a varied palette of electronic sounds used throughout, the template is really diverse, ranging from the nonchalant, detached synth fuzz of 'Life Magazine' with its echoed female vocal & looming bassline to the crisp, classic electro of 'The Laurels of Erotomania' - all cascading synths, pristine 4/4 beat & sulky, maudlin vocals. God, this guy knows how to write a tune! He's a bit of a goth too but I've always thought that this much maligned genre harboured some cracking, underappreciated songs. 'Heaven Was Full' is Interpol meets Depeche Mode skating sexily along on Kate Bush's mid 80's drums...... I can really see what the fuss is about now, nothing hugely new but there's some quality ideas fused together here to create a fresh dynamic take on simple old ingredients. Excellent stuff!!!

Well as dream collaborations go, Le Lendemain is a pretty fine start, this duo being comprised of Library Tapes' David Wengrenn & man of the moment Danny Norbury. 'Fires' is actually their second combined effort (the first being LT's beautiful 'Sketches') and is a CD on ambient/drone/neo classical behemoth Home Normal. Some of the intertwining cello work on this magical CD recalls Dirty Three or Godspeed's more tranquil moments while sombre piano exploration, Dulcitone embellishment and brittle swathes of field recordings tinker busily below the surface, hardly audible. As far as contemporary classical albums go, 'Fires' is by far one of the most evocative & free-flowing. You'd swear there was a multitude of chamber players at work here by the way the strings have been edited & layered - the sheer grace & fluidity, the way it all segues & flows, as a cello stroke starts to fade, another swoops in leaving you feeling touched by magic. Seeing how much I love the work of Arvo Pärt & Max Richter, this wonderful, atmospheric collection will no doubt be filed lovingly alongside them when I retire to my peaceful lakeside cottage in the isolated far North. A very precious blending of talents! Ltd to 1000 for the world.

Ant's going to the chapel and he's gonna get married

Home Normal are churning them out at the moment. It feel like they have something out every week! I could be wrong, perhaps my perception of time has been altered. I blame Greg Davis and his 'Midpoint' CD. This guy's stuff has a strange effect on me. The disc comprises two tracks. The first is a mixdown from a live quadraphonic performance where he played violin, bells, vocals and computer. I'd say it's one for the drone purists, working its way slowly and gently evolving. On the very surface it feels a little cold and sterile to begin with as the piece develops it becomes warm and hypnotic. I think fans of Celer would appreciate this one. The second track is also from a live performance with a different array of tools at hand: Korg mono/poly analogue synthesizer, Wurlitzer MLM organ, effects pedals etc. This one has a totally different feel with lots of detailed sounds deep in the mix. Of course there is a drone element but there is lots happening and the overall atmosphere is really cool and transports me to an other place entirely.

Coppice Halifax is one of Brian Grainger's alter egos and we have three different 3" CD's available by the man. I'm listening to 'AB4' and thoroghly enjoying it. Here he's on the dubby techno tip. The tracks have a real nice vibe, uplifting melodies and a deep spaced out sound with shimmering dub effects. Influenced by the likes of Basic Channel and Rod Modell but adding his own style to the mix. Heavy sub bass is present which has prompted Brett to ask what is playing. Yeah so if you like the idea of Mileu does dub techno, realy well executed then get in quick as these are limited to 50 copies a peice. Perfect late night listening.

We've had a bunch of smart looking titles in on Spekk... I played the Peter Wright 'An Angel Fell Where The Kestrels Hover' album the other day and was most impressed. Wright is a super talented New Zealand native and everything I've had the pleasure to hear by him has moved me. His approach to the guitar is fantastic with conventional string sounds that mutate into glorious drones and hovering tones. This album conjures up so much beauty and emotion, it's astounding. I love the way he balances the light and dark moods. The addition of field recordings works nicely too. If you enjoyed his 'Snowblind' album then this is a big recommendation. Top drawer stuff.

Those looking for an indie pop fix might find Camera Obscura's 'The Sweetest Thing' CD a bit useful. It's lifted from the 'My Maudlin Career' album which flew out of the office doors at an astonishing rate. This really is sugar sweet with the feel good strings, bells etc. Their new home 4AD appears to be a comfortable place for them... With the tasteful packaging complementing their sophisticated pop sound. The B-side is a cover of Bruce Springsteen's 'Tougher Than The Rest'.

Four Tet's 'Love Cry' 12" is spinning with its multi coloured disco label and info etched into the run-out groove. It's a real slow builder with a 4/4 kick and Hebden's trademark percussion sound, it doesnt seem to be heading anywhere until the vocal loop kicks in and then things fall into place. It's somewhere between disco, house and techno and as the track progresses I'm getting quite into it. It would certainly do the the job on the dancefloor. The flipside 'Our Bells' is the sound of a load of bells twinkling everywhere. I suspect if you like bells then you'll like it. If you don't like bells then you'll want to throw it in the bin. Bell haters beware as its mega super ultra belly. Limited edition and all.

I thought The Klaxons had disappeard off the face of the planet but here they are covering Suicide's 'Sweetheart'. How I feel about this I really dont know. The Alan Vega style vocal trembling comes across as a bit forced. I guess their trying to be faithfull to the original but it comes across a bit karaoke to me. I think I'd have prefered them just to do their own thing with it. Nevermind. The man Vega himself does 'Speedway' which is a bit disappointing. It's like a sped up bontempi groove with little guitar lick and clapping and then him singing all over it. No Bra do 'Super Subway Comedian' with a spoken word female vocal and lots of pulses and bleeps. I'm not really taken by this record at all and I absolutley adore Suicide! Ltd numbered 10" on Blast First Petite.

Phil reckons jam is best served warm on cold bread

We got a bunch of tasty stuff in on Spekk this week. Three whole brand new releases! They all come in those lovely oversized cardy sleeve things and I reckon if you had the lot they'd look lovely stacked up all side by side smiling all experimentally at you. Dirac is one of these 3 and they're a name new to me! They're a trio from Austria who make some lovely sounding atmospherics on Emphasis. Field recordings, percussion, guitars and some electronics all combine to make a delicately sparse yet full sound. There's plenty going on in between the sparseness so there's lots to latch on to here. I love the delicateness of it.... It all sounds like it spiders web that could just break at any minute but it's held together by some sort of clever musical jam. Mmmm.... Jam. Plenty of drones and tones to keep you droneheads happy and there's ample things going on elsewhere to keep the more experimental lot happy. Easy on the ear and easy on the eye which is the way I like it these days.

We got a bunch of stuff in this week by Milieu. Been a while! Tidewater Petrol is one of 'em and it's a wee 3" job limited to a paltry 50 copies... Of which we don't have too many. Quite refreshingly this is somewhat of a departure from previous Milieu releases. It's way more upbeat than most (if not all) of his previous work. The opener 'Drysummer' builds up into a fantastic piece of crunchy sounding melodic electronica over a thunderous 4/4 beat.... Kind of reminds me a bit of Plaid at times. 'Neon 9000' is another upbeat number which reminds me a bit of AFX at times.. That's the highlight of the EP for me but the whole thing is some what of a revelation if I'm honest. It's good to hear him do something else. Excellent stuff!!

There's some bits in on the Silber label this week. One of which is a CD by Vlor who I've not heard before. I did somehow manage to review the first album without even listening to it. That's well poor..... It was probably sealed or something, damned that plastic... Anyway Vlor is a supergroup featuring Brian John Mitchell (who runs Silber), Jessica Bailiff, Annelies Monsere, Jon Derosa (Aarktica) and another 8 folks.... So they're more of a collective these days as different people play on different tracks giving the album a varied yet cohesive feel. The albums veers from genre to genre (shoegazing, dreampop, drone, slowcore and there's even a garage rock tune on there!) but it works well together. The general feel of the album is pretty downbeat (with the odd exception) and there's a bit of a goth thing going on at moments. Well over half of it would sit really nicely on 4AD's mid 80's.... Roster. It's one of the most interesting albums I've heard in a long while and one I'd deffo recommend you to check out!. Six-Winged is CD only.

The Horrors are back with a new single on XL called 'Whole New Way'. This tune featured on the Japanese CD of their last smash hit pop album 'Primary Colours' and now you can own it - without having to mortgage your house - on a small shiny black vinyl 7". As I'm getting older I'm sort of not minding The Horrors. I think I'd like them more if they didn't have a massive hype machine plugged into their arse but that's the way things are these days. Hypey.....The vocals on this new tune are a bit gothy and the bassline and drums remind me of The Cure. Actually it's quite an 80's sounding thing but with modern production. I'm not entirely sure about the song itself as it's not doing too much for me but the rhythm section on it is totally mint. It makes me want to squeeze my fat legs into drainpipes and turn purple. Nice.

In on Japan's Slow Flow label is a smart new CD by Ian Hawgood called 'We Are Better For Being Built This Way'. Which I can only assume is a dig at my middle age spread. Ian... How dare you! Only joking... I'm well thin me... I'm like a hairy match. I think this is the fourth album we've had this year from him and this one is a more meditative affair as it pulses along with various noises popping up in the background. The first track is lovely as it gently ebbs and flows while you get the sound of water in the background and perhaps a bit of rustling or something. Some of the tracks feature some bowed/picked piano which sounds lovely. In essence though it's a lush sounding ambient drone album which is designed to accompany lone autumnal travel. Very specific, but listening to it with my eyes shut I can see that (or hear it!) This is my favourite of the albums I've heard by him this year. Excellent!

I can't count the amount of times I've watched David Attenborough documentaries. I bought 'em all donkeys years ago and I've watched 'em all loads. Falling asleep listening to David Attenborough is literally one of the nicest things that can happen to you! Trunk very wisely have re released the soundtrack to Life On Earth for you, the general massive. I hope you're grateful! Composed by Edward Williams this was originally released by the Beeb in an edition of 100 and it was distributed to the orchestra who played on it. Thus it's rare as.... From the opening notes you're treated to an surprisingly eerie spooky soundtrack laden with strings, oboes, cornets... err an entire orchestra. Beautifully composed music with weird electronics popping up (they sound electronic) making the whole thing sound very spooky. You can see how some of these pieces would perfectly fit over a montage of fighting dogs or plants shitting or whatnots. Superb stuff!

Yeeeeah boyeeee, Brett bum rushed tha show

Man with Japanese name in releasing droney ambient limited CD shocka! This one's on Sentient Recognition Archive, it's by Hiroki Sasajima, it's called Monogenic and it's an action packed one. Listening to it around the normal volume we use on our stereo for CDs all you really get is the distant hum of a never-ending hoover but crank it up to what would generally be ear-splitting levels and some details become clear - a bit of shuffling, someone rattling around in a drawer looking for some Blu-Tack, that sort of thing. Without having a press release to hand I've no idea if there's a concept I'm missing but to me it kind of sounds like the ambience of a quiet room amplified far beyond its natural level. So there you go.

Storming in this week is a new compilation of genius Ethiopian composer and vibraphonist Mulatu Astatke's early work. Ethiopia's highly distinctive approach to jazz incorporates generous portions of soul, funk, pop and rock over a lolling bedrock of loose, relaxed African rhythms to make a sound that's highly listenable and homes straight in on your brain's pleasure centre to leave you grinning from ear to ear. Fans of his frequent contributions to the amazing Ethiopiques series will know what to expect of New York-Addis-London: The Story of Ethio Jazz 1965-1975 and will probably own a few of the twenty tracks already but even for those devotees this is a wholly worthwhile collection and for newcomers interested in his stuff (perhaps introduced by his collaboration with The Heliocentrics) it's a gimme. A great comp on both CD and double LP from the good people at Strut!

We sold literally a million of the last Northerner CD, The Ridings (ah, I remember my days of playing with the wooden train set in the West Riding Centre's Early Learning Centre - it was last weekend), so maybe we'll sell a million of 1976. It's a whole new album and it's chock full of warm, pastoral electro-acoustic ambience which builds up to lovely shimmery bits and could certainly comfort you through the winter months better than than electric blanket you've got in the cupboard which still smells a bit of cat piss 'cos Fraggly did a whoopsie that time but you didn't want to throw away because electric blankets cost money and money doesn't grow on trees you know, Brett. Sorry, I went off somewhere then. I liked this album and so did everyone else. 1976 is CD only on the Hibernate label.....

Kompakt's Michael Mayer and Jon Berry have a new label, Fright, which seems like it's going to be home to a new lot of synthy giallo-inspired horror geeks if Gatekeeper's 'Optimus Maximus' 12" is anything to go by. Packaged up in a hand-numbered (of 300) sleeve, this fancily marbled vinyl oozes melodramatic 80s futurism from every pore with ludicrous drum sounds programmed in the cheesiest of ways and married to crude vocal samples and hyperactive synth lines and breathy washes which constantly sound like they're threatening to force the tunes into a dodgy club remix of 'Enjoy the Silence'. It sounds absurd but it definitely works.. A guilty pleasure but most definitely a pleasure.

Time for some classic shoegaze sounds! Air Formation's Matt Bartram has a new solo venture called Left to Memory and, barring the odd little telltale production sign, it'd be a really hard one to date if you were listening to it blind. Some of these tracks could very easily have belonged to the very first wave of bands inspired by Spacemen 3 (particularly the ones with an organ droning away) or The Jesus and Mary Chain (as with the second tune, which is a total dead ringer) back in the mid-late 80s. He's certainly got songwriting chops to spare as even when his words are buried underneath a load of hazy ambient feedback they do still cut through and leave an impression. Good stuff on Drifting Falling.

I'm enjoying the fact that there's a track called 'White Honky Afro' on the new Luke Haines album. And the picture of him on the inside cover raising a glass to you, the listener, is something to see as well. I think you know what you're getting with this fella by now what with his myriad releases under various guises down the years and it's hard to imagine fans being disappointed with 21st Century Man and it's limited bonus album Achtung Mutha, offering as they do a truckload of witty, wordy cynicism dumped unceremoniously down an embankment of varied instrumentation, alternately lush and gritty, for later transportation into a giant polluted sea of black humour. Plus there's a tune about Klaus Kinski which is one way to get me on side.. I wish I still had his autobiography, it was proper amazing. Anyway, the old misery guts has easily kept up his reputation for quality here so feel free to partake without fear if there's been a Luke-shaped hole in your life recently.

I reviewed Monolake's great 'Atlas' 12" a wee while ago so it seems a bit daft that I'm doing this new one too, especially since the A-side is a remix of said tune by T++ - one half of the core Monolake duo these days. I'm not one to complain though, especially when faced with dub techno royalty. His 'Atlas' version is a tasty example of how to do this shit properly - slicing up elements of the original and sticking it back together in a new formation which initially sounds like a whole new composition until you really try to single out and identify the building blocks. As with the original, it's quite a speedy number and its fleet-footed two-step will have dancefloors skipping no bother. Snappily titled new T++ track 'Test#10Seed_Bit' features some highly satisfying snare action, insistent minimal bass prods and a quality switcheroo in the middle as the track unravels on itself. Superb as always!

Is Eleh a person or are Eleh people? I genuinely don't know but I kind of like the idea of various people squabbling over which particular note they'll be using for their new release. As ever you're in droney minimalism territory, with interest added by the fluctuation of the very purest of tones, but I think Observations and Momentum sees them/him/her stepping away a little from the clear homages to the likes of La Monte Young and Pauline Oliveros. Not satisfied with adding a really satisfying rhythmical quality to their tone manipulations they've even thrown in some static-filled bass injections and suggestions of choral voices.. To be honest, it's practically dubstep compared with some of their other stuff and it's really pretty wonderful I have to say. I'd love to hear them continue in this sort of direction. It's the stuff of review nightmares but now I've got this far I've realised this is a split with Nana April June (me neither) and you know what, their side is pretty great too. It's a sheer wall of fuzzy noise that's making me imagine I'm sat inside a car listening to the wind and rain of a particularly brutal storm batter my safe haven while I'm zoning out into some crazy internal mind space.. Then a beat kicks in, it goes all Gas then all Alva Noto and I'm never coming back. I'll be taking one of these fo' sho'.

Business Lady wears two pairs of pants in winter and is now forever to be known as business gravy.

Winter North Atlantic present pastoral melodies and loosely ambient musings on new album 'A memento for Dr.Mori'. W.N.A manage to drift effortlessly between folk and electronica creating an emotive and uplifting sound as they go. They embrace acoustic guitars, analogue keyboards, violins, accordions to great effect crafting a sound that sits somewhere between the Bracken/Hood/Declining winter school of thought and Four Tet as well as having a little in common with groups like Town and Country and Pullman. He is obviously a fine craftsman and the compositional work is confidently executed. Coupled with excellent production and some tasteful digital editing 'A memento for Dr. Mori' is a total treat that will no doubt appeal to fans of the aforementioned groups as well as stuff like Manyfingers and the like.

Part two of the three part 'Heavy rock hits' 7" series from Boris is equally as bemusing as the first installment. 'Heavy metal addict' is a strange mash-up of squelchy synth basslines and abstract rifforama punctuated with occasional vocal outbursts. The track is held together with an almost digital hardcore-esque industrial rock riff but the rest of the tune is well warped. New elements wander back and forth from the mix with no apparent system to hold them together. This makes for a crazy yet worthy listen. B-side 'Black original' steps things up again with it's twisted view of funky electro pop complete with proper pop vocal singing. It's totally amazing!! BORISSSSS!!!! Take it to the next level.

The U.S. pop underground are shitting themselves over new Slumberland signings 'Brilliant colors' and it's no surprise as they are carving quite a niche for themselves in the old the '78 punk spirit meets C86/Rough trade indie sensibilities scene that seems to have emerged over the last few years. This is a super hip record from a super hip group. Sharp, clashy guitars wrestle with big reverberant drums and tambourines whilst singer/guitarist Jess Scott lulls us with her warped interpretation of girl group/indie pop vocalism. These songs are simple and catchy in a naggingly subtle way.....like when you hum the words to a song you don't know the words too. Obvious comparisons are Vivian Girls (and related groups) as well as The Pains of Being Pure at Heart though the music also has a little in common with early Sleater Kinney and the early/mid-nineties 4AD bands. Introducing is on CD and LP

Next up a split release from two of the UK's finest 'Heavy' bands Hey Colossus and Dethscalator available from Black Labs (a new sister label to Riot season with this being the first release). Veteran d.i.y stomp boxers Hey Colossus start things of low key style but soon erupt into a foaming mass of riffage and inaudible psycho-babble vocals. These are long, hypnotic mega tunes with massive reverb saturated drums and immense amounts of guitar feedback that practically saturates opener 'Eyes for an eye'. Can i hear a saxophone in there? Maybesssss......NKOTB (New Kids on the Block) dethscalator take a slightly more straight forward approach on these five tracks yet they are no less effective in their mission. I'm totally loving the riffage presented here and the vocals are a truly disturbing combination of manic taunts and yelps. Sort of reminds me of Pissed Jeans and The Jesus Lizard (especially that fearsome vocal). This is a totally rocking beast and the back cover features a headless biker riding a Harley Davidson.....what more do you want? Eh?

The Two Sides of Tim Cohen is the first solo offering from Tim Cohen of The Fresh and Onlys and Black Fiction. This guy is some kind of songwriting machine and it ain't quantity over quality tip either, Cohen delivers! These tunes are truly likeable slabs of indie rock and pop littered with references to folk, country, 70's R&B, spaced out synth rock and psychedelia all committed to tape at home on a Tascam 8 track. These songs have that instantly familiar feeling that all great pop music should have and there's enough odd little moments to keep the chin stroking types amused too. 'The two sides of Tim Cohen' shares similarities with Sic Alps, Ariel Pink, Real Estate and some of the stuff coming out on Sacred Bones at the moment but the most obvious reference is Cohen's other projects, only stripped down to the bare basics. Ace rekkid.....ace cover art too.

Port-Royal are an Italian duo that specialise in the magical and wondrous sounds that can be created by mashing up shoegazing influences with modern ambient synth sounds. Last years ‘Afraid To Dance’ proved to be a favourite with a ton of peeps ensuring greater exposure and additional remix work for the keen duo. This new offering 'Dying in time' carries on from where they left of with 'Afraid to Dance' but incorporates a heavier electronic influence with an emphasis on synth pop and techno. The techno influence is subtle and old skool but it's certainly present and helps elevate these these compositions to new heights of creativity. Dull, thumping bass drum beats assist you through the cacophony of ambient tones, droning synth basslines, arpeggiated grooves and odd, inaudible vocal lines. As you expect this is journey music, as perfect after a big ol' boffer with the headphones on late at night as it would be in a field full of pilled up mongo's, 'Dying in time' has a little something for everyone, as long as you like it ambient and uplifting of course.

'Close proximity and the unhindered care-all' is the latest offering from musical duo Will Long and Danielle Baquet-Long a.k.a Celer. I don't think Celer are capable of making a bad record with this latest offering being no exception. As is often the case with the likes of Growing and such, Celer very rarely drift from their comfort zone but they do what they do so well that I could enjoy numerous installments of what is essentially the same thing, beautifully realised and confidently delivered ambient drone. Using processed strings, pianos, regional field recordings, and electronics: Celer compose wonderfully drifting ambience of the sort that can only be truely appreciated quietly, at home. Using the simple mechanics of ambient drone music Celer have an uncanny ability to communicate all kinds of thoughts and emotions whilst quietly send you of into a better head space. 'Close proximity and the unhindered care-all' is yet another fine example of these two lovebirds at play.

Local superstars Castrovalva are kicking up the shit on new single/E.P 'Thug Poetry' taking things way beyond the proto Lightning Bolt sound they started out with. 'Thuglife' and 'Outlawz' are ace examples of a group coming into their own, enlisting the help of Leemun Smith and his extensive vocal range to help elevate Castrovalva to new screaming heights. These tunes are totally ridiculous, bass driven marathons of rock that sound like they were recorded on a rocket ship somewhere in the future of outer space. Smith's falsetto sounds immense on both tracks and the riffage is enough to make even the toughest of cynics grin with new found glee. Can't say enough nice things about these little intro to the neu Castrovalva sound, well worth a look yo! Ace artwork too!!! Cheers lads!

Dave has two legs which are both the same.

Jesu contain a member of Napalm Death and Godflesh ..but don't expect this to be thrashing your face off. It's a strangely uplifting offering (dare I even say..poppy) and actually quite tuneful. They have some neat hooks at their disposal, and a kind of shoe gazer meets stoner rawk sound. I'd say it sounds like Harvey Milk after a trip to Weight Watchers. The production is nice and layered and the cover is really hard to get back in its cellophane wrapper...all instruments were played by the man Justin Broadrick so kudos....Opiate Sun is CD only!

The new Aarktica album (In Sea) sounds how the front sleeve looks (does that make sense?). It sounds like traipsing across icey tundra with nothing but a sandwich to keep you warm..It's another all sounds played by one person affair, and its protagonist Jon DeRosa has come up trumps with this album,and offers a piece of work that is emotive and cinematic. The things I like most about this album are some of the song titles (corpse reviver no.2 anyone??) and the final track Am I Demon? (which is a Glen Danzig cover!) This album does wrap a ice clad glove around you but keeps you alive with some tasteful sounds and lavish production......now where's that sandwich....?

Shit I'm getting my fill of solo artists today. Next up is James McDougall (A.K.A. Entia Non) and his album Disinter. It's ambient noise with some field recordings that were sourced from the east coast of Australia. It's minimalist stuff with emphasis on minimal, the minimal sounds made me feel I was in some kind of lo-fi Horror film with nothing but a crap weapon to protect me and the chewing mouths of the undead outside. I'm not really au fait with this genre of music but I cant deny its atmospheric leanings..but all in all it left me Disinter(ested)...its on the SRA label so save up and spend those ambient noise credits kids!!!!

The latest offering from Ikonika is called Smuck. But you wont be a smuck if you purchase this. It's the kind of thing you heard when you inhabited arcade gaming circles back in the day. It's an upbeat single with tight production and no layers of excess blubber to weigh it down. It proper zips along!!If you are a fan of J-Pop or button bashing (in the arcade game sense, not having a pop at the F1 racing champion) then this is proper up yer street....brahhpppp etc......

On their new 7" 'Doris Day', Paper Planes offer up a sort of Yeah Yeah Yeahs type stomp which doesn't outstay its welcome. It has a raw production sound and a very point A to point B ethos (I think) leaving nothing to spare ...which is what you want from a pop single...and it has a sleazy undercurrent which I have to fully laude. What more do you want from Say Dirty Records????

A clear vinyl. I like that. Would I buy that for a dollar?? Maybe. The new single from Banjo or Freakout floated past me before I even realised I'd listened to it. So I played 'Left It Alone' again. The words "Powerfully Foppish" sprang to mind. It's got anthemic leanings, ala Fleet Foxes or dare I say it My Morning Jacket but its nice enough without actually doing owt to my mind...great when music does that isn't it.....

teamNORM xxx