Bella Union Vinilo y CD

Review: "A document created in the shadow of incredible darkness. One from which the creator hadn't planned on escaping and still doesn't. Hence the title of the album. It is the result of an illness that I've battled my whole life. It isn't something that the world has done to me. It's the world I live in, and it's no one's fault."
So says Brian Christinzio, AKA BC Camplight, of his sixth album. As ever, it's a musical masterpiece packing dense layers of instrumental experimentation and theses-worthy lyrical poignance. An artist who has never played by the musical rules, fans of strong juxtapositions will again be in there element, with a tracklist that spans grunge-y garage rock, twisted barroom journeyman stuff, theatrical guitar pop, and plenty more. But the sounds themselves are only one half the genius. When it comes to arrangements, things are as playful as they are innovative, keeping listeners guessing as to how structures will pan out.

Review: It may be debatable whether B-sides still exist in the here and now, yet beneath the very slightly prosaic title of this compendium lurks the work of an outfit who - despite having essentially surfed along a very definitive wave of sun-dappled languour since their inception - are capable of delivering offcuts that are every bit the equal of most folks' hits. True, the Spinal Tap insult of 'the musical growth rate of this band cannot even be charted' could be applied to Beach House, but when their catalogue over the ten years of their existence esentially consists of a variety of themes on opiated bliss, we're only too happy to embark on the ride.

Review: Beach House return with another inevitably washed out dream pop pipe-fantasy - and perhaps a magnum opus, being 18 tracks long - 'Once Twice Melody'. We can confirm the LP scales a more minimal and wondrous sound than their career-definer, 'Depression Cherry'. As ever, noir slow jams canopy an ever-ghostlier vocal palette on lead singles like 'Over And Over' and 'Superstar'. Even a live string ensemble was used in its recording. Stonkingly, it comes in various limited-edition formats. One, the "gold" edition, includes a gold and clear 2xLP record in a gold-embossed, hinged box. The "silver" edition is housed in a silver embossed black sleeve. Oh, and there's a cassette version too, for all you indie heads out there.

Review: Here comes a special double vinyl box set edition of Beach House's latest album, Once Twice Melody, which was the first one the band themselves have ever produced in its entirety. It was recorded in three different locations - Pachyderm Studio in Cannon Falls, United Studio in Los Angeles, and Apple Orchard Studios in Baltimore. The band used a real and full live string ensemble for the first time, too, and David Campbell took care of arrangements. It is a double album that features 18 songs presented in four chapters that take in many different sound and structures centred around acoustic guitar, some around drums, and some around electronics.

Review: Long-time indie darlings and American dream pop duo Beach House barely ever put a foot wrong, and you won't find a misstep on this, their fifth album, either. Depression Cherry was co-produced by the band with Chris Coady and first came back in 2015. It was written over two years before that and saw the band return to a more simplistic sound with fewer instruments, tunes constructed around a main melody and live drums featuring less than in the past. This was in response to having enlarged their sound as the venues they played grew ever bigger, but dialing it back in was a good move if you ask us.

Review: 2022's stunning album Once Twice Melody was a fine example of Beach House doing what they do best - living bang up to that name, with intimate-but epic instrumentation falling somewhere between surf-y jangle and grand shoegaze. 'Become' is definitely on a similar tip, and as such feels much like an extension of the long form.
Dig a little deeper, though, and scratches begin to show. While the full-length record represented Beach House reaching for the stars, or at least the moon, and stepping into the role of festival headliners, here the sense of pure confidence and occasion is less pronounced. That may not be a bad thing, mind, because while Once came across like a finished article, refined and prepared, things here seem somehow rawer, as though we're sitting in on a session as oppose to getting the signed off product.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Sleeve damaged but otherwise in excellent condition***


2022's stunning album Once Twice Melody was a fine example of Beach House doing what they do best - living bang up to that name, with intimate-but epic instrumentation falling somewhere between surf-y jangle and grand shoegaze. 'Become' is definitely on a similar tip, and as such feels much like an extension of the long form.
Dig a little deeper, though, and scratches begin to show. While the full-length record represented Beach House reaching for the stars, or at least the moon, and stepping into the role of festival headliners, here the sense of pure confidence and occasion is less pronounced. That may not be a bad thing, mind, because while Once came across like a finished article, refined and prepared, things here seem somehow rawer, as though we're sitting in on a session as oppose to getting the signed off product.

Review: At the time of writing this, The Charlatans are waking up having just sold out a brand new, state-of-the-art, much-anticipated venue in central Manchester - New Century Hall. Random fact? No, more a point about how enduring the outfit Tim Burgess leads still are. And at least part of that ongoing popularity stems from the incredible creativity in their back catalogue, which takes cues from acid house, 1960s psyche, and Barrett-era Pink Floyd.

Suffice to say, then, anytime Burgess does anything it's always worth listening to, and in Typical Music we have probably the best example in some time of how priceless an artist he is. It's pop, it's distorted rock 'n' roll, it's synthdom, epic balladry, experimental, and baggy trousered swagger. Simply put, it's Burgess on an audible high, and few things sound better.

Review: Jack Kenworthy's latest album under the longtime Moniker Colouring is a veritable headstand. Whereas his earlier projects dealt in made-up scenarios in the lyrics, Love To You Mate concerns the loss of his brother-in-law to bowel cancer and the subsequent coming-closer to his family, making this the first album to deal with a focussed, concretely personal subject matter. Continuing Colouring's post-Britpop slant, taking cues from Coldplay, Elbow and Keane through to the more electronic and contemporary influences in the genre such as James Blake and Radiohead, this is a deep-dive into a sorely-untrodden theme for indie singer-songwriter music; that of the family reuniting over the ties that truly bind.

Review: Experimental electronic supergroup Creep Show are certainly a dream team, with the band made up of various members of certain timeless acts: John Grant (of Hercules & Love Affair), Stephen Mallinder (Cabaret Voltaire), Benge (Wrangler) and Phil Winter (Tunng). The album is a mix of darksynth, industrial funk and experimental noise, with vocals by Grant and Malinger providing a surreal, vocoded oeuvre. The titular 'Yawning Abyss' is ploddy and skeletal enough, but then we move into the real meat of things with the likes of 'Bungalow' and 'Moneyback', which carry on the album's extant deathly techno-dysoptian vibe with an increasingly post-punky effect.

Review: After a decade-long hiatus, The Dirty Three return with their latest album, Love Changes Everything, marking their triumphant resurgence into the indie music scene. The album's opening track 'Love Changes Everything I' sets the stage with a furious storm of Warren Ellis' viola, Mick Turner's guitar and Jim White's drums, showcasing the band's raw energy and signature sound. Throughout the album, The Dirty Three navigate through various sonic landscapes, from ambient textures to raucous distortions, all while maintaining their distinct musical identity. The trio's chemistry remains palpable as they effortlessly weave through loops and transcendent moments, demonstrating a renewed sense of creativity and exploration. With over two decades of experience and collaboration with esteemed artists, The Dirty Three's latest offering shows their enduring artistry and unwavering dedication to their craft.

Review: Fans of Explosions In The Sky no doubt read the band's new album title with a degree of trepidation. Would this be the grand finale it has always felt like the outfit were gearing up for? Hopefully not, but nevertheless it certainly has the power of a magnum opus. "Every song comes from a story, or an idea one of us has had that we've all expanded on and made its own world," the group say of the new LP. "Our starting point [here] was the concept of an ending - death." If that sounds bleak then it might be worth reconsidering attitudes towards endings. Rather than wallowing, Explosions In the Sky do what they have always done so well here, but perhaps even better than before. Monumentally-sized operatic rock music highly influenced by classical, grand enough to see your entire life pass before the mind's eye as the keys, refrains and bombastic melodies unfold, reminding us that while nothing last forever, it was probably a blessing to be here in the first place.

Review: Returning with their first full-length in seven long arduous years, Texan post-rock pioneers Explosions In The Sky rediscover their purpose and poise on eighth full-length End. Following on from 2016's The Wilderness, which toyed with ambient segues and electronic moments of respite to compartmentalise the epic song-structures, this latest batch of material opts to eschew many of these meanderings in order to prioritise their bombastic, emotive, swelling spectacles with little in the way of sonic dressing. Mercurial, thoughtfully paced and potently cathartic, the work serves as a revitalised and transient embracing of classic post-rock motifs, crafted by some of the very hands that initially begat the forms.

Review: Josh Tillman, the ex-Fleet Foxes member, has confused plenty with his alter ego Father John Misty, and occasionally it can be hard to tell whether the recently-married troubadour is inhabiting a distinct role or dealing out confessional ditties straight from the heart. Yet what is beyond question is how fascinating and addictive I Love You, Honeybear manages to be. By turns lushly arranged and stark, Tillman sets his reflective songwriting to a sonic backdrop infused with Laurel Canyon flavour, arriving at a reinvention of the singer-songwriter stylings of the mid-'70s for a newer, still more complicated era-think Elton John by way of John Grant. The result is a modern-day triumph that's as acerbic as it is emotionally involving.

Review: Perhaps LA's most well-loved postmodern troubadour, Joshua Tillman brings his third album as Father John Misty, a sprawling and theatrical epic polemic on just about all of our modern society. The quality of his writing here is far more complex and impressive, as heart-wrenching chord progressions and grandiose song structures keep the listener firmly in the palm of his hand. The album's title 'Pure Comedy' is the first stab of bitter irony here, as Tillman seems in a more serious and pensive mood than we became used to with tongue-in-cheek and self-assured previous albums 'Fear Fun' and 'I Love You, Honeybear'. That isn't to say that the album is totally humourless, but that Tillman uses it in smaller doses to antidote the cathartic and anxious emotion to far greater effect.

Review: It has been 14 long years in the making, but Laura Groves has finally made the triumphant return we all hoped she might, one day. Unfamiliar? No worries - a quick step back in time might bring the memories flooding back... albeit from her old moniker, Blue Roses. Barely into her 20s, the sole, self-titled album released under that name via XL Recordings was a captivating example of young singer-songwriter romanticism, simultaneously capable of making us feel elated and utterly distraught. Groves' voice is what really stood out, not that the beautiful, often dream-like arrangements weren't also incredible. Thankfully, those vocals are back again here, and arguably in even finer form. Radio Red, the artist's first outing under her own name, is a lush, deep dive into crystalline pop, rarely breaking sweat in tempo terms, and instead inviting us into a fantasy world with shades of folk, soul, and synth audible in the intoxicating mix.

Review: Since first emerging in 2011 via the globally renowned Bella Union stable, Swedish indie rock duo I Break Horses have certainly set out their stall. The pair, better known as Maria Linden and Fredrik Balck, have - among other things - hit the road to support both M83 and Sigur Ros in the years between then and now. Indicative of their incredibly textured and subtly all-consuming approach to soundscapes, while this release comprises two remixes it still feels every bit a Horses outing.

There's just so much timbre to get to grips with. 'Death Engine' belongs in a twisted math rock dream, as grungy and rough as it is epic and emotional, if you look beneath the immediate discordance and distortion. Mythologen's take on 'Turn' is a cleaner second act, taking the pace down a notch and removing chaos, leaving only calm and serene harmonies of real beauty behind.

Review: Midlake fans can finally rejoice as the band's long-awaited new record, For the Sake of Bethel Woods, has land don Bella Union.It comes as a deluxe package with white, heavyweight vinyl and an accompanying European tour this spring. As with many albums of these last few years, this is one consumed by ideas of loss, isolation, hope and community. It is the group's fifth LP and first in almost a decade after 2013's Aniphon and is full of immersive warmth and musical mystery. They seem to have a fresh intent and purpose in these tracks which boast psychedelic space-rock and sticky guitars. lush harmonies and plenty of light and dark contrasts.

Review: It's hard not to feel hypnotised by "How To Live". Modern Nature's debut long form outing opens with the sombre, mournful strings of "Bloom" - a strong case for albums setting the mood before developing. Finally kicking in with a stepping, building track, from thereon in the record expands, contracts and burrows through looping guitars, segments of field recordings, earthly folk lyricism, and wild saxophone solos. Second-to-last track "Nature" is almost a mirror image of "Footsteps", or at least an answer to any prevailing questions - they get deeper and more immersive. "Nightmares" pulls you in with gentle synths rippling in the background beneath soft lines of brass. "Criminals", meanwhile, is a more complex sounding affair, a fittingly dark-hued arrangement of simple guitar hook and slightly unnerving timbre that slowly reveals its true, far more positive intentions.

Review: You don't have to spend long looking at the cover art for Plantoid's Terrapath to have a stab at guessing what the record is all about. The oil painting-style image is at once retro and futuristic, invoking thoughts of H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds and John Wyndham's Day of the Triffids, among other classic science fiction works. We couldn't ask for a more apt visualisation of the record itself. Terms like 'prog rock jazz' may not be particularly flattering today, but here Plantoid prove there's plenty of life left in the (sub) genre yet, especially when you throw funk, soul, and subtle hints of downbeat into the mix. Terrapath is at times fragile and gentile, in other moments rowdy and brash, and it never, ever feels like it could do with seven or eight minutes shaving off a track. A wonderfully conceived collection you'll be coming back to again, and again.

Review: Although his solo work has not been as celebrated as those of some of his Radiohead bandmates - most notably Thom Yorke - Philip Selway has nevertheless delivered a handful of excellent albums since making his debut in 2010. A songwriter since his youth, Selway often offers up far more 'traditional' material than one might expect (his debut, for example, was heavily acoustic). Interestingly, he doesn't drum on 'Strange Dance', his first album since 2017; instead, he sings, produces (Valentina Magaletti takes the sticks instead), and conjures a distinctive, effects-laden sound that he has described in interviews as "a Carole King record if she asked Daphne Oram to produce it". In effect, that means glassy-eyed vocals, prominent drums, guitar, bass and strings aplenty. It's an alluring combination.

Review: Spiritualized fans have been in heaven this last year as their most classic first four albums have all been reissued. Now they are back with a brand new long player, Everything Was Beautiful, written in lockdown and reflects Jason Spaceman's fondness for insolation. He plays 16 different instruments on the record in 11 different studios and also called upon over 30 musicians and singers for help. The list includes his daughter Poppy, long-time collaborator and friend John Coxon, plus string and brass sections, choirs and finger bells and chimes. It makes for a dense, rich album, but would you expect anything else?

Review: ***B-STOCK: Sleeve damaged but otherwise in excellent condition***


Deluxe pink vinyl edition of Spiritualized's latest album, their most 'live' sounding project since 1998. Resultant from band brain J Spaceman walking around an empty 'Roman London' - "full of birdsong and strangeness" - the project that emerged arrives full of melancholy, loss and lyrical silver linings. Backed by Spiritualized's classic 'spacey' sound but full of that unparalleled 2022 production polish, we're stoked for this exclusive version of the album, produced between 11 studios and 30 different musicians, of all things.

Review: It's hard not to feel that the first time you heard Ladies and Gentlemen, We Are Floating In Space it was a lightbulb moment - one of those life, or at least music-affirming experiences that's hard to come back from. Not the first Spiritualized album, but certainly the most critically acclaimed at the time, and arguably still to this day, it confirmed the Warwickshire band had arrived at the highest level of chart-friendly artistry. That point when a band realise they can do what they want, and it resonates with both niche and mainstream ears. Everything Was Beautiful arrived 25 years later, and emphasised that point. Yes, we're talking about a group that reached full maturity some time ago, rather than a troupe of rising enigmas pushing rock 'n' roll in new directions. Nevertheless, the way in which we are invited back into their world is captivating. Tracks that rouse, inspire, and feel utterly timeless. As a record, this is an exhilarating ride from start to finish, almost seeming to distill all that has come before into one intoxicating brew. Here in a limited Spanish pressing, grab it while you can.