Sub Pop US Vinilo y CD

Review: Imagine a world where the pioneers of hip-hop and electro reign supreme, their sounds echoing through the neon-lit streets of a futuristic metropolis. This is the world that Clipping creates, their music a heady blend of gritty beats, razor-sharp rhymes and dystopian soundscapes. 'Dominator' and 'Change the Channel' set the tone with their raw energy and infectious hooks, while 'Run It' and 'Go' showcase the group's lyrical dexterity and knack for crafting intricate rhymes that weave tales of technology, alienation and social unrest. Collaborations with Aesop Rock, Nels Cline and Cartel Madras add further depth and dimension to the album's sonic tapestry, each artist bringing their unique flavour to the mix. Tracks like 'Simple Degradation' and 'Mood Organ' delve into the darker corners of this dystopian world, exploring the anxieties and uncertainties of a future dominated by technology. It's not for the faint of heart, but it is a thrilling ride through a world of futuristic sounds and thought-provoking lyrics.

Review: Summer is drawing to a close, so what better time to avail ourselves of the eleventh record by these masters of melancholia. Low's back catalogue has proven them to be a band possessed of a consistency to match their emotional heft, and Ones & Sixes is no exception quality-wise - the band dispenses indelible and satisfyingly chilly ditties which balance out exquisite harmonies, fetching songcraft and understated charm, whilst also offering curveballs redolent of a band whose less-is-more aesthetic doesn't preclude an experimental slant - the electronic textures around the album's edge and the surprisingly poppy 'What Part Of Me' being cases in point.

Review: Minnesota couple Low have been around the block, lets say roughly 25 times, and it's been the Seattle-based Sub Pop label that's really become home to their music after several drops for the ambient-laced Kranky. I mean, hey, some have even called their music 'dinner party epochal'. Static and noise and other more experimental techniques in production provide a livid colour to this album, take in "Dancing in Blood" for example, with its industrial and subdued goth influences, or the pumping white noise and distortion of album opener "Quorum". Further down the tracklist is "Fly", a naturally melancholic number but far from depressive, with this track in particular hitting a sweet spot in the same way Massive Attack's "Teardrop" does. Very cool LP.

Review: Fearsome garage rock / grunge punk foursome Mudhoney, active since the late 1980s, juxtapose their latest record Plastic Eternity - which laments the plight of humanity - with a complementary reissue of their breakout debut record, which documents the relatively carefree mode that defined them from their early days onwards. The indie quad squad - made up of vocalist Mark Arm, guitarist Steve Turner, bassist Guy Maddison, and drummer Dan Peters - are best known for their crusted sludge-punk sound, and this reissue is a working reminder of this fact, one that landed them squarely in deathless annals of grunge history; many of the tracks on Mudhoney, especially the Blue Cheer cover 'Magnolia Caboose Babyshit', are considered pioneering of the later mainstream sound. The record is sickeningly fast, shreddy and road-hardened, but a closer listen, especially to the mixes thereon, hears it also house an early stirring of the purply/neon sonic haze that would also go on to define the indie pop music emergent shortly after that time.

Review: Shabazz Palaces's Exotic Birds of Prey is a new seven-song mini-album that comes via Sub Pop and follows the huge success of Robed in Rareness back in October 2023. It is a rather enchaining listen that draws on many different rap eras and blends them into one new sound helmed by vocalist and producer Ismael Butler. Shabazz Palaces redefines hip-hop across decades here with the album blending the past, present, and future with warped sounds and fine collaborations from the likes of Stas THEE Boss and Japreme Magnetic who help to enrich this sonic journey. This special Loser Edition comes on creamy white vinyl.

Review: Like a slightly in-tune Nico from her collab with The Velvet Underground, Natalie Mering's vocals have a unique quality to them that shouldn't go unheard. There's an undeniable country music beauty to the notes and instrumentation in both tracks "A Lot's Gonna Change" and "Andromeda", with Mering hitting those high notes more like Father John Misty and Roy Orbison than Dolly Parton. It's here that it becomes obvious why she is such a trusted collaborator with Ariel Pink. Her album as Weyes Blood, "Titanic Rising", dips and dives through a sequence of emotions that from the halfway point soars like a bird in "Everyday" and the Enya-like "Movies" before making its own crescendo down again on "Picture Me Better" and "Nearer to Thee", closing the album with nostalgia-inducing tales.

Review: Natalie Mering's Weyes Blood project is 12 years deep now, and she follows up on 2019's Titanic Rising with this, her fourth studio album. Her sound evolves in kind over this time from the DIY roots of her appearances on Not Not Fun et al, and now she strikes the figure of an eternal songstress joining the dots from classic 70s composition and production through to the aching, head-fogged reflection of the modern condition. Lead single 'It's Not Just Me, It's Everybody' nails the mood of malaise, but the beauty of her songwriting leads and saves us from slipping into despair. Why not commit to the concept and cop this, the limited Loser Edition of And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglow.