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Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven (2LP)
Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven (2LP)Constellation
¥3,936
Cassettes are available in limited edition of 70 copies, will be shipped from Mexico. Cassette recorded profesionally in real time + Digital Album Housed in clear case with full color labels and double-side printed J-card
Say She She - Silver (CS)Say She She - Silver (CS)
Say She She - Silver (CS)Karma Chief Records
¥1,974
Say She She, the soulful female-led trio, stand rock solid on their discodelic duty with their boundary breaking sophomore album Silver. The three strong voices of Piya Malik (El Michels Affair staple feature, and former backing singer for Chicano Batman), Sabrina Mileo Cunningham and Nya Gazelle Brown front the band. Following the NYC siren song, the trio was pulled from their respective cities — Piya from London, Nya from DC, and Sabrina from NYC — to Manhattan’s downtown dance floors, through the Lower East Side floorboards, and up to the rooftops of Harlem, where their friendship was formed on one momentous, kismet eve. Silver was entirely written and recorded live to tape at Killion Sound studio in North Hollywood earlier this year and produced by Sergio Rios (of Orgone). While these analog recording techniques help root Say She She’s sound in a bedrock of tonal warmth that only tape can achieve, it is also their process of cutting the track in the moment and capturing the magic of communal creativity that has seen their sound described as “a glorious overload of joyful elation and spiritual elevation” (MOJO) and “infused with the wonky post-disco spirit of early '80s NYC” (The Guardian). Musical inspirations include Rotary Connection, Asha Puthli, Liquid Liquid, Grace Jones and Tom Tom Club. Ultimately, Silver oozes with quirk and adventure and embraces the multifaceted nature of what it means to be a modern femme. Say She She fully embrace their role as beauticians, actively reminding people of the inherent beauty in the world. They skillfully employ double entendres and humor to encourage open dialogue and fearlessly address important matters that demand attention.
Boys Age - Boys Age (CS+DL)Boys Age - Boys Age (CS+DL)
Boys Age - Boys Age (CS+DL)Galaxy Train
¥1,210
DIY pop master from Saitama, JAPAN. love psychedelic pop/anime/dreamy pop
Lucinda Chua - YIAN (Clear Vinyl LP)Lucinda Chua - YIAN (Clear Vinyl LP)
Lucinda Chua - YIAN (Clear Vinyl LP)4AD
¥2,908

“YIAN” (燕), means swallow in Chinese, and is part of “Siew Yian,” the name given to Chua by her parents to preserve her connection with her Chinese heritage. Just as the migratory songbird lives between places, so did Chua, the artist living in the in-between of the English, Malaysian and Chinese cultures that make up her heritage. In the absence of Mandarin as a mother tongue, music became a way to express the parts of herself that couldn’t be described in words; “YIAN” emerged as a way to heal.

A deeply introspective and fully realized vessel of creative expression (Chua self-produced and engineered eight of the ten tracks), “YIAN” emerges as less an album than a worldview, a commitment to learning and uncovering one’s own selfhood honed over Chua’s lifelong reconciliation with her own personal history and identity.

Rex - C (Rose Vinyl 2LP)Rex - C (Rose Vinyl 2LP)
Rex - C (Rose Vinyl 2LP)Numero Group
¥4,997
Hovering somewhere at the intersection of Nirvana and Neil Young, Rex exploded—or drifted, rather—onto the slowcore scene in the mid-1990s. Taking its cue from bands like Codeine, which drummer Doug Scharin was a part of, Rex managed to synthesize the dynamic eruptions of grunge, twinkling guitars of folk, and sprawling string arrangements of chamber pop on its seminal 1996 album, C. In recording C, Scharin, along with bandmates Curtis Harvey and Phil Sprito, created an untamable and uncategorizable beast. The album’s 11 tracks clock in at an hour and 7 minutes, most often winding from folk warbles to distortion-drenched power chords and back. End-to-end, listening to C feels like being granted access to one of the band’s most unfettered jams.
V.A. - The Endless Coloured Ways: The Songs of Nick Drake (2CD)V.A. - The Endless Coloured Ways: The Songs of Nick Drake (2CD)
V.A. - The Endless Coloured Ways: The Songs of Nick Drake (2CD)Chrysalis Records
¥2,390
The Endless Coloured Ways is a collection of songs by legendary singer/songwriter, Nick Drake, performed and recorded by over 30 incredible artists from a range of different backgrounds, genres, age groups and audiences. From Fontaines D.C. to Guy Garvey, Aurora to Feist, and Self-Esteem to David Gray, each artist has offered their own incredible take on a timeless classic"Nick Drake was not that concerned with promoting himself as an artist but I think he would have been overjoyed to hear his art promoted by so many vibrant and talented artists such as the ones we approached. Each track is an example of a fellow artist adopting Nick's art as if it was their own, submitting to the song, and the results prove to me that talent can so often win out over mere skill or 'personality'. We are honoured and so grateful to all our friends, old and new, who took part in the making of this set." - Cally Calloman, Bryter Music"Having initially exchanged a list of our favourite artists and realised how much our tastes overlapped, Cally and I set out on this venture with one simple brief - to ask the artists to ignore the original recording of Nick's in terms of arrangement, production and singing style; basically we were asking them to reinvent the song. First of all it was humbling to hear so many similar responses, saying how important Nick's music was to them, and how much they wanted to be part of this project. But as the results came in one by one, we were staggered by the brilliance and invention that each artist had shown. They had done what we asked - they had made the song their own." - Jeremy Lascelles, Chrysalis Records
V.A. - I Killed The Monster (LP)V.A. - I Killed The Monster (LP)
V.A. - I Killed The Monster (LP)Shimmy-Disc
¥3,398
In the late 1980's, Kramer brought Daniel Johnston into his Noise New York recording studio and produced the LP that remains - to this day - his masterpiece; "1990". Prior to these recordings (his very first in a "professional" studio), Daniel was an underground/'outsider' artist with an extraordinary catalog of cassette-only releases, a small but infinitely loyal cult following, and a fast-widening range of established artists covering his songs and proclaiming him to be the best songwriter of his generation. They were right. "1990" (originally released on Shimmy-Disc) brought his rapturous songs to new ears. In American Indie Music, there was the world before "1990", and the world after. It was a watershed moment in the musical arts. There was nothing else like it. There still isn't. Daniel's place in history will be studied for centuries to come. He had many disciples, but no peers. His songcraft stands alone in the American songbook. Following the global success of "1990", Kramer travelled to West Virginia the following year and produced "ARTISTIC VICE", a very different LP of songs featuring a full band that Daniel had been performing concerts with while living at his parent's home. The recordings were made in their garage over the course of 3 days on a barely functional 8-track tape machine. The resulting LP was the perfect follow-up to "1990", and set Daniel on a path that would bring him a major label deal with Atlantic Records, and the attention he'd always deserved both as a songwriter and as a visual artist. It wasn't long before his drawings began to appear in art galleries, and eventually his work was featured at the renowned Whitney Biennial. The rest is history. Daniel left us on September 11, 2019. We will never see the likes of him again, but we can experience his music anew with "I KILLED THE MONSTER", available now for the very first time on Vinyl following its initial 2006 CD-only release. Kramer re-Mastered all 21 songs from the original CD, and hand-picked 11 of his favorite songs for this limited-edition Vinyl LP release. The Cassette and Download versions include all 21 songs. (Note: This is the first Cassette release from Shimmy-Disc since the 1990's. We love Cassettes. TAPE, is where it all began. We are thrilled to bring this archival format back to the Shimmy-Disc catalog. Nothing sounds as good as tape, and we have spared no expense in bringing the highest quality product to the avid Cassette collector.) This "Various Artists" compilation of songs by Daniel Johnston filters the Texas genius's snow-globe sad-pop confections through the mercurial lens of indie rock and anti-folk. Daniel's painfully honest lyrics and gently ecstatic melodies easily lend themselves to the interpretations of others, whether it's the genius collaborations of Danielson & Sufjan Stevens ("Worried Shoes") or Jad Fair & Kramer ("True Love Will Find You in the End"), the honest-to-goodness real-life realities of Kimya Dawson ("Follow That Dream") or Jeffrey Lewis ("Adventures of God As a Young Boy"), or the proto-psychedelic pop of R. Stevie Moore ("Cathy Kline") and home-grown Shimmy-Disc artist Lumberob, or Kramer himself with the definitive version of the song he considers Daniel's very best, "Bloody Rainbow". Produced by Kramer in 2005/2006, the LP closes with his daughter Tess singing Daniel's seminal tearjerker, "It's Over". Recorded when she was 13 years old, it's the perfect song to bring the curtain down on this indispensable LP.

Bélver Yin - Para Mi Madre (LP)Bélver Yin - Para Mi Madre (LP)
Bélver Yin - Para Mi Madre (LP)Efficient Space
¥3,672
Spurred on by emergent footage of a recent live performance, Efficient Space delves deeper into the world of Spanish shoegaze outfit Bélver Yin, now solely helmed by founding member Pedro L. Ortega. An intimate collection of new recordings, Para Mi Madre is a parting gift to his mother, fulfilling a promise made in her final days. Bélver Yin’s story begins at the turn of the ‘90s, blooming from a fixation with British ethereal alt-pop (Cocteau Twins, The Chameleons, The Cure et al.). Utilising guitar, bass and drum machine rhythms to record the cathartic 1991 debut Luz Bel, their quintessentially Mediterranean angle on slow, reverb and echo-laden atmospherics found a home on fleeting label Noisex Music. Despite radio play and concerts around Spain, lack of distribution led to the album being largely overlooked, until Efficient Space’s faithful reissue in 2020. With this newfound interest stoking Ortega’s fire, the wealth and strength of Para Mi Madre’s expressive impulses will woo fans and newcomers alike. Patiently moving from pastel hues, sepia-tones and balearic nostalgia, its crystallised instrumentals give a knowing nod to the wide-eyed possibilities of youthful summers as much as they do world-weary respite. Not wallowing in gloom, the deeply personal and spirit-stirring memorandum documents Ortega coming to terms with the loss of his greatest champion.
Shintaro Sakamoto - Like A Fable (LP)
Shintaro Sakamoto - Like A Fable (LP)Zelone Records
¥2,860

SIDE-A
01. That Was Illegal
02. You Still OK?
03. Like A Fable
04. You Have Time But I Don’t
05. Sad Errand
|
SIDE-B
01. Star
02. Floating Weeds
03. Thickness of Love
04. One Day
05. The Whereabouts Of Romance

Written & Produced by Shintaro Sakamoto

Shintaro Sakamoto - Love If Possible (LP)Shintaro Sakamoto - Love If Possible (LP)
Shintaro Sakamoto - Love If Possible (LP)Mesh-Key
¥4,371

Exclusive Mesh-Key release of Sakamoto's brilliant third solo album, with completely different art from the Japanese release. Comes with full-color inserts with lyric translations, and digital download cards.

After 20+ years with psych legends Yura Yura Teikoku, Shintaro Sakamoto’s third solo album is a bonafide masterpiece of warped steel guitar, ambient disco and AOR soul.

“Like a language of Sakamoto’s own…made with a ship-in-the-bottle-like focus.” Pitchfork (7.8)

“Love If Possible is the pay-attention-moment. Not enough know. More should know.” Under The Radar

“Perfectionist pop for the extraterrestrial bachelor pad.” Spin

Karate - Time Expired (Cacophony Splatter 5x Vinyl LP Box Set)Karate - Time Expired (Cacophony Splatter 5x Vinyl LP Box Set)
Karate - Time Expired (Cacophony Splatter 5x Vinyl LP Box Set)Numero Group
¥16,269
This five LP box includes the Karate's Unsolved, Some Boots, and Pockets albums, a first time vinyl pressing of their Cancel/Sing EP, and recently unearthed rehearsal recordings of two unreleased tracks.
Ghost Funk Orchestra - Night Walker / Death Waltz (Opaque Red Vinyl LP)
Ghost Funk Orchestra - Night Walker / Death Waltz (Opaque Red Vinyl LP)Colemine Records
¥3,437
Back in 2016, producer Seth Applebaum released two EPs that marked the inauguration of the band Ghost Funk Orchestra. ‘Night Walker’ and ‘Death Waltz’ were conceived as one-man-band, reel-to-reel tape recorded experiments that would bring together elements of all the sounds that Seth most adored at the time: tape-saturated drums, gratuitous spring reverb, surfy guitar, Latin-style percussion, odd time signatures, and Spanish-language female vocals. Initially released only in the digital domain and on a short run of cassette tapes, these two EPs that defined the early era of GFO are now finally available together on a single LP via Colemine Records. The tracks have been lovingly remastered by Doug Krebs. We invite you to take a dive into the humble beginnings of a project that has continued to grow, shape shift, and accrue new and exciting sounds for its sonic palette.
V.A. - The Endless Coloured Ways: The Songs of Nick Drake (Grey Vinyl 2xLP+7")V.A. - The Endless Coloured Ways: The Songs of Nick Drake (Grey Vinyl 2xLP+7")
V.A. - The Endless Coloured Ways: The Songs of Nick Drake (Grey Vinyl 2xLP+7")Chrysalis Records
¥5,659
The Endless Coloured Ways is a collection of songs by legendary singer/songwriter, Nick Drake, performed and recorded by over 30 incredible artists from a range of different backgrounds, genres, age groups and audiences. From Fontaines D.C. to Guy Garvey, Aurora to Feist, and Self-Esteem to David Gray, each artist has offered their own incredible take on a timeless classic"Nick Drake was not that concerned with promoting himself as an artist but I think he would have been overjoyed to hear his art promoted by so many vibrant and talented artists such as the ones we approached. Each track is an example of a fellow artist adopting Nick's art as if it was their own, submitting to the song, and the results prove to me that talent can so often win out over mere skill or 'personality'. We are honoured and so grateful to all our friends, old and new, who took part in the making of this set." - Cally Calloman, Bryter Music"Having initially exchanged a list of our favourite artists and realised how much our tastes overlapped, Cally and I set out on this venture with one simple brief - to ask the artists to ignore the original recording of Nick's in terms of arrangement, production and singing style; basically we were asking them to reinvent the song. First of all it was humbling to hear so many similar responses, saying how important Nick's music was to them, and how much they wanted to be part of this project. But as the results came in one by one, we were staggered by the brilliance and invention that each artist had shown. They had done what we asked - they had made the song their own." - Jeremy Lascelles, Chrysalis Records
Baba Stiltz - Paid Testimony (LP)
Baba Stiltz - Paid Testimony (LP)Public Possession
¥4,106
When he‘s not writing or recording, Baba Stiltz immerses in fearless fiction by the likes of Denis Johnson and Dodie Bellamy; prose where pedestrian details become transcendent in aggregate and the inner lives of marginal characters are examined as though they were kings. A similar thesis runs through „Paid Testimony“, the essential second tape of minimalist guitar music from the FilipinoAmerican-Swedish artist. In recent years, Stiltz has made like Lee Hazelwood‘s Cowboy In Sweden in reverse, making annual pilgrimages from Stockholm to California and reconnecting with his roots via a guitar and a Fostex 4- track. He‘s drawn to the less glamorous corners of the golden state, an observant habitué of unkempt streets and dive bars stretching from LA to Vacaville. It‘s a long stretch from the jetset techno clubs where Baba originally plied his musical trade, but it‘s where he finds characters and ideas worth writing about. The characters on „Paid Testimony“ are on the edge and on the run. Surrounded by flawed men with big schemes since childhood, he extrapolates characters who plot bank heists and order milk and vodka in AM hours, the type of confrontation- prone characters who „say some shit, make everyone uncomfortable and then just split.“ To focus on the rawness of this document would discount the humor and sympathy with which he treats his characters, not to mention the subtly- psychedelic songwriting recalling David Berman, early Smog, the original indie rock minimalist poets. On the final song, Stiltz looks back on the city that raised him, „Stockholm,“ referencing „young professionals carelessly living“ before adding „I can‘t say I‘m not jealous even though I live my life just like they do.“ There‘s an honesty in the small details revealed on „Paid Testimony“, and a defined sense of place, be it Stockholm, Sacramento or some dim barroom across from the Bank Of America. Baba doesn‘t quite fit in anywhere. This outsider quality has often been used as a marketing tool, yet here, it lends a writerly aspect to the proceedings, an unreality to the everyday.
pel mel - Late, Late Show (LP)
pel mel - Late, Late Show (LP)Efficient Space
¥2,776
After a ten year pursuit, Efficient Space finally presents Late, Late Show, the last recordings of influential Sydney-via-Newcastle band pel mel. Taped in the mid-’80s, these charmingly unvarnished sessions pare the combo back to their core, producing blue-collar sophisti-pop to a danceable LinnDrum beat. From the funky disco-not-disco of ‘Mr President’ to the effortless pop perfection of ‘Fool’s House’, the six tracks reveal a creatively open and well-oiled pel mel before they inevitably disbanded. Formed in early 1979 as a misfit sextet from steel and surf town Newcastle, pel mel were inspired by New York and UK’s post-punk imports. Cutting their teeth speeding through originals and Joy Division, Wire and The Buzzcocks covers every Friday night to a regular turnout of dole bludgers, students and the under-age, the band would also cross-pollinate with electronic-leaning support act The Limp. In 1980, they decamped to Sydney to join the city’s flourishing alternative music scene alongside the likes of Laughing Clowns, Tactics, The Reels, Wild West and the M Squared crew, making an indelible mark with two albums and several singles as the only domestic signee of Factory’s Australasian licensee GAP Records. Catchy and intelligently experimental without being noisy, their musicianship and enduring legacy continues to be lauded by peers. Undoubtedly some of their strongest output, this previously unreleased demo suite documents pel mel free from the pressures of a commercial outcome, naturally elevating them to a class alongside Orange Juice, Antena and Young Marble Giants.
Gezan with Million Wish Collective - Anochi (Red Vinyl LP)
Gezan with Million Wish Collective - Anochi (Red Vinyl LP)十三月
¥3,850
ALBUM "Anochi" under the name of GEZAN With Million Wish Collective made a spectacular debut at FUJI ROCK FESTIVAL 2021. A cutting-edge form of tribal punk, produced on the theme of the immutable human voice in an era of data and selection. A sound picture scroll that goes back and forth between fantasy and documentary, weaving multiple layers such as round singing and voice, and making a single life form "Anochi" emerge in the form of an album with a unique seamlessness. Sixth FULL ALBUM for the first time in three years.

Izumi Kato on the cover illustration that blinks between the indigenous and the universe. Following the previous work, the recording & mixing engineer is Naoyuki Uchida, a master of the dub world who is also currently operating GEZAN's live performances.
Duster - Moods, Modes (Ocean Blue 3xVinyl 7")Duster - Moods, Modes (Ocean Blue 3xVinyl 7")
Duster - Moods, Modes (Ocean Blue 3xVinyl 7")Numero Group
¥5,123
Explore the Duster universe on the far superior 45RPM format. This deluxe triple 7” box contains Duster’s first single—1997’s Transmission Flux (including “Stars Will Fall” & “Orbitron”), 1998’s Apex, Trance-Like (featuring “Four Hours”), plus Stratosphere’s painfully absent “Echo, Bravo” and the lost 2002 outtake “What You’re Doing To Me.” Housed in replica sleeves and placed in a sturdy two-piece box, Moods, Modes also contains a Duster-branded hanky for those who like to accessorize.
Saicobab - Nrtya (CD)
Saicobab - Nrtya (CD)SHOCHY
¥2,750

SAICOBAB is a one-of-a-kind NEW HIGH WAVE artist. The title of this album "NRTYA" is Sanskrit for "DANCE". It is a quaternistic dance music that expands raga (melody) and tala (beat) into the realm of the imaginary!

YoshimiO _ Vocalization
HAMA _ Req
YOSHIDADAIKITI _ Electric Sitar, Electric Bass Sitar, Electric Bass Tanpura
Resonant String Speaker
*All handmade instruments by YOSHIDADAIKITI
TATEKAWA YO2RO _ Drums

Music by SAICOBAB
Recorded in 2020-2021, Engineerd by KABAMIX
Mixed by YoshimiO & KABAMIX in 2022
Mastered by Sarah Register @SR Mastering,NYC
Art works by OOIDO SYOUJOU + YoshimiO, Design by QOTAROO
Photo by HOMMA TAKASHI

Lutalo - Once Now, Then Again (CS)Lutalo - Once Now, Then Again (CS)
Lutalo - Once Now, Then Again (CS)Winspear
¥1,629
Growing up in Minnesota, life constantly took multi-instrumentalist and producer Lutalo Jones back and forth across the Mississippi River, through the beating heart of the Twin Cities, from their home in Minneapolis to school in St Paul. In 2021 Lutalo and their partner moved east, to settle among the green peaks of Vermont, having taken ownership of an area of land with the intention of building a small community for themselves. The aim is to accomplish a long-held dream: to live life differently, to invest in and create something tangible that can be passed on to future generations. The to-and-fro of that early life has been replaced by something altogether more steady, a burning desire to not get so caught up in the intensity of the world. It's this overwhelming potency of modernity that ripples through Lutalo's musical work. Their six-song debut EP, Once Now, Then Again, bristles with tension, despite the open laidback nature of the performance. The new EP – which follows a few well-received singles in 2021 and a run of live shows alongside Adrianne Lenker – spans both of Lutalo's contrasting worlds, the songwriting beginning in the Twin Cities before being finished in the serene surroundings of Vermont, and both environments leave their mark on Lutalo's rich and absorbing sound. For now, Lutalo's world consists of new pastures and new beginnings, the search for brightness in spite of all the dark. They remain optimistic in attitude, and steadfast in their belief that change can only happen when you believe in a better future. "At the same point you also have to recognize that this is also your time to be alive," Lutalo says, "and to try to find beauty in those moments and focus on the smaller details: to watch the water trickle down the stream, to see the ice as it melts from the rooftops."
The Particles - 1980s Bubblegum (LP)
The Particles - 1980s Bubblegum (LP)Chapter Music
¥3,297
“(I have) two fantastic singles by The Particles...they are two of my most prized vinyl possessions” – Carrie Brownstein (Sleater Kinney) on NPR The Particles formed at the height of the punk movement in Sydney, Australia in 1977, and spent their early years hanging out with punk legends The Saints. But by their first recordings in 1979 they were something else entirely – pioneers of infectiously melodic, playfully subversive indie pop. They deserve to be held up alongside contemporaries such as Orange Juice or Television Personalities, and 1980s Bubblegum makes a strong case for this with the first overview of their sporadic recording career. Guitarist Peter Williams and vocalist Astrid Spielman were the core of the group, surviving numerous lineups until the band dissolved in the mid 80s. Other bandmates include members of Chapter DIY heroes The Cannanes and fondly-remembered indie pop band The Lighthouse Keepers. The Particles only released three seven inch EPs and a handful of compilation tracks, but their scant recorded work is laden with inventive, irresistible pop hits. After self-releasing two EPs Colour In (1980) and Advanced Colouring (1981), their final EP I Luv Trumpet (1983) was the second ever release on iconic Sydney label Waterfront Records. This makes The Particles unlikely labelmates with the likes of Nirvana, L7 and Henry Rollins, who all went on to release records via Waterfront in Australia in the 90s. On 1980s Bubblegum, Chapter Music presents every known recording by the Particles, including digital bonus tracks from the first ever Triple J Live At the Wireless session in 1983. The LP features extensive liner notes based on interviews with bandmembers. Sadly, Astrid Spielman passed away in 2015, but the sheer joyful magic of her and Peter’s music lives on with 1980s Bubblegum.
Penguin Cafe - Rain Before Seven... (Clear Vinyl LP+DL)Penguin Cafe - Rain Before Seven... (Clear Vinyl LP+DL)
Penguin Cafe - Rain Before Seven... (Clear Vinyl LP+DL)Erased Tapes
¥5,280

A sense of optimism infuses Penguin Cafe’s fifth studio album Rain Before Seven… not the braggadocious, overconfident kind, but more a blithe, self-effacing optimism in keeping with the national character. Even when all signs point to the contrary, it operates within the certainty that things are going to be alright. Probably.

The title comes from an old weather proverb with the rhyming prognostication — fine before eleven — hinting at a happy ending, irrespective of the science: “I found it in a book and I'd never heard it before,” says Arthur Jeffes, leader of Penguin Cafe. “It has faintly optimistic overtones and I quite like it. It's fallen out of usage recently but it does describe English weather patterns coming in off the Atlantic.”

From the widescreen reverie of opener ‘Welcome to London’ with its cheeky nod to Morricone to ‘Goldfinch Yodel’, the self-described “Maypole banger” at the denouement, there’s a welcome sense of sanguinity, always with an undercurrent of exotic rhythmic exuberance. Playfulness pervades, with a titular nod to A Matter of Life… from 2011, the last album title that concluded with an ellipsis. That Penguin Cafe debut is the bridge between the legendary Penguin Cafe Orchestra, led by Arthur’s father Simon Jeffes, and the much-loved descendent, led by Arthur.

“Stylistically it's really satisfying to get back to playful rhythms and instruments,” says the younger Jeffes, who kept the group’s debut from 12 years ago in mind when writing the new album. “Certainly when starting out, I became aware that we’d stopped using quite a few of the textures that had been there at the beginning—and it was certainly there in my dad's earlier stuff. So there's a lot of balafon and textures from completely different parts of the world, musically and geographically: ukuleles, cuatros and melodicas that you can hear.”

It’ll become clear when listening to Rain Before Seven… that the themes explored transcend mere weather chat. In a sense, it’s a sonic diary scribbled from below the parapet, waiting for the danger to blow over. Jeffes, like many of us, found himself in lockdown in 2020. COVID-19’s first European destination was Italy, where he and his family were staying at the time in a converted convent in Tuscany, bought some twelve years ago with his mother, the celebrated stone sculptor Emily Young. There might be worse places to be stranded during quarantine than a hilly enclave surrounded by olive trees, though the family were faced with the same sobering fears and uncertainties that much of the world was forced to contend with.

And so titles often refer to personal experience during this period. ‘Galahad’ is a triumphant celebration of Arthur’s beloved dog who died, aged 16, written in an irrepressible 15/8 time signature, and ‘Lamborghini 754’ is named after the 40-year-old tractor he bought for his mother, which he could see from the studio as she traversed the olive grove. Jeffes is the first to admit that he was fortunate to have space to manoeuvre, a luxury that was denied to millions living in cities and towns. Moreover, the plight of city dwellers seemed to eerily coalesce with a vision Arthur’s dad had that would inspire the Penguin Cafe Orchestra into life in the first place.

The story goes like so: back in 1972, Simon Jeffes ate some dodgy fish whilst holidaying in the South of France, which caused him to hallucinate: “As I lay in bed I had a strange recurring vision,” he said later. “There, before me, was a concrete building like a hotel or council block. I could see into the rooms, each of which was continually scanned by an electronic eye. In the rooms were people, everyone of them preoccupied…” Jeffes could make out “electronic equipment. But all was silence. Like everyone in his place had been neutralised, made grey and anonymous. The scene was, for me, one of ordered desolation.” The antidote to this premonition of an uncannily familiar future was the freewheeling Penguin Cafe “where your unconscious can just be”.

Simon Jeffes took “a slightly eccentric antiquarian approach” to assembling his music, according to Arthur, repurposing sounds that were unapologetically easy on the ear; a reaction, perhaps, to the earnestness of the post-war serialists, which happened to coincide with the rise of minimalism. “But he loved Boulez,” adds Arthur, “and John Cage too. I think my dad felt that there was a lot of sub-Cage that didn't need to be there.” Classical music dovetailing with pop and East African rhythms might not sound all that remarkable in the internet age (and in advertising, which PCO were never averse to), though in the 1970s they found a home on Brian Eno’s Obscure label, such was the arcane nature of what they were doing. The Penguin Cafe Orchestra wouldn’t remain recherché for long.

“I think his novel approach was to take interesting, weird ideas and do strange things with them,” says Arthur, “but always while keeping an eye on making sure it sounded beautiful and emotionally engaging.” That ethos has been carried into Penguin Cafe. “It’s a commitment that we made when I picked it up again, because we play my dad's music but we also perform new music in the same sound world. That means I’m honour bound to keep an eye on the original thread and make sure we don't start heading off into thrash metal territory.”

Nevertheless, encouraged by co-producer Robert Raths, the rhythmic elements of Rain Before Seven… have never been more to the fore and, at times, even hint at the electronic. ‘Find Your Feet’, for instance, is underpinned with more than just a pulse. Mixed by Tom Chichester-Clark, it brings to the musical melange what Arthur describes as a “near electronic feel”. He adds, excitedly: “There are elements of fun here which we haven't really done with the last three records.” Another ebullient highlight is ‘In Re Budd’, dedicated to the late ambient godfather Harold Budd, who Arthur discovered had died on the day he’d been writing the celebratory ear worm with a deceptively tricky syncopation. Played on an upright piano with some “prepared” felt to accentuate the bounce, Jeffes feels a track with an Afro Cuban Cafe vibe would appeal to Budd’s contrariness.

And then there’s the aforementioned ‘Welcome to London’, which got its name as the world started to open up and people were finally allowed to fly again. Jeffes, who touched down on home soil for the first time in a while, was struck by its cinematic John Barry-esque qualities as he took a taxi into West London from Heathrow with the mise-en-scène of the opulent twilight. The optimism is there, and maybe a little caustic irony too. “Robert [Raths] added a layer of nuance which I think is interesting, because many Londoners are not from London originally. So you pitch up to London as an outsider, and you haven't really found your tribe yet, you get mugged… and then ‘Welcome to London’ takes on a more sarcastic resonance.” 

Say She She - Prism (Natural w/ Black Swirl Vinyl LP)
Say She She - Prism (Natural w/ Black Swirl Vinyl LP)Karma Chief Records
¥3,492
The highly anticipated debut LP from Say She She, the all female discodelic soul band that will transport you with their dreamy harmonies, catchy hooks and up tempo grooves! The band's sound is a hat tip to late 70’s girl groups with the three strong female lead voices of Piya Malik (featured in El Michels Affair, and backing singer for Chicano Batman), Nya Gazelle Brown, and Sabrina Cunningham - whose vocals soar through a set doused heavily with funky bass lines, rhythmic wah guitar, melodic synths and lilting bansuri flute lines, bursting into a seamless blend of dreamy harmonies and catchy hooks. A multicultural, multi-instrumental, collaborative melting pot, pulling sounds and styles from all corners of their record collections. The largely self-produced debut album Prism features contributions from Dap Kings Joey Crispiano and Victor Axelrod, Max Shrager (The Shacks), Bardo Martinez (Chicano Batman), Nikhil Yearwadekar (former Antibalas), Andy Bauer (Twin Shadow) and Matty McDermot (NYPMH). For Fans Of: Aasha Puthli, Grace Jones, Minnie Ripperton, The Supremes, Love Apple and Kendra Morris.
The Smile - A Light for Attracting Attention (Yellow Vinyl 2LP)The Smile - A Light for Attracting Attention (Yellow Vinyl 2LP)
The Smile - A Light for Attracting Attention (Yellow Vinyl 2LP)XL RECORDINGS
¥4,400

The Smile will release their highly anticipated debut album A Light For Attracting Attention on 13 May, 2022 on XL Recordings. 

The 13- track album was produced and mixed by Nigel Godrich and mastered by Bob Ludwig. Tracks feature strings by the London Contemporary Orchestra and a full brass section of contempoarary UK jazz players including Byron Wallen, Theon and Nathaniel Cross, Chelsea Carmichael, Robert Stillman and Jason Yarde. 

The band, comprising Radiohead’s Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood and Sons of Kemet’s Tom Skinner, have previously released the singles You Will Never Work in Television Again, The Smoke, and Skrting On The Surface to critical acclaim.

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