NEWS

Capturing a community spirit that these days is more important than ever, the video for The Pastels’ new single ‘Check My Heart’ is both upbeat and charming. Taken from the forthcoming album Slow Summits, ‘Check My Heart’ is also available to download now.

Shot on 16mm film with minimum set-ups, Blair Young’s ‘Check My Heart’ promo is the story of one early spring Saturday in Glasgow. Lives overlap, connect, coincide, the music is a constant; sometimes it’s only playing in our heads.

As a track, ‘Check My Heart’ is all optimism, boldly announced by Katrina Mitchell’s intrepid vocal overlaps and Stephen McRobbie’s more melancholic counter.  The sound is 3D, vivid - The Pastels’ love of garage punk, soul crossover and first-wave independent clatter converging all too briefly, winding down the window and racing off into the summertime.

Pastelism 2013, Glasgow in the sun.

Promo by Blair Young for The Forest of Black.

‘Check My Heart’ is available to download now and will also be released on 7” on April 29^th including the b-side ‘Illuminum Song’. Both songs will be available digitally as a bundle from May 27^th. Slow Summits will be released on May 27^th through Domino. Pre-order the album on CD (WIGCD185) and LP (WIGLP185) HERE

The Pastels will be playing the following shows:

June 1^st Glasgow, CCA - Tickets

July 27^th: Indietracks Festival, Derbyshire Tickets

August 16^th: Green Man Festival, Black Mountains, Wales – Tickets

August 24^th: Doune the Rabbit Hole, Doune, Scotland – Tickets

Open Eye Signal is the new single from Jon Hopkins, and the first taken from forthcoming LP, Immunity (released on June 3^rd 2013 in the UK, June 4^th in the US). Open Eye Signal will also be released on June 3^rd and will feature remixes from Happa, Lord of the Isles, Luke Abbott and Nosaj Thing.

The video for Open Eye Signal was filmed by Aoife McArdle in California: "The track is really special. I saw it as a singular, hypnotic journey that's almost endless. You get lost in it. I liked the idea of a city kid taking us on that journey... just one day suddenly deciding to escape his life and see more of the world in the only way he understands...via skateboard.". Watch it below:

Immunity is a confident, dramatic record, defined by an acute sense of physicality and place and inspired by the arc of an epic night out. It feels like the hypnotic accompaniment to a journey of creativity, a trip inside Hopkins’ mind, using analog synthesis alongside manipulations of physical, real-world sounds to make dance music that feels as natural and unforced as possible.

Jon Hopkins will be performing a headline album launch show at London’s Village Underground on 12^th June. You can purchase tickets HERE. 

Exclusive digital bundles of Open Eye Signal remixes will be available from 29^th April, with a white label vinyl available from May 20^th.

Animal Collective is happy to announce the Monkey Been to Burn Town remix EP, set for release on 12” vinyl (RUG525T) and digital (RUG525D) on May 27th. Drawing from the band's latest record Centipede Hz, the EP features remixes of "Monkey Riches" by Gang Gang Dance's Brian Degraw, Chicago Juke producer Traxman and New York underground dance producers Teengirl Fantasy, as well as a remix of "New Town Burnout" by Seattle based hip-hop collective Shabazz Palaces. Listen to Brian Degraw's remix of “Monkey Riches” here.

The Monkey Been To Burn Town EP can be preordered on 12” vinyl here. Everyone who pre-orders from Dom Mart will get an instant gratification mp3 download of Brian Degraw's remix.

The band is returning to Europe next month for headline performances at Primavera Sound in Barcelona, Spain and at Field Day in London, before embarking on a summer North American tour.

For a taste of the band’s live show, watch the band’s live videos for “Applesauce,” “Moonjock” and “Amanita” here. Filmed in conjunction with The Creators Project, the videos catch the band’s impressive stage show, which was aptly described by Pitchfork as “giant, gap-toothed Nickelodeon dentures on either side, a curved inflatable structure that resembled scorpion tails dipped in PAAS dye, a centralized TV running constant, blaring images. Basically, the cover of Centipede Hz gone widescreen.”

Earlier in 2012, Animal Collective released their 10th and latest album Centipede Hz. The band’s first record since 2007’s Strawberry Jam to feature all four original band members, Avey Tare, Panda Bear, Geologist and Deakin, Centipede Hz was hailed by critics as a return to Animal Collective’s experimental roots. The album can be ordered via the Animal Collective webstore here. 

Tracklisting:

A1 - Monkey Riches (Brian DeGraw [Gang Gang Dance] Remix)
A2 - Monkey Riches (Tha Traxman Teklife Remix)
B1 - New Town Burnout (Shabazz Palaces Remix)
B2 - Monkey Riches (Teengirl Fantasy Remix)

The 20th of May 2013 will see the much anticipated Domino vinyl re-issue of Tragedy - the hugely celebrated, long out-of-print and intensely coveted debut album by Los Angeles based artist Julia Holter. Originally released in two runs of five hundred copies only on Los Angeles label Leaving Records in November 2011, Tragedy proved to be that year's most captivating, adventurous and inspired debut album and announced the arrival of a major new talent. Inspired by Euripides' Hippolytus, the sheer scope and scale of ambition evident in Tragedy's fifty minutes is staggering. Comprised of voice, synths, drum machines, piano, cello, saxophone, samples, vocoders, ensemble musicians and a chorus, Tragedy is a transcendental amalgamation of avant garde and pop conventions and of organic and electronic compositional forms - an entire universe of a record blessed with its own beautifully peculiar logic.

Following the loud and fevered reaction to Accelerator in April 1998, Royal Trux decided to release an EP to coincide with their hotly-anticipated European tour.  Swiftly, three songs came together and 3-Song EP was born. Having re-issued Accelerator at the tail end of 2012, it seems only right to do the same with 3-Song EP and it will be released through Domino on June 17^th 2013.

Originally released in August 1998, 3-Song EP was required to quench the fans’ thirst. The combination of wack-ass knob twisting and crowd-pleasing singalongs that featured on Accelerator reflected some absurdly inverted sense of What People Wanted. Having assembled a band made up of artists on their American label Drag City, several domestic shows were scheduled, and the players arrived at Royal Trux’s rural Virginia ranch ready to rehearse, only to be told that a recording session was the first order of business.

In short order, the three songs were recorded, along with a fourth, a cover of Dire Straits’ ‘Money For Nothing’ which was set aside to be used as a b-side for a planned UK single release.

The songs were a funky bunch — ‘Deafer Than Blind’ was a sweet ‘n’ sour ballad built off a drum loop, ‘Run, Shaker Life’ was a Richie Havens cover with spiritual overtones and later became a favourite live opener. ‘The United States vs One 1974 Cadillac El Dorodo Sedan’ was a proggy group jam that featured an extensive libretto and comprised one of the longest Royal Trux song yet. The static-crisp high end of Accelerator was abandoned in favour of a smeared, bottom-heavy sound, showcasing the thunder in the stomping rhythm section and a darker tone in Neil Hagerty’s bent-neck histrionics. This was something that one might almost regard as straight-up rock in Royal Trux terms, and Neil and Jennifer Herrema harmonized in their own unique way throughout the record.

After a successful European tour, Royal Trux motored ahead with increasing speed, spending their last couple years making two more INSANE rock records and another totally OUT EP, in addition to playing lots of dates as well.

3-Song EP will be released on Domino on June 17^th 2013 on CD (RUG76CD) and 12” (RUG76T) and can be pre-ordered HERE.

3 Song EP Tracklist:

1. Deafer Than Blind
2. The United States vs One 1974 Cadillac El Dorado Sedan
3. Run, Shaker Life

With his already critically lauded debut Big Inner evidently becoming one of the indie crossover successes of early 2013, Matthew E. White has gifted us the brand new official video for the psychedelic sonic portal of ‘Steady Pace’ – his celebratory new single set for release on Domino on 6 May 2013. 

The clip, created by Travis Robertson – an artist also hailing from White and the Spacebomb family’s beloved Richmond, Virginia – is a one-way trip deep into the visual heartland of Big Inner, bringing to life the record’s iconic cover art to reveal what lies beyond the borders of what we know – and don’t know – about Matthew E. White.

Matthew and his extremely gifted band of Richmond-based friends and collaborators (about whom you can learn more from the man himself here) arrive in the UK this week to play a string of shows including a long sold out date at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall (a September date at Shepherd’s Bush Empire is on sale now) as well as debut visits to Bristol, Manchester and Glasgow.

Alongside this, the band will be participating in the very special Sister Ray Records street party for Record Store Day. This event is free and will take place in the afternoon of Saturday April 20^th outside the shops premises on Berwick St, in Soho, London. Find out more about this terrific event here.

Matthew E. White on tour: 

Sun 21 April Bristol Thekla (tickets)
Wed 24 April Glasgow Arches (tickets)
Thurs 25 April Manchester Sound Control (tickets)
Fri 26 April London Queen Elizabeth Hall SOLD OUT

Thurs 23 May Barcelona Primavera SOLD OUT

26-30 June Glastonbury SOLD OUT

Fri 30 Aug Dorset End Of The Road (tickets)

Wed 4 Sept London Shepherd's Bush Empire (tickets)

Thurs 5 Sept Isle of Wight Bestival (tickets)

He Took You In His Arms is the first single from Bill Ryder-Jones’ new LP, A Bad Wind Blows In My Heart, and will be available on 3^rd June 2013.

Bill Ryder-Jones recently performed the track exclusively for Topman CTRL, watch it HERE.

The official video for He Took You In His Arms was filmed by rising star Alex Southam who has previously shot videos for Alt-J, The Walkmen & Lianne La Havas. It can be viewed here.

Ryder-Jones has now added shows at Liverpool Sound City, Stag & Dagger Festival in Glasgow as well as dates in Bristol and York, to the already announced Beacons, Festival Number 6, and London Lexington show on May 8^th. UK dates with ticket links are as follows:

May 3^rd – Liverpool, East Village Arts Club Theatre, Liverpool Sound City

May 8th - London, The Lexington

May 18^th – Glasgow, CCA, Stag & Dagger Festival

June 6^th – Bristol, The Louisiana

June 9^th – York, The Duchess

Aug 16th to 18th - Beacons Festival

Sept 13th - 15th Festival Number 6

A Bad Wind Blows In My Heart, which is out now in the UK, marries Ryder-Jones masterful capacities as arranger and composer with his first firm steps as a singer songwriter. The album was recorded in Ryder-Jones’ old bedroom in the upstairs of his mother’s house in Liverpool. Two friends from local band By The Sea made up the backing band for the recordings, which were then produced and mixed together with James Ford.

After selling out their Hoxton Bar & Grill show in less than 24 hours, Austra can now announce a date at London’s KOKO for 25^th November. The Canadian six-piece will also be performing at Latitude Festival on Sunday 21^st July. Full UK dates are as follows:

17/06/13 London - Hoxton Bar & Grill – SOLD OUT

21/07/13 Latitude Festival

25/11/13 London – Koko

Olympia, the second album from Austra, will be released on June 17^th in the UK, (June 18th in the US). Olympia is an album of transformation. Though it has only been two years since their 2010 debut Feel It Break, it presents a quantum evolution in the Toronto-based band’s sound, structure and style.

After three years of non-stop international touring with the likes of the XX, Grimes and the Gossip, when it came time to record Olympia, Austra had evolved into a complex collaborative effort between its six members. “Previously, I would flesh out songs before I brought them to the band, but this time I left them bare and let the others fill them in” explains Katie Stelmanis, the principal songwriter/vocalist.

Olympia is also the first confessional record for Stelmanis as evidenced by the heartfelt lyrics of piano driven lead single "Home" (stream now). "Home" expresses the anxieties of waiting up all night for a lover to return. “I was mad and upset and the song just wrote itself,” says the singer. The album touches on a range of sentiments that stem from a relationship ending, a relationship beginning, and friends' struggles with addiction and motivation. Despite the sometimes dark lyrics written in collaboration with band member Sari Lightman, Olympia is bubbly and buoyant— fundamentally a dance record, which Stelmanis says was the band's aim all along. “We are really into dense harmonies and big beautiful melodies, but I also love techno and dance music. I wanted to bring those elements together.” 

Though Olympia is filled with electronic and synthetic sounds that reference everything from Trax Record classic cuts to Yazoo’s Upstairs At Eric’s, it’s free of programming and loops. Everything was played live by the band in the studio and all of the percussion including a wild set up of marimbas and congas was performed by drummer Maya Postepski.

Austra is Katie Stelmanis (lead vocals), Maya Postepski (drums), Dorian Wolf (bass), Ryan Wonsiak (keys), Sari & Romy Lightman (backing vocals).

Between The Walls is the third album by About Group, the quartet of John Coxon, Charles Hayward, Alexis Taylor and Pat Thomas, and will be released through Domino on July 1^st.

Between The Walls captures the sound of a band 'playing' together, in both senses of the word - experimenting and trying things, being playful, as much as being a group performing as a unit together. Between The Walls is the sound of people pushing towards and pulling against one another simultaneously. It is the sound of buzzing amplifiers, sudden musical non-sequiturs, loud blasts of straight synth lines cutting through melody and structure. And it is also the sound of beautiful and odd electronic textures and brilliantly defined and deliberate drums, underpinning fragile but deliberate performances of sad songs and country ballads. ‘The balance between songwriting and free playing, and a lack of clarity about which mode we will be in for any given amount of time, is the key to About Group’ - Alexis Taylor.

Between The Walls will be available on CD (WIGCD292), LP (WIGLP292), DL (WIG292D) and on special edition 2 x CD, featuring a bonus disc with DJ loops, available through Dom mart and indie stores only. Pre-order the album HERE. Download album track, Walk On By, HERE.

BETWEEN THE WALLS TRACKLISTING:

01 - After Video                               

02 - Walk On By                                

03 - All Is Not Lost                            

04 - Words                                         

05 - Graph Paper        

06 - Make The World Laugh

07 - Love Because

08 - Nightlife/Sinking

09 – Untitled

10 - I Never Lock That Door

11 – Yes

12 - If You Can't Love Me

ABOUT GROUP:

Charles Hayward (This Heat, Camberwell Now)

John Coxon (Spring Heel Jack, Spiritualized)

Pat Thomas (has played with Derek Bailey, Tony Oxley)

Alexis Taylor (Hot Chip)

Between The Walls is About Group’s last album with Charles Hayward who now moves on to other projects. 

For more info head over to Ribbon Music.

For more info head over to Double Six

Having waited patiently since 1997’s Illumination, fans are now able to hear the first taste of music from The Pastels’ new album Slow Summits. ‘Check My Heart’, the first single to be taken from the album, is available to stream HERE and can now be purchased online.

‘Check My Heart’ will also be released on 7” on April 29^th and it will include the b-side ‘Illuminum Song’. Both songs will be available digitally as a bundle from May 27^th.

Initially premiered on Pitchfork yesterday, ‘Check My Heart’ is a fabulous introduction to Slow Summits, and follows on from a well-regarded film soundtrack (The Last Great Wilderness, Geographic, 2003), some theatre pieces (for 12 Stars) and a collaboration with Japan's Tenniscoats (Two Sunsets, Geographic, 2009).

Slow Summits gathers on all these works but moves off in newer and older ways too with its flowing montage of autumn instrumentals, pop songs, slow motion build ups and suddenly optimistic melody lines.  

‘Check My Heart’ is all optimism, boldly announced by Katrina Mitchell’s intrepid vocal overlaps and Stephen’s more melancholic counter.  The sound is 3D, vivid - The Pastels’ love of garage punk, soul crossover and first-wave independent clatter converging all too briefly, winding down the window and racing off into the summertime.

The Pastels are back.

Slow Summits will be released on May 27^th through Domino. Pre-order the album on CD (WIGCD185) and LP (WIGLP185) HERE

The Pastels will be playing the following shows:

June 1^st Glasgow, CCA - Tickets

July 27^th: Indietracks Festival, Derbyshire Tickets

August 16^th: Green Man Festival, Black Mountains, Wales – Tickets

August 24^th: Doune the Rabbit Hole, Doune, Scotland – Tickets

The Child Of Lov is to release Fly (DS067D1) as the next single from his forthcoming eponymous debut album. The single and album will both be available from 6^th May 2013.

Fly is perhaps the crown jewel on the heavily gem encrusted The Child of Lov debut. Fly is modern soul music of epic proportions - a roaring, triumphant track that signals that this is just the beginning for one of the world's most exciting emerging talents. As with the previous two singles (Heal and Give Me), the production pays respects to America's south, with the result sounding something like the RZA producing for Muscle Shoals. Listen to Fly HERE.

The Child Of Lov will be playing his first ever live dates at this year’s Glastonbury and Bestival.

The Child Of Lov recently picked up the Radar Award at this year’s NME Awards, watch him collecting his prize HERE.

Dirty Projectors are set to release "The Socialites" Remixes 12", an unreleased set of remixes of the standout track from last year’s critically acclaimed Swing Lo Magellan album. The white label 12" vinyl features remixes from Joe Goddard, AlunaGeorge and FaltyDL, and will be available digitally and physically on 13th May 2013. Listen to an exclusive stream of Joe Goddard's remix HERE and pre-order the 12" (RUG524T), HERE. 

The tracklisting is as follows:

A) Joe Goddard Remix
B1) AlunaGeorge Remix
B2) Falty DL Remix

Domino are thrilled to announce that Matthew E White, Melody’s Echo Chamber, Villagers, Steve Mason and recent NME award winner The Child of Lov will all play this year’s Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm, Somerset. Alongside this stellar line-up, it has also been revealed that Arctic Monkeys are set to headline the Pyramid Stage on Friday 28th June 2013.

She & Him – Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward – are to release ‘Never Wanted Your Love’ as a single on May 13^th, 2013. The first track to be taken from their forthcoming album Volume 3, it was initially shared from the duo’s Twitter account earlier this month to offer fans an idea of what to expect. You can listen to ‘Never Wanted Your Love’ HERE.

She & Him have always offered songs of a timeless nature, inspired by classic artists and songwriters and in this sense ‘Never Wanted Your Love’ and the rest of Volume 3 is no different. This time however, there’s an added confidence and vitality to these tracks and ‘Never Wanted Your Love’ showcases this perfectly.

With an introduction that builds on a swirling string arrangement put together by M.Ward and an effortlessly bubbly and catchy chorus penned by Deschanel, they continue to express stories of bittersweet love affairs and tales of the heart but with an additional depth. The way the track has evolved has thrilled Zooey:

“Matt is an incredible arranger of strings,” asserts Deschanel. “‘Never Wanted Your Love’ – the strings on that are amazing. That song started out with a drum fill but Matt took that idea and had the strings do a version of the fill. It was such a cool idea.”

Enthusiastic and keen to make the most of their varied tastes in music, She & Him are touring the US through June and July and will be playing the legendary Hollywood Bowl on June 23^rd alongside the incredible Emmylou Harris & Rodney Crowell. They will also be joined by Camera Obscura on selected dates which can be found on their website.

Volume 3 will be available on CD (DS075CD), LP (DS075LP) and digitally (DS075D). Pre-order it HERE.

Domino is happy to once again be involved with Record Store Day which will take place on April 20^th 2013. A range of special edition releases listed below will be sold exclusively through independent outlets around the country and you can read more about each release further down the page.

Domino will be releasing the following:

Austra & Gina X – ‘Mayan Drums’ 12”

Orange Juice - You Can’t Hide Your Love Forever LP

Orange Juice – Rip It Up LP

Orange Juice – Texas Fever LP

Orange Juice – The Orange Juice LP

Can’s Ege Bamyasi played by Stephen Malkmus & Friends LP

King Creosote – That Might Well Be It, Darling CD

Austra & Gina X – ‘Mayan Drums’ 12” (RUG522T)

Following the announcement of their new album Olympia and recent tour with The xx, Toronto’s Austra have also unveiled a very special collaboration with cult German electro singer Gina X for a limited edition Record Store Day release titled ‘Mayan Drums’. The 12inch, limited to just 500 copies, also features remixes by London dance producer Hervé, Montreal’s Doldrums and Gina X collaborator Zeus B.

Orange Juice - You Can’t Hide Your Love Forever LP (REWIGLP49)

Orange Juice – Rip It Up LP (REWIGLP50)

Orange Juice – Texas Fever LP (REWIGLP51)

Orange Juice – The Orange Juice LP (REWIGLP52)

Due to overwhelming demand and to mark the blessed occasion that is Record Store Day, we are pressing up limited special vinyl editions of the original Orange Juice albums.

These vinyl editions represent the only existing physical versions of the album available at this juncture. Each have been re-mastered for vinyl, include the original lyrics sheets and printed inner sleeves (save Texas Fever which had none) and will come with the by now de rigueur free digital download card.

Can’s Ege Bamyasi played by Stephen Malkmus & Friends LP (WIGLP311)

After performing and recording Ege Banyasi in its entirety with a band of German musicians at 2012’s Cologne’s WEEK-END festival, Stephen Malkmus’ take on the classic album will be released via Domino for Record Store Day. 500 copies of the LP will be released on red vinyl and Matador will be releasing it on green vinyl in the US. The hand-printed silkscreened sleeve was designed by David Shrigley, who also designed the poster for the event, inspired by the original artwork for Ege Bamyasi.

King Creosote – That Might Well Be It, Darling CD (WIGCD310)

King Creosote has revealed the punch-line to the three EPs he released last year with a CD album, That Might Well Be It, Darling. It compiles all the songs from 2012’s vinyl series, and marks the CD debut of such tours de force as cosmic 80s  hoedown ‘Doubles Underneath’ and devastating prog-pop psalm ‘Ankle Shackles’ (all 11-plus, wine-glass droning minutes of it). The CD will be available through Domino Mart and participating independent stores for Record Store Day.

Our friends Weird World Record Co. are happy to announce the forthcoming release of the informatively titled Singles, Demos and Rarities (2007-2010) by Outer Limits Recordings. For more info, click HERE

With his already critically lauded debut Big Inner evidently becoming one of the indie crossover successes of early 2013, Matthew E. White has revealed ‘Steady Pace’ as his next intrinsically southern, soulful single for release on Domino on 6 May 2013.

Having sold out his date at London's grand Queen Elizabeth Hall and announced a show at Shepherd's Bush Empire, Matthew E. White and his glorious Spacebomb band will also play a slew of festival dates for the coming summer, including Primavera, Glastonbury, Bestival and End of The Road.

Matthew E. White Live Dates:

Sun 21 April Bristol Thekla (tickets)
Wed 24 April Glasgow Arches (tickets)
Thurs 25 April Manchester Sound Control (tickets)
Fri 26 April London Queen Elizabeth Hall SOLD OUT

Thurs 23 May Barcelona Primavera SOLD OUT

26-30 June Glastonbury SOLD OUT

Fri 30 Aug Dorset End Of The Road (tickets)

Wed 4 Sept London Shepherd's Bush Empire (tickets)

Thurs 5 Sept Isle of Wight Bestival (tickets)

Website: http://matthewewhite.tumblr.com

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/amattwhitejoint

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/amatthewewhitejoint

The Marquis De Tren and Bonny Billy release their ‘Solemns’ EP on Monday the 15^th of April 2013.  The predecessor, the ‘Get On Jolly’ EP will also be made available on vinyl (RUG109T) for the first time in Europe. 

Track Listing 

Solemn 28/Solemn 10/Solemn 119

12” - RUG514T/digital – RUG514D

Pre-order the ‘Solemns’ EP HERE.

It's been a long road through time and other things from ‘Get On Jolly’ to ‘Solemns’, but suffice to say, thirteen and some increasingly endless years later, the Bonnie 'Prince' and the Marquis de Tren have not only sat down for another royal audience with each other, but have also several reports from their sessions to share with all of us.

That their paths managed to converge after all this long was both incredible and yet inevitable - after all, the 'Prince' had over the years received compliments about "Get On Jolly" in the oddest places. And they were the oddest compliments, at that...it led him to wonder. Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, the Marquis sat in front of his easel, rending the world as he saw fit. With every year that passed, his admiration of ‘Jolly’ EP had only grown. Would it surprise anyone to know that the missive that restarted it all bore the MdT seal? Or that the correspondence, once followed upon, was nonetheless burned in Bonny's hearth by night's end?

Dream on, suckers.  

History was reversed with ‘Solemns’ though - instead of collabing ideas at a distance, which was how ‘Get On Jolly’ was rolled (and which is, of course, much easier today than it was back in the good ol' pre-millennial times of ‘Get On Jolly’), they met in the same room. Face to face, nose to solar plexus, the 'Prince' and the Marquis unfurled the scroll together, with Tren Bro Jim White rumbling and banging things and playing drums, and Bonny gang crew Van Campbell, Emmett Kelly and Angel Olsen adding invaluable dimensions to the moments. It happened during the summer of 2012 on the one day it could, during a break between Bonny and Marqie D tour obligations, at last in the same hemisphere again - and thanks to local libations, all on the same level. The musical tapestry was strange and unchanged and yet thoroughly evolved from the olden times. But what words to float over the sensuously lapping wave phantasms of Tren's? In the days of ‘Get On Jolly’, the 'Prince' reached for something to inspire a bit of verse - Rabinadranath Tagore's classic tome of pomes, Gitanjali. Of course! Every household had a copy on their bathroom shelf back in the queer ol' 90s. And the adapted words Bonny used suited the Marquis' gentle sighs a treat! For ‘Solemns,’ something equally curious, intense and deep was needed, a thing that seemed to come from the earth itself; words to sooth for peace but also cause oceans of gore to spill forth. In the end, there was no other document that could be used but to cull from Biblical Psalms. This cuts down on publishing woes too - public domain, you see? The mechanicals are just between them and their god. 

In the end, the intensity could only last for three songs - any much more might have caused blood to rise and the sun to boil, and both the Marquis and the Bonnie 'Prince' like their sun slowly rising, not falling upon them. So they did their songs of music and etched the b-side and here it is. Let the philosopher’s stone up and take the measure of their words and music. The rest is up to them, and us, and you.

Currently on the road with both Django Django and fellow Minneapolis group Poliça, Night Moves are getting ready for the release of their debut album in the UK on Monday. Ahead of that however, you can now stream the album’s title track - ‘Colored Emotions’

A warm and easy album closer, ‘Colored Emotions’ could easily soundtrack the twilight period in summer where hazy sunshine merges with the cool evening air. Against the album’s psychedelic bursts and atmospheric soundscapes it rounds off their debut in a modest and elegant manner.

Colored Emotions will be available digitally (WIG296D), on CD (WIGCD296) and on vinyl (WIGLP296) from March 25^th. Pre-order HERE.

For more info, go HERE

Olympia is an album of transformation. Though it has only been two years since Austra's 2010 debut Feel It Break, it presents a quantum evolution in the Toronto-based band’s sound, structure and style.

After three years of non-stop international touring with the likes of the XX, Grimes and the Gossip, when it came time to record Olympia, Austra had evolved into a complex collaborative effort between its six members. “Previously, I would flesh out songs before I brought them to the band, but this time I left them bare and let the others fill them in” explains Katie Stelmanis, the principal songwriter/vocalist.

Olympia is also the first confessional record for Stelmanis as evidenced by the heartfelt lyrics of piano driven lead single "Home" (stream now). "Home" expresses the anxieties of waiting up all night for a lover to return. “I was mad and upset and the song just wrote itself,” says the singer. The album touches on a range of sentiments that stem from a relationship ending, a relationship beginning, and friends' struggles with addiction and motivation. Despite the sometimes dark lyrics written in collaboration with band member Sari Lightman, Olympia is bubbly and buoyant— fundamentally a dance record, which Stelmanis says was the band's aim all along. “We are really into dense harmonies and big beautiful melodies, but I also love techno and dance music. I wanted to bring those elements together.” 

Though Olympia is filled with electronic and synthetic sounds that reference everything from Trax Record classic cuts to Yazoo’s Upstairs At Eric’s, it’s free of programming and loops. Everything was played live by the band in the studio and all of the percussion including a wild set up of marimbas and congas was performed by drummer Maya Postepski. “Maya played a huge role in the production of the album,” says Stelmanis, who has been playing with the drummer for eight years since their previous band, Galaxy. “There is a major percussive element running through every song,” Stelmanis laughs, “this is the album where we discovered rhythm.”

The album was produced by Austra with additional production by Mike Haliechuk, vocal production by Damian Taylor (Bjork, the Killers), engineered by Bill Skibbe and Leon Taheny and mixed by Tom Elmhirst (Adele, Erasure, Hot Chip).

Austra is Katie Stelmanis (lead vocals), Maya Postepski (drums), Dorian Wolf (bass), Ryan Wonsiak (keys), Sari & Romy Lightman (backing vocals).

Olympia will be available on CD (WIGCD314), 2xLP (WIGLP314), and digitally (WIG314D) June 17 (UK) / June 18 (US) on Domino.

Tour dates

03-13 Austin, TX - Vice Land (Vice SXSW)
03-14 Austin, TX - Hype Hotel (Hype Machine SXSW)
03-15 Austin, TX - The Mohawk (Windish SXSW)
03-16 Austin, TX - Elysium (Moog SXSW)
03-16 Austin, TX - Old Emo's (Brooklynvegan SXSW)
06-02 Dublin, IE - Forbidden Fruit
06-06 Zurich, SE - Plaza
06-07 Luzerne, SE - Sudpol
06-08 Yverdon-les Bains, SE - L'Amalgame
06-10 Amsterdam, NL - Bitterzoet
06-12 Paris, FR – Le Nouveau Casino
06-14 Berlin, DE - Lido
06-17 London, UK - Hoxton Bar & Grill
06-20 Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg (Buy tickets)
06-23 Los Angeles, LA – Troubadour (Buy tickets)
06-26 San Francisco, CA - The Independent (Buy tickets)

Olympia tracklisting

1. What We Done?
2. Forgive Me
3. Painful Like
4. Sleep
5. Home [BUY TRACK]
6. Fire
7. I Don't Care (I'm a Man)
8. We Become
9. Reconcile
10. Annie (Oh muse, you)
11. You Changed My Life
12. Hurt Me Now

Austra online

http://www.austramusic.com
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Austra/124441027607242
https://twitter.com/austratalks
http://www.dominorecordco.com/austraolympia (Rest of the world label)
http://www.paperbagrecords.com (Canadian label)

Jon Hopkins is to release Immunity, his fourth solo album, on June 3^rd (UK)/4^th (US).

A powerful, multi-faceted beast, packed with the most aggressively dancefloor-focussed music Hopkins has ever made, Immunity is about achieving euphoric states through music. Inspired by the arc of an epic night out, the album peaks with Collider, a huge, apocalyptic, techno monster and dissolves with the quiet, heartbreakingly beautiful closer, Immunity, a track featuring vocals from King Creosote which could sit comfortably alongside the gems of their Mercury-nominated collaboration, Diamond Mine.

Immunity is a confident, dramatic record defined by an acute sense of physicality and place. It feels like the hypnotic accompaniment to a journey of creativity, a trip inside Hopkins’ mind, using analog synthesis alongside manipulations of physical, real-world sounds to make dance music that feels as natural and unforced as possible.

Immunity is the most human electronic album you’ll hear this year. 

Click HERE to watch a psychedelic album trailer made by Craig Ward.  Food dyes crystallise under a microscope, creating an anisotropic, kaleidoscopic world of colour. 

Jon Hopkins will be performing a headline album launch show at London’s Village Underground on 12^th June. You can purchase tickets HERE. 

Jon Hopkins is also an expert producer, Ivor Novello-nominated composer of film scores, long-term collaborator of Brian Eno and Coldplay, and remixer of artists as diverse as David Lynch, Four Tet, Wild Beasts, Nosaj Thing, and Purity Ring. Immunity is Jon’s first album on Domino, following the release of Insides on Domino imprint Double Six in 2009.

Immunity will be available on CD (WIGCD298), LP (WIGLP298) and Digital (WIG298D). Pre-order it HERE. The tracklisting is as follows: 

1. We Disappear 
2. Open Eye Signal 
3. Breathe This Air 
4. Collider 
5. Abandon Window 
6. Form By Firelight 
7. Sun Harmonics 
8. Immunity 

Having announced their UK tour but a month ago Matthew E. White and his mighty Spacebomb band have already sold out their date at London's grand Queen Elizabeth Hall. Fret not though, as they will be back again on 4 September to be more specific, for a show at Shepherd's Bush Empire no less.

Matthew E. White Live Dates

Sun 21 April Bristol Thekla (tickets)

Wed 24 April Glasgow Arches (tickets)
Thurs 25 April Manchester Sound Control (tickets)
Fri 26 April London Queen Elizabeth Hall SOLD OUT

Wed 4 Sept London O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire (tickets on sale Friday 8th March at 09:00)