ATO Vinyl & CDs

Review: After a touring break, soul outfit Black Pumas hit the road in 2024 in support of their celebrated second album, Chronicles of a Diamond. Live From Brooklyn Paramount captures the electrifying 'Electric Church' energy crafted by Eric Burton, Adrian Quesada and their six-piece band. The setlist spans highlights from both Chronicles and their million-selling debut, featuring Grammy-nominated hits like 'Colous' and 'Black Moon Rising' alongside fan favourites such as 'More Than a Love Song' and their soulful take on Tracy Chapman's seminal 'Fast Car'. This live release is a wonderful way to immerse yourself in the band's powerful live performances.

Review: For the first time outside of Australia, Civic's standout and debut breakthrough EP, New Vietnam, is now available on vinyl. It is presented with the original tracks but also features a collection of early singles that were originally released between 2018 and 2019, plus an all new and special version of 'New Vietnam' that was recorded live. This pressing comes on clear vinyl with an insert to make it a real collectors' special. This outfit was known for its reimagining of the reckless intensity of proto-punk and that's laid bare once more here.

Review: Civic frontman Jim McCullogh apparently likes the idea of his band being more of a "mind set" than a group per se. Each record adds another layer to that perspective, like the evolution of a character rather than the trajectory of a troubadour troupe. In this case "one of the main objectives for this album was to make a drastic turn in our sound. Break the mould, melt the steel." Of course, there's still that heavily post-punk influenced Civic sound coursing through the rhythms here, and it's as gritty as ever. But it's also full of curveballs and unexpected twists, at times punting for a more jangle-y atmosphere, in other moments something resolutely muscular and main stage. Either way, it's going to hit you in the face and refuse to apologise.

Review: "A revelatory blast of soul, R&B and off-the-rails piano jams". Rolling Stone magazine could not have been much clearer in its recommendation of Plain Sight. Neal Francis' second album, released in 2021, nodded to everyone from George Clinton to Sly and the Family Stone, Curtis Mayfield to Prince. It was pop songwriting in the truest sense - free and experimental yet somehow universally enjoyable and captivating. The third, Francis Comes Alive, offered, not more of the same, but equally generous helpings of funk-infused, r&b topped soul-groove with a lashings of overbite. Now Return To Zero proves those were no flukes. That familiarly unpredictable yet soothing Francis sound is more refined and elegant than ever, but still seems to want to take you towards the hazy neon glow of a backstreet dancefloor long after dark.

Review: There's something refreshing about an album press release that goes out of its way to tell you a band has been around for 25 years, a quarter century no less, building a significant cult following in that time, but have also gone out of their way to sustain "all the curiosity and creative hunger of their very earliest days." So - hats off to Louisville, Kentucky five-piece, My Morning Jacket. The band's first album in four years is their most refined and regal in sound, but that needs to be understood in wider context. My Morning Jacket are known for heavy rock out shows, infused with blues, rockabilly, stoner, sludge metal and Americana. Raw is what they do, and the sense of them just turning up at the studio and getting down and dirty to record another stunner is alive and well here. They're just not afraid to flash a little production spit and polish in the process.

Review: Originally released in 2019, Pachyman's Pachyman In Dub is a labour of love that pays homage to the early days of Jamaican reggae music. Inspired by the legendary Channel One Studios and Roots Radics band, Pachy Garcia set out to recreate the sonic experiments of Scientist, King Tubby, and Lee "Scratch" Perry, with the result being an album that captures the spirit of early dancehall, rub-a-dub, and rockers styles, all hypnotic rhythms, deep basslines, and ethereal melodies. With a focus on dub techniques and a heavy emphasis on the rhythm section, Pachyman In Dub is a must-listen for fans of reggae music.

Review: Contempoary dub and reggae artist Pachyman channels the spirit of late 70s to early 80s Jamaican music with his second album At 333 House. Taking its namesake from the studio of the same name, in which the album was recorded between the months of April and October 2019, At 333 House hears the master musician explore all angles of the now indelible and instantly recognizable Studio One sound - so recognizable, in fact, that it need not be produced at Studio One to be recognized. Pachyman's oeuvre is roots reggae (hints of Roods Radics) abound, soul jazz and steppers, all tied up in a playful modern production approach.

Review: Pachy Garcia is an LA-based dub and reggae artist who first cropped up in 2019 with his Pachyman In Dub LP, and has since fostered his own corner within the modern dub landscape. Now signed to ATO, Pachyman delivers his fourth album as a perfect fusion of Garcia's Latin roots and his deep affinity for Jamaican riddims. He wrote, played, sang, recorded and mixed every bit of the album, making this his most personal release to date. It's infectious and timeless, written with a sharp focus and capturing the sun kissed warmth of his hometown in true laid-back Californian style.

Review: Slowly over the years, Pachyman has whetted his dub reggae knife on a premium steel, reverse-engineering then rip-up-restarting the time-honoured techniques of legends King Tubby and Scientist, precisely piercing their sound with the pointed instruments of vintage gear and layer-caked bass. Another Place expands now on his vision, always returning to radical roots that otherwise often go unfairly unmentioned by dub historians - William Onyeabor's synthpop, YMO's new wave kooks, Basic Channel's ambient dub - all of which were contemporaries to the 70s sound. The result is a perfect ten of welling hertz-ology, from the studied 'Calor Ahora' to the simmering enveloper 'A.D.S.H.'