DFA US Vinyl & CDs

Review: Mermaid Chunky are the logical result of the creative partnership of Freya and Moina, two visual artists and musicians from Stroud and South London each. Having shuttled between each locale for inordinate stretches of time, their latest record - the whimsically Christened slif slaf slof - nonetheless bridges these local poles. A breezy homage to the duo's shared ideal excesses - an interest in fantasy folk, costume, absurdist nature, surrealist scatting - the likes of 'Ceili', 'Tiny Gymnast' and 'Chaperone' are liable to solicit all manner of reactions in the listener, from on-the-spot bouncing to full-frontal gyrating. A sorely difficult to place record, merging motifs of indie, freak folk, and a decidedly DFA experimentalism.

Review: Russian avant-garde sculptor namesakes Naum Gabo, AKA Jonnie Wilkes of Optimo and mastering engineer James Savage, drop their inaugural album, 'F. Lux.' The pair delve deep over eight tracks of cavernous ambiance, pummeling industrial techno and barren, windswept synthscapes, which are perfectly alluded to by Scottish painter Andrew Cranston's surreal artwork. In turns introspective and oppressive, the pair ditch their usual stylistic sensibilities for something altogether more longform and enveloping, allowing for full immersion in the cavernous soundworld. Highlights include opening wormhole 'Aora' and the deeply tense grindhouse resonances of the aptly named 'Hebust Cometh'. Wicked and bad.