Merge US Vinyl & CDs

Review: Glasgow indie pop sonic-photographers Camera Obscura have always been masters of subtlety and this sense of finesse only hears a bolstering on the new record Look To The East, Look To The West. After the sad loss of their former founding member and keyboardist Carey Lander in 2015, the group took the time out for a much-needed hiatus before reuniting for the recording of this personally redemptive full-length. Led by the soft, tambouring jangles of 'Big Love', the album's lead single, we're met with an elegiac but ultimately hopeful recollection, via its lovingly prodding lyrics ("it was a big love, she said, the kind of big love that made you easily led") and sonic resemblance of Waylon Jennings.

Review: Some four years after Swims brought the work of Dan Snaith to the attention of a whole new audience, the London-based Canadian artist returns with a sixth Caribou album entitled Our Love. Staunch followers of Caribou will know that Snaith tends to adopt different sonic approaches with every long player (compare the psychedelia of Up In Flames with the more spaced out Andorra) but this latest album feels like a natural development of the club influenced sounds of Swims. City Slang call it Snaith's most soulful set yet, and that's certainly helped by the presence of compatriot Jessy Lanza, and like all Caribou albums there is something new that appeals with every listen.

Review: "Anthology" serves as a celebration of The Clean, a band whose influence extends so far beyond their New Zealand home that even if you have never heard of The Clean before, you have surely heard of some of the bands (Pavement, Yo La Tengo, and Superchunk, to name a few) who have been influenced by their unique blend of homemade garage rock, hook-filled melodies and psychedelic experimentalism.

The album is a compilation from across The Clean's legendary career, which began in 1981 and continues today. Merge originally released the two CD "Anthology" in 2003, but now this collection is available on quadruple LP. "Anthology" kicks off with The Clean's call-to-arms debut "Tally Ho!"; the story of the infectious track's $60 recording bill is now legendary. It continues with the early EPs "Boodle Boodle Boodle" and "Great Sounds Great" in their entirety. The hits "Billy Two", "Anything Could Happen", "Beatnik" and "Getting Older", live favorites like "Point That Thing Somewhere Else" and instrumentals "Fish" and "At the Bottom" all serve up memories of the joyous noise that characterized The Clean of that time. These recordings, mostly made by the band with Chris Knox and Doug Hood at the helm of the 4-track, capture the bright, raw sound of a classic garage band.

After a brief breakup, the band recorded "Vehicle" in 1989, made in three days and engineered by Alan Moulder (Smashing Pumpkins, Nine Inch Nails, My Bloody Valentine). The sounds of "Vehicle" and the two albums that followed it, "Modern Rock" (1994) and "Unknown Country" (1996), make up the bulk of discs 3 and 4 of the vinyl "Anthology". In addition to selections from these full-length recordings, "Anthology" includes two songs released only on a US 7 inch and two that appeared on a bonus flexidisc with the "Modern Rock" LP.

Review: The Clean are one of the most important indie bands to ever come out of New Zealand. Their EP 'Boodle Boodle Boodle' (1981), recorded on a four-track, had an instant lo-fi appeal and became the Flying Nun label's first major success. They were shaped by the likes of Syd Barrett, Velvet Underground and The Stooges and have gone on to influence the likes of Pavement and Yo La Tengo. The band were on hiatus for the majority of the 80s, but came back to release three albums in the 90s and two in the 00s. This is their second album and the first time this title has been in print on vinyl since its initial release. With more budget to record than when they were cutting their teeth in the early 80s, it's a higher fi record and of their post-reunion releases, this is the closest in feel to their early material. 'Linger Longer' is a haunting piano-led cut full of poignance and psychedelic feel. 'Secret Place' shines a spotlight on The Clean's iconic stripped back drum style and 'Something I Need' has a Lou Reed and Mick Jagger feel to the vocals as folk-y acoustic instrumentation prevails beautifully underneath. A staggering band.

Review: Hollie Cook's superb new album Happy Hour sees the modern day lovers rock star really mature her sound and come good on everything she has promised before now. She has a happy, feel good and lush singing style that has, since the 70s, become a British reggae signature and it is laid bare here for all to enjoy. Her lyrics are also hugely personal and really invite you in deep to her world with her General Roots band members Ben Mckone and Luke Allwood, and executive producer Youth, all in fine form.

Review: Hollie Cook's 2022 album Happy Hour was widely hailed as a standout entry in the UK singer's accomplished career to date, and now she's doubled down on her dub instincts by going back in with producer Ben McKone for a proper echo chamber revision which lets different ingredients in the album shine in a whole new, delay-soaked light. As well as stripping down some of the tracks and reworking the fundamentals, there's also space for some new ingredients from Rosie Turton on 'Golden Dub', Josh Skints and Jah9 on 'Kush Dub' and Kiko Bun on 'Dubbing On'.

Review: Hollie Cook, as well as being the daughter of a certain Sex Pistols drummer, is a modern-day lovers rock star who dropped her Happy Hour album last summer to great acclaim. It was the latest in a line of superb long players which now gets served up once more in dub form on both CD and vinyl. This heavenly set of dubs is Hollie's first since 2012 and is inspired by the fact she heard many parts of the album in isolation during the original mixing process and decided to use that as inspiration for these versions. Ben Mckone is the man on the buttons alongside Hollie while new vocal features by Josh Skints and Kiko Bun also make the cut.

Review: Vancouver band Destroyer's latest isn't just a "boogie" in the common senseiit's a slippery, shape-shifting act of survival, deception and late-night epiphanies. Dan Bejar calls it "a hustle, a scam that doesn't quite work," and that tension runs through every note. 'Bologna' casts Bejar as a supporting player, with Simone Schmidt's piercing vocal turning the track into a noirish fever dream. 'Hydroplaning Off the Edge of the World' swings between peppy charm and spiraling dread, while 'Cataract Time' stretches into an eight-minute epic, its melancholic weight somehow tasting like hope. Where past Destroyer albums battled the world, this one dances with itishifty, urgent, and impossible to pin down.

Review: If Electricity is anything to go by, Eno Williams and his Ibibio Sound Machine band were particularly productive during the various pandemic lockdowns of 2020 and '21. The resultant album, the rightly acclaimed group's fourth studio set to date, is predictably inspired, with hired-in producers Hot Chip wisely choosing to subtly tweak rather than totally overhaul the band's distinctive trademark fusion of kaleidoscopic synth-funk, West African disco and boogie, '80s electro and the more electronic end of the post-punk spectrum. Highlights include the throbbing, polyrhythmic Afro-electro of 'Electricity' and the acid-sporting nu-disco brilliance of 'All That I Want', but it's the set's overall feel - described by Williams as "Moroder meets Afro-futurism" - that really delights.

Review: Pan-African supergroup Ibibio Sound Machine return with Pull The Rope, a tonal shift compared to their earlier full-lengths like Electricity; this one veers more on the side of acid house, highlife and disco, compared to the more histrionic electronics of the eponymous sound machine of that album, as well as Uyai and Doko Mien, heard thus far. As heard on the lead single 'Got To Be Who U Are', we are importuned with the command to be ourselves, as everybody else is already taken; such an injunction is met with a driving, time-of-your-life, weighty acid house production, which comes to neat effect when paired with Eno Williams' passionate soul vocals.

Review: David Kilgour's A Feather in the Engine, his fourth solo album, blends smartly crafted psychedelic pop with stunning, off-the-cuff guitar instrumentals. The album opens with 'Sept. '98,' a meditative piece featuring shimmering guitar lines and subtle organ phrases, setting a tranquil tone. Tracks like 'Slippery Slide' and 'All the Rest' showcase Kilgour's knack for quirky, pastoral psych-pop, though his subdued tenor fits perfectly with this relaxed style. Highlights include the upbeat 'Today Is Gonna Be Mine' and the drone-infused 'I Caught You,' which features a captivating bass groove. 'Instra 2 Reprise' stands out with its masterfully arranged string quartet by Graeme Downes, complementing Kilgour's vocals and guitar work. The album closes with 'Backwards Forwards,' a textured, reverb-laden exploration centered around a few central chords. At 38 minutes, A Feather in the Engine may feel brief, but its beauty and charm make it a perfect choice for unwinding after a long day. Kilgour's ability to create a serene, engaging atmosphere is undeniable, making this album a welcome addition to any collection.

Review: 69 Love Songs by The Magnetic Fields is an audacious feat that toes the line between brilliance and sheer audacity. Clocking in at three hours, this magnum opus is a sprawling exploration of love in all its forms. Stephin Merritt and his collaborators craft a diverse sonic landscape, ranging from giddy lust to resignation and despair, and from genre exercises to archetypal Magnetic Fields songs. The album's sheer scale may initially seem daunting, but Merritt's exceptional songwriting and the band's eclectic instrumentation ensure that each track holds its own. The individual songs offermany moments of small epiphanies and emotional resonance. 25 years since it was first released, 69 Love Songs continues to gain new fans and make original ones keep coming back.

Review: Dawn Richard and Spencer Zahn reunite for new album Quiet in a World Full of Noise, which is driven by their shared curiosity and desire to defy genre conventions. Following their 2022 collaboration Pigments, this new work together blends atmospheric, orchestral soundscapes with soulful jazz and intimate, confessional vocals and the result is a raw and exposed performance from Richard who delivers stark lyricism that feels both personal and profound. The album redefines the worlds of progressive, avant-garde r&b and jazz with an ethereal yet grounded approach, heavenly melodies and plenty of wide open space in which to luxuriate. By merging the familiar with the unexpected, this fine pair create a sound that makes a lasting impression.

Review: Talk about being raised on stage. Katie Crutchfield is only 31, but already has spent 15 years of life in bands. Four to be exact, kicking off with the Ackeys in her high school days, with Bad Banana, P.S. Eliot and Great Thunder also accounting for chapters in that career. It's the Waxahatchee era that has brought her the level of credit truly deserved, though, while also bringing her closer to the brink than ever. The story behind 'Saint Cloud', or rather the story behind the story behind Saint Cloud, is proof enough - a desire to quit drinking turning into an urgent need amid a gruelling live tour, leading to moments when she was ready to jack it all in and start afresh. Heavy stuff, we're glad she didn't given this record is so good - songs about looking for security, hope, and an even footing, with indie rock arrangements taking on new minimalism.