Nice Swan Vinyl & CDs

Review: Following on from last year's immense EP Til The Stream Runs Dry, Brighton based jazz/post-punk bastardisers Opus Kink make good on all of their absurd promise with the much anticipated debut full-length My Eyes, Brother! Sporting a dizzying concoction of caustic riffage, sardonic spoken word and flurries of jazz fusion bedlam whilst retaining an effortless display of controlled cohesion, the absurdist narratives are elevated by unhinged forays into funk-punk no wave noise-rock, and serves as yet another notch on the belt of Nice Swan's expansive and incomparable roster of cutting edge artists. For fans of Black Midi, Black Country, New Road and mercurial nonsense of the highest standard.

Review: Graham Massey and Nice Swan Records came together by chance at Glastonbury's legendary Block 9 in 2022. It was that meeting which lead to this coming together of Malady and rave legends 808 State. Round The Bend is indie-dance with big guitars, yearning male vocals and stepping almost drum &bass style rhythm. It then gets reworked by the mask wearing acid house outfit. First they layer in the 303s, speed up the drums and making it into a crashing, powerful workout for electrified dance floors. There is also an instrumental and a bass lead Malady remix.

Review: We first cottoned on to Chew My Cheeks when Prima Queen unveiled their simple but wonderfully well shot, London-showcasing video. Produced by The Big Moon, we watched as the two faces behind this musical project guided us round a UK capital via dance, delivery of lines to camera, and cutaway shots of high rise buildings and the Emirates Sky Line - arguably the world's greatest transport network folly.

But what's the music itself like? Well, there's a real sense of effortless cool pervading the whole affair (how very Big Smoke), sparse, twanging guitar and shuffling rhythm conjuring images of warm afternoons in warm months, days when soft indie rock like this make sense. Flip it to find the larger, far more expansive sounding 'Invisible Hand', a song that takes emotional resonance to about 11 with its pared back verses and larger choruses.