Back catalogue: Post Rock/Experimental

Review: Chrystabell and David Lynch's album Cellophane Memories emerges from a visionary encounter Lynch had, translating light and voice into a collection of ethereal tracks. This collaboration dives into fairytale forests, mountain peaks, and crepuscular highways, creating an atmospheric journey through landscapes of loneliness and romance. The album is a sonorous exploration of these sublime settings, enveloping listeners in a supernatural experience of colors, weather, and breath. The songs present a fluidity of time, where characters are sketched in the ephemeral moments of daily dramas. Chrystabell's vocals emerge, dissolve, and loop, creating layers of harmony and history, evoking both the presence and absence within each note. Lynch's orchestral arrangements, along with late composer Angelo Badalamenti's contributions, weave together strings, guitar glissandi, and reverb, crafting melodies that suspend time and capture the essence of a first kiss. Cellophane Memories invites listeners to ponder the nature of mystery, without providing definitive answers. The album's music embodies the transient beauty of departures and returns, landscapes and atmospheres and the intricate dance of time and memory. It radiates a distant light from within its darkness, offering a profound listening experience. This vinyl release is a great package to experience the enduring and enigmatic creative partnership between Chrystabell and David Lynch.

Review: Carrying the torch for bittersweet post-punk introspection like few others of her generation, Carla dal Forno has always captivated through the strength of her songwriting. That she also successfully channels the sound of the DIY 1980s is a bonus. On her third album, dal Forno has settled in rural Australia and the album reflects a drastic shift in her circumstances since being in the cut and thrust of Berlin and London. There's space for more open, light-touch songs to match the brooding, low-register tracks she made her name on. But in essence, dal Forno remains true to her muse, meaning returning fans will be more than satisfied with the latest step on for one of the finest singer-songwriters in contemporary post-punk.

Review: This is the latest album from Berlin-based French producer Cosmo Vitelli and California-based Dutch experimental electronic musician Truus de Groot, who is well known for her work with Plus Instruments. Following their successful collaboration on Vitelli's 2022 album Medhead which featured de Groot's lyrics and vocals on several tracks, the two artists decided to join forces once more and the result is a blend of Vitelli's production skills and de Groot's distinctive voice and lyrical style. It is another fresh, experimental approach to modern electronic music.

Review: The Dead C formed in New Zealand in the mid-80s and they remain one of the boldest bands to have emerged from the island's underground scene. Taking a supremely lo-fi, scuzzy approach to improvised rock, they've remained an enduring force with an international fan base as evidenced by their presence on Brooklyn label Ba Da Bing! Now that label are reissuing some of their earlier, hard to find work including this monolithic three-track entity, The Operation of the Sonne. It's a tangled, disorienting affair in which the guitar barely squawks through the thick layer of noise, but it's present enough to wrap around your skull and hold on tight. Not for the feint hearted by any means, but if you appreciate unbound free improvisation and noise rock, you'll definitely want to check this.

Review: New Zealand's foremost, fearless noise rock outfit The Dead C transmitted their dirt-caked sound to the world through a trio of albums in the 90s. Nowadays they're aligned with NYC label Ba Da Bing!, who deemed it high time these seminal slabs got a bigger audience. Originally recorded in the winter of 1994, The White House is a shade more direct than its gnarly predecessor The Operation of the Sonne, but only by a fraction. The trio's sound is pointedly inward looking and actively pursuing a fidelity which renders voice, guitar and drums as one coagulated beast. The fact it still kicks on the likes of 'Pitcher' despite this rejection of clarity is testament to the formidable playing and intent of the band, and perhaps the benefit of a fresh but considered remaster.

Review: After the squalling attack of The Operation of the Sonne and The White House, New Zealand noise rock provocateurs The Dead C had someone garnered attention and praise in 90s underground circles. In appropriately discordant fashion, they responded to their status of sorts by barrelling even further into obtuse noise and creating a double album's worth of sprawling, degraded epics. Despite their clear desire to not capitalise on recognition, there are some sharp hooks which would help the wider alternative rock landscape latch on, whether it's the tense, teasing drumming of 'Half' or the dissolving anti-anthem buried in the grimy folds of the title track. Ba Da Bing! take pride in delivering just the right kind of remaster and reissue for this and the other seminal Dead C records - a document of true originality and the gnarliest of noise bands.

Review: Dead Meadow's latest offering marks a major leap forward for the legendary American psychedelic trio, blending their signature sound with new emotional depth. While their past albums have dazzled with expansive, mind-melting riffs and heavy cosmic grooves, this release brings a raw, introspective energy that highlights their lasting presence in the psych-rock world. Tracks like 'The Space Between' and 'A Wave Away' show the band experimenting with softer, more reflective moments, balancing their traditionally heavy sound with delicate, expansive textures. Drummer Mark Laughlin delivers some of his best performances yet, especially on 'Dead Tree Shake,' while the influence of late bassist Steve Kille is strongly felt throughout. His final contributions are heard in the powerful closing track, 'Voyager to Voyager,' where his artistry resonates deeply. This album proves Dead Meadow are evolving i not just in their sound, but in the essence of what continues to make them a standout act in modern psychedelic rock.

Review: Dead Sound is collaborative project featuring Marco Sterk (aka Young Marco) and Berlin-based pop-auteur John Moods, two artists with existing links to the Music From Memory label, Sterk being part of the trio Gaussian Curve and Moods released the 2022 album Hidden Gem with The Zenmenn. The eight tracks here are delicate and atmosphere-laden, drawing on everything from reverb-soaked, harmonic folk - 'Eye In Disguise' - to the Geiger counter rhythm and low-in-the-mix mutters of 'Force of Nature', like an understated Throbbing Gristle if such a thing could be imagined. If you enjoyed Trentemoller's recent reinvention of shoegaze, Scandi synthpop and post-punk on Dreamweaver, then this will be well up your street.

Review: With 2021's Infinite Granite taking a sharp left turn into the realms of hazy, luscious dream-pop, eyes have been pointedly fixed on San Francisco blackgaze heroes Deafheaven ever since, with many of their fanbase pondering where to next? The answer is their highly anticipated sixth full-length, Lonely People With Power, which finally showcases the band freed from all creative restraint and audience expectation, marrying their equal and effortless understanding of black metal malevolence and shoegaze ethereality, even allowing frontman George Clarke to make full use of his recently discovered vocal range. Howling shrieks and delicate crooning weave around one another on the euphoric heft of 'Heathen', whereas 'Magnolia' offers up one of their most succinctly black metal cuts to date, radiating with the caustic aura of Emperor's more proggy latter-day output. Forgoing their usual post-rock penchant for a small number of tracks all clocking in at approximately ten minutes, the numerous cuts (12 in all, marking the most of any Deafheaven album to date) prioritise instantaneous delivery on their most sprawling and musically diverse collection yet, fusing their harshest and most accessible sonics into one monumental victory lap touching upon everything from black metal to shoegaze, dream-pop, thrash, post-rock, emo, screamo and post-punk.

Review: London based slowcore revivalists Deathcrash made good on the promise of their first slew of exceptional EPs with last year's expansive and melancholic full-length debut Return. Little over a year later and the collective return (no pun intended) with Less; a sophomore effort that utilises both restraint and cathartic abandon to audibly craft a work teeming with disappointment, regret and anguish. Embracing their Slint and Duster influences even more, the material here is often more refined and direct than the lengthy dirges of their first album, allowing for the grandiosity of both seven minute plus opener 'Pirouette' and the momentous closer 'Dead, Crashed', to breathe with hypnotic despondency. Consistent while subtly elevating every nuance of their emotive dissonance, Deathcrash drag the "less is more" mantra down to sobering levels of ambivalent sadness.

Review: Talk about taking risks. Delmer Darion's jaw-dropping second album is like no other you'll hear this autumn. Trust us. Taking inspiration from legendary tales like Jules Verne's Voyages Extraordinaires, the record is split into two powerful halves. On the one side, industrial electronica and bewitching vocals meet in this abrasive but beautiful sonic place that owes as much to darkroom pop as it does experimental synth-dom. Blending elements of shoegaze, ambient and doom folk, it's a place thick with mystery and awe, wonder and, to a lesser extent, fear, and one you want to spend plenty of time in. Part two, meanwhile, does away with what small amount of convention was there before, and opts for an 18-minute spoken word masterpiece, rooted in Arthurian lore but at surface level focused on the 1919 sinking of HMY Iolair, off the coast of Stornoway.

Review: Originally released in 2004, Miss Machine would serve as the revitalised sophomore effort from mathcore visionaries The Dillinger Escape Plan. Following the departure of original vocalist Dimitri Minakakis after their groundbreaking 1999 debut LP Calculating Infinity, and their collaborative Irony Is A Dead Scene EP with Faith No More/Mr. Bungle/Fantomas vocal absurdist Mike Patton, the band would enlist the hulking, feral Greg Puciato, a frontman with a far more intense shriek than his predecessor while also coming from the school of Patton's eccentric dynamism with his expansive range. The resulting work would chart an entirely new course for the collective, with Puciato retaining his presence throughout their next five full-lengths, while the newfound balancing act between dissonant, mind-melting polyrhythmic hardcore and avant-garde industrial jazz-prog, would become their future sonic playground. Yes, much of the Dillinger Escape Plan identity was carved out before Puciato's arrival, but Miss Machine is often cited as the album where all of the jagged, oddly shaped pieces finally fit into place.

Review: After a decade-long hiatus, The Dirty Three return with their latest album, Love Changes Everything, marking their triumphant resurgence into the indie music scene. The album's opening track 'Love Changes Everything I' sets the stage with a furious storm of Warren Ellis' viola, Mick Turner's guitar and Jim White's drums, showcasing the band's raw energy and signature sound. Throughout the album, The Dirty Three navigate through various sonic landscapes, from ambient textures to raucous distortions, all while maintaining their distinct musical identity. The trio's chemistry remains palpable as they effortlessly weave through loops and transcendent moments, demonstrating a renewed sense of creativity and exploration. With over two decades of experience and collaboration with esteemed artists, The Dirty Three's latest offering shows their enduring artistry and unwavering dedication to their craft.

Review: The Dirty Three's long-awaited return with Love Changes Everything sees the Melbourne instrumental band resurfacing with their trademark blend of mercurial energy and contemplative mood. Warren Ellis, Mick Turner, and Jim White effortlessly traverse from fury to ambient, displaying their strong abilities on guitar, drums, and violin/viola. The lead single, 'Love Changes Everything I,' storms in with razor-edged viola and raucous instrumentation, reminiscent of the band's indie roots. Yet, the album also explores moments of wariness and patience, weaving through loops and transcendental passages. While each member has pursued individual projects, their reunion heralds an exhilarating convergence of their distinct musical paths. With a career spanning over three decades, the Dirty Three continue to wow with their raw, emotive soundscapes cementing their status as one of the most innovative and enduring acts in the indie scene.

Review: Based out of Melbourne, Australia, Takiaya Reed (better known as Divide & Dissolve) is a one-woman monolithic force of industrial-tinged, neo-classical leaning instrumental doom metal. Originally a duo, 2023's fourth full-length Systemic marked the first effort from the project following the departure of percussionist Sylvie Nehill (of M?ori and White-Australian heritage), with guitarist/saxophonist Reed (of Tsalagi and African-American heritage) embarking on a solo venture from there on out. Her second singular display of overtly political, droning sonic dread comes in the form of Insatiable, which coalesces mercurial beauty with bombastic abrasion, almost as if sonically illustrating the warring of mindsets active in our collective conscious. From drawing ire back in 2018 for their controversial music video for 'Resistance' which featured spitting and spraying urine-coloured water on monuments of colonial figures such as Captain James Cook and John Batman, Reed has made it clear ever since that their punishing instrumentals are designed with the artful intention of "decolonising, decentralising, disestablishing, and destroying white supremacy", which she makes overwhelming ends to accomplish without a single word uttered.

Review: To say Philippe Doray and his Asociaux Associes finished the 1970s with creative fervour would be an understatement. First we had 1976's Ramasse-Miettes Nucleaires, then two years after that there was the equally potent Nouveaux Modes Industriels. Both were heralded as ahead of their time, at the time, bringing together strange, otherworldly pop, spacey prog, prototypes of Krautrock and impassioned poetry. Le Composant Compositeur followed, and in their own words marked the beginning of a new era in the 'Antisocial Associates' project (to use the English translation). It's a marvellous addition to the collection, too, a series of sharp, edgy, mutant pop tracks, weirdo brass experimentation, compressed electro, dubby ideas, and twisted, acid-spiked fairground themes.

Review: The Durutti Column prove just how fertile the North West England music scene was during the mid-late-1970s and through the 1980s. Taking their name from an anarchist military movement active during the Spanish Civil War, the band was formed by Vini Reilly, who brought together a bunch of players from the nascent punk and post punk scene, and managed to turn heads in the process. One of which was Tony Wilson. One of the first acts to sign to his now-legendary Factory Records, they would remain on the imprint until its demise, by which time the project had become a solo thing for Reilly, whose name was already shorthand for risk taking with bold ideas. Take this record, for example, veering from Southern Mediterranean folk to experimental indie, sample-based rock-opera and more, it still defies expectations.

Review: American rock band Duster returned back in September with a fourth new full-length album. Just a mere matter of months later, their regal Numero Uno label is also reissuing their Stratsophere album. It dates back to 1998 and found the band of multi-instrumentalists Clay Parton, Canaan Dove Amber and Jason Albertini reinventing a slow-core sound at the end of the first wave. It's a dreamscape soundtrack with hazy, arpeggiated guitars layered up over fine drumming and barely-there vocals. Still special even now.

Review: Formed in 2018, Dream House Quartet has been reshaping the boundaries between classical and contemporary music. The group consists of pianists Katia and Marielle Labeque, both renowned for their versatility across genres, along with Grammy-winning guitarist Bryce Dessner of The National and composer-producer David Chalmin on guitar. Their repertoire spans radical commissions and essential works from the past 50 years. After releasing their self-titled digital EP in 2023, the quartet now unveils their latest project, Sonic Wires, coinciding with a November 2024 tour. The album features pieces by Steve Reich, Philip Glass, Bryce Dessner, Sufjan Stevens and Anna Thorvaldsdottir.

Review: Under the open skies of Southern California, with the San Bernardino Mountains in sight, Sam Wilkes, Craig Weinrib, and Dylan Day came together to craft this album in one seamless evening session. Wilkes' bass, Weinrib's drums, and Day's electric guitar unite to form an organic and unhurried collaboration. The trio's sound feels effortless yet focused, driven by the natural chemistry between them rather than stylistic constraints. Each note speaks to a deep mutual understanding, allowing the music to evolve naturally, guided by the landscape and the moment.