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Review: With just their third single, Exposed to Some Light, Nightbus continues to showcase their moody and atmospheric sound, drawing comparisons to many well regarded bands. The track unfolds like a captivating narrative, drenched in nostalgia yet tinged with a sense of dread. Originally born from a poem written during a cold January weekend, the song explores the idea of bringing something to the forefront of one's mind and current headspace. Through their minimal yet evocative video, Nightbus invites listeners to delve into their introspective world.

Review: Experience two of Joy Division's iconic post-punk tracks like never before with exclusive 7" vinyl from Numero Group. Codeine's 1994 rendition of 'Atmosphere' captures the essence of solitude with a melancholic yet melodic twist that marked the iconic Manchester band's poignant farewell. Meanwhile, Bedhead from Dallas offers a fresh perspective on 'Disorder' and transforms it into vibrant indie rock. Encased in a sleek black and silver sleeve adorned with embossed braille lettering, these twin readings pay homage to Joy Division's enduring legacy while inviting listeners to explore new interpretations of their timeless classics.

Review: On his new single 'Pacifico Waves', Joel Sarakula takes the scenic route down a pacific coastline, searching for peace, enlightenment and the perfect sunset. Travelling and searching is nothing new to Sarakula: it's almost his default way of being. Born and raised in Sydney, Australia before swapping oceans to live in the UK and more recently onwards to Gran Canaria: "I've been busy making my islands smaller" he jokes. But the music on 'Pacifico Waves' sounds like none of these places: with its easy drum shuffle, soulful guitar hooks and smooth vocal harmonies it distinctly evokes Southern California. It's such a potent portrait of the West Coast that if not for the contemporary lyrics and some modern production techniques, it could be a long lost hit from an early 80s LA studio band.

Review: Dot Allison debuted in 1999 with her Aftergow album and ever since has kept fans old and new enthralled with her voice. Heart-Shaped Scars was a follow-up 12 years later than won plenty of plaudits and now the label it came on serve up this bonus 7" with two new cuts. There is the rather bleakly but beautifully alluring 'Ghost Orchid' and then 'Love Died in our Arms' which is a reference to a past musical life in which Dot made trip hop. It also comes with a download code to unlock a third and final bonus cut named 'Heart-Shaped Scar.'

Review: Mumford & Sons drop a surprise single release alongside Pharrell Williams, 'Good People', delivering on a long-awaited promise to hop in the studio together after years of knowing each other. Finally falling back on their immediate instincts, 'Good People' hears the band and the solo wunderkind sing of tiredness and revelation, making adept use of a dry, driving, sportsmanlike instrumental palette (think hand claps, stomps, gospel harmonies). Though cryptic in theme, the mood on this one-off is one of triumph and impending miracle works to come.

Review: Mogwai's Rock Action label welcomes Bdrmm for a superb new 7" that mixes up heavy arrangements and introspective lyrics. It was written during recent album sessions at The Nave Studios in Leeds and finds them expanding on their signature dynamics and expansive sounds with reverb heavy vocals and plenty of atmospheric arrangements. On the flip side is an unlikely remixer in the shape of Fila Brazillia, the cult Hull downtempo and chill out kings that have worked with everyone from Radiohead to Harold Budd, adding their own spin to recent album track 'Be Careful.'

Review: Long-faced Boston blues trio GA-20 deliver a swampy, bluesy take on Dolly Parton's classic, 'Jolene'. While the original Parton number's lyrics dealt in the instantly-memorable theme of a queen bee stealing the singer's beloved - "just because you can" - the original song could nonetheless be accused of obscuring the melancholic feel of the lyrics, by lending them an uptempo dance backing. GA-20 might be credited with fixing that problem here, stripping things back to a lilting blues plod, convincingly reworked into a vintage, boxy, sepia-toned context.

Review: Andy Partridge, of legendary Swindon post-punk players XTC, here delivers a brand new solo outing for his own simian shelter (and by extension, label), Ape House. By way of four noisy, grinding, discordant yet emotive sonic 'trading cards', Partridge sings of love and its winding ups and downs, nailing the janky and rocky emotions felt therein. Lo-fi yet sprawling in its proggy indie jazzy ambition, we're forced to agree that Love Is, indeed, The Future.

Review: Tamara Lindeman was at a real transition point in life when What Am I Going to do With Everything I Know was first unveiled. A six track strong EP, here the moodiness and tangible sense of isolation, loneliness, and hopelessness that had once emanated from her voice dissipates into equally tender and gentile thoughts on an impending marriage and all that may come with it. For some, an equally troubling time in their lives, for others something to truly work towards and - when it finally arrives - celebrate, either way it's a subject ripe for emotional songwriting.

But in actual fact, Lindeman, her fiance and troupe treat the concept of matrimony with something close to apathy, or at least lackadaisical 'might as well'-ness. The culmination of this record, 'Almost Careless', sees her ask the question 'what if', but in a way that's neither excited nor nervous, but simply filled with inquisitiveness and a matter of fact consideration.

Review: Appropriately titled, beguiling, cosmic-tipped, gritty stuff. No matter how long it has ever been since you got something new in from Thurston Moore it's always a pleasure, and a bold reminder of just how much the Sonic Youth hero still has to say. Not that he's particularly talkative on "Spring Swells", one of three simultaneous singles which together form a coherent body - the other two being "Three Graces: Alice Moki Jayne" and "Pollination". It's a single that's as much of an assault on the senses as it is a minutely detailed prog-rock symphony. Never really finding a groove, instead it bolts from the starting block before slamming the breaks on, transforming into a staccato whirlwind, spiralling, building, rolling and crashing through crescendos that never seem to release. Like the introduction to the most powerful gig you've never seen, it's the work of a bonafide master of arrangements, capable of conjuring genuine emotion from obscure noises.

Review: Entering his fourth decade of service it's probably fair to call Andy Bell - guitarist with Ride, Oasis bassist and an increasingly renowned solo artist - an indie icon and round legend. After an EP of covers of tunes that inspired his last album this month, 'The Grounding Process' features four stripped down versions of tracks from 'Flicker'. Bell says 'World of Echo' was written at the height of an obesession with Scouse indie/skifflers The La's, while 'She Calls The Tune' was penned on tour wioth Oasis in 1999, particularly dear to Bell as it ended a long period of writer's block.

Review: Ride guitarist and songwriter Andy Bell drops this blue-splattered 10" with covers and acoustic versions of tunes that are said to have inspired his last album Flicker, which was released on Sonic Cathedral to great acclaim back in February. It is one of three such EPs and this one features an opening track written by Yoko Ono, a second cut by Bert Jansch, John Renbourn, Danny Thompson, Terry Cox and Jacqui McShee, one by Raymond Douglas Davies and a closer by the late, great Arthur Russell. He brings his unique alternative and indie perspective to the originals and they serve as a great backstory and accompanying listen to the aforementioned album.

Review: RECOMMENDED
The most surprising thing about this staggering 7" is the fact the artist formerly known as Anthony Hegarty hasn't released 'I Will Survive' before. Gloria Gaynor's testament to the strength of the human spirit, and particularly the resilience people call upon when facing a broken heart, has long been an anthem of global queer and counterculture. Anonhi, either as lead singer of rightly lauded Anthony & The Johnsons, or as latter day soloist, is an icon of those same scenes, laying claim to being the only transgender person ever nominated for an Academy Award ('Manta Ray', from the movie Racing Extinction).

The results are everything we could have hoped for, rethinking the disco anthem as an acoustic number equal parts teary-eyed pride and sorrow, Anonhi's famous baritone crying out over strings and guitars. Backed with the frenzied distorted riffs and rage of 'RNC 2020', it's a formidable release.

Review: According to news stories when this EP was first announced, The Horrors' own frontman Faris Badwan describes the band's new song, 'Against the Blade', as a "further descent into chaos". A track about giving up hope, abandoning control, and coming to terms with the eternal human position of facing off against the world, rather than actually being part of it.

Listening to the tune now it's easy to buy into that description. The band have always had an uncanny ability to terrify and enthral, and this is a prime example of that. Opening with a searing refrain-cum-wasp-in-jar-noise, we soon explode into a monster metal riff with solid funk undertow, making for a tune that's destined to be a live favourite. Over the other side, 'Twisted Skin' sticks with the industrial-leaning feel.

Review: Fontaines D.C. is one of the most exciting new bands to have emerged in the last year. Their debut Dogrel was a standout offering that turned plenty of heads and now under a year later they are back with more brilliance. The grizzly, punk laced 'A Hero's Death' has snarling vocal work from the front man while big walls of impenetrable guitars wash over you in arresting ways. On the flip, 'I Don't Belong' is less angsty, with a more subdued sound and forlorn sounding voice repeating the title's refrain to sombre effect.

Review: The world is full of heart-rendering electronic pop. So much so, you sometimes have to ask yourself if we can handle - or indeed actually need - any more. Rendered almost-immune to the emotionally barrage that seems to haunt our airwaves, playlists, and Made In Chelsea episodes, anyone who still has feelings in 2023 is doing well by all accounts.
Then along come Synthia, billed by the Big Crown label as a 'supergroup', comprising production don Leon 'El Michels Affair' Michels, and vocalist Claire Cottrill, AKA Clairo. Debate over what constitutes a 'group' aside, So Low, a startling double-A is enough to make you forget everything we just talked about, throw away the idea of overkill, and dive right in. As if born to score something cool, reflective, thought-proving and devastatingly romantic, fans of Electric Youth, Cocteau Twins and Almagris should be here already.

Review: Based out of Brooklyn, New York, The Still Brothers is a group made up of two childhood friends, Andrew LeCoche of Ula Ruth and Evan Heinze from The Shacks. They started their musical adventure way back in the 6th grade. In the decade since they have managed to record and tour with their own respective groups, as well as work on their own distinctive brand of indie together. Here they tap up Sloshy for a feature on a new 7" that comes via Lewis. 'It's Not Over' is a dreamy cut lush vocal harmonies and lo-fi drums making for a beautifully melancholic sound. 'Crazy' has slightly more primate drum breaks and the Shoshy is just as smooth.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Sleeve damaged but otherwise in excellent condition***


The Lounge Society has been hotly tipped for a while, with plenty of Ones To Watch declarations coming their way at the start of 2021. They have served up super quick selling 7"s like 'Generation Game' which touched on the unrest in American society and then their follow up headed into edgy punk-funk territory, sneering at culture wars and decrying the impact of a class divided society. Now comes 'Cain's Heresym' which takes aim at the negligent political class as well as highlighting the danger inherent in the spread of misinformation and their disdain for celebrity-worshipping. The young English band are heirs apparat to the throne of protest music.