Category Archives: Blog

Forest Swords unveils video for new single from upcoming album Compassion

05 April 2017

Forest Swords - Arms OutForest Swords, the project of Merseyside based producer Matthew Barnes, is ready to follow his 2013 debut Engravings. Entitled Compassion, the new record marries the ancient with the future, the digital with the acoustic, as the press release describes. Barnes explains:

“Like many, with all that’s been going on since I started making the record, I’ve struggled to see any kind of light at the end of the tunnel, so I realised there’s some sort of power in trying to create our own instead. I’m inspired by the ways we’re communicating now, for better or worse, and thinking about new channels we can distribute ideas. The idea of looking for flexible future ways of expression and language, that bends to our needs quicker, really excites me”.

Compassion arrives on May 5th through Ninja Tune and its release will be followed by a number of projects in different formats under Barnes’ own experimental studio and record label Dense Truth. These will include collaborations in the fields of dance, performance, film and music.

Forest Swords is teasing the album with the new single ‘Arms Out’ and it comes with an accompanying video directed by Sam Wiehl.

Leaving Records to reissue $3.33’s DRAFT EP

01 April 2017

$3.33 - DRAFT EPThere couldn’t be a better way to continue celebrating Piano Day than with the reissue of $3.33‘s DRAFT EP. Celia Hollander, the Los Angeles visual artist and musician behind the project, originally released the EP in 2014. Featuring four tracks of “deep, dense and expansive piano manipulations and explorations”, as the press release describes, the EP is being re-released on April 7th through Leaving Records in the form of a limited cassette tape.
Listen to the magnificent EP opener ‘+’ below and straight after watch a teaser extracted from the album-length music video by Miko Revereza set to premiere at the album’s launch also on April 7th.


Oumou Sangaré shares video for ‘Yere Faga ft. Tony Allen’

31 March 2017

Oumou Sangare - Yere Faga ft Tony AllenLast month we heard the warm and glowing ‘Yere Faga’, the first single lifted from Oumou Sangaré‘s long-awaited new album Mogoya. Now the Malian diva has unveiled a video to accompany the song, directed by Chris Saunders. The effort was shot in Johannesburg’s Hillbrow area and it features dancer Maipelo Gabang. “Oumou’s powerful Wassoulou lyrics needed to be translated through the movement in the video – to reflect her message of never giving up, of finding mechanisms to succeed”, explains Saunders. “The video is a story of an empowered young African woman, one comparable to the great Oumou herself”.

Preceding the album’s release on May 19th via Nø Førmat!, the video comes paired with the Yere Faga Remix EP out today with mixes by Natureboy Flako, Marimba, Malik Djoudi and Ghetto Vanessa.

Watch the video for ‘Yere Faga’ below, featuring Tony Allen on drumming duties.

Oumou’s originally scheduled show in London’s Scala on May 16th has now moved to Village Underground on May 17th. Oumou has also announced a string of festival appearances this summer including Citadel, WOMAD and Shambala.

Explosions In The Sky announce new tour, share video for ‘The Ecstatics’

30 March 2017

Explosions In The Sky - The EcstaticsExplosions In The Sky have been busy on the road supporting their latest record, The Wilderness, since its release a year ago. Now they have announced another extensive string of shows on the back of the album, with live dates across North America throughout April. The quartet has also confirmed a couple of festival appearances in Europe this summer, including a show at ArcTanGent in Bristol in August. The news comes paired with a stop-motion video for the album track ‘The Ecstatics’,  directed and animated by Hayley Morris. Watch it now.

The Wilderness is out now through Temporary Residence.

The Comet Is Coming’s new Death To The Planet EP out on Record Store Day

29 March 2017

The Comet Is Coming - Death To The PlanetRecord Store Day 2017 is just around the corner with a plethora of incredible releases coming out on April 22nd. Death To The Planet, the new EP from The Comet Is Coming, is one of the releases we’re keen to get our hands on. Featuring four tracks, Death To The Planet follows the trio’s Prophecy EP and Channel The Spirits, which was one one of our Album Picks of 2016. The EP comes for the first time in “Comet Fire” orange vinyl, limited to 700 copies worldwide.
For a vivid cosmic experience, check out the live video for the joyful and infectious single ‘Final Eclipse’, one of tracks previously lifted from their upcoming EP.


Prescott announce second album, share video for first single ‘Rubberised’

28 March 2017

Prescott - RubberisedThree years on from the release of One Did, London based outfit Prescott have announced its follow-up, Thing Or Two. The record drops on May 1st and pre-order is now available through their bandcamp. ‘Rubberised’ serves as the first taste from it and it comes with an accompanying video by Ashley Jones. Here it is.