Snapped Ankles announce third album, Forest Of Your Problems, and share lead single ‘Rhythm Is Our Business’

24 March 2021

Two years on from releasing the feast of awesomeness that was, and is, Stunning Luxury, Snapped Ankles are back with their third album. Entitled Forest Of Your Problems, the album is set for release on July 2nd through The Leaf Label, who note in their press release:

“Snapped Ankles return to the forest, but it’s not as they left it. Trees planted in neat rows. A well-ordered monoculture with access roads and heavy machinery. The smell of greenwashed money in the air. There’s no sign of the ancient woodland they emerged from on debut album, Come Play The Trees. And it’s far cry from the gentrified East London they found themselves hawking on Stunning Luxury. All is not well in the face of progress. Welcome to the Forest Of Your Problems.”

Regular collaborator Danalogue of The Comet Is Coming is again on mixing duties on Forest Of Your Problems. And when it comes to formats, we’re spoiled for choice, with four different vinyl editions available, aligned with the newly formed factions of “the famously close-knit woodwose community”, The Business Imp, The Cornucopian, The Nemophile and The Protester.

The absolute banger that is ‘Rhythm Is Our Business’ serves a killer lead single and it begs for dancing. The single comes with a video directed by Daisy Dickinson.

Snapped Ankles have announced a UK and EU tour in October and November, and you can check all their stops and other info here.

Molly Lewis signs to Jagjaguwar and shares new single ‘Oceanic Feeling’

23 March 2021

Molly Lewis, a master whistler and self-described “human theremin”, has just signed to Jagjaguwar. Alongside the news, Lewis is releasing today ‘Oceanic Feeling’, her first single for the label. On the track, and the press release describes, she “invites you on a lovely walk across the flotsam-sprinkled sands in the rum-pumping vein of Les Baxter”. ‘Oceanic Feeling’ features guest Leon Michels on sax and is offered with a video directed by Drew Bienemann and Molly Lewis. Take a look.

Kid Millions and Jan St. Werner announce debut collaborative album Imperium Droop

19 March 2021

We love drummer extraordinaire and all-round genius multi-instrumentalist and composer John Colpitts aka Kid Millions (Man Forever, Oneida) and we love electronic veteran musician and producer Jan St. Werner, a sound innovator known for a plethora of solo compositions and collaborative projects and as one half of German avant-garde electronic duo Mouse On Mars. So we couldn’t be more excited to learn of a collaboration between Kid Millions and Jan St. Werner, who have just announced Imperium Droop, their debut album as a duo. Described as “continuation of an ongoing musical dialogue between the two musicians”, the album picks up from where Millions and Werner left off in 2016 when Werner invited Millions to perform an interpretation of his Felder album in a series of curated live dates. A unique concert took place at Oneida’s practice space with just one person in the audience – songwriter Helado Negro. Millions and Werner planned to follow that concert with an ongoing series of recorded collaborations between them and ended up building an archive of recorded material that led to Imperium Droop.

Featuring guests contributions from Mats Gustafsson, Andrew Barker, and Richard Hoffman, the album is also described as “an incomparable work of gripping and intrepid sonic fluctuations”.

We’ll have to wait until June 25th for Imperium Droop to be out through Thrill Jockey but we can already get an exhilarating first taste from it with closing track ‘Sorrows and Compensations’. Here it is.

Buffet Lunch set to release debut album The Power of Rocks in May

18 March 2021

Photo: Owen Godbert

Scottish band Buffet Lunch have have unveiled the details surrounding their debut album, The Power of Rocks. The quartet of Perry O’Bray (Vocals/Keys/Guitar), Neil Robinson (Bass), John Muir (Lead Guitar) and Luke Moran (Drums) have been active for a few years, firm on their “their mission to craft satisfyingly imperfect pop songs filled with imagery and humour”. The album is anchored by broad and personal themes, as the press release describes, “from irritation with out of touch politicians, to love letters to seaside living, to even the frailty and confusion of old age.”

The Power Of Rocks comes out on May 7th through Upset The Rhythm and the band have already teased it with two quirky, playful and addictive singles, ‘Pebbledash’ and ‘Red Apple Happiness’. Both tracks are offered with a video accompaniment, ‘Pebbledash’ was created by the band’s own Perry O’Bray and the latter was made by Iain McCall.

Lisel and Booker Stardrum team up for debut collaborative album Mycelial Echo

17 March 2021

Photo: Lisel by Gregory Wikstrom / Booker Stardrum by Brian Guido

Drumming wizard, improviser and composer Booker Stardrum and singer, producer, and experimental artist Eliza Bagg aka Lisel⁠ have joined forces for a debut album entitled Mycelial Echo. Crafted remotely over a six week period, the album is closely tied to other artistic projects. Half of the music was written for an opera about trees⁠ set to be presented in a virtual reality installation this year and the other half was composed for The Vanishing Point, a 25-minute music and dance piece commissioned by National Sawdust. The piece was made with dancer/choreographer Gwendolyn Gussman and conceived as video art.

The press release elaborates on Bagg and Stardrum’s collaboration:

“Lisel’s manipulated vocal samples, processed vocal improvisations, and patterns built from extended techniques are combined with Stardrum’s complex sequences, organic percussion, and synths to create a portrayal of our relationship to the natural world that is both tactile, sensorial, and seen from a distance.”

Preceding Mycelial Echo‘s release on April 9th through Luminelle Recordings, the pair shared two riveting and celestial tracks,  ‘In The Dome’ and ‘I Am Not Ready To Go’.  ‘In The Dome’ comes paired a video directed by Bagg herself and featured Gwendolyn Gussman.