DISTRACTIONS - 'DARK GREEN SEA'

Formats

• BEST004 - LP

  600197550410

Details

Infinite Best's newest signing, the Chicago band Distractions, requires an inordinate amount of attention considering their moniker; they combine the detail of Arthur Russell and the sentiment of Bill Callahan on a Scott Walker-sized stage of weird. The effect of band leader Tom Owens's baritone voice, starkly contrasted by the noir pop that surrounds it, is that of a jarring blow. At once opaque yet ornate as a church spire, Distractions' melodies smolder while songs to confront the listeners in unsettling altercations that they only remember the next morning. Dark Green Sea is Distractions' debut album. Originally released in a limited, cassette-only edition on the illustrious Plus Tapes label, it was remixed and mastered for vinyl by Udbhav Gupta of the band Twin Sister. ? Limited vinyl edition of Chicago band's debut album ? Packaged in silk-screened, individually numbered sleeves

Tracks

1. All Night
2. Money Is Ugly
3. We Were Better Off in the Rain
4. Baby Steps
5. My Gold
6. Please Slow Down
7. Not Gonna Go Away
8. Heartbeats

Press

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Audio & Video

ROBERT POLLARD - 'SPACE CITY KICKS'

Formats

• GBVI13 - LP

  655035081311

• GBVI13CD - CD

  655035081328

Details

Seems like all anyone wants to talk about these days is the Guided By Voices reunion tour. It is pretty amazing to see the guys back together, a little older, seemingly no wiser: the way you dreamed it would be, if you dreamed about '90s-era indie rock bands reuniting. Don't imagine, though, that it's the only magic trick Robert Pollard has in his scientific box. Space City Kicks, an eighteen-song compendium of Bee Thousand-sized sonic chunks that range from noisy pop to poppy noise but mostly just R-O-C-K. Except the ballads, which are melancholy in a way Dwight Twilley never was, making it a mystery why Pollard posed for a recent promo picture with what is clearly Twilley's guitar (and Rod Stewart's Vans, but that makes perfect sense). The song titles are recombinated DNA from a karaoke list of classics, much in the way the songs themselves call to mind extracts of prog, pop, psych and punk. There's one called "Something Strawberry" which is "Something" meets "Strawberry Fields"; another called "Getting Going" which is taken from "Getting in Tune" and "Going Mobile." The music itself, however, has nothing to do with the titles, which were more like an oblique strategy for spurring Pollard's songwriting-which we're all agreed needs spurring, because the guy just doesn't write and record enough songs. Recorded as always (or at least, often) with the invaluable assistance of Todd Tobias at his studio in Kent, Ohio, and sequenced so that it seems like Pollard lined up all the songs at once, fired a starting pistol, and sent each of them off at top speed in a different direction, Space City Kicks is Pollard at his loosest and most free, conditions under which he very often produces his finest work. ? First Pollard release after the massively successful Guided By Voices reunion tour

Tracks

1. Mr. Fantastic Must Die
2. Space City Kicks
3. Blowing Like a Sunspot
4. I Wanna Be Your Man in the Moon
5. Sex She Said
6. One More Touch
7. Picture a Star
8. Something Strawberry
9. Follow a Loser
10. Children Ships
11. Stay Away
12. Gone Hoping
13. Into It
14. Tired Life
15. Touch Me in the Right
Place at the Right Time
16. Woman to Fly
17. Getting Going
18. Spill the Blues

Press

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Audio & Video

CODES IN THE CLOUDS - 'AS THE SPIRIT WANES'

Formats

• ERATP027LP - LP & DL

  4050486037492

• ERATP027CD - CD

  4050486037485

Details

Codes In The Clouds, the quintet of Ciaran Morahan, Stephen Peeling, Rob Smith, Jack Major and Joe Power hail from Dartford, England ? a town not known for much besides giving birth to The Rolling Stones. Since 2007 they have dedicated themselves to producing heartfelt music to rival their peers and firmly place CITC as 'Ones To Watch' in a vastly growing instrumental rock scene. A perfect fit then for cinematic music label Erased Tapes, with writers such as Wyndham Wallace musing that the likes of Icelandic composer ?lafur Arnalds and Berlin pianist Nils Frahm 'sit comfortably alongside the rowdy post-rock of Codes In The Clouds'. Their much anticipated second studio album As The Spirit Wanes will see the light of day in January 2011. Codes In The Clouds weave guitar melodies that have an alluring and versatile combination of qualities: melancholic yet uplifting, polished yet unhinged, delicate yet powerful. Through relentless touring and determination this young band have steadily gained recognition since signing to Erased Tapes in 2007. CITC's first single Distant Street Lights/Fractures received instant critical acclaim from radio presenters such as BBC Radio 1 DJ Huw Stephens and became Single of the Week on Drowned In Sound: 'Possibly the most gripping piece of music you'll hear this year' (8/10). The release of their debut album Paper Canyon in 2009 secured the band fans from all around the world. 'A perfectly presented first statement of their intentions...sending jolts from shoulders to fingertips' (8/10) ? Clash One year later, October 2010 saw the band compile a remix album entitled Paper Canyon Recycled. Featuring the likes of Paul Mullen (The Automatic), Maybeshewill, Worriedaboutsatan, Machinefabriek and Library Tapes ? not to mention label mates Rival Consoles and Nils Frahm ? the project stemmed from an open call, giving fans and fellow artists the opportunity to craft remixes of songs from their debut LP. The band received over 100 track submissions in total and every remix album sold continues to help Friends of the Earth. The skills of one particular entrant, Brighton-based producer and musician Guy Andrews (iambic), impressed the band so much that they invited him to work on their much-anticipated 2nd studio album and follow-up to Paper Canyon. Recorded in just six days at Brighton Electric in September 2010, As The Spirit Wanes will be released in Europe on January 14th and in the UK on January 31st, 2011. Whilst from the outside last year has looked rosy for Codes In The Clouds with a remix album release, successful tours and festival slots, it's also been a difficult year behind the scenes. Yet personal loss has proven a collective driving force, bringing the band closer as a group and shaping their surprisingly optimistic second offering: "It's not that the album has a set concept or theme, it's just that each member of the band went through similar experiences around the same sort of time. So naturally, this is reflected in the album. We all feel really close to it, and it's definitely the music we want to make. It's a very personal record to us and we feel it's a big step forward from the first release. The songs are definitely a better reflection of us as a collective of people. Hopefully others will identify with the ideas within the record and can relate it to their own experiences." Co-produced by Erased Tapes initiator Robert Raths and label mate Ryan West, then mastered by Nils Frahm at his studio in Berlin, As The Spirit Wanes could almost be described as a family affair. Even the artwork has been inspired by the band's time in Iceland, performing as part of the Erased Tapes label night at Iceland Airwaves 2010. Most importantly, it's all about songs with As The Spirit Wanes offering its listener stunning melodies and razor-sharp hooks. From the Beach Boys pop appeal of Look Back, Look Up to the euphoric Washington, down to the emotionally charged two-minute hymn If I'd Have Known This Was The Last, Codes In The Clouds embody their genre in its most rewarding form. In support of this release, CITC will head out on a European headline tour in mid January, culminating in a London release show on February 1st, 2011.

Tracks

1. Where Dirt Meets Water
2. Look Back, Look Up
3. You And I Change Like Seasons
4. We Were Alive, Together (First Position)
5. Washington
6. The Reason In Madness, In Love
7. Cold Calls
8. If I'd Have Known It Was The Last (Second Position)
9. The Tragedian
10. Your Panopticon

Press

'A debut record of real maturity' Best New Music ? Rock Sound
?Sob at the beauty of it. Ones to watch, for sure' ? Metro
'These post-rockers have mastered their art of flitting seamlessly between ambient
beauty and heartfelt climaxes which will leave you reeling for more' ? The Fly
'Easily one of the most refined and complete sounding instrumental post-rock longplayers
of recent times' ? Boomkat
'This Kent-based quintet find themselves on the cusp of what looks to be a very
promising career' Ones To Watch ? Rock Sound

Audio & Video

DUNGEN - 'OGA NASA MUM / HIGHWAY WOLF'

Formats

• TMR065 - 7"

  N/A

Details

Celebrated Swedish rock band Dungen recorded their Blue Series single at the Third Man Studios in September. The 4-piece, led by songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Gustav Ejstes, recorded two brand new tracks for the label: a mesmeric psych-pop odyssey "Oga Nasa Mum" (which translates into English as "Eye Nose Mouth") and a haunting instrumental titled "Highway Wolf". Since 2004 Dungen have released a string of critically lauded albums. Their impressive sixth full length Skit i allt (Subliminal Sounds/ Mexican Summer) was released earlier this year.

Tracks

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Press

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Audio & Video

FIRST AID KIT - 'UNIVERSAL SOLDIER / IT HURTS ME TOO'

Formats

• TMR074 - 7"

  N/A

Details

For their Blue Series release First Aid Kit recorded spine-tingling covers of Buffy Sainte-Marie's "Universal Soldier" (made famous in 1965 by Donovan) and classic blues standard "It Hurts Me Too", a song much loved by fans of Karen Dalton's 1969 folk-blues version. First Aid Kit ? comprised of 17 and 20-year old sisters Klara and Johanna S?derberg - recorded the tracks in October during their US headlining tour with touring drummer Mattias Bergvist, their father Benkt S?derberg, Jack Lawrence (The Greenhornes/ The Raconteurs) and Joshua Hedley adding additional parts on "It Hurts Me Too". First Aid Kit won international acclaim this year for their stunning debut album The Big Black And The Blue (Wichita Recordings).

Tracks

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Audio & Video