LA LUZ - 'IT'S ALIVE'

Formats

• HAR076CD - CD

  098787307627

• HARLP076COL - LP (COLOURED)

  098787307634

Details

**REPRESSED ON LTD RED VINYL**In Spanish, La Luz means “light” and that’s the perfect thing to evoke when your songs give the illusion of veering in the opposite direction. But lift out most any lyric—which is a good excuse to give a closer listen to the delicate, four-part harmonies that are fast becoming the band’s signature—and you’ll find that the aches and pains of love and loss, of living in a world where no foothold is ever a promise—all this is delivered with a nuanced dose of perfectly timed exhilaration, like the whole thing might just be worth it in the end. It's Alive is the debut LP from Seattle's La Luz. First run of LPs will be pressed on limited opaque light blue wax, and all orders will ship with a glow in the dark La Luz button, while they last! All LPs include a download code. 

Tracks

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Audio & Video

BOOMVISION - 'ARCADE'

Formats

• BMV001 - LP

  5061041821530

Details

*LIMITED BLUE VINYL* Boomvision is an Italo-British multidisciplinary artist crafting bold, emotionally charged music that blends ambient electronics, glitchy pop, and punk-rooted DIY ethos. Their debut solo project ‘Arcade’ is a genre-fluid visual album steeped in queer identity, modern mythology, and emotional storytelling. Entirely self-conceived and co-produced, the album introduces Boomvision as a powerful new creative voice: visionary, vulnerable, and defiantly original. The single ‘Chun Li’ arrives 24 July, setting the tone for Arcade’s world of sonic archetypes and emotional alchemy. Named after the iconic Street Fighter character, the track is a defiant, high-energy anthem of resilience, driven by sharp beats, bursts of distortion, and Boomvision’s brooding, stirring vocals. Built around a looping vocal sample that brings a glitchy, arcade-style edge, it’s a track that channels strength through dissonance and play; a powerful, cathartic statement of intent. “Chun-Li is the first female fighter in video game history. As an AFAB queer person who’s often existed in very male-dominated spaces, I always related to her,” Boomvision explains. “I connected with that attitude of: I’ll just do what I need to do, keep laughing, keep going, and I’ll get where I’m meant to be. Because I can. It doesn’t matter what you think I am.” The release also lands just two days before the one-year anniversary of a serious road accident that left Boomvision recovering from a brain injury. An experience they describe as “a massive recovery year”. “I feel fucking lucky to be here, fully healthy and alive,” they say. That sense of defiance and gratitude threads through the track; a refusal to be flattened by expectation, injury, or identity. Known for their work as a session musician and co-producer for artists including Kate Nash, Boomvision now steps fully into their own voice with a genre-fluid visual album that is as emotionally expansive as it is meticulously crafted. Alongside their artistic work, Boomvision is also a co-founder of Spark the Noise; a London-based non-profit that champions trans and FLINTA voices through music, workshops, and community-building. Born out of a desire to make creative spaces safer and more inclusive, the project has grown from a grassroots collective into a vital platform for queer expression, resistance, and joy. Every track on ‘Arcade’ is named after a Street Fighter character, using those figures as emotional containers for real experiences. Written during a period of upheaval, navigating a breakup and coming out as non-binary, the album leans into fantasy and magic realism to tell a story of identity, power, and transformation. “I asked myself: if my music was a comic book superhero of dreams, what would it sound like?” Boom says. “The answer was retro ‘90s badass. Street Fighter, Mad Max, bad CGI.” The release date for ‘Chun Li’, July 24 - was chosen to align with the New Moon, tying into the project’s themes of mysticism and magic realism. It also lands just ahead of London Trans Pride, adding another layer of intention to a track that speaks to resilience, visibility and self-definition. ‘Arcade’ will be released 6 October, accompanied by a 35-minute visual album. A narrative film set in the fictional world of Mintaka, a place of tradition and control, where two Arcadian warriors rebel to rewrite the rules and rediscover themselves.

Tracks

1. ELIZA/KEN
2. ROSE
3. HADOUKEN
4. HONDA
5. CHUN LI
6. BLANKA
7. RYU
8. BISON

Press

Boomvision is an Italo-British multidisciplinary artist crafting bold, emotionally charged music that blends ambient electronics, glitchy pop, and punk-rooted DIY ethos

Audio & Video

TAKAAT - 'IS NOISE VOL: 2'

Formats

• PR14 - 10"

Details

NEW TO FORTE !!!!! TAKAAT (pronounced tuh-cot), meaning “noise” in the Tuareg language Tamashek, is the trio of Ahmoudou Madassane, Mikey Coltun, and Souleymane Ibrahim, also known as the rhythm section of Mdou Moctar. TAKAAT is sonic chaos, improvisation, freedom of exploration, and the punk styles of bands such as Fugazi and Unwound, all mixed together with the guitar music from the Sahel. TAKAAT started during soundchecks while on the road with Mdou Moctar when the trio indulged their shared love for amps cranked to 11 and the sound of blown out speakers. Towards the end of 2023, the three started writing music together, inspired by their shared experiences with the sounds and energy of Hausa bar bands, gritty soukous, and 2000s post-punk. The music of TAKAAT is intense, dark, and energetic. Deeply inspired by the DIY ethos of punk, Ahmoudou, Mikey, and Souleymane capture that thrill of the new and the ecstasy of togetherness in these heavy rockers. TAKAAT follows in the spirit of the independent music culture that birthed hardcore basement shows, bedroom tape labels, and generator-powered pick-up wedding bands. Tinariwen are the grandfathers of what we know today as Taureg guitar music. Started in refugee camps in Algeria and Libya in 1979, Tinariwen created a new sound of Taureg music that pushed the tradition into a new direction. Ahmoudou, Souleymane, and I all came to Tinariwen in different ways throughout our life and there is no doubt the importance the music has on all three of us. Just as much as Tinariwen pushed what Tuareg music is, that was the idea with TAKAAT is, to push the tradition even further, create something new, create something fresh that blends our love for bands like Tinariwen but also our love of heavier more chaotic bands. Is Noise Vol. 2 includes the TAKAAT versions of a couple of our favorite Tinariwen tunes. Unlike the original Tinariwen versions, these songs are unedited shredding jams recorded live to tape in Washington D.C. This is raw, this is noisy, this is TAKAAT. -Mikey Coltun 'Damn, that's very good.' - Ahmoudou Madassane

Tracks

1. Amidinin 2. Elwan 3. Imajighan Anagrou 4. Ishumar

Press

Audio & Video

ORCHESTRA GOLD - 'DAKAN'

Formats

• OG003 - LP

  657628453765

Details

With their boldest release to date, Orchestra Gold unveils Dakan — a transcendent new album exploring the intertwined forces of destiny and passion. Guided by the visionary vocals of Malian singer Mariam Diakité, [Dakan] is a sonic and spiritual journey: rooted in tradition, driven by intuition, and lit ablaze with psychedelic energy. Mariam’s lyrics draw deeply from her devotion to the baye fall tradition — a mystical branch of West African sufism that favors direct experience of the divine over doctrine. Her voice doesn’t just sing — it **channels.** "This song is an homage to my teacher in the Baye Fall tradition, Baye ass n’diaye. He taught me that religion must be rooted in the direct experience of the divine. To truly love God, we must experience God." -Mariam Diakite, singer Psychedelic rock collides with Malian soul in a sonic ritual where fate dances with free will. A bridge between worlds: malian traditional music (60's+70's) and heavy, hypnotic psychedelic rock.

Tracks

Side A:
Diyanye Ko (Passion)
Baye Ass N?Diaye
Diyanye Ko Te Sa (Desire is Unquenchable)
Abarika Kanuna (Thankyou For Love)
Side B:
Dakan (Destiny)
Djama Ko (People)
Nema (Love)
Yayoroba
Baye Ass N?Diaye (Reprise)

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Audio & Video

WHITE BOY & THE AVERAGE RAT BAND - 'S/T'

Formats

• EZRDR168LP - LP

  737879948651

Details

White Boy and the Average Rat Band was formed in the unlikely small mountain town of Richlands, Virginia in late 1979 by guitarist and songwriter Michael Matney. Fresh out of high school in 1979, Matney would venture over the mountain to neighboring Tennessee to try his luck in the music Mecca of Nashville. There Matney would join Kriss Famous’ longtime established local act “Tabu”, replacing Ron Keel as lead guitarist. It was in this arrangement that Matney would be christened with the name “White Boy”. His time with “Tabu” and in Nashville would be brief before returning back to Virginia. Once back home, Matney would take a job with a local record store and recording studio owner who would grant him recording time in exchange for employment. There Matney would helm his own project deemed White Boy and the Average Rat Band; writing, composing and producing the self-titled debut. On the project, Matney played all the instruments, in exception to the two separate drummers used to complete the album. Musicians were then assembled in order to represent a band on the album and in live performances. In 1980 the White Boy and the Average Rat Band self-titled debut album would be released in a limited number of 300 copies, of which 50 would be lost. They would see very limited distribution, which only added to the curiosity the album would become. The band in the early 1980’s would have a short life-span that would well be surpassed by their reputation on into the next couple of decades. Matney would then go on to other projects, such as a live guitarist sitting in with Dr. Hook and as a touring guitarist with David Allen Coe. During which time, unannounced to Matney, White Boy and the Average Rat Band’s name was gaining somewhat of a cult status amongst record collectors around the globe seeking private press releases and on-the-fringes type rock bands. As the records continued to circulate through the hands of these collectors, the album began to become more and more difficult to find, as well as fetching prices in the high hundreds of dollars. In 2010 a bootleg pressing of the band’s album would begin to circulate. This unofficial release would be a response to the high demand of people seeking the record. Although it was unknown to the band at the time and obviously done without permission, the bootleg only helped to grow the band’s cult status even greater. Riding Easy offers the first official reissue of this lost 1980 album.

Tracks

1. Prelude 2. Neon Warriors 3. Sector 387 4. Maybe I'm A Fool 5. The Prophet Song 6. Leaving On Vacation 7. Blue Moon 8. Oriental Doctor 9. Tell Someone 10. Will To Fight 11. Smokehouse Blues 12. Phone Call From New York 13. If I Find Love

Press

(RIYL: Adrianne Lenker, Mount Eerie and Bill Callahan)

Audio & Video

ELDER - 'LIMINALITY / DREAM STATE RETURN'

Formats

• PSYCHOBABBLE140 - LP (COLOURED)

  4015698758801

Details

**LTD ONE-SIDED 180G TRANSLUCENT VINYL W/ ETCHING ON B SIDE** At the end of 2024, Elder looked back on an unusual period in their now near 20-year career. A few years ago, the band had released their most progressive record yet, 2022's highly acclaimed Innate Passage, followed by the usual heavy touring schedule, including a 24-show arena tour supporting Tool. The band then took a year-long sabbatical to recharge their creative batteries, which, instead of rest, culminated in the release of multiple albums by side projects. Convening in the winter of that year for a two-week songwriting session at Big Snuff Studio in Berlin, the band set a goal of knocking off the rust and putting together ideas for the next record. While combing through an archive of old sketches, they hit upon an outline of a song from somewhere between 2020's Omens and its successor Innate Passage, abandoned then for reasons now inscrutable. Picking up the pieces with fresh ears, Elder fleshed out a new version of the track, which is firmly rooted between those two albums but with an identity of its own. Building on the song's ending, a swirling tower of synthesizers, chugging guitars, and almost tribal drumming was constructed during lengthy in-studio jams. Liminality/Dream State Return can be seen as a bridge between eras in Elder's creative universe: one foot is planted in the highly melodic and sometimes alternative/grunge-tinged riffing of Omens, the other in Innate Passage's dreamy prog soundscapes, with its head in the clouds looking toward Elder's upcoming LP 7. Vinyl comes as a one-sided, 180 g translucent LP with etching on the B side, including a download.

Tracks

Tracklist: 1. Liminality / Dream State Return

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Audio & Video

TRIMDON GRANGE EXPLOSION - 'DREAMS BURIED UNDER THE SEA'

Formats

• FC62 - LP

  5061041821721

Details

Next up on North London’s FERAL CHILD label, comes a real treat- the long planned full length from the great TRIMDON GRANGE EXPLOSION. A superb 10 track record that follows 2018’s self titled debut on Cardinal Fuzz | Feeding Tube (which prompted Rolling Stone’s David Fricke to describe them as “arch modernists within their historical domain…like a farm-house Velvet Underground.”) Recorded in rehearsal rooms and homes in the aftermath of a pandemic, “Dreams…” carries a sense of Autumn: an ending of things, and new beginnings. Of harvesting and the storing of all that is good, in preparation for the harsh winter to come. Initially falling together from the ashes of sometimes celebrated electric-folkies The Eighteenth Day Of May back in 2006, Trimdon Grange Explosion have a way of taking their time. Built on the strong friendships of the individuals going way back, their approach to music-making has involved infrequent London based live appearances, but lots of recording, the results offered forward only when necessary. The years following have seen the departure of founding member, viola player Alison Cotton to concentrate on well received solo work, but still appearing on three tracks on the new record. Alison’s departure preceded the arrival of new member, formidable bassist Ben Reed whose long resume includes work with Frank Ocean, Sampha and Hannah Peel, in addition to making solo records, the most recent being “Bandaged” on Esoteric in 2023. His arrival frees up original bassist Mark Nicholas to join Ben Phillipson on guitar duties. Phillipson also takes sole charge of vocals, double-tracked and harmonised. Drummer Karl Sabino completes the line-up, also handling most of the recording and production. Not completely putting their folk tendencies to one side, the album documents a band learning to communicate with the new line-up; a sound that stretches from the Albion Country Band’s pastoral intricacy to Pavement’s lo-fi inscrutability by way of The Rain Parade/Byrdsian school of chiming guitars. A recent live review in Shindig! (July 2025) noted the “propulsive ride-cymbal-driven drum and bass groove underpins intertwining dual raga-drone guitar lines; when one goes high, the other goes low and vice versa, making for sublime psych-head listening”. “Dreams Buried Under The Sea” is at times uplifting, often heavily melancholic, and marks a culmination of sorts for Trimdon. Its release on Dom Martin’s Feral Child label also completes a circle, their debut release being a 7” on his previous Great Pop Supplement imprint way back when. 

Tracks

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