LEE RANALDO - 'THE SYSTEM (ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK ALBUM)'

Formats

• SC65X - LP (COLOURED)

  769152435633

• SC65 - LP

  769152435619

Details

**AVAILABLE ON LIMITED SEA GLASS COLOURED VINYL / PRE-ORDER ONLY** A quick scan of the world's favorite crowdsourced discography reveals that Sonic Youth co-founder Lee Ranaldo was not a total stranger to crackling electric experimentation in the years following his songwriting turns of the 20-teens. Yet The System, ingeniously culled and sequenced from Ranaldo's soundtrack work for Dutch filmmaker Joris Postema’s "eco-doc" of the same name nonetheless feels like a reawakening. Quietly released in a vastly different (and much more "filmic") form by Doxy Music / Riva Media Records in 2025, this LP reimagines and reconfigures the initial release, including unreleased material (written and recorded for the film) to lend it new stature as both a return to drone-improv form and a reunion with introspective Downtown angst. Given the state of the world, it's not surprising that the film Ranaldo scores -- a documentary on three climate activists bruising their fists on the black iron prison of techno-fascist deathkultur -- is a study in despair and futility. But rather than wallowing in navel-gazing doom and gloom, the film documents the unstoppable spirit that has animated human resistance since the time of the Pharaohs. As it turns out, the gorgeous scope of Lee Ranaldo's guitar palette is a perfect manifestation of the hope and despair that animates the film. But like other high-water marks in the guitar-centric soundtrack canon -- the high plains raga of Bruce Langhorne's Hired Hand, Neil Young's sparse and ghostly solo transmissions on Dead Man, or the monolithic mantras of Popol Vuh's Nosferatu -- its devotion to spectral gestures and meditative song forms launches it firmly outside of the OST orbit into a universe fully its own. It might seem like a long journey from the Lower Manhattan rhythmic grime of the album's opener "Tajikistan (Nice to Meet You)" (reminiscent of guitar opuses like Robert Quine and Jody Harris's Escape) to the ringing cowboy chords of the final track, but the narrative logic of the LP pulls the listener along as solidly as a pack horse. As the LP unwinds, and collaborators like Jim Jarmusch, cellist Leila Boudreil, Yeah Yeah Yeahs snare shaman Brian Chase and guitarist Yonatan Gat take their places, new vistas unfurl -- the ritualistic thrum of "Berlin Blockade," the haunted overtone palaces of "Bergelmir," the cavernous acoustic strumming of "Instruments of Violence." It all winds up with the high lonesome standard "Cool Water," each unhurried note trailing off into long-tail reverb, layers of shifting vocal harmonies pulling everything skyward -- a hopeful note in an album where existential dread never lurks too deeply below the surface. In the end, The System functions both as a film score and a hallucinatory (mostly) instrumental guitar record, revealing a sensibility not too often spotted in the 21st century -- a liminal space where the song, the jam, the meditation merges into a blurred whole. The System's expansive fabric, emerging from a collective sound circling around Ranaldo's signature tones, envelops and amplifies the contributions of its community of creators -- the perfect antidote to narcissistic despair. Much like the subjects of the film light the way toward intra-generational resistance, the music of The System reveals a path through gathering darkness. The world could be yours if you follow. —Tom Carter

Tracks

1. Tajikistan (Nice to Meet You) 2. Pippi Sailing (Cimbalom) 3. No More Slogans 4. Berlin Blockade 5. Bergelmir 6. Something Beautiful to Live For 7. The Conference 8. An Exploding Dandelion 9. Telefoongesprek Henk 10. Both Ends of the Spectrum 11. Instruments of Violence 12. A Just Collapse 13. Tadzio Wild Congress 14. The Cusp of the Change 15. Cool Water

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RIVIERA GAZ - 'CATACROMA'

Formats

• VB14 - LP

  769152435015

Details

Multi-national trio Riviera Gaz (Gustavo Riviera of Forgotten Boys, Paulo Kishimoto of Pitty, Forgotten Boys, and Steve Shelley of Sonic Youth) have pieced together a psychedelic collective consciousness where fuzzy riffs, glam rock energy, fearless studio experimentation, and Can-inspired grooves all melt together to form new unstable elements. The group’s second album Catacroma elevates their sound even further, intentionally avoiding sterile digital recording crutches and instead using extensive editing and mixing to shape the songs into sprawling cosmic experiences. The album is a hall of fun house mirrors where killer songs break apart and come back together organically, never taking expected turns and always ending up somewhere even more interesting than where they began.

Tracks

1. Giovanni 2. Monomania 3. Must Be 4. Lonely Moon 5. Copycat 6. Name the River 7. Sub 8. Crime Scene 9. Bona Fide 9. Ho-Ho-Kus

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BLAIR / HUBER - 'ECLIPSE'

Formats

• LTR063 - LP

  4066004773124

Details

LEITER have confirmed details of the much-anticipated debut album by BLAIR / HUBER, the innovative jazz duo formed by Frankfurt’s award-winning saxophonist, Darius Blair, and distinguished guitarist Niko Huber. Due for release on October 16, 2026, ECLIPSE was co-produced by the band with their long-time partner, Nicolas Butka, and recorded earlier this year with engineer Antonio Pulli, a two-time Grammy winner, at Berlin’s famed Funkhaus Saal 3. Available on limited edition vinyl and via digital platforms, the album follows the release of a digital single in June, the whimsically titled, deeply funky ‘PRISM BREAK’, featuring drummer Noah Fürbringer of labelmates Moses Yoofee Trio. Friends for well over a decade, Blair and Huber began playing as a duo at the pandemic’s start. Since then, they’ve built an enviable reputation, live and on record, for conjuring a brand of discreetly inventive, captivating tunes from an unusually spartan setup, becoming one of the most promising acts in their homeland’s flourishing jazz scene. ECLIPSE confirms their immaculate instincts, its intriguing appeal encapsulated in nine succinct, bewitching tunes. Reflecting their bond, both musical and personal, ECLIPSE’s title represents the alignment of two forces and the subsequent transformative energy. They were searching, Blair says, “for a common language between hip hop and jazz, something modern and cutting edge that also hits the same spiritual space as the cats in the 60s.” With Blair’s flair for an indelible tune interwoven with Huber’s singular style, BLAIR / HUBER always sound different, like nothing or no one else. On ECLIPSE, they outshine themselves altogether.

Tracks

1. ECLIPSE 2. CHASING DOWN LESSING STREET 3. HIDEAWAY 4. PRISM BREAK 5. INTERLUDE 6. PURPLE DUST 7. TITAN 8. GAMBLIN? 9. 01/01/25

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THE U.S. RIP VAN WINKLE - 'THE U.S. RIP VAN WINKLE'

Formats

• SR6-LP - LP

  769152438511

• SR6-CD - CD

  769152438528

Details

Dayton, Ohio’s mysterious Rip Van Winkle has inexplicably changed their band-name to The U.S. Rip Van Winkle on their 3rd release. Spontaneous lo-fi psychedelia. A new batch of 15 songs. The U.S. Rip Van Winkle = Robert Pollard, Joe Patterson, Ben Penry and Jason Short.

Tracks

01 The U.S. Rip Van Winkle (By Title) 02 See The Clerk 03 Earth To Channel 12 04 When Melvin Turns In 05 Paint Pow 06 Harlequin Ghost 07 Ex's and Ohs 08 Odd Pocket 09 Anonymous Hangman 10 Personal Death At Edward The 7th 11 Monkey Puzzle Forest 12 Broken Toys 13 The Loser 14 Headpiece Of A Crow 15 Blow My Drums

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WILLIS ALAN RAMSEY - 'WILLIS ALAN RAMSEY'

Formats

• ASH106 - LP

  850051035212

Details

Singer-songwriter Willis Alan Ramsey was 20 years old when he became the third signing to Leon Russell and Denny Cordell's Shelter Records – after Russell himself and the legendary J.J. Cale. The result was Ramsey's 1972 eponymous debut, a masterpiece of laid-back Texas country-rock, blues-inflected folk and outlaw ballads. As a child, Ramsey was an obsessive radio listener – from Elvis and the Beatles to Delta blues, country and even classical music. By middle school, he had formed his first garage band and started writing songs. After a brief stint at the University of Texas, he took to the burgeoning coffeehouse circuit where he toured alongside folks like Townes Van Zandt, Jerry Jeff Walker and Keith Sykes. It was during these shows that Ramsey developed much of the material for his LP, a diverse yet coherent mix that revealed his varied influences. Recorded in Memphis, Nashville and at Russell's home studio in the Hollywood Hills, the album features some of the era's greatest session musicians: Eddie Hinton on guitar, Red Rhodes on pedal steel and the rhythm section of Leland Sklar and Jim Keltner. A true songwriter's songwriter album, its tunes have been covered by Waylon Jennings ("Satin Sheets"), Jimmy Buffett ("The Ballad of Spider John") and, most famously, Captain & Tennille ("Muskrat Love"), but no cover can beat the originals from the wise-beyond-his-years Ramsey. Though Willis Alan Ramsey has continued to perform regularly and write new songs, a second album is yet to be released. For years, whenever someone asked about it, Ramsey was known to answer "What's wrong with the first one?" The answer is, of course, absolutely nothing. In fact, it's perfect. This first-time vinyl reissue reproduces the original lyric sheet. Includes new interview with Ramsey and liner notes by author Richie Unterberger.

Tracks

1. The Ballad Of Spider John 2. Muskrat Candlelight 3. Geraldine And The Honeybee 4. Wishbone 5. Satin Sheets 6. Goodbye Old Missoula 7. Painted Lady 8. Watermelon Man 9. Boy From Oklahoma 10. Angel Eyes 11. Northeast Texas Women

Press

First-time vinyl reissue of the only album ever to be released by Texas country rock singer-songwriter Willis Alan Ramsey

Audio & Video

LAURA HICKLI - 'STRANGER TO MYSELF'

Formats

• BING218 - LP

  600197021811

Details

“The world just kept spinning. We hit the ground again—I thought I had died. Everything went black for a second. And then, suddenly, the van stopped. The g-forces vanished, but inside me, the spinning didn’t. My body was still. But inside, I kept tumbling.” That’s Laura Hickli, describing the car accident that changed her life and nearly shattered her relationship with music. Stranger To Myself, Hickli’s full-length debut moves through her journey from fracture to revival. “What’s the point of being alive when it can all be taken away so quickly?” Hickli’s unfiltered recollections are shaped by fear, shock, and survivor’s guilt. They appear in Stranger To Myself’s darkest passages, grounding the album in raw, unguarded vulnerability. During a 2023 U.S. tour, Hickli’s van skidded on ice and flew off the road, spun 180 degrees into oncoming traffic, careening backwards off the highway and rolling three times down a 50 foot hill. As it tumbled down the hillside, Hickli felt everything slow down, watching her belongings rise around her, suspended in eerie stillness, time stretching the space between life and death. It was just twenty-four seconds, and although there were no severe injuries, Hickli was painfully affected. In the months that followed, writing music unpacked what her body had survived yet her mind could not accept. Stranger To Myself is a sonic journey towards healing. Music holds immense power for Hickli; it’s how she processes, how she connects, how she survives. Across the album, she confronts grief, fear, and dissociation on her path to acceptance and growth. Two emotional currents run throughout: songs rooted in loss and anguish, and others cautiously imagining a future beyond survival. These contrasting tones live side by side creating an unsettled emotional world that reflects trauma and recovery. Through this darkness and despair, light emerges. Stranger To Myself is an emotionally turbulent experience; a meditative reflection in limbo, only to culminate in a climax of sound. Harsh, raw instrumentation reverberates throughout, intensity dispelling the tranquility of seconds prior. The songs that emerged aren’t pretty, polished reflections, they’re unsettling and painfully human. Recovery has no clear finish, but creation has given her connection, and now Hickli feels less alone.

Tracks

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NOWHERE FLOWER - 'PEACE CHANNEL'

Formats

• SAB114 - LP

  769152439310

Details

Nowhere Flower, Lila Jarzombek’s solo music project, returns with a highly anticipated third full-length, Peace Channel. This time around finding a befitting comrade in Soft Abuse, a label that has served as a welcoming home to over two decades worth of like-minded sonic travellers. Peace Channel offers a continuation and evolution of her homespun wanderings through the pursuit of minimal bedroom perfection. One key difference from past releases is the use of a Tascam 4-track as opposed to digital recording. The switch made for a freeing experience, with the tactile functionality of the machine creating more space for experimentation and discovery. Despite, or perhaps in spite of the learning curve of navigating the new gadget, which inevitably leads to problems, surprises, and many happy accidents along the way, the album comes across with the ease and flow of a seasoned practitioner. With this in mind, Jarzombek described the album’s process as feeling more akin to making a painting or collage. A feeling that comes across distinctly upon first listen, and one that’s most fitting given her artistic practice. The warbling and fluttering of UK or NZ DIY-style Casiotone electronics are met with rambling guitar lines and slurred vocalizations. Tracks like “Behind Glass” and “Hallowed Out” have a somehow epic-yet-quiet catchiness. Back-to-back gems “Shared or Shattered” and “Formed By Water” display the layered and building approach to 4-track aided improvisation. One of the album’s defining moments is the inclusion of the winding acoustic piece “Ur Picture;” a mesmerizing ode to Mope Grooves’ Stevie Pohlman that brings to mind the timid genius of Joshua Burkett’s guitar-work while illustrating the difficulty of loss and grief. From the Martian landscape of Mt. St. Helens to the devastated hellscape of the Gaza, Peace Channel offers a vivid picture of the complex modern reality through its inspirations. The album is easily placed as an important next in a long line of insightful DIY home recorders. A lineage who have always channeled a particular kind of peace in a world hellbent on destruction.”—Stefan Christensen

Tracks

1. Earliest Sound 2. Behind Glass 3. 1,000 Acres 4. Time II 5. Peace Channel 6. Window 7. Center of 4 Corners 8. In Ash 9. Hollowed Out 10. UR Picture 11. Inside the Wall 12. Tarragon 13. Shared or Shattered 14. Formed by Water 15. Wand

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CASH RIVERS AND THE SINNERS - 'HIGH FLYIN UFOS'

Formats

• SR-7LP - LP

  769152438610

Details

More Guided By Voices inebriated comedy / country hi-jinx. Never on streaming, always limited edition and usually too few pressed, Cash Rivers vinyl tend to fly outta here. High Flyin' UFOs will be no exception.

Tracks

1."Parallelograms" 2."High Flyin' Ufos" 3."Sharky Moo" 4."Me, Yoko & the Golf Cart" 5."Bobby Bare BLVD" 6."Get Up Now" 7."You" 8."The Money" (part 1) 9."Hey" 10."Michael Jackson Stained Glass Window" 11."Face Ride" 12."BYOB" 13."Backstreet Baby Momma" 14."Front Row Guy" 15."One Cigarette Load Out" 16."Stupid Commercials" 17."Party in My Pants" 18."Cuckoo Clock" 19."IPT" 20."Data Girl" 21."Feminine Hygiene" 22."Eggplant Parm" 23."Groovy Hotel" 24."Look at Them Go" 25."The Money" (part 2) 26."Be Cool" 27."The Way of the World" 28."Good Lookin' Momma with An Ugly Kid" 29."Last Resort" 30. "Hitchcock to a Train"

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