Back in stock: Post Rock/Experimental

Review: Ash Ra Tempel's fifth and - in most ways of judging it - final album was really also a swan song for the late, great Manuel Gottsching. Recoded at Studio Dierks, in the small, picturesque and windmill-happy German village of Stommeln by none other than Scorpions studio chief Dieter Dierks, there's a lot happening on Starring Rosi. And all of it really pretty damn good. It's funk, it's epic. It's moody, it's upbeat. It's steeped in an air of Krautrock and space rock, yet also wouldn't sound out of place providing the slap bass and guitar licks for a 1970s movie trailer. Simply put, it's Ash Ra Tempel, from the cosmic warmup and gradual build go 'Laughter Loving', through the folk-ish serenity of 'The Fairy Dance' and warbling, warped cacophonies on 'Schizo'.

Review: Jim Black's Houseplant sees the progressive-jazz drummer continue to refine his signature style, a fusion of jazz and rock that's as quirky as it is inventive. While not a radical shift from his previous works, this 2009 release showcases Black's distinctive approach to drumming, blending complex rhythms with sly, punchy backbeats that keep the session lively. Backed by his longtime band Alas No Axis, Black delivers a sprightly set with guitarist Hilmar Jensson, whose polytonal riffs add texture, and saxophonist Chris Speed, who brings a smoother edge to the more intense moments. Tracks like 'Malomice' highlight the band's ability to shift seamlessly between acid-rock and jazz, with Speed's saxophone weaving off-kilter melodies over Black's precise, crashing grooves. The mood softens on introspective cuts like 'Elight,' where the musicians ease into more delicate, atmospheric territory. Bassist Skuli Sverrisson provides the glue, his limber playing driving the energy throughout. Houseplant is a masterclass in balancing catchy riffs with jazz improvisation, offering an intense but melodic exploration of jazz-rock fusion.

Review: Cuckoo was their second full length from Curve - Toni Halliday on vocals and guitar with Dean Garcia - and saw its release in 1993. This album was heavier, focused and featured stronger, more aggressive rhythms that evolved from their first album. Heavily influenced by bombastic urban and electronic beats but favouring shoegaze effects on the guitars, making for a unique combination that made Cuckoo stand out from the rest, ultimately predating similar sounds from bands like Garbage. This album holds key tracks like the amazing 'Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus' as well as the singles 'Missing Link' and 'Super Blaster'. The effects of Curve are still being felt today by those who discover them and fans of the producer Flood should definitely be aware of this album if they are not already. This reissue comes on limited numbered 180- Gram pink & purple vinyl LP complete with an insert.

Review: After a period of roughly three decades, German soundtrack artist and onetime Karlheinz Stockhausen apprentice Holger Czukay shares a surprise trove of lost tapes, which are said to have been once recorded by the artist for "free disposal" and which were presumably forgotten about at the time. Now available, all of said material is said to date back to at least the 1990s, and marks the forward thinking and "ahead of its time" (as remarked by fellow producer Schneider TM) approach to cold Kraut and experimental wave that informed Czukay as he experimented freewheelingly with beatmaking while in the company of further fellows Dr. Walker and Air Liquide. Also evolving in temporal conjunction with an experimental live show involving body tracking tech, fashioned by mixed media artist Arthur Schmidt, there are implicit themes of virtual reality and haptic sound control here. Way ahead of its time indeed.

Review: An incendiary, iconoclastic album in the intersection of shoegaze, metal and post-rock, Sunbather by Deafheaven has more or less gone down in recent history as a supreme meme, one of those projects whose popularity on the Internet is more than likely to render it godlike status for decades to come. This remixed version is not a 'remix album' as received ideas of 'remixing' might suggest, but rather a full-blown re-mix and remaster by the band's very own Jack Shirley, who intends to continually bolster its monolithic status by giving a fresh sonic rundown. Most notably, this edition is tailored to spatial audio setups, so that the most obsessively audiophilic among us might bask in its newfound three-sixty-degree washes. That, too, comes with a new coloured vinyl pressing and freshly designed sleeves to boot.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Sleeve damaged but otherwise in excellent condition***


Not just a clever name, At Issue takes its title from the Brooklyn venue this incredible album was recorded in, namely Issue Project Room. For those who don't recognise the musicians involved, Kim Gordon is an icon of discordant, white noise-y rock 'n' roll, best known as a member of Sonic Youth - one of the most iconic guitar acts to emerge in the 1980s.

That might be a red herring in this context, though, because at the New York address in question Gordon was joined by legendary blues minimalist maestro, Loren Connors. The result is a hybrid work that's patient, sophisticated, utterly mesmerising and - for want of a better, less fawning word - close to perfection. Profoundly moving, and masterfully arranged, we guarantee this is one for the lifetime honours list.

Review: Moody Scottish rock experimentalists Mogwai have got a vast catalogue of post-everything sound that goes from the absorbingly dark and heavy soundtrack to the Zidane film to the spacious, noisy and cacophonous rock drawl of albums like Mr Beast. They are also superb in the live area and have played so many times before for BBC radio that they put together Government Commissions: BBC Sessions 1996-2003 back in 2005 with some of their favourite bits from seven of those sessions. The album is dedicated to John Peel who hosted the bulk of these in the first place.

Review: Homaging mutuality in a robust creative dialogue, More Eaze and Claire Rousay add another flash of brilliance to a mesmerising string of allegorical LPs. Both born in San Antonio, Texas, Rousay and Eaze (Mari Maurice) riff (literally) on strummed country and noise rock echoes, reflecting an uptick in electronica artists sound-repainting the lonesome grasslands and desert great plains of the mid Southern United States. Yet on No Floor, there is an ardent sci-fi leitmotif too, producing a techno-realist vision reminiscent of a Texan Death Stranding and/or Simon Stalenhag painting. From 'kinda tropical' to 'limelight, actually' we hear shortgrass droughts, short-wave police radio chatter, and the bootup zaps of a beaten up pocket survivo-droid, as it scans the semidesert we alone must brave.

Review: Surprisingly, Arthur Russell's first posthumous collection of music, 1993's Another Thought, has never before been released on vinyl. With this gatefold double-album, Be With Records has finally set the record straight. It's well worth picking up, not least because the set, which was initially put together after raiding the legendary cellist-turned-producer's archive of unreleased recordings, is little less than superb. Full of hard-to-pigeonhole songs in Russell's unique style - effects-laden blends of cello, acoustic guitar, emotive vocals, twangy double bass and so on - Another Thought contains some of Russell's most refined and emotional recordings, including such classics as 'How We Walk on the Moon' and 'In The Light of a Miracle'.

Review: Cosmo Sheldrake's Eye to the Ear is a challenging album to categorise, with the versatile talents of this English singer, producer, composer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist turning to a range of styles, from classical choral works ('The Feet are the Link') to electronic compositions created from birdsong, exemplified by 'Shiny Is the View.' It even ventures into the utterly unique with 'The Snapping of Shrimp,' a track incorporating the sounds of a regenerating coral reef. This is Sheldrake's second full-length album, arriving six years after The Much Much How How and I. Both albums explore themes of symbiosis and environmentalism, prominently featuring horn ensembles. However, Eye to the Ear leans more towards slow, contemplative tracks and a diverse soundscape. 'Breathe Round Corners' stands out as a particularly poignant song about environmental degradation, accompanied by the calls of endangered birds. The most riveting aspect of Sheldrake's music is his use of unusual samples, such as sounds from Sri Lankan frogs, a humpback whale, snapping shrimp, blacksmiths, and even 15 golf balls bouncing on a wooden floor. His environmental themes are influenced by scientific expeditions with his biologist brother, Merlin, to remote locations. The track 'Lichens' includes samples from a site in Ecuador where a new species of psychedelic mushroom was discovered. Standout tracks include 'Does the Swallow Dream of Flying,' 'Marvelous Clouds,' and 'Breathe Round Corners.' Eye to the Ear is an ideal listen for those seeking music beyond the typical human-centric narrative.

Review: Considered groundbreaking at the moment of its release, Sigur Ros' Agaetis byrjun, originally released in 1999, is a subtle and speechless blend of post-rock, ambient, and ether-electronica. The album propelled the Icelandic band to fame for its lush falsettos from Jonsi - which indulged a Cocteau Twins-esque conlang mixed with Icelandic, known among the band members as "Hopelandic." Tracks like 'Svefn-g-englar' and 'Staralfur' became instant classics, with a wide-berthed, cinematic feel, regaling the sense of standing at the edge of an ultimatum. The 2024 Vinyl Me, Please reissue now comes repackaged, offering it in a deluxe vinyl edition with remastered sound.

Review: It's hard not to feel moved by Swans. To quote Wayne's World, it's not just a clever name, but rather a band every bit as graceful yet ferocious, beautiful but strong as the bird borrowed from. Take "Annaline", for example. As the first track-proper of this spellbinding collection it's a stop-you-in-your-tracks masterpiece that could force silence on a stadium despite being softly spoken, subtle and serene. It's a motif the outfit seem focused on for this, their 15th studio album. Even at its loudest, title track "Leaving Meaning" mostly plays out like a deranged sermon in some temple of experimental rock. "Sunfucker", for example, has enough reversed-out refrains to make anyone feel they might be in over their head with forces they can't see, let alone comprehend. "It's Coming It's Real" is a display of dark hypnosis. "The Hanging Garden" paints nervous abstract pictures with psychedelic-leaning guitar hooks and manic vocal cries. Put simply, it's perhaps their tensest, most introverted and spellbinding work to date.