Tom O.C Wilson
'Tell a Friend' LP
(Egg 82LP)

Tom O.C Wilson is a London-based composer of lovingly crafted, infectiously playful art-house pop. Tell A Friend is the first album put out under his own name, but is the culmination of a much longer journey. Previous collections Animation (2009) and The Night Attendant (2014) came out under the name Freeze Puppy, a one-man band born from a series of musical experiments conducted in a south Bristol bedroom. Upon moving to London in 2012 to start a PhD in Composition at Royal Holloway, Wilson began forging new musical alliances, putting together a four-piece live band, and sketching out his vision of an album that would fuse academic smarts with the effortless tunefulness that had always defined his music.

The result is Tell A Friend, a frothy, colourful 12-song collection that pushes the raw materials of pop into dazzlingly surprising shapes, from the polyrhythmic fervour of "Give Yourself Some Credit" to the Steve Reich-meets-Motown stomp of “The Ones”. Yet as with similarly cerebrally-minded pop acts such as Field Music, Max Tundra and Dirty Projectors, the intricacy of the music is coupled with a knack for melody that ensures the album remains hookily accessible throughout. And the title? After the fictional scenarios of his previous releases, Wilson decided to adopt a more truthful lyrical approach this time round, addressing each song to a real-life person or place. By turns joyful, melancholy, funny and cathartic, Tell A Friend is a celebration of human interaction, brimming over with music that is as inventive as it is life affirming.

"Wilson combines all the things I like about music in a seriously good but very playful and fun way" – Peter Brewis, Field Music.

UK: £15.00

EU: €24.00

US: $35.00

a.P.A.t.T.
'Fun with Music' LP
(Egg 81LP)

'a.P.A.t.T.'s fourth LP release, Fun with Music, invites us to mingle with all manner of rogue characters, clothed in their trademark exploratory zeal. Revelling in the opportunities of time and sound, developed in oodles of places with ten musical personalities and 42 instruments, Fun with Music sees the band more refined and focussed than ever. Consider it their White Album.

Some say that a.P.A.t.T.'s sound is something of a moving target. This is, after all, the band that swaps instruments mid-song, starred in a TV sitcom, and has even run its own small country for an evening: a restless, relentless take on 21st century music and performance through a lens of knowing, winking, quintessentially British humour. French fans liken the band to Monty Python sketches being played by 'le Floyd'...or something.

Over the past ten years a.P.A.t.T. has inspired comparisons with Devo, Metronomy, Frank Zappa, The Residents and Cardiacs, without actually sounding like any of them. In Fun with Music, “Liverpool's multi-genre veterans” (The Skinny) have condensed their vision-quest into 45 minutes of hooky, style-busting material.

"When Liverpool’s own a.P.A.t.T. step on stage, it feels as if this might be a contender for gig of the year. Total sensory bamboozlement. They play like the band in Jabba the Hutt’s cave from Star Wars, and we’re not even sure if that’s a compliment or not." [Get Into This]"When Liverpool’s own a.P.A.t.T. step on stage, it feels as if this might be a contender for gig of the year. Total sensory bamboozlement. They play like the band in Jabba the Hutt’s cave from Star Wars, and we’re not even sure if that’s a compliment or not." [Get Into This]

Watch A HREF="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HPvl40e8bQ">'Yes... that's Positive' video on You Tube

UUK: £15.00

EU: €24.00

US: $35.00

The Doozer/span>
'Sheet Music' LP (also on CD)
(Egg 69LP)

The Doozer builds. He has previously built stone houses and wooden ships. He is currently building music. Raised around the Fenlands of Cambridgeshire, in the arse end of nowhere, the city drew closer and closer, the lights brighter and the time shorter. The city informs his music. His music informs the city. Songs evolve around watching and talking, buying and borrowing. Characters pass by, situations are imagined, colours are added and the resultant is a forming song.

His debut album, ‘Sheet Music’, was recorded mainly on Saturday mornings, bright and early. The songs weren’t complete until the recordings were complete. The spaces always changed. Instruments and voices were layered. Pop music was the aim; pop music isn’t quite the result. Pop music is The Doozer’s music, only filtered through all of the colours and sounds you’ve imagined when walking through the street or down your lane or when your batteries died.

'The Light' (MP3)
'Burn the Tape' (MP3)

Listen to Sheet Music on Last.fm

Watch the 'Sheet Music' video on You Tube

UK: £15.00

EU: €24.00

US: $35.00

Need New Body
'Where is Black Ben?' LP
(Egg 55LP)

"Philadelphia's Need New Body are masters of fractured and unbridled brilliance. They make music that is held together with layered guitar sounds, vintage synth bits, insane and bizarre lyrics, dance beats, and pop delights. Their third full length runs the musical gamut from folkie little ditties like "Poppa B" and "Pervudia", to wild and frenzied numbers like "Brite Tha' Day." There are snatches of noise, ruckus and recklessness, and other times the sounds are delightfully poppy in their free form pastiche. There are extended jams with sing a longs as well as two minute hyper spazzy freakouts. One highlight is an ode to Philadephia's South Street with horns and party time lyrics about the record stores and antique shops of this famous street. The common thread of this band is an appreciation of experimentation, of letting loose, getting down, and going wherever the road may lead them. It's done proud, freak flag high, eccentriticities for all to see, and chock full of enthusiasm" [Advanced Alternative Media]

'Totally Pos Paas' (MP3)
'Outer Space' (MP3)
'So St Rx' (MP3)
'Eskimo' (MP3)

Listen to Where's Black Ben? on Last.fm

UK: £15.00

EU: €24.00

US: $35.00

Zukanican
'E 5number' 10" mini LP
(Egg 51)

Debut, vinyl-only release from the Liverpool-based ensemble. Like an unholy hardcore collision between Can, The Soft Machine and Art Ensemble of Chicago. Theremin battery, skippy keys, s-bending bass, drill pattern drums, siren organ in continuum, other pulses muscling in on the action, a diversion into free-funk with sci-fi white noise cutting across. This is merely track one. Sax skronks, flights of intense fancy, you can imagine Acid Mothers’ Cotton Casino wanting to collaborate with this lot, but would be hard pressed to make it more dynamic than it already is, or cram much more in than is already there.

'S.O.M.B.' (MP3)
'Medallion' (MP3)
'Pay Never' (MP3)

Download E5number from eMusic
Listen to E5number on Last.fm

UK: £10.00

EU: €16.00

US: $24.00

Need New Body
'UFO' LP (also on CD)
(Egg 48LP)

Vinyl LP has now SOLD OUT.

Unlike cheap romance novels and simple arithmetic, Need New Body's complicated sounds can't simply be summed up. The Philadelphia group, risen from the ruins of cult art-rock band Bent Leg Fatima, makes deranged, ferociously eclectic music where the wheels always seem about to come off - and that's meant as a compliment. They're not just unpredictable - there's an element of danger to the band's experiments with genre and free noise. The band's sound is a musical gumbo, exploring all sorts of rhythm - funk, dub, jazz - and roasting it with the sharp punk tongue.

'Show Me Your Heart' (MP3)
'Hot Stuff' (MP3)
'Popfest' (MP3)

Hassle Hound
'Scaring the Grass in the Garden' 10" mini LP
(Egg 42)

Debut, vinyl-only release from the Glasgow-based ensemble, who blend samples and loops from a variety of disparate sources, gelling them together with more traditional instrumentation to create quirky off-kilter and beautiful pop songs. Their sound is lush, melodic and highly evocative, combining influences from a range of unlikely sources, taking in both the contemporary and the obsolete, high and low fidelity, the popular and the obscure. They also have releases on Twisted Nerve (singles club) and French label, Textile Records.

'Rickety Venue' (MP3)
'Hallo to the Owl' (MP3)

Download Scaring the Grass in the Garden from eMusic
Listen to Scaring the Grass in the Garden on Last.fm

UK: £10.00

EU: €16.00

US: $24.00

Pop-Off Tuesday
'Pop Ahoy!' LP (also on CD)
(Egg 40LP)

Second full-length album from the Osaka based experimental pop duo. As the title suggests, this is a more immediate and 'pop' album than it's predecessor, but is no less "mindbendingly wild or colourfully psychedelically delicious" [George Parsons, Dream Magazine]. The music is a seamless and sublime fusion of dub, krautrock, triphop, 60's pop and electronica. Beautifuls songs, sung beautifully by a Japanese Liz Frazer fighting the language barrier. The backing track is an audio compendium that includes snatches of cop-film funk, twangs, acid bleeps, whistles and bells. No-one else makes records this way. No-one else sounds like Pop Off Tuesday.

'Helicopter' (MP3)
'Sapo' (MP3)
'6/8 Sutra' (MP3)
'Galaxie' (MP3)

Download Pop Ahoy! from eMusic
Listen to Pop Ahoy! on Last.fm

UK: £15.00

EU: €24.00

US: $35.00

Oddfellows Casino
'Yellow Bellied Wonderland' LP (also on CD)
(Egg 39LP)

Debut album from Brighton-based Oddfellows Casino, fronted by author and former Shimmydisc collaborator, David Bramwell. Packed to the hilt with to-die-for tunes, the album lurches from Hammond-drenched pop to haunting electronica, blaring horns, wispy flutes, Eastern-sounding string arrangements, and stripped down acoustic pop songs. “It's not often that an album comes along that leaves you lost for words. If you adore subtleties and things out of step with the current consensus, then 'Yellow Bellied Wonderland' will re-affirm your faith that truly classic songwriters exist out there somewhere” [Mark Barton, Losing Today].

'Road Movie' (MP3)
'Giant Redwoods' (MP3)
'Put the Bird to Sleep' (MP3)

Download Yellow Bellied Wonderland from eMusic
Listen to Yellow Bellied Wonderland on Last.fm

UK: £15.00

EU: €24.00

US: $35.00

Big Eyes
'Love is Gone Mad' LP (also on CD)
(Egg 36LP)

Second full-length album from the Leeds/Sheffield ensemble, explores the theme of love songs in all their many manifestations. Perhaps less experimental than its predecessors, but more visceral. "Big Eyes make music that's perfect to smudge your mascara to: velvety instrumentals streaked with unfurling string glassandos, droplets of Spanish guitar and the tears of a million broken hearts. 'Love Is Gone Mad', comes on like a morphined-up Ennio Morricone, yet charms it's way into the inner ear with a beguiling beauty all it's own" [Amber Cowan, Sleazenation]

'Fast, Loose & Lovely' (MP3)
'Lament for the Lost Ones' (MP3)
'The Victim' (MP3)

Download Love is Gone Mad from eMusic

UK: £15.00

EU: €24.00

US: $35.00

100 Pets
'Easter Songs' LP
(Egg 32LP)

Debut LP from Brighton's 100 Pets. An English take on the Palace Bros, perhaps? Echoes, too, of Robert Wyatt and Nick Drake.

"Easter Songs is the latest in a line of records that teleport in from a world in which Brian Wilson rents out the lock-up garage where Pet Sounds was recorded. When Pickled Egg bands turn up, he sprinkles them with his genius dust and then sits behind his piano smiling while they get on with it. 100 Pets recorded ten tracks of low drama with the exceptional clarity of a Steve Albini production and the impression that this is the ghost of a Galaxie 500 record. Brian Wilson just smiled" [Robots and Electronic Brains]

'Far From Home' (MP3)
'Mountain Cheer' (MP3)
'Further Away' (MP3)
'Blind to the Guides' (MP3)

Download Easter Songs from eMusic

UK: £15.00

EU: €24.00

US: $35.00

Bablicon
'A Flat Inside a Fog' double LP (also on CD)
(Egg 31LP)

"Bablicon have somewhat reined in their fractious urges on this latest opus, forging a sound that hints at Van Dyke Parks classicism one minute, Middle Eastern flavoured jazz the next, with Michael Nyman-style contemporary composition in the spaces between. Sprawling, audacious, but always intriguing, 'A Flat Inside a Fog' is the sort of singular meisterwerk that fashion may condemn to cultish obscurity, but upon which posterity is destined to smile benignly." [David Sheppard, Mojo]

'Saumur/Paris/Tea Towels' (MP3)
'Travelling' (MP3)
'Pigeon of Doom' (MP3)

Listen to A Flat inside a Fog on Last.fm

UK: £18.00

EU: €26.00

US: $37.00

Need New Body
'Need New Body' double LP (also on CD)
(Egg 30LP)

"From the ashes of Bent Leg Fatima comes Need New Body. Astonishing double album of space jazz / krautrock inventions. This 22 track CD is a vitally weird and engaging work. Tiny babies of Beefheart, Sun Ra and Sun City Girls, squealing in delight and doing mad Busby Berkeley choreography on a layer cake the size of a skyscraper" [George Parsons, Dream Magazine]

'20$sh' (MP3)
'Tittie Pop' (MP3)
'Gamble On' (MP3)

Listen to Need New Body on Last.fm

UK: £18.00

EU: €26.00

US: $37.00

Big Eyes
'Clumsy Music' LP (also on CD)
(Egg 29LP)

Big Eyes first full-length offering takes a darker direction than the debut mini album, 'Big Eyes Songs', treading a peculiar path through modern classical, eastern European traditional music, surf-sleaze, country, noise, experimentation and folk.

"This is a wonderful album, running down a path of great beauty" [Steve Hanson, Ptolemaic Terrascope].

'Threeleftfeet' (MP3)
'Sleep' (MP3)

Download Clumsy Music from eMusic

UK: £15.00

EU: €24.00

US: $35.00

Farina
'Three People' LP (also on CD)
(Egg 28LP)

"At last: a band who make frail, sad songs that capture the imagination rather than sending you to sleep. As Mark Brend sings "I've sold my remorse, I haven't repurchased it yet" on 'If She Should Blame Him', before ending with a shoulder-shrugging spot of whistling, you realise how graceful and special Farina are" [Betty Clarke, The Guardian]

"Apparently they do make them like this anymore" [David Sheppard, Q]

"This is one of the finest debut album's I've ever heard, and I suggest you avail yourself of a copy, post haste" [George Parsons, Dream Magazine]

'Liberty' (MP3)
'Confession TV' (MP3)
'If She Should Blame Him' (MP3)

Download Three People from eMusic

18:24 17/05/2021

UK: £15.00

EU: €24.00

US: $37.00

Marshmallow Coast
'Seniors & Juniors' LP (also on CD)
(Egg 24LP)

Andy Gonzales (Of Montreal, Music Tapes) weaves a gentle tapestry of incandescent melody and sweeping emotion, these songs exude a fragile beauty and tattered whimsicality, at times reminiscent of the solo works of Brian Wilson, Syd Barrett or Kevin Ayres.

"Throughout its 13 song sprawl, Seniors and Juniors takes in elements of country, pop, jazz and folk, effortlessly blending them into its own unique sound. Upon first listen the album comes off as rather childlike, but subsequent airings allow a fragile beauty and tattered whimsicality to shine through" [Splendidezine]

"This record is preciously out-of-step. Comprised of sparse piano and guitar figures alongside gingerly placed bits of percussion, recorder and clarinet, the songs exude a soothing simplicity and a stark sadness" [CMJ New Music Report]

'Seniors & Juniors' (MP3)
'Little Pythagoras' (MP3)

UK: £15.00

EU: €24.00

US: $35.00

Daniel Johnston
'Rejected Unknown' double LP (also on CD)
(Egg 22LP)

Vinyl LP has now SOLD OUT. Still available on CD

First outing in 6 years from the troubled Texas singer-songwriter. Admirers and past collaborators include Kurt Cobain, Sonic Youth, Yo La Tengo and Simpson’s creator Matt Groening. Johnston has battled for 20 years with recurrent mental illness, and these songs bear the scars.

"You won’t hear a more poignant, raw and (curiously) humorous album all year. Johnston may not write or sing "properly", but he has heart and instinctive talent in abundance" [Joe Cushley, Mojo]

'Party' (MP3)
'Girl of My Dreams' (MP3)
'Favourite Darling Girl' (MP3)

Big Eyes
'Big Eyes Songs' 10" mini LP (also on CD)
(Egg 21LP)

Debut release from Leeds/Sheffield-based quartet. Twelve short, achingly beautiful pieces of naïve, classically-influenced music, featuring guitar, accordion, violin, bass and spoken vocals.

"A dozen tracks in less than 19 minutes: starts out with 'Red Tricycle', all hauntinggypsy violin and bouncy folkish mystery. 'The Boo Girl' is like a sadder Penguin Cafe Orchestra. Dog Eared is like a more concise Rachels doing an instrumental Tindersticks. Mostly it's like a series of bittersweetly evocative instrumental sketches in acoustic guitar, violin, accordion, auto-harp and bass. Entirely dreamy and excellent, without trying too hard at all. Maybe next time they could stay a bit longer?" [George Parsons, Dream Magazine]

'Gin Head' (MP3)
'Feathers' (MP3)

Download Big Eyes Songs from eMusic

UK: £10.00

EU: €16.00

US: $24.00

Bablicon
'The Orange Tapered Moon' LP (also on CD)
(Egg 20LP)

Second full-length outing from the Chicago-based trio.

"They're primarily an instrumental outfit that thrives on energetic improvisation - even the Beefheart resemblance, which evokes an image of wide-ranging experimentation, is probably too limiting, as Bablicon dabble in thoroughly modern ambient music and noise textures as well, working their way through a huge library of musical toys with both joy and skill" [Mark Richard-San, Pitchfork Media]

'Silicon)(Bucktown' (MP3)
'An Orange Pumpkin Glowing Moon Ensemble' (MP3)

Listen to The Orange Tapered Moon on Last.fm

UK: £15.00

EU: €24.00

US: $35.00

Valvola & DJ Spectra
'A Disappointed Love with a Desensitized Robot' 10" mini LP
(Egg 18LP)

Six track vinyl-only mini album, from the Italian space-pop pioneers.

"Orchestrated cinematic soundtracks that are bound to seduce as much as confuse. Imagine Stereolab at their most organic, riding a tidal wave of Kraftwerk-esque electronics, and you’ve at least reached the half-way mark of where these guys are heading. Add to that the occasional foray into extreme electronic experimentation and their fascination for analogue synth sounds" [The Broken Face]

'Departure from Universe' (MP3)
'Planet Airport' (MP3)

Download A Disappointed Love With a Desensitized Robot from eMusic

UK: £10.00

EU: €16.00

US: $24.00

Pop-Off Tuesday
'See My Ghost' 10" mini LP (also on CD)
(Egg 14LP)

Six track mini album, more experimental than the self-titled debut.

"See My Ghost has in effect taken all the best bits from 60s pop, 70s krautrock, 80s synth-pop and 90s electronica and made a timeless collage of sounds that is a pure pleasure to listen to. It's a sound that's most definitely not of this world; I suggest you buy this as soon as you can lay your hands on a copy" [The Satellite]

'Ms Boo Boo's Return' (MP3)
'Wafflehead' (MP3)

Download See My Ghost from eMusic

UK: £10.00

EU: €16.00

US: $24.00

Bablicon
'In a Different City' LP (also on CD)
(Egg 13LP)

Awesome debut album, given instant credibility by the Melody Maker review... "Certainly the worst record ever made". Well, it was never intended for the narrow-minded...

"Bablicon are a besuited Chicago trio who decontruct jazz with a grooviness and inate musicality which beggar's belief" [Joe Cushley, Mojo"]

"A wonderfully deranged slab of free flowing carnival space-jazz. Sporadic vocals, samples, and marching bands waft in and out of the mix, creating a scattershot feel that somehow works like a charm" [Splendidezine]

"When they pick up speed with their deliriously satisfying webs of bass/sax hypnotics, they start to approximate the metallic backbone that Beefheart never had" [David Keenan, The Wire]

'At The Birthday Party' (MP3)
'2 Birds (1 Wing)' (MP3)

Listen to In a Different City on Last.fm

UK: £15.00

EU: €24.00

US: $35.00

Volcano The Bear
'Yak Folks Y'Are' LP
(Egg 7LP)

Debut (vinyl only) release from the surrealist Leicester quartet, and Nurse With Wound collaborators. Last few copies, with slight damage to sleeves (vinyl has broken through the top edge).

"Yak Folks serves as an ideal way into their primitive, non-musicianly universe. After the extended chaos of their ltd edition CDRs, the six tracks that make up 'Yak Folks' sound almost coherent" [David Keenan, The Wire]

"When Volcano the Bear hit a groove, it’s a rare groove indeed. The metallic flail of ‘Where are the Bounds’ sounds like it’s been dragged through Can backwards" [Victoria Segal, NME]

SOLD OUT


'Where Are the Bounds?' (MP3)
'Nobody's Falling' (MP3)

Download Yak Folks Y'are from eMusic

Pop-Off Tuesday
'Pop-Off Tuesday' LP (also on CD)
(Egg 5LP)

Wonderful debut album from the Osaka-based experimental pop duo.

"At their best, the elements come together with an enticing bleakness reminiscent of Nico's Masterpiece, 'The Marble Index'. Highly recommended" [Andy Gill, The Independent]

"Smell the utterly beguiling weirdness inherent within these 12 squabbling, squealing noisescapes, all battered sweet symphonies and industrial surges laced with mischievous intent. Fantastically logic-defying" [Simon Williams, NME]

'Unworldly' (MP3)
'Mad Tea Party' (MP3)
'As Evil Dance' (MP3)

Download Pop-Off Tuesday from eMusic
Listen to Pop-Off Tuesday on Last.fm

UK: £15.00

EU: €24.00

US: $35.00