Lets cool those frazzled nerves with some minimal electronic music. We feel better already.

 

Hello friends.

Since signalling his arrival with the probing, peerless avant techno of 2010's 'Holkham Drones' (our 2010 record of the year) Luke Abbott has kept a relatively low profile. A couple teaser EP's on Gold Panda's Notown label and a fierce appearance at our shop for Record Store Day 2013... there's been enough to tantalise fans but a true follow up to this peerless debut has been slow in announcing itself.

'Wysing Forest' is his stunning new album, a cinematic masterpiece of subtlety. He's hinted at a brooding and melancholic underground before, but 'Wysing Forest' is unrelentingly black, so minimal that you have to listening through the howling silence to detect the bleeps in the background. It's like the album is being played a mile away over a hill, and you can only pick up accompanying doom that it casts.

Far from easy going, but an instant classic and a remarkable piece of modern minimal electronic music.

Getting spun as we write this weeks gospel is Strand of Oaks via Dead Ocean.

From the first bars of ‘Heal’, the exhilarating melodic stomp of ‘Goshen ‘97’ puts you right into Tim Showalter’s fervent teenage mindset. We find him in his family’s basement den in Goshen, IN, feeling alienated but even at 15 years old believing in the alchemy and power of music to heal your troubles. “The record is called ‘Heal’ but it’s not a soft, gentle healing, it’s like scream therapy, a command, because I ripped out my subconscious, looked through it, and saw the worst parts. And that’s how I got better.” 

Joseph Black and Raymond Schwab spent the years of 2011 - 2013 as full-blown pop junkies in a group called Honeydrum. Seeking ephemeral moments of truth and self-relevance, the two spent day after day on the third floor of a rundown building in a hole of a city in New Jersey, churning out what would become Honeydrum’s nine EPs. These releases stand as sonic manifestations of the two hook addicts’ pop addled brainwaves buried deep in blurry mires of fizz and fuzz. ‘Donovan Blanc’ is the realization of a purified version of the duo’s work, fit for consumption by disciples of technicolor baroque and singer-songwriter pop music. You can stream the whole album at the shop now.

Arriving two years after the haunting, glacial neo-soul of 2012's much-loved 'Total Loss', 'What Is This Heart?' is the next step in Tom Krell, AKA How To Dress Well's unique and searching artistic trajectory. It's an ambitious 21st century pop album that takes influence from artists as varied as Prince, Bill Callahan, Burial and Tracy Chapman as well as Krell's oft-cited R'n'B influences.

Also in this week (both arrived late) Electric Brick Wall from Black Bananans and 'Noise' from Boris. We'll be enjoying both and suggest you do the same.

Head to the checkout this week with the code  'WYSING'  for a ten percent discount on this week's titles.
 

Another great week for repressings.

Slint’s 1991 album, Spiderland is remastered from the original analog master tapes by Bob Weston and pressed on 180 gram vinyl. Amazing editions on CD and LP,  they include a download coupon for 14 outtakes & demos personal selected by Slint and 'Breadcrumb Trail', a brand new, never-before-seen, 90 minute DVD documentary about Slint and the making of Spiderland, They even include a foreword by Will Oldham.... amazing stuff.

The latest batch of Blue Note Recordings arrived, you can see those here - this batch featured Bobby Hutcherson, Lee Morgan, Jimmy Smith and Dexter Godron. 

'Les Fleurs' is a very well-chosen anthology spanning Minnie Ripperton's most creative and musically satisfying decade from the late sixties onwards.

'Daydream Nation' was Sonic Youth’s sixth full-length, their first double-LP, and their last for an indie label before signing with Geffen. Widely considered to be their watershed moment, the album catapulted them into the mainstream and proved that indie bands could enjoy wide commercial success without compromising their artistic vision. Great pressing this.

'Beautiful Freak' is the debut studio album from Eels. It's been out of print for YEARS. 

Lastly, N*E*R*D's debut album 'In Search Of...' is back on double white wax. 

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Loads of pre-sales getting listed as we speak (Alt-J, The New Pornographers, Jungle, FKA Twigs), Stephen Steinbrink is amazing stuff... expect us to flap on about that... oh, and Viet Cong.... GAME CHANGER.

Hey.... take it easy.

- Drift