Browse by Label: MELODIC (UK)

Artist:	MINOTAUR SHOCK
Title:	Chiff Chaffs And Willow Warblers
Label:	MELODIC (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.50
Catalog #:	MELO 009CD

"An awesome debut album, absolutely on par with Four Tet/Manitoba/Fridge. A more beautiful listening experience in a folk/electronica stylee will be hard to find this year. Minotaur Shock is the solo project of 25 year old Bristolian David Edwards. A man in demand and building a fair whack of a reputation with lots of plays from Radio 1 to Radio 3 as well as numerous remixes for the likes of Badly Drawn Boy, Andy Votel, His Name Is Alive and Tim Hutton to name a few..."

Artist:	VA
Title:	A Room Full Of Tuneful
Label:	MELODIC (UK)
Format:	12"
Price:	$7.00
Catalog #:	MELO 010EP

"The first release of 2002 for the burgeoning Melodic label sees a Quality Street mix of some of the finest instrumental, beat-laden music you can get your hands on at the moment. It's a limited edition taster (500 only!) to the Room Full Of Tuneful CD-only album which will be released early May featuring tracks from the full melodic roster: Minotaur Shock, Pedro, Empire State, Baikonour and Topo Gigio as well as brand new signings Lucky Pierre (single May, album June). The rest of the comp is completed by a range of guests culled from the best demos Melodic received in 2001; Tex La Homa, Bronze Age Fox, Noakes Pressure and Dreams Of Tall Buildings. Finally, a track from Chessie on Plug Research possibly Melodic's equivalent label in the US at the moment -- certainly one of our favourites."

Artist:	LUCKY PIERRE
Title:	Hypnogogia
Label:	MELODIC (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.50
Catalog #:	MELO 013CD

"This debut album from Arab Strap mainman Aidan Moffat, AKA Lucky Pierre, is without doubt a contender for one of 2002's greatest albums...an absolute stunner. Lucky Pierre is one man, Aiden Moffat whose principle work began in Arab Strap five years ago with chum Malcolm Middleton. Lucky Pierre is Aiden Moffat's latest project, a beautiful, more soothing version of his usual trade full of immense tracks with cello and strings...Think DJ Shadow's Endtroducing meets Cinematic Orchestra and Arab Strap. Moffat's principal mission was to make 'music to fall asleep to'. Indeed, the inspiration to create a relaxing wind-down record of his own came from the incessant spawn of contrived chill out records which currently invade record stores everywhere. 'I can't stand those chill-out things and I was having real bad sleeping problems; I just couldn't relax. So I decided to find some sounds which I liked and put them together, it's as simple as that.'"

Artist:	VA
Title:	Tracks For Horses
Label:	MELODIC (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$9.00
Catalog #:	MELO 020CD

"The Melodic label began in 1999 with the release of the Pedro EP and Tracks For Horses is the 20th release. The last compilation A Room Full Of Tuneful met high critical acclaim (see above quote) and was, like Horses, a platform for the label roster. Which means tracks from Baikonour, Gavouna, Lucky Pierre, Pedro, Minotaur Shock, Psapp and Topo Gigio but also the inclusion of some of Melodic's favourite, as yet un-released tracks from demos and friends etc. What's different this time around from the folktonica-fest of the last compilation is a larger spread of diversity. Notes' 'It's A Good Thing' is quirky old skool hip hop from Texas. The Memory Band provide a 70s jazzlfolk hit in 'Catch As Catch Can' taken from their most recent 'T' single on the Hungry Hill label. Audiowhore's track is a classic in waiting; a paen to possibly the greatest (or worst) game show of all time. No Talent Kid provides some too authentic-to-be-true Rick James / Prince-influenced P-Funk. There's still what has become a loose Melodic convention of trademark instrumental music with bags of melody. Opening the album is the prog opus that is Baikonour's 'Lick Lokoum' written when asked by Louis Vuitton Japan to provide music influenced by the Bay of Persia. Erm'? Yeah, that's what we thought. But beautiful, big and overblown ambience -- it just had to be the opener. Gavouna provides full-on live strings and the kind of instrumental music we all dream of being able to make. Pedro's first new track since his album makes us think of what a Japanese version of the Neptunes might sound like. The Earlies have their debut album released next year (at last) and we reckon Lambchop meets Minotaur Shock meets Mercury Rev -- 'Bing It Back Again' is the title track from their latest EP. Psapp provide their trademark quirky arid wistful pop-driven electronica. Topo Gigio breaks a musical silence with the shimmering 'Lezard. Minotaur Shock delivers (we reckon) something like a sexed-up version of the theme from Country File (as he would). Finland's Noos deliver a gentle ambient instrumental that Boards Of Canada would be proud of. Lucky Pierre previews a new track from his 2nd album to be released next year. The closing track comes from Micah Paul Hinson soon to be released on the Sketchbook label and currently collaborating with Gavouna."

Artist:	VA
Title:	Tracks For Horses
Label:	MELODIC (UK)
Format:	12"
Price:	$7.00
Catalog #:	MELO 020EP

"Tracks For Horses is a CD-only 14-track album to be released early November, in the meantime four of the best and most DJ-friendly numbers are released on this sampler EP. Opening the EP is 'It's A Good Thing' from Notes which we'd describe as quirky Texan hip hop. Next up are PSAPP with their trademark quirky and wistful but pop-driven electronica, Audio Whore's track is a classic in waiting....a paean to possibly the greatest (or worst) game show at all time? As Lucky Pierre's music was created to send it's author Aidan Moffat to sleep, what better track could close proceedings."

Artist:	MINOTAUR SHOCK
Title:	Rinse
Label:	MELODIC (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.50
Catalog #:	MELO 021CD

"For the uninitiated, Minotaur Shock is the solo project of 26 year old Bristolian David Edwards. His debut album Chiff Chaffs and Willow Warblers, received exceptional critical acclaim in December 2001. Rinse, compiles the much sought after first two vinyl only EPs plus extra tracks and shows just how accomplished David Edwards is. Rinse sits nicely next to work from artists such as Aphex, Squarepusher, Prefuse 73, Boards Of Canada and Four Tet. From the space-age scrapes of 'Let Me Out', to one of the best pieces of ambient music anywhere 'Albert Park Music', to the anthemic 'Motoring Britain', it was alway inevitable that this music would have to be released in CD format for the masses."

Artist:	BAIKONOUR
Title:	Hot Milk EP
Label:	MELODIC (UK)
Format:	12"
Price:	$7.00
Catalog #:	MELO 022EP

"It was only 18-months before Baikonour's new EP that the original EP (where these tracks originated from) came out. In true Melodic fashion, like a fine wine, maturity is something that takes time... either that or Melodic is very slow at getting records out. Let's go for the former; Baikonour, the electronicist on the Melodic stable that has that distinct prog-jazz-odyssey flavour brings forth his friends/remixers to the table.... As you'll soon find out each remix here is something very special and the one thing that runs in common is that all of the people who participated in this project are friends. For the initiated, Baikonour is Jean-Emmanuel Krieger, not only a resident of Melodic Records but inhabits the real world in Brighton. Named after the Soviet launch-base in Kazahkstan, Baikonour brings forth a typically French goujon of electronica, idiosyncratic yet accessible, progressive yet funky and warm. You may already have guessed from the name his Gallic origins; Versailles to be precise, home to such names as Air, Super Discount and Alex Gopher. The very water must be imbued with the essence of great electronic music." Mixes by: Amon Tobin, Gavouna, and Topo Giogio.

Artist:	L. PIERRE
Title:	Total Horizontal
Label:	MELODIC (UK)
Format:	7"
Price:	$7.00
Catalog #:	MELO 023EP

"Lucky Pierre has, Puff-Daddy-style, changed his name for this single and forthcoming album. He will now be known as L Pierre. The previous meaning was a bit rude (go figure) and the lad's gonna be turning 30 soon so a more mature L Pierre is what we have. Aidan (Moffat, one half of Arab Strap and one full portion of L Pierre) felt there were two halves to the song so he decided quite simply to cut them in half for this single. Taken from the forthcoming new album Touchpool (released in July 2004) 'Total Horizontal' is the longest track on the album weighing in at ten minutes fourty four seconds. The first half is is what you'll be familiar with -- the trademark epic samples over drum machine loops. The second half has more live instrumentation (guitars and trumpets) -- the main difference between the new album and Hypnogogia."

Artist:	WREN
Title:	Drive Down Lines
Label:	MELODIC (UK)
Format:	7"
Price:	$7.00
Catalog #:	MELO 024EP

"Introducing Wren. A brand new Melodic signing bringing England's second city into the fold. Wren is Nick Peill who grew up on the south coast but turned his back on countryside and fresh air to study a fine art degree in Birmingham where he currently resides. We think it sounds part classic shoe-gazer (Ride, Pale Saints, MBV) but with a kind of up-to-date progressive feel like Papa M or Manitoba. Drive Down Lines is a precursor to the album The Egg & The Tree to be released this Autumn. The album is 50/50 instrumentals and vocal tracks so this single sums things up quite nicely for now with the vocal on the A side and an instrumental on the B side."

Artist:	PEDRO
Title:	Fear & Resilience
Label:	MELODIC (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$10.50
Catalog #:	MELO 025CD

Fear & Resilience Remixes is a seven-song EP featuring reworkings of a song from UK-based James Rutledge's (Pedro) self-titled debut. Pedro (MELO 018 CD/LP) was met with much critical acclaim thanks to its beautiful psychedelic layering of free-folk hop and processed acoustic melody. What originally started as an idea for a remix single snowballed into friends and acquaintances producing an entire album of music. This remix album sees his music drifting towards the hip-hop inclinations of Prefuse 73, Cherrystones, and Danger Mouse, the experimental blast of newcomers Home Skillet, and the awesome mixed-bag of Four Tet. As varied as the mixes are, they all seem to capture the spirit of the Pedro sound.

Artist:	L. PIERRE
Title:	Touchpool
Label:	MELODIC (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.50
Catalog #:	MELO 027CD

Touchpool is the second album from Lucky Pierre aka Aidan Moffat, one half of Arab Strap. L Pierre's debut album Hypnogogia, described by the artist as "music to fall asleep to," was released in September 2002 and greeted with critical acclaim from the dance fraternity (Gilles Peterson and Nick Warren) as well as the rock monthlies and broadsheet press. Touchpool provides more of the same grand, sampledelic, atmospheric strings interwoven with light and dark only a member of Arab Strap could bring. Where Hypnogogia was a collection of Moffat's spare studio hours messing with samples, drum machines and loops over a period of around 5 years, Touchpool was formed and recorded in one unified whole. This time the formula is similar, with drum machines and orchestral loops providing the backbone. The main difference is the addition of live musicians which makes for a much fuller and more epic listening experience. Arab Strap's other half, Malcolm Middleton plays guitar and bass on "Baby Breeze," with Dave MacGowan and Allan Wylie from Arab Strap's live incarnation contributing pedal steel and trumpet.

Artist:	PEDRO
Title:	Early Pedro
Label:	MELODIC (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.50
Catalog #:	MELO 028CD

Early Pedro is a collection of the first three acclaimed EPs by James Rutledge. Spanning 15 tracks, and wrapped in a beautiful sleeve by Fridge's Sam Jeffers, Early Pedro charts the progression of not only the young man and his music, but also the label (Melodic) established in his first few steps. Expect a heavy manipulation of genres and samples, from warbling hand looped beats to unhinged fizzing electronics. With nods from Danger Mouse, Fennesz, Four Tet, Hood, Kevin Shields, Prefuse 73, Andrew Weatherall and Thom Yorke, Pedro has slowly forged a glowing reputation.

Artist:	A CERTAIN RATIO
Title:	Live America 1985
Label:	MELODIC (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.50
Catalog #:	MELO 029CD

"A Certain Ratio. The name even sounds suitably eccentric. Very un-rock'n'roll. Very non-punk. The name comes from a Brian Eno song. ACR always did stand a little apart from punk's snot and Hepatitis B merchants. Live America 1985 was recorded on cassette during an American tour during the summer of 1985. A Certain Ratio were supporting New Order on a series of East Coast and Canadian dates. This is a compilation of the best versions of each song, a raw compendium that draws on each era of their recording career from The Fox to Si Firmir O Grido. This captures them at an almost perfect intersection -- when they were weird enough to be interesting, loose enough to be groovy, but tight enough to be hot; like their version of 'Touch,' liberated from its original tempo, sounding like Motorik clav-funk, while the lyrics, almost a pastiche of feel-good disco, keep it earthbound. When they chose to cover 'Shack Up' the match was so perfect, it was hard to imagine that they hadn't written it themselves. It was a statement of intent, a dancefloor manifesto, a road map pointing this way, a scratchy funk bomb. It even penetrated the Billboard disco charts, an unlikely outcome for fifty quids-worth of studio time. 'We were listening to American funk and trying to play it,' says Jez Kerr. It was as ill-fitting as those khaki fatigues and as effective. The album comes beautifully packaged with a reproduction of the original artwork from the cassette version that was sold at gigs. Sleeve notes come from Bill Brewster and check inside for a reproduction of a flyer from one of their early shows in New York in 1981. Check who the supporting act is -- only some other (lesser) star of New York disco at the time (Madonna)."

Artist:	VA
Title:	Melodic Today
Label:	MELODIC (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$9.00
Catalog #:	MELO 030CD

Melodic Today is the third compilation album in the same amount of years to come from Melodic. Melodic's roster includes the likes of Pedro, L Pierre, Baikonour, Topo Gigio, Wren and Department Of Eagles as well as a few other aces up it's sleeve. In the past, Melodic has given us some of the most beautiful instrumental music around and the label's roster is widening in breadth and also in vocal talent which culminates in a compilation more eclectic than ever. A sumptuously varied bag of offerings, Melodic Today includes both brand-new work from exciting forthcoming releases, as well as tracks from previous/deleted vinyl-only releases. Kicking things off is the new Manchester synth-rock combo Working For A Nuclear Free City who we guarantee you'll be hearing a lot more about soon. Following this, there's a taster from Jean Emmanuel Krieger aka Baikonour, and then Department Of Eagles from Brooklyn, NY. Short, but incredibly sweet is Hebden Bridge's very own Gnac, followed by Manchester acoustic songwriter John Stammers. Next follows Transelement -- possibly the most exciting thing ever to come out of Colne, Lancashire and one of John Peel's faves. Dungen hail from Sweden and produce tunes with a hippy rock swagger that created the brilliant album Ta Det Lugnt. After his recent Fear & Resiliance remix album where the likes of Four Tet and Dangermouse among others took on remix duties, Pedro comes at us with perhaps his finest track to date in "Lung." Next up is a bit of deep Detroit house from DNCN. Newest Melodic signing Wren provides the most perfect description of folktronica with "Me & My Army." L Pierre delivers the most soothing track on the album before Frenchman Topo Gigio gets us all trippy. Finally "Photographs" from Ireland's Hulk gently closes the proceedings perfectly.

Artist:	BAIKONOUR
Title:	For The Lonely Hearts Of The Cosmos
Label:	MELODIC (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.50
Catalog #:	MELO 031CD

Brighton, UK-based Jean-Emmanuel Krieger's debut full-length for Melodic. Named after a Soviet missile launch base in Khazakstan, Baikonour's distinct, prog-jazz flavored electronica takes its cues from a rich seam of like-minded artists that have been mined from Krieger's hometown of Versailles, including names such as Air, Super Discount and Alex Gopher. Jean-Emmanuel's own musical upbringing progressed through many stages, as is reflected in his own creative output, as the man himself admits. Growing up with "Pink Floyd from Dad and Marvin Gaye from Mum" he later found himself "obsessed with British indie-pop of the '80s, like Cocteau Twins and My Bloody Valentine. I think you can hear a lot of guitars in my album and I've always been fascinated by guitars and the variety of sound you can get. This is why I like the Cocteau Twins, MBV and Sonic Youth as they have that in common." These days, however, you're more likely to find him plugged into a wide variety of styles, such as Jamaican music, Krautrock, as well as Indian music. What other influences? Alice Coltrane, Soft Machine, Os Mutantes, Television, Manuel Gottsching, Japanese noise, Neil Young, Eno, Cluster and Deuter, '60s psych, Scott Walker, Amon Tobin, Boards of Canada and Mouse on Mars. This intricate path of musical touchpoints has served to enrich Baikonour's own output with every flavor imaginable, steering from Kraut-influences to jazz and always underpinning each piece with, simply, great tuneage. For The Lonely Hearts Of The Cosmos adheres closely to its principles, and to the style and inspiration of the sounds he grew up with. Recorded and edited on a Mac using digital emulations of classic '60s compressors and EQs, this record lives by the oath of collaboration and was recorded in a truly pan-continental sense with live drums played by Lee Adams from Imitation Electric Piano except on "Hoku To Shin Ken" which was played by Eiji F. Morotomi and recorded in Tokyo, Japan, with additional guitar contributions from Etienne Rodes. The result is weirdly gorgeous, spiralling electronics punctuated by familiar, anthemic pop-song sounds.

Artist:	OUTPUTMESSAGE
Title:	Nebulae
Label:	MELODIC (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.50
Catalog #:	MELO 037CD

Virginia-based Outputmessage (Bernard Emmanuel Farley Jr.) may already be known to you thanks to his previous work on the Ghostly label, but this is his debut release for Melodic. We could be wrong, but the world might not be ready for this. While the pop kids are going indie and the rockers are trying to dance, listening to Outputmessage is something entirely in a league of its own. But, like rediscovering a lost love of old skool Detroit house, the last thing you'd expect is for it to come from a 22-year old grad-student. Imagine it; daylight darkens, street lamps come on and all that's familiar turns into unfamiliar space. For a second you lose your bearings and sense of time, but then Nebulae comes on the car stereo and suddenly it all makes sense. Like classic Kraftwerk, New Order, or Aphex Twin, each track is hypnotic and danceable before melting into a sonic oblivion. "Bernard's Song" could be a self-titled reflection on film score composer Bernard Hermann, but with its lightly orchestrated drum n' bass, subtle techno sound and clicky beats, the melody couldn't be more prominent. And this is just the start of Nebulae: together all the songs create an atmospheric arrangement that sounds almost scientific. Each element of Bernard's musical history, from minimal to jazz to abstract and heavy has fused together creating a helluva message.

Artist:	ISLES, THE
Title:	Perfumed Lands
Label:	MELODIC (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.50
Catalog #:	MELO 039CD

Potentially the biggest album released to date on Manchester's Melodic label, The Isles' debut album Perfumed Lands has finally been put to bed in their hometown studios of Action Jackson. For these four twenty-something New Yorkers either have the capacity to bend time and space or appear to have been born in the wrong time and place. Because although their sound is very definitely in the now, it's almost as if they began writing while surrounded by the cream of British '80s pop, fell into a deep sleep, and awoke with hit-seeking precision in a climate where their talents would be best appreciated. Sick of the prevalence of press-the-button-marked-chorus approach to songwriting today, Geller wanted his band's debut to reflect a more classic ethos of sound. The makeup and application may be spiky and contemporary, but the root of The Isles' sound is very much that of inspiration via perspiration. These ten songs evoke English urban grey, wearing the latest New York fashion. January's striking single "Eve Of The Battle" switches from Bunnymen to Strokes with the change of a chord, while "Flying Under Cheap Kites" revels in its excess of melody and discoth�que-style backbeat. "Summer Loans" has an unmistakably East Coast groove but such an intrinsically familiar tapestry of woven guitar parts and vocal melody you'll swear you've been getting up to dance to it for the last ten years. If it feels like a homecoming record then that's perhaps because it is: Perfumed Lands is a band's realization of its own distinct sound fitting like hand in glove, that's as comfortable as it is versatile and textured. Grab them before they go global.

Artist:	WORKING FOR A NUCLEAR FREE CITY
Title:	Working For a Nuclear Free City
Label:	MELODIC (UK)
Format:	LP
Price:	$13.50
Catalog #:	MELO 040LP

LP version. Epic, intelligent, melodic, atmospheric -- this is the sound of Working For A Nuclear Free City. This eponymous debut album is the sound of techno music played on guitars and maybe it's like nothing else you'll hear this year. Descendents of Berlin-trilogy era Bowie and informed by David Axelrod, Working For A Nuclear Free City represent the best of Manchester's experimental underground. Establishing themselves on the live scene, Working For A Nuclear Free City emerged as one of the city's most exciting and mysterious bands.

Artist:	ISLES, THE
Title:	Summer Loans
Label:	MELODIC (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$7.00
Catalog #:	MELO 042CD

This is a CD single and 7" release by NYC's The Isles (Benjamin Haberland, Chris Bordeaux, Andrew Geller, Tim McCoy). It's been a good stretch of success for the New York foursome, with their debut album Perfumed Lands ("A slow burn album for all seasons..." (8/10) --NME) prompting positive reviews, and so it's no surprise they want to extend it for as long as possible. The new single "Summer Loans" has an unmistakably East Coast groove but such an intrinsically familiar tapestry of woven guitar parts and vocal melody, you'll swear you've been getting up to dance to it for the last ten years. Lovingly put together in their self-made studio, Summer Loans manages to capture the echo of the great New York outdoors as well as the claustrophobia of the great New York sprawl. They're a curious distillation of Brit-pop and East Coast punk and honorary Mancunians in spirit and sound.

Artist:	ISLES, THE
Title:	Summer Loans
Label:	MELODIC (UK)
Format:	7"
Price:	$7.00
Catalog #:	MELO 042EP

7" version. This is a 7" release by NYC's The Isles (Benjamin Haberland, Chris Bordeaux, Andrew Geller, Tim McCoy). It's been a good stretch of success for the New York foursome, with their debut album Perfumed Lands ("A slow burn album for all seasons..." (8/10) --NME) prompting positive reviews, and so it's no surprise they want to extend it for as long as possible. The new single "Summer Loans" has an unmistakably East Coast groove but such an intrinsically familiar tapestry of woven guitar parts and vocal melody, you'll swear you've been getting up to dance to it for the last ten years. Lovingly put together in their self-made studio, Summer Loans manages to capture the echo of the great New York outdoors as well as the claustrophobia of the great New York sprawl. They're a curious distillation of Britpop and East Coast punk and honorary Mancunians in spirit and sound.

Artist:	OUTPUTMESSAGE
Title:	Sommeil Remixes
Label:	MELODIC (UK)
Format:	12"
Price:	$7.00
Catalog #:	MELO 043EP

The latest release from Outputmessage -- aka New York-born Bernard Emmanuel Farley -- is an intriguing prospect: five unique remixes of "Sommeil," a highlight of his 2006 album, Nebulae. Working For A Nuclear Free City add their warped, space-rock stylings to Bernard's electronic original. My Robot Friend collaborated with Outputmessage to make a remix that strays far from the original track, adding dreamy effects and fairytale lyrics to create a brand new song. American Pop Band add a pulsing remix to the collection. Lastly, Person supplies a club-friendly final cut. Bernard's mathematical background inspires beguiling music, with tasty results.

Artist:	L. PIERRE
Title:	Dip
Label:	MELODIC (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.50
Catalog #:	MELO 045CD

This is the third full-length release from Arab Strap's Aidan Moffat. Written and recorded before the Arab Strap breakup was finalized, Dip explores a quieter, more contemplative side of Moffat's musical personality. A giant sideways leap from the critically-acclaimed Hypnogogia (2002) and Touchpool (2004), Dip finds Moffat eschewing the drum loops and effects that characterized his previous recordings in favor of a more organic, live sound, with a specially-assembled group of Alan Barr (cello), Stevie Jones (double bass) and Allan Wylie (trumpet) complimenting Moffat on drums, keyboards, percussion and harmonium. The result is an album that takes us on a journey through the full range of human emotions, from "Ache"'s morose, mournful strings to the frantic, jesterly "Hike." Ending as it begins, with the sound of the waves crashing against the shore, there's a sense of oneness to the album, as if it could play forever as a song cycle. This, says Moffat, is because Dip was conceived as a whole album, rather than a collection of odds and ends. So this is it; the sound of one of our generation's great chroniclers of urban squalor and messy relationships contemplating the mysteries of Mother Nature and delivering a dreamlike, immersive album as a result. But it's not necessarily an avenue Moffat will revisit any time soon.

Artist:	L. PIERRE
Title:	Dip
Label:	MELODIC (UK)
Format:	LP
Price:	$13.50
Catalog #:	MELO 045LP

LP version. This is the third full-length release from Arab Strap's Aidan Moffat. Written and recorded before the Arab Strap breakup was finalized, Dip explores a quieter, more contemplative side of Moffat's musical personality. A giant sideways leap from the critically-acclaimed Hypnogogia (2002) and Touchpool (2004), Dip finds Moffat eschewing the drum loops and effects that characterized his previous recordings in favor of a more organic, live sound, with a specially-assembled group of Alan Barr (cello), Stevie Jones (double bass) and Allan Wylie (trumpet) complimenting Moffat on drums, keyboards, percussion and harmonium. The result is an album that takes us on a journey through the full range of human emotions, from "Ache"'s morose, mournful strings to the frantic, jesterly "Hike." Ending as it begins, with the sound of the waves crashing against the shore, there's a sense of oneness to the album, as if it could play forever as a song cycle. This, says Moffat, is because Dip was conceived as a whole album, rather than a collection of odds and ends. So this is it; the sound of one of our generation's great chroniclers of urban squalor and messy relationships contemplating the mysteries of Mother Nature and delivering a dreamlike, immersive album as a result. But it's not necessarily an avenue Moffat will revisit any time soon.

Artist:	HARRISONS
Title:	No Fighting In The War Room
Label:	MELODIC (UK)
Format:	CD/DVD
Price:	$15.50
Catalog #:	MELO 052CD

No Fighting In The War Room is the debut album from hotly-tipped Sheffield four-piece Harrisons. Fans of earthy lyrics, northern accents, hard guitars and good old fashioned rock 'n' roll read on, but don't be too quick to pigeonhole -- Harrisons may hail from the same fertile scene that spawned the ubiquitous Arctic Monkeys, but this debut album is in a class of its own. Recorded in five weeks at Lincolnshire's Chapel Studios with producer Hugh Jones, whose prior credits include Echo And The Bunnymen, The Teardrop Explodes and The Stranglers, the album is a tour de force of British guitar music, recalling the slice-of-life lyrics of The Jam, the intensity of The Clash and the attitude of The Verve. The outcome is an album of contrasts, ringing with northern charm, blue-collar social commentary and a wealth of musical styles. Former single "Monday's Arms" is vitriolic disco, "Take It To The Mattress" has a dangerously infectious riff and "Blue Note" is a terrace anthem in the making. Elsewhere, "Man Of The Hour" is a taut exercise in post-punk, "Listen" is the album's lighters-aloft moment and "Come For Me" brings things to a dramatic, fist-clenching close. With this debut, Harrisons have delivered an album that's worthy of the weight of expectation heaped on them by fans and the press. Band members include: Adam Taylor (vocals), Ben Stanton (guitar), Mark White (drums) and Ashley Birch (bass). The bonus DVD disc features various videos and live tracks and more. The DVD is PAL format only, region free.

Artist:	ARMS
Title:	Kids Aflame
Label:	MELODIC (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.50
Catalog #:	MELO 054CD

Kids Aflame is the debut full-length by Arms, aka Brooklynite Todd Goldstein. Inspired by a love of "sad/weird/insular genius types" like Neil Young, Stephin Merritt, and David Byrne, Arms' music cloaks catchy tunes in fuzzy, echo-laden production and Goldstein's melodramatic, crooned vocals. A true one-man band, Goldstein recorded Kids Aflame over a period of three years in various apartments across Brooklyn, playing all the instruments himself, save the occasional drum, sax, bass and keyboard part. A hazy, late-night mood runs deep in the record's 13 tracks, which range from the shoegaze-y gallop of "Whirring" to the lilting ukulele of the title track; from the country-inflected "Sad, Sad, Sad" to the soaring "Shitty Little Disco" and the noise-drenched "The Frozen Lake." Elsewhere, "Jon The Escalator" wears its Smiths influence on its sleeve, and "Pocket" blends dark lyrics with brassy, Aztec Camera-style pop. And although Kids Aflame is a lo-fi album -- and unashamedly so -- it's also one with a surprise around every corner, be it a drop-dead catchy hook or a total change of pace, as in "Eyeball"'s campfire chorus and bouzouki melodies. Goldstein is involved with other music projects, but Arms is closest to his heart, and an outlet for his most personal and idiosyncratic material.

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