BA DA BING! - Forced Exposure

$34.00 PREORDER RELEASE DATE: 11/19/2021

"Ichiko Aoba's albums have only been available as expensive Japanese imports, until now. In November, Ba Da Bing will release Windswept Adan on 2xLP in North America, Europe and the United Kingdom, with deluxe packaging. After creating her label, hermine, last year to celebrate her tenth anniversary in music, Aoba released the most complex and rewarding work of her career, 2020's Windswept Adan. While audiences in the west are only just learning she exists, her accomplishments are unquestionable; she contributed to the soundtrack for The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, was cited by Owen Pallett as an inspiration ('I've never been so blindsided by a musician as I was by Ichiko Aoba'), and has collaborated with the likes of Haruomi Hosono, Cornelius (who met her only two years after she first picked up a guitar and was blown away), Ryuichi Sakamoto, and recently Mac DeMarco. Ichiko Aoba's iconic voice and classical guitar playing are immediately recognizable, timeless sounds. Windswept Adan, envisioned as a soundtrack for a fictional film, builds its own world with sweeping co-production and arrangements from Taro Umebayashi, which 'recall the Wes Anderson scores of Mark Mothersbaugh or the cinematographic swells of American composer Jherek Bischoff' (Bandcamp). It's the story of a young girl sent to the island of Adan, a place where there are no words. While international listeners of Aoba may not understand the words she sings, and despite the central importance of lyrics in her writing, it's a testament to the power Aoba wields that one can resonate so deeply with her work. No matter the breadth of her sonic palette, and on Adan her scope is as wide and encompassing as Joanna Newsom's on Have One On Me, Aoba manifests an intimacy that makes one feel in the room with her. Ichiko Aoba's work gained greater exposure in the past year as the need for comfort grew while the world sequestered in solitude. She has a rare musical gift that is matched only by her ability to hone it into meticulous craft. Her music embraces and elevates alone time to a generous and tranquil place. In it, listeners are invited to feel a sense of consolation and possibility. The magic she imparts yields articles like 'Ichiko Aoba and the emotion of space during the pandemic;' in other words, her effect is singular."

$10.00 PREORDER RELEASE DATE: 10/22/2021

"An Earth Mirror is a magical device. Found in German occult literature, it is a clod of earth sandwiched between layers of glass. Gazing into the Earth Mirror is said to reveal the locations of hidden treasures. Magical visions and the revelation of mysteries in the landscape are two prominent features of Earth Mirror, the new album by Layla and Phil Legard alias Hawthonn, and their second for Ba Da Bing. Somewhere between moon musick and ethereal pop, the songs of Earth Mirror reflect the band's transition from studio project to live performers in the wake of 2018's Red Goddess (Of This Men Shall Know Nothing). The themes for the songs on this latest reflect the Legards' experiences, magical and mundane, in the wake of Red Goddess and as the world then headed full-tilt into pandemic. On Earth Mirror, Layla's heavenly voice accompanies a sonic palette encompassing field recordings of ice cracking on an ancient Corpse Road, mysterious hymns sung in disused medieval chapels, spectrally processed horse shrieks, rumbling organ, crystalline electric piano, electronic textures, and modulated jaw harp. No guitars appear on this album. Nor do conventional song-structures: the compositions here organically developed from dreams ('Dream Cairn'), experiments with inducing magical visions ('Odo Galse', 'Vehiel'), ruminations on lunar beings ('Crowned Light', 'Circles Of Light'), and ecological anxiety ('Cat's Cradle'). Their literary influences include English witch Andrew Chumbley, nihilist philosopher Emil Cioran, the Enochian language of John Dee and Edward Kelly, and even Kurt Vonnegut. As true practitioners of niche occultism and sound manipulation, Hawthonn could easily have been an inscrutable project. However, under the careful guidance of the Legards, Earth Mirror feels close and immediate, minimal and expertly atmospheric."

$20.00 PREORDER RELEASE DATE: 10/22/2021

LP version. "An Earth Mirror is a magical device. Found in German occult literature, it is a clod of earth sandwiched between layers of glass. Gazing into the Earth Mirror is said to reveal the locations of hidden treasures. Magical visions and the revelation of mysteries in the landscape are two prominent features of Earth Mirror, the new album by Layla and Phil Legard alias Hawthonn, and their second for Ba Da Bing. Somewhere between moon musick and ethereal pop, the songs of Earth Mirror reflect the band's transition from studio project to live performers in the wake of 2018's Red Goddess (Of This Men Shall Know Nothing). The themes for the songs on this latest reflect the Legards' experiences, magical and mundane, in the wake of Red Goddess and as the world then headed full-tilt into pandemic. On Earth Mirror, Layla's heavenly voice accompanies a sonic palette encompassing field recordings of ice cracking on an ancient Corpse Road, mysterious hymns sung in disused medieval chapels, spectrally processed horse shrieks, rumbling organ, crystalline electric piano, electronic textures, and modulated jaw harp. No guitars appear on this album. Nor do conventional song-structures: the compositions here organically developed from dreams ('Dream Cairn'), experiments with inducing magical visions ('Odo Galse', 'Vehiel'), ruminations on lunar beings ('Crowned Light', 'Circles Of Light'), and ecological anxiety ('Cat's Cradle'). Their literary influences include English witch Andrew Chumbley, nihilist philosopher Emil Cioran, the Enochian language of John Dee and Edward Kelly, and even Kurt Vonnegut. As true practitioners of niche occultism and sound manipulation, Hawthonn could easily have been an inscrutable project. However, under the careful guidance of the Legards, Earth Mirror feels close and immediate, minimal and expertly atmospheric."

$22.00 PREORDER RELEASE DATE: 7/2/2021

"Melbourne-via-Tasmanian four-piece Quivers first released their 2018 debut We'll Go Riding On The Hearses as hand-made cassettes. The album dealt with singer Sam Nicholson's loss of his brother in a freediving accident, and 'trying to not think about that, and often coming back to ghosts, benders, water, and pissing in the snow.' When demand for the album grew, it received a vinyl release and led Quivers to tour the US, film a KEXP session, and be selected by NPR Music for both the Austin 100 SXSW preview and as a 'Slingshot' artist to watch. Their life-damaged but hopeful jangle pop has only sharpened since then, and while 2021 follow-up Golden Doubt conjures up REM or The Clean, there is a lyrical directness that sets this record apart as always its own. Golden Doubt is carried by shimmering guitars and the harmonizing vocals of members Holly Thomas and Bella Quinlan. Elevated by the production of Matthew Redlich (Holy Holy, Husky, Ainslie Wills), the record explores what comes after grief, and how one throws oneself back into love. As Nicholson explains, the album tries to bottle 'the rush of feelings and fears when you give in to falling for someone. It's also an album in love with other albums, and the other bands around us.' Before each take at Woodstock and The Aviary studios in Melbourne, Australia, the band would imagine a scene together (a waterhole for 'Laughing Waters', an overgrown carpark for 'Videostores') and then dive in to capture live group takes. Quivers need to get words on the page and sounds out to keep moving on. Both Nicholson and Thomas lost their brothers in the same year, and through that shared vulnerability they all have together that runs deep. Golden Doubt is also a love letter to playing music as a band and processing it all together rather than just carrying it as a weight. The cancellation of a 21-date US tour they had slated for 2020 has left them undeterred; Quivers plans to continue being a band and get back out into the world as soon as it's possible."

$16.00 IN STOCK

"epic represents a crossroads for me as an artist. Going from intern to artist at Ba Da Bing, from solo folk singer to playing with a band for the first time and beginning to play shows on tour where people showed up. I am in awe of the artists who wanted to participate in celebrating my anniversary and reissue, from young inspiring musicians, to artists who took me under their wing, who I met on tour, and to artists I've looked up to since I was a teenager. Each one of these artists continue to influence my writing and provide a sense of camaraderie during this new era of sharing music." --Sharon Van Etten "Sharon Van Etten's career since the release of her second album, 2010's epic, is well-known; critically lauded albums, films, and television shows have continually displayed her expanding artistry. Upon its release, epic laid a romantic melancholy over the gravel and dirt of heartbreak without one honest thought or feeling spared. Her songs covered betrayal, obsession, egotism, and all the other emotions disliked in others and recognize in oneself. Van Etten's grounded and clenched vocals conveyed a sense of hope -- the notion that beauty can arise from the worst of circumstances. To celebrate the 10th anniversary of this special album's release, and to acknowledge the convergence of Van Etten's present and past work, she asked fellow artists she admired to participate in an expanded reissue, where each artist would cover one different song from epic in their own style. Some are musicians Van Etten herself admired in her early days (Fiona Apple, Lucinda Williams, and Aaron Dessner and Justin Vernon of Big Red Machine), some are peers (Courtney Barnett, IDLES), and others are part of a younger generation of innovators (Shamir, St. Panther). What they all share is embodied by epic -- a musician frankly communicating the power of music. The resulting epic Ten is a double album featuring the original plus the new album of epic covers and reimagined artwork."

$26.00 IN STOCK

Double LP version. "epic represents a crossroads for me as an artist. Going from intern to artist at Ba Da Bing, from solo folk singer to playing with a band for the first time and beginning to play shows on tour where people showed up. I am in awe of the artists who wanted to participate in celebrating my anniversary and reissue, from young inspiring musicians, to artists who took me under their wing, who I met on tour, and to artists I've looked up to since I was a teenager. Each one of these artists continue to influence my writing and provide a sense of camaraderie during this new era of sharing music." --Sharon Van Etten "Sharon Van Etten's career since the release of her second album, 2010's epic, is well-known; critically lauded albums, films, and television shows have continually displayed her expanding artistry. Upon its release, epic laid a romantic melancholy over the gravel and dirt of heartbreak without one honest thought or feeling spared. Her songs covered betrayal, obsession, egotism, and all the other emotions disliked in others and recognize in oneself. Van Etten's grounded and clenched vocals conveyed a sense of hope -- the notion that beauty can arise from the worst of circumstances. To celebrate the 10th anniversary of this special album's release, and to acknowledge the convergence of Van Etten's present and past work, she asked fellow artists she admired to participate in an expanded reissue, where each artist would cover one different song from epic in their own style. Some are musicians Van Etten herself admired in her early days (Fiona Apple, Lucinda Williams, and Aaron Dessner and Justin Vernon of Big Red Machine), some are peers (Courtney Barnett, IDLES), and others are part of a younger generation of innovators (Shamir, St. Panther). What they all share is embodied by epic -- a musician frankly communicating the power of music. The resulting epic Ten is a double album featuring the original plus the new album of epic covers and reimagined artwork."

$22.00 IN STOCK

"One stormy night in Ireland, Adrian Crowley's brother brought home a wounded crow. After taking care of it for a time, the crow flew away on its own, leaving an impression behind: Crowley wrote a story, which would later become the aptly titled 'Crow Song' on this, his brand new record and ninth studio album The Watchful Eye Of The Stars. Suffused with a hazy and surreal quality, Crowley describes Watchful Eye's poignant narratives as those which insisted themselves upon him. After the fact, it seemed these songs came to him more or less fully formed. 'It's a beautiful and mysterious thing,' he says. Perhaps it is a tendency to hold onto memories that allows him to unleash them lyrically in completion. For Crowley, the creative process is an organic event rather than a practice he feels compelled to regulate or control. He approaches lyrics much like he does short story writing. In making the album, Crowley moved between studio and at home recording, while John Parish (Aldous Harding, PJ Harvey) produced. The pair worked from tracks made initially by Crowley on a charity shop 3/4 size nylon string guitar or Mellotron: 'In this way, John wanted to keep some of the magic of that first take,' says Crowley. Contradictions and complexities are left intact, initial recordings were limited to one or two takes, and the songs feel more like a dream recounted upon waking. These raw beginnings were then fleshed out more in the studio with Parish and additional musicians. Jim Barr of Portishead contributed double bass and was brought in to engineer parts of Watchful Eye in Bristol. Parish himself contributed instrumentation as well, his signature sense of drama lending Crowley's work a new edge overall without disrupting its minimalism. Having members of Crash Ensemble in Dublin to record for only a few days' time, Crowley recalls staying up all night to write string parts for 'Northbound Stowaway,' which was recorded the following morning. Final track 'Take Me Driving' opens with an arpeggiation, then unfolds into a swaying, melancholy outro. It highlights Crowley's skill at transforming a quiet, repeated phrase into something magnificent, mysterious, and wholly captivating -- a story. Crowley leaves the listener here in his world, driving in a car with a flighty companion, unsure of where they're going, but continuing nonetheless as he steps out the passenger side."

$10.00 IN STOCK

"'Nothing ever really disappears,' Cassandra Jenkins says. 'It just changes shape.' Over the past few years, she's seen relationships altered, travelled three continents, wandered through museums and parks, and recorded free-associative guided tours of her New York haunts. Her observations capture the humanity and nature around her, as well as thought patterns, memories, and attempts to be present while dealing with pain and loss. With a singular voice, Jenkins siphons these ideas into the ambient folk of her new album. An Overview on Phenomenal Nature honors flux, detail, and moments of intimacy. Jenkins arrived at engineer Josh Kaufman's studio with ideas rather than full songs -- nevertheless, they finished the album in a week. Jenkins' voice floats amid sensuous chamber pop arrangements and raw-edged drums, ferrying the listener through impressionistic portraits of friends and strangers. Her lyrics unfold magical worlds, introducing one to a cast of characters, like a local fisherman, a psychic at a birthday party, and a driving instructor of a spiritual bent. Jenkins' last record, 2017's Play Till You Win, confirmed the veteran artist's talent. Evident of Jenkins' experience growing up in a family band in New York City, the album showcased her meticulous songwriting and musicianship, earning her comparisons to George Harrison and Emmylou Harris. Jenkins has since played in the bands of Eleanor Friedberger, Craig Finn, and Lola Kirke, and rehearsed to tour with Purple Mountains last August before the tour's cancellation. Her new record departs from her previous work in its openness and flexibility, following her peripatetic lifestyle. 'The goal is to be more fluid, to be more like the clouds shifting constantly,' she says. The approach allowed Jenkins to express herself like she never has."

$25.00 LOW STOCK LEVEL

LP version. "'Nothing ever really disappears,' Cassandra Jenkins says. 'It just changes shape.' Over the past few years, she's seen relationships altered, travelled three continents, wandered through museums and parks, and recorded free-associative guided tours of her New York haunts. Her observations capture the humanity and nature around her, as well as thought patterns, memories, and attempts to be present while dealing with pain and loss. With a singular voice, Jenkins siphons these ideas into the ambient folk of her new album. An Overview on Phenomenal Nature honors flux, detail, and moments of intimacy. Jenkins arrived at engineer Josh Kaufman's studio with ideas rather than full songs -- nevertheless, they finished the album in a week. Jenkins' voice floats amid sensuous chamber pop arrangements and raw-edged drums, ferrying the listener through impressionistic portraits of friends and strangers. Her lyrics unfold magical worlds, introducing one to a cast of characters, like a local fisherman, a psychic at a birthday party, and a driving instructor of a spiritual bent. Jenkins' last record, 2017's Play Till You Win, confirmed the veteran artist's talent. Evident of Jenkins' experience growing up in a family band in New York City, the album showcased her meticulous songwriting and musicianship, earning her comparisons to George Harrison and Emmylou Harris. Jenkins has since played in the bands of Eleanor Friedberger, Craig Finn, and Lola Kirke, and rehearsed to tour with Purple Mountains last August before the tour's cancellation. Her new record departs from her previous work in its openness and flexibility, following her peripatetic lifestyle. 'The goal is to be more fluid, to be more like the clouds shifting constantly,' she says. The approach allowed Jenkins to express herself like she never has."

$20.00 IN STOCK

2021 restock; LP version. "Some bands struggle to transcend their initial mythos, those stories that introduce them to the public eye. But The Dead C is a notable exception. They appeared in 1986 under a cloud of mystery, their unconventional location (South Island, New Zealand) helping to fuel their erratic sound. Name-dropped through the nineties by groups like Sonic Youth and Yo La Tengo, they gained influence and acclaim but never strayed from their original mainlined performing technique, which can sound like chaos to the casual listener. What kind of a world greets them and their new album Unknowns in 2020? New Zealand culture is better known throughout the world, not to mention a low-virus paradise. Yes, isolated as in the past, but this time for being a nation of efficacy in tackling a public health crisis. But what about the rest of the world? The music of Mssrs. Robbie Yates, Bruce Russell and Michael Morley endures, partially because their errant sounds, once so alienating, now feel like they've been made flesh in a large part of the modern-day world. Continuing to delve inwards for inspiration with tin ears towards trends, styles and technique, The Dead C forge onward. Unpolished, dusty and gritty, these three have again taken two guitars and drums, a combo which has less to say than ever, and leave the listener stunned. Unknowns has Morley slurring over spiraling dissemblance, with tracks ricocheting from intense to assaultive to drained, yet consistently magnificent. As reliable as ever, The Dead C are firmly grounded as an unassailable Truth."

$20.00 LOW STOCK LEVEL

LP version. "Drawing the connections between Wendy Eisenberg's releases feels like undertaking a wide-ranging investigation. Albums of wildly inventive guitar, tempo-shifting avant rock and curiously leftfield pop fit together as offerings of Eisenberg's curious mind. On Auto, their most innovative and inner-reaching album yet, Eisenberg explores emotional, subjective truth, and how it interacts with an objectivity no person alone can grasp. Inspired by the solo work of Mark Hollis (Talk Talk) and David Sylvian's Blemish, with playing skills that have already seen them climbing Best Guitarist lists and an unvarnished vocal immediacy, Wendy Eisenberg has created an album of subtle display that resonates with maximal impact. Auto has multiple meanings. First, automobile: 'A lot of these songs were written about and mentally take place when I'm in the car on my way to gigs,' says Eisenberg. Immediate melodies came to them on these trips, to which they'd later add complex guitar parts. And automata: 'I make myself into a machine, which is why everything that's played is precise.' Finally, they frame their work in the literary technique of auto-fiction, 'the semi-fictionalized presentation of the self in a narrative form of growth,' as Eisenberg sees it. The album served as a means toward working through emotional conflicts from adolescent trauma and PTSD, and dissects the dissolution and conflict that led towards the breakup of their former band. With much of it written while its events played out, Auto faces the grief of losing what one thinks is their future while experiencing a dramatic reshaping of their past; it delves openly into the limited nature of one person's narrative. After making a few efforts to record Auto, Eisenberg ultimately chose to collaborate with childhood friend Nick Zanca, who contributes electronic elements and production. Mirroring the personal and organic offered by Eisenberg, synthetic sounds form a kind of boundary or context for everything. They 'sound like commentary on songs that were written from an organic or subjective perspective,' says Eisenberg. Their place on the album is integral for Eisenberg's goal 'to outweigh the subjectivity of normal singer-songwriter guitar songs with the objectivity of electronic sound.'"

$10.00 LOW STOCK LEVEL

"Some bands struggle to transcend their initial mythos, those stories that introduce them to the public eye. But The Dead C is a notable exception. They appeared in 1986 under a cloud of mystery, their unconventional location (South Island, New Zealand) helping to fuel their erratic sound. Name-dropped through the nineties by groups like Sonic Youth and Yo La Tengo, they gained influence and acclaim but never strayed from their original mainlined performing technique, which can sound like chaos to the casual listener. What kind of a world greets them and their new album Unknowns in 2020? New Zealand culture is better known throughout the world, not to mention a low-virus paradise. Yes, isolated as in the past, but this time for being a nation of efficacy in tackling a public health crisis. But what about the rest of the world? The music of Mssrs. Robbie Yates, Bruce Russell and Michael Morley endures, partially because their errant sounds, once so alienating, now feel like they've been made flesh in a large part of the modern-day world. Continuing to delve inwards for inspiration with tin ears towards trends, styles and technique, The Dead C forge onward. Unpolished, dusty and gritty, these three have again taken two guitars and drums, a combo which has less to say than ever, and leave the listener stunned. Unknowns has Morley slurring over spiraling dissemblance, with tracks ricocheting from intense to assaultive to drained, yet consistently magnificent. As reliable as ever, The Dead C are firmly grounded as an unassailable Truth."

$10.00 IN STOCK

"Drawing the connections between Wendy Eisenberg's releases feels like undertaking a wide-ranging investigation. Albums of wildly inventive guitar, tempo-shifting avant rock and curiously leftfield pop fit together as offerings of Eisenberg's curious mind. On Auto, their most innovative and inner-reaching album yet, Eisenberg explores emotional, subjective truth, and how it interacts with an objectivity no person alone can grasp. Inspired by the solo work of Mark Hollis (Talk Talk) and David Sylvian's Blemish, with playing skills that have already seen them climbing Best Guitarist lists and an unvarnished vocal immediacy, Wendy Eisenberg has created an album of subtle display that resonates with maximal impact. Auto has multiple meanings. First, automobile: 'A lot of these songs were written about and mentally take place when I'm in the car on my way to gigs,' says Eisenberg. Immediate melodies came to them on these trips, to which they'd later add complex guitar parts. And automata: 'I make myself into a machine, which is why everything that's played is precise.' Finally, they frame their work in the literary technique of auto-fiction, 'the semi-fictionalized presentation of the self in a narrative form of growth,' as Eisenberg sees it. The album served as a means toward working through emotional conflicts from adolescent trauma and PTSD, and dissects the dissolution and conflict that led towards the breakup of their former band. With much of it written while its events played out, Auto faces the grief of losing what one thinks is their future while experiencing a dramatic reshaping of their past; it delves openly into the limited nature of one person's narrative. After making a few efforts to record Auto, Eisenberg ultimately chose to collaborate with childhood friend Nick Zanca, who contributes electronic elements and production. Mirroring the personal and organic offered by Eisenberg, synthetic sounds form a kind of boundary or context for everything. They 'sound like commentary on songs that were written from an organic or subjective perspective,' says Eisenberg. Their place on the album is integral for Eisenberg's goal 'to outweigh the subjectivity of normal singer-songwriter guitar songs with the objectivity of electronic sound.'"

$10.00 IN STOCK

"Creating what Iggy Pop described to Jim Jarmusch as 'symphonies for people that don't have a lot of time,' Sarah Lipstate has emerged as an innovative and defining voice in the world of music under the name Noveller. Wielding a guitar as her main instrument, Lipstate has pioneered a transcendent approach to composition through her mastery and integration of effects pedals and technology. Forming unexpected sonic routes, her songs are vivid and cinematic, telling intricate tales with each tone and swell. Raised on a strict piano technique, the discovery of the guitar late in her teens allowed for an escape from formalism and unlocked the hidden realms of her creativity. Taking an anti-theoretical approach, suddenly music was no longer a series of notes, rests, and time signatures, but a means of intuitive expression. Her deepened interest in experimental music, fueled by the discovery of the bold noise of Sonic Youth, the epic scope of Glenn Branca, the delicate formularies of Brian Eno and the no wave discordance of Teenage Jesus & The Jerks, only furthered to inspire. A yearning to explore and feed that creativity took her from Louisiana to Austin, then Brooklyn to LA. Arrow is her first album since the move to the edge of the canyons of Los Angeles, and one can hear the destabilizing effect this had on her in the music. Out of her comfort zone in a new city, with a rolling expanse in front of her and an urban sprawl over her shoulder, Lipstate built her new album as she contemplated this change in her life. With her ability to add such unique sounds and textures, Lipstate has been sought out as a frequent collaborator, recently writing songs with Iggy Pop and performing as a member of his band on his worldwide tour. Past partners in crime have ranged from JG Thirlwell to Lee Ranaldo and she has performed as part of Rhys Chatham's Guitar Army, Nick Zinner's '41 Strings', Ben Frost's 'Music for 6 Guitars', and Glenn Branca's 100 guitar ensemble. She has also toured in support of big fans in St. Vincent, Wire, U.S. Girls, The Jesus Lizard and Helium."

$22.00 IN STOCK

LP version. "Creating what Iggy Pop described to Jim Jarmusch as 'symphonies for people that don't have a lot of time,' Sarah Lipstate has emerged as an innovative and defining voice in the world of music under the name Noveller. Wielding a guitar as her main instrument, Lipstate has pioneered a transcendent approach to composition through her mastery and integration of effects pedals and technology. Forming unexpected sonic routes, her songs are vivid and cinematic, telling intricate tales with each tone and swell. Raised on a strict piano technique, the discovery of the guitar late in her teens allowed for an escape from formalism and unlocked the hidden realms of her creativity. Taking an anti-theoretical approach, suddenly music was no longer a series of notes, rests, and time signatures, but a means of intuitive expression. Her deepened interest in experimental music, fueled by the discovery of the bold noise of Sonic Youth, the epic scope of Glenn Branca, the delicate formularies of Brian Eno and the no wave discordance of Teenage Jesus & The Jerks, only furthered to inspire. A yearning to explore and feed that creativity took her from Louisiana to Austin, then Brooklyn to LA. Arrow is her first album since the move to the edge of the canyons of Los Angeles, and one can hear the destabilizing effect this had on her in the music. Out of her comfort zone in a new city, with a rolling expanse in front of her and an urban sprawl over her shoulder, Lipstate built her new album as she contemplated this change in her life. With her ability to add such unique sounds and textures, Lipstate has been sought out as a frequent collaborator, recently writing songs with Iggy Pop and performing as a member of his band on his worldwide tour. Past partners in crime have ranged from JG Thirlwell to Lee Ranaldo and she has performed as part of Rhys Chatham's Guitar Army, Nick Zinner's '41 Strings', Ben Frost's 'Music for 6 Guitars', and Glenn Branca's 100 guitar ensemble. She has also toured in support of big fans in St. Vincent, Wire, U.S. Girls, The Jesus Lizard and Helium."

$15.00 NOT IN STOCK

"Snowgoose are proud to present their new album, The Making Of You, on Ba Da Bing Records. The follow-up to their critically acclaimed debut, Harmony Springs, this record sees the songwriting duo of guitarist Jim McCulloch and singer Anna Sheard supported by a who's who of Scottish pop music, including members of Belle And Sebastian and Teenage Fanclub. Tracing a line through '60s West Coast psychedelia and early '70s folk-rock, Snowgoose creates something timeless and unique, which transcends its influences to assert itself as modern and forward thinking. This album represents a new chapter in the Snowgoose story. While their 2012 debut was largely written by former Soup Dragons guitarist Jim McCulloch, the new songs see Sheard step forward as a lyricist and melodist. The result of this collaboration is a record of rare beauty and momentary intimacy, resulting in utter exuberance. McCulloch says, 'When we made the first album, I brought the bulk of the material to the party, written and ready to go. This time round, we decided to write together and it soon became clear that not only is Anna a peerless singer, she is also a wonderful lyricist.' Sheard adds, 'During the writing process, I was -- as usual -- listening to a swirling melting pot of artists, from Spanky And Our Gang, through Fleetwood Mac, to France Gall and Jobim.' Novelist Ian Rankin, who declared Snowgoose's debut one of the best albums of 2012, says, 'I was a huge fan of the first Snowgoose album and I'm equally excited by the follow-up. Such warmth and emotion, with great performances by the musicians and singer Anna Sheard. Fairport Convention, Incredible String Band, Pentangle and more come to mind, but Snowgoose add lyricism and delicacy of their own.' Del Amitri frontman Justin Currie adds, 'Jim McCulloch and Anna Sheard, with their troupe of Scottish alternative pop royalty, have made the kind of record that saved the easy listening genre in the early seventies. Think Sandy Denny crashing into a Jimmy Webb session armed with delicate west coast melodies and a little bag of very modern anxiety.'"

$22.00 LOW STOCK LEVEL

LP version. "Snowgoose are proud to present their new album, The Making Of You, on Ba Da Bing Records. The follow-up to their critically acclaimed debut, Harmony Springs, this record sees the songwriting duo of guitarist Jim McCulloch and singer Anna Sheard supported by a who's who of Scottish pop music, including members of Belle And Sebastian and Teenage Fanclub. Tracing a line through '60s West Coast psychedelia and early '70s folk-rock, Snowgoose creates something timeless and unique, which transcends its influences to assert itself as modern and forward thinking. This album represents a new chapter in the Snowgoose story. While their 2012 debut was largely written by former Soup Dragons guitarist Jim McCulloch, the new songs see Sheard step forward as a lyricist and melodist. The result of this collaboration is a record of rare beauty and momentary intimacy, resulting in utter exuberance. McCulloch says, 'When we made the first album, I brought the bulk of the material to the party, written and ready to go. This time round, we decided to write together and it soon became clear that not only is Anna a peerless singer, she is also a wonderful lyricist.' Sheard adds, 'During the writing process, I was -- as usual -- listening to a swirling melting pot of artists, from Spanky And Our Gang, through Fleetwood Mac, to France Gall and Jobim.' Novelist Ian Rankin, who declared Snowgoose's debut one of the best albums of 2012, says, 'I was a huge fan of the first Snowgoose album and I'm equally excited by the follow-up. Such warmth and emotion, with great performances by the musicians and singer Anna Sheard. Fairport Convention, Incredible String Band, Pentangle and more come to mind, but Snowgoose add lyricism and delicacy of their own.' Del Amitri frontman Justin Currie adds, 'Jim McCulloch and Anna Sheard, with their troupe of Scottish alternative pop royalty, have made the kind of record that saved the easy listening genre in the early seventies. Think Sandy Denny crashing into a Jimmy Webb session armed with delicate west coast melodies and a little bag of very modern anxiety.'"

$10.00 IN STOCK

"Katie Von Schleicher doesn't hold back. Her music, drenched in layers of warmth and fuzz, mines depression, devotion, power, and anxiety without reserve. But if channeling weighty subject matter is a constant in Von Schleicher's music, so too is transforming that material into sonic landscapes that defy expectations. On Von Schleicher's second record, Consummation, she blasts past the lo-fi power ballads of her debut Shitty Hits (2017) with a severe expansion of her sonic palette; its thirteen shape-shifting songs depict a deeply personal exploration of trauma. The result is both potent and listenable; strange and familiar; intense and entertaining -- and, perhaps most of all, teeming with life. Consummation is, in part, inspired by an alternate interpretation of Hitchcock's Vertigo. In 2018, Von Schleicher rewatched the seminal film and was struck by its largely unanalyzed subtext of abuse. She knew immediately that this hidden narrative, which spoke to her personal experience, would be the basis of her next album. While writing and engineering the record, she found sanctuary in the words of other women: namely, Carmen Maria Machado's Her Body and Other Parties, Rachel Cusk's Outline trilogy, and Rebecca Solnit's A Field Guide to Getting Lost. The latter proved particularly influential: Soon after revisiting Vertigo, Von Schleicher stumbled upon Solnit's lacerating take on the film. Solnit describes the 'wandering, stalking, haunting' of romantic pursuit that it depicts as 'consummation,' while 'real communion' -- understanding and mutual respect between two lovers -- is, to the men in the film, 'unimaginable.' The consequence is a fundamental failure of communication. At its core, Consummation evokes the pain of being unable to bridge that vast psychic distance between oneself and another."

$20.00 LOW STOCK LEVEL

LP version. "Katie Von Schleicher doesn't hold back. Her music, drenched in layers of warmth and fuzz, mines depression, devotion, power, and anxiety without reserve. But if channeling weighty subject matter is a constant in Von Schleicher's music, so too is transforming that material into sonic landscapes that defy expectations. On Von Schleicher's second record, Consummation, she blasts past the lo-fi power ballads of her debut Shitty Hits (2017) with a severe expansion of her sonic palette; its thirteen shape-shifting songs depict a deeply personal exploration of trauma. The result is both potent and listenable; strange and familiar; intense and entertaining -- and, perhaps most of all, teeming with life. Consummation is, in part, inspired by an alternate interpretation of Hitchcock's Vertigo. In 2018, Von Schleicher rewatched the seminal film and was struck by its largely unanalyzed subtext of abuse. She knew immediately that this hidden narrative, which spoke to her personal experience, would be the basis of her next album. While writing and engineering the record, she found sanctuary in the words of other women: namely, Carmen Maria Machado's Her Body and Other Parties, Rachel Cusk's Outline trilogy, and Rebecca Solnit's A Field Guide to Getting Lost. The latter proved particularly influential: Soon after revisiting Vertigo, Von Schleicher stumbled upon Solnit's lacerating take on the film. Solnit describes the 'wandering, stalking, haunting' of romantic pursuit that it depicts as 'consummation,' while 'real communion' -- understanding and mutual respect between two lovers -- is, to the men in the film, 'unimaginable.' The consequence is a fundamental failure of communication. At its core, Consummation evokes the pain of being unable to bridge that vast psychic distance between oneself and another."

$10.00 IN STOCK

"'I'm learning how to say goodbye / to let you go and face the tide / to wrap my feelings in a song,' sings Dana Gavanski on the title track of her debut album, Yesterday Is Gone. To wrap her feelings in a song: this is the task Gavanski has dedicated herself to with this record. By turns break-up album, project of curiosity, and, as Gavanski puts it, 'a reckoning with myself', Yesterday Is Gone is her attempt to 'learn to say what I feel and feel what I say': an album of longing and devotion to longing, and of the uncertainty that arises from learning about oneself, of pushing boundaries, falling hard, and getting back up. The record is a co-production between Gavanski, Toronto-based musician Sam Gleason, and Mike Lindsay of Tunng and LUMP. While Gleason helped Gavanski bring out the tunes, Lindsay's input marked 'the beginning of developing a sound that was closer to what I had in my head'. Though excited by the other elements of a song introduced during production, Gavanski and Lindsay were keen on 'finding essential things, not overblowing, keeping things bare and letting the elements speak for themselves'. The album shapeshifted as it passed through the hands of Gavanski, Gleason, and Lindsay, taking on different tastes, feelings, and visions. When Gavanski performed the songs with a band, they found new form again. She was intrigued by performers like David Bowie and Aldous Harding, who inhabit different personalities on stage, physically tuning themselves to their music. While on a crowded train last spring, Gavanski sang the Macedonian song "Jano Mome" to a cheering group of commuters. The moment, brief but beautiful, lays bare Gavanski's craving for live spontaneity. But it also reflects her injection of stylish drama and vivid emotion into the folk landscape that inspires her, from contemporary singers H Hawkline and Julia Holter, to stalwarts Fairport Convention, Anne Briggs, Connie Converse, and Judee Sill. Expressive urges run all through Yesterday Is Gone. Moments of beguilement splinter a backdrop of tenderly picked guitar, bass, synth, and poppier elements, which commune to produce her own kind of wall of sound. 'Often we have to go a little far in one direction to learn something about ourselves,' she says. The months of solitary writing and self-doubt testify to this, but they've led to Yesterday Is Gone: an optimistic, steely-eyed gaze into the future."

$20.00 LOW STOCK LEVEL

LP version. "'I'm learning how to say goodbye / to let you go and face the tide / to wrap my feelings in a song,' sings Dana Gavanski on the title track of her debut album, Yesterday Is Gone. To wrap her feelings in a song: this is the task Gavanski has dedicated herself to with this record. By turns break-up album, project of curiosity, and, as Gavanski puts it, 'a reckoning with myself', Yesterday Is Gone is her attempt to 'learn to say what I feel and feel what I say': an album of longing and devotion to longing, and of the uncertainty that arises from learning about oneself, of pushing boundaries, falling hard, and getting back up. The record is a co-production between Gavanski, Toronto-based musician Sam Gleason, and Mike Lindsay of Tunng and LUMP. While Gleason helped Gavanski bring out the tunes, Lindsay's input marked 'the beginning of developing a sound that was closer to what I had in my head'. Though excited by the other elements of a song introduced during production, Gavanski and Lindsay were keen on 'finding essential things, not overblowing, keeping things bare and letting the elements speak for themselves'. The album shapeshifted as it passed through the hands of Gavanski, Gleason, and Lindsay, taking on different tastes, feelings, and visions. When Gavanski performed the songs with a band, they found new form again. She was intrigued by performers like David Bowie and Aldous Harding, who inhabit different personalities on stage, physically tuning themselves to their music. While on a crowded train last spring, Gavanski sang the Macedonian song "Jano Mome" to a cheering group of commuters. The moment, brief but beautiful, lays bare Gavanski's craving for live spontaneity. But it also reflects her injection of stylish drama and vivid emotion into the folk landscape that inspires her, from contemporary singers H Hawkline and Julia Holter, to stalwarts Fairport Convention, Anne Briggs, Connie Converse, and Judee Sill. Expressive urges run all through Yesterday Is Gone. Moments of beguilement splinter a backdrop of tenderly picked guitar, bass, synth, and poppier elements, which commune to produce her own kind of wall of sound. 'Often we have to go a little far in one direction to learn something about ourselves,' she says. The months of solitary writing and self-doubt testify to this, but they've led to Yesterday Is Gone: an optimistic, steely-eyed gaze into the future."

$20.00 NOT IN STOCK

LP version. "On the eponymously titled final song of her debut album Land Of No Junction, Irish songwriter Aoife Nessa Frances sings 'Take me to the land of no junction / Before it fades away / Where the roads can never cross / But go their own way." This search, indeed the heart of the album, recalls journeys towards an ever shifting centre -- a centre that cannot hold -- with maps that are constantly being rewritten. She writes: 'The album title is a result of a mishearing. Cian Nugent (Aoife's musical collaborator and co-producer) was telling me about childhood trips he made to Llandudno in Wales, passing through a station called Llandudno Junction... Land Of No Junction later became a place in itself. A liminal space -- a dark vast landscape to visit in dreams... A place of waiting where I could sit with uncertainty and accept it. Rejecting the distinct and welcoming the uncertain and the unknown.' The album is shot through with this sense of mystery -- an ambiguity and disorientation that illuminates songs with smokey luminescence. Yet, through the haze, everything comes down to what, where and who one is. With Land Of No Junction, she has built a universe full of intimacy and depth, with lyrics written through a process of free thought writing. It lends the record fluidity, each song in dialogue with the next not only through language, but the way each musical choice complements or threads into another: 'I would write without putting pressure on taking the song in any particular direction. It all carried itself naturally and instinctively with melody coming first and then structure later.' Written over several years, the songs traverse and inhabit this indeterminate landscape: the beginnings of love, moments of loss, discovery, fragility and strength, all intermingle and interact. Some songs -- like lead single 'Blow Up' -- date back to university days, where Frances studied film. Borrowing its title from the 1966 Antonioni picture of the same name, it indirectly provided the catalyst for Frances's broader considerations about being a woman and self-determination -- 'Blow Up' and 'Less Is More' were written before the abortion referendum was passed in Ireland in 2018 -- during time when women were forced to travel abroad during crisis pregnancies. They are both songs about being a woman and finding strength in a forever changing world."

$25.00 LOW STOCK LEVEL

"While recording a group of songs that would end up being part of This World Just Eats Me Up Alive, Brian Crook took a break outside with his bandmates. A small girl nearby ran up to a woman saying 'Mommy, mommy! There's a vampire here!' The mother asked how the girl knew it was a vampire, and the girl said, 'He talks like this,' and proceeded to do a growling impression of a New Zealand accent. At the time, Brian was in a dark suit and had super long hair, and was playing badminton... Crook's new solo album comprises eight years of recording, so perhaps his undead appearance is not surprising; it comprises a span of inspiration that seems almost vampiric, with themes suggested by Greek mythology, a favorite 1960s author, to the abstract electronics of Aphex Twin and Arca as influences. The album came together in parts, slowly assembled with various contributors and recording locations, the earliest trace having lyrical origins from 1991, and was done during sessions for The Terminals, Crook's other band (you can also add NZ legends Scorched Earth Policy and Flies Inside The Sun to that list). A near decade provides a lot of material for reflective songwriting. In Crook's revelations about life in New Zealand and his tenebrous lyrical style there is more than a touch of comedy, albeit of a blackly humorous, 'South Island New Zealand' nature. The lyrics and music come from a similar place as New Zealand painters Bill Hammond and Tony de Latour, evoking a kind of ceremonial primitivism."

$10.00 LOW STOCK LEVEL

"A meditative and endlessly turning clutch of songs, She Keeps Bees' Kinship reasserts the band's elegant power in a stream of loss and regeneration. Death, birth, both personal and in reflection of Earth itself emerge through Jessica Larrabee's focused, empowered voice. With Larrabee and Andy LaPlant's first album in four years, She Keeps Bees peels away their distorted guitars and fills the void with hypnotic organ, keyboards, strings, a tight bed of drum grooves, and a direct lyricism full of with wisdom and intention. This is an album that radiates its messages with deft knowledge and immeasurable strength. Since 2014's acclaimed Eight Houses, Larrabee cared for and lost her father before moving upstate with LaPlant to a New York cottage with a plan to start their own family. In this new, solitary and natural environment, they wrote and recorded this album over five months, joined by friends Kevin Sullivan (Last Good Tooth) on bass, Penn Sultan (Last Good Tooth) for guitar, and Eric Maltz, who lent strings, synthesizers and piano. Kinship addresses chaos by pointing beyond it, to the order that exists outside one's reach. As the duo settle upstate and begin planting roots for their future life together, She Keeps Bees have taken the long view and written odes to the irrevocable primacy of Nature."

$20.00 LOW STOCK LEVEL

LP version. "A meditative and endlessly turning clutch of songs, She Keeps Bees' Kinship reasserts the band's elegant power in a stream of loss and regeneration. Death, birth, both personal and in reflection of Earth itself emerge through Jessica Larrabee's focused, empowered voice. With Larrabee and Andy LaPlant's first album in four years, She Keeps Bees peels away their distorted guitars and fills the void with hypnotic organ, keyboards, strings, a tight bed of drum grooves, and a direct lyricism full of with wisdom and intention. This is an album that radiates its messages with deft knowledge and immeasurable strength. Since 2014's acclaimed Eight Houses, Larrabee cared for and lost her father before moving upstate with LaPlant to a New York cottage with a plan to start their own family. In this new, solitary and natural environment, they wrote and recorded this album over five months, joined by friends Kevin Sullivan (Last Good Tooth) on bass, Penn Sultan (Last Good Tooth) for guitar, and Eric Maltz, who lent strings, synthesizers and piano. Kinship addresses chaos by pointing beyond it, to the order that exists outside one's reach. As the duo settle upstate and begin planting roots for their future life together, She Keeps Bees have taken the long view and written odes to the irrevocable primacy of Nature."