Review: Completed within six days - always a sign of a unprescribed project, without pretence or conceit, one which just needs to be unleashed - Noah Kahan completed the five-track 'Cape Elizabeth' EP in 2020. The five-track EP, which followed four original CDs already released on major labels, was an instant hit among indie singer-songwriter lovers. Now repackaged for the same audience once more, the towering chart-topper now returns to Republic Records for a first-time aqua vinyl reissue, after its initial digital-only run.
Review: First released in 1983, Khartomb's 'Swahili Lullaby' first surfaced on the underground punk and reggae label Whaam! before fading back again into obscurity. In fact their only release, originally a 7", it came backed by the 12/8 wonderwork 'Teekon Warriors' on the B; both tracks established their sound as straddling both a restlessness and a laconism, channelling influences from the Slits to the Raincoats. Legend speaks of an original Peel Session and support from Melody Maker - the holy one-track difecta for breaking artists back then - yet this initial support sadly, madly waned. Now, however, the release comes miraculously back to the fore, rendered concscious again by way of a new-to-vinyl track - 'Daisy High' - as well as two versions of the A1 by Synkro and Talking Drums. 'Daisy High' is a lissome one, its layered contraltos overdubbed to perfection against endless Balearic guitar-swirls amid an overarching 'bossa feel' (in Peel's words). Synkro's dub could just as easily have come from '83 as it did from '24, swelling away into a sweet kickless reverie that happily, barely resembles the original; Talking Drums' version is more loyal to the genesis, yet amps up the dub pressure.
Review: If you've caught either Khruangbin or Leon Bridges live before, or indeed listened to anything by either band or producer-singer-songwriter, you'll know where this 20-minute EP is heading. The sleeve art, which gives more than a nod to the 1960s hippy movement, also offers a major clue.
Tripped out, smoked out, lackadaisical, bliss-infused overtures, honied and syrupy, easing you in so far that you don't quite realise how hard it is to crawl back out of the sugar-coated opiate haze. A collection of heady, hallucinogenic work for 21st Century high plains drifters, it's jazzy, psychy, lush soulful fare you'll be wanting to hear again and again, capturing the heat and slow pace of America's southern states with heartfelt songwriting from genuine masters. The result is something very special indeed.
Review: A little slice of rock history for RSD 2025, taken from the encore from US indie faves The Killers' encore at New York's Madison Square Garden on October 1, 2022, when a certain Mr Springsteen joined them to Boss proceedings. We get versions of two of Springsteen's calling cards - 'Badlands' from his Darkness on the Edge of Town album, often cited as a proto-punk classic - and the ubiquitous 'Born To Run', with The Killers' raucous 'Dustland', seemingly heading up and up in intensity without ever quite hitting the ceiling, as the meat in the musical sandwich. The clear parallels between both acts are laid bare, as is the spontaneity and excitement of a true one off moment.
Review: A chance to own this much loved pre-album classic from King Kruke aka Southwark-raised Archy Marshall on a neat 7". The track, originally issued in 2012 on the Rinse label, has all the hallmarks that would make Marshall famous, namely a lilting, emotionally direct vocal performance, some rather nifty guitar work and some rough cut breakbeats with a lovely whiff of bedroom production about them. The flip, meanwhile, is adorned with an instrumental version, making this quite the all round desirable item.
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