Back catalogue: Post Rock/Experimental

Review: Acclaimed Japanese artist Cornelius is back with a new three-song EP, Bad Advice/Mind Train, featuring a collaboration with Arto Lindsay. The EP's first single, 'Mind Train,' is an epic nine-minute track inspired by Yoko Ono which blends ethereal space-pop with minimalist structures and bursts of exhilarating chaos. Cornelius describes 'Mind Train' as a symbol of spiritual and inner exploration that is designed to prompt self-reflection. The accompanying video, created by renowned visual stylist Keita Onishi, enhances this journey with stunning retro-futuristic graphics that allow you to explore your own interpretations.

Review: David Michael Tibet's exploration of the arcane mysteries through Current 93 are an intriguing subculture all of their own, sat somewhere to the side of Coil and the other mystics of the post-industrial scene. In Menstrual Night was released in 1986 as two long form pieces that layer up voices into a mesmerising swirl. The cast of collaborators on the project include such luminaries as Steven Stapleton, Keiko Yoshida, Rose McDowall, Boyd Rice and the late John Balance. Now House Of Mythology have created a faithfully recreated picture disc vinyl edition, sure to be quickly gathered up by the faithful followers of this fascinating corner of electronic music.

Review: RECOMMENDED
You always feel like you've pushed through the other side of the mirror when it comes to CAN. A mysterious, groove-laden, funk-infused yet utterly lucid place where guitar hooks seem to come out of the walls, rhythmic hypnosis draws listeners ever-deeper into a place that, while perhaps not entirely theirs, is one which they helped build in the outer limits of late-1960s surrealist rock.

Laying the foundations for early progressive and krautrock with an avant-garde approach to songwriting, by the time this Stuttgart gig took place they had almost a decade of work to go at, and yet as the tracklist suggests the band always had improvisation at their core in a live setting. Concerts that would transport crowds far beyond the venue, into thick layers of melody, hooks and strange effects, every single recording of every show is a genuine moment in history never to be repeated again.

Review: Only Hinting, the full-length debut record by Detroit duo Clinic Stars, both refines and redefines their pitch-perfect fusion of downer-pop balladry and featherweight shoegaze. Recorded and produced at the band's home studio, the album was created across 2022 and 2023, patiently layering FX and spatial depths to give each song a swirling, subconscious undertow. Between its burring washes of electric guitar crunch, its subtle electronic backbones, and its more quiescent moments of acoustic stripped-backness, we wouldn't have guessed that this one was a debut at all.

Review: The Moon and the Melodies, a collaboration between Cocteau Twins and ambient pioneer Harold Budd, stands as a unique gem in both artists' discographies. Originally released in 1986, this ethereal album is now being reissued on vinyl, remastered from the original tapes by Robin Guthrie. Unlike anything else the Cocteau Twins ever produced, this record blends their dreamlike soundscapes with Budd's serene, improvisational piano work. The result is an atmospheric journey, at once intimate and expansive. Tracks like 'Sea, Swallow Me' shine with Elizabeth Fraser's otherworldly vocals, intertwined with Guthrie's shimmering guitar and Raymonde's grounding bass, creating a sound that feels both familiar and entirely unique. Instrumentals like 'Memory Gongs' and 'The Ghost Has No Home' highlight Budd's delicate piano, enhanced by the band's signature ambient textures. The album is a study in contrasts, vocal tracks sit alongside instrumentals, each contributing to a cohesive yet diverse listening experience. For fans, this reissue is a chance to revisit a pivotal moment in the evolution of dream pop and ambient music. The album's enduring appeal is evident in its continued influence in social media. The Moon and the Melodies remains a shining light that can happen when artists from different realms come together to create something truly timeless.

Review: The Moon and the Melodies, a remarkable collaboration between Cocteau Twins and ambient pioneer Harold Budd, remains a standout achievement in both artists' repertoires. First released in 1986, this enchanting album is now receiving a well-deserved vinyl reissue, meticulously remastered by Robin Guthrie from the original tapes. This album is a stunning fusion of the Cocteau Twins' signature dreamlike atmospheres with Budd's elegant, improvisational piano, resulting in a listening experience that is both expansive and deeply personal. The blending of Elizabeth Fraser's ethereal vocals, seamlessly intertwined with Guthrie's luminous guitar work and Raymonde's resonant bass, creates a sound that is both distinct and evocative. The album effortlessly balances vocal tracks with instrumentals, each adding to its rich and diverse sonic palette. This reissue offers a chance to rediscover a defining moment in the evolution of dream pop and ambient music. The Moon and the Melodies continues to stun audiences. This CD edition is the perfect vehicle to an ethereal beauty of the highest order.

Review: Numero Group have embarked on a reissues bundle of slowcore pioneer band Codeine's first and last albums, as well as an intermediary EP. 'Frigid Stars' is the former, and made for a remarkable debut album, epitomizing the late-80s-to-early-90s sound that still continues to influence trailblazers in the genre to this day, from Deathcrash to Bardo Pond. Codeine laid it bare before its name was coined: proto-slowcore is heavy, but not aggressive; quiet, but not silent; its vocals are hushed but present, perhaps reflecting the mood of doom that had set upon the local music scene in New York, where the band originate from. Thematically, the LP deals with angsty themes from loss to despair, with choice cuts like 'When I See The Sun' lumbering through ultra-reverb, gothic melodic lulls and guitarry plods to the death.

Review: The fables around this one are strong. To say the least. Corker & Conboy's album, In Leith of that Learnt Later was apparently recorded in a converted carpark in Battersea. Melding together cinematic post-rock, adult lullabies, dub-by folk, and new age, it's a marvel of escapist listening that transports you far from the brutality of the concrete London it was born into, out to some field in England or other, and then onwards to plains we are yet to become familiar with. On this two-tracker that sense of adventure remains very much in tact. Purelink steps up with a remix that could be the soundtrack to your next sensory depravation tank prep or cacao ceremony. All earthy bubbles and light, loose, tribalistic percussion. On the flip, find one of the originals from the LP - the lackadaisical guitar motifs of 'On The Dust and The Haze'.

Review: First released in 2018, The Light Is Leaving Us All is one of Current 93's (David Tibet's) most up-to-date explorations in sound, and is noted by the artist himself as one of his most recent favourites. An expansive collaborative cluster of entities, some human and others perhaps not, assisted Tibet in the making of this morbid neofolk opus, which, when not indulging droning guitarscapes and dulcimer twinkles, humours a spoken word and found sound palette, constructing a conniving persona that perhaps farcically laments the loss of suburban niceties (clues in the track titles like 'The Birds Are Sweetly Singing', 'The Policeman Is Dead', 'The Postman Is Singing', 'The Milkmaid Sings' and 'A Thousand Witches' portray a macabre picture of the dead underside of sleepy hometown life). When Tibet sings, he brings a knowingly resigned tone to the record, sounding almost genderless in his evocation of experience and loss of domestic innocence.