Japanese Breakfast's 'Soft Sounds From Another Planet' is less of a concept album about space exploration so much as it is a mood board come to life. Over the course of 12 tracks, Michelle Zauner explores a sonic landscape of her own design, one that's big enough to contain her influences. There are songs on this album that recall the pathos of Roy Orbison’s ballads, while others could soundtrack a cinematic drive down one of Blade Runner's endless skyways. Zauner's voice is capacious; one moment she's serenading the past, the next she's robotically narrating a love story over sleek monochrome, her lyrics more pointed and personal than ever before. While 'Psychopomp' was a genre-spanning introduction to Japanese Breakfast, this visionary sophomore album launches the project to new heights.

"It felt like we were in a movie that had a totally implausible ending..."
Slowdive's second act as a live blockbuster has already been rapturously received around the world. Highlights thus far include a festival-conquering, sea-of-devotees Primavera Sound performance, of which Pitchfork noted: "The beauty of their crystalline sound is almost hard to believe, every note in its perfect place."
"It was just nice to realise that there was a decent amount of interest in it," says principal songwriter Neil Halstead. The UK shoegaze pioneers have now channelled such seemingly impossible belief into a fourth studio opus which belies his characteristic modesty. Self-titled with quiet confidence, Slowdive's stargazing alchemy is set to further entrance the faithful while beguiling a legion of fresh ears.
Deftly swerving what co-vocalist/guitarist Rachel Goswell terms "a trip down memory lane", these eight new tracks are simultaneously expansive and the sonic pathfinders' most direct material to date. Birthed at the band's talismanic Oxfordshire haunt The Courtyard - "It felt like home," enthuses guitarist Christian Savill - their diamantine melodies were mixed to a suitably hypnotic sheen at Los Angeles' famed Sunset Sound facility by Chris Coady (perhaps best known for his work with Beach House, one of countless contemporary acts to have followed in Slowdive's wake).
"It's poppier than I thought it was going to be," notes Halstead, who was the primary architect of 1995's previous full-length transmission Pygmalion. This time out the group dynamic was all-important. "When you're in a band and you do three records, there's a continuous flow and a development. For us, that flow re-started with us playing live again and that has continued into the record."
Drummer and loop conductor Simon Scott enhanced the likes of 'Slomo' and 'Falling Ashes' with abstract textures conjured via his laptop's signal processing software. A fecund period of experimentation with "40-minute iPhone jams" allowed the unit to then amplify the core of their chemistry. "Neil is such a gifted songwriter, so the songs won. He has these sparks of melodies, like 'Sugar For The Pill' and 'Star Roving', which are really special. But the new record still has a toe in that Pygmalion sound. In the future, things could get very interesting indeed."
This open-channel approach to creativity is reflected by Slowdive's impressively wide field of influence, from indie-rock avatars to ambient voyagers - see the tribute album of cover versions released by Berlin electronic label Morr Music. As befits such evocative visionaries, you can also hear Slowdive through the silver screen: New Queer Cinema trailblazer Gregg Araki has featured them on the soundtracks to no less than four of his films.
"When I moved to America in 2008 I was working in an organic grocery store," recalls Christian. "Kids started coming in and asking if it was true I had played in Slowdive. That's when I started thinking, 'OK, this is weird!'"
Neil Halstead: "We were always ambitious. Not in terms of trying to sell records, but in terms of making interesting records. Maybe, if you try and make interesting records, they're still interesting in a few years time. I don't know where we'd have gone if we had carried straight on. Now we've picked up a different momentum. It's intriguing to see where it goes next."
The world has finally caught up with Slowdive. This movie could run and run...

The fifth album from shoegaze giants Slowdive contains the duality of a familiar internal language mixed with the exaltation of new beginnings. everything is alive is transportive, searching and aglow, the work of a classic band continuing to pitch its unmistakable voice to the future. Six years after the group’s monumental self-titled album, everything is alive finds Slowdive—vocalists and guitarists Rachel Goswell and Neil Halstead, guitarist Christian Savill, bassist Nick Chaplin, and drummer Simon Scott—locating evermore contours of its immersive, elemental sound.
The new record began with Halstead in the role of writer and producer, working on demos at home. Experimenting with modular synths, Halstead originally conceived of everything is alive as a “more minimal electronic record.” Slowdive’s collective decision-making ultimately drew the group back towards their signature reverb-drenched guitars, but that first concept seeped into the compositions. “As a band, when we’re all happy with it, that tends to be the stronger material,” Halstead says. “We’ve always come from slightly different directions, and the best bits are where we all meet in the middle.” The convergence of five unique characters has made the sound. “Slowdive is very much the sum of its parts,” Goswell adds. “Something unquantifiable happens when the five of us come together in a room.”
The group’s projected studio sessions for everything is alive, in April 2020, were naturally scrapped, and when the group finally did meet up, six months later, at Courtyard Studio, where they’ve historically recorded, the mood was jubilant. (Finally, they had a proper reason to leave the house.) That was the beginning of a multi-year recording process, which moved from Oxfordshire and into the Wolds of Lincolnshire and back to Neil’s own Cornish studio before extending into February 2022, when the band brought in mixer Shawn Everett (The War On Drugs, SZA, Alvvays) to mix six of the record’s eight tracks.
Owing to their deep history, there’s a palpable familial energy to Slowdive in 2023. everything is alive is dedicated to Goswell’s mother and Scott’s father, who both died in 2020. “There were some profound shifts for some of us personally,” Goswell says. Those crossroads are reflected in the many-layered emotional tenor of Slowdive’s music; everything is alive is heavy with experience, but each note is poised, wise, and necessarily pitched to hope. Its unique alchemy subtly embodies both sadness and gratitude, groundedness and uplift. Reflecting on “kisses,” which may be Slowdive’s surest pop moment yet, Halstead said, “It wouldn’t feel right to make a really dark record right now. The album is quite eclectic emotionally, but it does feel hopeful.”
everything is alive, is exactly what the title suggests: an exploration into the shimmering nature of life and the universal touch points within it. Spanning psychedelic soundscapes, pulsating 80’s electronic elements and John Cale inspired journeys, the album lands immediately as something made for the future; which figures, as their fanbase has grown younger and younger as time has gone on, and their influence on forward thinking musical artists continues to prevail.
For a genre that is often thought of as divisive, and often warrants introspection, here Slowdive show their craft as the masters of it by pushing it outwards, beyond the singular; the end result being a record which feels as emotional and cathartic as it is optimistic.
credits
releases September 1, 2023
Recorded at The Courtyard Studio in Sutton Courtenay, The Farm 2 in St Merryn, Cornwall and Chapel Studios in South Thoresby
Engineered by - Courtyard sessions engineered by Ian Davenport
Chapel Studio session engineered by Pieter Rietkerk
Mixed by -
Tracks 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 8 mixed by Shawn Everett at Subtle Mcnugget studios
Tracks 1 and 7 mixed by Neil Halstead
Produced by Neil Halstead
Mastered by Heba Kadry, NYC
Vinyl Cut by Chris Muth at Taloowa
Art Direction by Nick Scott
Artwork Sourced by Ingrid Pop
PERFORMER LINE-UP:
Vocals by Rachel Goswell
Guitars by Christian Savill
Bass guitar by Nick Chaplin
Drums and electronics by Simon Scott
Guitars, keys, protools and vocals by Neil Halstead

95年同名专辑重新混音后豪华再版，增加至5CD+IDVD

For the true follow-up to 2002's Every Day — since 2003's Man with a Movie Camera soundtrack had actually been recorded four years earlier — J. Swinscoe & co.'s Cinematic Orchestra produced another soundtrack, this one virtually invisible. Not long after Every Day's release, Swinscoe began writing music for another Cinematic LP, but in another direction from where he'd gone previously. This was a series of quiet, contemplative instrumentals, with Rhodes keyboards and reedy clarinets, simply begging for a narrative (call them orchestrations for cinema). With scripts for each supplied by a friend — each track got its own story, together comprising different scenes from a single life — and a series of unpeopled photographs supplied by Maya Hayuk, Cinematic Orchestra had the narrative they needed for their invisible soundtrack. (Added vocals from Fontella Bass, Lou Rhodes, and Patrick Watson represent the same person at different ages.) The results form an intensely affecting record, but one whose monochromatic format unfortunately serves no large purpose; when every song attempts to become a mini-masterpiece of melodrama, patience grows thin. Swinscoe tells us that he wanted to record an album where "leaving the spaces as empty as possible was paramount," but he can hardly complain if we choose to leave him the space to himself. [A U.K. version of the album was also released.]

爆裂ライブで話題騒然のtricotがいよいよ1stフル・アルバムをリリース!!
日本の音楽シーンを激震させる快作の誕生!!
昨年、デビューイヤーながら、各地の大型野外フェスに出演し、見た目からは想像のつかない激しくタイトなライブ・パフォーマンスと、自由奔放なキャラクターで話題をさらった爆裂変拍子バンド。8月21日リリースする2ndシングル「おやすみ」では、変拍子を駆使した幾何学でスタイリッシュな楽曲でありながら、メロディーはあくまでキャッチーという、2010年代の新たなポップ・ミュージックの可能性をも示し進撃中。業界内外からの期待と興味を一手に集め、いよいよファースト・フル・アルバムをリリース。日本の音楽シーンを激震させる快作!!

这张专辑里首首都精彩，印象最深的是NATIONAL MEDIA BOYS和幻の都，NATIONAL MEDIA BOYS的曲调很特别，幻の都则带有一些异域风情，还有由星野英彦词曲的PLEASURE LAND又是另一种温柔的感觉。后来又听了其它几张，现在我可以毫不夸张的说真的是感觉几乎我听过的每张都是杰作.

这是一张跟光有关系的专辑，起码有三首歌直接与光互动。［光冻］、［金色早晨］、［阳光下的梦］。还有间接的；［酷瓜树］、［滚动的蛋］、［浑水湖漫步］。
人们已经习惯地认为；光是一个好东西！物理上讲，当然是！心理上讲，不一定！当光成为枷锁的时候，自由就是黑暗的！
当城市和田野在强光的笼罩之下时，沙漠就是自由的！一个来自黄土的泥娃，更有仰望星空的权利！也许这个泥娃正是我们身上的半两灵气，拒绝城市和教育的污染，被海风吹入沙漠之中。仅有的雨水将其固化，烈日之下形成了躯体。在等待着［外面的妞］的救援。
就像鱼与鸟之间隔阂着一个宇宙一样。一次［鱼鸟之恋］就是一次星际的穿越。
当你随着我一起［死不回头］地撞透了南墙，听完这张专辑；你看到的就是如上的那般景色。

The English band returns with an adventurous, heavily orchestrated album filled with enigmatic songs of love, longing, and doubt.

Produced by Matthew Halsall, Gondwana Records is delighted to announce Horizons the debut album by Leeds-based saxophonist, composer and band-leader Jasmine Myra
Jasmine Myra is a saxophonist, composer and band leader, based in Leeds. Part of the bustling, creative, cross-genre music scene in Leeds (she attended Leeds Conservatoire) Jasmine has surrounded herself with some of the best young talent in the city. Her original instrumental music has a euphoric and uplifting sound, influenced by artists as diverse as Kenny Wheeler, Bonobo, Olafur Arnalds and Moses Sumney – artists whose music shares an emotive quality that you can also hear in Myra’s compositions. Her first break came in 2018, when just one year after graduating she was selected to take part in Jazz North Introduces, a scheme that supports emerging jazz artists in the North of England. Shortly afterwards her music came to the attention of Gondwana Records boss Matthew Halsall, whose keen ear for talent helped bring the music of GoGo Penguin, Mammal Hands and Hania Rani to the wider world. Halsall explains:
“I was immediately drawn to Jasmine’s music. I could hear jazz, electronica in her music but with a deep, honest, emotional quality. I was really impressed with her skills as a composer and bandleader, that she is open and intelligent enough to bring all those influences together, to make something fresh and original. We were also delighted to work with a young artist from the North of England. London is often seen as the place to be, but cities like Manchester and Leeds are full of creative musicians too, and that sense of local community is at the heart of our values as a label.”
Beautifully produced by Matthew Halsall and mixed by Portico Quartet collaborator Greg Freeman, the music for Horizons started to come together during lockdown. It was a hard time for a lot of people, and initially Myra struggled mentally, deprived of shows and the connections of making music with her band and friends, and cut-off from loved ones she felt emotionally and mentally stranded. But she also realised what she wanted as an artist and the result is heard on Horizons.
“I realised that my aim was to start writing music that made people feel happy and uplifted. Writing is one of my biggest passions, but I also love performing. Playing live and seeing the audience connect with my music and have a positive experience brings me so much joy”.
This sense of elevation is at the heart of Horizons, together with the feeling of a journey, of reaching new ground. Prologue and Horizons were originally composed as one piece as they encapsulate Myra’s own personal development as she worked on the album - taking the listener on a journey, especially Prologue; and then Horizons is that moment of release when you've reached the end goal. 1000 Miles takes inspiration from the music of Shabaka and the Ancestors. Whereas Words Left Unspoken was written after Myra’s grandmother unexpectedly passed away in June, and due to Covid restrictions she was unable to visit her before she passed and say how much she loved her. Morningtide is a nod to Kenny Wheeler, particularly the track Opening from Sweet Time Suite on Music for Large and Small Ensembles but Myra also puts her own spin on it as she also does with Promise, another track influenced by Wheeler. Awakening has a calm and euphoric quality and represents that sense of problems lifting, or of reaching the other side, and New Beginnings finishes the album with a positive vibe and a sense of moving forward from darkness
This then is Horizons. A soulful, emotional and up-lifting debut from a major new voice. A snapshot of a young artist at the beginning of her journey - drawing on jazz and electronica influences to create something fresh and new. But also a celebration of her home town Leeds, and a record built on a sense of support and community before looking out to wider Horizons.

The phantom zone, the parallax, the upside down_there is a rich cultural history of exploring in-between places.
Through her latest, Titanic Rising, Weyes Blood, a.k.a. Natalie Mering, has designed her own universe to soulfully navigate life's mysteries.
Maneuvering through a space-time continuum, she plays the role of melodic, sometimes melancholic, anthropologist.
Tellingly, Mering classifies Titanic Rising - which was written and recorded during the first half of 2018, after three albums and years of touring - as the Kinks meet WWII or Bob Seger meets Enya.
The latter captures the album's willful expansiveness ("You can tell there's not a guy pulling the strings in Enya's studio," she notes, admiringly).
The former relays her imperative to connect with listeners. "The clarity of Bob Seger is unmistakable.
I'm a big fan of conversational songwriting," she adds. "I just try to do that in a way that uses abstract imagery as well." The Weyes Blood frontwoman grew up singing in gospel and madrigal choirs.
(Listen closely to Titanic Rising, and you'll also hear the jazz of Hoagy Carmichael mingle with the artful mysticism of Alejandro Jodorowsky and the monomyth of scholar Joseph Campbell.) "Something to Believe," a confessional that makes judicious use of the slide guitar, touches on that cosmological upbringing.
"Belief is something all humans need. Shared myths are part of our psychology and survival," she says.
"Now we have a weird mishmash of capitalism and movies and science. There have been moments where I felt very existential and lost." As a kid, she filled that void with Titanic.
(Yes, the movie.) "It was engineered for little girls and had its own mythology," she explains.
Mering also noticed that the blockbuster romance actually offered a story about loss born of man's hubris.
"It's so symbolic that The Titanic would crash into an iceberg, and now that iceberg is melting, sinking civilization." Today, this hubris also extends to the relentless adoption of technology, at the expense of both happiness and attention spans.
But Weyes Blood isn't one to stew. Her observations play out in an ethereal saunter: far more meditative than cynical.
To Mering, listening and thinking are concurrent experiences. "There are complicated influences mixed in with more relatable nostalgic melodies," she says.
"In my mind my music feels so big, a true production. I'm not a huge, popular artist, but I feel like one when I'm in the studio.
But it's never taking away from the music. I'm just making a bigger space for myself."

一隊由女主音帶領的punk band。女主音Brody Dalle的聲線比很多現存的組合的男主音強和粗獷。這證明了在重型音樂界中，女人是有一定實力的。

Coral Fang是該組合的第三張專輯。

昨年10年目を迎えアルバム「戀愛大全」をリリースし、全国ツアーを以てファンを魅了したドレスコーズの最新楽曲「最低なともだち」。
90年代POPS、Indie ROCK、Dream POPSを踏襲したこの楽曲は、青春時代の恋愛のみずみずしさと危うさを唄った、懐かしさと切なさを内包したミディアムチューン。
配信日前日である5/10に渋谷CLUB QUATTROにて開催されるライブ「ドレスコーズ＋小西康陽」にて楽曲初披露予定。

Suede is the debut album by English alternative rock band Suede, released in March 1993 on Nude Records. At the time the fastest-selling debut album in British history, Suede debuted at the top of the UK Album Chart, won the 1993 Mercury Music Prize, and is often credited with starting the Britpop movement. The sound of the album has been compared to The Smiths and the early David Bowie era.