On this page you’ll find a semi-regular update on some of the albums we’ve got on regular rotation in store! If you like the sound of something and would like us to reserve you a copy, please use the contact form at the bottom of the page and tell us if you want a CD or LP. We’ll get back to you with availability very quickly!
Just over a year after ‘Transangelic Exodus’ Ezra Furman changes tack for his latest release: “Twelve Nudes is a ‘body’ more than a ‘mind’ record – more anmal than intellectual.” Do not be deceived: the trademark commitment and aggression of the vocals indicates spontaneity, but Furman’s lyrics are as incisive and economically witty as ever. Case in point: ‘My teeth hurt, but I don’t seek a cure// I’m not sure I can bite the hand that feeds me anymore’. The accompanying music is suitably primal but sonically varied as it explores everything from garage rock to angular post-punk to sludgy stoner riffs.
The latest (and sadly last) studio album from David Berman uses the Purple Mountains moniker but is essentially a Silver Jews record. It’s a creation born out of loss: he picked up the guitar again after his mother’s death and in the midst of a breakup from his spouse of many years. Turning his gaze on himself with unflinching honesty, he writes directly yet elegantly about what he sees with more than a little wry humour (the languid baritone helps). The palette here draws decidedly from country rock, with plenty of sonic warmth supporting these tracks whose tone veers between audibly heartbroken and something ostensibly jauntier, though since Berman’s recent passing it’s hard not to hear a new poignancy in every self deprecating lyric.
Where previous album ‘Love & Hate’ highlighted Michael’s prowess with a guitar, ‘KIWANUKA’ showcases a more mature and adventurous song writing style. Themes of existential uncertainty return, but he matches it with notions of hope and power. Musically it is still rooted in neo-soul, but his grooves are broken up by opiated ballads and sonic soundscapes, all covered in a saturated sound that straddles the line between nostalgia and cutting-edge. Kiwanuka returned to the studio with Danger Mouse and Inflo, the same production team that combined so magnificently on ‘Love & Hate’; yet this latest album sees a new assuredness and subtlety in his writing, turning his indie-soul blueprint into something far more mind-expanding and transcendental.
Glaswegian psychonauts, The Cosmic Dead, return with their now perfected brand of sludgey doom riffs, swirling fx and cosmodelic noise to make a monumental work of space rock. Propelled by the powerful drumming, this self-proclaimed Hawkwind tribute act reach ecstatic heights of electric invention and tight grooves.
Death Waltz Originals presents ‘Hiide,’ the hypnotic debut from Margate based synthpop star in the making Babii – this is pop slowed to a deliberate, unhurried pace which creeps under the skin in a haunting manner akin to Grimes on downers, Fever Ray or Let’s Eat Grandma. Available as a beautiful Dinked version for all you discerning magpies out there!
Diiv’s third album, ‘Deceiver’ is one of the slickest sounding shoegaze records of the year. Controversy and hardship has marred the band in the recent years, with Zachary Cole Smith having had a spotlight on his heroin addiction after an incident with police in 2013, eventually ending up in rehab. Facing up to the extent of his addiction has clearly been changed the band’s sound too; sonically this record is often heavier than what’s come before, whilst never losing its magnanimity or subtle beauty (comparisons in the press to Smashing Pumpkins are justified).
By now Thom Yorke has something of his own musical lexicon to draw on; calling them tropes would unfairly imply calculation on his part, but the sound of persistent anxiety, dreams that haunt, and the permeability of one’s inner world in the face of a threatening environment continue to feature heavily on excellent new record, ‘Anima’. Yorke and longtime collaborator Nigel Godrich have made arguably their most successful ever translation of mental and emotional themes into beats and layered melodies, combining live performance with studio work to create a record that seems to by turns close in on and open out for the listener.
The Sassuolan neo-psychedlia stars Julie’s Haircut return for their ninth album of their twenty-year career and, unsurprisingly, they continue to push the boundaries of indie-psych and garage rock. Glistening melodies and gothic soundscapes provide the backdrop for a variety of sonic explorations into krautrock, post-punk and urgent synth-pop. For fans of Spacemen 3, Moon Duo and Thee Oh Sees!
‘Silver Eater’ is the long awaited debut album from London based singer-songwriter Grace Lightman, and it’s a fantastic blend of electro-pop and neo-psych that finds the sweet spot somewhere between Goldfrapp and Jane Weaver, or as Lightman hersef puts it, “One part ABBA two parts Twin Peaks”. Highly recommended!
‘Dogrel,’ the taut, thrilling and razor sharp debut from Dublin based 5 piece Fontaines D.C. has an urgency and edge which belies the craft that’s gone into every song. Grian Chatten seems to have an innate gift for knowing exactly when to unfurl a cascade of prose and when to just shout “Is it too real for ya” in his thick Irish accent, while the band mix up a heady stew of punk and post-punk melodies. An instant classic.
We’ve been blessed with a seemingly endless parade of quality UK jazz recently and Ezra Collective have dropped a debut right up there with the best of them. ‘You Can’t Steal My Joy’ is, as the title suggests, an unabashedly joyful listen, shifting from head-bopping mid-tempo grooves that burst into frenetic, thrilling wig-outs to get the heart beating faster. Elsewhere on the album they bring in an overt afrobeat influence (always a big plus for us Truckers) or slow things down a bit to make room for some winning guest vocals from Jorja Smith and Loyle Carner.
‘Omoiyari’ is the sublime new album from onetime Of Montreal member and talented multi-instrumentalist Kaoru Ishibashi under his Kishi Bashi alias. This is a deceptively pretty record exploring a particularly shameful era in US history, during which thousands of Japanese Americans were unjustly incarcerated following the attack on Pearl Harbour. While the subject matter is heavy the music is a delight: it shares much ground with the intricate chamber pop of artists like Andrew Bird and Sufjan Stevens while adding an almost Fleet Foxes-esque sense of Americana to the mix. Beautiful.
Sharon Van Etten makes a welcome return with ‘Remind Me Tomorrow,’ an album we’ve already frequently revisted since its release early this year, it being one of those records that manages to feel both comfortingly familiar and creatively fresh. After a break from music in which the New Jersey resident became a mother, an actor and studied to be a therapist, this new set of songs sees quite a shake up to her sound, adding more synths and distortion while maintaining the emotional power that won her so many fans.
Pushing beyond his customary dancefloor focus, the French-Canadian producer Aubin-Dionne twists club influences and collaborative input into a textured, exploratory sound. Where his debut LP, Feel Infinite, took an insular approach, his sophomore album, Dawn Chorus, treats the Jacques Greene project more like a band. Inspired by groups like Massive Attack and Slowdive, the result feels at once intimate yet immense—a collection of ruminative dance tracks with a shoegaze heart.
‘Mother Of Gloom’ may be something of a misnomer for Emily Fairlight’s latest record, which is oddly uplifting despite not being in any way ‘light’ aural fare. A New Zealander who calls her sound ‘Doom-folk’, her haunting, distinctive vocal is at times reminiscent of Sera Cahoone or Cat Power’s Chan Marshall, and it sits perfectly within a musical soundscape that draws from the well of raw pastoral folk that Will Oldham, Gillian Welch et al utilise, while also incorporating the dustbowl majesty of Calexico. Highly recommended!
With ‘More Arriving’, drummer, tablaist and composer Sarathy Korwar contributes some of the (extremely healthy) London jazz scene’s most compelling material: a potent, confrontational yet frequently beautiful collection that pulls together classical Indian traditions, jazz and hip hop to thrilling effect. His sound is a fusion that rejects tokenism and embraces new incarnations of deep traditions; as Korwar has explained, “When we talk about traditions in music, whether it be Indian classical or jazz, the traditions are constantly evolving. Indian classical music sounds very different than what it sounded like 50 years ago”.
‘Exiled’, the third album from Stevenage bred outfit Bad Breeding, is a full throttle assault of a record, an unforgiving collision of hardcore, noise and post-punk that shares ground with the likes of Pissed Jeans musically while conveying something of Idles’ social consciousness (though none of the positivity; this is a defiantly bleak analysis of modern Britain). An unrelenting sonic ride that’ll leave you exhilarated and exhausted in equal measure!
‘Dudu,’ is the latest record from New York trio B Boys. They find inspiration in the chaos that surrounds them: the aggressive attitude and sonic lawlessness of the city they live, work, and breathe in every day. Their raw yet meticulous style is characterized by rhythmic complexity, commanding riffs, and introspective lyrics that are as playful and self-aware as they are cutting. Perfect for fans of Parquet Courts/ Merchandise/ Ought/ Bodega. Limited numbers of the snazzy Dinked edition left!
Bursting out of a Kinshasha block party, Congolese outfit Kokoko! brings the electrified Afro-pop groove to brighten up any day on debut album, ‘Fongola’. This is probably the very definition of the phrase ‘urban music’: the collective fuses the house beats of DJ débruit with a series of home made instruments upcycled from cans, engine parts, plastic containers and other debris from the Kinshasha streets, creating its own uniquely vibrant take on the clamour of city life. Fans of Mbongwana Star, Baloji & Konono #1 will dig this!
More off-kilter pop magic from across the Severn Bridge, Gruff Rhys is one of the more established figures hailing from Wales- as a former Super Furry Animal he’s practically indie pop royalty – but that doesn’t mean he’s content with making the same record twice. ‘Pang!’ is mainly sung in Welsh, but has audibly global influences, not least from South Africa (electronic artist Muzi is its producer), including a smattering of singing in Zulu as well as percussive elements that draw on traditions from around the world. A chamber pop gem to bring some gentle, pastoral respite in these weird times.
Despite the abrupt loss of their drummer this summer Sleater Kinney have managed to produce made a stomping new record. ‘The Center Won’t Hold’ has slick new production and more electronic elements than their previous records, whilst retaining the impactful, broad sonic brushstrokes long time fans are by now wedded to. Annie ‘St Vincent’ Clark’s production gives the record a little more sheen than its predecessors, but lyrically the uncompromising ‘deal with it’ attitude and unflinching gaze is reassuringly present and correct.
Jamila Woods continues to make vital music documenting the experiences of Aftrican Americans, with politically charged yet beautifully rendered results. Outspoken without sacrificing eloquence, nuance and humour, her latest collection, ‘Legacy! Legacy!’ uses each song to imagine the personal experiences of twelve artists, writers and musicians whose cultural legacies exist in spite of the entrenched racism they’ve lived through. Sonically this builds on the bold, hook driven R&B of her previous record. If you’ve not yet discovered her and have been lamenting the lack of output from Ms Lauryn Hill over the last couple of decades, you need to hear this.
