Deep blue: This week at South Records
Talk Talk’s The Colour Of Spring returns to vinyl for its 40th anniversary, the latest in the band’s series of half-speed masters. Originally released in 1986, it captures Talk Talk at a pivotal point, moving beyond the synth-pop of their early records towards the expansive, atmospheric sound they would fully embrace on Spirit Of Eden. This new edition has been cut at half-speed by Matt Colton at Metropolis Studios, overseen by drummer Lee Harris and Mark Hollis’s son Charlie Hollis.
Also back in print this week are three essential Low albums from their Kranky years. Secret Name (1999), their first album for the label, was recorded with Steve Albini at Electrical Audio in Chicago, while 2001’s Things We Lost in the Fire reunited them with Albini and includes favourites “Sunflower” and “Laser Beam”. Completing the trio is 2002’s Trust, a darker, more expansive record featuring “Canada”, “(That’s How You Sing) Amazing Grace” and “In the Drugs”, recorded in Minneapolis and mixed by Tchad Blake. All three are available again as double vinyl editions.
Massive Attack return with Boots on the Ground, a new collaboration with Tom Waits, backed on vinyl by an exclusive Waits spoken-word piece, “The Fly”. The 12” is manufactured from 100% recycled PET rather than traditional PVC and comes on randomly packed red, white or blue 180g vinyl.
There are new albums too from Immersion, the project of Wire’s Colin Newman and Minimal Compact’s Malka Spigel, whose What Is Lost Will Return combines hypnotic electronics, motorik rhythms, psychedelic textures and understated pop; and Jennifer Herrema’s Black Bananas, returning with Bad Bunch, their first album since 2014, a typically strange collision of spaced-out rock, electronics, hip-hop and dance music.
Chat Pile return with third album Who Loves The Sun, pushing their punishing noise rock towards melodic ’90s indie, alt-rock, new wave and even trip-hop without losing any of the intensity of their previous records. Amyl and the Sniffers’ Truth or Consequence, meanwhile, captures the band live in Los Angeles performing country-influenced versions of their songs alongside two previously unreleased tracks and a cover of Slim Dusty’s “Lights On The Hill”.
Mort Garson’s cult electronic classic Mother Earth’s Plantasia celebrates its 50th anniversary. Originally created in the 1970s as “warm earth music for plants…and the people that love them”, Garson’s playful Moog compositions have gone from an obscure accompaniment to the houseplant craze to one of the most beloved electronic records of its era.
Finally, Primal Scream’s XTRMNTR returns in an expanded edition, newly mastered by Matt Colton at Metropolis Studios under the supervision of Bobby Gillespie and Andrew Innes. One of the band’s most confrontational and experimental records, the 2000 album is joined here by B-sides, rarities and two previously unreleased tracks, with the limited 2LP edition pressed on red vinyl.
→ Recommended
David Bowie’s Low remains one of the strangest and most rewarding records in his catalogue, splitting its two sides between fractured, electronic art-rock and the stark instrumentals that pointed towards where Bowie and Brian Eno would head next. Recorded following Bowie’s move away from Los Angeles and released in 1977, tracks like “Sound and Vision”, “Always Crashing in the Same Car” and “Be My Wife” still sound remarkably modern, while the atmospheric second side remains unlike almost anything else he recorded. This is an original UK first pressing, complete with the original insert and rare fan club pamphlet, right here.
