Heaven over there: This week at South
A strong week of new releases moving between raw DIY psychedelia, post-punk and expansive electronic drift. Soul Jazz Records reissue three long-deleted Brown Spirits albums at once, super-charged psych rock recorded direct to quarter-inch tape, pulling together krautrock repetition, free jazz energy and deep funk grooves into something heavy, loose and completely addictive: #1, #2, #3. X-Ray Spex’s Obsessed With You [The Early Years] gathers vital 1977 demo recordings, including early versions of “Oh Bondage, Up Yours!” and “I Am A Cliché”, with Poly Styrene sounding even more visceral and untamed than on the finished recordings.
Visible Cloaks return with Paradessence, fourteen pieces of shimmering electronic music balancing the organic and synthetic, silence and texture, drifting between hyperreal environmental sound and emotionally charged digital abstraction. The Early Years return after a decade away with Modern Moonlight, pulling together Bowie, Eno, Moroder, krautrock grooves and widescreen psychedelic pop into something simultaneously euphoric and melancholic. Future Islands mark twenty years with From a Hole in the Floor to a Fountain of Youth, a collection of rarities, alternate versions and overlooked favourites tracing the emotional depth and endurance beneath the band’s bigger moments. Hannah Peel and Beibei Wang’s The Endless Dance blends synths, prepared piano and traditional percussion into a playful, free-flowing record inspired by the Chinese calendar, Taoism and the natural world, collaged together from sessions at Real World Studios. We’ve also managed to get a single in-store copy of Hayley Williams’ Ego Death At A Bachelorette Party Dinked Edition for the weekend only (online on Monday if it's still here), a wide-ranging solo record moving between alt-rock, Americana and sharply detailed pop songwriting. There's also a surprise new album from The Coral. 388 takes inspiration from vintage reggae and dub tapes, folding hazy basslines and offbeat rhythms into the band’s familiar mix of psychedelic pop and melodic escapism. Led by ‘Let The Music Play’, it’s another warm, strange and instantly recognisable Coral record.
→ Recommended
The The’s Soul Mining remains one of the great outsider pop records of the 1980s - restless, emotional and full of nervous energy, balancing synth-pop, post-punk and deeply personal songwriting in a way that still feels unique. Matt Johnson’s lyrics cut straight through, while tracks like “This Is The Day” and “Uncertain Smile” have only grown in stature over time. We have the lesser seen limited edition first pressing in, with the bonus 12", here.
