South Records: Mid-Year Review 2025
A mix of new releases, archival finds, and long-overdue reissues that have been on heavy rotation in the shop this year. From soul and jazz to lo-fi indie and ambient guitar drift, here’s what’s moved us so far in 2025. You can find these to buy on this website, or in the shop, every one of them comes with our guaranteed seal of approval.
Stereolab – Instant Holograms of Metal Film [BUY]
A shimmering, machine-tooled suite that bends lounge, motorik, and library funk into a retro-future postcard.
Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy – The Purple Bird [BUY]
A tender hymnbook of mystical Americana. Will Oldham sings in parables with a hush of banjo and birdsong.
Natural Information Society & Bitchin Bajas – Totality [BUY]
Cosmic minimalism stretched to the horizon. Harmonic bliss that moves in circles, slowly and with purpose.
Bennie Maupin – The Jewel In The Lotus
A deep listening classic. Maupin’s 1974 spiritual jazz flows with mystery and grace.
Destroyer – Dan’s Boogie [BUY]
Ironic funk and woozy groove. Bejar leans into a sleazy lounge feel with sly conviction.
Pulp – More [BUY]
Jarvis returns with style. Sharp, adult pop full of wit, longing, and late-night reflection.
William Tyler – Time Indefinite [BUY]
Guitar instrumentals that drift between Appalachian folk and kosmische textures. Quietly expansive.
Dean Wareham – That’s The Price Of Loving Me [BUY]
A laconic, gently twanging set. Wareham delivers velvet melancholy with ease.
Arthur Russell – Open Vocal Phrases Where Songs Come In And Out [BUY]
More fragments from the archive. Russell’s voice and cello rise from tape hiss like ghosts in the machine.
Hayden Pedigo – I’ll Be Waving As You Dive Away [BUY]
Melancholy and playful guitar pieces with a strong sense of space and storytelling.
Joe Henderson – Multiple [BUY]
A lesser-known gem from the jazz legend. Restless, sharp, and exploratory.
Blue Lake – Weft [BUY]
Ambient folk with looping guitar, field recordings, and a sense of wide open space.
Horsegirl – Phonetics On And On [BUY]
Spoken fragments, fuzzy textures and teenage urgency. A compelling step forward.
David Grubbs – Whistle From Above [BUY]
Minimalist sketches full of poetry and space. Grubbs at his most introspective.
Eiko Ishibashi – Antigone [BUY]
Haunting, theatrical, and rich in atmosphere. Experimental music with heart.
Eddie Chacon – Lay Low [BUY]
Silky soul that glows with confidence and restraint. Smooth and low-lit.
Okonski – Entrance Music [BUY]
Spiritual jazz piano that builds gently into something transcendent.
Mazzy Star – She Hangs Brightly [BUY]
Dreamlike and worn around the edges. A haze of twilight guitars and Sandoval’s ghostly calm.
Dr. Feelgood – Down By The Jetty [BUY]
Sharp, no-frills R&B. Still punches hard with wiry energy.
Vashti Bunyan – Lookaftering [BUY]
Soft, heartbreaking folk that feels like a letter from a friend long gone.
Lifeguard – Ripped and Torn [BUY]
Youthful, noisy, and full of momentum. Post-hardcore that doesn’t sit still.
Pharoah Sanders – Izipho Zam [BUY]
Fierce and spiritual. Sanders plays like he’s channelling something beyond the self.
Rose City Band – Sol Y Sombra [BUY]
Cosmic country with a soft psychedelic haze. Ripley Johnson at his most melodic.
Allen Toussaint – Toussaint [BUY]
Funky, warm, and elegant. A reminder of how much he shaped New Orleans soul.
Death & Vanilla – Whistle and I’ll Come [BUY]
Baroque psych-pop with a spectral feel. Like a ghost tuning into a late-night broadcast.
JJULIUS – Vol. 3 [BUY]
Loose, dubby, post-punk weirdness from Sweden. Raw and strangely compelling.
Harlem River Drive – Harlem River Drive [BUY]
Latin jazz and street funk with political fire. A powerful, communal groove.
Les McCann – Layers [BUY]
Soul-jazz and early electronics meet on this ahead-of-its-time 1972 reissue.
Rainy Day – Rainy Day [BUY]
Velvet Underground and Big Star covers through the lens of Paisley Underground. Dreamy and sincere.
Rick Cuevas – Symbolism [BUY]
A private-press gem blending soft psych and synth-folk textures. The drum machine pulses gently beneath dreamy melodies.
Seefeel – Quique [BUY]
Shoegaze and ambient techno blur into one. A record that still sounds futuristic.
Scratch Acid – EP [BUY]
Noisy and unhinged. A short, chaotic blast of early American post-hardcore.
The American Analog Set – The Fun of Watching Fireworks [BUY]
Hypnotic slowcore and looping repetition. A record to fall into.
The Tumbledryer Babies – My Dinner With Andrew [BUY]
Lo-fi indie pop with humour and bite. Strange in all the right ways.
The Invaders – Spacing Out [BUY]
Cosmic soul with raw production. Every track a time capsule of groove.
Various – Great Lakes Gospel: Cleveland [BUY]
Regional gospel recordings packed with heart, grit, and real devotion.
Various – More Loving on the Flipside [BUY]
Obscure deep soul that hits hard. A crate-digger’s dream made real.
Vazz – Your Lungs and Your Tongues [BUY]
Minimalist Scottish post-punk with ambient leanings. Melancholy and magnetic.
Wilson Tanner – Legends [BUY]
Sun-faded synths and nautical calm. Balearic by way of back porch dreaming.
Television – Television [BUY]
Often overshadowed by Marquee Moon, but this third album offers its own brand of thoughtful, elliptical rock.
Holden & Zimpel – The Universe Will Take Care of You [BUY]
Spacious, spiritual organ and electronics. A peaceful inward journey.
Rindert Lammers – Thank You Kirin Kiki [BUY]
Ambient sketches that feel personal and fleeting, like memories half-remembered.
These New Puritans – Crooked Wing [BUY]
Still experimental and serious-minded. Melancholy and tense in all the right ways.
Cuneiform Tabs – Age [BUY]
Electronics and percussion fold into each other like abstract puzzle pieces. Oblique and absorbing.
Robert Forster – Strawberries [BUY]
Literate and warm. Forster keeps finding grace in the everyday.
Unrest – Perfect Teeth [BUY]
Underrated 90s indie pop with hooks, charm, and emotional punch.
Makaya McCraven – In the Moment [BUY]
Live improvisation reshaped into something fluid and modern. A jazz record made for now.
The Feelies – Only Life [BUY]
Chiming guitars and slow builds. A masterclass in restraint and melodic tension.
Emitt Rhodes – Emitt Rhodes [BUY]
Home-spun pop perfection. Every track is a small, immaculate gem.
Index For Working Musik – Which Direction Goes the Beam [BUY]
Motorik rhythms and a dry delivery. Cool and philosophical in its repetition.
Walt McClements – On A Painted Ocean [BUY]
Ambient accordion explorations with a strong visual pull. Like floating through fog.
Nightingales – The Awful Truth [BUY]
Still jagged and funny after all these years. Punk spirit with art-rock smarts.
Pink Floyd – At Pompeii [BUY]
Stripped-down, heavy-lidded psychedelia performed in an ancient ruin. A live album like no other.
Jimi Tenor & Cold Diamond & Mink – July Blue Skies [BUY]
Easygoing soul grooves with eccentric charm. Feels both fresh and timeless.
Maria Somerville – Luster [BUY]
Minimalist and intimate, with vocals that drift like fog through neon-lit streets.
Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings – Naturally [BUY]
A soul classic. Jones gives every song fire, heart, and truth.
Daily Toll – A Profound Non-Event [BUY]
Sparse, echoing post-rock that feels like a long stare into the distance.
Surprise Chef – Superb [BUY]
Tight, groove-heavy instrumentals that sit somewhere between jazz-funk and library music.
Gastr Del Sol – Upgrade & Afterlife [BUY]
Playful and cerebral. A reissue that still feels full of invention and curiosity.
Lightheaded – Thinking Dreaming Scheming [BUY]
Sweet, jangly indie pop that’s direct and instantly likeable.
Durand Jones & The Indications – Flowers [BUY]
Soulful and lush. Their most delicate and romantic record yet.
The Lijadu Sisters – Danger [BUY]
Bold harmonies and politically charged Afrobeat. A necessary reissue.
The Reds, Pinks and Purples – The Past Is A Garden I Never Fed [BUY]
More melancholic jangle from Glenn Donaldson. Every song feels like a quiet heartbreak.
Frank Black – Teenager of the Year [BUY]
A sprawling solo effort that mixes sharp wit with massive hooks. Creative, catchy, and off-kilter.
Studio – West Coast [BUY]
Balearic post-punk with a dubby pulse. Effortlessly cool and endlessly replayable.
The Lemonheads – Car Button Cloth [BUY]
Melodic and frayed. Evan Dando’s charm and sadness shine through the haze.
Kendrick Lamar – GNX [BUY]
Dense, introspective, and unflinchingly modern. Another bold chapter from one of the greats.
Richard Dawson – End of the Middle [BUY]
Folk that stares into the void. Bleak, funny, and profoundly human.
The Tubs – Cotton Crown [BUY]
Sharp, jangling indie rock with heart. Somewhere between The Clean and The Jam.
Sonic Youth – Hold That Tiger [BUY]
A raw, live blast from their noisiest, nerviest era. Pure energy captured on tape.
Jack Frost - Jack Frost [BUY]
A slow-burning, wintry collaboration between Steve Kilbey and Grant McLennan. Melancholic melodies and drifting guitars carry the weight of lost time.
