7"

In September of 2017 the Austin-based instrumental band Balmorhea released Clear Language, an album which prompted NPR's Bob Boilen to say 'I'm madly in love with this album - it's one these ambient records and beautiful records that I've just listened to over and over again.' 

To create Clear Language, the duo returned to their roots, working simply and with restraint, letting intuition guide them as they molded the 10 elegant, spacious gestures that comprise the album.

Now, just a few months later the duo returns with the CHIME / SHONE 7' vinyl for Record Store Day 2018.

Recorded during the Clear Language sessions, the two tracks 'Chime' and 'Shone' flow gracefully with a clear-eyed sense of reflection, as these two old friends transmit unfettered meaning through simple sonic gestures that resonate with the cosmos as much as they echo the pulse of a human heart.

In a culture dominated by the loudest, ostentatious voices, Lowe and Muller continue to prove the power and importance of restraint and minimalism.

" - ¦gorgeous, dynamic, and emotive." PITCHFORK

" - ¦exhilarating." Wall Street Journal

'I'm madly in love with this album...it's one these ambient records and beautiful records that I've just listened to over and over again. NPR

Tracklisting:
Side A:
1. Chime

Side B:
2. Shone

Limited Edition 7''Single.  

Following the announcement of a new single Keep Your Darkness', and the double album The Anthology - 20 Years of Antiseptic Poetry'Glasgow trio bis have confirmed three dates for January 2015.  The releases come via Cargo who are also releasing deluxe editions of the band's first three albums on 1^st December.

The single is released as a 7" vinyl/download of Keep Your Darkness'backed with a cover of Susan Fassbender's 1981 minor hit, Twilight Café'.

Recorded with the full live band, Keep Your Darkness'carries some familiar bis influences, sounding like early Human League as played by Adam And The Ants with the signature triple-headed vocal assault. UK Fans will recognise the song from recent live shows, indeed it was widely considered the highlight of the band's set at the closing ceremonies of the Glasgow Commonwealth Games.

On the flip is a raucous take on Susan Fassbender's classic Twilight Café'. Susan was an underrated and tragic figure, as evidenced by a recent Top Of The Pops 2 episode featuring the song. The caption read, "No-one seems to know anything about Susan....except Glasgow Indie-Pop stars, bis". It's a song the band have always loved, and finally their version sees the light of day.

The single shows the hard-hitting side of  bis and will feature on forthcoming live shows,  new material suggests a return to the guitar/synth/drum machine model of the early days, with the sonic element dialled back to POP with a twist. In other words, bis promise to keep their darkness.

We are immensely proud to offer the debut release from Blabbermouth, for RSD 2018.

Blabbermouth are the brainchild of Lu Edmonds - (Pil, Mekons, The Damned) & Mark Roberts (The Godfathers, Massive Attack etc) and a host of others in a star-studded line up.

Bromide’s debut with electric 3-piece line up

‘Romping indie pop blast that recalls the heyday of The Only Ones: “If you were dead I could let go, Not while you’re still breathing though”’ The Times

‘More hooks than the DIY department at Homebase’ Melody Maker

Tracklisting:
1. Fool In My Brain
2. Not Expecting You

First 'Scratchy Singles Club' release on limited edition pink vinyl for Record Store Day

'I like Taylor Swift too and I don't care what you think.. bit of an instant classic' John Kennedy, Radio X

'A chunk of pop-rock with a dash of humour.. Reminds me of Fountains of Wayne" Gary Crowley, BBC London

'A golden voice' - Consequence Of Sound

I Like Taylor Swift is a sub-3-minute powerpop rock'n'roll anthem channelling the licks of Fountains Of Wayne and Weezer which tells of Coach Hop brainchild Charlie Laurence's fondness'for the Country Queen Pop Music Maven, Taylor Swift, using a tongue-in-cheek humour that's more disarming than it is distracting.

On the surface, I LikeTaylor Swift is a lovesong to the titular popstar but upon closer inspection, is an observation on the state of the modern music industry, 'In the song I admit I haven't really listened to much of her music but I'm inundated with images and stories about her' says Charlie. Throughout the song it verges on an admission that it's not cool to like Taylor Swift but in his trademark style, Charlie doesn't care what anyone else thinks, as he sings 'I like Taylor Swift and I don't care who knows it, it's not a guilty pleasure, it's just a normal pleasure.'

The accompanying video is a state of the art'animated affair using techniques that are an industry first, produced by Charlie's brother, and BBC Creative's Head of Design Lawrence Honderick and Sam Humphries.

The release's B-side; Everything's Fine is a subversive and evocative social commentary that expresses Charlie's acerbic wit and lookon life with the lyric: 'They say every cloud has a silver lining but I'm not a believer. I'm not gonna be bitter about it, but I don't have to be happy about it either. Everything's fine, and nothing's gonna be alright.'

Release Date: 21st April 2018

One friend. Two bands. And so it was that Manchester's 'Easter' and London's 'Bromide' met in their mutual pal Dave Armes's address book (he of Last Harbour, LCR Records and A-Sun Amissa sidekick repute). Soon after Easter were on their way down t'smoke to play at Bromide's place, namely the Birds Nest in Deptford. And verily did they smash it! So much so that Bromide singer Simon immediately thought about putting something out on his Scratchy Records label.. and why not keep the threads twisting and make it a joint release!

Especially as both bands share a love of alt. sounds from across the pond back in dem 90s days. Easter feasting on Buffalo Tom's heavier riffs, Yo La Tengo and San Francisco's 'Swell', while Bromide reminded Easter's mainman Tom of 'Nada Surf and Big Star and that New Zealand power pop stuff..' So the split-single was born.. Easter taking the A with 'Doubt Rings', a propulsive guitar-lashed gallop thru the relationship forest with Bromide on the AA offering 'I'll Never Learn' from last year's 'I Woke Up' album on Scratchy, an up/downbeat reflective tale that dries solid on the choruses when the fuzz kicks in. Easter - 'A welcome throwback to the wry, self-lacerating alt.rock of the early 90s'Uncut Bromide -if you like Dinosaur Jr and The Replacements, you'll love this'MusicOMH

Cambodia's first guitar band officially reissued for the first time with identical artwork, postcard and exclusive liner notes. (includes digital version)

Whereas most of the original recordings disappeared during the Khmers Rouge era, this 
single bring back to us the Cambodian musical scene of the 1960s.

For the first time two single records of Baksey Cham Krong - the first Cambodian guitar band - are officially being reissued in an identical version. Between surf music and ballad, these two records released in 1963 and 1964 are an invitation to rediscover the effervescent Khmer musical scene of the 1960s.

The early 1960s are often described as the 'golden age' of Cambodia, with a flourishing economy and a strong cultural development. As the country had just won its independence, the King Norodom Sihanouk - who had been a singer himself (see below) - encouraged dynamism and creativity in all aspects of cultural life. 

In 1959, in the midst of this artistic turmoil, Mol Kamach and his brothers created a band: the Baksey Cham Krong (also spelled Bakseis Cham Krung) named after a temple of the Angkor site. The teenagers were influenced by the latest hits they had listened on the radio. 

For the music, Kagnol got his inspiration from the rock n'roll of the Ventures and the Shadows while Kamach took over the vocal techniques of crooners such as Paul Anka. The lyrics were either in French (as for the song Ne penser qu'à toi) or in Khmer. The song Pleine Lune became a hit and revealed Kagnol's musical genius at playing guitar and Kamach's delicate voice. 

From their beginnings on the capital's high school stages to their first broadcasts on national radio, the success of the Baksey Cham Krong was very quick. At the end of the decade the band already split, the brothers getting back to activities that conformed more with their parents'expectations.

A few years later, in April 1975, the arrival of the Khmer Rouge in Phnom Penh put an end to this musical development and started the darkest era of Cambodia's contemporary history. A quarter of the population was killed in the Khmer Rouge genocide and the majority of artists and intellectuals were exterminated in a sordid will to wipe out any form of culture in the country. 

Films and music were banned, movie tapes and vinyls were destroyed. Mol Kamach and Mol Kagnol luckily managed to flee the country: one now lives in France, the other in the USA. Both still continue to make music nowadays. 

Bearing witness to the past history, the reissue of these two single records of Baksey Cham Krong brings back to us the Cambodian musical scene of the 1960s.

Release Date: 13/10/2017

Cambodia's first guitar band officially reissued for the first time with identical artwork, postcard and exclusive liner notes. (includes digital version)

Whereas most of the original recordings disappeared during the Khmers Rouge era, this
single bring back to us the Cambodian musical scene of the 1960s.

For the first time two single records of Baksey Cham Krong - the first Cambodian guitar band - are officially being reissued in an identical version. Between surf music and ballad, these two records released in 1963 and 1964 are an invitation to rediscover the effervescent Khmer musical scene of the 1960s.

The early 1960s are often described as the 'golden age' of Cambodia, with a flourishing economy and a strong cultural development. As the country had just won its independence, the King Norodom Sihanouk - who had been a singer himself (see below) - encouraged dynamism and creativity in all aspects of cultural life.

In 1959, in the midst of this artistic turmoil, Mol Kamach and his brothers created a band: the Baksey Cham Krong (also spelled Bakseis Cham Krung) named after a temple of the Angkor site. The teenagers were influenced by the latest hits they had listened on the radio.

For the music, Kagnol got his inspiration from the rock n'roll of the Ventures and the Shadows while Kamach took over the vocal techniques of crooners such as Paul Anka. The lyrics were either in French (as for the song Ne penser qu'à toi) or in Khmer. The song Pleine Lune became a hit and revealed Kagnol's musical genius at playing guitar and Kamach's delicate voice.

From their beginnings on the capital's high school stages to their first broadcasts on national radio, the success of the Baksey Cham Krong was very quick. At the end of the decade the band already split, the brothers getting back to activities that conformed more with their parents'expectations.

A few years later, in April 1975, the arrival of the Khmer Rouge in Phnom Penh put an end to this musical development and started the darkest era of Cambodia's contemporary history. A quarter of the population was killed in the Khmer Rouge genocide and the majority of artists and intellectuals were exterminated in a sordid will to wipe out any form of culture in the country.

Films and music were banned, movie tapes and vinyls were destroyed. Mol Kamach and Mol Kagnol luckily managed to flee the country: one now lives in France, the other in the USA. Both still continue to make music nowadays.

Bearing witness to the past history, the reissue of these two single records of Baksey Cham Krong brings back to us the Cambodian musical scene of the 1960s.

Tracklisting: