Your cart is currently empty!
'a' Recordings
Magic Castles 'Sun Reign'
£18.99
'a' Recordings
Magic Castles 'Sun Reign'
£18.99
Available on 180 gram vinyl Minneapolis psych-rockers Magic Castles are back with a new LP, 'Sun Reign', making an exciting return after founder and songwriter Jason Edmonds'suffered a near fatal car accident in November 2019.
Magic Castles are well-versed in the ways of psychedelically-inclined folk-rock. Edmonds'smooth vocal harmonies float above the guitars, creating a lush, almost Byrds-esque soundscape. The layered arrangements incorporate Farfisa organ, synths, and dreamy string arrangements.
Sun Reign is the band's fourth release on Anton Newcombe's label A'Recordings Ltd. Ironically similar to BJM, the Magic Castles have been plagued by lineup changes over the years. Due to this and other factors, in 2016, Edmonds, a single father, decided to take a short hiatus from regular live shows and touring to focus on his family.
During that time, (2016-2019) Edmonds, an introverted multi-instrumentalist, continued to record new material in his studio, and also record with a new band at Neil Weir's studio Blue Bell Knoll, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The results of these sessions are the current release, 'Sun Reign'.
Tracklisting:
1. Sunburst
2. Lost Dimension
3. Ode to the Wind
4. Asuras
5. World of Time
6. Valley of Nysa
7. Magna Mater
8. Surmise
9. Gates of the Sun
10. Relax Your Mind
Magic Castles are well-versed in the ways of psychedelically-inclined folk-rock. Edmonds'smooth vocal harmonies float above the guitars, creating a lush, almost Byrds-esque soundscape. The layered arrangements incorporate Farfisa organ, synths, and dreamy string arrangements.
Sun Reign is the band's fourth release on Anton Newcombe's label A'Recordings Ltd. Ironically similar to BJM, the Magic Castles have been plagued by lineup changes over the years. Due to this and other factors, in 2016, Edmonds, a single father, decided to take a short hiatus from regular live shows and touring to focus on his family.
During that time, (2016-2019) Edmonds, an introverted multi-instrumentalist, continued to record new material in his studio, and also record with a new band at Neil Weir's studio Blue Bell Knoll, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The results of these sessions are the current release, 'Sun Reign'.
Tracklisting:
1. Sunburst
2. Lost Dimension
3. Ode to the Wind
4. Asuras
5. World of Time
6. Valley of Nysa
7. Magna Mater
8. Surmise
9. Gates of the Sun
10. Relax Your Mind
Related products
-
Release Date: 14/06/2024Visit product page →
Mike Paradinas, veteran producer and Planet Mu label owner has written a new album called ‘Grush' and it's full of weird bangers that reclaim the 'dance' part of the woeful term IDM. A back-to-first-principles record, inspired in part by the group of artists IDM was coined for; melodic dance music that didn't come out of urban scenes, but interpreted them from a distance.
The tracks on ‘Grush’ are all road-tested live favorites developed with feedback from Mike's touring partner and visuals guy Mora (Jan Moravec). It's a detailed and energetic journey which replicates the flow of a live gig. A lot of the tracks have been made in hotel rooms in response to shows, ‘Imperial Crescent’ is named after a Japanese Hotel, as is ‘Belvedere’ in Prague, while some tracks such as ‘Hyper Daddy’ were created specifically to play live.
Drums are confidently at the fore here and the album feels like it traces Mike's musical history and interests neatly around his sweetly nostalgic melodies, with atmospheres and structures which twist and turn with a charming softness which contrasts with the tension in the drums. Take ‘Hyper Daddy’s’ spiralling notes and twinkling piano which remind one of early Black Dog or Omni Trio rushing alongside splashy jungle drums, or the aquatic acid footwork of the title track with its drums softly bubbling and kicking.
Elsewhere there's territory which harks back to his Tusken Raiders pseudonym, like the heads down Drexciyan funk of ‘Windsor Safari Park,’ which transforms from moody electro into a sunny hardcore track midway.
The album is interspersed with Reticulum A, B and C at the start middle and end of the album which suggest a theme which carries across the music in an effortless and joyful way. ‘Grush’ is a strong album that works both for listening and DJing and a great snapshot of where Mike Paradinas musical head is at in 2024.
Tracklisting:ÂVinylSide A1. Reticulum A2. Hyper Daddy3. FogouSide BÂ1. Magic Pony Ride (Pt.4)2. Imperial Crescent3. Reticulum B4. GrushSide CÂ1. Belvedere2. Raver3. Windsor Safari Park4. HastingsSide DÂ1. Manscape2. Metaphonk3. Reticulum C
CD1. Reticulum A2. Hyper Daddy3. Fogou4. Magic Pony Ride (Pt.4)5. Imperial Crescent6. Reticulum B7. Grush8. Belvedere9. Raver10. Windsor Safari Park11. Hastings12. Manscape13. Metaphonk14. Reticulum C -
Release Date: 12/07/2024Visit product page →
One mere year after their previous pitch-black sounding album Krypt, LA outfit Male Tears is back with a new full-length and – oh boy – everything is changed.
The used-to-be duo is now a four piece with James Edward as the sole founding member remaining and apparently this new line-up helped the original vocalist to shapeshift again.
Remember their very first debut album from 2021 and those dark synthpop sounds?
With their upcoming fourth album (in only three years), this American electronic-pop act from Southern California doubles the stakes once again and where Krypt was all about being goth and gloomy and disturbingly paroxysmal, Paradisco is somehow quite the opposite.
Eight new tracks of pure italo disco, hi-NRG and freestyle bliss that pick up where the band left off three years ago to pursue much darker realms. Now that the quest for darkness is done, it is time to polish our nails and dress up for the night-out cause there's more in life than feeling sorry for yourself. Yes you will need to cut out the deadwood but there is no change in stillness.
So join Male Tears and their new arsenal of bangers and floor fillers with assertive titles such as Out of my Life, Regret 4 Nothing and Leave it Alone.
Get yourself wrapped up in one warm cover of delicate nostalgia and reborn romanticism, driven by sounds that  pay homage equally to Miko Mission and Ken Laszlo, Lisa Lisa and Exposé and, well yeah, even The Smiths because say what you wanna say but you simply cannot not love The Smiths.
Embrace the vintage vibes that organically propagate from this new record's grooves and get in the mood for this new course in full-on 1980's Pop.
Tracklisting:
1. Talk to Me
2. Leave it Alone (feat. Corlyx)
3. Sex on Drugs
4. Out of my Life
5. Where Is It?
6. He Wants Everything
7. Regret 4 Nothing
8. This Party Ends in Tears (feat. Digital Love) -
Release Date: 07/06/2024Visit product page →
The third album of powerfully vivid songwriting from Marina Allen. Beautifully orchestrated, highly melodic and delivered with unrivalled lyrical perspective. Across two acclaimed records, the Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter has ripened a rare harvest, but her third studio album is an arrival home.
Taking fragments and stories from Marina’s past, Eight-Pointed Star deftly weaves together a new future, in what feels for all the world like a glittering, clear-eyed modern classic of alternative folk and Americana. For fans of Aldous Harding, Fiona Apple and Waxahatchee.
Ineffable and timeless, this collection of songs holds a curiosity that’s as open to you as you are to them. Compared to the soaring and swelling compositions of Allen’s second album Centrifics or the innocent tranquillity of Candlepower, the world of Eight Pointed Star is more deeply addressing and open-armed.
It favours a type of soul-searching that doesn’t dwell in complications, and is open to answers. Rolling guitars rise and fall with the canyons and dust is kicked-up from the red scarred earth. Allen’s vocals pure and crystalline whilst the instrumentation is rich and bursting with brightness. You can hear contentment radiating from the music, with Chris Cohen’s production offering a full-band affair.
Allen’s affection runs deepest for singers who in her words can really sing, from The Roches to Karen Dalton, Joanna Newsom to Meredith Monk. But these influences vanish like ghosts in the attic when she starts to sing herself. Allen has a voice that stands up to the canon – inimitable – and it’s never sounded more resolute than it does here.
Tracklisting:
Side A
1. I'm the Same
2. Deep Fake
3. Red Cloud
4. Swinging Doors
5. Bad Eye Opal
Side B
6. Easy
7. Love Comes Back
8. Landlocked
9. Between Seasons -
Out Passed Nowhere is the debut solo album from Oliver Ray. Unfurling like a long stretch of road leading out past the edge of town, the album takes the listener to uncharted destinations beyond the edges of the map. Centered around Ray’s songwriting, the album finds him backed by a kaleidoscopic array of guest performers from the Bay Area, Tucson, and the NYC music communities.Visit product page →
Ray’s transcendent tunes are brought to life in stunning wide screen detail by members of Patti Smith, Howe Gelb, and members of Sugar Candy Mountain, Giant Sand, and The Myrrors. Working in collaboration with producer David Glasebrook, the two created a unique sonic landscape for each song; throwing genre conventions out the window, they focused on capturing distinctive, emotionally resonant sounds.
Each song has a distinctive flavor, but like the pieces to a puzzle they add up to more than the sum of their parts. The guitar explorations of Ol’ Coyote sit side by side with the dusty folk of Setting Sun, the psychedelic swirl of Best Game in Town, the darkly orchestral Tower and the Star, and the ambient tone poem Edge City.
The resulting album is a songwriting tour de force set amidst a swirling sonic landscape that recalls Bob Dylan or Cass McCombs as much as Brian Eno and Mark Hollis. Out Passed Nowhere is a captivating statement from an artist in his prime.
Although it may be his solo debut, Ray has been playing music and writing songs for decades, and this album stands as a testament to all those miles of road traveled; all those hours spent with pen to paper; all those songs sung and yet to be sung.
Tracklisting:
1. Ol’ Coyote
2. Ready
3. Best Game in Town
4. Setting Sun
5. Bye Beautiful
6. Tower and the Star
7. Queen of Never
8. Wise Blood
9. Edge City
v
