“Half a Human” is a collection of six songs created between two different worlds. While the architecture of each was constructed during sessions for 2020’s The Main Thing, the tracks came to life when the band began trading the material back and forth remotely throughout the pandemic. They found new ways of working together as they further explored the emotional landscapes they’ve been perfecting for more than a decade, and in taking stock of themselves and the uncertainty of their future, Half a Human helped them arrive at a new thesis statement for the band.
New track “Half a Human” is out now! Watch the video and pre-order signed Copies of the full EP today.
Anna Calvi’s debut for Domino was set to be one of the most talked about records of the year. Brian Eno has championed her as the most visionary female artiste since Patti Smith, Nick Cave took her out around Europe as special guest of Grinderman, and Rob Ellis (PJ Harvey’s right hand studio man) produced the music. An inspired guitarist influenced by Django Reinhardt as much as Jimi Hendrix, and with vocals inspired by Nina Simone and Mariah Callas, Anna Calvi’s music is a passionate and incredibly original mix. The live shows with her permanent three piece band are wowing audiences across the land.
An astonishingly confident record; Anna Calvi showcases the unique strengths of her song writing, singing and virtuoso guitar-playing all jumping out of the speaker together. Calvi drew on the ghosts of Nina Simone and Maria Callas for influence to create a stunningly modern sound.
The LP which includes the likes of “Desire”, “Blackout”, “Rider To The Sea” and “Suzanne And I”, will be reissued for the first time on red vinyl, it also features brand new cover artwork and a signed 8-page booklet containing previously unseen photographs.
Commenting on the milestone, Calvi said: “10 years ago, my life was cast open. All the things that I dreamed of, when I was little girl wishing to be a little boy, learning David Bowie songs on my first guitar, being brave enough to start my first band at 14, learning to sing by hiding behind closed curtains when everyone was asleep at 25, trying to ingest the craft of song writing as I wrote my first album – all of this life’s work of learning to be close to what I dreamt of – all of this was realised when I released my first album.”
To date, Anna Calvi has released three studio albums (Anna Calvi, One Breath and Hunter), a collaborative EP with David Byrne (Strange Weather) and the most recent Hunted – a seven-track reworking of Hunter. Additionally, Calvi wrote and performed the score for season 5 of BBC One’sPeaky Blindersand wrote the music for the opera The Sandman, directed by Robert Wilson. Anna is the first solo artist to achieve three consecutive Mercury Prize nominations and has also received a Brit Award nomination. Throughout her career, Calvi has worked with Brian Eno, Marianne Faithfull, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Joe Talbot (Idles), Dave Okumu (The Invisible), Johnny Flynn, Adrian Utley (Portishead) and Courtney Barnett.
Released on May 14th,
10 year Anniversary edition
The debut LP reissued for the first time on red vinyl
The eponymous debut album from Anna Calvi is an astonishingly confident record; the unique strengths of her song writing, singing and guitar-playing all jumping out of the speaker together.
Protomartyr release their fifth album, Ultimate Success Today, on Domino. Following the release of Relatives In Descent, the band’s critically acclaimed headlong dive into the morass of American life in 2017, Ultimate Success Today continues to further expand the possibilities of what a Protomartyr album can sound like. The new album Ultimate Success Today on July 17th via Domino Records. They band has already shared “Worm in Heaven” and “Processed By The Boys”.
Ultimate Success Today was recorded at Dreamland Recording Studios, a late 19th century church, in upstate New York and co-produced by the band and David Tolomei (Dirty Projectors, Beach House) with mixing by Tolomei. Featured guest musicians on the album include Nandi Rose (vocals) a.k.a. Half Waif, jazz legend Jemeel Moondoc (alto sax), Izaak Mills (bass clarinet, sax, flute), and Fred Lonberg-Holm (cello).
Protomartyr – “Michigan Hammers”, taken from ‘Ultimate Success Today’, out July 17, 2020.
Within A Western Circular lies an exciting and varied crew of guest artists including MF DOOM, Samuel T. Herring (Future Islands), Sudan Archives, and Laura Groves, all contributing vocals to Wilma Archer’s rich, dextrous compositions. Supple and multi-layered, honouring his acoustic heritage and influence, A Western Circular builds a sonic universe that commands contemporary references to everything from Frank Zappa to Yasuaki Shimuzu, Robert Wyatt to Arthur Russell.
Wilma Archer – “Cheater” featuring Sudan Archives – taken from the album ‘A Western Circular’, out now on Weird World.
Following the release of his debut record, A Western Circular, Wilma Archer and Crack Magazine are very happy to share a special live performance film. Recorded in early March at London’s prestigious Metropolis Studios and directed by Benjamin Brook, the film captures Wilma Archer Group performing a suite of two album tracks, opening with the titular “A Western Circular” sequencing into “Killing Crab”.The performance, written and arranged by Wilma Archer, is the first visual documentation of the specially curated Wilma Archer Group.
Protomartyr have a new album “Ultimate Success Today” was originally scheduled for a May 29th release, but today they’ve announced a new release date: It’s now out July 17th via Domino Recordings. Ultimate Success Today is Protomartyr’s fifth album. Following the release of Relatives In Descent, the band’s critically acclaimed headlong dive into the morass of American life in 2017, Ultimate Success Today continues to further expand the possibilities of what a Protomartyr album can sound like.
They’ve also shared the video for a new song from the album. Watch the Trevor Naud–directed video for “Worm in Heaven” below.
The band’s 2020 tour dates are now cancelled, too. Protomartyr are advising fans to seek refunds at the point of purchase. The new song follows “Processed By the Boys.”
Protomartyr – from ‘Ultimate Success Today’, out July 17th, 2020.
North London post-punkers Sorry released their debut album, 925, today via Domino . On Monday they shared one last pre-release song from it, “As the Sun Sets,” via a video for the track which anchors the centre of the album. The band’s Asha Lorenz directed the video.
925includes “Right Round the Clock,” a song they shared in October as well as “Rock ‘n’ Roll Star,” another new song they shared in November . When the album was announced Sorry shared another song from it, “More,” ,Then they shared another song from it, “Snakes,” via a video for the track that featured a giant…snake.
Sorry is led by childhood friends Asha Lorenz and Louis O’Bryen and the lineup is rounded out by Lincoln Barrett on drums and bassist Campbell Baum. Previously we also posted the band’s “Jealous Guy” (not the John Lennon cover), but isn’t featured on the debut album.
James Dring (Gorillaz, Jamie T, Nilüfer Yanya) co-produced 925with the band. Lorenz directed the “More” video alongside frequent collaborator Jasper Cable-Alexander.
October 18th 2011, New Jersey’s Real Estate released “Days”, their second album and first for Domino. A coming of age moment for childhood friends Martin Courtney (Guitar and Vocals), Matt Mondanile (Guitar) and Alex Bleeker (Bass), “Days” was recorded over the course of five patient months in a remote New Paltz, NY barn-cum-studio with the help of Kevin McMahon (Titus Andronicus, The Walkmen).
A gorgeous suite of guitar-pop songs, Days is a testament to the fact that the sonic formula Real Estate developed and shared with their debut album (Real Estate, Woodsist 2009) heralded the arrival of a new, genuine and enduring group of voices in American independent music. Days sees the band tighten and refine their brand of timeless, melodic and genuine music- consolidating the breezy sketches of their earlier work into considered, graceful pop songs.
The songs are built around deceptively simple, cyclical riffs; caressed and performed with a rhythm and restraint that is atypical for a band Real Estate’s age. The instruments swim together, anchored down by Bleeker’s firm Lesh-esque bass, ebbing and flowing, occasionally enriched with flourishes of country piano, soft synths and slide guitar. Several songs, like the album’s rousing first single “It’s Real” were written by Courtney in the way he wrote some of his first songs…more
London-based outfit Sorry take a look at some of the things that send us into a head spin in their stunning new track, “Right Round The Clock.” It’s the first offering from their freshly announced debut album 925, which arrives next year. The project, steered by Asha Lorenz and Louis O’Bryen and accompanied by drummer Lincoln Barrett and bassist Campbell Baum, launches deep into how grand aspirations and the need to feel wanted can trap us in a whirling cycle of aimless direction. Lorenz and O’Bryen’s straightforward, matter-of-fact delivery acts as a nice companion to the swaying, eccentric production that bounces in the background. As the duo announces in unison “I’m feeling kinda crazy / I’m feeling kinda mad / The dreams in which we’re famous are the best I’ve ever had,” you can feel their yearning to manifest something real and significant. This idea is further amplified in the music video for the single, directed by Lorenz and regular collaborator Jasper Cable-Alexander. While we try and maneuver through our individual realities, one thing is certain:
Sorry is a creative force to keep an eye on. 925 is set to release in the spring of 2020 via Domino.
We are happy to finally announce the upcoming release of the second installment of the Go-Betweens anthology series, which will be released worldwide on December 6th.
“G Stands For Go-Betweens Volume 2” extensively documents the band’s creative output in the latter half of the Eighties in an ambitious box containing five vinyl LPs, five compact discs and an extensive 112-page book, featuring a trove of archival photos and extensive historical liner notes from founding member Robert Forster, along with additional pieces from guest essayists, fans and contemporaries.
The box set captures the band’s output from 1985 through 1989 and includes the first vinyl re-pressings of the three mid-period studio albums in over thirty years (“Liberty Belle And The Black Diamond Express,” “Tallulah” & “16 Lovers Lane”), all re-mastered from the original analogue tapes. “G Stands For Go-Betweens Volume 2” also includes an eighteen-song double LP of the band performing live at London’s legendary Town & Country Club on May 10th, 1987. Additionally, the set comes with five compact discs of their b-sides, radio sessions & rare, hard-to-find and unreleased demos.
Ashworth’s songwriting often presents itself as a lens through which the listener can see themselves, dissolving barriers between the artist and audience.
Sasami Ashworth’s debut solo offering is a sidestep away from her previous output with Cherry Glazerr and into the fog. It’s fuzzy and melancholic, with train-of-thought musings that feel both self-prescriptive and healing – a sonic processing of emotions with broader relevance and appeal. It poses singular questions of love and loss, finding solace in their universality: “Thought I was the only one/Turned out I was everyone.” Sasami – “Free (feat. Devendra Banhart)”, from the debut self-titled album, out now on Domino Records
SASAMI (Sasami Ashworth) has been making music in the Los Angeles area, in almost every way you can, for the last decade. From playing French horn in orchestras and studios and playing keys, bass, and guitar in local rock bands (Dirt Dress, Cherry Glazerr), to contributing vocals/string/horn arrangements to studio albums (Vagabon, Curtis Harding, Wild Nothing, Hand Habits, etc.) and producing on tracks for other respected artists (Soko), she has gained a reputation as an all-around musical badass.
She spent the previous two and a half years touring the world non-stop playing synths in the band Cherry Glazerr and is now taking a turn to focus on her own music.
The video for “Take Care” starts out pleasantly enough—Sasami wakes up in a rowboat floating across calm blue waters. As grainy shots of the artist lying in the boat flash by, the scene gives the impression of a vintage film memento. She sings the lines, “You don’t need my help anymore / I tried to show up at your door.” But soon enough, Sasami starts to let out some hostility, tagging a wall with black spray paint and then, well, beating the living hell out a car with a baseball bat. Finally, we see her lighting a shrine of personal effects on fire in the desert and screaming at the burning pyre.
“Take Care” features on a brand new digital 7” from SASAMI. SASAMI’s debut self-titled album is out now on Domino Recording Co.
The Fat Angel Sings 