Alternative

Sydney's Au.Ra, a duo composed of Tim Jenkins and Tom Crandles, are set to release their new full length Jane's Lament, a work which carefully envelops the listener in dreamy hues of sound. Made over the course of two years, the LP was birthed from improvised jams the pair play over droning guitars and looped drum beats. Tracks like "Sun," and "Pyramid" emerge slowly out of interplays between simple melodies and layered, reverbed instrumentation. Au.Ra's "emotive soundscapes" perfectly encase their nontraditional pop songwriting, like on highlight "Morning," where shimmering guitar riffs transport you to a serene, meditative realm. Their repetitive lyrics belie this easy transcendence, sometimes even verging on incantation. These songs evoke a languid drive along a bending highway in autumn, the scenery and light shifting ever so slowly out the windows. As the sun sets earlier, this is an album to savor with the dying light. Record Label: Felte Style: Independent

Since their 2012 debut with the EP “Face The Terror”, TERROR EMPIRE have confirmed their status as a mind-fucking and malevolent force in the Thrash Metal scene. Now, two years after, they are back with their debut full-length entitled “The Empire Strikes Black”, an album that will maintain the band’s critical tone regarding what they consider to be wrong within the society. Record Label: Nordavind Style: Trash Metal

1983 debute from Flying Nun originals, re-issued for the first time. - 2xLP gatefold - Re-mastered and packaged featuring liner notes, posters and flyers. - Expanded to include songs from the 'Be My Friend' 7", 1985's 'Husband House' EP and bonus tracks from 1990 ' Over the years there has been a lot of talk about the so-called 'Dunedin sound'. Dunedin's Sneaky Feelings were a band whose ambitions and interests went much wider than any generic 'sound'; they would even come to be regarded as something of an anomaly on Flying Nun, home to the Dunedin sound. And yet their first album seemed to epitomise that sound, whatever it was. One of the first long-players released on the fledgling label,Send You was emblematic. The early Flying Nun bands could be divided into two kinds: those like The Clean, who accepted their limitations and made the most of them, and others, like Sneaky Feelings whose ambitions outstripped their limited recording budgets. Consequently their later records sometimes sounded a few thousand dollars short of the masterpieces they might have been. As for Send You, it will jangle forever as one of New Zealand's essential albums.' Extract from Nick Bollinger's end You' liner notes Record Label: Flying Nun Style: Independent

"Ruby the Hatchet doubles down on the spooky and on the fuzz. This lady-fronted, occultic rock band knows how to write tunes that groove." - MADE MAN. Philadelphia psychedelic doombringers RUBY THE HATCHET are one of heavy music's finest on-the-rise bands. The critically acclaimed psych metal group will release its new album, Valley of the Snake, on February 24 via Tee Pee Records. The hotly-tipped quintet, who MetalSucks says, "graduated Magna Cum Laude from The Led Zeppelin School of Proto Metal, where they majored in Sabbath and minored in Deep Purple," and whose "brand of psychedelia should drive fans of bands like Baroness, Ghost, and Royal Thunder absolutely wild," recorded the new LP at Retro City Studios in Germantown, PA. RUBY THE HATCHET's music fuses the sinister tactic of brainwash with blistering riffs and the rebellious mood of sorcery, re-imagining a different path for metal. Evoking a decade's worth of maturity gained in just a few short years, the genesis from the band's 2011 self-titled EP to present day has been nothing short of stunning. Valley of the Snake is a six song journey; a fantastical trek with huge, blistering tracks that journey over peaks and valleys and ditches and oceans before leaving you spinning. Seething and spitting, RUBY THE HATCHET hammers behemoth waves of dogma and doom, merging precision and patience with a sinister foot-stomping, head-bobbing power. Vocalist Jillian Taylor's serpentine vocals, scene-stealing howls and macabre lyrics conjure holistic atmospheres over swollen grooves that grow and flow in circles and waves. Guitars crunch, wail and burn. Heavy-handed and hypnotic in equal parts, RUBY THE HATCHET creates the perfect shape shift between psych density and metal grandiosity, representing something utterly imposing; primeval and oppressively heavy while maintaining a level of breathless intensity over the course of the full album. This hex is for you. Record Label: Tee Pee Style: Doom Metal

MOJAVE LORDS was born in Joshua Tree, California at Rancho De La Luna recording studio, where Queens Of The Stone Age, Arctic Monkeys, Daniel Lanois, The Desert Sessions, Masters Of Reality, UNKLE and countless others have created incredible recordings. MOJAVE LORDS is the brain-child of musical mastermind David Catching and his neighbour, the equally brilliant Bingo Richey. After years of working with some of the world's brightest rock artists, they decided to team up, strap themselves in to a homemade rocket and press the launch button. With some help from their friends; Brian "Big Hands" O 'Connor, Barrett Martin, Chris Goss, Joey "The Sexy Mexi" Castillo and Danny Frankel, they made what the New York Times is calling "Dark, sexy rock & roll for a brave new race." This is the next wave of Desert Stoner Rock. This is mature, smart and visceral. This is UNFUCKWITHABLE. Featuring members of EAGLES OF DEATH METAL, QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE, SCREAMING TREES, TUATARA, EARTHLINGS?, MASTERS OF REALITY. Record Label: Mojave Lords Records Style: Stoner Rock

Already featured in national music magazines including Vive Le Rock and Shindig!, St Austell trio Honey are set to expand their local popularity to a national level with the forthcoming release of their hotly anticipated debut album, Weekend Millionaire. Capitalizing on the success of last year's Suckle EP, which secured the group a coveted spot alongside the likes of Iggy Pop and Nick Cave on the third volume of The Jeffrey Lee Pearce Sessions, they have had a busy 2014, appearing at a number of festivals, innumerable club shows and playing support to established heavyweights such as the Alabama 3. For fans of Brody Dalle, Queens of the Stone Age and Nirvana, the ten tracks showcased on Weekend Millionaire confirms Honey's ability to create powerful material studded with sweetly barbed hooks. The album will be supported by the release of a new video of their powerhouse live favourite 'Black Teeth' Record Label: Easy Action Style: Alternative Rock

Sydney's Au.Ra, a duo composed of Tim Jenkins and Tom Crandles, are set to release their new full length Jane's Lament, a work which carefully envelops the listener in dreamy hues of sound. Made over the course of two years, the LP was birthed from improvised jams the pair play over droning guitars and looped drum beats. Tracks like "Sun," and "Pyramid" emerge slowly out of interplays between simple melodies and layered, reverbed instrumentation. Au.Ra's "emotive soundscapes" perfectly encase their nontraditional pop songwriting, like on highlight "Morning," where shimmering guitar riffs transport you to a serene, meditative realm. Their repetitive lyrics belie this easy transcendence, sometimes even verging on incantation. These songs evoke a languid drive along a bending highway in autumn, the scenery and light shifting ever so slowly out the windows. As the sun sets earlier, this is an album to savor with the dying light. Record Label: Felte Style: Independent

LP Limited edition of 1200 only. "Including GOAT remix by Anton Newcombe from The Brian Jonestown Massacre. As usual, the album feature some of the best acts of the underground scene on its side of the continent. The fifteen outfits taking part in the third volume - including Goat (mixed by Anton Newcombe of Brian Jonestown Massacre), Mugstar, The Oscillation, Camera are representative of the impressive diversity and quality of a scene that is much broader than its definition. While all of them are certainly inspired by Psychedelia, each one of them incorporates different elements of Blues, Folk, Rock & Roll, Stoner, Kraut Rock, Electronica, Noise, Ambient and more.. For the third time, the cover was created by iconic Icelandic artist and band member of Dead Skeletons, Jon Saemundur, aka Nonni Dead. Record Label: Fuzz Club Records Style: Psychedelic Rock

Record Label: Epitaph Europe Style: Alternative Rock

Geelong delinquents The Living Eyes will unleash a new, 10-track slab of stompers, 'Living Large', via Agitated Records. The Living Eyes are Billy Gardner (who, not only runs the esteemed Geelong record label Antifade, but also plays in Ausmuteants and Wet Blankets amongst others.) on vocals and guitar, Mitch Campleman on guitar / vocals, bassist Dayle Herbert and drummer Nicholas Hill. Their second full-length, "Living Large," was recorded in a day-and-a-half by (Straight Arrows' front man) Owen Penglis in his (new) Sydney hideout, Goliath Professional Recording Studio. The tapes were then driven back down the Hume highway and finished off in a couple of West Geelong bedrooms before being sent off to Australia's mixing master, Mikey Young. Taking their cues from the likes of The Easybeats, The Hoodoo Gurus, The Saints and The Hard Ons, The Living Eyes stand true to the vitriolic punk brash and sharp garage crunch of their s/t debut (2013, Antifade Records) whilst crafting some DAMN SWEET power-pop hooks. The Living Eyes are iving Large' with feral wallaby beat to make you pick up your feet and a shake you just can't shake! For Fans Of: Jay Reatard, Citadel Records, The Kinks, Waterfront Records, The Ramones, In The Red Records, High Voltage AC /DC Record Label: Agitated Style: Garage Rock

Iron And Wine's Archive Series Volume No. 1' is the first in a series - Sam Beam will be gathering otherwise unreleased home recordings, covers, live sets, and curiosities from his entire career as Iron And Wine and releasing them on his own label - Black Cricket Recording Co. ! ! This first release taps into a set of songs created before Sam was Iron And Wine, when he was making music without the public in mind. The songs on olume No. 1' came to life at the same time as those selected for Iron And Wine's debut album,' The Creek Drank The Cradle' (Sub Pop, 2002, 197K Sales To- Date). Performed and recorded at home on a 4-track cassette - the songs on Creek' were only 11 of the many crafted by Sam prior to his debut. Some of this material has been widely bootlegged, but has never received a wide-spread or proper release.! ! 'Archive Series Volume No. 1' collects 16 of these unreleased early home recordings for the first time.! ! This initial chapter in the rchive Series' has been digitally transferred from the original cassettes and packaged in gatefold artwork featuring the Bird of Paradise Quilt (licensed from the American Folk Art Museum). Record Label: Black Cricket Style: Independent

Vinyl includes mp3 coupon. Growing up. As a prospect it can be terrifying, sad, and worst of all, inevitable. But on I Want to Grow Up, her second album for Hardly Art, Colleen Green lets us know that we don't have to go it alone. This latest collection of songs follows a newly 30-year-old Green as she carefully navigates a minefield of emotion. Her firm belief in true love is challenged by the inner turmoil caused by entering modern adulthood, but that doesn't mean that her faith is defeated. With a nod to her heroes, sentimental SoCal punks The Descendents, Green too wonders what it will be like when she gets old. Throughout songs such as "Some People," "Deeper Than Love," and the illustrative title track, the listener has no choice but to feel the sympathetic growing pains of revelatory maturation and the anxieties that come along with it. Sonically the album is a major change for the LA-based songwriter, who has come to be known for her homemade recordings and merchandise. Her past offerings have been purely Green; testaments to her self-sufficiency and, perhaps, trepidation. This time, she's got a little help from her friends: the full band heard here includes JEFF the Brotherhood's Jake Orrall and Diarrhea Planet's Casey Weissbuch, who collaborated with Green over ten days at Sputnik Sound in Nashville, TN. I Want to Grow Up is an experience, not unlike life: questioning, learning, taking risks. And in true CG fashion, a quote from a beloved 90s film seems the perfect summation: "Understanding is reached only after confrontation. Record Label: Hardly Art Style: Independent

Record Label: Melodic Style: Alternative Rock

Record Label: Domino Records Style: Independent

CD pressing of 1000. Including GOAT remix by Anton Newcombe from The Brian Jonestown Massacre. As usual, the album feature some of the best acts of the underground scene on its side of the continent. The fifteen outfits taking part in the third volume - Record Label: Fuzz Club Records Style: Psychedelic Rock

The first thing the listener will notice about Ricked Wicky is that it is the most musically adept project Guided By Voices' mage Robert Pollard has undertaken in some time, at least since late period-GBV (Half-Smiles of the Decomposed, for instance), or even Boston Spaceships. "[Ricked Wicky] is a sophisticated arena rock band," says Pollard, and I Sell The Circus offers in evidence a series of ball-peen hammers to the brain-pan ("Piss Face" with its James Gang-era slide guitar and the proto-punk stomp of "Intellectual Types," for example) alongside more delicate, prog-tinged frippery ("Cow-Headed Moon" features "Court of the Crimson King"-esque mellotron, while the acoustic guitar mastery displayed on "Even Today and Tomorrow" recalls the mellow-era ELP of "Lucky Man"). Credit the players: bolstering the easy mastery of a dizzying array of song writing forms one naturally expects (and receives) from Pollard are the impressive instrumental prowess of fellow Daytonian Nick Mitchell ("no blood relation to Mitch," Pollard stresses), who can otherwise be found in near-weekly performance at Wings, an important Dayton sports bar, multi-instrumentalist and producer Todd Tobias, and "the worldly Kevin March," (Pollard again) who does double duty these days in Guided By Voices. These guys can play, and on I Sell The Circus, they play the fuck out of the songs. "The band named Ricked Wicky is significant in that it is the very first name I created for a non-existent band in my early teens," explains Pollard. Fourteen of its fifteen tracks were recorded at Cyberteknics in Dayton, a studio Pollard has come to use with increasing frequency due to its profusion of vintage analogue gear. Used to great effect on ISTC: "Rotten Backboards" is as gorgeous and melancholic a tune as Pollard has ever written, and lyrically sounds a note of wistfulness that long-time fans will not find unfamiliar. "She can run, 'cause that's what I did," sings Pollard over a sublimely-textured background of synth-strings, arpeggiated guitar, piano, and clattery drums, and while it's tempting to read real regret into the content ("rotten backboards" as a metaphor for the debris of the past), it's always dangerous looking for autobiography in Pollard's mostly-fictional constructions. And anyway the misty wistfulness is cleared away immediately by the sharply propulsive prime-Who swagger of the next - and final - track "A Real Stab." Which seems to be about needles, or the messengers of Oz, or paper bags. It's one of the best songs on an album of standouts. "Some may wish to refer to us as a 'super group,'" says Pollard, tongue practically poking through his cheek, but as with a lot of the pronouncements made by the oracle of Huffman Prairie, as no one has ever called him or ever will, he's joking, but he's not joking. Ricked Wicky may not be a super group as the term is too-commonly used, but there's no real doubt they're a super group Record Label: Fire Records Style: Independent

Geelong delinquents The Living Eyes will unleash a new, 10-track slab of stompers, 'Living Large', via Agitated Records. The Living Eyes are Billy Gardner (who, not only runs the esteemed Geelong record label Antifade, but also plays in Ausmuteants and Wet Blankets amongst others.) on vocals and guitar, Mitch Campleman on guitar / vocals, bassist Dayle Herbert and drummer Nicholas Hill. Their second full-length, "Living Large," was recorded in a day-and-a-half by (Straight Arrows' front man) Owen Penglis in his (new) Sydney hideout, Goliath Professional Recording Studio. The tapes were then driven back down the Hume highway and finished off in a couple of West Geelong bedrooms before being sent off to Australia's mixing master, Mikey Young. Taking their cues from the likes of The Easybeats, The Hoodoo Gurus, The Saints and The Hard Ons, The Living Eyes stand true to the vitriolic punk brash and sharp garage crunch of their s/t debut (2013, Antifade Records) whilst crafting some DAMN SWEET power-pop hooks. The Living Eyes are iving Large' with feral wallaby beat to make you pick up your feet and a shake you just can't shake! For Fans Of: Jay Reatard, Citadel Records, The Kinks, Waterfront Records, The Ramones, In The Red Records, High Voltage AC /DC Record Label: Agitated Style: Garage Rock

Iron And Wine's Archive Series Volume No. 1' is the first in a series - Sam Beam will be gathering otherwise unreleased home recordings, covers, live sets, and curiosities from his entire career as Iron And Wine and releasing them on his own label - Black Cricket Recording Co. ! ! This first release taps into a set of songs created before Sam was Iron And Wine, when he was making music without the public in mind. The songs on olume No. 1' came to life at the same time as those selected for Iron And Wine's debut album,' The Creek Drank The Cradle' (Sub Pop, 2002, 197K Sales To- Date). Performed and recorded at home on a 4-track cassette - the songs on Creek' were only 11 of the many crafted by Sam prior to his debut. Some of this material has been widely bootlegged, but has never received a wide-spread or proper release.! ! 'Archive Series Volume No. 1' collects 16 of these unreleased early home recordings for the first time.! ! This initial chapter in the rchive Series' has been digitally transferred from the original cassettes and packaged in gatefold artwork featuring the Bird of Paradise Quilt (licensed from the American Folk Art Museum). Record Label: Black Cricket Style: Independent

Growing up. As a prospect it can be terrifying, sad, and worst of all, inevitable. But on I Want to Grow Up, her second album for Hardly Art, Colleen Green lets us know that we don't have to go it alone. This latest collection of songs follows a newly 30-year-old Green as she carefully navigates a minefield of emotion. Her firm belief in true love is challenged by the inner turmoil caused by entering modern adulthood, but that doesn't mean that her faith is defeated. With a nod to her heroes, sentimental SoCal punks The Descendents, Green too wonders what it will be like when she gets old. Throughout songs such as "Some People," "Deeper Than Love," and the illustrative title track, the listener has no choice but to feel the sympathetic growing pains of revelatory maturation and the anxieties that come along with it. Sonically the album is a major change for the LA-based songwriter, who has come to be known for her homemade recordings and merchandise. Her past offerings have been purely Green; testaments to her self-sufficiency and, perhaps, trepidation. This time, she's got a little help from her friends: the full band heard here includes JEFF the Brotherhood's Jake Orrall and Diarrhea Planet's Casey Weissbuch, who collaborated with Green over ten days at Sputnik Sound in Nashville, TN. I Want to Grow Up is an experience, not unlike life: questioning, learning, taking risks. And in true CG fashion, a quote from a beloved 90s film seems the perfect summation: "Understanding is reached only after confrontation. Record Label: Hardly Art Style: Independent

Record Label: Prophecy Productions Style: Metal