May 31, 2022

PRISMA • Drive • 2022



“have a jubilantly aggressive sound that made me think of Blondie with a serious rock edge and two Debbie Harrys singing instead of one” David Fricke The Writer’s Block 

Hendricks the Hatmaker • Violet • 2022




Hendricks the Hatmaker are a power-folk-punk trio from Lucerne, who musically combine the genres «gin», «hatmaking» and «Schnorreböx». With their instruments the band rejoices on the hat brim of music, prances over the bar counters of society and looks deep into the glasses of poor souls. The melodies are sweet as juniper, spicy as coriander and hot as pepper. Guitar, drums, bass (and an occasional acoustic instrument) complement each other as well as cucumbers, pepper and tonic water.

May 29, 2022

Tom Jenkins • 'Under The Sun' • 2022


Offering up another canny curveball and adding another string to his increasingly diverse and genre-hopping bow, Tom Jenkins has served up a slice of feel-good pop-tinted indie-rock on latest single ‘Under The Sun’. 


“‘Under The Sun’ is probably the most upbeat song off my new album. I really wanted to write more uplifting music this time round. The sound is inspired mainly by American alt/indie bands like Band of Horses and The Shins. Lyrically the song focuses on unity in a world that always seems to be trying to divide us by the ways of the media or manipulating higher powers.”

False Heads • Mime the End • 2022


With gritty garage-punk riffs, snarling vocals and a barbs of reverb puncturing through its core, “Mime The End” is a vehement slice of metallic might that rails against the cruellest twists life’s rich tapestry can throw at you. 


MARTHA • Please Don't Take Me Back • 2022


NPR have previously described Martha as “one of Britain’s best rock bands” and ranked their debut album Courting Strong as one of the 50 best albums of 2014. The follow up Blisters in the Pit of my Heart was ranked by the AV Club as one of the 20 best albums of 2016. The album also received praise from Pitchfork, Noisey, Stereogum and Consequence of Sound. In 2019, Martha’s third album Love Keeps Kicking received widespread praise from notable publications including NME, The Line of Best Fit, DIY, Kerrang & London in Stereo. NME said, “Love Keeps Kicking is Martha at their best”. 


"Cuts the weight of austerity with good-natured humor and a catchy sing-along melody"
Pitchfork

"Enthralling and multi-faceted"
The Line of Best Fit

"Grab yourself a bowl, throw in a cup of Belle and Sebastian’s lyricism, a dash of The Smiths’ kitchen sink realism, sprinkle some smouldering J Mascis riffs and you’ll get something close to Martha."
CLASH
 
"Evocative, character-driven songs with killer hooks and radical politics”
Rolling Stone

TOUR DATES
Nov 18- Nottingham- Metronome
Nov 19- London- EartH
Nov 20- Manchester - Rebellion
Nov 26- Bristol - The Exchange
Nov 27- Leeds - Brudenell Social Club
Dec 2- Sunderland - POP Recs
Dec 3- Glasgow – Mono

May 28, 2022

Paulo Metello • TERRACOTTA PARADISO • 2022



For almost twenty years, Paulo Metello has graced us with his bands (Cactus Cream, Nomedefilme, Nave) in a union of 60s psychedelic sounds with post-punk and noise. In his solo career, he also borrows the lightness of the dreampop generation and adds, in this new work, the synthetic bass lines of forty-year-old heroes like New Order and Depeche Mode (RIP Andrew Fletcher).

Damion • Company Man • 2022


"Think of deep cuts from Ambrosia, Bob Welch-era Fleetwood Mac, Ace, and Todd Rundgren and that is the mission statement of Bloomington, Indiana-based singer-songwriter Damion on his new album Special Interest [...] 'Company Man' features all the checkboxes of a lost ’70s soft rock hit along with blistering guitar solo and helium harmonies that beg for repeat plays."
- Glide Magazine


May 24, 2022

Mamalarky • You Know I Know • 2022



"'You Know I Know' was never supposed to come out," singer/guitarist Livvy Bennett explains, "but my bandmates told me it would make for a great single. I accidentally wrote a rock banger that sounded like it could have come out in 2007, like MGMT meets Weezer meets Sheryl Crow. 


"[Mamalarky's] debut album stands out from their contemporaries’ laid-back melancholy with complex instrumental interplay that inspires lean-forward listening."
Pitchfork

"Mamalarky's indie rock summons an easy and pure joy." 
NYLON

"Across ten tracks, the quartet deliver blissed out fuzzy indie-pop tracks that are nostalgic for a simpler time. They are a band that emanates cool factor...Mamalarky's LP is definitely not a record to sleep on as the leaves turn and fall sets in."
Uproxx

"Adventurous and endlessly listenable indie rock."
VICE

"A perfect slice of lo-fi bliss."
Billboard

May 23, 2022

Lucas Laufen • Weathering • 2022


"With the way the weather is currently set up, we’re feeling to wrap ourselves in a cosy blanket and watch the rainfall from the comfort of our homes. And providing the perfect soundtrack to these warming moments is Lucas Laufen with “Weathering”. Gently easing us into a poignant soundscape laced with delicate strings, the artist smooth glides through the production before landing at the melancholic climax." - Wonderland Magazine

Oxford Drama • Not My Friend • 2022



Oxford Drama, consisting of Małgorzata Dryjańska and Marcin Mrówka, are a Polish indie-pop band formed in the spring of 2014, when they also released their self-titled first EP. The release caught an eye of a Polish label Brennnessel, where the duo released their next EP 'Fluctuations' and their debut album 'In Awe'. 'In Awe' was considered one of the most interesting debuts of 2015 on then Polish scene, acclaimed by both the press and wider audiences. In 2018 the duo presented their second LP 'Songs', released by ART2 Music. It is on the second album where they fully discovered that what they want to do and can do best is to write songs. The album pays tribute to the heritage of 70 years of popular music. 

May 20, 2022

Porridge Radio • Waterslide, Diving Board, Ladder To The Sky • 2022



Porridge Radio are one of the most vital new voices in alternative music, having gone from being darlings of the DIY underground to one of the UK’s most thrilling bands in the space of less than a year. Their barbed wit, lacerating intensity and potent blend of art-rock, indie-pop and post-punk sounds like little else around, and led their 2020 album Every Bad to make the nominees list for the coveted Mercury Music Prize. 



May 19, 2022

lullahush • Our Glass Lake • 2022


lullahush draws inspiration from the lilted beats of Mount Kimbie, Four Tet and Floating Points, the hushed ambience of Mary Lattimore, the attention to detail of Japanese composers like Ryuichi Sakamoto, Nobukazu Takemora and Aoki Takamasa, and the old school lyricism of Nick Cave and Leonard Cohen. He synthesises these influences to breathe human life into electronic machine sounds, holding the inherent chaos and awkwardness close.


"Dublin poet/producer's slow builds and subtle surrealisms arrive above layered, minimal, collages of bells, skew-whiff beats and found sounds" MOJO
 
"Thoroughly unique, as beautiful in writing as it is to listen to"  The Line of Best Fit

"Deftly original and innovative" Nialler9

"Frantically beautiful" District Magazine

May 18, 2022

Fox Fagan • Hot Streets of Hell • 2022




“Written in a time of endless parties and desperation, I found the ability to be okay with myself through this song,” Fox says of the track. “I was a mess, but somehow was still enjoying life to the fullest in Hollywood and meeting some crazy characters along the way. I sat with this song for years and never knew when it would see the light of day. Finally I asked my pedal steel playing friend Ditch Kurtz, who I met while I was touring as bassist in the Chris Shiflett Band in Nashville to play on it. And then it all made sense. This has to be shared with the world this summer, so others can enjoy being okay with their bad selves.”

Martha Hill • Free Flow • 2022


In line with the new single, Martha has also announced her annual ‘Women Are Mint’ festival, which will run 20th – 22nd May. The event provides an essential platform for female musicians in the North-East. Tickets are available from https://womenaremint.co.uk


"I love Martha's voice" - Annie Mac BBC Radio 1
 
"on-the-nose lyricisms concerning the mundanity of life, and packed full of her unique take on pop music"- The Line of Best Fit

"her music is inseparable from its place of origin, infused with northern spirit and humour” – Clash

“We have a talent standing right in front of us that is ready to go as far as they want to go and I'm here to elevate them” - Jack Saunders BBC Radio 1

Luke Lover • 2022

 

"It’s a collection of songs! They reflect the ups and downs of my recent years, express desires and sum up my feelings, softly stumbling through my early twenties. They were recorded over a longer period of time. For example the song Luke Lover was an overdub from when I first got my looper five or six years ago. Weit Weg and Seq.1 are the most recent ones, played with a synthesizer and a keyboard. Some I recorded at home, some at our practice space on a fostex tape-machine.“

 

May 17, 2022

Elle King & Miranda Lambert • Drunk (And I Don't Wanna Go Home) • 2022


Thorsten Nesch • Brothers for a While • 2022


The album cover was shot in the mid 90s in Himare, Albania, traveling with a friend. The stray dogs gathered there, maybe because the day before a butcher had gutted a goat there, while fighting off the dogs with a piece of wood.



May 16, 2022

Olivia Nowadays • How to Be Okay With the Everyday • 2022




Rosie Carney • Tidal Wave • 2022




"intensely intimate and vulnerable... shades of Simon & Garfunkel and Phoebe Bridgers" - The Times

"[her] wistful, and reflective best" - Beats Per Minute

"Cultdom, at the very least, beckons" - MOJO  

"Rosie Carney writes songs that feel lived-in and worn" - NPR  

"Simply put, Rosie Carney's voice is gorgeous" - Paste

"Carney finds magic in minimalism" - Guardian 

Lucas Laufen • In Cologne • 2022



Lucas Laufen’s music can be linked to a form of therapy. His delicate brand of folk effortlessly relieves the listener of any stress, grief or sorrow. Sombre falsetto melodies married to shimmering guitars within elemental orchestrations that yearn and plunge, endow us to stop, breathe and escape the daily noise.
Growing up in the small ex-fishing town of Port Lincoln, Australia, Lucas was a passionate pianist at the age of eight and an ardent trumpet player at ten. It was not until his teens that he discovered the acoustic guitar and began fostering a deep and unique passion for songwriting

May 15, 2022

Ken Yates • Honest Light (feat. Caroline Marie Brooks) • 2022



Yates' forthcoming album Cerulean meets Yates at his darkest and most vulnerable, as he transforms the pain of grief, fear and loss into an 11-track quest towards hope, light and peace. A crucial vehicle out of the depths of darkness and bitterness for Yates, Cerulean serves as a powerful reemergence filled with his signature remarkable vocal intimacy as well as a profound yet candid peek into the universal human experience.


["Consolation Prize"] [features] downcast energy and confessional lyrics while adding layers to its lush soundscape"
“Yates has now asserted himself as one of Canada’s most unique folk artists with a true knack for effective songwriting.”
"An enchanting song of acceptance and resolve, Ken Yates’ “The Big One” is a soothing and stirring apocalyptic lullaby that finds refuge in the face of life’s fragility."
"Ken has earned a strong reputation as a bona-fide composer who combines his emotionally charged storytelling with some incredible and unforgettable melodies.

May 13, 2022

Say Sue Me 세이수미 • The Last Thing Left • 2022


After a flurry of international activity culminating with a debut North American tour at the end of 2019, like everyone else in the world, Say Sue Me were forced to take a touring hiatus in 2020, and quietly began work on a new album. ‘The Last Thing Left’ was self-recorded and self-produced during lockdown at the band's own Busan studio. 


phoneswithchords • cut the kid • 2022


All songs recorded in my living room on a really old Mac computer with a cheap microphone and an even cheaper parlor guitar named Blanche. 



May 10, 2022

Heavy Gus • Weird Sad Symbol • 2022




Heavy Gus emerged last year with the psychedelic-tinged “Do We Have to Talk?”, a track about the intimacy in words unspoken and reaching out for the comfort of a physical connection. Earlier this year, they shared the long-distance-love-song “Dinner For Breakfast,” a droning, bittersweet, reverb-drenched reflection on longing and separation that ultimately finds a reason to hold on in even the darkest of moments.

May 9, 2022

WE ARE JOINERS • EP 4 • 2022



The Wedding Present • Locked Down and Stripped Back Vol Two • 2022




tommy oeffling • hand​-​in​-​hand • 2022


tommy oeffling makes music in his basement in the middle of nowhere in illinois


May 7, 2022

Rowan • Does It Make You Happy? • 2022


"Rowan detail the need to rediscover authenticity and candor in “Honesty,” a song that evokes solace through lush familiarity and its own sonic sincerity."

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"The record is full of indie-rock jams that move confidently from intimate to soaring, and provide a harmonious landscape for Rowan to confront deep-seated emotions with a sense of honesty."

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"Filled with sunkissed melodies and shredding guitar moments, ‘Honesty’ is a glorious new single from Rowan. The band weave garage rock elements over dreamy shoegaze tones..."

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Lost Cat • "L.O.S.T." • 2022




"Revving things up with frenetic riffery and wailing vocals, the track grabs you by the shoulders and shakes you as soon as the drums kick in."
- Glide

"With gritty guitars, raucous percussion, and wailing, rowdy harmonies, you can hear that gritty riot grrrl sound on 'L.O.S.T.'"
- Indie88

"Channeling classic 60s television a la The Dick Clark Show, the track’s visual is a perfect representation of Lost Cat’s perfect marriage of old and new, a sonic blend of classic riot grrrl and spunky pop girl group flair."
- SPILL Magazine

May 6, 2022

ORNAMENTAL.SINGLESPACK 87 • LATE APR 2022


Creative Playlist • newstarshipsmell • 2022

Leonard Cohen • Democracy • 1992



It's coming to America first
The cradle of the best and of the worst
It's here they got the range
And the machinery for change
And it's here they got the spiritual thirst
It's here the family's broken
And it's here the lonely say
That the heart has got to open
In a fundamental way
Democracy is coming to the USA

It's coming from the women and the men
Oh baby, we'll be making love again
We'll be going down so deep
The river's going to weep
And the mountain's going to shout, "Amen"
It's coming like the tidal flood
Beneath the lunar sway
Imperial, mysterious
In amorous array
Democracy is coming to the USA

Sheryl Crow • A Change Would Do You Good • 2009






May 5, 2022

Spring 2022 by Z Tapes


Baby! It's time for Spring 2022! This spectacular compilation featuring 27 amazing artists is the perfect soundtrack for the season. It may even be our best seasonal compilation yet.. 

All proceeds will be donated to Chrysalide, Lyon's Trans Rights center. 

chrysalide-asso.fr 

Happy listening and don't forget your allergy pills. The pollen is crazy. 

xoxo, 
Angie

ztapesrecords.com

May 4, 2022

ME REX • Toilet of Venus • 2022



“The band have crafted their debut with an uncommon degree of love and care and, in turn, deliver a record that rewards the same devotion from listeners.”
The Line of Best Fit
 
“...nothing short of an artistic triumph”
Brooklyn Vegan
 
“England’s ME REX aren’t just shaking those expectations with their debut full-length, Megabear, they’re completely upheaving the entire concept of how music is created and released.”
Consequence

Le Couleur • Comme une fin du monde • 2022




“‘Comme une fin du monde’ is one of the more spacious and spectral offerings from the record, tinged by swirling piano chords, dreamy synth arpeggios, and dark instrumentation.”
Under The Radar Magazine

“Packed with playful notes on a bed of classic 70s synths, their latest effort Concorde Deluxe Edition is the ultimate portrayal of the bands world of psychedelic disco.”
Wonderland Magazine

“Le Couleur whisks you away into a dimension overtaken by sun-drenched happiness”
FLAUNT Magazine

“Despite a hazy disco air that pops like an expertly timed laser show, the song's good-time vibes are tempered by a slight gloom. It's all the more enticing for them.”
The Fader

“The production is as luxurious as the Concorde itself, with layers of analog synthesizers, funky guitars, and a truly killer rhythm section (the basslines are amazing).”
Brooklyn Vegan

May 3, 2022

THE BLSSM • I HATE SUNDAY • 2022




“…splitting and fun, while also unabashedly honest and kinetic” –HYPEBEAST

“‘NOT TODAY’ is a fearless, sassy banger. The bombastic, anthemic instrumentation highlights THE BLSSM’s signature genre-bending style” –CONSEQUENCE OF SOUND

“…fantastic pop music… the project has just enough energy (pure energy, at that) to bloom into what Lizotte has always dreamed of.” –ALTERNATIVE PRESS

“…brilliantly nostalgic…channels a true 90s pop-rock sound” ­–EARLY RISING