Aesop Rock: Integrated Tech Solutions Via Rhymesayer
& Braid: Frame And Canvas Via Polyvinyl
Braid: Frame & Canvas (Polyvinyl)
An absolute joy to have old faves Braid back in my life, with this beautifully packaged reissue of one of the finest albums of the late-90s!
An absolutely timeless banger, criminally underrated & ahead of it’s time, this is melodic post-hardcore at it’s absolute best – “a dream for the teens and in-betweens, and twenties yet unseen”!
Aesop Rock: Integrated Tech Solutions (Rhymesayers)
Aes’ is back on top form, once again. I’m always overjoyed & blown away by the adventures of ideas & sounds that Aesop Rock takes me on with each record, & this is quite possibly one of his finest yet!
A sublime exploration of scientific experiments, dystopian tech consumerism & retro electronic sounds, combined with modern alternative hip-hop greatness, all through the eyes & mind of the finest rapper on this planet.
McKinley Dixon – Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!?
Gets better with every listen, McKinley Dixon – Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!? Is my favourite album of 2023. Seeing him and his wicked band live at our Great Escape Event and at the wonderful City Slang’s birthday bash in Berlin are up there with Beyoncé and Elton John in my live highlights of the year. McKinley forever! ❤”
Yussef Dayes – Black Classical Music
“Yussef Dayes – Black Classic Music (Brownswood Recordings) ~ simple put this album absolutely slaps! The long-lost art of recording and releasing a proper full album, that you need to play from start to finish…amazing live as well.
Honourable mention to Steve Gunn & David Moore – Let the Moon Be a Planet (RVNG intl) – I start each morning with this album and a bowl of bran flakes.”
MF Doom – Operation Doomsday
One of the greatest hip-hop albums ever made. I have loved this record since the day it came out and will do so forever. Great to grip a new pressing, my OG is very well worn. RIP DOOM.
Follakzoid V via Sacred Bones
“Deeply hypnotic psychedelic tinged techno that could keep swirling for hours and hours. Truly stunning. Dance floor fillers.”
Bastien Keb – The Only Angel I Ever Saw Wore Black
JIM – Love Makes Magic
V/A – Waves Of Distortion via Two Piers Records
“First Up we have Bastien Keb “The Only Angel I’ve Ever Saw Wore Black A work of genius that includes equal parts Folk, Trip Hop, Off-kilter French movies, with hints of Funk, and general Soundtrack vibes. Bastien has long been a favourite of mine, and with this new record I feel he is back on top of his game. Each song is different even the skits between the songs are amazing and owes as much to early Bon Iver as it does to old soul Records
Jim – Love Makes Magic – A kaleidoscope of harmony vocals – as Crosby, Stills and Nash might have sounded like with a funky back beat provided by Jim who is Mr Jim Baron from Crazy P who has the sensibilities of someone who knows how to make you dance. Sun-kissed blue-eyed soul. Waves of Distortion – I work on a lot of compilation but this one touched a nerve bringing back the stoned hippy of a 17 years old Dave
“
Various Artists – Wig Out! Freak Out &
Pale Blue Eyes – This House
‘Wig Out! Freak Out! (Freakbeat & Mod Psychedelia Floorfillers 1964-1969)’, compiled by yours truly for Two-Piers label is a joyous delve into the Freakbeat scene and Psychedelic Mod classics of the Sixties, inspired by my time as DJ at Club POD, Brighton in the 1990s. Every track is a Floorfiller and I just love being able to have been able to release this collection on vinyl, with stunning artwork as always by my pal Delaney at Artonix.
Pale Blue Eyes ‘This House’. Difficult Second Album anyone? What Difficult Second Album?! ‘This House’ picks up where 2022’s ‘Souvenirs’ left off and is a sublime slice of Shoegaze Motorik Indie Pop, as beautiful as it is driving. Two Albums of the Year in a row for Pale Blue Eyes. Catch them live as soon as you can as they are so brilliant.
Mary Wallopers – Irish Rock N Roll
Hello! How are you? Can’t complain. Pint? Guinness? Two? Each? Sounds good. Have you heard the new Wallopers record? Yeah course you have. It’s great isn’t it. I saw them last Friday. Yeah it kicked off. Fiddlers was heaving afterwards. Cracking tunes, top lads, great criac. Bloody hell that was quick. Same again? Up the Wallopers.
25 Years of Aficionado – Complied by Jason Boardman & Moonboots – REWARM
A cracking compilation from our dear friends at REWARM and the deep diggers Jason Boardman& Moondboots highlighting the Manchester Balearic scene
Squirrel Flower – Tomorrow’s Fire.
This is one of my favourites this year, absolutely love Ella O’Connor Williams voice & songwriting and she can make the guitar chime the same way Neil Young can make a guitar chime (on When A Plant Is Dying) its spacious production creates a great place to escape to. Stick it in your headphones and stare out to Sea. I have, it was good.
JOHN – A Life Diagrammatic
If you need something to blast the cobwebs you should be listening to this – A Life Diagrammatic by JOHN. Also showing off the fantastic special vinyl effect from our pressing partner Press On Vinyl.
Porchlight – Wives Tales & Hymns of the Earth
I discovered Porchlight this year upon the release of their debut EP, Wives Tales & Hymns of the Earth. Great songs and seem like a good bunch. Would highly recommend.
London Ko’ – Fatoumata Diawara &
Music Against Misogyny (Two Piers Compilation)
First up is ‘London Ko’ by Fatoumata Diawara. A record with so much personality & colour and is the perfect listen at any time of the year. This album incorporates an excellent combination of genres such as jazz, hip-hop, afrobeat and electronic. If you haven’t heard it, please do you won’t regret it! The second is my own compilation ‘Music Against Misogyny’, released via our in-house label Two-Piers Records. What started as just an idea between two colleagues, became a compilation I’m very proud of. A record aiming to celebrate many of the wonderful female and non-binary artists and bands on our roster whilst supporting two organisations that do amazing work to help women in vulnerable positions such as domestic abuse, bereavement and homelessness (Brighton Womens Centre & RISE). “
Long Light – Lusine
‘Long Light’ by Lusine gets my paws moving ahead of my walkies. Five out of five tailwags!
Dream Wife – Social Lubrication
“It’s just a fun record. It’s playful yet political, after all, it wouldn’t be a Dream Wife record if they weren’t riotous. Its anarchy is intoxicating, to say the least. They call out the fuckery of the world, from misogyny to sexual harassment, whilst somehow maintaining an element of impishness, particularly with ‘Don’t Date A Musician’ which is a scarily accurate reminder to my uni days!
Milky chance – Lying In A Haze
