• Label Mixtape #003: 4AD

    March 10, 2015 - By 

    A label based on aesthetic principles, 4AD has spent over 30 years being everything you think it is not. Initially founded by Ivo Watts Russell in 1980 as a vehicle to release music by bands at the centre of the nascent goth scene, the label quickly established a style and format that would lead to it becoming one of the most iconic record labels of the 80s.With records clad in immaculate Vaughn Oliver sleeves, the label originally specialised in floaty, gothic ambience, before encompassing world music, dance music, and – perhaps most significantly – the cutting edge of the US…

  • Watch: Future Islands – Seasons (Waiting On You)

    January 22, 2014 - By 

    Baltimore synthpop outfit Future Islands have released a video for ‘Seasons (Waiting On You)’, a cut from their forthcoming album Singles. Directed by longtime collaborator Jay Buim, the video features lots of typical cowboy imagery – as well as actual cowboys – and certainly taps into singer Sam Herring’s admission that the song is “…about love, letting go, learning from your mistakes and always feeling that pull….as time goes by and seasons change.” Elsewhere, the band’s trademark waves of pensive electronic sounds shine through, whilst time seems to have softened Herring’s signature rasping vocals – but that seems somehow fitting…

  • Zomby – With Love

    June 26, 2013 - By 

    Ever since he began to turn heads during the dubstep boom of 2007 and 2008, Zomby has delighted in confounding expectation at every turn. At a time when Skream and Benga were becoming crossover dubstep stars, he preferred to look back to the long-gone era of rave and jungle on his electrifying debut album Where Were You In ’92? By using such a title, he set himself up as a rave guru despite the fact he was only a kid at the time, while his Twitter account is a non-stop stream of self-aggrandisement, hectoring and sometimes tedious, sometimes amusing beefs.…

  • Album stream: Camera Obscura – Desire Lines

    May 29, 2013 - By 

    Ahead of its official release on June 3, Glasgow indie pop band Camera Obscura are streaming their fifth studio album, Desire Lines. Featuring guest appearances by the likes of Neko Case and My Morning Jacket’s Jim James, the twelve-track release comes four years after their last studio album, the exquisite My Maudlin Career. It was recorded in Portland, Oregon by Tucker Martine. Stream the album below.

  • 4AD to release retrospective book

    May 10, 2013 - By 

    Thirty-four years after being founded by Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent, a new book entitled Facing The Other Way will document the colourful history of boundlessly influential record label, 4AD. Having released music from artists as diverse and pioneering the Pixies, Grimes to Cocteau Twin – to name but a few – the London-based independent label will sees its history penned by journalist Martin Aston and will feature several exclusive interviews. You can pre-order Facing The Other Way – set for release on September 19 – here. Watch a 4AD session from the Mark Lanegan Band below.