THE WIRE'S BEST OF 2015
Backwards
Gatefold double LP version. Includes insert and download code. After the groundbreaking release of 1990's Love's Secret Domain album, Coil were not dormant; their main project was Backwards, which was started in 1992, updated considerably between 1993 and 1995, and transferred in 1996 to New Orleans, where it was finished in the magic of the Nothing Studios of Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails). The album saw the fruition of Jhonn Balance's recent vocal-coaching, which produced haunting, passionate …
Don't Just Sing - An Anthology: 1963-1999
Outstanding reissue. CD version. House in deluxe gatefold Stoughton tip-on jacket. Newly remastered audio. Includes rare archive photos and liner notes Q&A with Krog. The work of Karin Krog may be unfamiliar to much of the world, but in her native Norway and Scandinavia at large, she's practically a household name. This says much about the local enthusiasm for post-bop jazz but also about the tyranny of distribution: until 1994, Karin Krog's albums weren't available in the USA or UK, meaning thr…
We Are Not The First
For those who maintain the more mutable dance music is, the deeper its impact on human evolution, RVNG Intl. presents We Are Not The First, an Epic conducted and deconstructed by Chicago artist Hieroglyphic Being and the J.I.T.U. Ahn-Sahm-Bul. We Are Not The First combines the musical forces of Marshall Allen, Daniel Carter, Greg Fox, Shelley Hirsch, Shahzad Ismaily, Elliott Levin, Jamal Moss, Rafael Sanchez, and Ben Vida in deep dialogue with each other and humans’ hidden sonic history. Tracked…
Chiltern
Outstanding!!!!!! Conceived while wandering through the iron bark forests and gold fields of country Victoria, Australia, the official debut by Melbourne's Hour House offers a musical blueprint marinated in mystery, beauty, sound, and song. Hour House is the duo of Mark Leacy and Sam Kenna, formerly of the Newcastle-based outfit Castings. Chiltern comprises individual tracks folded into two side-long suites in a unique excursion through foreign encounters, warm surrounds, and disorienting comfor…
Safe
140-gram LP version. Having partnered with Bill Kouligas in 2015 to relaunch his Lost Codes imprint as Codes, Visionist takes a defining step forward with the release of his debut album, Safe. The South London artist born Louis Carnell broke during a period of experimentation in UK music when, with the disintegration of the dubstep scene, emerging producers began looking to juke and Chicago house for inspiration. A pair of EPs on Lit City Trax (and a collaboration with Fatima Al Qadiri) in 20…