Featured

Rodion Ladislau Rosca grew up and got his musical education in Cluj, the third biggest city in Romania, during the relatively ‘open’ years of 1965-1972, before Ceacescu’s regime cracked down viciously on the cultural opportunities (and freedoms generally) available to the Romanian people. In this period he absorbed the influences that filtered through the Iron Curtain from the ‘decadent west’ and local eastern European musical traditions. Cluj had its own prog-rock bands, Cromatic and Experimental Quintet, and the music of the Beatles, Hendrix and Led Zep all found ready a ready audience there.

But Rodion’s tastes were more unorthodox still: he was drawn to electronic music, at that time still an exciting new possibility, represented by East Germany’s Karat, Czechoslovakia’s Matador and Hungary’s Skorpio, as well as bands from the west including Jethro Tull, Emerson, Lake and Palmer and Yes, and the inevitable Kraftwerk and what would become known as ‘krautrock’.

What is clear is that The Lost Album will firmly cement the idea of a neglected genius, first intimated by The Lost Tapes, in the public view. Here at last is a complete set of music, as originally conceived by a figure who will surely take his place alongside the Enos, the Kraftwerks, the Gottschings, as a true pioneer of electronic music. - BBE

Sadly, Rodion Ladislau Rosca passed away in April 2021.

1.Killer and cult electro funk hip hop musical U.F.O. from 1987 Japan!

2.Highly sought-after record reissued for the first time since its original release

3.Sound restoration, mastering and lacquer cut by Timmion Cutting Lab

4.180g heavy vinyl pressing, reverse board print

5.Comes with a 4 pages insert including the original Japanese one, an interview with Hoodoo Fushimi (in English and Japanese), exclusive pictures and the album's lyrics translated in English.

1987, Kanagawa, not so far from Tokyo, Japan. Minoru Fushimi teaches his high-school classes during the day. Back from work, he transforms into "Hoodoo" Fushimi, turns on the drum machines, the synthesizers and the sequencers, blends them with his own shamisen playing and builds a cult album: Kenka Oyaji is born and becomes a milestone in Japan's early hip hop and electro-funk history, now reissued for the first time since its original release, in collaboration with Hoodoo Fushimi himself. Essential!-  Bandcamp

Official half-speed mastered re-issue of British trumpeter and bandleader Ian Carr's iconic jazz-fusion-rock hybrid ‘Belladonna’ from 1972.

Originally released on the Vertigo label, complete with collectable ‘swirl' record centre design, this sought-after jazz-rock-fusion rarity features some of the cream of the UK jazz musicians of the 70’s. Comprised from groups such as Nucleus, Brian Auger's band, Soft Machine, Stan Tracy group, the players included Brian Smith (tenor and soprano saxophones, alto and bamboo flutes), legendary guitarist Allan Holdsworth, Dave MacRae (Fender electric piano), and bassist Roy Babbington, to name but a few.

Seen as a benchmark point in Ian Carr's career, 'Belladonna’ is awash with atmospheric excursions and ethereal qualities, as well as a darker fusion aesthetic and prog-rock sensibility from Holdsworth's exceptional guitar playing. The moody, yet funky, vibe of the album has echoes of Miles Davis' electronic era à la 'In A Silent Way'.

The album is best enjoyed played in its entirety. There are ebbs and flows with certain tracks shining along the way. Standouts include the beautiful down-tempo track 'Summer Rain’, which has a soundtrack / library style brilliance and emotional electric piano soloing. Though recorded in the 70’s, the track has a timeless sound, a melancholic funk so often used in hip-hop and beat tape productions to this day. ‘Mayday's Shaft-like long extended intro builds the drama until the percussive release when the drums drop at over three minutes in.

To give a record of such quality the treatment it deserves, we have once again been lucky to enlist the service of mastering and lacquer cutting engineering don Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios, to cut a brand-new half-speed master and let the music speak for itself. – Mr Bongo

Before the world recognized Black Sabbath as heavy-metal forefathers, the band members wrote a song that gave them the chills.

“We knew instantly that ‘Black Sabbath’ was very different to what was around at the time,” guitarist Tony Iommi says of the piece that gave the group its name.

“We always wanted to go heavier than any other band,” bassist Geezer Butler says.

“I thought the song would be a flop, but I also thought it was brilliant,” drummer Bill Ward says. “I still think it’s brilliant.”

“When we played that song for the first time, the crowd went nuts,” Butler says.

Half a century has passed since Black Sabbath first scared the bejesus out of rock fans with their eponymous anthem. The song opens with the sound of a powerful thunderstorm and ominous church chimes before crashing into its lumbering, iconic riff. The guitar chords lurch seismically, each one like a gut punch before quieting down just enough for Ozzy Osbourne to paint his own vivid portrait of fear — “What is this that stands before me/Figure in black which points at me?” It’s a scene so unnerving that he eventually pleads to the heavens, “Oh, no, NO, please God help me,” before the guitar riff and church bells come around again to strike him down. “Is this the end, my friend?” he wonders aloud. The six-minute horror vignette was spooky yet thrilling, and the song, “Black Sabbath,” would serve as the prototype for a genre poised to captivate the world. – Rolling Stone 

In 1981 Piper grooved onto the City Pop scene with their album debut I’m Not In Love, cementing their smooth blend of soft rock and soulful funk that became a staple of the albums that followed and instantly acquiring a devoted fanbase that still exists today. The blueprint for what was to come is evident here in aural form: cocktails by the pool & cool 80s shades, mixed with a disco dancefloor sensibility that is just so infectious it can only be Piper.

Now in 2021, Ship to Shore is proud to announce that I’m Not In Love will now be available on vinyl for the first time in 40 years in this limited edition pressing! – Ship to Shore Media

Thought by many to be among the most revolutionary albums in jazz history, Miles Davis' Bitches Brew solidified the genre known as jazz-rock fusion. The original double LP included only six cuts and featured up to 12 musicians at any given time, some of whom were already established while others would become high-profile players later, Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter, Airto, John McLaughlin, Chick Corea, Jack DeJohnette, Dave Holland, Don Alias, Bennie Maupin, Larry Young, and Lenny White among them. Originally thought to be a series of long jams locked into grooves around keyboard, bass, or guitar vamps, Bitches Brew is actually a recording that producer Teo Macero assembled from various jams and takes by razor blade, splice to splice, section to section. "Pharaoh's Dance" opens the set with its slippery trumpet lines, McLaughlin's snaky guitar figures skirting the edge of the rhythm section and Don Alias' conga slipping through the middle. Corea and Zawinul's keyboards create a haunted, riffing modal groove, echoed and accented by the basses of Harvey Brooks and Holland. The title cut was originally composed as a five-part suite, though only three were used. Here the keyboards punch through the mix and big chords ring up distorted harmonics for Davis to solo rhythmically over, outside the mode. McLaughlin's comping creates a vamp, and the bass and drums carry the rest. It's a small taste of the deep voodoo funk to appear on Davis' later records. Side three opens with McLaughlin and Davis trading fours and eights over a lockstep hypnotic vamp on "Spanish Key." Zawinul's lyric sensibility provides a near chorus for Corea to flit around in; the congas and drummers juxtapose themselves against the basslines. It nearly segues into the brief "John McLaughlin," featuring an organ playing modes below arpeggiated blues guitar runs. The end of Bitches Brew, signified by the stellar "Miles Runs the Voodoo Down," reflects the influence of Jimi Hendrix with its chunky, slipped chords and Davis playing a ghostly melody through the funkiness of the rhythm section. It seemingly dances, becoming increasingly more chaotic until it nearly disintegrates before shimmering into a loose foggy nadir. The disc closes with "Sanctuary," completely redone here as a moody electric ballad that was reworked for this band while keeping enough of its integrity to be recognizable. Bitches Brew is so forward-thinking that it retains its freshness and mystery in the 21st century. – All Music

Altın Gün return with a masterful album that widens their critically acclaimed exploration of Anatolian rock and Turkish psychedelic stylings to include dreamy 80’s synth-pop and dancefloor excursions. Yol (Road) brings together all vectors of the Altın Gün experience and delivers their most compelling and individual album to date.

Amsterdam’s Altın Gün have built a strong reputation for melding past and present to make brilliantly catchy, psychedelic pop music, as seen with their Grammy-nominated second album, Gece. They are also a renowned live band with strings of sold-out shows on three continents, who have consistently brought a muscular groove to their recordings. Yol, their third album in as many years, excitedly continues these trends; while also digging in deep to unveil a new palette of sonic surprises. - On Bandcamp

Following on from 2018’s Tape 1 & Tape 2, Dutch producer and musician Eelco Topper returns to Soundway Records for the next two installments of his Felbm project. As before these will be released as two separate digital EPs and then together on one vinyl LP.

Tape 3 & Tape 4 is an intimate, emotional, lilting and melodic solo project with a restorative, therapeutic nature. They were composed and recorded by Topper with just those aspects in mind as a personal remedy for the ailments of modern life. With a breezy and soothing quality these fourteen lo-fi, instrumental, jazz-infused sketches written on guitar, with cascading keyboards, vibraphone and drum machine, seem perfect for the second half of 2020, a year in which we could all surely use some curative and uncomplicated music. With echoes of the dreamier end of 1980s English indie-pop, minimal ambient music and Brazilian bossa-nova, Topper’s musical storybook includes touches of The Durutti Column, echoes of Ethiopian Tezeta, hints of Antônio Carlos Jobim and Baden Powell, whilst all set firmly in the summer fields of Germany and the Netherlands.

In Topper’s own words: “most of the compositions on Tape 3 originated at home, with a small and basic setup of a keyboard, a guitar, a rhythm box and some small instruments lying around the tape deck. Inspiration came from the emptiness after a stranded relationship, finding balance, peace and strength within yourself again. Somehow I feel some optimism can be found in these songs that perhaps reflects how I experienced this process.” - Bandcamp

Recorded live at Slim’s in San Francisco, Mindfulness is the brilliant soundscape created by drummer William Hooker, along with Glenn Spearman on tenor saxophone and DJ Olive. The five Hooker compositions flow into each other, one after another, seamlessly, as if to take the listener on a musical voyage through time and space. The layers of vibrant sound, accompanied by trashing drums and shrieking sax show the incredible ability of each musician to take their instrumental vocabulary to a new level. The album receives its first-ever vinyl release with this color pressing, exclusively for Record Store Day 2019.

“Groovy Girl Pop from the Land of the Rising Sun!”

Covering 1967 to 1979, Big Beat records’ Nippon Girls series aims to shed some much deserved light on the Pop, Rock and Roll, Big Beat and Bossa Nova movement that happened in Japan. The first in the series focuses more on the Bossa Nova side of pop.

Three emotional years in the making, Be With and Efficient Space finally present Steve Hiett’s Girls In The Grass. Pressed alongside the long awaited reissue of his one-shot masterpiece Down On The Road By The Beach, these ten balearic soul instrumentals are of equal necessity; unrivalled beauty rescued from the fashion photographer-guitarist’s Paris Tapes (1986-1997).

While recordings unintended for release should often be approached with caution, this is a rare case of unheard material being assembled as an indispensable and coherent piece. Girls In The Grass is something super special. The light and shadow that defines Hiett’s music is arguably more compelling here. It speaks to us in a language that feels profound, yet entirely comforting and familiar.

Girls In The Grass reintroduces Hiett’s languid electric blues boogie, crafted on Saturday afternoons with fellow art director Simon Kentish. Kentish would cook, pour some wine and then utilise his arsenal of technology. He’d dial up a chugging rhythm, together with some ambient pads or keyboard textures, and anchor the weightless gauze of Hiett’s six-stringed touch. - Effecient Space

On Perfume Genius' previous albums, Mike Hadreas revealed so much of himself that it's difficult to imagine he'd have more to uncover. With Set My Heart on Fire Immediately, however, he goes beyond baring his soul to exploring the power and tenderness of the body. Before making this record, Hadreas collaborated with choreographer Kate Wallich and her dance company the YC, not just writing the music for her piece The Sun Still Burns Here but performing in it as well. This collaborative, body-oriented way of making art had a profound impact on his fifth album. Set My Heart on Fire Immediately is more theatrical and more direct than much of Perfume Genius' earlier work, and revels in the physicality of his music in inspired ways. The album's textures are almost tangible, particularly on "Describe"'s thick distortion and flowing slide guitars, and with the standout "On the Floor," he delivers the kind of irresistibly bouncy, joyous longing that's impossible not to dance to. Set My Heart on Fire Immediately reunites Hadreas with producer Blake Mills, whose work on 2017's breathtaking No Shape earned a Grammy nomination. Once again, the pair covers lots of musical ground, subverting rugged Americana and sweeping, nostalgic melodies that have decades of emotional resonance behind them. "Whole Life" begins the album with a tremulous sigh and the sheltering drones that defined records like Put Your Back N 2 It before building into lush, almost syrupy symphonic pop majesty and twangy guitars. On the standouts "Without You" and "Nothing at All," Hadreas borrows some of Bruce Springsteen's manly chug and surrounds it with fluttering synths and sparkling pianos, echoing the vulnerability and growing strength within both songs (when he sings "I got what you need, son" on the latter track, it feels like he's talking to himself as much as a lover). More proof that a more physical and immediate Perfume Genius isn't one-dimensional comes with "Jason," a dreamily sensual reverie that recalls Air or Blonde Redhead with its rounded, flowing bass and delicate harpsichord, and "Moonbend," where flute, acoustic guitar and ever-so-slightly eerie harmonies come together as gracefully as a ballet. Frequently, Hadreas buries his voice in the mix on the album -- a daring choice for such an empathetic singer and lyricist, but one that conveys how engulfing his emotions are. On the mesmerizing "Leave," strings overtake Hadreas' wordless murmuring in a wave of passion that lives up to Set My Heart on Fire Immediately's name. The demanding, commanding nature of that title makes itself felt on songs as different as "Your Body Changes Everything"'s dark swagger or the breathy pleas of "Just a Touch." All the nuances of desire that Hadreas explores on Set My Heart on Fire Immediately enhance the individuality of each song, as well as his own individuality -- and as he honors every part of his music and himself, he gives listeners another rich, densely packed album to savor. – All Music

Modern Jazz / Jazz Rock / Psychedelia group out of Finland, Helsinki. 2nd re-press of this amazing LP - Highly recommend checking it out!

There is a Window Of Opportunity called life. A limited period of time, into which we must fit the quotidian activities of everyday life, our dreams, relationships, personal pleasures and self-discovery. Sometimes we contemplate our death, our impact on the world and the traces we’ve left. Biodiversity is one of the most serious issues of our time. We are currently experiencing a period of mass extinction mainly caused by human activity, e.g. overfishing, hunting and the spread of cities and agriculture.

-

It is said that we can’t understand our own death, but is it any easier for us humans to comprehend the scale of death associated with mass extinction, the disappearance of species? Every species is an important part of the ecosystem. Furthermore, with every extinct species, a mode of being is lost. With biodiversity being in such a precarious state, it might be easy to submit to feelings of resignation. Yet, for those who seek beauty, there is still beauty to be found. And there will be, I hope. Likewise, for those who wish to express their love and compassion for the world and for the life inhabiting it, the possibility is still there. The possibility of love having a home in a human heart. – A Message from Soft Power | Bandcamp

1 continent, 2 bands, 42 musicians!

Trails to the Cosmic Vibrations is a split LP that brings together two bands from Asia with outwardly contrasting dispositions, while sharing sympathetic resonances.

-

On Side A, hailing from Osaka, Japan, we have the ever exuberant postmodern psychrock legends, Acid Mothers Temple & the Melting Paraiso U.F.O.! With "Flatwoods Monster A Go Go ~ Cometary Orbital Drive 00∞00", the band presents an immersive and electrifying B-movie experience of extraterrestrial abduction and interstellar travel, a song that is quickly emerging as a standout on their 2018 tour setlists. This is the ultimate Hawkwind tribute, an exhilarating 20-minute ride in a silver machine, zipping across dimensions marked by shifts in tempo. Blasting off from the get-go, the band heads for an early climax before bringing the pace down into a funky skiffle at the eight-minute mark. Five minutes later, things just accelerate, and accelerate, and accelerate into hyperdrive – we're talking upwards and spacewards until we're some 360 beats per minute, or 6 beats per second... towards infinity! The 23-year-old band sounds fresher than it has in years, a large part due to its sensational new rhythm section of throbbing bassist, Wolf, and acrobatic drummer, Satoshima Nani. Third new member, vocalist and "midnight whistler", Jyonson Tsu, brings on board a whacked and outlandish appeal, singing in reckless tongues. We are proud to put this "instant classic" on wax, an epic number even by the stratospheric standards of thee Acid Mothers Temple!

-

On Side O, hailing from the impossible city-island-nation-state of Singapore, we have The Observatory, giants of Southeast Asian art rock. "Vibrational" begins with an upbeat euphoria that gradually turns into a melancholia that sinks deeper and deeper into utter despondence. The song is a natural follow-up from their last full-length, the ambitious and penetrating masterwork, August is the cruellest (2016). This expansive, nine-minute threnody was recorded at The Observatory's last major concert in 2017, where members past and present came together, alongside an ensemble of 30 young guitarists, layering tiny tremoloes to create emotional earthquakes. Led by the morose tenor of Leslie Low, "Vibrational" is thematically bleak and anti-social, finding escape only in the "legal high" of the bottle – to hell with society and sobriety, it seems. ­- Bandcamp

Originally released in 1973, the record sounds simultaneously vintage and contemporary. It is akin to something Madlib might dream up whilst lost in Japan collaborating with Min'yō players at a recording session. The record features some amazing shakuhachi (bamboo flute) playing by Hozan Yamamoto, which gives the music a haunting, dreamlike atmosphere. You can almost visualise the long grass blowing in the wind, and hear the bamboo rustling in the distance on a long hot summer’s day. Takeshi Inomata, Tadao Sawai and Kazue Sawai anchor the session. Takeshi’s exceptionally funky-drum work will almost certainly get some producers dusting off and firing up their MPC's. Whilst Kazue and Tadao work their magic on the koto (a traditional string instrument).

Though certainly not an ambient record, 'Jazz-Rock' has the same meditative, other-worldly quality that invites you to sit back, listen and be transported somewhere else. Unfortunately, until now the 'Jazz Rock' album is a scarcity that commanded a high price-tag only for the most hardened of record collectors. So it is pleasure to make it accessible to all, and we hope you dig this lost, obscure future-classic as much as we do. – Mr Bongo

Most Nine Inch Nails albums play like documents of sharp, turbulent mood swings. Bursts of rage give way to creeping anxiety; momentary ambiance begets nihilism and noise. It’s a routine so familiar by now that fans should be able to predict Trent Reznor’s shifting temperaments like weather patterns. So when he recently announced plans to release his new music in a series of interconnected EPs, there was hope that he might, in this condensed format, locate his best angles, find a few new ones, and leave us wanting more. 

Depending on who you ask, the refreshingly cohesive Bad Witch is either the final EP in that trilogy or his first full-length in five years. Even Reznor himself seems slightly bewildered by it: “It wasn’t necessarily what we thought it was going to be when we started,” he explained coyly about the project. While the six-song, 31-minute record is easily the shortest thing to ever pass for a NIN album, it’s hard to deny that it does feel distinct. Its preceding releases, 2016’s Not the Actual Events and last year’s Add Violence, were concise and sporadically thrilling surveys of Reznor’s oeuvre, but Bad Witch stands on its own. Like his greatest albums, it works best as a whole, played loudly on headphones in a dark room. Like his celebrated film scores with bandmate Atticus Ross, it successfully creates an atmosphere and invites us to explore every inch of it. – Pitchfork

RSD Exclusive!

• Recorded Live at Pleasure Island, June 17th, 1997
• Includes the Power Pop Classic “Girlfriend”.
• FIRST TIME EVER RELEASED ON VINYL
• TRANSLUCENT ORANGE VINYL
• ONE PRESSING
• MASTERED FROM THE ORIGINAL TAPES
• COLLECTOR EDITION LIMITED TO 2,000 COPIES

Afro-Rock + Funk + Disco + Psychedelia = Sweet Spot

Ofege was formed in the early 1970s by a bunch of teenagers at the St. Gregory’s College in Lagos Nigeria. They were largely influenced by the guitar solos of Carlos Santana, Jeff Beck & Jimmy Page while closer to home, they were influenced by the music of ‘BLO’ (Berkley Jones, Laolu Akins and Mike Odumosu), ‘Monomono’ (led by Joni Haastrup), The Funkees, and Ofo The Black Company. Due to their vibrant combo of sweet harmonies, hooks & fuzz, Ofege would become one of the most legendary Nigerian groups of all time, with expressive sales and national stardom. At the turn of the century (and because of tracks appearing on various psychedelic music compilations) Ofege would receive international acknowledgment for being the first of their kind and the ultimate West-African psychedelic funk band! 

Their debut album (Try And Love, EMI 1973 – also reissued by Tidal Waves Music) was recorded while the band members were still in high school (average age of 16) … their follow up ‘The Last Of The Origins’ (Recorded in 1975 and released on EMI in 1976) took some years to come out because some band members had to finish school first. ‘The Last Of The Origins’ is an exceptional record with a deep psychedelic approach. Complex rhythm sections, African inspirations, huge breaks, wah wah guitars and cosmic synths …it’s all there! Easily one of the best Afro-funk albums recorded in Nigeria in the 70s. – Tidal Waves Music

Manço, Bağcan and Koray have all influenced Altin Gün, but their foremost inspiration is Neşet Ertaş, a Turkish folk musician whose musical legacy is invaluable. Comparisons are almost impossible to make but imagine someone with the same impact and status as Bob Dylan or George Gerschwin and you’re getting close. Many of the songs he wrote have become standards in Turkey, national treasures which are cherished up until the present day. Altin Gün retain the lyrical and thematic structure of Ertaş’s songs, though they often alter their time signatures and add fuzzy bass sounds, sweltering organ sounds and raw saz riffs. Ertaş wrote the majority of the songs on the album even if these are hardly recognisable after all the work Altin Gün have done on them.

The songs have universal themes such as love, death, desire and destiny. It is touching music that makes you want to move and massages your soul all at once. Music that sounds familiar but different. Music that’s deeply emotional even for someone who doesn’t speak a word of Turkish.

Let Altin Gün open that door for you and get ready to indulge in their fresh and beautiful sound. - Bandcamp

The version of the band that toured behind 2017’s American Dream gathers in the legendary New York studio, giving old songs new life and additional oomph.

On Electric Lady Sessions, LCD Soundsystem strip back and then bone up the grooves that have always made their music work, despite its contradictions. The groove takes precedence over the words, and Murphy gives his studio meticulousness over to the energy of the group. The synths run bright and juicy. The bass sounds like it could knock you out if you stood too close. The drums hit fast and sharp. Murphy slips from his throne as record-geek auteur and dissolves into the group—one musician among many, and better for it. - Pitchfork

Era Vulgaris is Homme’s fifth Queens album, and like the others, it’s intricately crafted, meticulously polished and ruthlessly efficient in its pursuit of depraved rock thrills, with robotic rhythm machines like “Turning on the Screw” and “I’m Designer.” Last time, Homme got slept on with the excellent but underrated Lullabies to Paralyze — people were thrown off initially by its down-in-the-dumps mood, which may be why the music took longer to kick in for some fans. But Era Vulgaris is a lot cockier than Lullabies, clobbering you instantly with guitars louder and uglier than a psychedelic biker party at Joshua Tree’s Skull Rock. “Misfit Love” is the ultimate Queens anthem, all low-register guitar crunch, with a percussion track that sounds like tennis balls the size of Betelgeuse crashing into a Moog factory. Homme snarls, “I wanna see my past in flames,” and he gets his wish. – Rolling Stone

 The piercing clarity of Youth Lagoon’s third album, Savage Hills Ballroom, feels like a reaction to the muffled bedroom ambience and warped kaleidoscopism that defined Trevor Powers' earlier collections. He worked on the record with Ali Chant, who co-produced Perfume Genius’ similarly glammed-up and streamlined third album Too Bright. - Pitchfork

There's an aural poignancy that runs throughout Lionlimb's compelling sophomore album, 2018's six-track Tape Recorder. While the Nashville-based duo of singer/songwriter Stewart Bronaugh and drummer Joshua Jaeger have always evinced a sun-dappled, '60s brand of emotionality, the added poignancy on Tape Recorder can, at least in part, be explained by the group's slightly different recording process this time out. Fresh off their European tour, Lionlimb settled into a studio at New York's Columbia University (and later, the Relic Room studio) where they began crafting these layered, classical chamber-inflected songs. While the core of the band's sound still centers on Bronaugh's hushed, poetic vocals, they've expanded their indie rock approach with Bronaugh setting pen to staff paper to score his expansive arrangements. Along with swirling guitar and basslines, he weaves in organic amounts of cello, violin, and bass clarinet. The result builds nicely upon the group's heretofore psychedelia-dipped brand of indie rock, and retains much of their longstanding devotion to the late singer/songwriter Elliott Smith. This atmospheric, bedroom orchestral aesthetic also brings to mind more vintage touchstones like Nick Garrie's 1969 cult-classic The Nightmare of J.B. Stanislas, and even some of Donovan's more esoteric recordings. – All Music

His journey began in 1972, leaving home in Oskaloosa, Iowa. Heading west to Northern California, Arthur studied Indian classical composition at the Ali Akbar Khan College of Music followed by western orchestral music at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, before ending two years later in New York at the Manhattan School of Music.

Traversing the popular and the serious, Arthur composed “Instrumentals” in 1974, inspired by the photography of his Buddhist teacher, Yuko Nonomura, as Arthur described, “I was awakened, or re-awakened to the bright-sound and magical qualities of the bubblegum and easy-listening currents in American popular music”.

Pitchfork lauded “Instrumentals” Vol. 1 as a masterpiece and one of Arthur’s “greatest achievements”. Americana touching on Copeland, Ives, and maybe even Brian Wilson. “Instrumentals” Vol. 2 is a moving, deeply pastoral work performed by the CETA Orchestra and conducted by Julius Eastman. - Bandcamp

Painting With is the tenth studio album by American experimental pop band Animal Collective, released on February 19, 2016. The album is a follow-up to Centipede Hz (2012), and features contributions from John Cale and Colin Stetson. It peaked at No. 46 on the Billboard 200. Three singles were issued: "FloriDada" (2015), "Lying in the Grass", and "Golden Gal" (both 2016). A companion EP, The Painters, was released the following year. For Painting With, the band's line-up consists of Avey Tare (David Portner), Panda Bear (Noah Lennox), and Geologist (Brian Weitz), the same trio which participated for Merriweather Post Pavilion (2009). - Wiki