Night School 黑胶唱片和CD

Review: Karl D'Silva's debut album, Love Is A Flame In The Dark, is an evocative exploration of sound that challenges conventional boundaries. Over two years of recording, D'Silva has created a compelling landscape where industrial grit meets tender melodies. Self-recorded in Rotherham and meticulously mixed in Leeds by Ross Halden, this album stands as a testament to D'Silva's ability to craft a distinctive pop language rooted in a post-industrial ethos. The album resonates with a sense of urgency and raw emotional depth. Drawing from influences as varied as Cabaret Voltaire and Nine Inch Nails, D'Silva's music is a fusion of inventive sound design and earnestness. Tracks like 'Wild Kiss' showcase thunderous percussion intertwined with D'Silva's commanding voice, while 'Flowers Start To Cry' marries aggressive drum programming with a haunting falsetto, evoking comparisons to Nine Inch Nails' visceral production style but with a unique, personal twist. Throughout Love Is A Flame In The Dark, D'Silva's versatility is evident. 'On The Outside' offers a soundscape of synths and saxophone, echoing the adventurous spirit of late 60s Free Jazz. 'Entropy' stands out with its expansive synth pop, while 'Nowhere Left To Run' weaves a narrative of light emerging from darkness with its midi-string orchestration. D'Silva's voice, a soulful rasp from his early medical history, imbues the music with a fearless yet tender quality. This album captures a journey from darkness into light, reflecting D'Silva's profound connection to his craft and the emotional weight of his experiences.

Review: Here's something new from one of Japan's leading nu jazz outfits Nautilus. Already seriously accomplished across their back catalogue, on this occasion they chose to tackle some evergreen jazz standards and give them a crisp modern lick. From Herbie Hancock's 'The Eye Of The Hurricane' to Bobby Hutcherson's 'Little B's Poem' plus pieces from Billy Taylor, Duke Ellington and more, the band's signature sound is all over the renditions (check the super funky slap bass coursing through the Hutcherson cover) but you can hear the original material coming through in all the right ways.

Review: Originally released as a bonus CD accompanying The Space Lady's Greatest Hits, The Space Lady's Other Hits arrives as a special release for Record Store Day and makes its debut on vinyl. Culled from the same 1990 recording sessions that birthed the original, this limited clear vinyl edition offers yet more otherworldly sonic journeys from the cult figure. The Space Lady's street performances, captured live and in one take, transport you into a unique musical dimension. Here she covers the likes of Elvis Presley's 'All Shook Up' and Irving Berlin's 'Puttin' On The Ritz', but each track undergoes a transformative reinterpretation with ethereal vocals and accompanied by mad effects manipulation. A real cult classic.

Review: Somewhere between Scotland, Leeds and the Welsh border, sometime in or around the year 2022, arose Tristwch Y Fenywod, the craven coven of Gwretsien Ferch Lisbeth (Guttersnipe, The Ephemeron Loop), Leila Lygad (Hawthonn) and Sidni Sarffwraig (Slaylor Moon, The Courtneys). Building on years of esteem accrued through their separate solo projects, Tristwch Y Fenywod still marks a stylistic curveball from any of their original works, not taking on a fusion of each, but rather presenting an entirely new triadic, spellbound sound. Tristwch Y Fenywod is an entirely Welsh-language affair, pairing sonic connotations of witch house and 'outsider' folk with otherwise subtle electronic elements and Celtic motifs, inviting instinctive comparisons to ravencore peers Kelora, electro-somnambulists oOOoO, or reverb-doused studio ident This Mortal Coil; but always eluding a facile reduction to any combo of these influences. Their name and eponymous title translating to 'The Sadness Of Women', these eight tracks land us somewhere in a no-go forest between two middle-of-nowhere roads, making for the best gloom-fest of the year.