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After the release of VAR's debut full length, The Never-Ending Year, and amidst the global pandemic, opportunities to perform the record live were nonexistent. "We felt like we had to do something to give people at least a little taste of us playing these songs live," says Júlíus Óttar Björgvinsson, "VAR has always been about playing live, and we always give everything we have to make the tension between us and the audience both peaceful and powerful." After some discussion, the next best option in lieu of live performance was a series of live performance videos, filmed at the organ workshop where the band practices. "We got our producer Eiður to do the sound for the videos and when he sent us the audio files, Arnór brought that idea of releasing a live EP. We were happy with the sound he got from the session and how far it is from how the album sounds. It’s powerful, it’s raw and it’s honest. And that is VAR." We're proud to release the Live at
Orgelsmidjan EP at streaming outlets everywhere January 15th. Watch the band perform the song “Where To Find You” at Under the Radar and pre-save the EP here to be the first to get it as soon as it's released.
As the long year winds to a close, we're proud to present Reader's new two song EP Behind the Empty House. In the afterglow of their first
full-length Engrams, Reader reconvened to focus, once again, on
the seminal axioms to which their creative process is owed: intention
and evolution. Still present are the tangled conversations between
glassy guitars over the methodic rumble of bass and drums. However here
Reader lets their hair down, experimenting with a broader sonic palette
and unorthodox composition styles. Clocking in at almost five minutes
apiece, these songs take lesser-traveled roads to even lesser-explored
destinations. Eerily foreshadowing this year’s forced reclusion, "Behind
the Empty House" and "Two Pines" lyrically explore themes of isolation
and introspection through a mercurial lens. “Behind the Empty House,”
tells a labyrinthine narrative alluding to invisible enemies and macabre
hallucinations, while "Two Pines" regales of a fragmented self,
influenced heavily by James Wright’s heartbreaking poem “Lying in a
Hammock at William Duffy’s Farm in Pine Island, Minnesota.” Enjoy wherever you listen to music here.
Take a trip through a psychedelic car wash as you enjoy Fallow Land's new music video for "The Hope" which is premiering now at BrooklynVegan. The song comes off the band’s latest album Slow Down, Rockstar which available now wherever you listen to music here.
The Spartan Vault Sale is our biggest sale ever! Save up to half off on Spartan titles and merch, gain access to rare out-of-print variants, and auction to win rare test pressings. It’s going on now through September 22nd, so start shopping here and stay tuned for more fun announcements in the days and weeks to come. We’re also throwing in free stuff with every order, so what are you waiting for?!
We're excited to present Mountain Time's new music video for “Empty Graves,” a single lifted from Chris Simpson’s (Mineral, The Gloria Record) acclaimed new album, Music For Looking Animals. Directed by Gates Bradley (White Walls Say Nothing), the serene and beautifully shot black and white video speaks to the spiritual depth of Simpson’s latest work along
with our collective desire for live music again in any form during this
difficult year. Watch the video for “Empty Graves” at Rolling Stone here.
Simpson had the following to share about the video and how it came together:
“Gates
[Bradley] sent me some photographs he had been taking on his LA morning
motorcycle rides that featured barren urban landscapes and clear,
unpolluted skies.
I loved his ideas and I love what he came up with. The images are so beautiful. When everything just screeches to a halt like that and there’s this sudden clarity and almost a heaviness, like a blanket laying over everything, keeping it quiet and still. And then the signs of life carrying on across it—the birds slowly traversing the long shots. It’s exquisite.”
Watch VAR's new music video for "Run" now exclusively at The Alternative. The song comes off the band’s mesmerizing new album The Never-Ending Year which is available everywhere now. Watch it below and then stream the album that The Alternative calls "a beautiful flurry of spacious post-rock, anthemic alt-rock, and even languid dream pop at times...at once serene and propulsive" here.
Veteran Kansas City post-hardcore/emo greats Giants Chair are premiering the video for "Russian Racehorse" on BrooklynVegan. The song appears on the band's latest full-length Prefabylon which is available everywhere now.
Of the politically-charged track and video, frontman Scott Hobart
shares, "As a middle-aged, white, midwestern guy writing songs, I’ve
generally left ‘protest’ lyrics of any real political or religious
specificity to the professionals. What do I really have to say that
isn’t already being voiced more eloquently by sharper folks? Or maybe I
just didn’t have the balls. But, as the ignorance and arrogance of the
Trump era woke me to new, more dangerous levels of reckless absurdity
every day, I finally reached the point - maybe the obligation - that I
needed to express my frustration in some way, if only for myself. I like
metaphors because I think they let language do more work as they
encourage more engagement on the part of the listener, so I didn’t feel
the need to name names in the song. I guess it’s about politics as religion and the frenzied futility of human beings telling themselves
they have it together in the face of the unfathomable universe."
After months of anticipation, the long-awaited debut album from Mountain Time, Music For Looking Animals, is available everywhere now! Get it now on limited edition vinyl or at digital outlets everywhere here.
In the aftermath of the dissolution of his adored bands Mineral and The Gloria Record, Chris Simpson took a step back from making music for the first time since his mid-teens. And it was during this period where an affinity for the music of the Sixties and Seventies such as Van Morrison, Leonard Cohen, Harry Nilsson, Bob Dylan, The Velvet Underground and many more – along with the freedom and expression of jazz and artists who radically followed their own vision – took root. With additional inspiration drawn from psychology and eastern philosophy, the beauty of the natural world, Simpson’s children and wife, old Time Life books, and the self-stated immenseness of the universe, Mountain Time has become almost more of a state-of-mind than a moniker.
To celebrate the release of the album album, we’re proud to premiere the
new music video for "Rosemary, Etc.” which was directed by Tim Kasher
of Cursive / The Good Life. Starring Jess Price of Campdogzz, “Rosemary,
Etc.” tells the reverse tale of a street preacher with a penchant for
petty theft. “Naturally, when I started thinking about making a video
for a song from the new Mountain Time record, I thought of Tim,” Simpson
said. “He is one of my favorite humans and there’s a peace that comes
from working with people you love. It was a labor of love, as all unpaid
work is for artists, and I am ever grateful to everyone involved for
helping it come together.”
Since the original release of Man Mountain's Infinity Mirror in 2018, the band has been showered with praise from both fans and critics alike. Hailed as a bright shining light in the post-rock genre, the original pressing of the album quickly sold out leaving vinyl hungry new fans straight out of luck. Well, we've been listening and due to all of your loud voices, we're excited to announce the second pressing of the album which is available for pre-order now here. The pressing is limited to 300 copies and includes two variants -- the insane "Infinity" animated picture disc designed by the vinyl legend Drew Tetz and the new "Galaxy" variant that is out of this world. All pre-orders will ship early July and include an instant hi-quality download of the album now. Enjoy!
In 2017, in what can only be described as a fate, the clouds opened, the bugle horns sounded, and the three original members of GIANTS CHAIR re-united to record new songs twenty years after they had originally disbanded. These two songs would be the spark that led to the band's new album Prefabylon and to what is yet to come. Now these songs, "The Streets" and "Featureless Horizon," are widely available at digital outlets everywhere and on limited edition cassette for the first time ever. Listen here and pre-order the cassette here. All pre-orders include an instant download of the two songs and orders will ship early July!
We're excited to share another new song from Mountain Time's upcoming album Music For Looking Animals. "Lady Of The Radiator" tells the somber story of someone who has insulated and isolated themselves from the world in such a way that they can’t be reached or hurt. And the loneliness and sadness that comes from realizing you do need other people and it being too late. Listen now at digital outlets everywhere here and pre-order the album on limited edition vinyl here to get an instant download of three songs now.
Ahead of the release of Dearist's
new Live at Cadman Studios EP this Friday, watch a live in-studio
performance of the song "Colours." Pre-save the EPhere get it immediately
on Friday.
