Radio Khartoum: sophisticated left-field pop, imaginary soundtracks, graphics by Bügelfrei, and the occasional off topic rant. US distribution for a few select items from Vespertine & Son, Friendly Noise, and Quince Records. French travelers should note that it’s "Radio Khartoum" and not "Radio Karthoum".

CAVIL: Mares’ Tails. CD $12 buy CD LP $14 buy vinyl 

Lullabies of everyday betrayal and yearning after migratory geese, airborne plastic bags, aeroplanes, train whistles, and other phantoms of freedom. From the dark, wet pavement of a Pennine town to the waltz-infested waters of “Piranha Canal”, these folk nocturnes from Northern England will sit nicely next to your Tindersticks and Montgolfier Brothers records.

“Swims somewhere in the same sea with Ben Watt’s North Marine Drive or Beaumont’s No Time Like the Past. A melancholy, almost spiritual album. A very personal joy. Something you might be tempted to keep all to yourself…” —Corey W. Schmidt, Central Services »Listen here.

THE HEPBURNS: How the Fallen Are Mighty. CD $12 buy CD LP $14 buy vinyl 

The Hepburns at their cattiest. Classic Welsh guitar pop in celebration of civil servants, hack writers, sexual anoraks, glowering cashiers, Mrs Rochesters and other personae non gratae.

“A mosaic of witty, fantastical, individualistic songs that sound well alone and collectively form a breathtaking panorama of lyrical imagery and eclectic sound. I don’t know where this work stands in today’s polluted pop waters, but I fancy that back in the more bracing airs of 1981 it would have been celebrated as the major achievement it surely is.” —Mike Alway, él Records »Listen here.

 



Recent arrivals

in the Friendly Goods dept.:
 

REBECCA CLAMP: Key to The City. $14 buy CD 

Folkwit Records (UK). Rebecca Clamp’s gift for poetry combined with considerable musical talent elevates her second album to fine art – “she paints beautiful song pictures” – this time her muse being the Kallio district of Helsinki. »Listen here.

THE BIG I AM: Collecting Skies. $14 buy CD 

Folkwit Records (UK). Debut from Liverpool trio consisting of uke, cuatro and keys...plus orchestrations by Wim Oudijk! »Listen here.

SNIPPET: Slowly Slowly Catchee Monkey. $14 buy CD 

Folkwit Records (UK). Snippet's music is quirky, intelligent, infectious pop that will set your foot tapping and leave you with a grin on your face. »Listen here.

MR. AND MRS. MUFFINS: The Raindrop Dance and Other Songs About Love. LP $15 buy vinyl 

Honey Muffin Records (US). A lovely, mostly-instrumental album by Seattle-based storytellers, Mr. and Mrs. Muffins. The music here moves effortlessly from the simple and unsophisticated (a melodica or a toy piano picking out a melody) to very accomplished string passages and multi-layered soundscapes with airy choral arrangements that give me the chills. These recordings originally featured as interludes on the Muffins’ first two audio books, and the child-like sensitivity that pervades the album is tempered by longing and just the right shade of melancholy. It’s a winning formula.

“A very, very touching piece of music, just on the right side of melancholy” —Louis Philippe

“Dreamy soundscapes, unconventional harmonies and friendly surrealism, strange instrumental songs that don’t sound like anything else?—Perfect!” —Petter Herbertsson, Testbild! »Listen here.

TESTBILD!: Barrikad. LP $26 buy vinyl 

Kalligrammofon (Sweden). For this album, Testbild! have switched to singing in their native Swedish, and as you stare at the credits you are likely to discover the Swedish words for many different kinds of horns, harpsichord, church organ, string drum (whatever that is), along with more familiar instruments like guitars, glockenspiel, and yes, more toy piano. Gentle, organic dreamscapes under a cloud of falling folk and volcanic ash…

Vinyl-only release. Includes download code and a poster.
»Watch the video for “En kartbild utan sand” here.

SCARLET YOUTH: Goodbye Doesn't Mean I'm Gone. 2xCD $16 buy CD 

Quince Records (Japan). Another helping of Scandinavian shoegaze brought to us by genre connoisseurs Quince Records, the double-CD Japanese edition of Goodbye Doesn't Mean I'm Gone collects Kalle Pyyhtinen’s (Shamrain) new band has released to date. Dreamy Finnish melancholia… »Listen here.

ORWELL: Continental. $14 buy CD 

Europop 2000 (France). Orwell may be a complicated cocktail of harmonies borne by guitars, strings, electronics, vibraphone and so on and on… But Orwell’s music is quite simple to love. Album #4 from Jérôme Didelot and co. ups the vintage electronic factor a bit compared to its predecessors (Stylophone plus strings, anyone?), but basically it’s business as usual: beautiful stuff. »Listen here.

ANTHONY ROCHESTER: Hot Hits ’96. $8 buy CD 

Jigsaw Records. Our fave from Down Under is back with his fourth album and looking for a hit…or is he? Laughs, grooves, charm and a little sadness are the order of the day. File between Bertrand Burgalat and Darron Hanlon. »Listen here.

RADIOSEED: There Has To Be More. $14 buy CD

Quince Records (Japan). Solo debut by Peter Wikström of Swedish dreampop-electronic hybrid duo Ecovillage. “It’s like listening to Studio and the rest of the Balearic scene, if they got a good, swift kick in the drum machine, and it’s the perfect soundtrack for a summer that has just passed you by.” (Opus.fm) »Listen here.

DANIEL CARLSON: Aviary Jackson. $14 buy CD 

Folkwit Records (UK). Dreamy and languid, Mr. Carlson’s album is a treat for lovers of baroque pop and has been a favorite on the RK hi-fi for the past year. Think Testbild!, think High Llamas, think Orwell — these thoughts are all good thoughts. »Listen here.

LOUISE LE MAY: Tell Me One Thing That Is New. $10 buy CD 

Folkwit Records (UK). The distinctive voice of London-based singer-songwriter Louise Le May (“the steady delivery of Judee Sill, but the harmonic flavour of Kate Bush or Robert Wyatt” according to Sean O’Hagan) with the chamber pop arrangements of longtime RK favorites Louis Philippe and Danny Manners. »Listen here.

IF WEN: Take a Look at the Sea. $14 buy CD 

Folkwit Records (UK). This narrative of a break-up and its aftermath was purportedly written on a beach in West Cornwall and recorded sitting on the floor of a nearby barn. Comparisons to Elliot Smith, Donovan crossed with the Flaming Lips, or the Blue Nile crossed with Al Stewart… »Listen here.

ARNAUD FLEURENT-DIDIER: La Reproduction. $20 buy vinyl 

La Musique du Film (France). 180 gram vinyl. New album from the artist formerly known as Notre-Dame (check the Quince page for more, as we’ve been trying — and succeeding — to stock a trickle of the early Japanese releases lately). Records like this are the reason why we like French produce so much. There’s that melodic sensibility that we love about the great 60s and 70s composers, there are plenty of baroque touches, and there’s this blazing intensity. Nouvelle vague for now. »Tracklisting and video here.

RK Newsletter:

New Release Forecast:

Ecovillage: tba (Quince)

Testbild!: The Lolita Wagner Case

The Hepburns: Where the Missing Words Live

The Hepburns: Insomniac’s Lullaby

Cessna: Bordeaux (vinyl reissue)

Testbild!: Bed Stilt

 

Hildegard's playlist:

Collage: Forty Seven Minutes Four Seconds

Dorothy Ashby: anything with Frank Wess

Gary McFarland: Soft Samba

La nueva banda de Santisteban: Sabor a fresa

Gary McFarland & Peter Smith: Butterscotch Rum

Linda Perhacs: Parallelograms

Free Design Sing for Very Important People

Blossom Dearie: My New Celebrity Is You

Blossom Dearie: Once Upon a Summertime

Mr. and Mrs. Muffins: The Raindrop Dance and Other Songs About Love

Cavil: Mares' Tails

John Cunningham: Backwards Steps

Lynn Marino with the Frank Cunimondo Trio: "We've Only Just Begun"

 

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